Fire – Kristin Cashore

There is trouble in the Dells. The last king had been controlled by the human monster, Cansrel, and between the two of them they made a mess of the kingdom. Now there are factions who want to take the kingdom away from young King Nash and war is on the horizon.

Monsters are terribly beautiful.  They are shaped like any other animal of their species, but they come in vibrant colors.  Monsters stun their prey with their beauty, and then take over their minds, making the prey that much easier to catch.

Fire, Cansrel’s daughter,  is the last human monster.  She is beautiful beyond words with hair the color of fire.  Her appearance instills great passion in all who see her.  Non human monsters want nothing more than to consume her and humans either love her or hate her.

King Nash sends for Fire so that she might interrogate strangers, assassins and supposed supporters to find out who the enemy is, what they are planning, and how to keep the country from falling apart.  But, Fire is not like her father.  She hated what Cansrel did with his power and she is afraid that if she uses her power, she will become like him.

But, first she has to get to King City.  Imagine how hard that is when there are monster raptors dropping upon her from above, because they really, really want to eat her.  Then there are the humans in the army surrounding her who really, really love her, or really, really hate her.  (Imagine the love to be like that seen at a rock concert.  Uncontrolled hysteria.  Not everyone is effected that way, but enough are to become a problem.)  It is a good thing that she has a guard of 20 people who know how to control their own minds.

Fire by Kristin Cashore is a companion novel to Graceling (a 2009 Teens’ Top Ten winner). You can read either one first.  But, I expect that if you read one, you will really, really want to read the other.

Eternal – Cynthia Leitich Smith

Eternal is nominated for the Teens’ Top Ten list for 2009.

Zachary is a guardian angel.  Miranda is his assignment.  He has been her GA for all of her live.  And now, she is dead.  She should have died naturally, but Zachary stopped her intended death, and what happened was worse.  Now she is a vampire.  And Zachary is wingless.

Miranda arises as Dracul’s heir needing to learn all the pomp and circumstance that the role entails.  Luckily she can hire a personal assistant.  Who do you bet gets the job?

This novel is set in the same parallel world as Tantalize, which I haven’t read yet, but which is going on my list right now.  I expect that there will be more vampires and were-whatevers.

The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins

Imagine yourself standing in a crowd of twelve to 18 year-olds. In front of you is a stage with three chairs and two large glass balls filled with slips of paper. Each slip has a name written on it. One ball is for the girls, the other for the boys. Two will be chosen to go to the Capital of Panem and compete in The Hunger Games.

Each district of the Panem has a reaping.  Twenty-four contestants will compete.  The winner will be rewarded with a life of ease.  The winner’s district will be given extra grain, oil and sugar until the next reaping day.

Don’t worry about the twenty-three other contestants. They will be killed in the games. And everyone will see it live on TV.

Sixteen year-old Katniss Everdeen’s name is on twenty slips of paper.  Prim, her beloved twelve year-old sister, has her name on one.  What can Katniss do other than volunteer when the name Primrose Everdeen is pulled from the ball?

The Hunger Games is powerful.  And everyone is watching.

Audrey, Wait! – Robin Benway

Audrey broke up with her boyfriend, yet agreed to stay friends. She promised to go to his concert the night after the breakup, and while there her life changed forever.  Evan sang the song he wrote the night before, the song is about their breakup.  The real problem is that the song, Audrey, Wait!, is good.  Really good.

Soon it is played on local stations.  Shortly it is played nation wide.  Then world wide.    Then came the  paparazzi following Audrey around.  Ugh.  How can Audrey get on with her life with all of these changes?  This book is Audrey’s side of the story.

I found this to be a quick and funny read.  (I read it in one day, and I work full-time.)  Here you will find good friends, new romance and many concerts.  If you can’t stand reading books with swears, skip this one, but if you are okay with the more colorful words in our language, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed in this novel.

Here is the author’s website.  FYI – every chapter of the book starts with song lyrics.  So, do you love music?  Perhaps you will recognize the songs.

My Most Excellent Year – Steve Kluger

Ms. LaFontaine assigned her eleventh grade class to write about “My Totally Excellent Year.” After they balked over the title (and changed it), three chose to write about the year they were in ninth grade.

T.C.’s mom died when he was six, and because of that loss, he acquired a new brother. Augie was the only one who knew how to talk to T.C. Soon Augie’s parents were T.C.’s “Mom” and “Dad,” and T.C.’s father was “Pop” to them both.

Alejandra’s father had been the ambassador to Mexico, and Ale was to enter the family business. The problem was that she constantly put her foot in her mouth and offended dignitaries at official functions.

The story is about friendship, first loves, the families we are born with, and the families we choose. It is told through journal entries, E-mails, chats, newspaper articles and posters. In My Most Excellent Year : A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins & Fenway Park , there is sports, music, dancing, acting, political action, discovery of sexual orientation, sign-language and, yes, Julie Andrews.

This is a fantastic novel of acceptance and encouragement.  And it’s funny.

Twilight – the movie and Book 4 Breaking Dawn – Stephenie Meyer

Fans of Stephenie Meyer’s series Twilight: the movie will be released in the US on December 12, 2008. I expect the lines will be long. Is anyone already making plans to go? Here is the Official Movie Site.

Also, book 4, the grand finale of the series, will be released on August 2, 2008. The title is Breaking Dawn and the reserve list is already growing. Hop on. And, just for fun, here is the Official Website of Stephenie Meyer.

Pirates! – Celia Rees

Nancy’s father owns a fleet of cargo ships and is a wealthy merchant. When a storm destroys much of his fleet he makes a deal that will save his fortune. Nancy is part of this deal, and shortly she is on a ship that has set sail for Jamaica where she learns what fate her father has set up for her.

I bet you can guess part of what happens next from the title. Pirates!: the true and remarkable adventures of Minerva Sharpe and Nancy Kington, female pirates is an adventurous read. Nancy gets separated from everyone she loves and makes a new friend, who turns out to be much more than a friend. Sometimes you don’t just let things happen to you. You stand up and do for yourself.

Before I Die – Jenny Downham

Before I Die is also nominated for the Teens Top Ten list this year. This is the story of Tessa, a seventeen year old girl who is dying of cancer. She has decided to go out on her own terms, to stop fighting her death and enjoy the time she has left. She has a list of things she wants to do before she dies. She accomplishes things on her list, for good or for ill. And the list keeps changing.

This book is both heart breaking and life affirming.  You are going to cry, so prep your reading space accordingly.

Eclipse – Stephenie Meyer

Eclipse the third book in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series has been nominated for the Teens Top Ten list. Twilight made the list in 2006 and New Moon in 2007. I expect that Eclipse will make the 2008 list.

I read the first one and haven’t gotten around to reading the next two. I bet that some of you are just screaming “How can’t she have read the other two yet?” Well, they are always out and people have holds on them, and I would rather you guys read them then me. How about that for an answer?

So, if you read it and you loved it, you should vote for it in October. If you haven’t read it, I hear that you must and you should just place a hold and wait a bit.

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow – Jessica Day George

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow is a retelling of the fairy tale East of the Sun, West of the Moon. A poor family had a ninth child and the mother refused to name her. So, they called her the Pika (girl). A nameless child may fall prey to trolls, thus the Pika had to be careful.

The Pika loved her oldest brother who had gone away for a time and came back changed. When she has the opportunity to help him and her poor family, she jumps at the chance. She ends up at an ice castle living with an isbjorn (ice bear – polar bear) and a gargoyle, a faun and a pixie, among others, as servants. Fortunately, the Pika also has her wolf, Rollo. She has all she can eat and lots of books to read, but she has little company and she misses her family.

I enjoyed reading this book, but I wish I had thought to look for the glossary when I first started reading the book. I would then have been pronouncing the names correctly. So, learn from my mistake, and check out the back – but only for the glossary, don’t ruin the ending for yourself. This book has been nominated for the Teens Top Teen list of books for 2008. And now I know why.