Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Allyson Healey isn’t very spontaneous. She generally follows the rules and done what is expected of her. On the European tour that was a graduation gift from her parents, she’s one of her tour guide’s favorite students. But a few days before she’s due to fly back home, she is convinced to skip out on seeing a professional Shakespeare production and instead attends an underground version of Twelfth Night. She is immediately intrigued by actor Willem (and, frankly, so are we). She’s even more intrigued when he invites her to go to Paris, just for a day. And that day winds up changing absolutely everything for Allyson. She has the most exceptional 24 hours that she has ever dreamed of having. But just as suddenly, Willem leaves her without word, and everything comes crashing down. Her adventure is over and she flies home to her family, her friends, and her own life . . . and she is completely alone. The kind of alone that prevents you from being with other people without hurting.

So, ultimately, she makes a choice. She returns to Europe and she is determined to find Willem and uncover some answers. Or maybe, she’s off to find herself.

This is a romance that goes far beyond tradition. It is hopeful and terrifying, and completely fulfilling. Keep your eye out for the sequel, Just One Year, available in October 2013.

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

This novel opens up with a quote from Death Cab for Cutie: Love is watching someone die. But while you should probably prepare yourself for a tearjerker, there are also a number of layers to this story that might surprise you.

Taylor Edwards and her family used to always spend summers at the lake in Pennsylvania, at least until after the summer she was twelve. The summer of the botched romance, the fallout with her best friend, and the inability to confront any of her fears. But this year, they are going back to spend one last season all together at their summerhouse. With the news of late stage cancer, this will likely be her dad's last summer ever.

There are certainly a lot of "issues" packed into this thick novel, but the story manages to be touching and frustrating at all the right times, and even if it doesn't resonate with every reader, there is value in the message that lives are meant to be lived, not avoided. Morgan Matson also wrote the beloved Amy & Roger's Epic Detour.

Reviewed by kate the librarian.

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

The Summer I Turned Pretty is The. Perfect. Beach Read.  This story has summertime romance written all over it, and it will not disappoint readers looking for the tortured I-love-him-but-does-he-love-me? storyline, capped off with a satisfying conclusion -- except there isn't really a conclusion!  There are sequels!  Which is wonderful, if and only if you have the second book in your hand to open as soon as you close the first!  Seriously.  I can't get my hands on It's Not Summer Without You fast enough.  And book #3, We'll Always Have Summer, is out too. :)  Excellent.

So, quit looking for the perfect beach read and start catching up with the summer adventures of Belly, Conrad, and Jeremiah!

Reviewed by kate the librarian.

Evermore by Alyson Noel

The book Evermore is part of the Immortals series. It takes a new spin on immortality. Ever was in a car accident where she nearly died and ever since, her life has been different. She can see people's auras and read their thoughts. It is very overwhelming. However, once Damen, a new guy in town, comes, she hears nothing. This spirals into a romantic love story that has been going on for about 600 years but Ever did not know it. It goes beyond love; action is involved, but in few parts. It is a really good book for girls who like romances!

Reviewed by Neha.

The Kissing Game : Short Stories by Aidan Chambers

In a note from the author, he talks a little bit about the style of "flash fiction."  As he explains it, flash fictions "are like a flash of light, a spark, which allows one quick view of a whole scene or person or event."  "They can be prose with or without dialogue, or only dialogue."  "Some of the greatest authors of literature wrote flash fictions.  For example, Kafka, Chekhov, Hemingway, Raymond Carver, Italo Calvino, and Kawabata, which he called 'palm-of-the-hand' stories."  Flash fictions are often very short stories, usually weighing in at 1,000 words or less.

In this collection of flash fictions, Aidan Chambers presents a variety of scenarios and emotions, including revenge, anger, and hypocrisy, mixed in alongside individuals' needs to guard what we love, fight back against our fears, and project airs of self-confidence in the view of those we want to appreciate us.  Love can be uncomprehendingly confusing, or heartbreakingly simple, often simultaneously.  These stories combine conflicting feelings and intentions to present unflinching looks at love and relationships from the perspective of the individual (rather than focusing on just the idea of "love").

Reviewed by kate the librarian.

P.S. Aidan Chambers is a Printz Award-winning author and the author of one of my all time favorites, This is All: The Pillow Book of Cordelia Kenn, which is just about as far from a short story as one can get.

Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen

Cordelia Grey wants much more out of life than to be married young and stuck in her hometown of Union, Ohio with a whole bunch of babies and unfulfilled dreams.  She wants to go to New York City and be somebody.  So that plan is that she and her best friend, Letty Haubstadt, will hop on a train immediately following Cordelia's wedding, a ceremony that the two parties were being forced into, though one of them was a much more willing participant than the other.  And, no doubt about it, the very next day, Letty and Cordelia step off that train onto the streets New York City.

It is 1929.  Neither girl knows a soul in the big city, but both are looking for something very special.  Letty wants to be a star . . . has always wanted to be a star.  In her family of four other siblings, Letty was always the invisible one, despite her obvious talents for singing and performing.  She's convinced that NYC can offer her all the opportunity she'll need in order to shine.  Cordelia -- under the cover of simply wanting a bigger and better life for herself -- is desperately looking for her father, with whom she has never had any contact.  Astrid Donal is from a wealthy Long Island family, NYC-born, raised, and cultured.  She's currently dating Charlie Grey, the son of a big city mobster, and she takes an immediate and lasting liking to Cordelia when the daring young woman sneaks into Mr. Grey's birthday party at the guarded White Cove estate.

There is a different fate in store for each of these three young women, each finding her own way in a tricky big city world, and the author certainly has a knack for keeping the reader wanting to know what happens next to each of them.  With a plethora of romance, adventure, and history, this series opener is recommended most to high school girls.

Reviewed by kate the librarian.

Strings Attached by Judy Blundell

Kit Corrigan grew up in a nontraditional poor Irish family of five: she's one of three triplets, "the Corrigan Three,"  raised by her father and his sister.  As an oddity in the 1940's, they preformed and played parts for local advertisements and shows.  While Muddie was "the shy one" and Jamie the adventurer, Kit was always the beautiful, charming little girl in the spotlight.  And it suited her well.

At nineteen, she's trying to make it big in New York City, trying her hardest just to land small roles in small theater shows.  When her boyfriend's (ex-boyfriend's?) father, Nate Benedict, a wealthy lawyer, offers her an apartment to stay in while she's looking for more work, promising it as an apartment that she can share with Billy when he returns home after completing his duties in the Korean War, she doesn't see how she can refuse.  But she soon finds that the apartment doesn't come with "no strings attached" as promised.  She's conveniently offered a job as a dancer at the Lido Club and is asked to spy on regulars and report back to Nate.  When one of the regulars turns up murdered, she's terrified to learn that Nate is defending the hitman and what role she herself might have played in the whole thing.  How did she get mixed up with Nate "No Witnesses" Benedict, and how will Billy react when he uncovers the truth?  What exactly is the truth?

A mix of 1940's and 50's mob history with romance, mystery, and adventure is sure to grab the attention of more than one type of reader.  This story throws a lot of punches and leaves a few bodies in its wake and these aren't characters that will be easy to forget.  Recommended to all readers looking for an enthralling telling of underground business and everyday life.  And as an added bonus, like What I Saw and How I Lied by the same author, this is one of the best-told stories I've read in some time.
Call number: YA BLUNDELL; YA CD BLUNDELL (Teen Room)

Reviewed by kate the librarian.

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

Revolution sucked me in from the first chapter and basically blew my mind by the time the epilogue whipped around.  I listened to the audiobook -- beautifully read by Emily Janice Card and Emma Berling -- and it was one of the few experiences I've had with a book-on-CD that didn't feel at any time like it was dragging or taking too long to finish up.  I wanted this story of Andi and Alex to go on forever. 

Andi is from Brooklyn and because of her own depression, her severely depressed mom, and her rapidly failing academics, she's being forced to stay with her dad in Paris for a short time while he works on some DNA research.  Andi and her dad don't get along all that well, and she's PISSED about the arrangement.  Alex lives in Paris, or she did two centuries ago anyway, during the time and tragedy of the French Revolution.  Andi finds Alex's diary and immediately gets entrenched in the past, in Alex's pain, in her determination, and in her inevitably short future.  Just as Andi loses herself in Alex's world, it's possible for readers of Revolution to get lost in Andi's.  The dark undertones of the book can be overwhelming, but the beauty that emerges within the characters and the setting is worth the muddy road to get there.  This book ended just exactly the way I wanted it to, the way I needed it to.

I just discovered that the audiobook version of this title was noted as an Honor pick by the American Library Association Odyssey Award Committee.  The Odyssey Award is one that recognizes excellence in audiobook production for children and/or teens.  (I guess I'll have to listen to Adam Rex's The True Meaning of Smekday next to try to figure out just exactly why Revolution didn't WIN!)

Recommended to all teen readers -- in addition to the fascinating history, the romance will capture the girls and the adventure and mystery will intrigue the boys.  The heartache will touch all.
Call number: YA DONNELLY; YA CD DONNELLY (Teen Room)

Reviewed by kate the librarian

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Love kills.  It's a good thing that there's a cure.

Lena can't wait til her eighteenth birthday when she can undergo the government-mandated cure for Amor Deliria Nervosa, the condition that goes hand-in-hand with love.  According to The Safety, Health, and Happiness Handbook (more commonly referred to as The Book of Shhh) love is dangerous primarily because it "affects your mind so that you cannot think clearly, or make rational decisions about your own well-being."  Deliria is the reason Lena's mother is dead, and she's counting down the rest of the 95 days left until her procedure.  "The cured, incapable of strong desire, are thus rid of both remembered and future pain."  No pain = happiness.  Therefore, delirium of love = unhappiness. 

But what happens when Lena begins to test the limits of what she's been told by society?  What happens when she begins to question everything that she's been raised to believe?  What happens when she decides that she wants to feel passionately and freely.  Isn't the pleasure of love worth any amount of pain and sacrifice?

Heart-wrenching, thought-provoking, and absolutely enthralling, Lauren Oliver's sophomore effort is recommended to all high school readers.  And when you're finished reading this one, check out Before I Fall, too.
Call number: YA OLIVER (Teen Room)

Reviewed by kate the librarian.

Charles and Emma : The Darwins' Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman

Much is known about the work Charles Darwin has done to research natural selection and evolution, most notably through the publication of his The Origin of Species. And although an autobiography was released after his death, less is known about his life at home. When Charles Darwin was first considering marriage, his father advised him not to tell his prospective wife of his scientific beliefs, which often directly challenged the belief in God. Darwin was a scientific adventurer; everywhere he went and everything he did revolved around a quest for more information and led to the gathering of more observations and theories. Most of these theories centered on refuting a key notion that many people accepted as fact in the mid-1800’s: “that God had created all species of birds, bees, and beetles at once and that there were no new ones since the first creation” (p. 11). Darwin did not take his father’s advice on marriage, and in fact shared most everything with his wife, Emma, and she became his constant companion and supporter in both life and his work. Deeply-religious Emma clung to the faith that only those who believed in God could spend Eternity in Heaven, and though she couldn't be sure that she would meet Charles there, she never gave up on him. This story – first and foremost – presents an account of Charles and Emma’s deep mutual love, commitment, and respect.

Written in a style that is smooth and quick-paced, this story tells of a lifetime of love, faith, and science. Recommended to readers of all ages.
Call number: YA 506.82 HEI

Reviewed by kate the librarian

Fire by Kristin Cashore

Her intensely bright red hair matches her name, and Fire's beauty meets that intensity full on. Fire comes from a difficult background and her father was one of the cruelest men known to the kingdom, but she now lives among a handful of people who truly care for her. Brocker is a solid father figure, and Archer is unwavering in his love and support for her. But war is imminent and she finally agrees to work as a spy alongside King Nash, his brother Brigan, and their half-siblings. Fire has the limited ability to control others' minds by using her own beauty to encourage and influence their thoughts and behaviors. Unfortunately, for Fire, she cannot always control how one will react to seeing her: "Why did hatred so often make men think of rape? . . . As often as the power of her beauty made one man easy to control, it made another man uncontrollable and mad." (p.145) No one is safe in the Dells during this time, least of all Fire, as it becomes obvious that all along it is she who is the focus of battle. Each side wants to possess Fire for his own purposes.

Readers of Graceling will be able to reaffirm their disdain for Leck, the evil he relishes in, and the power that he craves. With the swirling intricacies of romance, fantasy, adventure, and humor, Fire will draw many, many fans. Each element that creates this story work in unbelievable tandem. Recommended to fantasy and non-fantasy readers alike: Fire will capture you.
Call number: YA CASHORE

Reviewed by kate the librarian