Peeled

Title: Peeled
Author: Joan Bauer
Pages: 247
Level: Middle School/High School
Content: PG
Language: G
Recommendation: Good Read

Summary: Hildy Biddle wants something monumental to happen so she can finally prove herself to be more than a high school journalist. The problem? Her town's biggest story stars a ghost, which is not an easy interview. But while the local paper is playing up people's fears with shocking headlines of creepy happenings, Hildy is determined to discover what's really going on. Unfortunately, her desire to uncover the truth is starting to cause a stir. With rumors swirling and tensions high, can Hildy push past all the hype ...

Review: Very easy read, with quirky characters.  Suspense, mystery, and teens bent on helping their small community in New York. 

Also Known As

Title: Also Known As
Author: Robin Benway
Pages: 320
Content: PG13
Language: PG
Level: Upper Middle/High School
Recommendation: Good Read

Summary: Being a 16-year-old safecracker and active-duty daughter of international spies has its moments, good and bad. Pros: Seeing the world one crime-solving adventure at a time. Having parents with super cool jobs. Cons: Never staying in one place long enough to have friends or a boyfriend. But for Maggie Silver, the biggest perk of all has been avoiding high school and the accompanying cliques, bad lunches, and frustratingly simple locker combinations.  Then Maggie and her parents are sent to New York for her first solo assignment, and all of that changes. She'll need to attend a private school, avoid the temptation to hack the school's security system, and befriend one aggravatingly cute Jesse Oliver to gain the essential information she needs to crack the case . . . all while trying not to blow her cover.

Review: Fans of Ally Carter Spies or Heist Society novels will enjoy this book.  Maggie is easy to like, and the reader can sense her frustrations as she tries to live a normal life when nothing about her life is normal!

Theodore Boone Kid Lawyer

Title: Theodore Boone Kid Lawyer
Author: John Grisham
Pages: 272
Content: G
Language: PG
Level: Middle School
Recommendation: Good Read

Summary:  In the small city of Strattenburg, there are many lawyers, and though he's only thirteen years old, Theo Boone thinks he's one of them. Theo knows every judge, policeman, court clerk-and a lot about the law. He dreams of a life in the courtroom. But he finds himself in court much sooner than expected. Because he knows so much-maybe too much-he is suddenly dragged into the middle of a sensational murder trial. A cold-blooded killer is about to go free, and only Theo knows the truth. The stakes are high, but Theo won't stop until justice is served.

Review: Quick easy read with a male character (which seems harder and harder to find).  Interesting story, with a little bit of mystery.  Easy to read and full of information about the justice system in the United States.  Grisham does a great job of keeping the mystery and intrigue of his books on a level for young readers.

Tokyo Heist

Title: Tokyo Heist
Author: Diana Renn
Pages: 364
Content: PG
Language: PG
Level: Upper Middle/High School
Recommendation: Good Read

Summary: The perfect mystery for fans of Ally Carter's Heist Society. When sixteen-year-old Violet agrees to spend the summer with her father, an up-and-coming artist in Seattle, she has no idea what she's walking into. Her father's newest clients, the Yamada family, are the victims of a high-profile art robbery: van Gogh sketches have been stolen from their home, and, until they can produce the corresponding painting, everyone's lives are in danger—including Violet's and her father's.  Violet's search for the missing van Gogh takes her from the Seattle Art Museum, to the yakuza-infested streets of Tokyo, to a secluded inn in Kyoto. As the mystery thickens, Violet's not sure whom she can trust. But she knows one thing: she has to solve the mystery—before it's too late.

Review: Refreshingly clean!  Great book for kids who love Manga or mystery!  Twists and turns in the plot keep the reader guessing.  Well written and fun to read.

Confessions of A Murder Suspect

Title: Confessions of A Murde Suspect
Author: James Patterson
Pages: 384
Language: G
Content: PG
Level: Upper Middle/High School
Recommendation: Good Read

Summary: James Patterson returns to the genre that made him famous with a thrilling teen detective series about the mysterious and magnificently wealthy Angel family . . . and the dark secrets they're keeping from one another. On the night Malcolm and Maud Angel are murdered, Tandy Angel knows just three things: 1) She was the last person to see her parents alive. 2) The police have no suspects besides Tandy and her three siblings. 3) She can't trust anyone--maybe not even herself. Having grown up under Malcolm and Maud's intense perfectionist demands, no child comes away undamaged. Tandy decides that she will have to clear the family name, but digging deeper into her powerful parents' affairs is a dangerous-and revealing-game. Who knows what the Angels are truly capable of?

Review: I had no idea what to expect when I picked up this book.  I was pleasantly surprised with the twists, turns, and insights that were found throughout the entire book.  I did however, find myself needing to pay close attention to the names  - they came fast and furious at the beginning!  Not super intense, but a safe read for teens.

Clockwork Prince

Title: Clockwork Prince
Series: The Infernal Devices
Author: Cassandra Clare
Pages: 528
Language: G
Content: PG
Level: Middle/High
Recommendation: Good Read

Summary:  In the magical underwold of Victorian London, Tessag 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 her own dark ends.  

Review: I loved the second book of the Infernal Devices series.  I found myself more devoted to the characters!  Will Tessa end up with Jem or will Will win her heart?  There is one scene of romance that might make readers uncomfortable. I am excited to read the next book!

Half Moon Investigations

Title: Half Moon Investigations
Author: Eoin Colfer
Pages: 290
Content: G
Language: G
Level: Middle/High School
Recommendation: Good Read

Summary: Fletcher Moon has never been like other kids. For one thing, he has had to suffer the humiliating nickname “Half Moon” because of his short stature. But the real reason Fletcher is different is that ever since he was a baby, he’s had a nose for sniffing out mysteries. And after graduating at the top of his Internet class, he is officially certified as the youngest detective in the world. He even has a silver-plated detective’s badge to prove it. Everything is going along fine until two things happen: a classmate hires him to solve a crime, and his prized badge is stolen. All signs point to the town’s most notorious crime family, the Sharkeys.

As Fletcher follows the clues, evidence of a conspiracy begins to emerge. But before he can crack the case, Fletcher finds himself framed for a serious crime. To clear his name, he will have to pair up with the unlikeliest of allies and go on the run from the authorities. Fletcher has twelve hours to find the guilty party--or he is the guilty party.

Review: Refreshing, fun, comedic, interesting, easy read that kept my interest to the end.  Fletcher Moon finds himself in a sticky situation and must use his wits, as well as a surprising friend, to help solve a mystery before he ends up punished for the crime!  Fun book  - great for boys and girls!!

Illiminated

Title: Illuminated
Author: Erica Orloff
Pages: 244
Content: PG/PG13 (barely)
Language: G
Level: High School
Recommendation: Good Read

Summary: Some loves are not made to last . . . Like Romeo and Juliet, Heloise and Abelard were doomed from the start, and their romance was destined to pass into history. Yet when sixteen-year-old Callie Martin discovers a diary hidden within an antique book, their story - and hers - takes on another life. For the diary leads Callie to the brilliant and handsome August, who is just as mysterious as the secret the diary hides. Their attraction is undeniable. As the two hunt down the truth behind the diary - and that of Heloise and Abelard's ancient romance - their romance becomes all-consuming. But Callie knows it can't last . . . love never does. Will their love that burns as bright as a shooting star flame out, or will these star-crossed lovers be able to defy history?

Review:  As far as teen reads are concerned, this was a nice switch from the dystopian, doom and gloom genre!  Based around rare manuscripts, this "love story" is full of discovery - both for the mystery Callie is trying to unravel, as well as her self.  A quick, enjoyable, easy read for teens.

Dead End In Norvelt

Title: Dead End In Norvelt
Author: Jack Gantos
Pages: 352
Language: PG
Content: PG
Level: High Elem/Middle/High School
Recommendation: Must Read

Summary: Melding the entirely true and the wildly fictional, Dead End in Norvelt is a novel about an incredible two months for a kid named Jack Gantos, whose plans for vacation excitement are shot down when he is "grounded for life" by his feuding parents, and whose nose spews bad blood at every little shock he gets. But plenty of excitement (and shocks) are coming Jack's way once his mom loans him out to help a fiesty old neighbor with a most unusual chore—typewriting obituaries filled with stories about the people who founded his utopian town. As one obituary leads to another, Jack is launced on a strange adventure involving molten wax, Eleanor Roosevelt, twisted promises, a homemade airplane, Girl Scout cookies, a man on a trike, a dancing plague, voices from the past, Hells Angels . . . and possibly murder. Endlessly surprising, this sly, sharp-edged narrative is the author at his very best, making readers laugh out loud at the most unexpected things in a dead-funny depiction of growing up in a slightly off-kilter place where the past is present, the present is confusing, and the future is completely up in the air.

Review: LOVE LOVE LOVE this book.  I began reading this book to my children (ages 12, 10, 8) on a car trip....we read for HOURS!  All of us thoroughly enjoyed this book!  I seriously can't say enough.  Quirky, Funny, Tender, Hilarious!  I want more of this kind of book!!!!!!