Safekeeping by Karen Hesse

     Radley is volunteering at an orphanage in Haiti when America is suddenly overtaken by the American People’s Party and plunged into martial law.  Anxious to get home to her parents, Radley leaves the relative safety of Haiti.  With her cell-phone dead, no money, useless credit cards, no travel papers, she journeys home avoiding all check-points and security stations.  Radley survives for almost a year remaining undetected and scrambling for food and shelter before order begins to be restored in America.  Then, although she wishes it hadn’t, Radley acknowledges that this disaster has changed the course of her life and she has to make some major decisions about her future.

     Yet again, Karen Hesse has written a beautiful, sad, and thought-provoking book.  The simple structure and use of realistic photographs makes this book easy to read but the content is appropriate for teens and adults.

Velvet by Mary Hooper

     Orphan Velvet barely makes her way by working for a laundry service.  One day her fortune changes when she encounters Madame Savoya, the famed psychic and medium, and goes to work for her as a personal assistant.  Velvet can’t believe her luck as she moves from rags to riches until she starts to become aware that there are things in her new household that don’t quite make sense.

    This unusual story has lots of surprises to keep the pages turning!

Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne

     14 school kids are trapped when a massive hailstorm drives their school bus crashing through the glass doors of a chain superstore in order to find shelter.  Escalating disasters cause the riot gates to descend trapping the kids inside the store.  The kids struggle for survival inside the store while debating whether it is safer to stay or figure out a way to leave and find out what, if anything, is left of their families and the rest of civilization.  This is a super exciting book!  The story flows nicely and makes you want to keep those pages turning!  This book was nominated for the Young Adult Top Ten books of 2013 and I think it will win!  The story is followed by Monument 13: Sky on fire by Emmy Laybourne – I am planning to read that right away!

Quarantine: The loners by Lex Thomas

The students at McKinley High have been infected with a virus that makes them deadly to adults and children.  The school has been placed under military quarantine and the students have no contact with the outside world.  Every two weeks, a helicopter drops supplies but only the strongest and fastest can get them.  The school has been divided into gangs – Varsity, Pretty Ones, Geeks, Sluts, Skaters, Nerds, and Freaks.  Without a gang, it is nearly impossible to survive and David and his little brother Will are forced to form their own gang out of the leftover misfit students – the Loners.  The story is grim and frightening, like a modern day Lord Of The Flies, the students turn on each other and will do anything to survive.  This is the first book in a new series, so watch for future installments to find out what happens to David and Will and whether they get reunited!

Variant by Robison Wells

After being bounced around the foster care system for years, Benson is so excited to be accepted at Maxfield Academy where he will finally have a place to belong.  However, it doesn’t take him long to realize that he is a prisoner in some kind of crazy experiment.  There are no adults, everything is monitored by video cameras and doors and computers operate remotely.  Benson realizes that he must try to escape or die trying because to stay at Maxfield Academy means certain death.

Every Day by David Levithan

     ‘A’ wakes up in a new body every day.    ‘A’ has a different life every day.  Sometimes a boy, sometimes a girl, from many different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, ‘A’ tries not to get to attached to anyone and not to interfere in anyone’s life.  These rules for survival work well until ‘A’ wakes in the body of Justin and falls in love with Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon.  ‘A’ breaks all the rules and then tries to make it right again.

     This was an amazing book!  At first I thought the premise was so ridiculous that the book would be also, but the author really has so much insight about the lives of teenagers that each character was significant to the story.  I really admired the fact that ‘A’ was so open-minded and non-judgmental.  I was so sad that ‘A’ had to live life as a drifter with no friends or family.  This book was nominated for one of the top ten teen books of 2013 – I hope it wins!

The Chronicles of Nick 1: Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon

There are several books in this series and they are very popular so I thought I'd better read one.  I like stories about zombies, ghosts, vampires, demons, etc., well enough, but when you start throwing them all in together along with a complete hierarchy of demons controlling demons and other supernatural beings who are more or less powerful, it is a bit much for me.  I like my stories entertaining - not so confusing that I have to keep a flow chart to track the characters.  Nick is a great character, though.  It is always satisfying when the dirt poor picked on kid turns out to have supernatural powers and access to all the riches in the world!  If you like supernatural fantasies with a bit of romance tossed in, and you don't mind putting some brain power behind your reading, you will like this series.  Give it a try!