The Unquiet Past by Kelley Armstrong

 I'm a huge Kelley Armstrong fan as an adult reader, and so when I saw this YA book sitting in one of my teachers classrooms, I had to grab it.  Then, when I realized it was part of Eric Walter's Secret series, (see my blog post on his book Innocent)  I was even more excited to read it. 

In this story, Tess has been living at the Orphanage for as long as she can remember.  She has also been plagued with visions and nightmares her whole life. She has only ever told one person, her best friend about this because she is worried about how people will react.  When the orphanage burns down, Tess is set free since she is close to her 18th birthday.  Before she leaves, she is given a clue to her past.  This clue leads her to a mystery that she needs to solve to learn not only where she comes from, but where she might go next in her life.  Along the way, she meets both kind and frightening people, some of whom try to help, some of whom want to hurt her and stop her from discovering their secrets and her own.  

This was a quick read, but an enjoyable one.  Tess is a great character- strong, determined, and smart.  Even though this story is set in the 1960's, she is independent and willing to take risks to meet her goals.  I really enjoyed her character as well as the others we meet along through her adventure.  I can see many girls enjoying this story.  

 

All Eyes on Us by Kit Frick

One look at Amanda and Carter and you know they are the golden couple.  They have all the right clothes, cars and friends. Their future is set- they will be the golden couple for years to come.   But if you look a little deeper, things aren't quite as they seem. 

Amanda is having doubts about Carter, but she knows her parents expect her to marry him so that her family will be financially stable.  Carter is dating Rosalie behind Amanda's back. 

Then there is Rosalie.  Her family are fundamental Christians who believe in conversion therapy and have used it to ensure that Rosalie follows the traditional path and finds a man to marry.  However, Rosalie is gay, and wants nothing more than to spend her life with her girlfriend Pauline, but Carter helps her convince her parents she is 'cured'.

When Amanda and Rosalie start receiving strange texts from someone, it seems that all of their secrets are about to be spilled.  It seems that there is someone who wants to see Carter go from the American boy to having his heart broken.  Amanda and Rosalie, unlikely allies, come together to solve this mystery and try to keep all of their secrets safe. 

I enjoyed reading this book. Rosalie is a great character who I felt a great deal of sympathy for.  On the surface, Amanda seems like a typical rich girl who gets everything she wants, however she is also struggling to live a life that she wants, not what her parents want. 

This book does have some mature content, but it would be fine to be in a grade 7 & 8 classroom /library. 

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

This book has been getting a lot of notice on twitter and since it was described as the book version of The Breakfast Club  I knew I had to pick it up and I'm glad I did.

One of Us Is Lying starts off in a typical after-school detention with five students suffering through the punishment.  But while five students start off in detention, in a few short minutes, only four students walk out alive, one is dead.  The students thought that detention was the worst thing that could happen, but they soon realize that one of them is going to be blamed for this death. 

Simon, the boy who died, was not very well liked, as he was the owner of an app that spilled gossip and secrets about the other students at the school.  He was set to press 'submit' on an entry that would spill the deepest secrets of the other four students in detention that day.  These students were:

• Bronwyn- the over-achiever who has her sights set on going to Yale
• Cooper- the athlete whose pitch is going to lead him right to the Major league 
• Nate- the rebel who already has a police record
• Addy- the popular beauty queen who works very hard at always being perfect.

But each of these students has a secret they don't want revealed and so all have a motive for killing Simon.  The rest of the school population is very happy to throw all suspicion their way. But who had the biggest motive of all and killed Simon?  

This book was really enjoyable.  It was a great mystery novel as it kept me guessing right up until the end.  I really enjoyed the glimpse into what is hidden behind the exterior these students presented to the rest of the school community.  

There is some mature content in this, but it is appropriate and not something that would stop me from putting this in my Intermediate classroom.  The fact that the story is told from all four perspectives makes it a book that would be enjoyed by all students.  

Nearly Gone by Elle Cosimano

I read this book a few weeks ago and am only just now getting around to blogging about it. I LOVED this book! It is such a neat concept for a book. Nearly Boswell lives in a trailer park just outside Washington, D.C., her mother is an exotic dancer which makes her a target for the people she goes to school with, so she tries to keep mostly to herself. The other thing she keeps to herself is that fact that when she touches someone, she can taste the emotions of that person. All Nearly wants to do is to win the scholarship from her school so she can go to college. Nearly works very hard at school, her only guilty pleasure is reading the personal ads in the weekly newspaper. One day, she reads an ad that seems very curious and when one of her classmates is injured, it seems that the ad predicted the event. Nearly starts finding these ads and more and more of her classmates are injured or murdered and they all have a connection to her. It seems that someone is setting it up to look like she is a mass murderer. This is a fascinating mystery novel with a science and math twist to it. I thought this book was really well written and very exciting to read. It may be a bit of a challenge for Intermediate students to read, and while there is a bit of mature content- I wouldn't hesitate to give this book to any of my grade 7's.

Bullet Point by Peter Abrahams

This is the second book I've read by Abrahams. The first one was Reality Check (http://tinyurl.com/235bvuw) His writing is a bit older than I usually like for my grade 7's, but the story lines are always very exciting.
In Bullet Point, Wyatt is a 16 year old boy who lives for baseball season. School is really just an excuse to play baseball. But, when the economy forces the school to give up offering all after school sports- Wyatt doesn't know what he will do. Then he is offered a chance to go to another city and play baseball. This seems like a dream come true- especially after a nasty fight with his step-father Rusty.
As he is leaving town, his coach hands him a picture of his biological father, a man Wyatt has never really cared much about- although he knows he is in jail. When Wyatt ends up in Silver City, he meets a very beautiful, but mysterious girl named Greer. Through Greer, he comes to learn more about his father and as he gets to know and like the man, Wyatt is faced with a decision. Wyatt believes that his father is innocent of the crime he was sent to jail for and Wyatt will stop at nothing to free him.

I really think this book will appeal to many boys, it is fast paced, has a sports interest and of course the beautiful, mysterious girl. There are a few scenes that are a bit more mature, but I will put it in my classroom and talk to students before they read it.

Reality Check by Peter Abrahams

This is the first book I have read by Abrahams, but it won't be the last. This was a great mystery. Cody feels like he has the greatest life ever. He is passing (just!) school without any effort, he is the Quarterback of the high school football team and is dating the most beautiful girl at school. Life is going well. Until, Clea's father decides he is a bad influence on her and he sends her to Hong Kong to keep them apart. Cody and Clea survive the summer apart by texting and emailing each other. They are sure everything will be fine when she comes back for senior year.

But Clea's father has other plans. He has enrolled Clea in a private school in Vermont- 2 days away from Cody. When Cody realizes that Clea is heading in a whole different direction he questions their relationship and tries to learn to live without her.

Then, Cody sees an article in the paper that reads "local girl missing" and realizes that Clea is in danger. Cody leaves everything behind to search for Clea. When in Vermont, he questions everyone and has a hard time trusting anyone. The only thing he knows for sure is that if he doesn't find Clea, nobody will.

I really enjoyed reading this one. There is a bit of swearing, but other than that, it is appropriate for young adults to read. I think the boys will really relate to Cody- he's a well developed character.

I wasn't totally sure where I got this book from, it just appeared on my bookshelf. It

wasn't until I was telling my nephew Bryor about it that he reminded me that he lent it to me.

I love it when that happens!