Science Fiction/Horror: Bloodtide

Author Melvin Burgess typically writes disturbingly graphic young adult novels for the mature reader. I knew this when I picked up Bloodtide, but I was still shocked, revolted and utterly transfixed by the incredibly intense, powerful and gory retelling of the viking Beowulf legend.

The story is set in a post-apocolyptic London, where warring gang families have divided the city into territories that they defend visciously. The whole city of London has been abandoned by the democratic government and a wall has gone up round the perimeter, to keep the gangs in. Terrifying halfmen, created by twisted science, patrol the strip of territory between the wall and the gang lands; these monsters are fed on human sacrifices, and evoke fear and loathing in all who encounter them.

Two families have split London between themselves, the Volsons and the Conors. And so here we have the perfect setting for a modern blood feud. When a marriage is arranged to calm the tensions between the families, betrayal and an incredibly brutal war ensues. Burgess's genius is in the steady, relentless progression of vengeance and tension; midway through the book, you can see that there is no possible path to a happy ending. Nevertheless, you must read on to the brutal, inevitable ending, where the poor, battered protagonists face the truth about revenge's poisionous nature.

This is a complex book told by many different voices as the action progresses. And as well as all the fantastic characters (Gods and monsters make several appearances) there is real human drama and deep emotional development. I was absolutely gripped by this book from the first page, and Burgess's genius is in portraying the many facets of humanity in the face of terrible events and extreme emotions.

Science Fiction/Horror

Grade 11 and up (for mature readers)

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Graphic Novel: The Rabbi's Cat

This graphic novel is translated from the original French, and is actually intended for an adult audience. However, I would certainly recommend this title for older teens or young adults who are interested in ideas about religious freedom, philosphy, and love.

Set in the 1930's, this is the story of a cat who swallows a parrot, and magically gains the power of speech. Much to his owner's consternation, the cat immediately begins to tell lies! The Rabbi immediately vows to teach the cat right from wrong by educating him in the ways of the Torah, but the cat keeps asking questions that challenge the Rabbi, and require him to think about the nature of Judaism, and of goodness in general.

The Rabbi's daughter is a major player in this book, as she finds love with a non-observant family. This presents many challenges, and the book is funny, sad and thoughful by turn as the Rabbit's family expands to include a new son and parents-in-law.

The art is cartoonlike and drawn in full colour, and its familiar mood balances the writing's often pensive tone. A classic graphic novel, and highly recommended for all mature readers.

Graphic Novel

Grades 11-Adult

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Graphic Novel: The Good Neighbors: Kin

Holly Black is the author of several elfpunk novels for teens, including Tithe, Valiant, and Ironside. This graphic novel follows the same style, with dark, urban settings and gritty characters.

Heroine Rue (short for Kangaroo) is pulled into the dangerous world of faeries when her mother goes missing. It turns out that Rue's mother is a faerie herself, and that she's been called back to the fey because of a broken promise. Rue needs to rescue her mom, save her father from being charged with murder, and uncover the secrets of her mixed heritage.

The black and white art in this book is drawn in western comic style, with lots of dark shadow and play on white space. The dark tones really echo the plot's mystery and sense of foreboding. Strange pixies and faeries dance across the pages, and even the trees and buildings seem forbidding. There is just enough romance in the plot to round out this title; fans of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight and graduates of the Spiderwick Chronicles will love this graphic novel.

Graphic Novel

Grades 8-12

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Science Fiction: Cherry Heaven

History is repeating itself. Kat and Tanka have moved with their foster parents to the New Frontier. They're leaving the old cities behind, along with the DNA race riots, violence and discrimination that haunted their childhoods.

But is the New Frontier so different? Kat and Tanka are priveleged Atsumisi, and their experiences are contrasted with those of Luka, a Galrezi worker.

Luka wasn't always Galrezi. Ten years ago, she was just a child, living in the family orchard at Cherry Heaven: the very place Kat and Tanka are living now. Luka has escaped from slavery in the factory, and she's out to right some wrongs. Whose side will Kat and Tanka be on when their priveleged positions and their home are at stake?

This books is the companion novel to the equally thought provoking Diary of Pelly D. Both books, by L.J. Adlington, are disturbing in their portrayal of racism in the future.

Science Fiction

Grades 8-12

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Thriller: Streams of Babel

When Cora's mother dies, she assumes that her mother finally overdosed on the painkillers she'd been taking for years. So she's shocked to learn that her mother AND a neighbour both died of a brain aneurysm on the same night. When Cora and other neighbourhood teens become ill with a mysterious flu, and government agents arrive in her small town, they all fear the unthinkable - a terrorist attack.

Meanwhile, a world away in Pakistan, a sixteen year old computer genius named Shahzad is working as a virtual spy. He's alarmend to see an influx of chatter about a substance called Red Vinegar that will, as he reads, "lead to many deaths in Colony One". Can Shahzad sift through the babble of the chat rooms, and find the location of the attack in time?

Thriller

Grades 10-12

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Rumors: A Luxe Novel

If you like the Clique, A List or Gossip Girls books, you will love diving into the mystery, romance and betrayal of the Luxe novels.

This decadent series is set in the 19th century, and follows the lives of New York's most eligible debutantes and socialites. The soap opera scenes are played out in opulent settings where the very rich (and their servants, of course) scheme and vie for power and love.

This book is the second in the Luxe series; it follows the events of the first book with more of the same gossip, scandals and secrets. Pick up either of these hefty novels, sit back, and enjoy the read!

Historical Fiction/Romance

Grades 10-12 and up

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Fiction: Chasing the Falconers

Chasing the Falconers is the first book in Gordon Korman's On the Run series. This fast paced book follows Meg and Aiden Falconer as they escape from a Juvenile Detention Centre, and go on a cross-country mission to rescue their parents.

Meg and Aiden know that their parents have been framed; there's no way they're terrorists! Someone in the CIA has set them up, and now they're in prison for life, convicted of treason. Their kids are their only hope, and Meg and Aiden are determined not to let them down.

There's just one problem. Meg and Aiden have been sent to Juvie in Nebraska, "for their own protection". When they break out of the centre, they must travel undercover as they try to track down clues from their family's past. Stolen cars, narrow escapes, and edge-of-your-seat writing will make you want to finish this short book as fast as possible! The next book in the six-volume series is waiting...

Fiction
Grades 5-9
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Science Fiction: The Adoration of Jenna Fox

This book begins as a mystery, but readers will quickly find that it becomes a science fiction account of a girl's tragic accident. Jenna wakes up from a year long coma with a complete loss of memory. She can't remember her mother (Claire) her strangely distant grandmother (Lily) or even the events that led up to the accident that nearly cost her her life. Her parents keep her closely protected, and seem to be afraid of Jenna making contacts with the world outside their new house. Slowly, Jenna begins to remember...

Soon Jenna finds that she didn't nearly die...to most people, she did die. Even with the advanced medical techniques available in Jenna's future, no doctor expected her to survive. Could her parents have a good reason for their overprotectiveness, and their secretive behaviour? Is there something terrible that Jenna doesn't know about herself? Jenna is determined to find out.

Science Fiction
Grades 9-12
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Fiction: Dairy Queen

This is possibly my favourite book of the year, until Breaking Dawn is released.

After her father is injured, 15-year-old D.J. Schwenk takes over the lion's share of work on her family's small Wisconsin dairy farm. Between milking cows, mucking out the barn, and mowing clover, this erstwhile jock takes on training Brian, the rival high school's quarterback. A monster crush and a tryout for her own school's football team ensue.

DJ is a realistic and charming narrator, and the author does a fantastic job of getting her personality across. Shy, tongue-tied, hardworking and honest, DJ is forced to think about what she really wants for her life when her totally unsuitable crush, Brian, tells her that she's like a cow headed unquestioningly down the cattle shoot of life. Over the summer, DJ wrestles with this question while simultaneously juggling a grinding farm chore schedule, an uncommunicative and conflicted family, and a best friend who turns out to be gay. In the end, DJ is able to find her own way, and readers will be won over by her heart of gold. This book is highly recommended for fans of realistic fiction, sports stories, and even romances.

Fiction
Grades 9-12
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Edward or Jacob? What do you think?

OK, so you probably know that Stephenie Meyer's newest Vampire thriller/romance/all round great book is coming out on August 2, 2008. For Meyer fans, the big question is, what's going to happen with Edward, Bella and Jacob?

At the end of Eclipse, the third book, Bella has made a choice (sort of) between Jacob and Edward. But her choice is by no means final, and everyone is wondering what will happen to the guy she doesn't want choose? Will she end up with Edward forever? Or will Jacob find a way to win her heart after all? I would hate to be in Bella's shoes, because I can't even decide as a reader who I want her to end up with, and I have no idea how the author is going to end the series with all three of them happy (if that's even possible, but I hope it is).

So what do you think? If you've read one or all of the books, who do yo think Bella should choose? Edward, the gorgeous vampire who will love her forever but take away her mortality, or Jacob, the hot tempered werewolf who could give Bella a home and a family who will age with her? Let us know by commenting on this post.

Fiction: A Countess Below Stairs

Author Eva Ibbotson is best known for her enchanting historical fiction, such as Journey to the River Sea and The Star of Kazaan. In A Countess Below Stairs, she turns her pen to an older audience with fabulous results.

Anna is a young Russian countess whose opulent world is turned upside down by the Russian Revolution. She has no choice but to flee for England with her family, losing her homes, wealth and status in the process. Despite her troubles, Anna retains the charming, optimistic nature that endears her to all. In a Cinderella-like plot, Anna takes employment as a housemaid in Rupert Westerholme's mansion. When he returns to his home after fighting in the Great War, he slowly and inevitably falls in love with the lovely Anna, and she with him.

Of course, there is a catch. Rupert is engaged to the grasping, conniving Muriel, a lady of the Nouveau Riche who has her heart set on Rupert's title (and not his heart). Rupert is a true gentleman, and Anna knows that he will never break his word to Muriel by jilting her, regardless of her manipulative and cruel actions.

Will they find their way to true love, despite all that stands against them? Of course! This is, after all, a lovely and romantic fairy tale of a book. But the author's graceful writing and vivid characters will keep you on the edge of your seat right until the final page, even if you can guess the happy ending.

Romantic Fiction

Grades 10-12

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Horror: Verdigris Deep

When Ryan and his friends are caught stranded and penniless late one night, they steal coins from a wishing well for bus fare. Soon after, strange things start happening to them. Peculiar marks tingle on Ryan's knuckles, light bulbs explode, and a terrified Chelle starts speaking words that aren't her own. Then the well witch appears, with her fountains for eyes and gargled demands. From now on, the friends must serve her - and fulfill the lost wishes that lie rotting at the bottom of the well.

This spooky book is perfect for teens who want to scare themselves silly. If you liked watching The Grudge or The Ring (yikes!!) you'll love this tale.
Fiction (horror!)
Grades 9-12
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Fiction: Book of a Thousand Days

When Dashti, a maid, and Lady Saren, her mistress, are shut in a tower for seven years for Saren’s refusal to marry a man she despises, the two prepare for a very long and dark imprisonment.

As food runs low and the days go from broiling hot to freezing cold, it is all Dashti can do to keep them fed and comfortable. But the arrival outside the tower of Saren’s two suitors—one welcome, and the other decidedly less so—brings both hope and great danger, and Dashti must make the desperate choices of a girl whose life is worth more than she knows.

With Shannon Hale’s lyrical language, this forgotten but classic fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm is reimagined and reset on the central Asian steppes; it is a completely unique retelling filled with adventure and romance, drama and disguise.

Fiction
Grades 7-12
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Science Fiction: Unwind

Connor's parents want to be rid of him because he's a troublemaker. Risa has no parents and is being unwound to cut orphanage costs. Lev's unwinding has been planned since his birth, as part of his family's strict religion. None of them are willing to let themselves be unwound, their bodies salvaged for spare parts by the rich.

Brought together by chance, and kept together by desperation, these three unlikely companions make a harrowing cross-country journey, knowing their lives hang in the balance.

If they can survive until theireighteenth birthday, they can't be harmed -- but when every piece of them, from their hands to their hearts, are wanted by a world gone mad, eighteen seems far, far away.

Science Fiction

Grades 10-12

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Fiction: Big Fat Manfesto

Jamie is a senior in high school, and that means she's incredibly busy with school, extracurriculars, and - oh yeah - trying to change how the world looks at fat people. Jamie's sick of people thinking that she doesn't know she's fat, that she's ashamed of her size, and that she can't get a date. Nothing could be further from the truth! She decides to challenge her fellow students with a new column in the school newsletter, starring Fat Girl (that's Jamie) and her Big Fat Manifesto.

As her column raises all kinds of questions, so too, must she find her own private way in her world, with love popping up in unexpected places, and satisfaction in her size losing ground to real frustration. A great read that will challenge your preconceptions.

Fiction

Grades 8-12

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Fantasy: Powers

Ursula Le Guin is a master of fantasy, and it shows in this thoughtful novel. Young Gavir was brought up a slave in a comfortable and orderly upper class house. His world is founded on the trust between master and slave; one protects, one serves. But when war ravages the city and Gavir's beloved elder sister dies a tragic and unnecessary death, Gavir flees his masters and begins a dangerous journey into the unknown. Is he seeking freedom? Or his own people? Or the true use of his strange power of future sight? There is a complex interplay of trust, dependency and individual freedome in this book that will leave every reader questioning their own views.

Fiction

Grades 9-12

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Fiction: Duchessina

Young Catherine de' Medici is the sole heiress to the entire fortune of the wealthy Medici family. But her life is far from luxurious. After a childhood spent locked away behind the walls of a convent, she joins the household of the pope, where at last she can be united with her true love. But, all too soon, that love is replaced with an engagement to a boy who is cold and aloof. It soon becomes clear that Catherine will need all the cunning she can muster to command the respect she deserves as one of France's most powerful queens. Readers will be awed by the detailed descriptions of opulent court life, and historical details abound.

Fiction

Grades 10-12

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Fiction: Sara's Face

Seventeen-year-old Sara wants to be spectacular. Not just pretty, not just popular, but spectacularly famous. She is a borderline anorexic, purposely hurts herself, often adopts different personalities, and sees ghosts, among other things. When pop idol Jonathon Heat takes her under his wing, she crosses into a world of lunacy and cosmetic surgery to reach her goals.

An eerie Michael Jackson-esque figure, Heat lives on a wacky estate with a private plastic surgery theater and has undergone so many facial reconstructions that he's forced to cover his pieced-together face with a mask. After Sara moves into his compound, readers are led to believe that she will meet the same fate, or worse. Known for edgy, raw teen novels that pull no punches, Burgess certainly delivers his trademark sexual frankness, folding in the mature issues of body image, self-mutilation, and personality disorder.

Fiction

Grade 9 and up

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Fiction: H.I.V.E.

H.I.V.E. is operated on a volcanic island in a distant ocean by G.L.O.V.E., a shadowy organization of worldwide wickedness. And, as 13-year-old master of mischief Otto Malpense soon discovers, here the slickest of young tricksters, thieves, and hackers have been brought against their will to be trained as the next generation of supervillains.

Otto and his friends refuse to be held prisoner at the institution and develop a scheme to escape from the island, but they must defeat the all-seeing computer system, a seemingly undefeatable assassin in black, and a giant carnivorous plant to succeed. Warner's first novel is a real page-turner; those who love superhero stories will eat it up and not want to put it down.

Science Fiction
Grades 5-8
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Fiction: Treasure at the Heart of Tanglewood

This original and atmospheric fantasy by the author of the Darkangel and Firebringer trilogies introduces Hannah, who lives by the fearsome Tanglewood with a few talkative companion animals. Hannah doesn't age, and she has no memory of anything but this life of isolation. Once a month she plucks the flowers that grow from her head and brews them into a tea for the wizard who lives deep in the woods.

Hannah is an unusually compelling character: lost but self-assured, brave but deeply na‹ve. When she falls in love with one of the many knights who search for the treasure of the title, she begins to question the wizard's motives, eventually escaping his manipulative power and undertaking a quest to heal the knight, whom the wizard has transformed into a fox. The book loses momentum somewhat as Hannah begins her travels, largely because readers will be quicker than Hannah at piecing together the story elements. As the flowers in her hair grow unplucked, spring descends upon the land (which has been lost in an epic winter) yet she never guesses that, among other identities, she is the legendary Spring Maid of whom townspeople talk, the treasure all those knights were seeking.

Fiction

Grades 9 and up

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