2011 YA Favorites Shelf Talkers Anonymous

2011 YA Favorites

White Cat by Holly Black

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers—people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, all by the slightest touch of their hands. Since curse work is illegal, they’re all criminals. But not Cassel. He hasn’t got the magic touch, so he’s an outsider—the straight kid in a crooked family—as long as you ignore one small detail: He killed his best friend, Lila. Now he is sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat. He also notices that his brothers are keeping secrets from him. As Cassel begins to suspect he’s part of one huge con game, he must unravel his past and his memories. To find out the truth, Cassel will have to outcon the conmen.

From my review…

The characters in this story too are refreshingly real. Though surrounded by magic and the supernatural, Cassel nor his family or friends exhibit any of the over-stereotyped signs of Twilight-esque characters. Cassel is gritty and honest and not always perfect. He is flawed and he knows it, which makes him very human, and very likable. His friends too act more like real teenagers than I have seen in the average YA book and it was immensely refreshing to be spared the over-dramatized sensationalism that is often present when it comes to teen romance.

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street — and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa’s powers for his own dark ends.

With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister’s war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move — and that one of their own has betrayed them.

Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will — the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?

As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.

From my review…

Love triangles are very popular in YA right now—in fact, they are popular in fiction in general. But few triangle are actually “true.” In order to have an actual love triangle there has to be a relationship between all three characters. The girl must have a relationship with Boy A and Boy B, and Boy A and B must have a relationship (usually a friendship, sometimes a rivalry, but something more than just competition). Technically Bella, Edward, and Jacob do not form a true triangle: they are a teeter-totter with Bella in the middle. However, the characters of Clockwork Prince form a true triangle. Tessa is torn between the two boys (Will and Jem) who in turn are linked by a close friendship, almost brother-like relationship that extends far beyond their own individual loves of Tessa. With these three relationships caught in the crossfire of love, betrayal, and mystery, the tension in this book was so high I was sick with nerves at moments. This isn’t a book where you simply picks sides: you want everyone to win, but know that it’s not possible.

Matched by Ally Condie

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander’s face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate … until she sees Ky Markham’s face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it’s a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she’s destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can’t stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society’s infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

From my review…

This is a story of discovery and quiet rebellion. Not every heroine can be a Katniss, leading a grand rebellion against the evil state. Cassia’s journey isn’t as dramatic. She’s not fighting to save her life literally. But in some ways she is fighting to survive. She’s fighting to retain the freedom and knowledge that she is gained. And she is fighting to protect those she loves in the only little ways that she knows she can. Her battles involve small slips of paper, golden compasses, and secret words passed when no one is looking. She doesn’t wield a bow and arrow, she wields words.

The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. No more puzzles. No more variables. And no more running. Thomas was sure that escape meant he and the Gladers would get their lives back. But no one really knew what sort of life they were going back to.

In the Maze, life was easy. They had food, and shelter, and safety … until Teresa triggered the end. In the world outside the Maze, however, the end was triggered long ago.

Burned by sun flares and baked by a new, brutal climate, the earth is a wasteland. Government has disintegrated—and with it, order—and now Cranks, people covered in festering wounds and driven to murderous insanity by the infectious disease known as the Flare, roam the crumbling cities hunting for their next victim … and meal.

The Gladers are far from finished with running. Instead of freedom, they find themselves faced with another trial. They must cross the Scorch, the most burned-out section of the world, and arrive at a safe haven in two weeks. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.

Thomas can only wonder—does he hold the secret of freedom somewhere in his mind? Or will he forever be at the mercy of WICKED?

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George

Blessed—or cursed—with an ability to understand animals, the Lass (as she’s known to her family) has always been an oddball. And when an isbjorn (polar bear) seeks her out, and promises that her family will become rich if only the Lass will accompany him to his castle, she doesn’t hesitate. But the bear is not what he seems, nor is his castle, which is made of ice and inhabited by a silent staff of servents. Only a grueling journey on the backs of the four winds will reveal the truth: the bear is really a prince who’s been enchanted by a troll queen, and the Lass must come up with a way to free him before he’s forced to marry a troll princess.

From my review…

…the way George weaves fairy tales and myths together to form her own new story is brilliant. In this book you can find pieces of Nordic legends, Beauty and the Beast, even Greek mythology. Yet none of her story feels contrived or derivative. She takes the pieces of these old, loved tales and spins them in a new that uncovers what almost feels like an entirely new tale, but one that you’ve known in your heart since you were little.

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleto‛s type is girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact. On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washedup child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judyloving best friend riding shotgun—but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl. Love, friendship, and a dead Austro-Hungarian archduke add up to surprising and heart-changing conclusions in this ingeniously layered comic novel about reinventing oneself.

From my review…

This book is everything that most YA books are not: funny and smart. A good number of YA books are funny—that’s what sells these days aside from the supernatural. A much smaller number are smart (The Book Thief, etc.). What really seals the deal for An Abundance of Katherines is the narration. It’s told in third person limited—which means we hear from only from Colin—with a fantastic balance of close and far narration. What that means is the narrator’s voice is sometimes so close to Colin’s thoughts that you can’t tell the difference, and other times the narrator is a completely separate entity, observing and commenting on the events of the book. Most writers can’t pull this off very well, or at all. And certainly most can’t do it with a splash of humor (from both the narrator and Colin).

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Abandoned by her mother on Jellicoe Road when she was eleven, Taylor Markham, now seventeen, is finally being confronted with her past. But as the reluctant leader of her boarding school dorm, there isn’t a lot of time for introspection. And while Hannah, the closest adult Taylor has to family, has disappeared, Jonah Griggs is back in town, moody stares and all.

In this absorbing story by Melina Marchetta, nothing is as it seems and every clue leads to more questions as Taylor tries to work out the connection between her mother dumping her, Hannah finding her then and her sudden departure now, a mysterious stranger who once whispered something in her ear, a boy in her dreams, five kids who lived on Jellicoe Road eighteen years ago, and the maddening and magnetic Jonah Griggs, who knows her better than she thinks he does. If Taylor can put together the pieces of her past, she might just be able to change her future.

From my review…

Jellicoe Road starts out as the story of a seventeen year-old girl, abandoned by her mother when she was eleven, who lives in a boarding school in the bush in Australia. Taylor is made leader of all the school’s houses, and her chief job is to lead the war against the Townies and the Cadets.

The war becomes complicated by friendship, love, and a search for Taylor’s lost mother. What starts out as simple child’s play and the mood-swings of a lost girl becomes the story of a group of friends, finding their place in the world, and in their history.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

What if you only had one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?

Samantha Kingston has it all: looks, popularity, the perfect boyfriend. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead, it turns out to be her last.

The catch: Samantha still wakes up the next morning. Living the last day of her life seven times during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death—and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing.

From my review…

What Before I Fall is really getting at is the incredible power that we all have on the people around us—even when we have no idea of that power. One action, one word can change the whole world for someone else. And you may never know what you’ve done.

I Am Not A Serial Killer by Dan Wells

John Wayne Cleaver is dangerous, and he knows it.

Hes spent his life doing his best not to live up to his potential.

Hes obsessed with serial killers, but really doesnt want to become one. So for his own sake, and the safety of those around him, he lives by rigid rules hes written for himself, practicing normal life as if it were a private religion that could save him from damnation.

Dead bodies are normal to John. He likes them, actually. They dont demand or expect the empathy hes unable to offer. Perhaps thats what gives him the objectivity to recognize that theres something different about the body the police have just found behind the Wash-n-Dry Laundromat—-and to appreciate what that difference means.

Now, for the first time, John has to confront a danger outside himself, a threat he cant control, a menace to everything and everyone he would love, if only he could.

From my review…

Sounds like a recipe for nightmares right? The funny thing is, it wasn’t. There were some graphic scenes, and the details about serial killers could be creepy, but the voice of the main character was so compelling. Sure he’s not exactly normal, and his tendencies and desires are very alien, but there is a spark of humanity in him, somewhere, because that’s what I connected with (and I’m pretty sure I’m not a serial killer). He has a desire to help, to stop the killings, and while he may not feel empathy or remorse for the victims, he does have a solid sense of good and bad, right and wrong. And his quirks, his oddities, are what make John so fascinating.

A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young

We all want to be remembered. Charlotte’s destiny is to be forgotten.

Charlotte’s best friend thinks Charlotte might be psychic. Her boyfriend thinks she’s cheating on him. But Charlotte knows what’s really wrong: She is one of the Forgotten, a kind of angel on earth who feels the Need—a powerful, uncontrollable draw to help someone, usually a stranger.

But Charlotte never wanted this responsibility. What she wants is to help her best friend, whose life is spiraling out of control. She wants to lie in her boyfriend’s arms forever. But as the Need grows stronger, it begins to take a dangerous toll on Charlotte. And who she was, is, and will become—her mark on this earth, her very existence—is in jeopardy of disappearing completely.

Charlotte will be forced to choose: Should she embrace her fate as a Forgotten, a fate that promises to rip her from the lives of those she loves forever? Or is she willing to fight against her destiny—no matter how dark the consequences?