Heist Society by Ally Carter

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Book Description

Publication Date: February 9, 2010 | Age Level: 11 and up | Series: Heist Society

When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her on a trip to the Louvre...to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria...to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own--scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. Unfortunately, leaving "the life" for a normal life proves harder than she'd expected. Soon, Kat's friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring her back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has good reason: a powerful mobster has been robbed of his priceless art collection and wants to retrieve it. Only a master thief could have pulled this job, and Kat's father isn't just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat's dad needs her help. For Kat there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it's a spectacularly impossible job? She's got two weeks, a teenage crew, and hopefully just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in history--or at least her family's (very crooked) history.
www.amazon.com

This is a great book series by Ally Carter! Katerina Bishop is from a family of professional thieves and she wants out! But leaving the family business is a lot harder than she thinks! Soon her inherited skills comes in handy to save her father from a heist he is falsely accused of causing. "Heist Society" and her second in the series, "Uncommon Criminals" will have you on the edge of your seats. Coming soon... "Perfect Scoundrels" (book 3 in the Heist Society series). due out February of 2013.
Also check out Ally Carter's Gallagher Girls Series!!

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Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book Description

Publication Date: April 3, 2012

A moving and haunting novel for readers of The Book Thief

Fifteen-year-old Lina is a Lithuanian girl living an ordinary life--until Soviet officers invade her home and tear her family apart. Separated from her father and forced onto a crowded train, Lina, her mother, and her young brother make their way to a Siberian work camp, where they are forced to fight for their lives. Lina finds solace in her art, documenting these events by drawing. Risking everything, she imbeds clues in her drawings of their location and secretly passes them along, hoping her drawings will make their way to her father's prison camp. But will strength, love, and hope be enough for Lina and her family to survive?

This powerful tale of heartbreak and hope is sure to haunt readers long after they finish the last page.

www.amazon.com 

Most readers hear about life in the horrifying concentration camps in Germany during World War II. This book bring us touching realistic story of a family's experience during World War II in Lithuania Families were send, like cattle, to concentration camps in the farthest reaches of Siberia, left to freeze to death or starve. The story is about fifteen-year-old Lina and her families struggle for survival... gripping...

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The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Book Description

Publication Date: October 18, 2011

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Shiver and Linger comes a brand new, heartstopping novel.

Some race to win. Others race to survive.

It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line.
Some riders live.
Others die.
At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.
Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn't given her much of a choice. So she enters the competition - the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.
As she did in her bestselling Shiver trilogy, author Maggie Stiefvater takes us to the breaking point, where both love and life meet their greatest obstacles, and only the strong of heart can survive. The Scorpio Races is an unforgettable reading experience.    www.amazon.com

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A seamless blending of reality with fantasy.... loved this book!!

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No Safe Harbour: The Halifax Explosion Diary of Charlotte Blackburn, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1917 by Julie Lawson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Basic summary. Charlotte Blackburn's Diary of her life in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1917. World War I is on and Canada's involved, young men are heading out to war including Charlotte's brother. Little did she realize that was seemed like war was going to be coming to Halifax when two ships carrying explosives collides in the harbour causing the largest made-made explosion in recorded history until the A-bombs dropped on Japan.

If I hadn't picked up this book at the Maritime museum in Halifax, Nova Scotia, I never would have learned about this terrifying part of Halifax history. Not long after Halifax's involvement is the recovery of the passengers of the Titanic and beginning of Canada's involvement in World War I, Halifax deals with an explosion that devastates most of Halifax, killing thousands in seconds. Graphic, realistic, fascinating! This was an amazing book to read and will hopefully encourage it's readers to investigate this part of Canada's history in more detail.

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The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism & Treachery by Steve Sheinkin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Book Description

Publication Date: November 9, 2010 | Age Level: 11 and up | Grade Level: 6 and up

Most people know that Benedict Arnold was America’s first, most notorious traitor. Few know that he was also one of its greatest war heroes. This accessible biography introduces young readers to the real Arnold: reckless, heroic, and driven. Packed with first-person accounts, astonishing battle scenes, and surprising twists, this is a gripping and true adventure tale.

The Notorious Benedict Arnold is the winner of the 2011 Boston Globe - Horn Book Award for Nonfiction.                                                                                               www.amazon.com

This is a fascinating book about the turn of events leading up to the traitorous acts of Benedict Arnold. It's a look at his childhood and how it forged his overpowering need for acknowledgement and often reckless ambitions. His actions saved the American Revolution yet also caused him to betray the country he so boldly defended from the British. I absolutely loved this biography!! It reads like a high-action work of fiction. It showed me that ambition or, in some cases, lack of ambition changed the outcome of the war.  I would highly recommend this book to... anyone!

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Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Book Description

Publication Date: February 9, 2010 | Age Level: 11 and up | Series: Heist Society

When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her on a trip to the Louvre...to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria...to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own--scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. Unfortunately, leaving "the life" for a normal life proves harder than she'd expected. Soon, Kat's friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring her back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has good reason: a powerful mobster has been robbed of his priceless art collection and wants to retrieve it. Only a master thief could have pulled this job, and Kat's father isn't just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat's dad needs her help. For Kat there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it's a spectacularly impossible job? She's got two weeks, a teenage crew, and hopefully just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in history--or at least her family's (very crooked) history.
www.amazon.com

Katarina Bishop is a modern day Robin hood! She didn't want to be in the family business! Since she couldn't walk away from the world she grew up with, the world of professional thieves. Katerina has decided to use her talents to find stolen art and jewelry and give them back to their rightful owners. She likes this life and likes the powerful feeling of working on her own.

In this book Katerina is asked by Constance Miller, an elderly lady who's parents were the archeologists who discovered the tomb of Cleopatra including the famous Cleopatra emerald. Kat decides to take on the challenge of stealing the famous cursed emerald back with the help of her friends. It's a simple con but it all backfires on her. Kat is up against a new foe who knows all the cons, all the tricks and has a links to her family's past She'll have to get the emerald back with the help of her friends and by playing by her own rules. LOVED THIS BOOK SERIES!!

This book is cleverly written and full of action. I can't wait to read the next book!

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Feed by M.T. Anderson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Book Description

Publication Date: July 17, 2012

Identity crises, consumerism, and star-crossed teenage love in a futuristic society where people connect to the Internet via feeds implanted in their brains.

For Titus and his friends, it started out like any ordinary trip to the moon - a chance to party during spring break and play with some stupid low-grav at the Ricochet Lounge. But that was before the crazy hacker caused all their feeds to malfunction, sending them to the hospital to lie around with nothing inside their heads for days. And it was before Titus met Violet, a beautiful, brainy teenage girl who has decided to fight the feed and its omnipresent ability to categorize human thoughts and desires. Following in the footsteps of George Orwell, Anthony Burgess, and Kurt Vonnegut Jr., M. T. Anderson has created a not-so-brave new world — and a smart, savage satire that has captivated readers with its view of an imagined future that veers nnervingly close to the here and now. http://www.amazon.com/Feed-M-T-Anderson/dp/0763662623/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345651596&sr=1-1&keywords=feed+by+m.t.+anderson

Don't get me wrong, I love a good fantasy! I loved the overall idea of this book. Especially with our world becoming more and more technologically minded. It's a concept that's a bit too close for comfort with today's world of technology.  Kids especially cannot go for more than a day without texting friends or communicating with some device. M.T. Anderson writes about a future dystopic world where feeds, or communication transmitters, quite literally link everyone to the commercial world around them from a "feed" installed in their brains. Reading, writing and even independent thought are a thing of the past.  Titus meets Violet, a girl who decides to fight the feed.

Be forewarned, this story is FULL of swears, more than I feel was necessary to get his point across. The premise was good. His execution, in my opinion, went overboard and was unnecessary.

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Seeds of Rebellion by Brandon Mull
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book Description

Publication Date: March 13, 2012 | Age Level: 8 and up | Series: Beyonders (Book 2)

The second epic installment of Brandon Mull’s #1 New York Times bestselling fantasy series!After the cliffhanger ending of A World Without Heroes, Jason is back in the world he’s always known—yet for all his efforts to get home, he finds himself itching to return to Lyrian. Jason knows that the shocking truth he learned from Maldor is precious information that all of his friends in Lyrian, including Rachel, need if they have any hope of surviving and defeating the evil emperor.
Meanwhile, Rachel and the others have discovered new enemies—as well as new abilities that could turn the tide of the entire quest. And as soon as Jason succeeds in crossing over to Lyrian, he’s in more danger than ever. Once the group reunites, they strive to convince their most-needed ally to join the war and form a rebellion strong enough to triumph over Maldor. At the center of it all, Jason and Rachel realize what roles they’re meant to play—and the answers are as surprising as they are gripping. www.amazon.com

The second in the Beyonder's series my Brandon Mull. This book takes up right where the first book, "Seeds of Rebellion", ends. Jason Walker has made it back to his own world but can't stand the idea of leaving the world of Lyrian behind in the midst of rebellion again Maldor. More importantly he doesn't want to abandon Rachel, the other Beyonder he left in that world. Another high-action quest that will have middle-schoolers on the edge of their seats.

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When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book Description

Publication Date: December 28, 2010 | Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up | Series: Yearling Newbery

This remarkable novel holds a fantastic puzzle at its heart.

By sixth grade, Miranda and her best friend, Sal, know how to navigate their New York City neighborhood. They know where it's safe to go, and they know who to avoid. Like the crazy guy on the corner.

But things start to unravel. Sal gets punched by a kid on the street for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The apartment key that Miranda's mom keeps hidden for emergencies is stolen. And then a mysterious note arrives, scrawled on a tiny slip of paper. The notes keep coming, and Miranda slowly realizes that whoever is leaving them knows things no one should know. Each message brings her closer to believing that only she can prevent a tragic death. Until the final note makes her think she's too late.

www.Amazon.comhttp://www.amazon.com/When-You-Reach-Yearling-Newbery/dp/0375850864/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345650334&sr=1-1&keywords=when+you+reach+me

I don't want to disclose any of the plot twists of this book especially since the Amazon summary doesn't hint about it... but I can say I was not expecting it to be science fiction/realistic fiction.  Although I enjoyed the writing style of the book it was just a bit "heady" for the age 9 and up it's recommended for. That being said, I did enjoy the realistic interaction of the characters and the author, Rebecca Stead's, writing style.  She gave such a wonderful visual image of life in the New York city neighborhood that I had difficulty in was the eventual switch to the science fiction genre during the book. Would I recommend the book? Definitely... but not to I thought I would recommend it to. I would highly recommend it to lovers of thought provoking science fiction stories.

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Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler

"Thou art the Black Rider. Go thee out unto the world."

Lisabeth Lewis has a black steed, a set of scales, and a new job: she’s been appointed Famine. How will an anorexic seventeen-year-old girl from the suburbs fare as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

     Traveling the world on her steed gives Lisa freedom from her troubles at home—her constant battle with hunger, and her struggle to hide it from the people who care about her. But being Famine forces her to go places where hunger is a painful part of everyday life, and to face the horrifying effects of her phenomenal power. Can Lisa find a way to harness that power—and the courage to fight her own inner demons?

summary from http://www.amazon.com/Hunger-Riders-Apocalypse-Jackie-Kessler/dp/0547341245

     A wildly original approach to the issue of eating disorders, Hunger is about the struggle to find balance in a world of extremes, and uses fantastic tropes to explore a difficult topic that touches the lives of many teens.

What an interesting look at the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse through the life of troubled teenagers! Very different, very profound and thought provoking. I liked it! I would recommend it to upper middle to high school students.