Shadow of Night

 

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness, 2012 Viking Adult

     As an alchemical historian, Elizabethan England is a dream destination for Diana Bishop. When the present is too dangerous for a witch with no control over her power and who has fallen in love with a vampire Diana and her husband, Matthew de Clairmont escape into his past. Fitting into history when Matthew and his family are powerful forces both politically and martially is difficult for modern woman Diana. 

     Matthew is Matthew Roydon in 1590. Advisor to Queen Elizabeth I, spy, and member of the Creatures' Congregation, he is responsible for ensuring the creatures of Europe refrain from meddling in human affairs. Diana discovers her husband is a powerful man in his own right, but the weight behind his family name is an additional level of protection over their forbidden relationship. Their travel in time displaces the original Matthew Roydon and requires that the pair scramble to reassure his family when Philippe de Clairmont receives word of his missing son. Matthew is hesitant to meet his relatively recently deceased father and concerned the vampire lord will take issue with his choice of wife and Diana's witchy magic. 

     Philippe knows something is changed in his son, and the pair are forced to reveal some of the future to the vampire. Matthew's family accepts Diana and, with Philippe's support, the two have a second, public wedding. More characters come into play as Diana meets more of the de Clairmont clan, including Matthew's sister Louisa, son Benjamin, and nephews. Not every member of the ancient and powerful clan is happy with the new witchy member, but Matthew and Philippe stand behind Diana to set events in motion which will ripple down the timeline. 

     While her personal life revolves around how the vampires of the de Clairmont clan handle Matthew's marriage, her magic and the focus of their journey depends on Diana making strong relationships with a nearby coven. With their help she discovers the key to her unmanageable magic is to try not to manage it - Diana is a spell-weaver and writes her own laws of magic. 

      Circumstances require that Diana and Matthew cut short their journey into 1590. Their travel home is just as fraught with concern as the trip backwards in time. They return home months after leaving and to surprises they couldn't have imagined. 

     The second All Souls installment sees a new, more transparent side of the categorically secretive Matthew de Clairmont. Diana learns how to use her power and the power of community. Readers who enjoyed Nora Roberts' Chronicles of the One will find similar themes in Harkness's story. 

Princess of the Silver Woods

Princess of the Silver Woods by Jessica Day George, 2012 Bloomsbury

   The youngest princess of Westfalin, Petunia, has been kidnapped... sort of... on accident. Oliver and his band of Wolves of the Westfalin Wood decide to raid Petunia's carriage on her trip to visit a distance Grand Duchess and come up with more than just the gold and jewels they hope for. The young man didn't mean to kidnap a princess and he plans to confess to his accidental crime and escort Petunia to her destination.
     Petunia is not a wilting lady--when she was a small child she and her eleven sisters were taken to a kingdom under the earth to dance with the sons of the King Under Stone. After several princes and adventurers tried to rescue them, the girls were able to escape the curse and resume normal princess lives. Several princes were killed in the quest for an answer and the king decides his daughters should travel as emissaries to assuage the wounds.
     The youngest daughter spends significant time in a Russia-esque country to the north. Petunia's hostess visits Westfalin and requests a visit from her long-time ward. It is on the trip to visit the Grand Duchess that Petunia meets the Wolves and Oliver, their leader. Oliver is true to his word and transports Petunia to the new residence of the duchess - his familial home.
     With the Grand Duchess, Petunia is plagued by long-gone nightmares of a kingdom underground. She writes to her sisters hoping for a solution, but no news comes from the princesses or their husbands. Petunia enjoys her days with the Grand Duchess and her charming nephew, but the nights begin to wear and answers are still elusive.
     Petunia remembers Oliver and his promise to help. When her suspicions begin to get the best of her, the princess asks for help from the handsome young man. Oliver's assistance finally produces answers, but they aren't the answers Petunia hopes for. She is given the chance to finally end the family's curse permanently when a new King Under Stone takes control and accepts Oliver's help in saving herself.
     The third and final story of the Westfalin Twelve Dancing Princesses blends with Little Red Riding Hood for a story to end the princesses' nightmare. Princess of the Silver Woods concludes the tales of the Westfalin princesses for middle school readers.

A Perfect Blood

A Perfect Blood by Kim Harrison, 2012 HarperVoyager

     After Ku'Sox was banished into the Ever After, life slowly finds a new normal for Rachel Morgan. The magical community removes her Shunning and she manages to stay afloat Running for both private entities and the FIB. She has, however, been declared dead by the government because of her changed status as a demon. She has no legal status as a demon, which creates just as many problems as Ku'Sox's defeat solved.
     While Trent and his army of lawyers work to grant Rachel her rights the government holds her citizenship hostage in exchange for a list of demon curses. Rachel meets the living vampire Nina who channels Felix, an ancient undead vampire who tries to keep his identity under wraps. Felix-in-Nina brings Rachel to a crime scene: the terrorist organization Humans Against Paranormals Assoc. appears to be killing witches in grotesquely public ways.
     The murders appear done by demons and Inderland Security wants to contain the investigation. Rachel calls in the FIB, wrenching jurisdiction away from the IS and their ability to pin her down as scapegoat. Though she was forced into the investigation, Rachel, Ivy, Jenks, and their friends battle to find HAPA and stop them before someone else gets hurt.
     Rachel worries that HAPA is attempting to turn witches into demons and use their blood. When Ivy does some background work on the victims the team discovers all three witches killed were carriers of the Rosewood Syndrome--the disease which Rachel survived and making her a demon.
     The search for HAPA and their genetic manipulations heats up until Rachel is attacked and her survival is linked to that of HAPA's latest victim. With her maverick style and no-holds-barred persistence, Rachel is the best chance of catching a terrorist organization while under the scrutiny of two corrupt law enforcement agencies. With her signature passion and verve Rachel searches for a solution.

The Friday Society

The Friday Society by Adrienne Kress, 2012 Dial Books

     In London, 1900 three young women are assistants to three powerful men.
     Cora is lab assistant to Lord White who invents in secret. Not only does she help him with his work and explore inventing on her own, but she manages the social and political life of her mentor. Lord White is in government and may one day be Prime Minister and Cora Bell was a clever urchin he rescued off the street and gave purpose.
     Nellie is a magician's assistant to the Great Raheem. She was discovered in a burlesque house where the modest young woman was known as a tease. When the Great Raheem offered her a position she took the chance and Nellie Harrison has become a star in her own right.
     Michiko is assistant to a fighting instructor. Michiko Takeda became a samurai's assistant in her homeland, Japan, and when she realized she would never be granted her sword left Japan with Sir Callum Feilding-Shaw and became his assistant showing off her combat skill.
     The three young women meet when a prominent scientist is murdered and they individually stumble across his beheaded body in the middle of the street. The scientist isn't the only body piling up and the young women are concerned: the murders of flower-selling girls and high-ranking men appear to be linked, but what is the connection?
     The three young women explore and investigate the strange goings-on and discover not everything is as it seems in the elevated halls of government and science. The girls become friends, using their talents to stand up for themselves and solve the mystery they've uncovered. They face unwanted male attention, opposition from potential love interests, and the loss of people close to them.
     Readers who enjoyed Y.S. Lee's Agency novels will find a new, more mature take on turn-of-the-century London. Kress's debut novel brings sass and steampunk to teen readers.

Bewitching

Bewitching by Alex Flinn, 2012 Harper Teen

     After encouraging Kyle and Lindy to find internal attraction rather than superficial beauty Kendra moves to Florida where she meets Emma. Emma's mother remarried and his daughter is coming to stay. Emma's mother doesn't believe her new daughter could possibly try to ruin Emma's life and steal away her daddy.
     Kendra befriends kind Emma at this new school. Throughout telling Emma's story and helping her deal with the step-sister drama, Kendra tells part of her story: all four-hundred plus years of it.
     Though she wants to use her magic to help Emma, Kendra has experience with magic gone wrong and is afraid of helping her new friend with the same results. Emma and Kendra bond as normal teen girls over Emma's new boyfriend and her new step-sister trying to steal him.
     As Kendra and Emma become closer friends Kendra tells the story of her failed attempts to help other friends in other lifetimes. Her past stories mirror Hansel & Gretel, The Little Mermaid, and The Princess and the Pea. Emma's story mirrors Cinderella as the two navigate high school and friendship in an ever-changing world.
     Flinn retells the traditional fairytales wrapped in new settings. Romance and difficult families drive the plot while the friendships Kendra builds over and over give purpose to her continued existence and immortality. Teen readers will understand and enjoy Kendra's somewhat irreverent attitude balanced against Emma's more straitlaced tendencies.

Scarlet

Scarlet by A. C. Gaughen, 2012 Walker Publishing Company

     It's just Scarlet, but the people of Nottinghamshire assume the small, nimble member of the Hood's band is a boy, so they call her Will Scarlet. When Robin discovered Scarlet trying to pick his pocket in London the young lord assumed she was a boy too, though he soon figured out the truth. Scarlet joined the charismatic lord as he returned to Nottinghamshire to protect his people from the Sheriff presented with his seat of Huntingdon.
     Robin of Locksley still hides in Sherwood Forest from the Sheriff and tries to help his people by robbing the rich and providing for the poor. When the Sheriff brings in a thief catcher Scarlet only worries that it will be Guy of Gisbourne who could reveal her secret past.
     When the thief catcher arrives the sheriff escalates his action against the townspeople and Rob, Scarlet, Little John and Much ramp up their efforts in response. When the townspeople discover one of their own has betrayed the rightful Earl, only Robin himself can prevent the man's demise. Gisbourne is the thief-catcher, and the force behind the new found depravity in Nottingham and Scarlet fears in saving the townsfolk she will reveal herself to Gisbourne and his tortures.
     Meanwhile, Little John has taken a fancy to his female bandmate. While Scarlet struggles to determine how she feels about John her hidden feelings for Rob become more and more apparent. The jealousy between the two boys makes Scarlet wonder if she wants to stay in Sherwood or try her luck further from Robin, John, and the threat Gisbourne presents. Before she can make a decision the Sheriff arrests more and more townsfolk scheduling their hanging leading Robin and his band to stage one more rescue attempt.
     The attempt goes fatally wrong and Scarlet decides her past, while dangerous to her future in Sherwood and relationship with the band, is not worth the lives of the people she cares for.
     Scarlet is a young woman on the run who found friendship and purpose in an unlikely corner. She fights for the people she cares for, and for their causes. Despite knowing the people of Nottinghamshire disapprove of her thievery, the young woman is pummelled to help Robin's people and to fight the injustices they face. She makes her own way when life refuses to give her a clear path and even her dreams seem to be impossible.
     Readers who enjoy a female protagonist with drive and sarcasm will like Scarlet and her spunk. Gaughen's Scarlet is aimed at younger teens with reference to more mature subject matter and blatant violence.

The Lucky Ones

The Lucky Ones by Anna Godbersen, 2012 HarperTeen

     As the heat rises in the city those who can escape to the cooler temperatures outside the city do. The Gray family estate experiences Gatsby-esque parties as bootlegger alcohol runs free.
    Letty Larkspur is getting a taste of fame as her hard work pays off. But when fame takes a  questionable relationship with a married Hollywood star Letty is opened up to a target for the hopefuls coming to the city. The starlet has dreams of Hollywood but her naivete leads to her Hollywood mentor betraying her trust and Letty discovered it by the man's wife.
     Astrid has returned from her honeymoon with the love of her life only to discover he hasn't been showing her his commitment to the business. When Charlie begins to keep Astrid under guard for fear a rival operation may use her as leverage, Astrid is stifled. One of her younger guards is sympathetic and listens to her, Victor becomes Astrid's escape. Victor is one of Charlie's most trusted men and the two keep their budding relationship secret for both their sakes. Charlie is possessive of his new wife,
     Astrid is trapped by the decisions she's made, but Cordelia and her famous boyfriend face complications. The daredevil is mulatto and to maintain his position his history cannot be made public and the normal stages of a relationship risk exposing Max's secret past. Cordelia loves her pilot but the risk of losing not only his good name and position, but also his main source of protecting his family. Can their love withstand his private life and her public persona?
     When Carlie's fears come to pass, but extend beyond simply impacting Astrid but also his sister and her best friend. Tensions run high at the end of the summer concluding the Jazz Age. The girls' paths have separated but in this violent conclusion to the Lucky Ones Trilogy the three meet again.

Midnight in Austenland

Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale, 2012 Bloomsbury

     Charlotte Kinder lives a normal life with a nice husband and two good children. She is a successful businesswoman but something of a pushover.  When Charlotte's husband remarries leaving her with the care of their two teenagers a visit to the Regency Resort Austenland seems like the perfect vacation. Charlotte becomes Miss Cordial spending her days with the lovely Misses Charming and Gardenside being romanced by the handsome gentlemen scrounged by Pembroke Manor's housekeeper.
     Things are going well until Charlotte discovers a real corpse during a Victorian game of Bloody Murder. The identity of the murderer becomes the focus of Charlotte's stay, prompting her to find something she thought her ex-husband had taken from her.
     The possibility of a romance with one of the men at Pembroke Manor reminds Charlotte she is a successful mother, successful businesswoman, and an woman worth spending time with. Everyone at the Manor is playing a role, but Charlotte questions whether Mr. Mallery is as dark as he seems, what does the recognizable pop singer suffer from, and who put the dead body in the attic?
     Scripted more along the lines of Northanger Abbey than Pride and Prejudice, Midnight in Austenland is a murder mystery which brings wallflower Charlotte Kinder away from blending into the wallpaper to become a debutante. Readers who enjoyed Austenland and Austen's novels will see the parallels and enjoy them. Charlotte's story is aimed at teens and older readers.

The Agency: The Traitor in the Tunnel

The Traitor in the Tunnel by Y.S. Lee, 2012 Candlewick Press

     After finishing her mission at the clocktower construction site, Mary Quinn has accepted her first role as a fully-fledged member of the Agency. Several months of trying to forget James Easton have been somewhat successful and Mary has taken the place of parlor maid at Buckingham Palace serving Queen Victoria.
     Her mission is simple in aim: find who has been stealing trinkets from the royal residence. But it becomes more than a simple search and find.
     Anne and Felicity, the managers of the Agency, have been tense. Their fraught relationship begins to affect Mary's work when valuable information fails to reach her; cracks in the facade between Anne and Felicity appear and begin to snake their way through the Agency as a whole. Mary finds herself depending only on the resources she can supply with her own two hands as the situation becomes more complicated and more dangerous.
     Prince Bertie, Her Majesty's heir apparent, witnesses the murder of his friend at the hands of a Lascar, and Mary worries it is her father recently reappeared. In his trauma the prince latches on to Mary as the only sympathetic ear without her own agenda--and pushes his attentions beyond acceptable boundaries.
     Balancing her work and her personal agenda against the consequences of interacting with the monarch and royal family tax Mary, but do not prevent her from seeking the truth. When the mysteries become more coherent and are explained to her satisfaction, Mary is still left with a desire for something more. Teen readers and young adult will enjoy the passionate banter back and forth between Mary and James and fans of historical fiction will enjoy the elaborate glimpse into historical England.

Shadow and Bone

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, 2012 Henry Holt and Co.

     Alina Starkov and Malyen Oretsev grow up together in an orphanage. As adults they join Ravka's First Army in service to the king. They are sent to the Shadow Fold where darkness reigns over the land and strange creatures feast on human flesh.
     Moments into their journey across the Fold, the sandskiff Alina and Mal travel on is attacked and Mal nearly dies at the talons of the Volcra. When Alina is taken by the creature, something strange and unexplainable happens and the monsters flee. She is taken to the Darkling and his inspection shows the power of a Sun Summoner. Alina is swept away from her friends and life to Os Alta and the Grisha training grounds.
     The Darkling insists Alina be trained to help him beat back the darkness of the Fold. Repeatedly Alina is reminded of the danger the Fold presents and how her power is the only defense, but the young woman is homesick for Mal and the friendship she has known her entire life. Despite her attraction to the handsome and magnetic leader of the Grisha something in Alina still holds out for a return to her former life. When she finally gives in to the hopelessness of Mal's seeming rejection (After several months of letters he has yet to respond.) the power Alina hid as a small child blossoms and she begins to find her place with the Grisha.
     On the night of the King's Winter Fete Alina believes her place among the Grisha to be solidified: she has learned to use her power, she has friends among the other Grisha, the Darkling wants her, and the amplifier she and the Darkling have been searching for is finally within grasp. But her content is thrown into a whirl when Mal appears in Os Alta and one of Alina's instructors urges her to flee the city. Alina begins a journey which will tear at the world she has fought to create and a journey which can either throw Ravka into further turmoil or begin its redemption.
     Shadow and Bone is a fantasy from tsarist Russia complete with lavish palaces, dank poverty, and vainglorious warfare. Alina and Mal are best friends who became each other's anchor after their parents were killed in the Border Wars; upon their separation Alina is forced to find her own strength, and discovers she has kept more than just secrets from herself. More mature readers who enjoy fantasy such as The Girl of Fire and Thorns, Grave Mercy and Throne of Glass will enjoy Bardugo's story of a young woman searching for a place to belong.

Son

Son by Lois Lowry, 2012 Houghton Mifflin

     When she goes through her Ceremony of Twelve Claire is given the task of Birthmother. In her community, Birthmother is the task of young women selected to bring new lives into the community. When her first delivery is fraught with complications Claire is moved from the Birthmothers' Dormitory to the Fish Hatchery.
     Something keeps nagging at Claire, despite the good work she is doing for the community. When she takes the moment to stop and visit her Product. The child, like all others, is treated as a commodity, but Claire is attached. Unlike the other women in the community Claire has feelings.
     One night a commotion breaks out, Claire never quite remembers what happened, but a child, Jonas, escapes the community with Claire's son and she finds herself following. She is discovered in the ocean offshore of a fishing village on the edge of a sea she has never seen before. Claire grows and discovers a new world full of colors and animals, emotions and friends. She meets a young man: Fierce Einar who teaches her to climb the massive cliff keeping the people along the shore.
     Claire learns to love the young man and he is instrumental while she can no longer remember her life before the village. When Einar decides Claire is ready, he provides her with the courage and confidence which will lead her to her son. When she reaches the top of the cliff Claire meets the Trademaster who trades for what she most wants in the world: to find her son. He even gives her the first knowledge of his name: Gabriel.
     Gabriel escaped with Jonas at the end of The Giver and the two have aged in a refuge which has made its mark by becoming a shelter for those fleeing misfortune. Gabe has always had a desire and need to look to where he came from. He remembers vague moments of his mother holding him, loving him, but they are simply memories of a feeling Gabe hasn't felt in over ten years.
     The boy is preparing to search for his history when Trademaster returns and it is up to Gabe to save the town and people he loves. Claire has spent the last years watching her son from afar when the danger reappears, she must face the consequences of her choices and send him into danger where he can use his gift to save them all.
     In this evocative conclusion to the Giver quartet the reader follows Claire on her journey from a single sheep following dictates of her community to the individual who is willing to trade her chance at happiness to see her child grow into adulthood. Old characters reappear and the reader is rescued from the dangling cliffhanger. Written for middle school readers and older, there are some mature themes throughout the novel, with something for even adult readers to enjoy.

Throne of Glass

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, 2012 Bloomsbury Children's

     Celaena Sardothien is an assassin. She is spirited away from the Endovier salt mines, a prison where she has the last of her eighteen years rotting, to compete against twenty-three other assassins for the post of King's Champion. If Celaena survives and becomes the Champion she will be free from imprisonment. And beholden to the king.
     The king she will serve rules with an iron fist, and would not be her first choice of employer. Celaena was once the Assassin of Adarlan and has the chance to serve the position again, with a catch: Celaena must compete against men sponsored by the king's council to be the last assassin standing and become the King's Champion.
     When Celaena agrees Crown Prince Dorian transports her to the Glass Castle at Rifthold. There she is placed under house arrest and the supervision of Captain Chaol Westfall. As one of the Empire's most talented assassins Celaena doesn't worry about losing in the competition. It is when assassins start dropping dead outside the competition that she begins to worry. Celaena must find the culprit before they get to her, or her new friends in the castle.
     Celaena was an orphan raised to her talents by an infamous assassin, while she is morally ambiguous she does have a strong sense of right and where she wants to be in her life. The friendships Celaena develops give her something beyond the thrill of the next challenge. The danger is more than the usual risks of such a competition, and Celaena has more to lose than most.
     Celaena's adventures are more suited to high school and older readers with violence and mature tension. Readers who enjoyed A Girl of Fire and Thorns, the Grisha series, and the Lunar Chronicles will find a similar style in Maas's Throne of Glass.

Struck

Struck by Jennifer Bosworth, 2012 Farrar, Straus, and Giroux

     Mia Price and her family moved to Los Angeles where lightning rarely strikes. Mia is a lightning addict. She has risked her life and the lives of people around her in her pursuit of the strike's thrill.
     An earthquake caused by massive lightning strkes reduces the massive city to a minefield of rubble and refugees. The beaches become cities of displaced and the shattered downtown becomes a hazard. Two factions rise to power, both share strange powers and believe Mia the key to success.
     But Mia wants nothing to do with either the Followers or Seekers. She wants to believe the handsome but enigmatic Jeremy and trust him when he says he wants to protect her from his fellow Followers. She wants to protect her younger brother who makes a decision to fight with the Seekers. Mostly Mia just wants life to return to a semblance of normal.
     When she becomes the answer to the city's impending disaster, Mia makes a stand ignoring those who claim to have her best interests at heart and forges her own path. Maybe the girl who's been struck by lightning is the only one to solve its problems.
     The romance plot has moments where it could be realistic, but the relationship between Mia and her family - her PTSD-stricken mother and rebellious brother - is multi-faceted and creates a depth in Mia that her relationship with Jeremy does not have. Struck was written for older teen readers, though the themes of independence and self-reliance transcend age.

The Crown of Embers

The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson, 2012 Greenwillow

     The Invierno army has been defeated and Elisa-Lucero has been named queen at her husband's death. Life should be focused on returning to normal, but just as the Invierno godstone fires will not die in the city, treachery comes at Elisa from every corner of the palace.
     What the invading army searched for was power beyond imagine and with her four companions--a spy, a loyal friend, a traitor, and the man she is coming to love--Elisa will travel across the ocean to find the godstones' power source.
     Along the way her path is disrupted by a people who do not trust their foreign queen, the Inviernos who still seek her godstone, and her own army led to treason by bloodthirsty men seeking opportunity to power.
     Elisa and her company struggle to maintain their faith in each other, and in their mission, but her loyalty to a country she was not born to inspires and compels. Teen readers will enjoy Elisa's transformation from warrior girl to Queen.

The Selection

The Selection by Kiera Cass, 2012 HarperTeen

     Sometime after the fourth World War North America has become one kingdom--Illéa. As a fairly new nation the country has its problems, but most are hidden from America Singer and the rest of the nation.
     America is an artist from the fourth caste in a family who, though they love each other, struggles to make ends meet. She has a secret boyfriend, Aspen, a 6 and two castes below her, just above the homeless and casteless. When the generational Selection comes along to find a Beloved Daughter of Illéa to marry Prince Maxon Schraeve. America's mother and sister are ecstatic and insist she apply. America doesn't want to give up her home and Aspen's love, but when even he asks her to sign up, America is torn. She applies and is Selected.
     With 34 other young women, America travels to the capital and the monarch's palace where she will compete for the prince's hand. But America doesn't want Prince Maxon or the crown he offers--she just wants to get over Aspen's rejection and go home.
     After their first meeting gets off to a rocky start, Maxon and America decide to remain friends and America agrees to keep his confidences until he can find a young woman from the group as his wife.
Followed by cameras and surrounded by women grasping at all Maxon can provide, America hopes to help the man whose friendship means more and more to her. Through rebel attacks and surprising returns the two gradually come to know each other better until the prince narrows the 35 Selected to 6 Elites.
     The Selection is a story that, while fitting into traditional princess story guidelines, bucks convention with a female lead choosing not a man, but herself as she struggles to play the hand she's been dealt. Middle school and high school readers will understand the competition between the Selected and the search for true friendship among masses searching to display their most perfect selves.

Short-Straw Bride

Short-Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer, 2012 Bethany House Publishing

     The Archer brothers are some of the most terrifying men in the county, but that doesn't stop Meredith Hayes from accepting the dare of her classmates. She ventures onto Archer land only to be saved by the oldest Archer brother, Travis.
     Twelve years later when she overhears a plot against the Archer brothers and their land, Meredith rushes to repay her debt. But Travis Archer and his two brothers have been vigilant against the outside world for much longer than they had allowed anyone in. When a young woman who reminds him strangely of the girl he saved years ago, appears on his land Travis Archer is unwilling to allow invaders into his lands.
     Meredith's reunion with the man who saved her doesn't go as she expected. His suspicions, and those of his brothers, do not incline the men to accept this woman and the warning she brings. But when Meredith's life hangs in the balance and she again risks her life on Archer land Travis finds he likes the interloper a sight more than he thought.
     With her courage and wit, Meredith worms her way into the eldest Archer's heart and convinces the three men the world beyond their gate isn't the world they've feared for years. She brings the men more than just a warning, and finds more than just a husband in handsome Travis Archer and his brothers. Readers will enjoy the passion which drives Meredith Hayes to revisit the Archers and the misunderstandings that shape their futures.

A Confusion of Princes

A Confusion of Princes by Garth Nix, 2012 Allen & Unwin

     Khemri is a Prince in a futuristic universe where the human race has spread across galaxies and become well-versed in different teks. The Empire is ruled by Princes who, in turn, are ruled by the Emperor. Princes are endowed with special abilities, but Khemri is different and he is telling his story.
     Upon becoming a Prince, rather than Prince Candidate, Khemri faces almost immediate assassination attempts. His Master of Assassins leads him from the danger and escorts the Prince to a naval base where he may connect to the Imperial Mind and be recorded--and reborn if necessary. Khemri has been elevated at a unique and delicate time, only two years before the change of Emperor, and must learn that all he has been taught is nearly completely wrong.
     Learning to survive becomes Khemri's goal and, after much conflict, he does well as a Cadet at the naval academy. Upon graduation he is offered a position in a distant solar system where he discovers a secret society governing Princes. While following his dream, hoping to become the next Emperor, Khemri discovers how truly trapped Princes are--their very hopes and dreams are programmed into them to facilitate the continuation of the Empire and its systems of power. But Khemri also learns what it is to be human, and in his final moments he must make a choice--will he become what he has always wished to be, or will he become what he knows he is meant to be?
     A Confusion of Princes takes a hard look at what it means to be human and what creates humanity. Teens and young adults will enjoy its quick writing and open style while following the imagination that created such an expansive culture.

Grave Mercy

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers, 2012 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

     When her arranged marriage nearly ends with her life, Ismae flees to the Convent of St Mortain. There, she discovers the sisters worship and serve the ancient god Death and Mortain himself has gifted his daughter with mortal gifts and a dangerous destiny.
     Ismae chooses to train at the convent and become one of Mortain's Handmaidens, his assassins out in the greater world keeping balance. Ismae discovers a skill with poisons and becomes apprenticed to the potion-making nuns. She discovers a friendship with Annith, the gifted seer and a resident at the convent her entire life, and Sybella, a daughter from one of Brittany's great houses.
     Bolstered by her friends, Ismae is sent on her first mission to the high court. She finds her training, while thorough in matters of death, neglected to teach her the dangers of life at court. The young nobleman she is sent for is more than the abbess taught her to expect. Ismae must choose between what she's been taught and what she knows about her God.
     LaFevers' story is brutal in its violence, suited toward older teens and young adults, with character growth as a powerful reminder that anyone can rise above their situation.

Cinder

Cinder by Marissa Meyer, 2012 Feiwel & Friends

     In the distant future, after World War IV, Linh Cinder is a young woman-cyborg working as a mechanic in New Beijing when Crown Prince Kai brings her an android which will not function. He hopes to retrieve information from the metal servant before the mysterious Blue Fever spreads across his country.
     Cinder is surprised at the urgency with which Kai makes his request, but works to complete the task. In the meantime she returns home to her guardian and the woman's two teen daughters. The younger, Linh Peony, is a friend to Cinder while the older, Linh Pansy, follows their mother's example and treats her with as much disdain as a human can show to a cyborg. Life is not pleasant living with her 'stepmother', yet Cinder has no where to go.
     When Peony contracts the Blue Fever and is taken to quarantine the blame is foisted upon Cinder and she is volunteered by her stepmother to participate in the government's vaccine trials. The doctor leading the project is fascinated by the young woman and her genetics. With his technology Cinder discovers something about her past, beyond the nebulous memories of her time with the Linh family, that turns not just her personal world, but the balance between Earth and the Lunar civilization on the Moon.
     Cinder is a completely new tale nurtured out of the story of the little Cinder Girl. With political intrigue, personal discovery, and a touch of romance the story is full-bodied and fascinating. Readers of all ages will enjoy it, though younger readers may require guidance through the text.

Breaking Beautiful

Breaking Beautiful by Jennifer Shaw Wolf, 2010 Walker & Company

     In a small town in northern Washington a summer tragedy has the whole town reeling and one out-of-place high schooler shattered. Allie grew up all over the world with a military dad, but now that he's retired they live in her mother's hometown. Pacific Cliffs seems like a refuge and a place to call home, but when the hottest guy in school sets his sights on her, her summer friendship with Grandma's neighbor--her only real friendship--is torn away.
     Trip is the town's golden boy: his mom is the heir to the town's fortune, his dad brought the tourist industry in when the town's economy collapsed. He played football and was well-liked, at first his relationship with Allie was like a dream. But soon he either couldn't control his temper or didn't care and Allie became his plaything.
     What he called small gifts, like a cell phone and jewelry, became ways to isolate her from her friends and to keep her tied to him. Soon the gifts became attempts at apologies when he would bruise her and demean her. Allie didn't want to tell anyone--he made sure they didn't see the dark side--no one would believe her.
     But when Trip dies in an auto accident the night of Cotillion and Allie is found on the side of the road bleeding and bruised, Pacific Cliffs mourns its shining star. Everyone wants to know what happened that night: why they were on the cliff road? why Allie survived and Trip didn't? and most of all, why did Trip go over the edge? Allie tries and tries, but can remember nothing more than images of red swallowing her and trapping her.
     Allie struggles to escape the abusive patterns Trip beat her into--self-demeaning, refusal to bring attention to herself, refusal to create friendships and have him hurt the people she loves--and she struggles to remember what happened that night. What does her old friend have to do with it all? Why were they on that cliff road? And why won't the town let her move forward from the darkness?
     Breaking Beautiful is a story of intimate partner abuse, and one that isn't often told. Allie is only saved by the death of her abuser, but in turn trapped by the shell he created for her and the close-knit community he lived in. The story is not appropriate for younger readers, but older middle and high school students can easily relate to the story and will enjoy the mystery that keeps you guessing.