Dash and Lily's Book of Dares

Imagine you're in your favorite used book store perusing the titles from your favorite author. You notice a notebook tucked between the titles that looks like it doesn't belong. When you take it down to look at it, you realize it contains a dare. Following the dare and reciprocating leads to an adventure that takes two teens all around New York City and out of their comfort zones. Along the way, they learn the difference between what's on the page, the ideal, and reality. What a fun read!  Here's a link to a great book trailer about it.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gwo-XWm4MQk

Why We Broke Up

This book is not in our library at FMS.  It's rated for 9th grade and above.  Min Green has a book full of memories from her relationship with Ed Slaterton. When they break up, she decides to give him a box containing all of the mementos. As each item is presented, the story of their relationship unfolds with Min telling Ed the significance of each item. Because of the title, we know the unfortunate end of the relationship. For most of the book, we wonder how things could get to that point. Here is a couple that overcomes the typical popularity constraints that stifle most relationships and grows because of it. In the end, the reason they break up is that much more shocking because we as readers have watched the progression of a beautiful relationship. For me personally, I have boxes of mementos from previous relationships, so I had an added buy-in to the character. I loved the illustrations of each artifact. Great storytelling!

The Mark of Athena

Annabeth, Percy, Jason, Piper, Hazel, Frank, and Leo are off on their latest adventures. Now that the Greek and Roman camps know about each other, we hope they can work together to defeat Gaea. Alas, there seems to be another plan at work and forces unlike any the heroes have encountered before. Along the way, the heroes deal with a strange past that connects some of them, discover new abilities, rescue people (and some sea creatures) from impossible situations, and even meet Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn. Rick Riordan does it again with his great storytelling infusing new myths like the stories of Echo, Narcissus, and Arachne with the Greek and Roman gods he's already made us know and love.

Crank

This is definitely not a book for everyone.  Kristina is an average young lady.  She grew up with her mother, sister, and brother.  Even though her mother is remarried, things have been normal.  Then she goes to visit her dad.  Everything changes.  She discovers her inner wild child she names “Bree,” and Bree does all kinds of things Kristina would never do.  Bree breaks up a relationship and hooks up with a bad boy.  Bree tries crank and instantly gets addicted to walking with “the monster.”  The time spent at her dad’s changes Kristina’s life.  When she returns, the monster still calls to her.  She has to find new connections to get the crank she craves.  Bree insists on flirting with boys as well as disaster.  Things get worse and worse for Kristina as the addiction gets stronger.  To find out what happens, read Crank. 

Kristy's Great Idea Graphic Novel

In this first book in the series, three girls who have grown up together start new adventures.  They all babysit, but sometimes it can be challenging for parents in their town to line up a sitter.  Kristy gets the idea to create a Baby-sitters Club, where the three girls and a new girl named Stacey all gather with their schedules ready, and the parents only have to make one phone call to access four girls.  It follows their adventures from dog-sitting (something they decide the club doesn’t do) to getting to know Kristy’s potential step siblings.  Along the way, they learn a lot about baby-sitting and friendship.  I absolutely LOVED the Baby-sitters Club books as a kid.  I worked hard to collect all of the books, and they were proudly displayed on my bookshelf in my room.  It was interesting to see the graphic novel depictions of each of the beloved characters and to go back and relive the adventures of the girls. 

How They Croaked--The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous

This gruesome book covers 19 famous people, starting with their
accomplishments and how a case of not having the modern medical advances we sometimes take for granted. For example, the horrific measures they put George Washington through before he eventually died could have been avoided with a simple round of modern day antibiotics. After each person’s entry, ththey became famous and ending with the circumstances surrounding the person's death. Often, it was ere is a more informative section about the times in which the person lived or an aspect related to him/her. I’m not a huge fan of reading non-fiction, but I actually enjoyed the way this information was presented. It was full of sarcasm, which I find appealing

Revolution

Meet Andi Alpers.  Her brother is dead.  Her mother is locked in a world of sorrow, and her absent father might as well be dead.  Ever since the loss of her brother, Andi is surviving the best she can.  She takes medicine for the depression, but nothing truly satiates the pain but music.  Though she’s capable, her grades start to fall, and the
school alerts her father.  He whisks her mother off to a psychiatric hospital and Andi to France, where he expects her to work on a thesis she must write to graduate.  It is the discovery of a diary written during the French Revolution and a boy she met playing her guitar near the Eiffel Tower that interests Andi much more than her paper.  Through Alex’s story of her affection for the royal family, specifically Louis Charles, readers get a first-hand account of the events of the French Revolution.  Through Alex and with some support along the way from Virgil and even possibly some adventures in time travel, Andi is finally able to cope with the loss of her brother, who looked strikingly similar to the young prince. I loved the story within a story aspect that was present with following Andi in present times and following Alex in the past through her diary.  The way the two stories came together in the end was a great ending.  It was a very unusual way to tell a story, but it sure captivated me.