Saturday, September 17, 2011

The Amanda Project by Amanda Valentino, Melissa Kantor

Details
Publisher:  HarperTeen (2009)
Pages:  288
Content:  L- Moderate, S- None, V- Mild
Recommended Age:  13+
Source:  Dorchester County Library


Back Cover Description
When enigmatic freshman Amanda Valentino arrived at Endeavor High, she chose three people--Callie, Hal, and Nia--to guide her through the choppy waters of her new school.  Except she didn't tell them about each other.  When Amanda leaves, the three must reluctantly work toghter to figure out why.  But once they start piecing together the cryptic clues that Amanda herself is leaving for them, they realize that everything they thought they knew about her is false.  The more they dig, the mystery of where--and who--Amanda is deepens.

Rating
2.5/5

The Frenzy by Francesca Lia Block

Details
Publisher:  HarperTeen (2010)
Pages:  258
Content:  L- Moderate, S- Yes, V- Moderate
Recommended Age:  16+
Source:  Dorchester County Library


Front Flap Description
Liv has a secret.
   Something happened to her when she was thirteen.  Something that changed everything.  Liv knows she doesn't belong anymore--not in her own skin, not in her family . . . not anywhere.  The only time she truly feels like herself is when she's with her boyfriend, Corey, and in the woods that surround her town.
   But in the woods, a mysterious woman watches Liv.  In the woods, a pack of wild boys lurks.  In the woods, Liv learns about the curse that will haunt her forever.  The curse that caused the frenzy four years ago.  And that may cause it again, all too soon.
   While Corey and Liv's love binds them together, Liv's dark secret threatens to tear them apart as she struggles to understand who--or what--she really is.  And by the light of the full moon, the most dangerous secrets bare their claws.

Rating
2/5

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Details
Publisher:  HarperTeen (2011)
Pages:  441
Content:  L- Moderate, S-  Kissing, partial nudity,  V- Moderate
Recommended Age:  14+
Source:  Dorchester County Library


Front Flap Description
Ninety-five days, and then I'll be safe.  I wonder whether the procedure will hurt.  I want to get it over with.  It's hard to be patient.  It's hard not to be afraid while I'm still uncured, though so far the deliria hasn't touched me yet.
   Still, I worry.
   They say that in the old days, love drove people to madness.  The deadliest of all deadly things:  It kills you both when you have it and when you don't.

Rating
3.5/5

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Details
Publisher:  Dutton (2010)
Pages:  372
Content:  L- Moderate swearing, Sexual dialogue, S- Kissing, V- Mild
Recommended Age:  14+
Source:  Dorchester County Library


Front Flap Description
Anna was looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more.  So she's less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris--until she meets Etienne St. Clair.  Smart, charming, beautiful, Etienne has it all . . . including a serious girlfriend.
   But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true.  Will a year of romantic near-misses end witht heir long-awaited French kiss? 

My Thoughts
Coming soon!

Rating
5/5

Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

Details
Publisher:  HarperTeen (2011)
Pages:  487
Content:  L- Moderate Swearing, S- Kissing, V- Moderate
Recommended Age:  14+
Source:  Dorchester County Library


Front Flap Description
Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is--no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket.  And it's getting harder.  Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust.  At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.
   As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend.  But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together--and trying to tear them apart.

My Thoughts
Coming soon!

Rating
5/5

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Haven by Kristi Cook

Details
Publisher:  Simon Pulse (2011)
Pages:  401
Content:  L-  Moderate swearing, sexual dialogue S- Making out, V- Moderate
Recommended Age:  14+
Source:  Dorchester County Library


Front Flap Description
Violet doesn't understand why she feels drawn to the Winterhaven School.  She just knows it's the right place for her.  When she discovers the school's secret, it all makes sense:  Everyone at Winterhaven has psychic gifts.  For the first time in her life, Violet doesn't have to hide her visions.  She's always seen them as a curse, but now she can hone her ability and try to control it.
   But she's thrown completely off balance when she meets the most alluring--and most mysterious--boy in school.  She's never connected with anyone the way she does with Aidan, and the intensity takes them both by surprise.  But as their relationship deepens, she begins to have visions of Aidan's death--and sees that she's the one who's fated to kill him.
   Violet's never been able to prevent her visions from coming true.  But his time she'll do whatever it takes. . . even if it means sacrificing herself for the boy she loves.

My Thoughts
Coming soon!

Rating
3.5/5

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Details
Publisher:  Simon & Schuster (2011)
Pages:  358
Content:  L- Mild, S- Kissing, Mention of sex, V- Moderate
Recommended Age:  15+
Source:  Dorchester County Library


Front Flap Description
What if you knew exactly when you would die?
   Thanks to modern science, every newborn has become a ticking genetic time bomb--males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty.  In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.
   When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege.  Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose:  to escape--to find her twin brother and go home.
   But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom.  Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments.  With the help of Gabriel, a servant she is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left.

My Thoughts
Coming soon!

Rating
5/5