Elemental (Eve)

Title: Elemental

Author: Antony John (UK)

Age Group In Store: Fantasy

Briefly, What It’s About: After a plague destroys the mainland killing most of the population, a small colony of 14 people are left to survive on an island in the Atlantic Ocean. The people of this island are known as elementals, meaning each one holds the power of either earth, water, wind or fire. That is, everyone but Thomas. By his sixteenth birthday, his element should have appeared. Without even the slightest hint that one plans to develop he continues to be the outsider, singled out and considered useless by many of his society. One night an unexpected storm arises and the adults send the children to a nearby island for shelter in an abandoned settlement, instructing them to wait there until they come the next morning. When the sun rises, no one shows up. Pirates have kidnapped their parents and claimed their island as their own, leaving the children to save their families and their home. Stranded and unequipped, Thomas and his friends fight for survival, and along the way stumble upon pieces of a former world that’s been kept from them. Secrets are exposed that could explain everything and reveal to Thomas his true powers and the dangerous future they could lead him into.

Eve’s Rave: From chapter one, this book does not slow down. The plague-ridden world John crafts through his vividly stark landscapes of desolate, abandoned islands and outlawed bandits is the perfect backdrop for the action that unfolds. You can feel the ticking away of every second as the pirates approach. I loved how subtle clues were dropped throughout the novel that allowed me to discover the mysterious past of the colony along with Thomas. I also found the supernatural aspects to be realistically developed. Their abilities felt both natural and flawed, keeping the characters authentic and human. There was just enough fantasy for me to keep the story captivating but real enough to connect with Thomas’s frustration of being different and alone. Elemental is a fresh take on the dystopian genre and a promising beginning to an exciting trilogy.    

It’s Perfect For: Fans of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, fans of the Gone series by MichaelGrant, fans of Divergent by Veronica Roth

Number of Stars: *** ½

Doll Bones (Melissa)

Title: Doll Bones

Author: Holly Black (US)

Age Group In Store: Eleven

Briefly, What It's About:  Alice, Poppy and Zach have been friends for years. Now 12, they still indulge in games of imagination and storytelling with dolls and figures they have collected over time. But they are getting older, and the adults in their lives are pushing them to move away from make-believe and into real life. Thought the three still remain close, they can't deny that their lives and interests are changing. So when Poppy and Alice throw rocks at Zach's window one night, telling him that the doll they call 'the queen' is actually made up of the remains of a girl from 100 years ago, the friends decide to take up the quest of laying her to rest. But is this story just another game of make-believe? Or could it be a journey that changes them forever?

Melissa's Rave: The adventure in this story was a delight, and I was equally charmed by the friendship between the main characters as I was creeped out by the ghost of the doll storyline. Black, in her masterful way, carves a story out of the delicate transition from child into pre-teen, mixes in a gratifyingly frightening ghost story, and adds a dose of adrenaline though the epic quest sequence. Add in the lovely drawings of Eliza Wheeler and you have an almost perfect summer adventure.

For fans of: Holly Black's The Spiderwick Chronicles, Amber Benson's Among the Ghosts, Deidre Baker's Becca at Sea, Claire Legrand's The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls

Number of Stars: ****

Red Ink (Marcie)

Title: Red Ink 
Author: Julie Mayhew (UK)
Age group in store: 14+

Briefly, it's about: When fifteen year old Melon Fouraki's mother is killed after being hit by a bus on a busy London street, Melon goes to stay with her best friend's snobby and superficial family. Soon, to her dismay, her mother's grief stricken boyfriend Paul decides he will act as her new caretaker, despite the two being virtual strangers. Melon never knew her father and the rest of her family lives far away in Crete. Adding to her grief and isolation, Melon can't help but replay the last fight she had with her mother right before the accident. What Melon does have is The Story, the family fairy tale that reveals more about her lineage than Melon thought possible. Only after discovering the truths about her mother's past can Melon learn to move on and look ahead to her future.

Marcie's rave: Melon is such a believable and engaging character, I couldn't help but root for her and pray that everything would turn out OK. She is edgy, funny, and full of anger about the tempestuous relationship she had with her mother. Most compellingly, she is a survivor, just like her mother. This book is poetic and riveting, and Melon's story is far from over by the end of the novel.

Number of stars: ****

It's perfect for: Fans of Morgan Matson's Second Chance Summer, fans of Sarah Ockler's Fixing Delilah, fans of Dana Reinhardt's A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life

The 5th Wave (Melissa)

Title: The Fifth Wave 

Author: Rick Yancey (US)

Age Group In Store: Fantasy- Sci-fi

Briefly, What It's About:  Cassie knows she can't trust anyone. Living alone in a tent in the forest, she is at an impasse, not wanting to leave the security of her makeshift home but aware that the Others are after her. After 4 waves of death and destruction that killed her parents, her friends, and 99% of humanity, Cassie can only guess at what the aliens will try next to eradicate the human race. But her younger brother is out there, and she is determined to find him and survive for as long as possible.

After a strange figure shoots her in the knee, Cassie becomes sure that her time has come. But another survivor named Evan Walker finds her in the woods, takes her in and nurses her back to health. Can she let herself trust Evan? And if she can't trust him, can she still allow him to help her?

As Cassie struggles to make the best decisions she can, she can't know that there are others connected to her that are just as conflicted with their own limited survival scenarios.  When the only choices available are between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death - Will you choose to give up? Or will choose to get up?

Melissa's Rave:  I AM SO CONTAGIOUSLY EXCITED ABOUT THIS BOOK! Books like these are what keep me in book selling, because I just can't wait to introduce this book to readers everywhere.

The tension in this novel is almost tangible, as Yancey lays out a scenario that is so frighteningly plausible it had me looking out my window checking the sky. His characters are fresh and dynamic, his writing compelling, yet lyrical.

Look out everyone - the next great series is upon us.

For fans of: Rick Yancey's Monstrumologist series, fans of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, fans of Genesis by Bernard Beckett, fans of Forgotten by Cat Patrick

Number of Stars: **********

Life After Theft (Marcie)

Title: Life After Theft
Author: Aprilynne Pike (US)
Age group in store: 14+

Briefly, what it's about: Jeff's middle class existence drastically changes when his parents become wealthy and the family moves from Phoenix to Santa Monica, enrolling him in a posh private school. On his first day, he meets a girl named Kimberlee, who turns out to be a ghost that only he can see. A kleptomaniac and the meanest of the mean girls, Kimberlee drowned last year yet has not been able to move on to the next world. Wanting to redeem herself from the nasty things she did while alive, she begs Jeff for his help. While trying to right Kimberlee's wrongs, he becomes smitten with Sera, a girl that Kimberlee especially tormented. Can Jeff make the past right without screwing up the present (too much)?

Marcie's rave: A good read with a refreshing male point of view, and not what I expected with the cover. Jeff really does aspire to do the right thing, despite the trouble into which it gets him. His friendship with Kimberlee is touching, perhaps even more compelling than his relationship with Sera. Despite being introduced as unsympathic, Kimberlee did grow on me as the story swept along.

It's perfect for: fans of The Shadow Girl by Jennifer Archer, fans of Forget me Not by Carolee Dean

Number of stars: ****

When We Were Good (Melissa)

Title: When We Were Good

Author: Suzanne Sutherland (Toronto, Canada)

Age Group In Store: 14+

Briefly, What It's About:  Kat/Kathy/Katherine is floundering. In the wake of her grandmother dying two days after New Year's eve, Kat finds her whole world has been set off kilter, and she is having trouble coping. Her parents are well-intentioned but absent, there is increasing friction between her and her best friend Megan, and Kat is just sort of existing - striving really hard to remember all that used to be good in her life.

Enter Marie, a larger than life personality, who is intense, and interesting and sincere. Marie initiates a friendship with Kat, inviting her to some local all ages shows. Kat sees something good in Marie, but struggles to define what exactly that means. As Kat struggles to piece her identity back together, she searches for an answer to the question, '"what exactly does it mean to be good'?

Melissa's Rave:  This book is the kind of read that completely validates any feelings you have ever had in your whole life, whether as an adult or teenager. If ever you have just wanted to feel understood in your need to be sad, if ever you have been unable to function in the day-to-day routine of life (and who among us hasn't?), this is the book for you. Kat is so accessible because she reflects such a universal aspect of adolescence, and it is so rewarding to read that she came out on the other side happier and healthier. 

I loved everything about this novel. I loved that it was set in Toronto and made reference to about 100 things that were essential to my teenage self, and captured the essence of a very vibrant Toronto identity and neighbourhood. I loved that without her grandmother being a stabilizing force anymore, Kat/Kathy/Katherine, bumbles around for 75% of this novel trying to define herself , while at the same time never seems to be a pushover. I loved the language, the awkward moments, the obviousness of what Kat should/could do in a situation and her inability to do it. I loved the raw emotion, I loved how absolutely true and powerful everything that happened to Kat was (even if it was as insignificant as eating some Oreos and feeling gross about it).

Finally, I love that the author, Suzanne Sutherland, is a Toronto writer, and that I can look forward to many more amazing stories to come from her wonderfully visceral writing.

For fans of: Mariko Tamaki's (You) Set me on Fire, fans of A.S. King's Ask the Passengers, fans of Yvonne Prinz's Vinyl Princess

Number of Stars: *****

North of Nowhere (Melissa)

Title: North of Nowehere 

Author: Liz Kessler (UK)

Age Group In Store: Eleven

Briefly, What It's About:  Amelia (Mia) is very excited to be on school break. She can't wait to just hang out with her friends at the movies and the mall, doing typical 13-year-old stuff. But on the first day of the break, her mom tells her to pack a bag for Porthaven, the coastal town where her grandparents live. Mia is upset enough to be leaving her friends, but even more so when she finds out why they are going - her grandfather has mysteriously disappeared. Trying to stay strong for her distraught mother and grandmother, Mia heads down to the coast where she discovers a diary hidden in an abandoned boat. Feeling miserable and alone, she reads the latest entry and is excited to discover the writer is a girl about her age. Mia tries to strike up a friendship with the girl, but when their paths never cross, despite numerous attempts to meet, Mia begins to suspect that something funny is going on. Does this mysterious girl have anything to do with her grandfather's disappearance? Can Mia connect the dots and solve the mystery? And if she does, will it bring her grandfather home?

Melissa's Rave:  Middle grade fiction is not normally my cup of tea, but this novel enchanted me from its early pages and I could not put it down. Mia was a really charming character; the perfect mix on an inquisitive mind and a sweet, generous nature. She was a lovely heroine, and I was quite caught up in the mystery of her grandfather's disappearance and her unique friendship with a girl she has never met face-to-face. A truly perfect read for hiding under your covers on a rainy day or l, this is Liz Kessler at her very best.

For fans of: Liz Kessler's Emily Windsnap series, Ingo by Helene Dunmore, Savvy by Ingrid Law

Number of Stars: *****