Friend me by Sheila M. Averbuch

 

Roisin moved with her mom and brother from Ireland for her mom's job.  She works in the tech field.  Roisin's dad is still in Ireland finishing up an artificial intelligence project he is working on.

Roisin is having trouble making friends and in fact is getting bullied on social media and in person by Zara.  She meets Haley online and starts a friendship with her, because she was bullied and learned how to stand up for herself.  Haley tries to help Roisin be more confident and Ro shares with Haley about Zara and then an accident happens to Zara and she almost dies.  Ro is scared her messages with Haley could sound incriminating, but she didn't do anything.  Ro decides to try to visit Haley while she is with a friend and have her delete the messages, but when she tries to find Haley, she is nowhere to be found.

This Town is Not All Right by M. K. Krys

 

Beacon, Everleigh and their dad are moving from California to a New England small town. They are staying at a local bed and breakfast until they find a place to live.  Things just feel weird to Beacon and the kids do not seem normal.  Once they start school they are required to take a "vitamin shot."  Beacon is DEATHLY afraid of shots and  runs away.  After Everleigh has the shot she is different.  Beacon has met a boy that seems normal, but really likes science.  He helps Beacon start to unravel what is going on with the town and why his sister changed.  Do you believe in aliens????

Fast reading, twisty turny book.  The ending will leave you worried about what comes next.  

Quintessence by Jess Redman

Alma moves to Four Points and is dealing with something from her past.  She meets the Shopkeeper at Fifth Point and he gives her a Quintescope, which helps you see light.  He tells her she must find the Starling and others who will help her.  As she goes about her way she ends up joining the Astronomy club and together the three of them start solving the mystery and helping the Starling get home.  

Great middle school novel.  Deals with anxiety and making friends.  

 

Windswept by Gwen Cole

Have you ever wished you could blink and be where ever you wanted to go?  Well in this book there are drifters who can travel anywhere in the world in the blink of an eye.  Sam encounters such a person on the subway one day after school, but she doesn't know it at the time.  She just knows there is a cute boy sitting across from her.  Reid (the boy) notices Sam as well.  He is a drifter and has dropped out of school, doesn't have a job and is homeless.  He has one friend, Jake, who is also a drifter from Australia.  As Sam and Reid begin to get to know one another he shares his secret with her and she begins to travel the world.  Sam also starts to learn her family has kept secrets from her after they leave on a weekend trip.  Reid learns about drifters starting to go missing and no one can find them.  Sam and Reid begin working together to try to solve the mystery, but will they solve it before they get caught?

Told in two voices, the book reads pretty quickly and after the beginning of them getting to know one another I couldn't quit reading.  I think boys and girls will enjoy this book, and I think it is perfect for middle school or high school.  I could see this turning into a series...please?  

All These Monsters (#1) by Amy Tintera

Scrabs... they are monsters that have spread across the world in 2013.  They tunnel underground and pop up in heavy populated areas killing and destroying anything they come across.  The U. S. has mostly gotten it under control, but in Europe, they are heavily infested.  

Clara is 17 and decides to join the St. John's group who is going to train you and send you over seas to help fight the scrabs.  Her father is abusive and her mother and older brother do not really do anything to protect her.  When she leaves her dad tries to lock her in, but she escapes with her brother Laurence's help.  She reports to Atlanta to train and meets Julian, who is her team leader, he finds out that she doesn't have parental permission and is set to send her home, but she shares that she will NOT be going home and he deletes the email and lets her stay.  She qualifies and heads to Paris.  Once there they continue training after being attacked by scrabs.  She and Julian begin to "date" and the team begin to fight scrabs and discover there is something fishy with the MDG (Monster Defense Group) because they are doing something with the scrabs, like training them or something.  As they dig into the mystery surrounding MDG, Clara realizes not everyone is who they seem and some are dangerous.  

Has some language.  No sex, there is violence, of course.   I feel like I would be comfortable with 7th and up reading.

Glitch by Laura Martin

My favorite book so far this year!  Regan and Elliot are students at The Academy, a school for those who glitch or time travel, and they are pretty much enemies.  Regan is the daughter of the commander for the academy and Elliot thinks she has attitude and is obnoxious.  Elliot thinks he knows everything and he has the correct answer all the time.  They are sanctioned by the US to time travel and make sure history stays like it is.  There is another organization called Mayhem that glitches to change history. Those people are called a Butterfly, as in they create a butterfly effect by changing one thing it changes many things.  There is also a thing called a Cocoon, which is a warning about the future and could change things.  Regan and Elliot find a note addressed to Regan in her OWN handwriting that changes their path and in turn creates a way they change the future, but for the better.  

Martin left the end finished, but also with a new Cocoon find that could be the start of a new book!  I hope so!

Throwback: The Chaos Loop by Peter Lerangis (book 2)

The second book in the Throwback series. Throwback Book 1 review

Corey Fletcher saved his grandmother in book 1 and now he wants to save the world.  With him being a "throwback", someone who can time travel and CHANGE what happened, he has determined he needs to fix the world, in particular Hitler and the Holocaust. His grandfather warns him of time travelling too much because of transspeciation (changing into another species) like some other time travellers have done.  They really don't know how or why it happens and each one is different, so Corey is not too worried about it.  He just will look for the signs:  hair growing in odd places, weird food cravings, etc. He talks Laila into going with him, since she knows how to speak German.  As they go back things of course do not work out like they think it will and they change events, but not anything big until the end of the book.

Was very slow at the beginning, but picked up once they were travelling.  

Virals by Kathy Reichs and Brendan Reichs

This is the first book in a series of 5

Well, if you like lots of adventure, mystery and intrigue along with some science fiction thrown in this is the book for you!  Set outside of Charleston, NC on some small islands, Tory Brennan is newly acquainted with her father after her mother passed away.  Dr. Tempreance Brennan (the tv show Bones is based on her) is Tory's aunt.  Tory is a smart kid, but also pushes her limits, is sneaky and very opinionated. She lives on an island with other people whose parents work for the local university doing research.  The three other kids she hangs around that live on the island are boys.  As Tory and her friends discover one of the wild dogs from another island where her dad works and researches is missing they start to notice other mysteries.  An old dog tag, a mysterious lab, and murder.  After they find the missing dog, who is very sick, the group starts to show signs of sickness themselves from taking care of the dog.  But what they think the illness is will change them all in the end.  

If you like James Patterson's Maximum Ride series this is one for you!!

The Deceivers by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Greystone Secrets 2)

In the second book in the series, Emma, Finn, and Chess are living with Natalie and her dad.  Natalie's mom and Mrs. Greystone were left trapped in the other world.  The kids are working on trying to decode Mrs. Greystone's secret message, but are not having much luck.  They think they have figured something out though and  get back to the house and find the level along with signs it has been moved.  This makes them worried.  They decide it is not safe to use it in their house so they sneak off to Natalie's house to try to go back through that way.  They make it back through and find lots of clues, Natalie's grandma is still alive, the red headed lady who helped them is in Other-Natalie's house as a cleaner and a big party is going to happen.  Lots of twists and turns and the ending leaves room for a third book.  Yay!

Before I Disappear by Danielle Stinson

Rose Montgomery, her brother Charlie, and their mother are on the run from something.  We don't find out what until the end of the book, but what we do know is they are moving in an old RV to a town called Fort Glory in Oregon because Charlie asked Rose to.  Rose and her mother find jobs in a diner and and Rose and Charlie start school and Rose is hopeful to get a house here from a group that helps you build your own house.  As they are new in town Rose meets Ian, a kid accused of murdering his parents, Blaine, a kid who is bullied at school and she also has to take care of Charlie, who seems to get bullied and picked on everywhere they go because he is different.  He is sweet, kind, and takes care of others, but also seems to sense things in the universe.  As Rose goes to the neighboring town to apply for the house, the whole town of Fort Glory disappears with Charlie and her mom.  Rose, Ian, Blaine and some others are trying to find their way back to find their family and friends and save themselves.  

I loved the story (even though I'm not a sci-fi person) up until the end....I won't spoil it, but ugh.  I wish it had ended differently, even though it is a nice closure and hopeful.

Throwback by Peter Lerangis

Corey is living in New York and has a best friend Laila.  He comes to find out he can touch objects and travel in time.  They need to have some metal in them.  His grandfather who has been missing for over a year, suddenly shows up to talk to Corey because he too can time travel and as Corey has traveled back in time accidentally he saved someone's life and changed history!  He is called a throwback, which means he not only can travel time, but he can change history.  Corey's grandmother died during 9/11 and he decides to travel back to try to save her.  His grandfather has tried many times, but it never works.  As he travels back to 2001, he accidentally travels even farther to 1917 and things get a little out of control.

Great sci-fi.  I couldn't stop reading!

Maximillian Fly by Angie Sage

Available June 2019

Maximillian Fly is a human with cockroach features.  Kaitlin and Jonno (two human children) are trying to escape the Enforcers who mean to kill them.  Maximillian decides to help them and that begins the story.  They live in a town called Hope, which really doesn't have any hope.  It is surrounded by an Orb (which is like a force field) and no one comes in or leaves.  Kaitlin and Jonno's parents are dead, their brother joined the Enforcers and they are on their own.  As the story continues Maximillian and the children become more and more entangled in a fantastical adventure where no one may survive.

Great story for those who like things to always go wrong and lots of twists.  You'll never see the end coming.

What the Woods Keep by Katya de Becerra

Hayden has lived a strange life.  Her mom went missing when she was 8, she was expelled from school for hurting a student, her dad cannot keep his job as a college professor because he believes in mythical creatures called Nibelungs.  When Hayden turns 18 the family lawyer contacts her and tells her that she has inherited Holland Manor in Promise, Colorado; the house she grew up in, but left when she was 8 and her mom went missing in the woods behind the house.  She decides to go with her friend/ roommate Delphine to check it out.  Once she is there strange things start to happen and as she tries to solve her mom's cryptic message and she finds out her heritage.  

Blends modern day with mythology, some romance, and a creepiness factor.

8th and up.

Uninvited by Sophie Jordan

I could not put this down!!  In the future they are testing for HTS (Homicidal Tendency Syndrome) and Davy has been tested and her DNA shows she has the gene.  She is "uninvited" from her private school, her boyfriend and best friend sabotage her and  she is sent to public school but separated from the students with other kids that have HTS.  There she meets Sean who not only has HTS, but he has been imprinted with a tattoo on his neck with an H from some infraction.  Davy ends up with one on her neck as well from the sabotage and  then as things escalate in the nation from mass murders all carriers of HTS are sent to  "camps" for the general public's safety.  Davy, however, has been chosen to go to a training facility.  She is able to get Sean chosen as well and her classmate Gil.  The HTS carriers there are being trained to control their emotions, perfect their gifts and to kill.  Sean and Gil decide to make a plan to escape and try to cross the border to Mexico.  You will not want to miss this!

8th grade and up.

Book Trailer

WildCard by Marie Lu

Coming in September 2018.

This is the sequel to Warcross.  Emika has caused a stir within the Warcross community and now she has been recruited by Zero to hack into Hideo's mind to steal his program to be able to control people.  Emika still has feelings for Hideo, but they are in the middle of a conflict because of their difference of opinion about his algorithm.  Will she betray the man she loves to do what she feels is right or will she find another way to help Hideo and herself?  Keeps you guessing to the end.

Renegades by Marissa Meyer

ren·e·gade
/ˈrenəˌɡād/
noun

1. a person who deserts and betrays an organization, country, or set of principles.

synonyms: traitor, defector, deserter, turncoat, rebel, mutineer

"he was denounced as a renegade"

Holy smoke!  This was an amazing read!  I could not put it down.  The Renegades are trying to bring the city/ world back together before it was destroyed in an effort to let prodigies be without discrimination.  However, there are some mixed feelings about how they are doing it and not everyone is happy with them.  

Nova, aka Nightmare is out for revenge for her parents murder and the Renegades who did not protect them.  Adrian, whose mom was killed by an unknown person, is known as a Renegade, Sketch.  He battles Nightmare and she says a phrase that makes him think she knows who his mom's killer is.  Adrian also has a secret identity and he is out to find Nightmare to find some answers.

The conclusion will come out in November 2018.  I can't wait!!

Warcross by Marie Lu

WOW!!!  Emika Chen is 18 years old, an orphan, bounty hunter and about to get evicted from her house.  She puts on her virtual reality glasses to watch the opening ceremony of the War Cross competition and decides to hack it and ends up in the game.  She gets the attention of the creator Hideo Tanaka and things go crazy...her debt is paid off and she is offered a job to go in the game and find a hacker who is trying to destroy the game.  As she trains for the game and immerses herself deeper into the competition she begins to become the target herself.  She starts to wonder who she can really trust...

Young ADULT themes.  8th and up only. :)

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Miranda is 16 years old, her older brother Matt is off at college and her younger brother Jonny is 13. Miranda’s parents are divorced. She and her brother’s live with her mom, who is a writer, and her dad is remarried to Lisa, who is pregnant. On May 18 an asteroid is supposed to hit the moon and everyone is planning on watching it, it almost seems festive, like a party. However, once the asteroid hits it shifts the moon closer to the earth and causes the earth’s climate to change in drastic ways. Electricity is gone, grocery stores run out of food, gas goes up to $10+ a gallon and school is closed indefinitely... Will things ever get back to normal? Miranda wonders, but what she doesn’t realize is the worst is yet to come.


This is the first book in The Last Survivors series.

Pfeffer, Susan Beth. Life as we knew it. Graphia, 2010.