Cormier's: Heroes

Cormier offers a riveting, tightly woven, psycho-drama for our mature readers in Heroes. A young Silver Star-veteran of World War II returns to his home town with almost everything but his face. Realizing he can not recapture what he has lost, he embarks on his final mission to kill the man who took it all away from him.

Avi's: The End of the Beginning: Being the Adventures of a Small Snail ( and an Even Smaller Ant)

If this book is not adorable and charming it truly ought to be. A small snail, Avon, and his new ant buddy, Edward, contemplate the significance of a range of things including beginnings, middles, and endings (not necessarily in that order) and, more importantly, friendship as the two embark on a lifelong and life-changing adventure only to end up in the very best place to end: the beginning. Think: Mamet's George and Emil meet Lobel's Frog and Toad, but don't think too hard.

Anderson's: Fever: 1793

There is nothing more horrific than that which has actually happened. Laurie Halse Anderson relates the details of Philadelphia's yellow fever plague of 1793 through the eyes of a fictional teenager Matilda Cook who is forced to grow up before her time in her novel Fever: 1793. The blood-sucking villain she faces is more terrifying than any fictional vampire or werewolf. Her villain actually exists to this day and made a ghost town out of the largest city in the United States. Is it possible for this villain, or another one like it to strike the United States again? Do we know enough to protect ourselves, not only from the villain itself but from what follows after such a disaster? Matilda finds the courage to defend her family and home from robbers and murderers. This novel may cause today's teenagers to question what they are prepared to do in the face of extreme and sudden adversity.

Avi's: Crispin: At the Edge of the World

Picking up on the same day where The Cross of Lead ended, At the Edge of the World has Bear and Crispin running from their enemies determined to find a place where they can live in peace. Along the way a new member is added to their small family. Avi is able to build some suspense in this volume of the series; however, very little, if any, mystery is present. The once jovial and endearing Bear is either unconscious, melancholic, or privately introspective throughout causing a loss of some of the original appeal. All in all this edition seems merely like an addition and not its own fully realized novel.