Wicked Thing

by Rhiannon Thomas

Summary:
You might think you know the story of Sleeping Beauty, but I bet you never thought of it from Aurora's perspective. Asleep for a hundred years, she's been awoken by 'true love's kiss,' and now is expected to marry him. While she was asleep her kingdom fell to pieces, and the new royal family expect her to conform to their ways and unite the kingdom. But Aurora is done doing what she's told, and is ready to step up and protect her people in her own way.

Review:
An imaginative take on a well known tale, I liked the new Aurora. Rather than meekly doing what she's told she stands up to those around her in her own way. She doesn't just submit or believe what she's told, though she does show a bit too much reliance on Finnegan after disbelieving everyone else. There is a lot of subplots going on in the book that could use more explanation. I thought the ending was a bit too quick, it seemed like there wasn't much segue-way between the novel and the ending, she just kind of decides and everything falls into place. Hopefully the sequel will remedy this!

Genre: Fantasy
Age Level: 7th Grade

The Red Queen

by Victoria Aveyard

Summary:
Mare's world is divided by blood. Born a red, she is forever bound to a life of wanting and servitude to the silvers, those with silver blood and supernatural powers. When a chance encounter leads to a job in the palace, she doesn't question it. But when she discovers she has supernatural powers of her own, and discovers this in front of the entire court. Now forced to pretend to be a silver by the king, she is betrothed to the prince and finds herself playing a much more dangerous game than she ever thought possible.

Review:
While this type of theme is being played out in numerous trilogies, The Red Queen is absolutely marvelous. It will find a readership in those who love the semi-dystopian romance with a bit of fantasy thrown in. It's difficult to put down and leaves readers anxiously awaiting the rest of the series.

Genre: Dystopian Fantasy
Age Level: 8th Grade

The Winner's Curse

By Marie Rutkoski

Summary:
The daughter of a general in an ever expanding empire which makes those it conquers slaves, Kestral has lived a life of privilege. In an impulse decision, Kestral buys herself a slave named Arin, setting off a chain of events that she could never have anticipated. In a world where her people have always been in charge, she will suddenly become a pawn as the tides change against them. A fast paced read, The Winner's Curse will be difficult to put down.

Review:
The Winner's Curse is a fun and fast read. I had a hard time putting it down. Kestral is a great character, at first a little insipid, but grows dynamically as she faces challenges she didn't expect. The love story between her and Arin is believable and a great aspect to the book, and the ending sets up nicely for a sequel. A great book to give to fans of Landry Park, Pawn, or The Selection.

Genre: Dystopian
Age Level: 8th Grade

Landry Park

by Bethany Hagen

Summary:
In a future United States where everything is powered by nuclear energy, Madeline Landry has lived a privileged life as one of the Gentry, the ruling upper class. As her father presses her to marry rather than go to college, she finds herself rebelling against things she's believed since childhood. A chance encounter with the oppressed lower classes called the Rootless leaves her questioning the reasons that society has been split into classes. She'll have to decide whether she can leave her life of luxury behind to fight for those who pay the price for it.

Review:
With so many dystopian novels out there it's easy for another to blend in. However Landry Park does an excellent job of bringing another dimension to the field. The society is a return to 19th century strict class rules. Madeline is a character who is believable in their struggle, it's easy to want moral justice for everyone but hard to leave a life where you want for nothing. It's a good read for fans of Downton Abbey or the Selection. There's little real violence in it, nor sex, though does feature a little drinking. It's overall a good book you can easily give to any teen.

Genre: Dystopian
Age Level: 8th Grade

Pawn

by Aimee Carter

Summary:
In a world where there are 7 classes, Kitty Doe is a III. It's not as bad as being a I or II, but it means she's in for a life of misery and deprivation. When she's given the chance to become a VII she leaps at it, not knowing what she's getting into. Now she's been surgically altered to be the double of the niece of the Prime Minister, and she's finding out that nothing is as it seems.

Review:
Pawn stands out in the sea of dystopians out these days. While the class system has been covered in many other novels, Carter does a good job of creating a world that's both believable and plausible. The characters are well developed, and the plot has a few good twists which keep the reader guessing. The trilogy is just beginning, but you could even read the first one as a standalone.

Genre: Dystopian
Age Level: 8th Grade

The Girl of Fire and Thorns

by Rae Carson

Summary:
Elisa is not your typical princess. Overweight, not graceful, and quick to say what's on her mind, she never thought she'd amount to much. Except she's the bearer of the Godstone, a divine gift which is only bestowed on one person every 100 years. And Godstone bearers each have their own task to complete, though none know what it will be til it happens. Elisa begins the tale as a princess, but what she becomes (though marriage, kidnappings, rebellion and more) is more than she can imagine.

Review:
I started off not really sure about the book as the religious aspects can be a bit much. However, Elisa is one of the most refreshing characters I've encountered in awhile. She's not perfect, and is quite all right with it. The changes she goes through in the book, both physical and mental, are believable and impressive. The story takes several twists you don't see coming, and turns into much more of an adventure story than  you might think at first. The book will definitely leave you excited to grab the rest of the trilogy.

Genre: Fantasy Fiction
Age Level: 9th Grade

Bot Wars

By J V Kade

Summary:

Trout St. Croix didn’t want any trouble. When he recorded the video and posted it online he was just trying to find out what happened to his dad. His dad who went missing two years ago when he went off to fight the Bot Wars. Now there’s an uneasy peace, and robots have been relegated to their own territory. But this video has sparked more than just a search for his father. It’s become the thing that will start a movement, a movement to show that the government has been lying about robots and the people that support them.

Review: 

I picked up this book with low expectations, thinking it would be kind of a low budget transformers type novel.  However, Kade has created an Asimov like universe where robots are more like humans and the interactions between the two are as natural as can be, though currently that peace only exists in part of the world. The big brothery nature of the rest of the world, where robots are banned and seen as terrorists, is also believable. Trout is a great character that will appeal to both boys and girls alike.  Overall a good read not just for those who like sci-fi, but those who like adventure novels with a relatable hero.

Genre: Science Fiction

Age Level: 7th Grade

The Selection

by Kiera Cass

Summary:

All across Illea, girls between 16 and 20 have entered their names for a chance to become the next princess. Prince Maxon is looking for a wife, and one girl from each province wil be chosen for a chance to win his heart (and the crown). For once the rigid caste system that defines the country won’t matter. For America, born a 5, it’s a chance to better her family’s fate, even if the chances are small that she’ll be chosen to even compete. When her name is chosen, she finds herself in the palace, competing with 34 other girls to win the heart of a prince. A prince is is a lot more than she ever thought he could be. It’s a game of deceit and love, but will anyone really be a winner?

Review:

I really enjoyed The Selection. America is a really likeable character, and the story is kind of a Cinderella story set in a dystopian future. America stands up to Maxon, the only person to do so, and in return gains a friend and confidante. She's still recovering from breaking up with the man she loved back in her province, and the bonds forged between her and Maxon are fragile but important. The love triangle (between her, her former love, and Maxon) is well drawn. The misinformation spread by the palace to the people is an interesting twist, and the way America discovers her country's real history is a great twist. I read it in less than a day, since I couldn't put it down! Great read for teens that like like dystopians.

Genre: Dystopian

Age Level: 9th Grade

Series information: The Elite (Book 2)

Code Name Verity

by Elizabeth Wein

Summary:

When Verity is arrested as a spy in occupied France, she knows that the only way she will escape being tortured by the Gestapo is to collaborate. She knows that regardless at the end of her usefulness to the Germans she will be executed, so she might as well live out her last few days in comfort. The story she tells them is not just about her mission, but about two friends, Maddie and Julie. Two girls from different walks of life who might never have met but for the war. Whose fate is intertwined beyond what they even know themselves. For captured Verity and her pilot friend Maddie, trapped behind enemy lines, the mission of their lives may have only just begun.

Review:
Code Name Verity is one of the best books I've read in awhile. The book is full of intrigue, leaving the reader unsure til the end of the real motives of half the characters in the book. The more Julie reveals about herself in her writings for the Gestapo the more you wonder how she could become a collaborator.  The book has tons of twists and excitement, making it great for anyone who likes spy novels or thrillers.  I won't give much away, but it's definitely worth the read. (Full disclosure the book didn't completely grab me until about 100 pages in, and then I couldn't put it down). I would be cautious recommending it to younger teens just because of the torture scenes (they aren't terribly graphic, but because these things actually happened to people it might be a little hard for less mature teens to read).  Personally, the book made me wonder if I would ever have the courage to do what girls like this did during WWII.

Genre: Historical Fiction

Age Level: 8th Grade

Delirium

by Lauren Oliver

Summary:
Love is a disease.  When you're in love it can make you spacey, irrational, completely useless.  When you're not in love any longer it can make you angry, upset, a menace to society.  But what if all those negative side effects of love could be eliminated, and instead you could live your life like a completely rational human being?  Lena has never had to worry about this.  The government has found a way to completely cure people of falling in love, of the delirium that strikes those who contract this disease.  She is only 95 days til she gets the surgery that will forever protect her from being hurt, from ever having to suffer from the disease like her late mother.  But then she meets Alex, and everything she ever believed about love is questioned. 

Review:
One of the reasons I liked Delirium was that unlike in other dystopian novels where the populace is simply compliant with the governments wishes without a real reason, this population all undergoes a surgery to rid them of their more emotional sides and leaves them rational and compliant.  This factor helps to explain why the surgery continues and why the cycle is perpetuated without much complaint, as all the 'cureds' simply believe that the 'uncured' children will lead better lives without emotion and become much easier to handle, which they do.  Oliver has created not just a love story in a world where love is forbidden, but a story about how something as natural as love has become the enemy.  The premise of the book is, at first, fairly out there, but as the book progresses you find yourself wondering which side is really going to win in the end.  Very well written and engaging.

Genre: Dystopian
Age Level: 9th Grade
Series Information: Delirium, Pandemonium, Requiem

Legend

by Marie Lu

Summary:
June has been a child prodigy since day one.  She is the only person in the Republic to ever score a perfect 1500 on the nation's aptitude tests, setting her up to become one of the eventual military leaders.  But as she finished her training her brother is killed, and she is appointed to lead a squad in tracking down his killer.  A killer who also happens to be the Republic's number one most wanted.  Day is well known for his acts of terrorism, for destroying Republic equipment and disrupting supply lines to the front of the war with the Colonies.  But what June is about to find out is that Day is no ordinary terrorist, he is just a boy who wants to help his family in a system that has abandoned him.  A boy who has discovered that the country that is supposedly there to protect them, is actually the one killing them.  Now June must decide who to believe: the people she has trusted all her life, or the evidence given to her by a boy she barely knows.

Review:
Legend is another dystopian novel about the destruction of the world we know and the rigid militaristic societies which have taken it's place.  What sets the novel apart from others of it's ilk is the character's themselves.  Day is one of the poor, destined since birth to never amount to more than his parents, and kept there until he escapes and decides to live on his own terms.  June is affluent, born to a life of privilege, but one which has been filled with personal tragedy.  In the novel, it is June who has to realize that everything she has been taught has been a lie, that the world she lives in is not as black and white as she has been told.  The book itself is fast paced and well written, drawing you in and leaving you wondering what happens next.  Great for tweens who like other dystopian novels.

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 8-9th Grade

Unwind

by Neal Shusterman

Summary: 
Years before Connor, Risa, or Lev were born, a war raged in America between those who were pro-choice, and those who were pro-life.  In the end a compromise is reached: abortion is ruled illegal but instead a new practice is put into place. A practice which allows parents to choose to retroactively terminate teens between the ages of 13 and 17 though a process called unwinding.  This solution meant that the child itself would not be killed because all of their body parts would be used for transplants, ensuring that they live on just in different forms.  Now it's been in place for years, and few question it, but for these 3 teens the death sentence put upon them might just cause the spark that causes people to see reason.

Review:
Unwind is an incredibly interesting, though disturbing, book which grabbed me from page one.  More than once I wondered how something like this could happen, and then realized how easily it possibly could.  The solution that was reached at the end of the war was supposed to be so ludicrous that it would shock the opposing ideological factions into realizing that their needed to be compromise.  Instead it became a death sentence for many teens, and resulted in babies being born and abandoned to the state until they were of age to be harvested themselves.  At first you think that everyone will see reason, but instead the demand for healthy body parts overshadows where these parts came from.  In one scene the unwinding process happens to one teen, who is conscious throughout the entire procedure.  It was deeply disturbing, and as a result I hesitate to recommend this book to any younger teen.  The book raises a lot of flags about the danger of being too ideologically wedded to a cause, about the necessity of compromise and reason, and discusses the courage needed to finally stand up to injustice.

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 10th Grade

Divergent

by Veronica Roth

Summary:
In what used to be Chicago, 16 year old Beatrice Prior must choose which of the five factions of society she will live with for the rest of her life.  But Beatrice is not like everyone else, who are slotted neatly into a faction by exhibiting the characteristics that are the base of each.  Beatrice is different, divergent from the norm.  And being divergent isn't a good thing in this society, in fact it's a threat to it's very fabric.  A threat that needs to be eliminated. 

Review:
Divergent is not just a social commentary about the dangers of societal control.  It is about the courage of a girl who is different, about her courage standing up to her government.  It is written in the same thread as many other dystopian novels written for tweens, but Roth brings a new character which many tweens will identify with. 

Mockingjay

Mockingjay

Author: Suzanne Collins

Publisher: New York : Scholastic Press, 2010.

Plot Description:

            Book 3 begins with Katniss waking up in District 13, a place which until now everyone thought was completely abandoned.  Instead it has become ground zero for the rebellion against the Capital.  And they want Katniss to become the official face of the rebellion for all the districts.  As Katniss struggles with the horrors of what happened in the arena with the power she possibly yields as the Mockingjay and her worry about Peeta who was left behind in the arena, she realizes that evil exists in many forms, even in those who are trying to eliminate evil in one form.

Review:

            The concluding book in the Hunger Games trilogy exceeds any of the readers expectations.  Powerful and moving, Collins has created a character in Katniss who is realistic and impressive.  Her hesitation in becoming the face of the rebellion demonstrates remarkable intelligence.  Her willingness to examine the reasons behind taking the paths she takes as well as the fact that she does mentally struggle with everything that happen is a very realistic look at how someone copes with the horrors of war.  Absolutely fantastic.

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Reading level: 9^th grade

Similar Books: Hatchet, Tomorrow, when the war began

Reader’s Advisory:

Personal thoughts- Awesome

Subjects/themes- Fiction, Rebellions, Adventure, Survival, War

Awards-

Series information- Book 3 of 3

Character names/descriptions-

Katniss- survivalist who volunteers herself in the Hunger Games to save her sister

            Gale- Katniss’s friend from District 12 who helps her hunt for food

            Peeta- Katniss’s male counterpart in the Hunger Games, who also loves her

President Snow- The man in charge of all of the districts, who will stop at nothing to keep them all in line

President Coin- Leader of District 13 who wants Katniss to be the face of the rebellion

Haymitch- Katniss’s trainer from the arena, often her best source of advice

Annotation: What if you were forced back into the arena you had barely survived the first time, what if you found yourself fighting not only for your life, but also for those of everyone you cared about?

Catching Fire

Catching Fire

Author: Suzanne Collins

Publisher: New York : Scholastic Press, 2009.

Plot Description:

            In book 2 of the Hunger Games trilogy, Katniss and Peeta have both returned to District 12 after they were both allowed to win the Games.  Unfortunately they will not be allowed to live out their days in the peace and prosperity that Tributes are promised.  In honor of the 75^th Hunger Games, the tributes of this year are to be chosen from the pool of former winners from each district.  For District 12 this means that Katniss and Peeta have to go back into the Arena.  This time however, the stakes are higher for everyone involved.  This time, the Districts are starting to believe they might have a chance to get out from under the Capital’s control.  This time, they have a hero in Katniss.

Review:

            Book 2 continues to deliver fast paced writing and the gritty realism of war and surviving.  Katniss is forced back into the arena where she barely survived before.  She is also beginning to realize that she is becoming the face of a rebellion in the Districts due to her survival and the small rebellions she showed against the Capital while in the arena.  One of her most interesting qualities is the fact that she doesn’t want to immediately accept the role of avenging angel of the districts.  She confronts the consequences her actions have had not only for herself and her family, but also for the entire country of Panem. 

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Reading level: 8^th-9^th grade

Similar Books: Hatchet, Tomorrow, when the war began

Reader’s Advisory:

Personal thoughts- Awesome

Subjects/themes- Fiction, Rebellions, Adventure, Survival, War

Awards-

Series information- Book 2 of 3

Character names/descriptions-

Katniss- survivalist who volunteers herself in the Hunger Games to save her sister

            Gale- Katniss’s friend from District 12 who helps her hunt for food

            Peeta- Katniss’s male counterpart in the Hunger Games, who also loves her

President Snow- The man in charge of all of the districts, who will stop at nothing to keep them all in line

Annotation: What if you were forced back into the arena you had barely survived the first time, what if you found yourself fighting not only for your life, but also for those of everyone you cared about?

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games

Author: Suzanne Collins

Publisher: New York : Scholastic Press, 2008.

Plot Description:

            In fictional Panem, in what was once the United States, Katniss Everdeen struggles to provide for her mother and sister, Prim.  Katniss works to shield Prim from the horrors of everyday life in their district, one of the 13 under the control of the Capital of Panem and President Snow.  In retribution for an uprising 74 years earlier, every year each district must send two children to participate in the nationally broadcasted Hunger games, a game where only one out of the 26 participants will survive.  When her sister is selected to be this years participant, Katniss volunteers herself to save Prim. The events that follow show the reader the horrors of what someone finds themselves capable of in the face of death, and teaches that even when we seem to have little free will in a situation, the smallest acts of rebellion can have the most widespread consequences.

Review:

            I found this book to be absolutely fabulous.  It is a gritty but realistic look at what one girl must do to survive a terrible situation.  Collins creates a character who is both strong and conflicted.  The ways in which Katniss copes with the situations she finds herself as well as the acts she finds herself committing is very realistic.  It creates a character who the reader is very sympathetic too.  Originally I thought that this book was a bit too old for a tween reader, but for older or more advanced tweens I can see why it is popular. 

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Reading level: 9^th grade

Similar Books: Hatchet, Tomorrow, when the war began

Reader’s Advisory:

Personal thoughts- one of the most thought provoking books I’ve read in a long time

Subjects/themes- Fiction, Rebellions, Adventure, Survival, War

Awards-

Series information- Book 1 of 3

Character names/descriptions-

            Katniss- survivalist who volunteers herself in the Hunger Games to save her sister

            Gale- Katniss’s friend from District 12 who helps her hunt for food

            Peeta- Katniss’s male counterpart in the Hunger Games, who also loves her

Annotation: One girl must struggle to survive in the face of immense odds, and in doing so will change the face of her entire country.