Micah is lying to you.  340 pages of lies. Will there be one ounce of truth?  She is a compulsive liar, a fact she admits on the first page.  Romance, murder, werewolves, and teen drama.  This book has it all as well as the frustration of wanting to read to the very end to see if any of it is true.  Justine Larbalestier’s look into the psyche of a young woman with serious issues may make your head spin at times yet she writes with such an effective teen voice that readers will get sucked in to her drama.  Recommended for high school level and above.

The Julian Game by Adele Griffin was much more of a fun read than one might expect.  Heroine Raye Archer is the new girl who wants to be popular.  She has a solid friend in Natalya, who is quirky and loves sci-fi Saturday night movies like Raye.  But when the chance comes to be friends with Ella, the queen of “The Group” on campus, Raye bends her own moral consciousness for a bit.  Mixing a lesson on the pitfalls of social media as Raye is put in the fire of the The Group’s hate with a lesson on staying true to one’s self, the strength of this text is Griffin’s subtle understanding of how teen girls of all social strata might interact with each other and with the opposite sex.  Woven in this, Raye’s conscious does keep her coming back to the good side.  Small make out sessions are just steamy enough to warrant an 8th grade and up recommendation.  Griffin’s craft of keeping the story interesting long after the initial conflict is resolved will be the reason to sell it to students. The cover photo presents the stronger main character that actually exists at the completion of the novel.

“She’s drenched and sobbing. I look at her in his clutches and my stomach twists. I don’t know how this individual has tracked us down, but I feel sure that gold bar she intended to cash must be involved. Whatever the case, right now I feel her life is in my hands. ” The dialog is full of suspense and action. The characters include a female al-Qaeda assassin, CIA agents, a bounty hunter, and a super computer named Cleopatra. The setting includes a military base and a super secure warehouse. Add in automatic cannons and flying knives, and you have a page-turning adventure novel designed for teenaged boys.

Goldstrike is Matt Whyman’s follow up to Icecore, but if the reader has not read Icecore, Goldstrike can stand alone due to Whyman’s inclusion of brief flash-backs that fill in the back story.

This is a perfect book for teenage boys, especially reluctant readers.

Nicely printed with color photos, sidebars with deeper explanations, and a fair portrayal of this highly politicized event in history, Tiananmen Square Protests allow students to learn that this was not a one day event.  It was not about one man standing in front of the tanks.  This book takes the first 46 of 100 pages to set the stage for why Chinese citizens of every age pushed for the protests of 1989.  After establishing a history of social protests in China, something most people probably wouldn’t realize existed, author Marcia Amidon Lusted does a seamless job of being non-political in her evaluation of the protests that lasted over two months.  Because of the government cover, official toll of the deaths during the crackdown in June are still unclear, ranging up to 3,000.  Those of us who have live in democracies will want more of the “What if the protests succeeded?”, but the fact is, as she clearly states, that “the younger, post Tiananmen generation knows very little about the protests of 1989…” and see their future in economic terms, not political.  This is an additional selection for libraries that need a more current look at China’s social protest movements.

Jackie Faber just keeps going on the adventures, this time traveling to the Carribean in search of a sunken ship full of gold in Rapture of the Deep by L.A. Meyer.  But it was not her first plan.  She was to finally to wed the love of her life, Jaime, and of course the two get separated again.  This time Jackie is earning her freedom from the British government by leading a ship on a scientific expedition in search of sea sponges that just so happen to be in the near vicinity of the gold filled vessel.  Jaime is on a ship that is to follow behind a by a few days and help with the treasure recovery.  Spanish ships will cause conflict and Jacky will again be the victor, but will Jackie and Jamie ever be together?  Will Jacky follow the rules to gain her own freedom?  Now 16, Jackie’s hormones are racing in this story.  Constant references to getting into bed, be it Jacky and Jaime or other crew members, are give throughout.  All are in the context of being married, but Jacky talks of it over and over again.  If you have a Faber fan, they’ll happily enjoy this next installment…and there’s at least one more to come from the likes of this ending.

Fantasy super star Charles de Lint will impress his fans and create a new following with The Painted Boy.  A tale of shape-shifting clans, gang-banger hoodlums, teen love, angst and rock and roll,  the main character, James Li,  is on his discovery quest not only to find himself, but to do much more.  Set in the Arizona desert, James is a stranger to the land, coming from Chinatown in Chicago.  He aquired his birthmark dragon tattoo at the age of 13 and had been learning lessons from his grandmother to prepare his for this journey.  He makes new friends, including a love interest in Anna, and he makes enemies too.  He soon discovers that his “test” will be to rid the town of the biggest gang leader, who also is a shape-shifter.  The writing spirals between 1^st and 3^rd person, even within chapters, and the variety of personality types, including non-human shape-shifters, keeps the mind interested throughout the story.  This is not your typical fantasy story with it’s contemporary setting and themes.  R* for sure.

A cross between the film Stand By Me and the novel Lord of the Flies, Nothing is a gripping novel that will grasp the reader by the throat, or the heart, and not let go until the chilling conclusion.

Set in a small suburban town in Denmark, the story revolves around a class of 7th grade students and one of it’s members who flees the classroom on the first day of the school year, shouting “Nothing matters…I’ve known that for a long time. So nothing’s worth doing. I just realized that.”

This student spends the better part of the school year perched in a plum tree in his yard, overhanging the sidewalk that carries the other classmates to and from school.  His verbal taunts push them to the point of distraction and they decide that they must do something to prove to him that life does matter.

The efforts to which the students go to prove to him that there are things that really do matter will grip the reader.

A compelling novel, full of turns one does not even begin to suspect, is not for the faint of heart. A modern day Lord of the Flies.

Nothing brings to life the story of Rwanda’s genocide more than personal accounts.  There are plenty of great videos on Youtube what will create the spark students interest in this horrific history lesson.  Alexander Cruden has put together a strong collection of essays, mainly primary source in nature, that can supplement the classroom teacher, but this is not a stand alone history of the genocide.  Full color pictures and maps throughout will aid the student.  Divided into 3 chapters, Historical Background on the Rwandan Genocide, Controversies Surrounding the Rwandan Genocide, and Personal Narratives, with at least five essays in each, this book is for the student researcher who is looking for key quotations to support their position papers. Issues regarding women and children in particular come through the 2nd and 3rd chapter essays.  Chronology in the back serves as a great review/summary for students.  The $40.00 hardcover price is worth it.

The Daytona 500:  The Thrill and Thunder of The Great American Race by Nancy Roe Pimm will appeal to readers from a variety of backgrounds and interests.  Pimm deftly outlines the history of NASCAR by specifically focusing on the annual Daytona 500 race.  She accomplishes this by recounting stories of colorful characters, fierce rivalries, and Cinderella stories pulled directly from the archives of the race’s colorful past.  The accessibility to the sport of NASCAR, the Daytona 500, and to some of its important historical characters is perhaps the book’s greatest strength.  Pimm creates an effective non-fiction narrative that caters to those that are new to the sport, while at the same time, providing those that are already familiar with NASCAR and the Daytona 500 with pieces of interesting trivia.  Those that are new to the sport will have their understanding increased via careful explanations of racing vocabulary and a glossary of terms.  The author also effectively uses stock photographs to support the context and readability of the text.  The combination of pictures and simple, everyday language make the book an option for ELL readers.  The book provides a solid introduction to the sport of NASCAR and its history by focusing on one of the sport’s most famous and prestigious race: The Daytona 500.  While the text is geared toward the young adult male audience it does not actively exclude populations of other demographic groups.  The stories of ingenuity, innovation, and vitality contained in the pages seem endemic to the sport of NASCAR.  The book harnesses some of that energy and depicts the Daytona 500 as a truly unique experience deserving of the title “The Great American Race.”

This book of legendary short stories detailing the fantasy adventures of Conan the Barbarian, of Crimmeria, of the fictitious land of kingdoms ruled by Kull.  The level of imaginative detail of this geographic area of fantasy kingdoms is impressive. Conan is an intriguing character who lives by a simplistic warrior code of fighting and survival in a dangerous world.
The Hyborian Age introduction gives an incredibly imaginative and detailed overview of the geography and society of Conan’s land of kingdoms. The nine stories that follow are a series of dangerous and at times violent adventures, as Conan drifts from kingdom to kingdom trying to make his way in the mystical and confusing world he lives in. Conan is an experienced sword fighter, and has a highly tuned sense for survival, often being outnumbered in his many battles.
Each story can be read on its own, without any prior knowledge of the events or characters in previous stories. Very few details of other Conan stories are mentioned, except in the most general of terms, including the introduction story The Hyborian Age. This was undoubtedly a matter of necessity, as Conan stories were all originally published in magazines in the 1930’s.

Beyond the Black River and Shadows in the Moonlight appear to have the best true sense and spirit of adventure from this book, and both stories have a great element of suspense.The People of the Black Circle spends the most time exploring the mystical and magical aspects of the kingdoms where Conan lives.
Overall, Conan the Barbarian: The Original, Unabridged Adventures of the World’s Greatest Fantasy Hero, is an excellent collection of stories, that captures the reader’s imagination and is an excellent beginning series for any young fan of fantasy and adventure stories.