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Tag: realistic fiction

The Week in New Books

This week’s selection of new books kicks off with some alternating points of view:

Crossed, Ally Condie (367 pages) – sequel to Matched. Cassia finds that Ky has escaped into the canyons, where life is different and rebellion blooms. But it seems that Xander has some game-changing surprises up his sleeve. Told in alternating points of view by Cassia and Ky.

First sentence(s): I’m standing in a river. It’s blue.

Queen of the Dead, Stacey Kade (266 pages) – a Ghost and the Goth novel. Alona (ghost) is adjusting to her new job looking after the needs of lost spirits, for which she receives help from Will (goth). But her life becomes complicated, as her mother cleans out her room, and Will appears more interesting than loser-ish, and he, in turn, appears interested in someone else. Plus there’s a serious cliffhanging ending. Told in alternating chapters by the ghost and the goth.

First sentence: On television, ghost-talkers run antique stores, solve crimes, or stand on a stage in a nice suit giving the teary-eyed audience a toothy, yet sympathetic grin.

After Obsession, Carrie Jones & Steven E Wedel (305 pages) – told in alternating chapters by Alan and Aimee, who are drawn to each other by similarly supernatural secrets. Together they must help Alan’s cousin, Courtney, who has let herself be possessed by a demon/ghost in a desperate attempt to find her missing father. This proves not to be Courtney’s best move.

First sentence(s): You are mine. You all will be mine.

Sign Language, Amy Ackley (392 pages) – Abby North’s father has cancer, which changes her priorities, and her life perspective, as her family struggles to cope.

First sentence: The first thing Abby remembered about It was the scar.

I’ll Be There, Holly Goldberg Sloan (392 pages) – Sam and his younger brother Riddle were kidnapped by their father ten years ago, and now lead a life on the run. One day Sam hears Emily performing in a church, and they meet (in slightly awkward circumstances) only for him to vanish again. Emily, determined, tracks him down again, and things go from there, until Sam’s father discovers what he’s been up to… Great reviews!

First sentence(s): The days of the week meant nothing to him. Except Sunday.

Tiger’s Quest, Colleen Houck (479 pages) – a weighty tome. The second in the Tiger’s Curse series. Kelsey finds herself on another Indian quest with Ren’s black-sheep brother, Kishan, questioning her destiny.

First sentence: I clung to the leather seat and felt my heart fall as the private plane rose into the sky, streaking away from India.

Ashes, Ashes, Jo Treggiari (344 pages) – Things are bad bad bad for Lucy! Basically, the world as she knew it has ended (epidemics, floods, droughts), and she finds herself in the New York wasteland, alone, and fending off a pack of vicious dogs. Lucky for her, she is rescued by Aidan, who invites her to join a group of survivors; unlucky for them all, they are terrorised by the Sweepers, who threaten to infect them with the plague. Lucy and Aidan must save their friends from the Sweepers, but what if it’s actually Lucy the Sweepers are after?

First sentence: Lucy hunched over the corpse and felt a tiny bubble of hysterical laughter gurgle up.

Something Deadly This Way Comes, Kim Harrison (245 pages) – Madison died on the night of her prom, and now she’s in charge of Heaven’s hit squad. This has pros and cons, and when she has the opportunity to return to her body and be a real girl she’s torn: heaven or earth? Cool supernatural powers, or Josh?

First sentence: I’m Madison Avery, dark timekeeper in charge of heaven’s hit squad… and fighting it all the way.

Populazzi, Elise Allen (394 pages) – When Cara moves to a new school she has the opportunity to become one of the Populazzi – one of the girls at the top of the popularity ladder. The way up the ladder, her friend’s theory goes, is to form relationships with guys on further up rungs. So Cara tests the theory out, with some complicated results she doesn’t bargain on.

First sentence(s): “Don’t you see, Cara? This will be the year everything changes!”

Waiting on Wednesday

Here are a couple of titles we’ve recently ordered which might take your fancy:

The Fire, James Patterson (Witch & Wizard number 3, due soon). Being further adventures of Whit and Wisty Allgood, in which The One has executed the final member of their family, and Wisty realises it is time for her to confront The One. But in doing so, is she only going to lend more power to The One, or can she and Whit somehow overcome the seemingly all-conquering evil?

This is, I think, the conclusion to the trilogy (famous last words!).

How to save a life, Sara Zarr (soon also). Mandy is pregnant and looking for someone to adopt her baby. Jill lost her dad a year ago, and now her mother is seemingly trying to replace him by looking to adopt a baby. Needless to say, she is unimpressed with her mother’s actions, and suspicious of Mandy’s motives. Another thought-provoking offering from the author of Sweethearts, and Once Was Lost.

This Week’s New Books

VIII, H. M. Castor (399 pages) – Before he was Henry VIII he was Hal; young, dashing and handsome, and destined to become one of the most famous kings of England (not necessarily for all the right reasons). VIII tells the story of young Hal, tormented by his family’s ghosts and convinced of his path to lead his country. This has good reviews!

First sentence: I’m still half asleep when I feel strong hands grabbing me.

So Silver Bright, Lisa Mantchev (356 pages) – the concluding Act in the quirky, effervescent trilogy that began with Eyes Like Stars, So Silver Bright sees Bertie on the up and up, having rescued Nate from Sedna, and having discovered the identity of her father, the Scrimshander. Now she must try and reunite him with her mother, Ophelia, so they can be a family. But of course, things can’t go to plan: her father has disappeared, Sedna’s on the loose, and the Theatre Illuminata and her mother are on the verge of collapse. Plus: Nate, or Ariel?

First sentence: It is a nipping and an eager air.

Dark Parties, Sara Grant (313 pages) – Neva has lived in Homeland her whole life, told that the rest of the earth is just wasteland. But this is a lie! Neva is aware of The Missing, people who vanish without warning. She and her friend Sanna decide to start an underground rebellion, to uncover the truths the government has been hiding, but is Neva in danger of becoming one of The Missing?

First sentence: I’m standing in the dark, not the gentle gray of dusk or the soft black of a moonlit night but pitch-black.

Compuls1on, Heidi Ayarbe (297 pages) – Jake is obsessed with prime numbers, and this obsession lends him some sort of magic – it’s what keeps his family safe, and makes him so brilliant at football, and it’s what’s going to make his team state soccer champions for the third year in a row (3 = a prime number). He is sure that this final game of the season will set the magic free from the numbers, and he won’t be a freak – but what if this doesn’t happen? A story about obsessive compulsive disorder, obvs.

First sentence: Tanya Reese’s Tinker Bell taattoo flits on her pale shoulder, blowing on a dandelion, its fluff spiraling down on her back.

Following Christopher Creed, Carol Plum-Ucci (405 pages) – sequel to The Body of Christopher Creed. A body is found in Steepleton (could it be Christopher Creed?), so college reporter Mike Mavic ups stakes and moves there to follow the story, convinced this is his big break. What he finds, however, is a suffering town (unexplained sickness, accidents), and Justin Creed, Christopher’s brother, who is also obsessed with uncovering the truth of his disappearance.

First sentence: It happened on a dark and stormy night.

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Lola and the Boy Next Door, Stephanie Perkins (338 pages) – Lola’s life seems perfect. She’s a designer with an outrageous sense of style, and she has a hot boyfriend. But then (there’s always a but then) the Bell twins move back to the house next door, one of the twins being Cricket (yes, Cricket), a gifted inventor, and the boy Lola has unacknowledged feelings for.

First sentence: I have three simple wishes.

Cold Kiss, Amy Garvey (292 pages) – When Wren’s boyfriend Danny dies, she’s determined to bring him back… and so she does. Trouble is, new Danny is nothing like old Danny: “his touch is icy; his skin, smooth and stiff as marble; his chest, cruelly silent when Wren rests her head against it” (salute to Edward?). Wren tries to keep him a secret, but Gabriel DeMarnes arrives in town. He can sense her power and somehow knows what she’s done, and wants to help her, but only Wren can undo what she’s done.

First sentence: I wasn’t thinking about falling in love the day I met Danny Greer.

And finally for this week, two retellings:

Falling for Hamlet, Michelle Ray (348 pages) – Hamlet updated! Ophelia is a high school senior and girlfriend of Prince Hamlet, son of the Danish king. Her life seems glamorous, but there’s the paparazzi, and the controlling royals, and then the suspicious death of the king. Hamlet starts acting oddly – madly – and Ophelia finds herself isolated, and wishing for a normal life (preferably not in a nunnery).

First sentence: Hamlet’s father had the kind of laugh that made wineglasses vibrate and clink of the staff set them too close together, and Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, loved to hear it so much that she went to great lengths to provoke it.

Dark of the Moon, Tracy Barrett (310 pages) – “Retells the story of the minotaur through the eyes of his fifteen-year-old sister, Ariadne, a lonely girl destined to become a goddess of the moon, and her new friend, Theseus, the son of Athens’ king who was sent to Crete as a sacrifice to her misshapen brother.” (catalogue!)

First sentence: It isn’t true what they say about my brother – that he ate those children.

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New Books Again!

This is the rest of this week’s new books. A bit of a history theme this time, with a supernatural twist, and plenty of thrillers!

Fateful, Claudia Gray (328 pages) – it’s a supernatural romance on the Titanic! It’s 1912 and Tess has set sail for New York with the family she works for. On board she meets Alec, a handsome first class passenger. Their budding romance leads to danger for Tess though: there are werewolves, and they’re out to get him.

First sentence: It’s not too late to turn back, I tell myself.

Eternal, Gillian Shields (359 pages) – the companion novel to Immortal and Betrayal. Evie and Helen are distracted from the Mystic Way by personal tragedies, so Sarah must step up and keep them all together against imminent attack from the dark coven and Unconquered lords. Can she rely on the Mystic Way, or will she find help in other, unexpected, places?

First sentence: I am not like Evie.

Misfit, Jon Skovron (362 pages) – Jael is the daughter of a cynical former priest and a 5,000 year old demon. So, she’s not ordinary then. Things become even less ordinary when she receives a special gift on her sixteenth birthday. Now she’s got cool powers, but also demons who are after her family, not in a good way.

First sentence: Jael Thompson looks at her reflection in the bathroom mirror and frowns.

Want to go Private?, Sarah Darer Littman (330 pages) – Abby is about to start high school, and she should be more excited about it, but she’s more interested in building her friendship with Luke, a guy she’s met online. When Luke suggests they meet in person and Abby agrees and goes missing, her family and friends must figure out what’s been going on if they want to get her back.

First sentence: “How can you not be excited?”

Tunnel Vision, Susan Shaw (255 pages) – One evening, when Liza is on the way home with her mother they are attacked by a group of strange men. Liza’s mother is killed, but it transpires that Liza herself was actually the target. Liza and her father are put into witness protection, constantly on the move to escape her would-be killer.

First sentence: The laughing men weren’t leaving much room for anyone to get by, but what else was I supposed to do?

Queen of Hearts, Martha Brooks (211 pages) – Set in Canada during World War II. Marie Claire and her siblings are sent to a sanitorium when they contract tuberculosis. “a new strange land of TB exiles she must “chase the cure,” seek privacy where there is none, and witness the slow wasting decline of others. But in this moving novel about fighting a way back to normal life, it is the thing that sets back Marie Claire the most—the demise of her little brother—that also connects her with the person who will be instrumental in helping her recover.” (Amazon.com)

First sentence: On a cold evening in late spring, with the rain coming down hard around him, there’s Oncle Gérard standing outside our farmhouse, just like he’s never been away.

Hidden, Helen Frost (142 pages) – “When Wren Abbott and Darra Monson are eight years old, Darra’s father steals a minivan. He doesn’t know that Wren is hiding in the back. The hours and days that follow change the lives of both girls. Darra is left with a question that only Wren can answer. Wren has questions, too. Years later, in a chance encounter at camp, the girls face each other for the first time. They can finally learn the truth—that is, if they’re willing to reveal to each other the stories that they’ve hidden for so long…” (Amazon.com). This is a novel in verse – the author tells us that Darra’s poems also give clues about the story (read the author’s note at the back).

First sentence: I was a happy little girl wearing a pink dress, / sitting in our gold minivan, / dancing with my doll, Kamara.

And Then Things Fall Apart, Arlaina Tibensky (254 pages) – Keek’s summer is not turning out well. She’s been abandoned at her grandmother’s house, with nothing but a typewriter, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, and the chickenpox for company. The perfect opportunity, then, to work out why her life’s turned pear-shaped, and attempt to right things.

First sentence: I once watched a collector kill a monarch butterfly on a nature show by putting it under a glass dome with a piece of cotton soaked in gasoline.

Sent, Margaret Peterson Haddix (313 pages) – The Missing Book 2. “Jonah and Katherine have barely adjusted to the discovery that they are actually the missing children of history when a time purist named JB sends them, along with Chip and Alex, hurtling back in time to 1483. JB promises that if they can fix history, they can all return to their present-day lives. Now, Chip and Alex have to reclaim their true identities – as the king and prince of England. But things get complicated when they discover that according to the records, Chip and Alex were murdered. How can Jonah and Katherine fix history if it means letting their friends die?” (Amazon.com).

Sister, Missing, Sophie McKenzie (250 pages) – set two years after Girl, Missing. Lauren is now sixteen, and her birth mother takes her and her two sisters on a holiday. When one of her sisters disappears in mysterious circumstances (similar to those of her own disappearance two years earlier), can Lauren figure out what’s going on and stop the nightmare from repeating?

First sentence: I woke up to sunshine pouring in through the bedroom window of the holiday cottage.

New Books

Here is a selection of newly arrived fiction. Completely randomly a theme emerged in the tower of new books, which makes for some serious reading.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs (352 pages) – this includes very cool (peculiar) Victorian-style portrait photographs (of the peculiar children). Jacob is sent to an island off the coast of Wales (go Wales!), on which there lie the ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (an orphanage). As you would, Jacob explores the ruins, learning about the children, discovering that by “peculiar” people might have meant “dangerous”: there was a reason why Miss Peregrine’s Home is on an island. (Wrestle this one out of the hands of a librarian today!)

First sentence: I had just come to accept that my life would be ordinary when extraordinary things began to happen.

My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece, Annabel Pitcher (226 pages) – The title is a reference to Jamie’s sister’s ashes. Five years on from her death, the family is still struggling to come to terms. Jamie’s father drinks, and his mother has left, and Jamie is trying to make sense of the tragedy.

First sentence: My sister Rose lives on the mantelpiece.

Hades, Alexandra Adornetto (422 pages) – the sequel to Halo. Bethany is tricked, and finds herself in Hades (the underworld), Jake is back in town, and is going after Xavier, to get at Bethany. So to spare Xavier’s life, must Bethany make the ultimate sacrifice?

First sentence: When the final bell sounded at Bryce Hamilton, Xavier and I gathered our things and headed out onto the south lawn.

She Loves You, She Loves You Not, Julie Anne Peters (278 pages) – Alyssa is disowned by her father, so she must move away from her girlfriend Sarah, to live with her mother who she doesn’t know in a new town, starting over again (and trying not to repeat the mistakes of the past).

First sentence: The night Sarah and Ben showed up out of the blue.

Sorta Like a Rock Star, Matthew Quick (355 pages) – Amber, her mother, and her dog, live in the back of the school bus her mother drives (one of those big yellow buses). Even so, Amber is an optimist, visiting people in a nursing home, and teaching English to Korean women, but then something terrible happens that tips Amber over the edge into depression.

First sentence: Lying down, shivering on the last seat of school bus 161, pinned by his teensy doggie gaze, which is completely 100% cute – I’m such a girl, I know – I say, “You won’t believe the bull I had to endure today.”

The Girl is Murder, Kathryn Miller Haines (342 pages) – set in New York in 1942. Iris’ father owns a detective agency, so naturally she is dead keen to help him on some of his cases. When he refuses to let her – and he’s working on a case involving a boy at her school – she decides to do some secret detective work of her own.

First sentence: Pop’s leg was across the room when I came downstairs. (And the next sentence: I didn’t ask him how it got there.)

Putting Makeup on Dead People, Jen Violi (326 pages) – Donna’s father has been dead for four years and she’s never really got over it. Then one day, she discovers a calling to become a mortician. A story of “how one girl learns to grieve and say good-bye, turn loss into a gift, and let herself be exceptional” (cover).

First sentence: I’m mixing a can of tomato soup with a can of two percent milk for dinner that no one will eat.

A Scary Scene in a Scary Movie, Matt Blackstone (248 pages) – Rene is an obsessive-compulsive superhero in the making, convinced he is responsible for bad things that happen by doing things in the wrong order, or moving at the wrong time. He has one friend, Gio, who is determined to teach him how to “play it cool” – one imagines Gio has his work cut out for him.

First sentence: Legs are my favorite part.

Between, Jessica Warman (454 pages) – “By weaving through her memories and watching the family and friends she left behind, eighteen-year-old Liz Valchar solves the mystery of how her life ended in the Long Island Sound.” (catalogue)

First sentence: It’s a little after two a.m.

Waiting on Wednesday

We’ve got some interesting new books arriving over the next few months. Here’s a sampling (you can reserve most of these now):

Goliath, Scott Westerfeld – if you’ve been reading the Leviathan trilogy (Leviathan, Behemoth), then reserve this one! Can Alek and Deryn end the war? Who is the dangerous stranger on board the Leviathan? When will Alek figure out that Deryn is a girl?

Kill All Enemies, Melvin Burgess – if you like realistic fiction that’s quite challenging, then Melvin Burgess is your man. This tells the story of three teens with troubled backgrounds, one the daughter of an alcoholic, one who has an abusive stepdad, and one who is at odds with his middle-class upbringing. Here’s a review from the Guardian.

Bitterblue, Kristin Cashore – Kristin Cashore recently announced on her blog that Bitterblue, the sequel to Graceling will be published in May 2012, so this is advance warning. Read what she has to say about getting the book published, and other things, here.

Clockwork Prince, Cassandra Clare – and finally, the second in the Infernal Devices trilogy (after Clockwork Angel), will be published in December. With the help of Jem and Will, Tessa must uncover the mystery around the Magister’s hatred of the Shadowhunters, but their every move in their search appears to be anticipated: have they been betrayed? Reserve Clockwork Prince now and get ahead in the queue!

New! Books!

A selection of new fiction (good for reading while drinking hot cocoa, if you’ve got some left after learning about language and colour) which covers a bit of everything: there’s road trips (huzzah!), romance, spooky thrillers, conclusions to trilogies, and some serious subject matter for readers who want food for thought.

Blood Red Road, Moira Young (492 pages) – a dystopian road trip! Saba lives in Silverlake, a bleak wasteland. After the black-robed riders take Saba’s brother Lugh, Saba must set off on a dangerous journey in pursuit, with the help of  a clever crow, the dashing, mysterious Jack, and a group of girl revolutionaries called the Free Hawks.

First sentences: Lugh got born first. On Midwinter Day when the sun hangs low in the sky.

The Shattering, Karen Healey (302 pages) – Summerton is the perfect place to live, but is it? When Keri, grieving after the suicide of her brother, starts spending more time with a couple of friends she discovers that their brothers have also died, in suspicious circumstances. Is there something dark and terrible going on in Summerton?

First sentence: The first time I broke my arm I was ready for it.

Other Words for Love, Lorraine Zago Rosenthal (354 pages) – Ari lives in the shadow of her vibrant friend Summer, but when an inheritance means she is able to attend an elite prep school she starts to come out of her shell, making new friends, and falling for Blake. Swept up in in her romance, Ari doesn’t agree with her friends that this is infatuation – knowing that instead it is true love – but when Blake starts distancing himself after family troubles, Ari comes to learn what love really means.

First sentence: In 1985 just about everyone I knew was afraid of two things: a nuclear attack by the Russians and a gruesome death from the AIDS virus, which allegedly thrived on the mouthpieces of New York City public telephones.

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Bitter End, Jennifer Brown (359 pages) – Alex is blissfully in love with gorgeous, sporty Cole, but things gradually turn nightmarish, first with Cole becoming jealous of her best friend Alex, then putting her down, then threatening her, until she is “forced to choose – between her ‘true love’ and herself.”

First sentence: If I had to describe my best friend, Bethany, in one word, it would be persistent.

In the Sea There Are Crocodiles, Fabio Geda (211 pages) – Based on the true story of 10 year old Afghan boy Enaiatollah’s five year journey from Afghanistan to Italy, and the harrowing events that took place along the way.

First sentence: The thing is, I really wasn’t expecting her to go.

Forever, Maggie Stiefvater (390 pages) – the conclusion to the story of the wolves of Mercy Falls that started with Shiver and continued with Linger. Isabel’s father is intent on getting rid of the wolves once and for all, and he’s making alarming headway with his plans: can Sam save them before it’s too late? Can he save Grace, who is now shifting between wolf and human form? Can Cole St Clair get to the bottom of the disease that causes the changes? So many questions!

First sentence: I can be so, so quiet.

Winter’s Shadow, M J Hearle (424 pages) – Winter is consumed by Blake Duchamp, the dark, brooding stranger she met at Pilgrim’s Lament. But Blake has a dark, dangerous secret – one that Winter seems to be be unwittingly doing her best to distract him from.

First sentence: Madeleine Bonnaire fled beneath the flickering street lamps of Rue Descartes.

I Am J, Chris Beam (326 pages) – J goes on a journey of self discovery working through the issues surrounding the fact that he’s always known he is a boy in a girl’s body.

First sentence: J could smell the hostility, the pretense, the utter fakeness of it all before they even climbed the last set of stairs.

The Demon’s Surrender, Sarah Rees Brennan (387 pages) – the conclusion to the trilogy that began with The Demon’s Lexicon. Sin and Mae are in competition for leadership of the Goblin Market and the Aventurine Circle is a threat to the survival of the market – and people generally – but can they be stopped? Also, can Sin get over her dislike of Alan so they can work together to defeat the magicians, and does Jamie really have control over Nick? This can’t be good, since he’s decided turn against the market and join the magicians.

First sentence: Magic was like a special guest in Sin’s life.

Life: An Exploded Diagram, Mal Peet (413 pages) – Set in Norfolk (UK) in 1962, when the Cold War means the world thinks it’s going to be annihilated by a nuclear bomb. Against this backdrop, Clem and Frankie are in a secret, furtive relationship (from opposite sides of the track, as it were). You can read Meg Rosoff’s review on the Guardian here.

First sentence: Ruth Ackroyd was in the garden checking the rhubarb when the RAF Spitfire accidentally shot her chimney-pot to bits.

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The Dead of Winter, Chris Priestley (218 pages) – The dust jacket makes this sound spooky: “When Michael Vyner goes to spend the Christmas holidays with his distant and aloof guardian, he finds himself in a dark and desolate East Anglian [UK] house – a house that harbours a terrible secret which it will fight to retain. Michael’s lonely task soon becomes clear as he is haunted not just by a solitary woman in the mists but by the terrible reason behind her death.”

First sentence: My name is Michael: Michael Vyner.

Votive, Karen Brooks (617 pages) – the sequel to Tallow. Set in the republic of Venice – La Serenissima. Tallow has lost everything, so in order to survive she takes on a new persona, and poses as a courtesan to move among the Serenissian nobility. But evil looms in the form of her enemies, who have something up their sleeves that could ruin her.

First sentence: ‘By the gods! Stop!’

More New Books

From sibling tragedy through the assassination of a prime minister, to an alternate dystopian 1950s (can the past be dystopian?): here’s a small collection of new fiction.

Karma, Cathy Ostlere (517 pages) – Maya travels with her father to India to return her mother’s ashes to their final resting place. It is 1984, and on their arrival Indira Gandhi is killed, causing chaos, and thousands are murdered in a bloody massacre. Separated from her father, Maya must disguise herself and accept the help of Sandeep to save herself. Written in verse.

First lines: How to begin. Click. How. To. Begin. Click. Click. Click.

Hush, Eishes Chayil (340 pages) – Set in a Hasidic Jewish community in Brooklyn (New York), Hush tells the story of Gittel, who witnesses the abuse of her best friend Devory, causing her to question her ideas about her community and her faith and her upbringing.

First sentences: Devory? Devory? Devory, can you hear me?

The Iron Thorn, Caitlin Kittredge (492 pages) – this is the one about the alternate 1950s where everything’s pretty bleak: “mechanically gifted fifteen-year-old Aoife Grayson, whose family has a history of going mad at sixteen, must leave the totalitarian city of Lovecraft and venture into the world of magic to solve the mystery of her brother’s disappearance and the mysteries surrounding her father and the Land of Thorn”. (cover summary)

First sentence: There are seventeen madhouses in the city of Lovecraft.

Love, Inc, Yvonne Collins & Sandy Rideout (409 pages) – Three girls meet in group counseling for children whose parents divorce, finding they’ve got a lot in common, including a cheating boyfriend (Eric/Rico/Rick). So begins Project Payback, a roaring success, which leads them to establish a consultancy service for those similarly duped in love (the service being called Love, Inc).

First sentence: Senora Mendoza keeps a hand on the doorknob and her eyes on the clock.

Sean Griswold’s Head, Lindsey Leavitt (274 pages) – Payton is seeing a guidance counselor to help her deal with her father’s multiple sclerosis. The counselor suggests she focus on an object, so naturally Payton chooses Sean Griswold’s head, since she sits behind him in class every day. Her project soon turns into a crush (then perhaps a friendship?), then hopefully it will lead her to “focus on herself” (book cover).

First sentence: Nothing creates a buzz like an Executive Deluxe day planner.

Between Here and Forever, Elizabeth Scott (250 pages) – Abby’s sister, Tess, is the perfect one, but following an accident Tess is in a coma and Abby – who has always been in her shadow or, worse, invisible – discovers she’d rather live with her than without. So she plans to bring Tess back, with the help of gorgeous Eli, only to discover her sister has secrets…

First sentence: I lean forward and look at Tess.

Trapped, Michael Northrop (232 pages) – Scotty and his friends Pete and Jason, plus four others, are left stranded at their school during a blizzard. Sounds like an opportunity to have some fun, but then the power goes, and the heat, and the running water, and it’s not fun any more at all, and “the mounting pressure forces a devastating decision” (book cover).

First sentence: We were the last seven kids waiting around to get picked up from Tattawa Regional High School.

New Books

Some reclaiming of the vampire genre, some thrillers and a couple of popular urban fantasy series this week.

Department Nineteen, Will Hill (540 pages) – It’s a vampire story but without the romance and that stuff (see cover). Department 19 is a secret government department dedicated to finding and destroying vampires, with whom humans have been at war since 1892, and the stakes are going to be raised, says the cover. In at least two ways, obvs.

First sentence: Jamie Carpenter was watching TV in the living room when he heard the tires of his dad’s car crunch across the gravel driveway much, much earlier than usual.

Alex Van Helsing: Vampire Rising, Jason Henderson (248 pages) – Van Helsing was the vampire hunter who was Dracula’s downfall (says the person who hasn’t read Dracula). Alex Van Helsing doesn’t know he’s related to the great man (ahem, Alex, the name), so when he starts at an exclusive academy on the shores of Lake Geneva and, hello, meets two vampires in his first couple of days, he’s in for an abrupt adjustment. There’s a deadly vampire known as Icemaker in the area, and Alex’s vampire hunting instincts must kick into action.

First sentence: Alex Van Helsing ran.

Blank Confession, Pete Hautman (170 pages) – Shayne Blank confesses to murder, but how could a sweet teenage boy do such a thing? His long statement to the police reveals all.

First sentence: Five lousy minutes.

The Golden Day, Ursula Dubosarsky (149 pages) – Set in Sydney in 1967, “about a group of schoolgirls whose teacher [Miss Renshaw] bizarrely goes missing on a school excursion, apparently murdered”, the author tells us. What really happened?

First sentence: The year began with the hanging of one man, and ended with the drowning of another.

City of Fallen Angels, Cassandra Clare (424 pages) – it’s here finally, 60-something people in Wellington will be pleased to hear. Everything in New York is happiness and light it seems, until someone starts murdering Valentine’s Shadowhunters, endangering the uneasy relationship between the Downworlders and Shadowhunters. Then Simon’s mother finds out the truth about him, he’s kicked out of home, and everyone (except his mother) wants him on their side. Oh, and Jace has gone all distant and Clary doesn’t know why.

First sentence: “Just coffee, please.”

Red Glove, Holly Black (325 pages) – the second book in the Curse Workers series (the first was White Cat). Cassel’s life is complicated and dangerous, he’s an in-demand curse worker, wanted by both the feds and the mob, who can see how valuable he could be. Plus he’s learned that Lila his girlfriend (who is no longer a white cat) only loves him because his mother cursed her. That’d take the gloss off.

First sentence: I don’t know whether it’s day or night when the girl gets up to leave.

Efrain’s Secret, Sofia Quintero (263 pages) – Efrain longs to get out of the South Bronx and attend an Ivy League school, but his family circumstances mean this is not likely to happen. So, Efrain becomes a drug dealer (while maintaining his grades and reputation as an excellent student) to raise the money (after all, this is what society expects boys from the South Bronx to do).

First sentence: I type “SAT prep” into a search engine when Chingy yells, “Yes!” from the computer station next to me.

XVI, Julia Karr (325 pages) – In this 22nd century dystopia, when girls turn sixteen they’re branded with an XVI on their wrist, proclaiming to the world that they are legal (if you know what we mean). Nina is fifteen, about to have her birthday, when her mother is brutally killed, and just before she dies reveals a shocking secret to Nina about her past that sends Nina on a dangerous quest to discover the truth about herself.

First sentences: “Nina, look.” Sandy jabbed me in the ribs.

Dangerously Placed, Nansi Kunze (274 pages) – Alex Thaler is doing work experience in a company that has a virtual office with workers from around the world. Pretty cool, except someone’s murdered and Alex is the prime suspect. She and her friends must find out who’s responsible before she takes the fall, or worse, becomes the next victim.

New Books Again

We are inundated! Make sure you come into the library these holidays and take some off our hands. This batch is brought to you by the last sentence this time! (Except for when it would be totally giving it away.)

The Lying Game, Sara Shepard (307 pages) – from the author of the Pretty Little Liars series, currently gracing TV2 on Sunday night(ish)es. Emma’s long lost twin sister, the narrator, has died (murdered!), and Emma wants to know what happened, so she takes on the dead narrator’s life, including boyfriend and parents and whatnot. This could be dangerous, with the murderer on the loose.

Last sentence: I’ll see you in the morning… even though you won’t see me.

Strings Attached, Judy Blundell (310 pages) – who wrote What I Saw and How I Lied. This also is set in a historical context, this time the 1950s in New York, where Kit Corrigan is a struggling chorus girl in a Broadway show, who becomes involved with Billy and his father Nate, who is a mob lawyer. Love, deceit, intrigue, and murder, says the cover. Intriguing!

Last sentence(s): Or on an ordinary day, nothing sinister. Nothing noble. Just balloons.

Winter Longing, Tricia Mills (266 pages) – Sob! Winter finally declares her love for Spencer, *and then he dies in a plane crash*. A story of grief, and what it’s like to come through devastation.

First sentence: The drone of a plane engine stopped me in my tracks, and adrenaline surged through my veins.

Alabama Moon, Watt Key (294 pages) – Moon is raised by his father in the Alabama wilderness. When his father dies, Moon finds himself having to adjust to living in an institution. This is also a movie, available on DVD.

Last sentence: “You don’t need to worry about me.”

Desires of the Dead, Kimberly Derting (355 pages) – Violet can sense the dead, and can also tell who killed them. Naturally she’d rather people didn’t know, but she becomes the subject of interest. At the same time, she becomes interested in her boyfriend’s best friend’s tragic past, and stumbles across a deadly secret.

Last sentence: “I think we’re gonna be late,” she whispered, surrendering at last.

Mad Love, Suzanne Selfors (323 pages) – Alice’s mother is a romance novelist. When her mother is secretly admitted to the psychiatric ward of a hospital Alice must maintain the illusion that things are still trucking along as normal, which involves lying to her (Alice’s) boyfriend, answering fan mail… and then writing the next best seller! Luckily (maybe?) she meets a guy who says he’s Cupid and would like her to write about his tragic love with Psyche

Last sentence: Or the one beating inside our hearts, waiting to be set free.

Wither, Lauren DeStefano (358 pages) – a dystopian world where a virus causes males live to the age of 25 and females to just 20. To ensure the survival of the human race therefore girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous relationships in order to have lots of babies. Rhine is married to Linden, who seems okay, but she’s determined to escape (as you would be).

Last sentence: This time, I don’t know where the light will guide us.

Fishtailing, Wendy Phillips (196 pages) – a novel in verse. “Through a series of poems written for English class, interspersed with teacher comments and letters to and from parents, high school students Natalie, Tricia, Kyle, and Miguel describe their lives.” (catalogue)

Last sentence: I smell spring.

Mortal Kiss, Alice Moss (343 pages) – Faye and her friend Liz have to work out what’s going on in their town: there’s a dead body, a motorcycle gang, and the fact that it doesn’t stop snowing. Could these things be related to the fact that there are two new arrivals, “smouldering Finn and sexy Lucas”?

Last sentence: It shook the frost from its fur once, and then trotted out of the open door, disappearing into the dense forest outside.

The Big Crunch, Pete Hautman (280 pages) – “This is a love story for people not particularly biased toward romance” says the cover. The crowd cheers! June* and Wes have an everyday sort of relationship, where you’re not really sure if it’s love, you’re not sure what’s going to happen, you do some stuff you wish you hadn’t, and you might not exactly smoulder.

First sentence: The first time Wes saw June, he thought she was kind of funny-looking.

* Trivia: the cover blurb says she’s *Jen* but she’s not, we checked.

New Books

August, Bernard Beckett (204 pages, New Zealand author) – Tristan and Grace are in a car wreck, waiting for rescue (if it happens!). As they wait, as one does, they review their very different lives and philosophies. “A compelling novel about will, freedom and what it means to live” (cover).

First sentence: For a moment the balance was uncertain.

Scorpia Rising, Anthony Horowitz (402 pages) – the final mission, the cover declares! No! Alex must put Scorpia out of business, once and for all, but is this the mission to end all missions, and to end Alex? We hope not!

First sentence: The man in the black cashmere coat climbed down the steps of his private, six-seater Learjet 40 and stood for a moment, his breath frosting in the chill morning air.

Where She Went, Gayle Forman (260 pages) – the follow up to the über popular If I Stay. Three years after Mia ended it with Adam they’re back together for one night in New York City, a chance to put things to rest (or to respark something?).

First sentence: Every morning I wake up and I tell myself this: it’s just one day, one twenty-four-hour period to get yourself through.

Plague, Michael Grant (526 pages) – the fourth in the Gone series. Quelle horreur, this one sounds ghastly. There is a plague threatening Perdido Beach (one that is described in graphic detail on the back cover! Guts! Being eaten away from the inside out!), and there’s still the grim reality of what happens to you at fifteen.

First sentence: He stood poised on the edge of a sheet of glass.

Invincible, Sherrilyn Kenyon (420 pages) – The second on the Chronicles of Nick series. Poor Nick is once again challenged by the presence of all manner of horrific supernatural creatures, affecting his life in so many ways, from the inconvenient (his principal thinks he’s gone to the bad, making school a problematic place) to the downright deadly; he must figure out how to raise the dead or he might find himself counted as one of them.

First sentence: They say when you’re about to die, you see your entire life flash before your eyes.

The Running Dream, Wendelin Van Draanen (332 pages) – Puts one’s own annoying, minor running injuries into perspective. Jessica is a runner, until she’s involved in a terrible accident and loses a leg. A story of coming to terms with a significant loss, reestablishing your identity and your place, and overcoming odds.

First sentence: My life is over.

All You Get is Me, Yvonne Prinz (279 pages) – Roar’s father goes all green on her, installing  them on an organic farm, where she must spend the summer adjusting  from her city sensibilities, coping with falling in love, the fact that her mother is gone, and with the fallout from her father’s crusade against the bad working conditions of Mexican farm workers.

First sentence: My mom always promised me she would keep me safe, and then she disappeared.

As Easy as Falling off the Face of the Earth, Lynne Rae Perkins (352 pages) – Ry’s train strands him in the middle of seriously nowhere and he’s got to get to somewhere, a journey that is peppered by a series of scrapes, mishaps and “comedic calamities” (catalogue).

First sentences: Wait a minute. Was the – had the train just moved?

The Floating Islands, Rachel Neumeier (388 pages) – “The adventures of two teenaged cousins who live in a place called The Floating Islands, one of whom is studying to become a mage and the other one of the legendary island flyers” (library catalogue).

First sentence: Trei was fourteen the first time he saw the Floating Islands.

The Education of Hailey Kendrick, Eileen Cook (256 pages) – Hailey is the perfect girl who never does anything wrong, until one night, together with a secret accomplice, she does something quite wrong and gets into a rather lot of trouble, which her secret accomplice escapes. Now her friends don’t want to know her, her teachers don’t trust her, everything’s a mess, and she’s keeping quiet about the identity of said secret accomplice. Is it worth it?

First sentence: There was a matter of life and death to deal with, and instead we were wasting our time discussing Mandy Gallaway’s crotch.

Some hot new books

Clockwork Angel, Cassandra Clare (476 pages) – the first in the Infernal Devices series and featuring a couple of characters that you know and love from Mortal Instruments, Clockwork Angel introduces the shadowhunters of Victorian London (think grey, foreboding, Sherlock Holmes-ian) where an evil someone is scheming and creating, well, infernal devices.

First sentence: The demon exploded in a shower of ichor and guts.

Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins (390 pages) – brace yourself to the conclusion of the Hunger Games. Will Katniss save Panem from the evil Capitol and President Snow? Will there be another games? Who will rise from the ashes? Can you stop yourself from skipping to the end while reading?

First sentence: I stare down at my shoes, watching as a fine layer of ash settles on the worn leather.

Thirst No. 2, Christopher Pike (581 pages) – this includes Phantom, Evil Thirst and Creatures of Forever, being books 4 to 6 of the Last Vampire series first published in the mid 1990s (so kind of school mates of The Vampire Diaries in a way). Alisa, a five thousand year old vampire, has become human, but can she reconcile her past with her future?

First sentence (Phantom): Someone knocks at the door of the Las Vegas home where I stand.

One Night That Changes Everything, Lauren Barnholdt (242 pages) – Eliza’s ex-boyfriend Cooper has stolen her notebook in which she writes about everything she wants but is too afraid to do, and now he and his friends are blackmailing her, giving her one night to perform all the tasks listed in the notebook, or they’ll publish. So Eliza gets the gloves out.

First sentence: I lose everything.

Sisters Red, Jackson Pearce (344 pages) – this one has good reviews! The story of Scarlett and Rosie, who hunt the werewolves who are killing the young girls of their town. Indeed, werewolves are responsible for killing their grandmother and leaving Scarlett with terrible scars, so fair enough. Silas, an axe-wielding woodsman, helps them, and maybe causes some complications in their tight relationship. Cool cover.

First sentence: Strangers never walk down this road, the sisters thought in unison as the man trudged towards them.

I Know It’s Over, C K Kelly Martin (244 pages) – the story of Nick, who must come to terms with the news that the girl he’s just broken up with, Sasha, is pregnant. One reviewer says, “teen boys will especially applaud this portrayal of a devastated and conflicted young man who makes the right decisions, but still finds that his mistakes have repercussions”.

First sentence: The first time Sasha lay spread across my bed, I felt like the world had changed.

Bone by Bone by Bone, Tony Johnston (184 pages) – Set in Tennessee in 1950. David is living up to his father’s wishes to become a doctor, but his friendship with a black boy called Malcolm doesn’t please his father at all. So when his father’s assertion that he will kill Malcolm if he comes into the house is tested by the boys he pulls out his shotgun. Ellipsis.

First sentence: The ghost possessed the liveliest eyes I had ever seen.

Rules of Attraction, Simone Elkeles (324 pages) – written by the author of Perfect ChemistryRules of Attraction follows the story of Alex’s brother Carlos. Alex forces Carlos to come and live with him in Boulder, Colorado, away from his Mexican gang. So Carlos ends up in the home of one of Alex’s professors, in close proximity to the professor’s daughter, Kiara.

First sentence: I want to live life on my own terms.

Five Minutes More, Darlene Ryan (212 pages) – D’Arcy’s dad told her that everyone can survive for five minutes more, so when he dies in a car crash she hopes it was an accident. D’Arcy struggles to cope with his loss, with the help of her maths tutor, Seth, but Seth’s own issues surface and complicate things more.

First sentence: I play the Five Minutes More game.

Summer: Beautiful Dead, Eden Maguire (274 pages) – following from Jonas and Arizona. Darina turns her attention to the murder of Summer Madison, a singer-songwriter, posing as her agent in order to track down her killer.

First sentence: Who decides what’s normal and what’s not?

Fifteen Minute Bob, Catherine Forde (244 pages) – Rory’s life gets turned upside down when his struggling muso father releases a music viral with two musician friends.

First sentence: Imagine this, okay?: It’s your Sixth Form Parents’ Night.

Secrets of my Hollywood Life, Jen Calonita (242 pages) – the cover says, “At last… What it’s really like to be a celebrity ‘It’ girl.” Kaitlin is a 16 year old actress who just wants to be normal, so she assumes a secret identity and enrolls in the local high school. So, exclusive academies in reverse.

First sentence: I’m going to let you in on a little Hollywood Secret: movie stars don’t always get along.

Also briefly:

Soft Targets, Harry Edge – book one of Kite Identity

Bright Angel, Isabelle Merlin – from the author of Three Wishes, Pop Princess and Cupid’s Arrow

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