The 5th Wave, by Rick Yancey (2013)

There will be no awakening.
     The sleeping woman will feel nothing the next morning, only a vague sense of unease and the unshakable feeling that someone is watching her.  Her anxiety will fade in less than a day and will soon be forgotten.

Sixteen-year old Cassie is a survivor.  As far as she knows, she could the last human in the universe.

So I'm probably not the last human on Earth, but I'm one of the last.  Totally alone - and likely to stay that way - until the 4th Wave rolls over me and carries me down.

Cassie has devised rules for her survival.

The first rule of surviving the 4th Wave is don't trust anyone.  It doesn't matter what they look like.

The only way to stay alive is to stay alone.  That's rule number two.

The Others, as she calls them, are extra-terrestrial.  Four Waves have washed over earth since the Arrival.  Billions killed.

The 1st Wave killed 500,000 people.
The 2nd Wave killed millions.
The 3rd Wave killed than 3.5 billion people.

How do you rid the Earth of humans?  Rid the humans of their humanity.

Cassie must do whatever is necessary to keep her promise to her younger brother.  And along the way, she must face what she fears the most.

The 5th Wave is an exciting, dark read.  Narrated from two points of view, this dark world is filled with action and intrigue.  This is the first book in the series.

Rating:  7 out of 10 stars
* language, sexual references

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The Fall of Five, by Pittacus Lore (2013)

Tonight's escape fantasy stars six.  A horde of Mogadorians stands between her and my cell - which isn't technically realistic.

Narrated from several character's point of view, the fourth book in the Lorien Legacies begins with Sam.  Sam is imprisoned by the Mogadorians in a top-secret government base in New Mexico.  The person who finally comes and saves Sam is shocking.

"Sam, I know it might not count for much right now, but you have my word that we're going to do everything we can for the Garde.  Saving them, protecting Earth...it's my life's work."

The rest of the Garde are hiding in Nine's penthouse in Chicago.  Ella is plagued with nightmares about Setrakus Ra.

"He - he gets down on his knees."  Her voice drops to a chilled whisper.  "He holds one of my hands in both of his, and he asks me if I've read the letter." 

Can the Garde find Five?  Can they restore Lorien?  Can they stop Setrakus Ra?

Five seeking 5.  Are you out there?  

Need to meet...Find me.

Rating:  8 out of 10 stars
*language, sexual inferences

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The Girl Is Murder, by Kathryn Miller Haines (2011)

Pop's leg was across the room when I came downstairs.  

New York City.  1942.

Iris Anderson is 15 years old.  She used to go to an elite private school, but she now attend public school.   She used to live on the Upper East Side, but now she lives on the Lower East Side.  She used to live with her mom and dad, but now she just lives with her dad.

Iris' mom died nine months ago.  Her father was in the Navy and lost one of his legs in Pearl Harbor.  Iris is just trying to survive her new life.

On her first day of school she met a handsome boy named Tom Barney.  A few weeks later, Iris learns that her father, a private investigator, has been hired to find Tom.  Iris decides to secretly help her father solve this case.

What Pop needed was someone who could blend in, whose age and appearance meant they were easily ignored...I was going to help Pop.

The Girl Is Murder is a good mystery for teen girls.  The slang and imagery really painted a picture of NYC in 1942.

Rating:  8 out of 10 stars
*sexual references, suicide

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Steelheart, by Brandon Sanderson (September 2013)

I've seen Steelheart bleed.

It happened ten years ago; I was eight.  My father and I were at the First Union Bank on Adams Street.  We used the old street names back them, before the Annexation.

David is now 18 years old.  For ten long years, he has dreamed about revenge.  Everything has been destroyed by Epics, humans who developed super powers when the spaceship Calamity arrived.  One Epic in particular has taken over Chicago.  Steelheart now rules Newcago.

"I have claimed this city, little Epic.  It's mine...Give me your loyalty or die."

David has studied all of the known Epics.  Each Epic has at least one weakness, and David is determined to seek revenge on the Epic who killed his father.

Can David avenge his father's death?  

Rating:  8 out of 10 stars

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Anson's Way, by Gary D. Schmidt (1999)

In a small sod house scooped out beneath an embankment of hedges, a master teaches fifteen or sixteen students.  Sometimes there are more, sometimes fewer, depending upon the farm season.  The house - if it might be called a house - is invisible against the embankment.  Nevertheless, one boy stands hidden on guard.

Anson Granville Staplyton has always wanted to be a Staffordshire Fencible.  

I've waited for this day all my life, he thought, and here I am in it.  Drummer for the Staffordshire Fencibles, just like my father, and his father, and his father before him.

He is sent from England to Ireland to keep the king's peace.  In England, anyone said to be teaching superstitions and "the evil customs of his nation" are seeds of Irish rebellion, in violation of King George II's laws.

No one may tell an Irish tale.

There are to be no schools, no, places of learning, no teachers, no lawyers.

There are to be no Catholic churches, no priests, no saying of the Mass...

No Irishman may own a horse of value.

No Irishman may apprentice to a gunsmith.

No Irishman may travel abroad for schooling.

And no Irishman may own the fields he works.

Anson sees the beauty in Ireland and learns that things are not so simple.  And when he is faced with a decision, will Anson remain loyal to the Fencibles, or will he find another way?

Rating:  8 out 10 stars

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Dead End in Norvelt, by Jack Gantos (2011)

School was finally out and I was standing on a picnic table in our backyard getting ready for a great summer vacation when my mother walked p to me and ruined it.

Jack Gantos has a penchant for getting into trouble; during his summer vacation, he's been "grounded for life."  Anytime he gets stressed or scared, his nose gushes blood.  

Even though he's grounded, his mom lends him to an old neighbor, Miss Volker.  Miss Volker was one of the original Norvelt inhabitants, and she writes the obituary for each original inhabitant.  She needs Jack's help to write and type up the obituaries, but Jack learns interesting and exciting details about his hometown.

Rating:  10 out of 10 stars
*mild language

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What I Saw and How I Lied, by Judy Blundell (2008)

The match snapped, then sizzled, and I woke up fast.  

Evie is 15 years old.  She lives in Queens with her mother and step-father.  It's been two years since World War II ended, and live is getting back to normal.  

After receiving yet another phone call from an ex-GI looking for a job, Evie's step-father, Joe, takes the family on a vacation to Pam Beach, Florida.

Suddenly Evie is caught in a complicated web of lies that she only slowly recognizes. Murder and intrigue surround this delicious read!

Rating:  8 out of 10 stars

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