October 2014 – Branigan Library Teens

New books

Posted on October 29, 2014 by braniganteens

Playing for the Commandant by Suzy Zail

A young Jewish pianist at Auschwitz, desperate to save her family, is chosen to play at the camp commandant’s house. How could she know she would fall in love with the wrong boy?

Urban Outlaws by Peter Jay Black

Deep beneath London, five extraordinary youths, orphans who bonded over their shared sense of justice, have formed the Urban Outlaws and dedicated themselves to outsmarting criminals and performing Random Acts of Kindness (R.A.K.s), but they are in serious trouble when the face a genius super-computer, Proteus.

Kiss Kill Vanish by Jessica Martinez

A teenage girl flees her opulent life in Miami when she witnesses her boyfriend commit a murder that was ordered by her father.

Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick

Britt goes hiking in the Grand Tetons of Wyoming with her ex-boyfriend Calvin, but trouble arises when she is caught in a blizzard, taken hostage by fugitives, finds evidence of murders, and learns whom to trust and whom to love.

Lailah by Nikki Kelly

While struggling to understand her own identity, Lailah is torn between an injured vampire and a rogue angel who appears in her dreams.

Vango Between Sky and Earth by Timothee de Fombelle

In a world between wars, a young man on the cusp of taking priestly vows is suddenly made a fugitive. Fleeing the accusations of police who blame him for a murder, as well as more sinister forces with darker intentions, Vango attempts to trace the secrets of his shrouded past and prove his innocence before all is lost.

Posted on October 28, 2014 by braniganteens

Since I’ve written many of my books from a less-than-sympathetic viewpoint, I think that being able to see things from all sides is a useful talent. — Alex Flinn

Editorial Reviews

Review

Just about anything teens would want to know about money and finance but didn t know enough to ask. McGuire first makes the often intimidating world of finance not generally a topic on a teen s must-read list approachable. . . . .Colorful photos and charts and eye-catching graphics keep the pages turning. A solid, thoroughly readable guide. –Kirkus Reviews

This accessible guide covers traditional aspects of personal finance in an engaging, breezy manner, packing a tremendous amount of useful information into brief chapters set off by illustrations, charts, graphs, and checklists. Aimed primarily at college-bound teens, the content covers money-management basics: job hunting, entrepreneurship, saving and investing, spending and borrowing, paying for college, and asset protection (insurance and guarding against identity theft). Throughout, readers receive solid advice: stay in school, consider unpaid internships and volunteer work, plan, budget, and start saving now. Realistic case scenarios provide additional tips. The information is up-to-date and reflects current realities, with references to our present economy, in which people hold down multiple part-time jobs. Also included are helpful sites; apps (e.g., mint.org, Piggy Mojo); and social-media initiatives, including peer-to-peer lending and crowd-funding ventures. This practical manual will supplement standard textbooks and complement other popular guides, such as Tamsen Butler’s The Complete Guide to Personal Finance for Teenagers and College Students (2010). Consider this for browsers, researchers, and aspiring tycoons alike. –Booklist

A smart, savvy, accessible guide for the investor group with the biggest weapon of all on their side: time. From the powers of compound interest to how to pay for college to planning for a fulfilling career, Kara McGuire gives teens an inspiring, accessible, comprehensive toolbox for financial success at the precise moment when they need it from the first paycheck onward. –Leigh Gallagher, FORTUNE

New books to YA Department

Posted on October 28, 2014October 28, 2014 by braniganteens

Redeemed by P. C. Cast

Zoey and her friends face the ultimate battle with evil, which will determine the fate of the world, both human and vampire.

Unraveled by Gennifer Albin

Adelice returns to Arras, where the Guild’s control is slipping and Cormac Patton needs her help to reestablish order, but she soon discovers that she is not alone and must choose between an unimaginable alliance and a war that could destroy everyone she loves.

Beetle Boy by Margaret Willey

When he was seven, Charlie Porter never intended to become the world’s youngest published author. He just wanted his father to stop crying. So he told him a story about a talking beetle—a dumb little story his mother made up to make him feel better. (That was before she left and feeling “better” became impossible.) But Charlie’s story not only made his father stop crying. It made him start planning. The story became a book, and then it became school events and book festivals, and a beetle costume, and a catchphrase—”I was born to write!”

Because of the story, Charlie stayed seven until he was ten. And then it all ended. Or it should have. Now Charlie is eighteen, and the beetles still haunt his dreams. The childhood he never really had is about to end . . . but there’s still a chance to have a story of his own. Beetle Boy is a novel of a broken family, the long shadow of neglect, and the light of small kindnesses.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 10 Up—This is the fictional story of Charlie Porter, “the world’s youngest published author.” He didn’t intend to become famous, but at age seven, Charlie began telling a story about a talking beetle in order to stop his father from crying. Soon the story becomes a book, which becomes a long series of events, festivals, and marketing campaigns. Willey’s novel illustrates the price children face when they grow up without an ounce of parental stability. Now 18, Charlie is forced to reconcile his traumatic past and forge ahead building normal relationships. The emotional revelations are wellpaced and the characters feel real and believable, which is an extraordinary feat considering the range of personalities present in the text. Readers will find themselves rooting for—and sometimes against—Charlie as his girlfriend force-feeds him the past that he has tried so hard to forget. The recurring nightmares that he suffers highlight the power that childhood trauma has on people even after they’ve escaped childhood. Many of the lessons and ideas that can be taken away from this text would be powerful discussion fodder for high school students. Mature language and sexual situations make this most appropriate for older teens.—Chad Lane, Easton Elementary, Wye Mills, MD

About the Author

Margaret Willey has been writing for many years in many different genres. All of her books and stories come from a personal place, either something that happened to her or something she witnessed at close range. Like her previous novel from Carolrhoda Lab, Four Secrets (2012), Beetle Boy is about bullying, but a different kind of bullying—the kind inflicted on children by their parents. Beetle Boywas inspired by a real boy who was completely under his father’s control and trying to make the best of it until he could escape. Margaret lives in Grand Haven with her husband Richard Joanisse, and she is currently working on a new novel and a collection of essays about her childhood in Michigan.

Posted on October 27, 2014 by braniganteens

Beyond Magenta Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin

A groundbreaking work of LGBT literature takes an honest look at the life, love, and struggles of transgender teens.

Author and photographer Susan Kuklin met and interviewed six transgender or gender-neutral young adults and used her considerable skills to represent them thoughtfully and respectfully before, during, and after their personal acknowledgment of gender preference. Portraits, family photographs, and candid images grace the pages, augmenting the emotional and physical journey each youth has taken. Each honest discussion and disclosure, whether joyful or heartbreaking, is completely different from the other because of family dynamics, living situations, gender, and the transition these teens make in recognition of their true selves.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up—The strength and honesty of six transgender teens stand out as their stories are told by a large cast of outstanding performers, including Nick Podehl, Roxanne Hernandez, Nancy Wu, and Marisol Ramirez. Each tells a complex personal tale of realization, coming out, communication with family and friends, struggles, and triumph through adversity. Each performer speaks in the gender of the person’s current self-identity, which is occasionally confusing, although a main narrator, reading Kuklin’s (No Choirboy) words as she conducted these interviews, provides context for each teen’s story. The teens are voiced in a totally believable way with various regional accents. They tell the stories as flawed but full human beings, and as they talk about bullying, mental health, clinical history, and problems with family and friends, listeners will be inspired by their lives. Unfortunately, neither the photographs from the book nor the interview with Dr. Silva, clinical director of the Health Outreach to Teens (HOTT) program in New York City, are included in the audio format.—Ann Brownson, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston –This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Kuklin’s book profiles six transgender teens in both their own words and the author’s excellent photographs. The result is a strikingly in-depth examination of the sometimes clinical complexities of being transgender, even as Kuklin’s empathy-inducing pictures put a human face on the experience. The profiles are evenly divided between FTM (female to male) and MTF (male to female) teens. Also represented are a variety of races and ethnicities, and included are one teen who is intersex and another who regards themself as pansexual (several of the teens choose to identify themselves with the gender-neutral pronouns they, them, and their). Though their experiences differ, the teens often stress that, as Kuklin puts it, “Gender is one variable in a person’s identity, and sexual orientation is another variable. The two are not connected.” Similarly, Kuklin makes clear that, despite the popular misconception, all trans teens are not gay. Further information is contained in an appended interview with Dr. Manel Silva, clinical director of the HOTT (Health Outreach to Teens) program at the New York City–based Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, which has served the needs of several of the profiled teens. Kuklin’s important new book brings welcome clarity to a subject that has often been obscure and gives faces—literally and metaphorically—to a segment of the teen population that has too long been invisible. Speaking with equal impact to both the reader’s heart and mind, Beyond Magenta is highly recommended. Grades 7-12.

New books have arrived to Young Adults shelves

Posted on October 27, 2014 by braniganteens

Jackaby by William Ritter

Newly arrived in 1892 New England, Abigail Rook becomes assistant to R.F. Jackaby, an investigator of the unexplained with the ability to see supernatural beings, and she helps him delve into a case of serial murder which, Jackaby is convinced, is due to a nonhuman creature.

Islands at the End of the World by Austin Aslan

Stranded in Honolulu when a strange cloud causes a worldwide electronics failure, sixteen-year-old Leilani and her father must make their way home to Hilo amid escalating perils, including her severe epilepsy.

Complete Nothing by Kieran Scott

True, also known as Eros, the Goddess of Love, tries to bring together a second pair of soul mates in her quest to return to Olympus and be reunited with her own true love, Orion.

Darkbound The Legacy of Moonset by Scott Tracey

Malcolm Denton hates being a witch and is at odds with his four Moonset coven siblings, but an alternative offered by a demon comes with dire consequences for Carrow Mill’s teens.

BZRK Apocalypse by Michael Grant

“In the concluding book in the BZRK trilogy, war is again being waged in the macro and the nano, and Lear’s identity is finally uncovered.

Sublime by Christina Lauren

Lucy and Colin discover they have a connection on the grounds of the private school they attend, but Lucy has a startling secret.

Accidental Highwayman by Ben Tripp

In eighteenth-century England, young Christopher “Kit” Bristol unwittingly takes on the task of his dead master, notorious highwayman Whistling Jack, who pledged a fairy he would rescue feisty Princess Morgana from an arranged marriage with King George III.

Strike by D. J. MacHale

While on the run from the SYLO team, Tucker, Tori and Kent are driven directly into another base of the invaders. They become prisoners, destined to be conditioned to forget their old lives and turn on one another to survive. Drawn to a mysterious dome unguarded in the midst of the base, what they discover will change everything they know about the war, their world, and themselves.

Very Bad Things by Susan McBride

When a photo of Katie’s popular boyfriend Mark having drunken sex with a tattooed girl at a party goes viral at their exclusive boarding school, Katie is devastated. Mark swears that he doesn’t remember anything. But Rose, the girl in the photo, is missing–and Katie receives a gruesome present in the mail: a badly wrapped severed hand with a red rose tattoo.

Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future by A. S. King

As her high school graduation draws near, Glory O’Brien begins having powerful and terrifying visions of the future as she struggles with her long-buried grief over her mother’s suicide.

New Graphic Novels have arrived

Posted on October 25, 2014 by braniganteens

Graveyard Book: Volume 2 by Neil Gaiman

Through the Woods by Emily Carroll

Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year 2 Volume 1 by Tom Taylor

Gears of War Vol 1 by Joshua Ortega

Gears of War Book 3 by Karen Traviss

New Books have arrived!

Posted on October 25, 2014 by braniganteens

Party Games: A Fear Street Novel by R. L. Stine

Despite her friend’s warning, Rachel is excited to attend Brendan Fear’s birthday party at his family’s estate on mysterious Fear Island, but soon someone introduces a game of murder and all of the guests are in danger.

Emergent by Rachel Cohn

Elysia has finally learned that she has a soul and although she knows it hurts Zhara, her First, that Alexander has chosen her as his life mate, Elysia cannot give him up and instead takes her place fighting by his side in the revolution of clones and humans against Denesme’s twisted regime.

Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White

An outcast since moving from her island home of Melei to the dreary country of Albion, Jessamin meets the gorgeous, enigmatic Finn who introduces her to the secret world of Albion’s nobility–a world of power, money, status, and magic–but Finn has a powerful enemy who only Jessamin can stop.

Ghosting by Edith Pattou

On a hot summer night in a midwestern town, a high school teenage prank goes horrifically awry. Alcohol, guns, and a dare. Within minutes, as events collide, innocents becomes victims–with tragic outcomes altering lives forever, a grisly and unfortunate scenario all too familiar from current real-life headlines. But victims can also become survivors, and as we come to know each character through his/her own distinctive voice and their interactions with one another, we see how, despite pain and guilt, they can reach out to one another, find a new equilibrium, and survive.

Aftershock by Mark Walden

Scheming, extorting, menacing and general evilness are nothing new in the world of villainy – indeed it’s expected. But there are codes of conduct. Until now. In an attempt to purge the Global League of Villainous Enterprises of its more destructive elements, Dr Nero has underestimated the cunning and resources of those who oppose him. Meanwhile, Otto and the rest of the Alpha stream have been sent to begin their most feared exercise: The Hunt, in the icy wastes of Siberia. But there is a traitor in their midst. The first strike against Nero will be a strike against the Alpha stream. Villain-kind is on the brink of civil war.

Blind: A Novel by Rachel DeWoskin

After a horrific accident leaves her blind, fifteen-year-old Emma, one of seven children, eagerly starts high school as a sophomore, and finds that nearly everything has changed–sometimes for the better.

Some Boys by Patty Blount

Shunned by her friends and even her father after she accuses the town golden boy of rape, Grace wonders if she can ever trust Ian, a classmate who is funny, kind, and has secrets of his own.

Found by Harlan Coben

Mickey Bolitar and his friends continue to investigate the Abeona Shelter, while Mickey searches for answers about his father’s tragic death.

Young Elites by Marie Lu

Adelina Amouteru survived the blood fever, a deadly illness that killed many, but left others with strange markings and supernatural powers. Cast out by her family, Adelina joins the secret society of the Young Elites and discovers her own dangerous abilities.