Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Sixteen-year-old Rhine knows that she only has four more years left to her life. What was once thought of as the miracle of modern science took a dangerous turn with new generations, and now males only live to age 25, and females to age 20, no exceptions. To keep the population from dying out, young women are forced into polygamous marriages. Rhine and her twin brother Rowan vigilantly kept an eye out for Gatherers, but Rhine was kidnapped anyway and forced to live in matrimony with the wealthy Linden Ashby, in a mansion where even just stepping outside is a restricted privilege. The gate surrounding the home keeps everyone under lock and key.

Over the next year, Rhine's main focus is that of escape and ultimate freedom. But over the course of time, she also can't help but develop relationships with those around her: her nineteen- and fourteen-year-old sister-wives; the help, including the handsome Gabriel; her powerful and horrifying father-in-law; and even her husband, who shows her kindness and genuine affection.

This is the first in the Chemical Garden Trilogy, and it is a mixed bag of terror, uncertainty, and enchantment. Recommended to all high school readers. Reviewed by kate the librarian.

Blink & Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones

Blink got his name because he blinks uncontrollably. He's on the run from a weak mother and a stepfather who is too strong for his own good. Over the past six months of living on the streets, he thinks he's gotten pretty good at finding clothes and food, but one day that gets him into trouble.

Caution named herself. Caution: Contents May Be Hot. Cation: Poison. She's running away from a tragedy for which she just can't forgive herself. She thinks she deserves nothing and has gotten mixed up with a dangerous drug dealer, hoping that he will be her salvation -- her death.

Blink and Caution cross paths before she steals his money, but they never notices each other before meeting at the train station, headed for Kingston. This meeting propels them on a journey that neither could have even invented from their dreams, and ultimately leads to precious forgiveness and friendship. Hopefully they can survive long enough to enjoy the life they never imagined.

This is some seriously good teen noir crime suspense. Reviewed by kate the librarian.

Room by Emma Donoghue

I know, I know, I'm probably one of the last people to read this book.  But a regular library user and friend enthusiastically and strongly recommended that I get a hold of the audiobook (knowing that I do most of my adult fiction reading during work and babysitting commutes), and I finally got around to acknowledging her suggestion.  Told from the point-of-view of a five-year-old boy, this audiobook is stunning.

Hachette Audio presents Room with a full cast and the five-year-old voice portraying the character of Jack is both heartwarming and gut-wrenching, as the story is splayed out in all its glory and horror.  Jack has never known anything outside of Room.  He knows Rug and TV and Wardrobe and Bed, but he knows nothing about Outside.  He's not even sure that Outside is really real.  Until his mother comes up with a plan to escape from Room and from the man who kidnapped her seven years ago.

Outside is a whole new world to become accustomed to, both for Jack and for Ma, and it may end up being the hardest experience that either of them have to survive.  Recommended to adult readers and older teens with a taste for the depressing and the hopeful.

Reviewed by kate the librarian.