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.

Shusterman's: Duckling Ugly

In a highly non-formulaic plot, Neal Shusterman gives a face-lift to an old story. In his darkfusion series, Shusterman combines old tales with myths and legends. Ponce de Leon's fountain of youth merges with Anderson's Ugly Duckling to create a dark tale of appearances and retribution. Devastating beauty and ugly so powerful it shatters mirrors at a glance battle each other to a satisfying end. This quick read with entertaining characters teaches readers that there is a cost to playing the retribution game even when you win.