Monday, March 23, 2009

Young Adult Fiction Spring

Black Jack Osamu Tezuka - Volume 4-Black Jack is a mysterious and charismatic young genius surgeon who travels the world performing amazing and impossible medical feats. Though a trained physician, he refuses to accept a medical license due to his hatred and mistrust of the medical community's hypocrisy and corruption. This leads Black Jack to occasional run-ins with the authorities, as well as from gangsters and criminals who approach him for illegal operations. Black Jack charges exorbitant fees for his services, the proceeds from which he uses to fund environmental projects and to aid victims of crime and corrupt capitalists. But because Black Jack keeps his true motives secret, his ethics are perceived as questionable and he is considered a selfish, uncaring devil.
Wintergirls- by Laurie Anderson- Dead girl walking, the boys say in the halls. “Tell us your secret, the girls whisper, one toilet to another. I am that girl. I am the space between my thighs, daylight shining through. I am the bones they want, wired on a porcelain frame. Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the skinniest. But what comes after size zero and size double-zero? When Cassie succumbs to the demons within, Lia feels she is being haunted by her friends restless spirit.I n her most emotionally wrenching, lyrically written book since the multiple-award-winning Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson explores Lias descent into the powerful vortex of anorexia, and her painful path toward recovery.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth- by Carrie Ryan-Through twists and turns of fate, orphaned Mary seeks knowledge of life, love, and especially what lies beyond her walled village and the surrounding forest, where dwell the unconsecrated, aggressive flesh-eating people who were once dead.
Lyra's Oxford (Audio book) by Philip Pullman-Lyra and Pantalaimon (now a pine-marten) are back at Oxford. But, their peace is shattered by Ragi, the daemon of the witch Yelena, who is searching for a healing elixir to cure his witch.

A Great and Terrible Beauty ( Audio Book) by Libba Bray- It's 1895, and after the suicide of her mother, 16-year-old Gemma Doyle is shipped off from the life she knows in India to Spence, a proper boarding school in England. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma's reception there is a chilly one. To make things worse, she's been followed by a mysterious young Indian man, a man sent to watch her. But why? What is her destiny? And what will her entanglement with Spence's most powerful girls-and their foray into the spiritual world-lead to?
Bratfest at Tiffany's by Lisi Harrison- When male students from Briarwood join the all-girl Octavian Country Day at the beginning of eighth grade, Massie makes a rule that none of the girls on the Pretty Committee can have anything to do with them, trying to protect the girls' social status.

Saturday, March 21, 2009


The True Adventures of Charley Darwin by Carolyn Meyer-The fascinating journey of a famous naturalist Young Charley Darwin hated school-he much preferred to be outside studying birds' eggs, feathers, and insects. And so, at the age of twenty-one, he boarded a ship called HMS Beagle and spent five thrilling but dangerous years sailing around the world, studying plant and animal life that was beyond anything he could have imagined. Here, just in time for Darwin's 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his groundbreaking On the Origin of Species, historical novelist Carolyn Meyer tells the story of his unconventional adventures. It's the story of a restless childhood, unrequited teenage love, and a passion for studying nature that was so great, Darwin would sacrifice everything to pursue it.
Firebirds Soaring- by Sharyn November-First Firebirds. Then Firebirds Rising. Now there is Firebirds Soaring, the third anthology of original stories by some of today's finest writers of fantasy and science fiction. These authors, including Nancy Farmer (The Sea of Trolls), Ellen Klages (The Green Glass Sea), Margo Lanagan (Black Juice), and Jane Yolen (The Devil's Arithmetic), have brought new worlds and Old Magic to life in nineteen remarkable pieces of short fiction. Mike Dringenberg, co-creator of Sandmanwith Neil Gaiman, contributes decorative vignettes. Firebirds Soaring like Firebirdsand Firebirds Rising sets the standard for short fiction for teenagers and adult fans of the genre.
Eon Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman- Sixteen-year-old Eon hopes to become an apprentice to one of the twelve energy dragons of good fortune and learn to be its main interpreter, but to do so will require much, including keeping secret that she is a girl.
Runemarks (audio book) by Joanne Harris- Maddy Smith, who bears the mysterious mark of a rune on her hand, learns that she is destined to join the gods of Norse mythology and play a role in the fate of the world.