I Become Shadow

Ren Sharpe is a shadow.  When she was fourteen, a secret government program kidnapped her from her bedroom, convinced the world she was dead, and began training her to protect someone who will become important in the future.  In their defense, she would have died in a few months anyway.

A few years ago, a super powerful satellite somehow managed to reveal not just crystal clear images of earth but earth in about forty years.  Since then, F.A.T.E. has been kidnapping and training teens who would've died in the regular course of their lives to protect people who will be important for one reason or another--political leaders, scientists, etc.

This training has turned Ren and her friend Junie into killing machines.  To complicate matters, Ren has developed feelings for Junie that could only get in the way.  As soon as the training is over, she will probably never see him again anyone, so what's the point?

Once she is linked to her F.I.P. (future important person), she feels an intense longing to be near him.  Gareth is an engineering student at Texas A&M, so F.A.T.E. sets Ren up as his neighbor.  She's not supposed to interact with him, just to watch over and protect him.  But, of course, things go sideways, and Ren and Gareth soon find themselves in a battle of life and death with no idea who to trust.

Joe Shine's debut novel is full of action, and I can definitely see a lot of people enjoying it.  For me, it was difficult to overcome some of the nagging plot holes, and the bizarre opening trip to the gynecologist that had nothing to do with the rest of book.

MiNRS

Christopher believes in the Great Mission he and the other people on Perses are fulfilling.  They've left an earth with depleted resources to mine an asteroid in orbit around the sun.  Life is pretty good until the blackout.

When the sun blocks communication with earth, a raiding party attacks killing almost everyone instantly.  Now Christopher and the surviving children must find a way to stay alive, and their best hope is in the mines.

Christopher's best friend Elena wants to strike against the Landers, but Christopher disagrees.  They have no weapons.  They just need to survive until the blackout is over and then they can signal earth for rescue.

But what if the Landers don't just want to steal the ore and leave?  What if they want to destroy all the evidence they were ever on Perses in the first place?  Maybe Elena was right.  Maybe it is a fight or die situation.

Kevin Sylvester's new book was a page turning thrill ride!  My only complaint is that the kids act older than their assigned ages, but just put that out of your mind and enjoy the adventure.  You will not be able to put this one down!

The Lost Planet

Chase Garrety knows nothing when he wakes up in a field on Trucon.  Heck, he doesn't even know he's on Trucon or what his name is until someone tells him later.  He has a major head wound, and now he's recuperating in a huge with some kid named Parker who appears to be completely unsupervised except for an android named Mina.  Who is Chase, and where did he come from?

When Chase and Parker break out of their prison/home for a little fun on a nearby planet, disaster strikes.  The planet is destoryed!  Now the boys don't know where to go or what to do.

They pick up a man floating in space hoping he is alive, but Maurus has his own secrets, and the boys are now drawn into his story.  They travel to distant planets trying to outrun police, and high ranking men with evil plots all while trying to figure out who Chase really is.

Oh, and one more thing.  Chase discovers he has a special talent.  He is not a normal human boy, and that talent could lead to his doom or his salvation.

Rachel Searles's book is a fast paced sci-fi adventure!

Fuzzy Mud

When Tamaya and Marshall take a "shortcut" through the woods to avoid a bully on their way home from school one day, their lives are changed forever.  Soon they are hopelessly lost, and the bully, Chad, is closing in.  To defend herself and Marshall, Tamaya scoops up a handful of strange fuzzy mud and throws it in Chad's face.

It's only later when they are home that Tamaya realizes there is something strange going on.  Her hand feels tingly and is covered in a rash that is getting worse by the minute.

This story is inter-cut with excerpts from senate hearings on a new fuel source called bioline.  It's make of tiny microorganisms to double at an alarming rate.

Now it's a race against time to see if the characters realize the truth and get help before it's too late.

Read Louis Sachar's new book for a terrifying sci-fi mystery that seems all too plausible.

Stitching Snow

Essie has been eking out an existence on the frozen mining colony of Thanda.  She survives among the rough miners by repairing and improving drones and other equipment for the mines, but even that is not enough to protect her.  She earns extra money by cage fighting, and it doesn't hurt that the skills she's learned in those fights helps her keep any men with ideas at a distance.  Her only friends are the seven drones she's upgraded to think and work independently and Petey, the soft hearted bar owner.

Her life changes when a shuttle crash lands near her home.  She saves the pilot, a handsome off-worlder who says is looking for treasure.  The damaged ship is a more challenging puzzle for Essie than anything in the mines, so she volunteers to help him repair his ship.

A chance moment reveals Essie's secret to Dane, and she soon realizes she is the treasure he is seeking.  Eight years ago, Princess Snow disappeared from her home on Windsong.  Everyone believed she was kidnapped, and unbeknownst to her, her disappearance sparked a war that has lasted these eight years.

But Essie has more secrets than just her identity.  She wasn't kidnapped; she ran away.  Now Dane has kidnapped her for real and they are hurtling through space and back to her deadly home on Windsong.

But this will not be a straight forward journey for Essie or Dane.  As secrets come to light, the two will grow closer, and there will be no easy decisions.

The time has finally come for Essie to face the truth about her past, her future, and the gentle awakening of her heart.

R.C. Lewis's book is a sci-fi version of Snow White that is fast paced and engrossing.  But be warned, the Evil Queen in Disney's version of the story has nothing on Essie's father and step-mother in this story.  Highly recommended!

The Fourteenth Goldfish

Sixth grade isn't going so well for Ellie.  Her best friend is now obsessed with volleyball and has less time for Ellie, but Ellie has yet to find the thing she is passionate about.  She's not artistic like her divorced parents.  Her mother is a former actor turned school counselor, and her father still makes his living as a professional actor. They've tried to make Ellie into an actor, but it just isn't her thing.

Her world is in for a crazy turn when her mother comes home late one night with an odd 13 year old boy named Melvin who turns out to be her long lost grandfather.  Melvin has been working on the cure to aging his entire life, and he's finally found success with some odd consequences.  No one believes he's the real Melvin; he's just a kid.  Now that he's a kid again, the law thinks Melvin needs supervision, and all the conflict Ellie's artistic mother has had with her scientist father come home to roost.  Now Melvin is the same bossy and stubborn old man he was before but in the body of a kind of cute teenager!

As Ellie begins helping Melvin recover his formula, she discovers something about herself.  Ellie loves science, too!  Is the world ready for the cure to aging?  Read Jennifer L. Holm's new book to find out!  I really enjoyed this one--fun and thoughtful!

The Young Elites

When Adelina was a child the blood fever swept across the land killing many and leaving others marked.  Adelina, like many other survivors is a Malfetto.  She lost her left eye to the fever, her skin bears strange markings, and her hair and eyelashes turned from brown to silvery white.

The Malfettos are are outcasts in Kenettra.  Many people believe they are demons from the underworld.  While the Malfettos are scorned, some of them have new abilities.  These young Elites each have some kind of ability to control the natural world.

Adelina has always been a Malfetto, hated and cruelly treated by her father.  When her father decides to sell her to an older man, she runs away, and for the first time, she realizes she too is an Elite.

Adelina has the power to create illusions.  She could become a powerful asset to the Daggers, a group of Elites who take her in.  But many of the Daggers are wary of Adelina's power and the growing darkness in her heart.  As she struggles to control her powers, the darkness grows within her.

Everyone wants Adelina for a purpose, and she is caught in the middle of a dangerous game with enemies on all sides.  There are many who want to use her power, but does anyone want Adelina for herself?

Marie Lu's new series opener was a thrilling read.  I'm still trying to decide how I feel about it.  This is no straight forward tale, but a story of darkness and betrayal.  Recommended for fans of anti-heroes.

In the After

Amy is home alone watching TV when it happens.  A spaceshift.  Horrible green creatures with razor sharp talons and teeth.  They are so terrifying and so fast.  It doesn't take long for them to decimate the population.  The worst part is the screaming.  They eat their victims alive.

Amy is alone.  She doesn't even know if there are any other survivors.  She doesn't want to venture out of her haven.  She mourns in silence so They won't hear her and come running.  She's safe for a long time.  Her dad was pretty much a hippy who kept the pantry stocked with food storage and the roof top garden thriving.  The solar panels are great, too, because it only takes a few days before the power goes out.

Her mother's paranoia protects Amy, too.  Without that electric fence surrounding the house, she'd probably be dead by now.  The shock is enough to keep the creatures out.  They aren't smart, just hungry.

After a while the food storage runs out, and Amy learns how to scavenge for food and stay safe from Them.  It is on one of these trips that she finds Baby.  Baby is so little, maybe three, and she doesn't talk, but she's plenty smart.  The two girls live alone for several years in silence.  It's seems too good to be true, and their solitary time eventually runs out.  As they venture out into the After, they will face dangers old and new, and in this new nightmare world it's hard to know who to trust.

I could not put Demitria Lunetta's debut novel down.  It is fascinating and terrifying.  Highly recommended!

Space Case

The year is 2040, and Dash and his family are part of the team on Moon Base Alpha.  They are the first humans to live on the moon.  Sounds awesome, right?

It is...except for the incredible small size of the base, the horror of rehydrated food, and the toilets that just insist on breaking.  The only other kid his age is addicted to video games, and spends all his time in the virtual world.  Life is pretty boring for a kid in space, but everything changes when Dr. Holtz dies.  Everyone insists it was an accident, but Dash believes there is something more sinister going on.

When he insists Dr. Holtz's death was murder, he's ordered to be quiet and stay in his apartment, so Dash decides to do some secret investigating on his own.  He has help from Kira, a new arrival on MBA and a normal kid he can finally talk to, and Zan Perfonic, another new arrival who knew Dr. Holtz.

Will Dash and Kira discover the truth, or will they become victims themselves?  Read Stuart Gibbs's new book to find out!  This is another great book, by a fun author.  It has all the things that make the FunJungle books except we are in space instead of at a zoo.  Highly recommended for mystery fans!

Atlantia

Rio has lived her entire life below in Atlantia.  Many years ago when the above became too polluted, humanity found a solution.  They built the underwater city of Atlantia, and some were chosen to live there to increase humanity's chances of survival.  Some where chosen to stay above to live in the polluted world and send food and supplies below.

Rio has always dreamed of going above, but when her mother died she promised her sister, Bay, she would stay below with her.  But Rio is shocked when Bay chooses to go above and leave her sister alone in Atlantia.  It is at this moment that Rio reveals her secret.  She is a siren.  Her true voice can bend people to her will, but she has kept this power a secret all her life to stay out of the hands of the council and those who would use her for their own ends.

It is only after Bay is gone that Rio begins to explore more of Atlantia where she comes in contact with her Aunt Mer, a powerful siren.  Rio isn't sure she can trust her aunt or the disturbing truths she learns about Atlantia.

One thing is for certain.  Rio will find a way to get above even if her feelings get more confused every day.  Atlantia is more dangerous than she ever imagined especially for a siren living in the shadows.  But she is also in danger of losing her heart to True, the clever boy who wants to protect her.

Ally Condie's new book has a similar feel to the Matched trilogy, and you will definitely enjoy Atlantia if you liked the first series.

Undivided

Umm...Wow!  This series is amazing!  First, that cover is awesome.  Second, this whole series is just mind blowing.  I have to say this is the most disturbing book in the series by far, but I can't help but think that was Neal Shusterman's plan from the beginning.

Lev feels lost.  He began life as a devoted tithe, but once that illusion was finally shattered he was scooped up by the clappers.  When he didn't follow through with nihilistic terrorism, he finds himself on an Arapache reservation.  He is looking for a purpose for his life.  He needs all those narrow escapes to mean something, and he won't stop until he finds that purpose.

Starkey becomes more power hungry with each passing day, and it doesn't matter who gets hurt as long as long as he is a thorn in the side of the unwinding machine.  Now the clapper organization is funding the Stork Brigade with food, weapons, and clappers.  Starkey rules with an iron fist, but what will he do when the storks start thinking for themselves?

Nelson's one ambition since the Akron AWOL turned his own tranq gun on him has been to take that kid down claim Conner Lassiter's eyes for his own.  He's closer than ever as he takes his new apprentice Argent to meet the most heinous parts pirate in the system.

Conner has discovered something that Proactive Citizenry thought they'd destroyed, an organ printer.  If he can get this information public with the right company, one that's big enough to do something and small enough to not be part of Proactive Citizenry, he hopes he can change the way people think about unwinding.  But he has to make a stop first.  He has to go back where it all started and try to make peace before he can make change.

Risa and Conner are finally back together, but his desire to reconnect with his past may threaten their future.

Cam is trying to move forward since giving himself up to protect Risa.  Now that he's back in the Proactive Citizenry compound, he is disillusioned and distrustful.  With a little searching, he uncovers the horrifying truth about their plans for the future, and he knows he's the only one who can stop it.

My only real complaint about this final book is that Risa plays only a token roll.  Yes, Una has an active part, but what about Risa?  We need more girl power!

That said, the story is amazing, and the way Shusterman fits all the pieces together is mind-blowing.  Kudos, Mr. Shusterman, Kudos.

Contaminated

Velvet lives in a world of monsters.  She used to think all that horror movie stuff was a joke, but that was before the first wave, before thousands of people suddenly turned into mindlessly violent creatures.  Connies--short for contaminated.

ThinPro protein water was the most popular diet drink in the country.  People were drinking it everywhere.  It wasn't until after the second wave when Connies were rounded up to be experimented on that scientists discovered the truth.  The protein in the water was contaminated causing a mad cow effect on humans.  Many people know someone contaminated.

For Velvet it's both her parents, and now she is left to take care of her little sister, make ends meet, and try to finish high school.  Add to that the stress of the unaccounted for Connies still living in some remote areas.

Most of the Connies have been rounded up and neutralized with collars that send shocks to their brains to control their violent urges.  These Connies live in kennels like animals waiting for family members to claim them.  Most don't.  Even though they aren't violent anymore, they are like dementia patients.  They can't talk, they need help going to the bathroom and feeding themselves, and they have to be tied up to keep them from wandering off.

But Velvet is different.  When she finally finds her mother, she brings her home where she faces violence and prejudice.  But Velvet is convinced her mom is different.  If she can just get her back into a familiar routine, maybe her mom's brain will be able to repair itself.

Even as Velvet is struggling with all the responsibility of caring for her family, more contaminated are starting to appear.  Is this the beginning of a new wave?  And how will she be able to protect her family and survive in a world gone mad?

This is was a great sci-fi thriller.  There are plenty of dystopian elements with just enough horror to keep you on edge!  Read Em Garner's new book for a new take on zombies.  I already ordered the sequel!

Fallout

This is a compelling "what if" story.  During the 1960's the United States and Russia were stockpiling nuclear weapons in an effort to intimidate each other.  This all came to a head during the Bay of Pigs crisis when Russia placed missiles in Cuba aimed at the United States.  In reality, both sides backed down, and nuclear catastrophe was avoided.

Fallout is Todd Strasser's imagining of what might have happened if Russia had dropped the bomb.

Scott's dad decides to build a bomb shelter in the back yard just in case.  This causes a lot of laughter and derision from his neighbors who don't think World War III is going to happen, but Scott's dad just wants to be prepared.

When it does happen, those same people who laughed at his family are fighting their way into the shelter.  But Scott's father has only stocked enough food for four people.  Can ten people survive on food for four long enough for the radiation levels to drop?  To make matters worse, Scott's mother slipped when she was climbing into the shelter and smacked her head on the ground.  Now she seems to be in a coma, and there is a lot of blood.

Scott has never seen the adults in his neighborhood fight before, but being locked in the shelter is bringing out the worst in everyone.  Underneath the fighting and the hunger is the nagging thought of all the people who probably didn't survive.  The book alternates between the present in the shelter and the past in the months leading up to the bomb.  This puts the loss of all the friends and teachers who were part of Scott's life before in context.

This would be a great book for discussion and an interesting paring with The Diary of Anne Frank.

Across a Star-Swept Sea

Persis Blake is the flirtatious, ornamental, and obsessed with fashion.  She's also the best friend to Princess Isla, ruler of Albion.  But everyone knows Persis is the girl you call when you need advice on fashion, flirting, and parties.  Everyone knows Peris Flake.

That's why it's the perfect cover.  In public Persis plays a foolish rich girl.  In private she is the Wild Poppy, leader of a league of spies who risk life and limb on rescue missions to the neighboring island of Galatea.

Long ago the world and all it's inhabitants where nearly destroyed.  A small number of people escaped by going into orbit around the planet.  When they landed, two kingdoms developed.  The working class on both islands was made of reduced.  People with limited mental capacity due to generations of genetic manipulation.  Know a woman named Persistence Helo has created cure, and there on no more reduced.

On Albion, the ruling class and the regs are learning to mix together and change centuries of class division.  On Galatea, the ruling class remained intent on repressing the regs to maintain their own power.  This has led to a violent revolution where Citizen Aldred is capturing aristos and subjecting them to chemical reduction and forced labor.  To Citizen Aldred, all aristos are bad.

This is where Persis comes in.  With a variety of disguises, the Wild Poppy and her team snatch aristos from Aldred's clutches.  Things get complicated when Justen Helo, grandson of Persistence and foster son of Citizen Aldred himself shows up saying he has become disillusioned with the revolution.

At the urging of Princess Isla, Justen and Persis embark on false romance to explain his presence in Albion.  The grows ever more dangerous for Persis as she must fool this boy even as she unexpected begins to develop feelings for him.  Are Justen's motives as pure as he purports, or is he hiding secrets from Persis, too?

This companion novel to For Darkness Shows the Stars is a sci-fi adaption of one of my favorite classics, The Scarlet Pimpernel.  It's full of adventure, romance, and betrayal.  What's not to love?!  I hope Diana Perfreund will continue the series based on my favorite classics!

The Testing

It's graduation day for Cia, and all she can think about being chosen for Testing.  If she doesn't make the cut, she will have no choices for further education.  She will simply have to chose a job and stick with it.
So when she hears the news that she has been chosen, she is overjoyed.  If she passes all the tests, she will get to study at the university just like her father did.  The night before she is to leave, her father takes her aside and gives her a vague warning.  He can't really remember anything about his testing, but he does have nightmare of blood and violence.  The only help he can offer is to be careful.

This puts her on edge, but once a student has been chosen, she must follow through.  Besides, Cia still wants the chance to learn more.

The initial phase of testing seems normal enough, but soon things become deadly, and the candidates turn on one another.  Who can Cia trust as tries to survive the most dangerous test of her life?

Cia knows the government is just trying to find the best leaders for the future, but each test leads her to question the system even more, and she has a terrible feeling that failure is not an option.

Fans of The Hunger Games and Divergent will enjoy Joelle Charbonneau's fast-paced dystopian thriller.

The Maze Runner

OK, I confess I'm a bad librarian, and I just now read The Maze Runner for the first time, and I was motivated by the movie.  The important thing is that I finally did read it, and it was a great twisty ride.  If you haven't read this series by James Dashner, what are you waiting for?  You only have a few more months until the movie comes out!

When Thomas wakes up in dark elevator car, he can't remember anything but his name.  He has no idea where he came from or where he is, but he quickly learns he is in The Glade, a large open area surrounded by the heavy stone walls of a shifting maze.  The other gladers, all boys, have jobs to keep the society moving, and there is definitely a power structure.  Thomas feels inexplicably drawn to the maze.

He wants to be one of the runners who go out every day to explore and map the maze.  It's a difficult job with a time limit.  Every night the walls of the maze slide shut keeping the gladers out and the grievers in.  Grievers are large creatures with stingers and metallic arms.  Occasionally, they will get a glader outside the maze.  Their sting is incredibly painful and deadly if not treated immediately.

Soon after Thomas's arrival, something strange happens.  A girl arrives.  She comes with a message that everything is about to change, and then falls into a coma.

Some of the boys have been suspicious of Thomas from the start, and the arrival of the girl only makes things worse.  His urgency to get into the maze only increases.  He believes there is a way to escape even if the others insist they've tried everything.

As the action heats up, the world of the glade gets more dangerous, and Thomas's compulsion to escape the maze intensifies.  It's clear that they must escape, but no one knows how many gladers will die in the process.

Dangerous

Maisie has lived a pretty sheltered life.  Her mom home schools her, and her only real friend is another home schooler named Luther.  Her world is small.  It seems like a huge joke that her middle name is Danger.  She's a science wiz, and her life long dream is to be an astronaut.  As difficult as that dream would be normally, for Maisie it is practically impossible.  She was born without a right hand.

When she finds a contest to win a spot at a space camp run by one of the greatest minds in space exploration, she thinks her dreams have come true.  She has a great time at the camp, and she even starts a camp romance with the super-hot and super-rich Wilder.

But there is more going on here than Maisie realizes, and a close encounter with alien technology changes everything.  Soon Maisie Danger Brown may the earth's only hope against an invading force.

I can't really give you too many details about Shannon Hale's new book because I don't want to ruin any of the surprises.  This is a bit of an experiment for Hale whose other books are fantasy novels.  Hale is one of my favorite authors, and I was excited to read this one.  It takes a bit to really get going, but once it does, it's a great ride!

Tesla's Attic

I love Neal Shusterman as I'm sure you know if you've been reading this blog for any amount of time.  It only takes a couple of pages in this new series starter co-written with Eric Elfman to figure out why.  As with all Shusterman's books, it's clear from the beginning that this is not your average story.  It is his skill with character and plot which transforms what could be a ho-hum story into a clever and surprising tale of friendship, honesty, and long ago scientific rivalries.  Who else could this?

Nick has just moved to Colorado Springs with his father and younger brother Danny following the tragedy that destroyed his home and killed his mother.  The family is still reeling from this loss, and they've moved from Florida in part to escape and in part because the ancient house left to them by a relative is the only housing option they have.

When Nick decides to use the attic as her bedroom, he knows he'll need to have a garage sale to get rid of all the junk that's been hidden there for ages.  But once he gets rid of them, he realizes they are not just ordinary objects.  That may look like an innocent toaster, but when Nick tries to use it, it blows out all the lights in the room.  Did I mention it doesn't even plug into the wall?  And that's the tamest of the objects.

Soon after the stuff is gone, guys in suits show up to demand the items and immediately put Nick on edge.  He knows that stuff is more than it seems.  He also seems to know instinctively that the the white suit guys should not get there hands on any of it.

With a little research, he learns that he and friends are in the middle of an ages old battle between Tesla and Edison.  Not only are they endangered from Edison's modern day followers, but Nick has unwittingly set off a chain events that could destroy the entire planet!  

Cress

This is the third book in Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles series.  It's not a surprise that I love this series!  Fairy tales plus science fiction equals awesome!  The only problem is the fourth book has been pushed to a November 2015 publication date.  That's over a year away!  Why?!  I hope it's worth the wait.  There is a bonus book coming out in January that appears to be the requisite before-she-was-evil story about our villain, Queen Levana, so I guess that will have to tide me over.

Cress was born a Lunar shell, but her early prowess with hacking and technology is anything but a plus.  She's spent the last seven years alone in a satellite doing the bidding of Queen Levana's Thaumaturge, Sybil Mira.  As far as Sybil knows, Cress obeys her every order, most recently tracking the fugitive Linh Cinder.  Instead, Cress has been protecting Cinder and team of fugitives from detection by hacking into satellite feeds.

When Cinder finally makes contact, the fugitives decide to rescue Cress, but everything goes wrong when Sybil shows up at the same time.  This disastrous rescue attempt divides the team into three parts and no one is sure of the survival of any of the other members.

Despite the loss of her friends, Cinder knows she has to stay focused on keeping Levana away from earth and preventing her marriage to Kai.  Will she have the courage and strength of will to take her place as a Lunar princess?

Cress picks up right where Scarlet left off, and the action moves forward swiftly.  This is another great entry into the series, and fairy tale fans will enjoy picking out the elements of the Rapunzel story in Cress's tale.  I highly recommend this series.  It is sci-fi action, romance, political intrigue, and plenty of fairy tale extras!

A Matter of Days

When the BluStar pandemic kills 98% of the world's population, Nadia must travel from Seattle to West Virginia with her little brother, Rabbit.  The siblings secretly received vaccines from their uncle before the disease spread across the globe.

Now they will journey across a wasteland of looted homes and businesses and the remains of the dead who had no one left to bury them.  They will battle disease, hunger, wild animals, and survivors in a world without rules where only the strongest can survive.

Along the way, they will pick up a ragtag group of companions.  They will have to use everything their military father taught them to survive and discover strength they never knew they had in a world where none of the old rules and preconceived notions apply.

Read Amber Kizer's thrilling new novel about pandemic survival.  I could not put this book down.  It's a fast-paced thriller from beginning to end!