New YA: October 12-18.
New hardbacks:
Chasing Power, by Sarah Beth Durst:
MacGuffin aside, Chasing Power is a story about family—about the cycle of abuse; about sibling rivalry, abandonment and forgiveness; about how secrets kept for the “right” reasons still end up doing harm—and it’s a story about making peace with the fact that you can’t change people. Sometimes, it turns out that someone’s obnoxiousness is a big part of what you love about him; sometimes, you stick around to try to heal a fractured relationship; and sometimes, your best option is to walk away.
Very Bad Things, by Susan McBride
It’s a mystery set in a boarding school that involves a girl’s disappearance; a severed hand in a box; secret tunnels; blackmail; date rape; a star athlete set up not once, but twice; arson; an orphan who is adopted only to be orphaned again; a friendship that involves some serious one-way obsession; and, toward the end, some Phantom of the Opera–style action.
I should have loved it.
Gabi, a Girl in Pieces (Junior Library Guild Selection), by Isabel Quintero:
I really, truly believe that Isabel Quintero’s Gabi: A Girl in Pieces isn’t just a GOOD BOOK, an ENTERTAINING BOOK, a MOVING and SMART and EMPATHETIC BOOK, but that it’s an IMPORTANT BOOK. For one reader, it will be the first time she’s seen herself reflected in fiction; for another, it will shake and rock and broaden her worldview; for yet another, it will be her inspiration to pick up her own pen and start writing.
It’s that special; it’s that capable of influence and change.
My True Love Gave To Me: Twelve Holiday Stories, by Stephanie Perkins and Rainbow Rowell
Snow Like Ashes, by Sara Raasch
The Cure for Dreaming, by Cat Winters
The Doubt Factory, by Paolo Bacigalupi
Laughing at My Nightmare, by Shane Burcaw
Trust Me, I'm Lying, by Mary Elizabeth Summer
Stitching Snow, by R.C. Lewis
Redeemed (House of Night Novels), by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast
UnDivided (Unwind Dystology), by Neal Shusterman
Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina, by Michaela DePrince and Elaine Deprince
Clariel: The Lost Abhorsen (The Old Kingdom), by Garth Nix
Changing Michael, by Jeff Schilling
Stories of My Life, by Katherine Paterson
Damaged, by Amy Reed
Every Breath, by Ellie Marney
Oh Yeah, Audrey!, by Tucker Shaw
Playing for the Commandant, by Suzy Zail
Hero Complex: A Keaton School Novel, by Margaux Froley
The Fire Artist, by Daisy Whitney
Pig Park, by Claudia Guadalupe Martinez
Even in Paradise, by Chelsey Philpot
Mortal Gods (The Goddess War), by Kendare Blake
BZRK Apocalypse, by Michael Grant
They All Fall Down, by Roxanne St. Claire
Remake, by Ilima Todd
Sublime, by Christina Lauren
The Terminals: A Novel, by Royce Scott Buckingham
New paperbacks (that I've read):
The Demon Catchers of Milan, by Kat Beyer:
Knowing the history of a place is important when dealing with restless spirits—after all, the more you know about the people they once were, the easier a time you’ll have in trying to put them to rest. So Mia studies and studies and studies, and in doing so, she has a simple-yet-revelatory realization: history happened to real people. Which leads, of course, to the idea that ghost hunting isn’t all backflips and flaming swords—it’s something that requires empathy.
Belle Epoque, by Elizabeth Ross: I loved this one—loosely based on/inspired by a Zola story, it's set in 1800s Paris and follows a girl who gets a job as a repoussoir, an ugly girl paid to make her patroness look more beautiful by comparison—and it's been almost a year since I mentioned wanting to write more about it. I should get on that.
Previously: