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
Click here to check out the Port Moody Public Library's catalogue.

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
Click here to check out the Port Moody Public Library's catalogue.

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
Click here to check out the Port Moody Public Library's catalogue!

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

Click here to check out the Port Moody Public Library's catalogue.

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
Click here to check out the Port Moody Public Library's catalogue!

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
Click here to check out the Port Moody Public Library's catalogue!

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

Click here to check out the Port Moody Public Library's catalogue!

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

Click here to check out the Port Moody Public Library's catalogue!

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

Click here to check out the Port Moody Public Library!