For you real bibliophiles, I'm publishing my list of top 10 books for the year. They are in no particular order. (And looking at them, I'm now wondering about why I didn't include some other titles. TOO MANY GOOD BOOKS!!!) This list will be available in the library in print as well.
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
The contestants in the Miss Teen Dream pageant’s airplane crashed on a desert island and they’re stranded with little food or water and practically no eyeliner. What to do? Practice for the talent portion of the program - or wrestle snakes to the ground? Get a perfect tan - or run wild? And what happens when the sexy pirates show up?
Chime by Franny Billingsley
Briony escapes to the swamp, where she tells stories to the Old Ones, the spirits who haunt the marshes. Only witches can see the Old Ones, and being a witch is a death sentence. Briony lives in fear she’ll be found out, believing she deserves punishment. Then Eldric comes along. He treats her as if she's
extraordinary. Everything starts to change. As many secrets as Briony has been holding, there are secrets even she doesn't know.
Illegal by Bettina Restropo
When her father leaves Mexico in search of work, Nora stays behind. She lives in poverty waiting for her father's return. When letters stop coming, Nora decides that she & her mother must look for him in Texas. After a scary experience crossing the border, they are alone in a strange place.
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
The monster showed up just after midnight. But it isn’t the monster Conor’s been expecting (the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he’s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments). This monster is something different. Something
ancient, something wild. And it wants the most
dangerous thing of all from Conor. It wants the truth.
The Water Wars by Cameron Stracher
Vera and her brother Will live in a country of
environmental catastrophe. Water is hoarded in
every possible way. Then Vera meets Kai, who seems to have limitless access to water. When Kai
disappears, Vera and Will set off to find him, pursued by pirates, paramilitaries, and greedy corporations.
Fostergirls by Liane Shaw
Typecast as "trouble" because she's a foster kid, Sadie has little incentive to prove people wrong until a traumatic event reveals that she may have found somewhere to belong after all.
Goliath by Scott Westerfeld
Alek and Deryn are on the last leg of their quest to end World War I & reclaim Alek’s throne (and finally fall in love). The love thing would be easier if Alek knew Deryn was a girl (she pretends to be a boy to be in the British Air Service). The tension thickens as the Leviathan steams toward New York with a lunatic on board: secrets unravel & nothing is as it seems.
Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement-Moore
Amy Goodnight comes from a line of witches, but tries her best to stay out of the family business. Her summer gig? Ranch-sitting for her aunt with her wacky sister. The ranch is even less normal than usual. Bodies are found, a ghost is prowling, & everywhere she turns, the neighbor cowboy is in her face.
The Auslander by Paul Dowswell
Peter is sent to an orphanage in Poland. But Peter is of German blood. The Nazis decide he is racially
valuable. A prominent German family is pleased to adopt him. Despite his new "family," Peter feels like a foreigner & he is forming his own ideas. He doesn't want to be a Nazi. So he makes the most dangerous one he could possibly choose in 1942 Berlin. . . .
Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard
Grace (14) would give anything to be like Mandarin (17), wild and carefree. When they're united for a project, they form an unlikely, explosive friendship. Grace plays along when Mandarin suggests they run away together. But all too soon, Grace discovers Mandarin's unique beauty hides a girl who's troubled, broken, and even dangerous.
A Beautiful Friendship by David Weber
