The Air We Breathe by Christa Parrish

This is a story of healing and hope and how God works in the lives of Molly and Claire who have both lived through traumatic experiences and come out damaged, frightened and lonely.  As God brings them together, they help one another to heal and go on with their lives. 

The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson

I was a bit disappointed with this book. After being a strong leader of a rebel group, Elisa becomes a weak queen. I found that a bit annoying although I realize that she is only 17 years old. She struggles to rule her country and learns more about the godstone and goes on a quest to find it's source of power. A romance blooms betweeh Elisa and Hector, who goes on the quest with her and others. There will be another book in the series since this one ends with a cliffhanger. I did enjoy the book even though Elisa seemed a bit to wimpy as a queen.

The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

Once again, Riordan came through with a totally fantastic book. It carries on with the humor found in the other books in this series which I really enjoy. In this book, Annabeth must follow the Mark of Athena, a task which none of her other siblings were able to fulfill, resulting in their deaths. Nico is trapped and they have to save him before he dies, and the Greek and Roman contingents meet - and Gaea causes it to be contetious. Percy and Jason are both leaders - can they work together? Leo feels like a seventh wheel and Piper worries about her relationship with Jason. Lots of fighting, near misses, Gods, Goddesses and demigods and monsters abound in this action packed story.

The Secret Desires of a soccer mom by Robyn Harding

This is a cute, funny, lighthearted suburban mom murder mystery.
I liked it.

Starters by Lissa Price

YA. Dystopian. Teen. Some romance. Evil adults. Youth taken advantage of. Old people pay to live through the bodies of young people. Some fighting. People are not who you think they are. The end. No, not the end. This is just book #1. There will be at least one more. Ok.

3 Below: A Floors Novel by Patrick Carman

This sequel to Floors is set a year after Leo has been made owner of the Whippet hotel. He and Remi, who is now his brother since Leo's dad married Remi's mom, have another zany adventure, this time to save the hotel by paying it's back taxes. Ms. Sparks is the evil villianess and the Yancy family is back. Leo and Remy discover many more of the hotel's incredible secrets in the sub basement. Monkeys, gears, Flart and Floogers and more abound in this fantastically fun fantasy!

Ordinary Magic by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway

Abby is 12 years old and it is her time to be judged to see how much magic she has. Suprisingly, she fails. She is an ord. Ordinary. No magic at all. Ords are shunned and seen as less than human, but are also valued for their ability to not be affected by magic. Ord children have been sold for years, but that is now illegal under King Steve's rule. Abby is kicked out of school and goes to a school for ords that her older sister works at. She meets other ords and they are taught to fight the dangers that they face.
There are some odd inconsistencies, but I think children may like this book.

Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross

This is a twisted fairy tale full of gruesomeness, death, heartache, and romance. Mira is almost 16 years old. She has been raised by her godmothers because her parents had died when she was an infant. Her godmothers had forbidden her from doing many things including visiting the city of her birth. In a desperate act of rebellion, Mira runs away to Beau Rivage to find her parents graves. Instead she finds two brothers who she loves at a casino and a city full of people with fairy tale curses. Will their curses be their destiny? Mira wants to try to change things. Will she? Uber fun great story!

The Stone Child by Dan Poblocki

This is a fun, scarey book for kids in grades 4-8. Eddie and his parents move to the small town of Gatesweed where his favorite author of scarey novels, Nathaniel Olmstead, used to live - until he mysteriously disappeared 13 years ago. Now the town is cursed and the monsters from Mr. Olmstead's books seem to exist for real. Eddie makes friends with Harris and Maggie and together they try to solve the code they find in a handwritten book by Mr. Olmstead that Eddie's parents had bought at an antique sale. Can they save the town from the mysterious and evil Woman In Black? This is a wonderfully creepy story that kids love. I know, because I was reading the book in a middle school today and some 6th graders told me how great the book is.

The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore

Yet another uber cool teen sci-fi thriller! Four and Sam leave with Six who can turn invisible and create storms. Both Sam and Four are crushing on Six. They fight lots of aliens, practice fighting aliens, run from aliens, and we also meet Seven, Nine, and Ten.
Seven is Marina, living in a convent in Spain, where she later meets a little girl named Ella. Sam finds out that his father really was helping the Loriens and was even cooler than Sam had thought before. Great book! Can't wait to read the next ones!

The Kill Order by James Dashner

The author uses this book to explain some of the background of the history in his Maze Runner series. He tells about the sun flares and the apocalyptic results of that - radiation, death, floods, fires, panic. This part of the story is all told a year later by Mark in the form of his flashback nightmares. Currently, a year after the sun flares, Mark and some of his survivor friends are eeking out an existence in a small village that they built. Until people come and shoot darts at them causing instant death in some, and insanity in others which eventually leads to death. Mark and Alec and Trina and Lena set out to find out who did this to them and why. We thus learn the origins of the flare virus. I did not like this book as much as the others. There is a whole lot of Mark being angry and fighting people. A lot. I started skimming over those parts to try to find the plot. There is more of Mark being angry and fighting than there is plot.

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

Totally cool sci-fi book for teens! Number 4, is 15 years old. He is one of 9 young aliens, one of the Garde, from the planet Lorian who were sent off in a spaceship along with their adult Cepans - caretakers and trainers who help them as their superhuman Legacys - skills develop when their home planet Lorien was destroyed. The Garde need to survive to fight off the Magadorians who have destroyed their planet and Lorien and have now targeted the planet earth. They live among us hidden, disguised as humans learning our culture so that they can more easily destroy us.
Together with his faithful dog Bernie and his first ever girlfriend, the gorgeous Sarah, his geeky friend Sam and his Cepan, Henri, John Smith, (number Four's current alias)must save himself and the remaining Garde, the planet earth, and live to re-populate Lorien.
Slightly remnicient of Men In Black and the Daniel X books, this book will surely appeal to teenagers. I am passing it on to my 13 year old son next. Can't wait to read the others in the series!

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

So, now that Sam is "cured" from his werewolfism, Grace has become a wolf. Shelby, the insane white wolf has killed again and Isabel's dad has organized an arial wolf hunt to take care of the problem once and for all. Can Isabel, Cole, Grace and Sam save the wolves?

Life and death
change and hope
more bad poetry
Cole makes dope
Who's the bad guy?
Wolf or man?
Beck was wrong
for harming Sam
Wolves in winter
summer not
must be people
when it's hot
What's the ending?
Where do they go?
Read the book
if you want to know.

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

I still have no idea why this book is titled "linger". Grace's parents finally wise up and realize that she and Sam are spending too much time together. Grace is disturbingly ill - because she is sick from the wolf virus or whatever it is. Cole, one of Beck's newly made wolfs becomes a major character - a rock star who wanted to be a wolf to escape from life - and Isabel is strangely attracted to him. There is lots of angst between Grace and her parents and Cole, who apparantly is a genius son of a scientist/doctor, tries to figure out how the whole werewolf thing works before it kills Grace.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Paranormal.
Teen.
Romance.
Up north.
Woods.
Werewolves.
Sound familiar? (Twilight)
When Grace was 11, she was mauled by wolves who wanted to eat her.
One wolf with yellow eyes saved her.
Ever since then, she has been obsessed (Twilight) with wolves.
She watches the wolves from her yard in the winter and listens to their howls at night.
She looks for the yellow eyes and listens for the distinctive howl of her wolf.
Now Grace is 17. (Twilight)
A boy, Jack, from her school is killed by wolves.
His body mysteriously disappears from the morgue.
Grace sees a wolf with Jack's eyes.
She is convinced that Jack is now that wolf.
Her best friend Olivia thinks she is overly obsessed and crazy.
Olivia should have believed her.
The men of the town try to hunt down and shoot the wolves.
Grace tries to save them.
Gunshots ring out.
A bleeding boy with her wolf's eyes and a gunshot wound shows up at Grace's door.
His name is Sam.
Grace's self-absorbed parents never even notice that there is now a teenage boy living in their daughter's bedroom.
Romance.
Intrigue.
Mystery.
Bad poetry.
Still, a good book. I look forward to reading the other two books in this trilogy

The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind by Meg Medina

Sixteen-year-old Sonia Ocampo lived in the town of Tres Montes. The people in her town believed that she had protective powers and they paid her with silver milagros to pray for them.
When a boy who she prays for dies, she realizes that her prayers are no better than anyone else's. Weary of everyone else's burdens, she takes the opportunity to leave town and work in the city.
Her older brother has also left town to try to find work and she learns that he is in danger.
Can she and Pancho, the boy who loves her, save her brother?
It is an interesting story.

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

Aza, who lives in the kingdom of Ayortha, where everyone sings, is ugly, but she has a beautiful voice. When she is 15, she learns how to throw her voice and calls this skill illusing. Aza winds up at the castle for the king's wedding, befriends the new queen who cannot sing well and is bribed into illusing a lovely voice for queen Ivi.
Aza finds a magic mirror and beauty potion, but learns that the prince loves the way she looked before she took the potion. Embroilled in the plot of the evil magic mirror, Aza learns that beauty without does not equal beauty within. This is a lovely story that is loosely based on the story of Snow White.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

I read this book because this week is banned book week and this is a book that has often been banned.  I can see why. This is the story of Humbert Humbert, a pedophile obsessed with little girls, who moves into a house as a renter, and marries the owner , Charlotte, because he is in love with her 12 year old daughter, Lolita, who he refers to as a nymphet.  When Charlotte is hit by a car and killed, Humbert runs off with Lolita on a cross country trip with her, while telling himself that she was the one who seduced him first.  I enjoyed the first part of the story - it is well written and full of humor and irony.  I especially liked the tale of how his first wife died.  However, once Humbert runs off with Lolita, the story gets more and more icky and insane and honestly, I found it boring.