Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ranson Riggs

 I had just come to accept that my life would be ordinary when extraordinary things began to  happen.

A mysterious island.

An abandoned orphanage.

A strange collection of very curious photographs.

It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.(www.goodreads.com)

Rating: 8 out of 10
**mild language**
Available: North Olympic Library System
To check this out at NOLS, click here: https://pac.nols.org/polaris/Search/request.aspx?pos=2&new=1

Divergent by Veronica Roth

There is one mirror in my house.  It is behind a sliding panel in the hallway upstairs.  Our faction allows me to stand in front of it on the second day of every third month, the day my mother cuts my hair.

In the beginning of the great peace, factions that embraced a particular virtue were formed: Candor (honesty), Abnegation (selflessness), Dauntless (courage), Erudite (knowledge), and Amity (peace).  Their motto:  Faction before blood.

"In our factions, we find meaning, we find purpose, we find life."

Beatrice Prior is 16 years old.  She and her brother are about to take the aptitude test to find out which of the five factions each of them would best be suited for.  After Beatrice's test, she finds out that she displays aptitude for Abnegation, Dauntless and Erudite:  She is Divergent.

"This is different.  I don't mean you shouldn't share them now; I mean you should never share them with anyone, ever, no matter what happens.  Divergence is extremely dangerous.  You understand?"

Beatrice is forced to choose a faction at the Choosing Ceremony.  If she chooses Abnegation, she gets to stay with her family, but she has trouble living the life of selflessness because it doesn't feel genuine.  She is drawn to Dauntless, but choosing a different faction means leaving her family forever.  And failing to complete the initiation into a faction would make her factionless, living a life of misery and poverty.

Beatrice makes a startling decision at the Choosing Ceremony.  Her entire world changes and she doesn't know who to trust.  She is thrust into a competitive initiation where only the top 10 will be accepted; in the beginning there are 19 initiates.  She also is forced to keep her Divergent identity hidden from everyone.  In the midst of this, she discovers a that society may not be as perfect as she once thought. 

(http://readlotsandprosper2011.blogspot.com)

Rating:  10 out of 10

* mild sexual references

Available: Mrs. Hope and Sikes Library, North Olympic Library System

To check this out at NOLS, click HERE!

Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman

 Monday, September 13, 5:30 A.M.

 There was a moment not long ago when I thought: This is it. I'm dead.

Strange things are happening in Skeleton Creek . . . and Ryan and Sarah are trying to get to the heart of it. But after an eerie accident leaves Ryan housebound and forbidden to see Sarah, their investigation takes two tracks: Ryan records everything in his journal, while Sarah uses her videocam to search things out. . .and then email the clips for Ryan to see.

In a new, groundbreaking format, the story is broken into two parts -- Ryan's text in the book, and Sarah's videos on a special website, with links and passwords given throughout the book.

Rating: 8out of 10

Available: Stevens Middle School Library, Mrs. Hope and Sikes Library, North Olympic Library System
Use the following link to reserve at NOLS: https://pac.nols.org/polaris/Search/request.aspx?pos=1&new=1

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

My mother used to tell me about the ocean.  She said there was a place where there was nothing but water as far as you could see and that it was always moving, rushing toward you and then away.

Maria's father is missing and her mom is now dead.  They live in a small village that is surrounded by a deadly forest, the Forest of Hands and Teeth.  The village is surrounded by fence, protecting the inhabitants from the Forest, which is filled with Unconsecrated, aggressive flesh-eating people who were once dead.  The Unconsecrated are driven by the desire for human flesh, spreading the infection.  Maria's village is an enclave of hundreds of survivors in the middle of the vast Forest.  Lost to them is who they are and why they're here.  Life before the Return is a mystery.

The Sisterhood governs the village, the Guardians protect the village, and the Unconsecrated are insatiable.  The secrets the Sisters hold abound.

Unmarried women don't have a lot of freedoms in the village.  They can live with their family.  A man may speak for her, court her, and marry her in the spring ceremonies.  Or she can join the Sisterhood.  But the village is about survival, and all healthy young adults are encouraged to marry.  After their mother dies, her older brother rejects her and Maria is forced to live with the Sisters in the Cathedral. 

"I hear you are to join the Sisterhood," he says.  His words hit me like a slap.  I don't know what I was expecting - anger, pain, regret, but not for him to turn me away.  Not for him to cast me out and leave me to the Sisters before I've even had a chance to speak with him.

While Maria lives in the Cathedral, she notices a gate that leads to a path stretching into the Forest, forbidden by the Sisters and the Guardians.  She notices a set of footprints. 

Someone from Outside has come to our village. 
     Which means that there is an Outside - something beyond the Forest.

Maria begins to ask questions, to wonder about what else is out there.  Her mother always told her stories of life before the Return, especially about the ocean.  Maria's curiosity turns into a desire to know the truth.

There is a breach in the village and Maria is forced to use the forbidden gate to leave the village.  Unconsecrated are everywhere, infecting hundreds of friends and family members.  Can Maria find the truth?

The Forest of Hands and Teeth is a fascinating read, but I was disappointed with the ending.  There is a lot about religion and Maria rejects God.  The premise of the book is interesting, but I was dissatisfied with the resolution of the story.  The imagery, however, is gorgeous.
(http://readlotsandprosper2011.blogspot.com/)

Rating:  10 out of 10 stars
*Mild language, sexual references, violence, religion

To check this book out at NOLS, click HERE!

The companion to this book:

Heir Apparent by Vivian Vande Velde

 

"It was my fourteenth birthday and I was arguing with a bus. How pathetic is that?"

LOSE THE GAME, LOSE YOUR LIFE

In the virtual reality game Heir Apparent, there are way too many ways to get killed - and Giannine seems to be finding them all. Unless she can
get the magic ring,
find the stolen treasure,
answer the dwarf's dumb riddles,
impress the head-chopping statue,
charm the army of ghosts,
fend off the barbarians,
and defeat the man-eating dragon,
she'll never win. And if she doesn't win, she will die - for real this time.
Rating: 9 out of 10
Available: Stevens Middle School Library
                 North Olympic Library System (to reserve use this link:https://pac.nols.org/polaris/Search/request.aspx?pos=2&new=1)

The Enemy by Charlie Higson

 

"Small Sam was playing in the parking lot behind the Waitrose supermarket when the grown-ups took him." 

They'll chase you. They'll rip you open. They'll feed on you...When the sickness came, every parent, policeman, politician - every adult - fell ill. The lucky ones died. The others are crazed, confused and hungry. Only children under fourteen remain, and they're fighting to survive. Now there are rumours of a safe place to hide. And so a gang of children begin their quest across London, where all through the city - down alleyways, in deserted houses, underground - the grown-ups lie in wait. But can they make it there - alive? (Goodreads.com)

Rating: 10 out of 10

**Violence

Available: Mrs. Hope and Sikes Library

                 North Olympic Library System (reserve using link)

https://pac.nols.org/polaris/Search/request.aspx?pos=6&new=1

Gym Candy by Carl Deuker

"My earliest memory is of an afternoon in June."

Mick Johnson is determined not to make the same mistakes his father, a failed football hero, made. But after being tackled just short of the end zone in a big game, Mick begins using “gym candy,” or steroids. His performances become record-breaking, but the side effects are terrible: Mick suffers ’roid rage, depression, and body acne. Gym Candy’s subject matter is just as hard-hitting as its football scenes. You’ll find yourself unable to look away as Mick goes down a road that even he knows is the wrong one to travel.

Rating: 10 out of 10

**Mild language, steroid use

Available: Mrs. Hope and Sikes Library

                 Stevens Middle School Library