Unforsaken by Sophie Littlefield - OPTIONAL

Littlefield, Sophie Unforsaken (Hailey Tarbell Series #2), 288 pgs. Random House Children's Books,  2011 (October). $11.98. (Language-PG (Swear count: I don’t remember any, Violence-PG13; Sexual Content-PG) Hailey is descended from a long line of healers who came to the United States from Ireland.  This story continues from the first book, Banished.  Hailey, her aunt Prairie, and her little brother Chub have fled from General Prentiss who is trying to force them to use their powers to create zombies from those that have just died.  The three have gone to Milwaukee, changed their names and assumed new lives.  For the first time in Hailey’s life she seems normal – regular clothes, regular friends, a regular life.  But Hailey misses her boyfriend Kaz who is a seer.  They devise a plan to stay in touch with each other.  They are careful, just not careful enough.  Their scheme is found out; the General is after them.

 The story is told primarily in Hailey’s voice.  However, other voices show up throughout the story.  The story is built around the conflict of Hailey & Kaz fighting to be free from the General and his evil plans.  While I think girls will like the story I didn’t really connect to the characters until the final scenes.  There are some scenes that contain some moderate violence – bombing, shootings, etc. and that is why I gave it a PG13 for violence.

 HS – OPTIONAL. Reviewer: W. Child - Cyprus High Library Media Specialist

Once by Anna Carey

Carey, Anna Once, 368 p. HarperCollins, JULY 2012.  $18.  Mature Content: PG-13 (implied sex).  For months Eve has been safe, hiding in a community of women across the bay from the old San Francisco.  But when she hears rumors of Caleb hurt and dying, she risks going in search for him – and walks right into a trap.  Now she has been taken to the City of Sand, before the King, who she finds out is her real father.  He plans for her to take her place beside him as he works to rebuild the old America, being the pretty figurehead as his troops hunt down rebels – including Eve’s love, Caleb.  Eve is stuck between a rock and a hard place as she tries to find her way in this new world – or how to find a way out.  

Book 2 in this series brings forth a few answers but MANY questions and A LOT of anxiety as the story continues to unfold.  Now I have to anxiously await book #3.  I feel sorry for everyone who has to wait until JULY to read this gem.  This is what Kiera Cass was trying to do with her book, but Anna Carey succeeded.  MS, HS – ADVISABLE. Cindy, Library Teacher

The Selection by Kiera Cass - OPTIONAL

Cass, Kiera The Selection, 336 p. HarperCollins, APRIL 2012.  Language: PG (11 swears, 0 “f”).  $18.  America Singer, 17, has already found the love of her life and she has NO desire to try to win the hand of Prince Maxon.  In post-apocalyptic USA, America’s family are 4’s, artisans who can make a decent living for themselves, while Aspen, her boyfriend, is only a 5, barely able to stay alive.  Aspen insists that she enter, however, and America finds herself in the top 35 and moving into the palace – into a place she never wanted to be, with 34 girls she never wanted to meet, and competing for the hand of a prince she has no desire to love.  Rebels and enemies of Illea make life in the palace dangerous, but so do the other girls, some of whom are willing to do whatever it takes to win.  

Cass has taken the premise of The Bachelor, moved it to a future America and tried to add in a dose of Hunger Games.  While it doesn’t work as well as the reality show nor the novel, I do admire America.  If you pay too much attention to plot, you swiftly realize that it is pretty fluffy – not  a lot of deep thought going on here.  Oh, the author tries, but the clothes and the selection process occupies too much of the novel.  If this were in paperback, I would be much more enthusiastic about recommending it.  I am holding out hopes for a sequel with more meat.  MS – OPTIONAL. Cindy, Library Teacher

Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts - ADVISABLE

Roberts, Jeyn Dark Inside, pgs. 362. Simons and Schuster Books, 2011. Language- PG-13 (21 swears) Mature Content- PG-13         The human race is on the verge of extinction, because of itself. Monsters. The apocolypse has begun and almost all of the human race have turned on the "normals." Aries, Clemetine, Michael and Mason are all trying to survive this disaster. All in different situations, fighting for their lives against the people that have found their evil.          

I loved this book! I didn't want to put it down, it kept me on edge and wanting more. Very interesting idea in this book, and it really makes the reader think. I enjoy the different perspectives, it really gives a different personality to the book. This would be on my shelf of recommendations for friends and peers. MS, HS - ADVISABLE.  Student Reviewer: CG

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi - ADVISABLE

Rossi, Veronica Under the Never Sky, 384 p. HarperCollins, 2012.  $18.  Language: G (1 swear); Violence: PG (knife fight); Mature Content: G.  For  300 years, domed cities have kept a very small part of Earth’s remaining population safe, letting them lead lives of indolence as they hook into the Realm and play out entire lifetimes through digital interaction.  For 300 years, Aether has contaminated the air above Earth and Perry and his people have eked out their existence in the Outside, under these dangerous skies – skies which have changed them in strange ways.  When Aria angers the very important father of one of her acquaintances, she finds herself cast out of her dome home and into the Outside.  Reluctantly Perry takes Aria along with him as he deals with problems of his own – cast out of his own group, searching for his nephew who has been taken by the Dwellers.  

It too bad this book only has a picture of Aria on the cover – it is as much or more Perry’s story and would attract a larger audience if it weren’t so gender specific.  At least she’s not wearing a dress!  Another post-apocalypse book, but still well constructed and deserving to be read.  MS, HS – ADVISABLE. Cindy, Library Teacher

All These Things I’ve Done by Gabrielle Zevin - ESSENTIAL

Zevin, Gabrielle  All These Things I’ve Done  354 pages  Farrar Straus Giroux, 2011.  $16.99  Content:  Language: PG-13 (14 swears, no “F”); Mature Content: PG-13; Violence: PG-13.  Anya is the daughter of the former mob boss, living in a time where chocolate and coffee are illegal and water is rationed, e-mails charge postage and violence is rampant.   She has an older brother who has learning disabilities and a younger sister who depends on Anya for everything.  With a family situation where she is the unrecognized guardian she pulls a lot of weight for a teenager.  While caring for her family, she has to deal with the extended family members who are part of the mob and she also falls in love with the DA’s son.  I enjoyed this book and couldn’t put it down.  I thought it was a fresh take on dystopian society and the characters where engaging.  HS-ESSENTIAL.  Reveiwer, C. Peterson.

Prized by Caragh M. O'Brien ESSENTIAL

O'Brien, Caragh M. Prized, 368 pgs. Roaring Brook Press, 2011. Content PG.

This is the second book in the Birthmarked Trilogy. This begins with Gaia and her baby sister being caught out on the wasteland and taken to Sylum, a community where the men answer to the women. Much like the Enclave in Birthmarked, science and progeny are at the heart of this dystopic society. Sylum is suffering with few female births and faces extinction in few generations. Gaia smarts under the controlling rules of Sylum, and must find herself and what she believes under the heavy hand of the matriarch.

Much like the first in the series, O'Brien does a smashing job of creating a believable, yet disturbing, society. She melds science with fiction in a truly remarkable way. I was engrossed. Though Gaia made some decisions that made me not like her so much, I still recommend this book. And if you have Birthmarked in your library, this is a must when purchasing. It sets up the last in the series very well.

MS, HS-ESSENTIAL. Rebekah, youth services public librarian

The Whisper by Emma Clayton - ADVISABLE

Clayton, Emma The Whisper, 320 p. Chicken House (Scholastic), FEBRUARY 2012.  $18.  Violence: PG (lots of damage without being graphic).  Mal Gorman, the Minister for Youth Development, seems to have retrieved all of his young army and implanted them with fool-proof controllers that will make them do his bidding.. However, now that the twins, Ellie and Mika, have been reunited, they have very different plans for their future.  Now that The Roar has quieted, the twins have discovered The Whisper – a sub-audible means for them to communicate not only with the other children, but if they can harness their new powers, they may be able to connect the entire world – so that they could free their parents from behind the Wall and still protect all that they love.  

I had to wait three years, but the sequel to The Roar was finally published.  While this will probably never be the most popular series in your library, it is certain a very solid entry that you should not ignore – especially if you want to build up your science fiction collection.  

My favorite quote:  “Like broken squirrel borgs that couldn’t stop squirreling, we filled our houses with things we didn’t need…By the time every home had a chocolate fountain, there were almost no trees left.”  

MS – ADVISABLE. Cindy, Library Teacher

Eve by Anna Carey - ADVISABLE

Carey, Anna Eve, 336 p. HarperCollins, 2011.  $18.  Content: PG (attempted rape-not graphic, death, danger).  Eve thinks that after graduation tomorrow she will head across the lake to a wonderful life of creation and discovery.  She secretly discovers, however, that the King of the New America has other plans for Eve and the other graduates are destined to become “sows”, constantly breeding to build up America after the Plague.  Eve takes matters into her own hands and escapes into the wild, headed blindly toward freedom, she hopes.  It sounds kind of silly to say that a book about post-apocalyptic America is sweet, but this is as much a romance as it is filled with death and danger.  Similar too, but more romantic than Life as We Knew It.  Of course it unrealistic, but the girl in the pretty dress on the cover tells you that.  MS, HS – ADVISABLE. Cindy, Library Teacher

The Pledge by Kimberly Derting - ADVISABLE

Derting, Kimberly The Pledge, 336 p. Simon, 2011.  $17.  Language: PG (7 swears, no ‘f’).  Queen Sabara has kept herself alive through generations by jumping into the body of a descendant.  Now, however, she has lived a long life and has no one to transfer to.  Charlie (Chairlaina), is a daughter of shop owners in a world where the classes are separated by language – no one is allowed to learn the language of the people above them.  But, somehow, Charlie can understand any language – instinctively.  Charlie’s talent comes to the attention of exactly the wrong people – people who all want to use Charlie on their side of a revolution, but how does she know which side she should be on? All Charlie wants is to keep her little sister and her parents safe, but she may find herself saving a world instead.  Just from the name of the book I assumed this was going to be a private school/sorority book, but I was swept inside a new, interesting world instead.  MS, HS – ADVISABLE.  Cindy, Library Teacher