The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, 2012 Dutton Publishers

     Hazel has cancer in her lungs. She requires supplemental oxygen to survive, even on a level far below that of normal people. When she meets Augustus Waters through a mutual friend at Support Group she is instantly stunned by his charisma and the fact that he's staring at her.
     Augustus asks Hazel to hang out immediately. He's different than most of the guys she's known: confident in his insecurities, charming, arrogant, but he still understands that life cannot be taken too seriously. In his own way he's fascinating, and thus begins a whirlwind romance.
     They share everything from books to music, stories about their illnesses, families, friends; Hazel and Augustus become the best of friends. When Hazel tells Augustus her questions for the author of her favorite book, and how the author won't respond, Augustus makes it possible for her to ask her questions.
     As his illness progresses, Hazel and Augustus' relationship both deepens and transforms. Hazel acknowledges that it is because of Augustus that she understands her favorite novel even better--that she understands love better.
     The relationship John Green describes in The Fault in Our Stars is not the usual relationship depicted in fiction about cancer. It is a real relationship between two teens facing the mystery of the future; facing the possibility of death.

The Indian in the Cupboard

The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks, 1980 Avon Publishing

     When Omri receives an old cupboard for his birthday he is surprised by the cupboard's magic. Using an old key, Omri brings to life a miniature Iroquois Indian figurine. The Indian, Little Bear, is disappointed to be in Omri's world and becomes demanding, but he and Omri become friends.
     Omri shows his best friend, Patrick, the magic cupboard and Patrick wants to bring one of his figurines to life. He brings Boone, a cowboy from the old west, to life and the bickering between cowboys and Indians becomes more than a social memory.
     However, Omri refuses to turn Boone back to plastic until it is nearly too late. Little Bear shoots him with an arrow and the little man nearly dies. After some scrambling Boon survives, but it is some time before the men trust each other.
     With the power of life and death in his hands, Omri faces some difficult choices. He learns the value of friendship and the 'softer feelings' his older brother teases him about. From wanting everything to turn out how he imagines to understanding the responsibility for doing what's right or best for a friend, Omri learns much from his miniature companions.

Halo

Halo by Alexandra Adornetto, 2010 Feiwel & Friends

     Today's world isn't what it used to be. It is much less Godly than ever before and Bethany Church, along with her sister Ivy and brother Gabriel, is sent from Heaven to help bring balance to the world. The angels land in a small town and integrate into daily life.
     Ivy, a seraph, volunteers in the community. Gabriel, the archangel, teaches music at the elite public high school where Bethany is a student. Unlike her removed siblings, Bethany has no problem fitting in with human life. She is the most human of the three angels and begins to fall into the normal patterns of her classmates.
     She even falls in love: Xavier is a unique young man for the modern world. He is the swim team captain, class president, valedictorian, and his family is Catholic. But at the edge of their idyllic world is Jake Thorn. Bethany can't figure out what it is about Jake that bothers her so.
     As Jake tries to lure her away from Xavier, Bethany clings to the relationship and tries to avoid Jake. She even breaks all the rules and reveals her identity to Xavier as their relationship progresses. Neither Ivy nor Gabriel is happy with the decision, but bring Xavier in on their divine mission. The three angels take their mission seriously and fight for peace in their small town and beyond.
     The story has strong Christian elements but is a typical coming of age story. Bethany begins to explore the human world and to experience emotions angels cannot feel. She questions what it means in terms of her angelic identity, but is firm in her belief in God's love.

Bloodlines

Bloodlines by Richelle Mead, 2011 Razorbill Publishing

     Bloodlines is a spin-off of Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series. It is the first novel in its series and follows Sydney Sage. She and her family are Alchemists, a group of humans who have taken it upon themselves to prevent vampires from preying on humans and taking advantage of the discrepancies between human and vampire abilities.
     Sydney is like any other human girl, except for her place among the Alchemists, and her enhanced abilities. Somewhere in her past she helped to establish Lissa Dragomir as queen of the Moroi, a "less disgusting" type of vampire. In Mead's world, there are two types of vampires: the undead dhamphir, and the not yet dead moroi. While the Alchemists find the Moroi acceptable so long as they remain isolated from humanity, the dhamphir are to be destroyed at all cost.
     When Sydney is dragged out of bed in the middle of the night to play babysitter to Lissa's sister Jill at Amberwood Prep, a boarding school in Palm Springs, California, neither Jill nor Sydney are happy about the decision. But as soon as they think things are starting to settle down, Sydney discovers things are rarely as simple as they seem. Something vampire is lurking around Amberwood Prep and Sydney is going to discover the truth.
     The conflict between what Sydney sees as her duty to protect human-kind and the responsibility she has to keep Jill alive and prevent civil war makes her unsure of herself. When she allows herself to see the humanity in her new vampire companions, and even to see how an alliance--a lasting alliance--could stop all she's been fighting for her entire life. Bloodlines is a young adult novel, more appealing to teens.

The Hope Chest

The Hope Chest by Karen Schwabach, 2008 Random House

   In 1920 the world was changing. Violet only saw her brother come home from World War I shell shocked and bed-ridden and her sister leave home for New York City and the chance to become a nurse. Violet stayed home with her sometimes harshly ignorant father and her mother, who was mourning her son's loss.
     One day Violet discovered letters her sister had written and her parents had kept from her. Incensed, the eleven-year-old fled to New York to meet with her older sister. When she arrived Chloe had already left the city to help in the women's suffrage movement. Violet continues to look for Chloe, and accepts the aid of a young black girl, an orphan sent north for training as a maid. The pair go to Washington, DC then on to Tennessee where Chloe is fighting for votes to ratify the 19th Amendment.
     Violet's parents say Chloe has become "The Wrong Sort of Person" but Violet finds herself becoming more and more like Chloe with each new experience. Violet stands on the brink of listening to her parents and living their ideals, and becoming her own person with thoughts and political opinions of her own. This story follows that transition, with historical photographs and material to show readers where in the scope of history Violet fits. Elementary readers will enjoy the fast-paced action and even learn something about the fight for Women's Suffrage.

The Rising

The Rising by Kelley Armstrong, 2013 Harper

     Maya Delaney and her friends are paranormal experiments. Maya is a skin-walker, able to transform into a cougar. Her best friend Daniel is a benandanti or demon hunter with powers of persuasion and a "super-shout". Their friend Corey gets visions and has a power of charm, it seems all of the teens in their small town have some sort of power. But Salmon Creek is long gone and the friends are on the run from two powerful Cabals who want to control their powers.
     After escaping a forest fire, kidnapping via evacuation helicopter, being chased by the Cabal, losing four of their group, meeting and escaping Maya's biological father, and attending their own funerals the three friends are hoping for any help they can find. When Maya's twin brother shows up the trio isn't sure whether or not they can trust him. Ash has his own issues, but when Maya is captured to allow his escape he meets up with Daniel and Corey.
     The side effects of each teen's transition are surfacing; Corey's headaches are becoming debilitating and Maya is regressing into blind rages where she will attack anyone and everyone. They need the Cabal and its research to stabilize, while Maya is trapped in the Nasts' compound she realizes and recognizes the need. But she still tries to escape. Her biological father, who works for the Cabal, helps Maya, her boyfriend Rafe, and their friend Hayley escape.
     He suggests a plan of negotiation that involves finding another escaped group of paranormal teens. But it takes more than just a call to get their cooperation and even more to evade another capture. Maya and her friends are tired of running, but they will not concede without getting at least part of their lives back.
     Maya, Daniel and the rest of the kids from Salmon Creek have lived pampered lives, but they still know how to fight back and want to maintain their independence. Rather than let the Cabal take care of them, they hope to become more than simply experiments; they are real people and have hopes and dreams. Maya discovers more about her own life, her relationships, and her hopes for the future while running than while in the protective bubble of the Cabal's influence. In the final book of the Darkness Rising Series, Maya discovers who she is, who she wants to be, and how to use her circumstances to her own advantage. The book is focused toward teen readers.