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.

McCormick's: Sold

McCormick's Sold is a gripping tribute to the millions of children who have been sold into the sex-slave trade throughout the world. This heart-wrenching tale pulls readers into a wretched world where young girls are sold by their families, tortured for years, and then tossed away into the filthy gutters of Calcutta. A poetic and entrancing voice leads us on a journey from hopefulness to despair and misery where each daily survival is a triumph of spirit over circumstance. This truly remarkable work, funded through a fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts will likely make our more sophisticated teen readers thankful for everything they have in their lives.

McKinley's: Spindle's End

This nap inducing retelling of the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty takes us through 21 long years of the well-known cursed princess' life. The original, very simple, tale is drawn out here with long explanations of repeated foreshadowings and roundabout recollections in very long convoluted paragraphs filled with never-ending sentences. Lengthy chapters sprinkled with uncommon words seem to end randomly at times. Characters are often plagued by foggy memories and extended dreamlike experiences sometimes clouding what little action there is. For those who like magic, McKinley's Spindle's End certainly is crammed with it, but "magic can't do everything." It did however help McKinley give us an uncommon but expected ending to the classic tale.

Vande Velde's: All Hallows' Eve: 13 Stories

If not exactly scary, these 13 short offerings by award winning young adult writer Vivian Vande Velde are at least fun and always well written as one would expect from this writer. Some blood, a bit of violence, a few surprises are all there in this Halloween bowl of treats along with some predictable but enjoyable endings. Definitely written with the young teen set in mind.

13

James Howe presents a collection of 13 writings on being 13 by 13 authors/writing teams of teen fiction, perhaps for anyone who is 13, is almost 13, or was ever fortunate or unfortunate enough to have been 13 in 13: Thirteen Stories that Capture the Agony and Ecstasy of Being Thirteen. This brilliant requiem for childhood may cause a bit of laughter and misty eyes as poignant moments are shared in quality prose and one short poem on a wide array of themes and styles. Each author shares brief recollections of turning 13 at the end of their piece. Particularly notable in style and substance is Howe's own offering about a bar mitzvah which suddenly goes wonderfully and meaningfully awry.

Martin's: The Doll People

Auntie Sarah doll has been missing for 45 years so it's about time that the other dolls set out to find her and bring her home. This title is obviously intended for a young, immature, or unquestioning audience. Sophisticated readers will probably be put off by the inconsistencies which arise from trying to create circumstances where living dolls can believably inhabit a human world. There seem to be a lot of rules about being a living doll which are never really made clear to the reader. A few funny moments occur when the indestructable modern dolls are compared with the century old victorian style dolls but they do not outweigh the creep factor when Martin unsuccessfully climbs out of her human head to write from a doll's perspective.

Selznick's: The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Part novel, part storyboard, part picture book, Brian Selznick creates an historical fiction page-turner in The Invention of Hugo Cabret, a survival story of a resourceful youth named Hugo who lives hidden in the walls of a French train station. Engaging, suspenseful, and a quick read, the story takes readers back to 19th century France at the time of the Paris World Exposition. The marvelous mechanical inventions of the time which become the centerpiece of the story are no less a wonder more than a century later. The reader will no doubt want to learn more, after the very clever ending, about many of the things mentioned in the story. This endeavor will be facilitated by the author's notes included in acknowledgements and credits.