The Last Princess

The Last Princess By: Galaxy Craze

Eliza and her family are the royal family of England after the many natural disasters have change the way the world is. They have gone without, but not without as much as the other people of her country have gone without, for this reason they are not liked by all. One day the people who dislike her the most come to get them in their castle, she watches as her father the king is killed and as her sister and brother are taken prisoner.  She vows to get the out and tries to join the rebel forces to find out where they are, but that backfires on her and she must somehow escape and then reclaim the family that she fears she has lost.

A great story of a world that we no longer understand.  A story of a young princess and her courage when she fears all hope is lost.  I loved the action and the sear will that the story showed when your family is in danger you will do anything for them.  I think this is a perfect read for middle school and up.

I borrowed this from the public library
ISBN: 978-0-316-18548-6

Alice in Zombieland

 

Alice in Zombieland By: Gena Showalter

Alice thinks her father is crazy, he won't allow anyone out of the house past dusk.  Her sister Em really wants to attend her ballet recital, so on her sixteenth birthday her family goes to the recital.  On their way home there is an accident and Alice wakes to see something attacking her family's bodies.  On her first day at her new school, Alice sees Cole, an has a strange daydream about him.  Her new friends tell her to stay away  from him but she cannot help but be drawn to him  Cole can see zombies, and he is one of a group of people that are fighting the zombies to keep them away.  They are drawn to Alice and soon she is in a battle to stay alive as the zombies are coming for her.


I do not usually read zombie books, but this one had me hooked from the beginning.  A perfect blend of creepiness and love story for me.   I loved Alice in that even though she lost it all she finds that there are things that are worth fighting for.  I also thought that she was a  brave character in that she was told to just go back to her world of not fighting and refused to let the monsters get the best of her, even when she gets hurt. Perfect read for high school readers, young adult fans, and zombie lovers!!  The next book in the series comes out in October, can't wait!!

I borrowed this from the public library
ISBN: 978-0-979-21058-9

Scarlet

Scarlet By: Marissa Meyer

Scarlet is looking for her grandmother.  She disappeared almost 3 weeks ago without even a note, and she knows that something is wrong.  In her search she meets Wolf, a fighter who seems to be following her, Scarlet knows she should not trust Wolf but she just cant seem to help it.  Cinder is going to break out of prison, she is beginning to understand how to use her Lunar skills. She is not prepared for meeting Thorne, a criminal mastermind, who turns out to be useful in escaping. While Scarlet continues to search for her grandmother, with Wolf's help, Cinder is also searching for her, but she needs information about her past as the missing Lunar princess.  Each of theses characters is searching for the missing piece in their puzzle and it leads them to each other. Hopefully they can both make it out alive, and stop the Lunar Queen from destroying everything.

The second installment in the Lunar Chronicles does not disappoint.  The twists on theses classic tales continues with Scarlet (Little Red) and Wolf (The Big Bad Wolf). I love Meyer's ability to make the tales come to live with the science fiction twists and turns.  An action packed adventurous book that I could not put down.  With the action comes the hints of the love stories underneath it all. Perfect teen read!!

I bought this from Amazon.com
ISBN: 978-0-312-64296-9

The Grimm Legacy

The Grimm Legacy By: Polly Shulman


Elizabeth does not really fit in at her new school.  She had to change schools when her father married her step mother and they had to pay for her stepsister to go to college.  But Elizabeth likes to succeed and does a great job in her school work.  Her social studies teacher gets her a job at the New York Circulating Material Repository where she is able to help catalog and loan out items that people need, including magical items.  But something is fishy at the repository and things and people are going missing.  Elizabeth and her new friends decide to try to find out what is happening.  But when magic is involved they have no idea what they are getting themselves into.

Perfect read for any young person!!  I would say all fourth graders and up would be thrilled to read this book.  A fun mix of magic and mystery fills the pages with never ending enjoyment. I loved the character Elizabeth for her awkwardness and her longing to just belong somewhere.  It is just so good!!

I borrowed this from a friend.
ISBN: 978-0-14-241904-5

Under The Never Sky

Under The Never Sky By: Veronica Rossi

Aria is worried about her mother.  She has not contacted her in a long time and the place where is mother is is off line.  Aria thinks that Soren can help her, but to do so she must hang out with him.  They go outside of their Realm, and when they do things get out of hand.  But Aria is saved by a Savage (a person who chose to live outside the Realms), but because she is not Soren, son of the leader, she is excilled into the wasteland.  Perry finds her after his nephew has been taken away. He will force her to help him find his nephew at all cost. But what will it cost the both of them, and can they work together to get what they both want.

This book had a strange start, and because I had to think about what was going on and picture in my mind what the characters were doing, it was a slow start for me.  But as soon as I put things together and the action started happening I really got into the storyline.  I liked how the two characters, Aria and Perry, hated each other but had to work together.  Perfect high school and older read.

I borrowed this from the public library
ISBN: 978-0-06-207204-7

The Selection

The Selection By: Kiera Cass

America Singer has a secret, she is in love with Aspen, but he is not of her class and beneath her.  Her family wants her to enter The Selection that is being held by the royal family to find a princess for their Prince Maxon.   America does not want to enter, but after Aspen makes it known that he thinks she should and he will not continue to see her she goes ahead and signs up.  Of all the thousands of girls, America is randomly selected as one of the 35.  She does not think that it is a good thing and when she meets the Prince she tells him that she would rather be his friend and confidant. Little does she know that she might actually start to like him and she is afraid of being sent home. But then in a twist of fate things become more complicated then she expects. 

This was a perfect book for a lover of fairy tales.  It was a chance to see that fate may let you have what you think you do not want the most.  I loved that America was dead set against going through with the game and then finds herself in the midst of it all. The battle of her feelings plays out in the book as she tries to find her way and not loose who she thinks she wants to be.  Lovely story, and I cannot wait until the next book, The Elite comes out!!

I borrowed this from the public library
ISBN: 978-0-06-205993-2

Rocket Writes A Story

Rocket Writes A Story By: Tad Hills

Rocket and Yellow Bird love to read but in this sequel to Rocket Learns to Read, Rocket is ready to try writing.  Yellow Bird and Rocket write down all the words they see and learn and place them on their word tree.  Rocket decides to write a book and is looking for inspiration.  He finds it in a tree, an owl lives there and he decides to write about the owl.  While writing his story he makes friends with the owl and finally the owl comes down to hear the end.

I loved this book and had a great time reading it to my fifth grade class. They liked the first one and so they were excited to hear this one too. My own children also liked it a lot. A perfect sequel.

I borrowed this from the public library.
ISBN: 978-0-375-97086-3

Defiance

Defiance By: C. J. Redwine


Rachel does not want to believe that her father has died. But he has not come back from the Wasteland so the Commander forces her to accept Logan as her Protector.  But she has other plans, to go and find her father.  But she is caught trying to escape Baalboden and the Commander again intervenes and forces her and Logan go and search for the item her father never returned.  Rachel had once told Logan she loved him, and he rejected her, so she is not to fond of being around him again.  But as she is blackmailed again and forced into the Wasteland, while Logan is thrown into the dungeon she is faced with much more and will be lucky to survive.

This was a great book.  A little end of the world, science fiction, action, and love story all rolled into one.  The character Rachel is one that you root for the whole book as she is desperate to help her father and protect herself and Logan all at the same time.  A fierce female lead that proves that girls can be strong when they need to!

I borrowed this from the public library
ISBN: 978-0-06-211718-2