My Family for the War by Anne C. Voorhoeve

Imagine being separated from your parents at age 10 and being sent to live with a new family in a new country. That is what happens to Franziska on the eve of World War II. She is a German girl who is a Christian, but her Jewish ancestry makes her a target for the Nazis. Her father is arrested and her mother gets her on a kindertransport train to England, where she is taken in by a Jewish family. She spends the next seven years with a strange family in a strange country, all the while worrying about her parents and hoping that they survive the war. Frances, as she is called in England, grows and changes and feels more English than German at times. Her relationship with her foster family is at the heart of the book. It's a rich, detailed story about growing up and coming of age, and the backdrop of World War II makes it all the more interesting. Recommended for historical fiction readers grades 7-up.

The Fairy Ring: Elsie and Frances Fool the World by Mary Losure

This nonfiction book may need some selling to get it in the hands of readers. The background story is this—during World War I a couple of English girls took photos of themselves with paper fairies in them. The photos were later discovered and thought to be real photos of fairies. Elsie and Frances gained a lot of fame and scrutiny for the photos but didn't let on that they were a hoax for many decades. This is the story of how and why they took the photographs, and why educated people in the early 1900s (included Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) believed in photographs of fairies. It's a relatively short, easy read about a strange piece of history. A fun and fascinating work of nonfiction for intermediate and middle school readers.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

The most peculiar thing about this book are the strange historical photographs of children—one levitating, one covered in bees, another holding up a huge boulder with one hand. They are all part of the stories that Jacob's grandfather has always told him about the orphanage in Wales where he lived during World War II. After grandfather dies under strange circumstances, Jacob is compelled to go to the mysterious island in Wales that might hold some answers about his grandfather's bizarre stories. What he finds is an abandoned orphanage, more old photographs, and evidence that these peculiar children may still be alive. What he finds out about people who are "peculiar" and the forces that haunt them is alarming and it all fits into place with grandfather's unbelievable stories. Grave danger is lurking and Jacob must choose a new path in life. It's weird and creepy and definitely interesting. Unfortunately, it's a set-up for a sequel that is as yet unpublished. I think this book looks like a book for younger readers, but really would be most appropriate for 7th-10th grade readers of horror, suspense, and mystery books.

52 Reasons to Hate My Father by Jessica Brody

Lexington Larrabee is a spoiled rich girl who is on the brink of inheriting twenty-five million dollars from her business-tycoon father. Unfortunately, she makes headlines when she crashes her $500,000 car into a convenience store and her father takes away the trust fund. Instead he gives her a list of 52 jobs she must do for one week each. The jobs include cleaning houses, working at a fast food restaurant, digging graves, working at a funeral home, and the list goes on. She will only inherit her money if she completes the jobs. Her father, totally uninvolved with her life, sends his stuffy young intern to keep track of her progress. Along the way Lex starts to take charge of her life and to unravel the family secrets that have made her life not-so-perfect. It's a predictable book in many ways, but very fun to read. It's definitely on the fluffy side, but well-written with a few twists and turns to keep you guessing. It's also pretty clean and totally appropriate for grades 7-up.

No Safety in Numbers by Dayna Lorentz

This book takes place in a huge shopping mall where an act of bioterrorism has taken place. Hundreds of people are quarantined in the shopping center and given no information about why they are there, what is happening to the victims, or how long they will be held captive. There are four characters narrating this book—all teenagers who were there at the mall for various reasons. At first the quarantine seems like a lark, but after days and days of roaming the mall, bathrooms are filthy, food is getting scarce, and communication with the outside world is cut off. How would everyday people react in such a situation? While this book has a great premise, it failed to live up to my initial expectations. I didn't relate closely to any of the teen characters and I didn't believe some of their reactions to this frightening situation. It wasn't a bad book at all—it just didn't grab me like I was hoping it would.

Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral

This unusual book is not a graphic novel, but it is a story told through photographs and documents. The main characters are a teenage girl who is a piano prodigy and a neighbor boy who seems to offer her an alternative to her rigorous, highly disciplined life. As the book progresses, Glory plays the piano in major concerts but also becomes unable to play anything but Chopsticks. Is she really going crazy or is it crazy to keep up her life as a piano player? Is she running away with Frank or has he deserted her? To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what happened in this book. It's intriguing and full of clues, but maybe I'm not visually literate enough to figure it out. I would love to hear from others who think they get it!

Divergent by Veronica Roth

There are lots of books trying to be the next Hunger Games, and this is one of the best contenders that I've read in the last few years. It's set in a future-world-gone-bad and a teenager has a life-changing choice to make about her future. Society is divided into five factions—abnegation (selflessness), candor (honesty), dauntless (bravery), amity (peaceful), and erudite (intelligence)—and sixteen-year-olds must choose which virtue they will dedicate their life to. Tris makes a surprising choice and in the following weeks of training must dig deep to survive in a hostile environment. She learns some secrets about the factions and she suddenly finds it difficult to live in her black and white world when she knows that all is not as it seems. There's lots of action here and also characters to care about. I have had quite a few students (and teachers) excited to talk about this book.

The Edumacation of Jay Baker by Jay Clark

Jay Baker, the freshman narrator of this book, is so full of jokes and pop culture references that sometimes I could hardly keep up with him. He's secretly in love with his cheerleader best friend, dealing with his parents' separation, and fighting off a bullying homophobic former friend who constantly torments him at school. Although Jay Baker would have you believe he's kind of a wimp, he seems to have no problems with girls falling for him—in fact, he starts up a relationship with tennis-playing Caroline who can match him joke for joke, and then finds he has two girls vying for his attention. It's a very enjoyable, funny book about the trials and tribulations of an unusually smart, funny guy with a lot going on in his life. His interactions with his mom, dad, sister, and history teacher all seemed very true to life—and I appreciated that the adults were meaningful characters in the book. I read through this quickly and liked it a lot—it's Jay Clark's first book and I'm sure he will be a talent to watch. Recommended for high school guys and girls.

A World Away by Nancy Grossman

I know that there is a whole world of Amish romances out there but I have never read one. I thought when I picked this YA book up it might be something like that for a teen audience. I still have no idea how this compares to the adult Amish romances, but I found this to be an enjoyable coming of age story with an interesting cultural twist. Eliza is a 16-year-old Amish girl who longs to get out of her sheltered community and experience life among the "English" (that's us). When the opportunity to be a nanny for a Chicago family arises she jumps at the chance to give up her plain dress. She buys her first pair of jeans at Walmart and heads off to the land of cell phones, texting, television, video games, movies, computers, and much more. She meets a romantic interest very quickly who loves to show her new things and introduces her to his friends. Of course, she struggles at first to make sense of the world of "English" teenagers, but she enjoys many things about her new life. She makes a startling discovery also—her mother's sister whom she has never even heard of lives nearby. Aunt Beth was shunned many years ago for marrying an outsider. This is the life that Eliza would be choosing if she decides to leave the Amish community. In many ways the book was predictable—of course she would meet a boyfriend and be forced to decide between going back to her Amish community or joining the larger world. But I wasn't sure until the end what choice Eliza would make or how she could ever be happy in either world. All in all this was an engaging story that made me want to keep reading and opened my eyes to a culture about which I know very little. Definitely recommended for high school readers—and let's face it, it's girls who will enjoy it the most.

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Steifvater

I will confess that I really didn't want to read this book and that it took me a long time to get into it. But after finishing it I have to admit it was extremely well-written and original, with a compelling (if slowly-paced) plot. The heart of this story is the island of Thisby, a rugged place where life is hard and children grow up and leave as soon as they can. What makes Thisby unique are the bloodthirsty water horses that rise up out of the water each year and are tamed and ridden by the men of the island. The fierce water horses (or  capaill uisce—pronounced cappel ishka—as they are called) eat human flesh and drown their riders. The islanders race the horses each November in a dangerous and deadly race that brings the island brief fame and an economic burst. That's the background, and the island and the horses are central to the story. But the book is really about two teenagers who enter the races as strangers but slowly come together in spite of their rivalry. The book alternates between the viewpoints of Sean Kenndrick (an orphaned young man who has won the Scorpio Races four times and loves his water horse Corr more than life itself) and Kate "Puck" Connelly (also orphaned and racing to earn money to save her family's home and to keep her oldest brother from leaving for the mainland). Steifvater makes Thisby, with it's foggy, cold beach and crusty inhabitants seem like a real place. She also brings Puck and Sean to life slowly and deliberately until by the last chapters you know your heart will break because there is no way they both can achieve what they wish for. This is definitely a notable book—the starred reviews show that. For a reader with the persistence and patience to stay with it and live in Thisby for a while it will be a rewarding read.

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

This boy-meets-girl story was made to be turned into a movie. It takes place during 24 hours in the life of Hadley, who is reluctantly flying to London for her father's second wedding. She misses her flight and while waiting for the next one meets a young man named Oliver. They strike up a friendship during the long overnight flight then go their separate ways. Hadley to the wedding and Oliver to an unknown destination. Hadley is nursing a lot of resentment and sadness toward her father and Oliver is secretive about his reason for traveling. When Hadley pieces together some of Oliver's backstory she takes off through London to find him and continue their new and promising relationship. It's definitely a feel-good story, but with enough depth of character and complexity of relationships to save it from being too fluffy. It's an enjoyable read for romantic-minded readers in grades 8-up.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

It’s hard to feel sorry for Anna—she is spending her senior year of high school at a boarding school right in the middle of Paris where she quickly meets a new group of friends and begins to explore her new city and learns to enjoy the newfound freedom of living on her own. But Anna isn’t happy. Her father forced this new life on her and took her away from her hometown of Atlanta, her best friend Bridgette, and her almost-boyfriend, Toph. At first Anna spends time e-mailing Bridgette and planning her reunion with Toph (the last time she saw him they kissed but she’s not sure where they stand now). But when she meets handsome, charming Étienne St. Clair she can’t stop herself from falling for him. The only problem is that he already has a girlfriend. And even if he didn’t, her new friend Meredith clearly has a long-standing crush on him. But St. Clair seems to like Anna—at least he likes taking her around Paris, going to movies, and sitting by her at every meal. What’s a girl to do in the most romantic city on earth? How can she hide her feelings for him? And how can she be “best friends” with someone she loves so much? This is a predictable yet fun romance with a fine romantic setting and believable characters. Recommended for high school romantics and world travelers.  (FYI—except for some well, French kissing, and teenage drinking this book is pretty innocent. It would be fine for 8th graders on up.)

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

This unique story of spies, war, and friendship grabbed me and tricked me and kept me on the edge of my seat. Most of the book is the written confession of a British teenager who is captured by Nazis in France during World War II. The Germans torture her but give her six weeks to write out all she knows and she seems to be giving them all her secrets in order to stay alive. Her story tells of a remarkable friendship with another young woman who became a pilot during the war. Together the two girls ended up flying into France, but their mission went terribly wrong. This book has twists and turns and many secrets—so many that I don't want to tell any more about the plot for fear of giving them away. Suffice it to say, at one point in the book I had to go back and re-read previous chapters just to see what was truth and what was lies. Readers with an interest in aviation, spies, or World War II will love this. Other readers just might develop some new interests as they get pulled into the world of Verity and Kittyhawk. I would recommend this book to high school students and adults.

Peter and the Starcatchers by Ridley Pearson

This prequel to Peter Pan is a delightful story that would interest a wide range of readers. Barry and Pearson have taken a familiar book and made an inventive backstory that both explains some nagging questions (Why doesn't Peter get older? How can he fly? How did Captain Hook lose his hand? Where did the mermaids come from? And more), but also has a compelling storyline that stands alone. The action takes place aboard three ships--two that are headed to Rundoon and carrying mysterious trunks, and one pirate ship that will stop at nothing to steal the treasure. Peter and his orphan friends are on the rickety ship called Never Land, which also carries a plucky girl named Molly Astor, who turns out to be a Starcatcher. This book is packed with just what you would expect—action, magic, and humor. I have heard that the audiobook of these stories (it's the start of a series) are narrated by Jim Dale and are outstanding. I also have seen Peter and the Starcatcher on Broadway and it is fabulous. The writers and directors took a good book and made it better—it's even more clever, funny, and compelling than the book.

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment

A common theme of children's literature is a group of kids taking on the world with no help from parents or other adults. While the kids in this book have wings, special powers, and have had their DNA altered, they sort of reminded me of futuristic Boxcar Children. They are a family of six, headed by a 14-year-old girl named Max. When Angel, the youngest of their "flock," is kidnapped, they all return to The School to rescue her. From there they escape to New York City and along the way they face great danger and Max begins hearing a voice in her head telling her she was created to save the world. The appeal of this book is threefold—the action and adventure, the fascinating genetic experimenting going on, and the relationships between the kids in the flock. Several book reviews have pointed out that the kids in this book talk like adults and are not believable, and while somewhat true, it didn't make the book any less enjoyable. Sometimes you just have to suspend your disbelief and enjoy a good story. Thank you to Siena in the Unbound Book Club for finally convincing me to read this book.