STACKED

books

Teenage Criminals

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Interested in reading stories about teens who routinely break the law and get away with it? There’s something really compelling about these kinds of books. The teens have to be pretty smart to keep up the criminal lifestyle; often the teens are a lot smarter than the adults in the book. What teen doesn’t love reading about stupid adults who get their comeuppance served to them from someone under 20? Not only that, the teens beat the system (usually an unjust one) with their shenanigans, which is even more major. I still find it pretty sweet to read about, even though I’m now on the adult end of it.

Today I have a list of books for you featuring teens who are criminals in some way or another (assassins, spies, mobsters, thieves, and the like). Some of the teens are coerced into the criminal lifestyle and would rather just be normal kids; others relish the opportunity and embrace the fact that they can do what a lot of others can’t. Descriptions are from Worldcat. Have any others to add? Please let me know in the comments.

First up are a group of books featuring law-breaking teens with superpowers. Let’s look at this realistically: if you had superpowers, would you only use them to save lives and other boring things like that? Or would you actually use them to rob banks? Be honest.

Illusive by Emily Lloyd-Jones
After a vaccine accidentally creates superpowers in a small percentage
of the population, seventeen-year-old Ciere, an illusionist, teams up
with a group of fellow high-class, super-powered thieves to steal the
vaccine’s formula while staying one step ahead of mobsters and deadly
government agents. Kimberly’s review

White Cat by Holly Black
When Cassel Sharpe discovers that his older brothers have used him to
carry out their criminal schemes and then stolen his memories, he
figures out a way to turn their evil machinations against them. Kimberly’s review | Sequels: Red Glove, Black Heart

Sekret by Lindsay Smith
Follows a group of psychic teenagers in 1960s Soviet Russia who are forced to use their powers to spy for the KGB. Kimberly’s review

Mind Games by Kiersten White
Seventeen-year-old Fia and her sister, Annie, are trapped in a school
that uses young female psychics and mind readers as tools for corporate
espionage–and if Fia doesn’t play by the rules of their deadly game,
Annie will be killed. Kimberly’s review

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
In the fifteenth-century kingdom of Brittany, seventeen-year-old Ismae
escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of
the convent of St. Mortain, where she learns that the god of Death has
blessed her with dangerous gifts–and a violent destiny. Kimberly’s review | Sequels: Dark Triumph, Mortal Heart

Graceling by Kristin Cashore
In a world where some people are born with extreme and often-feared
skills called Graces, Katsa struggles for redemption from her own
horrifying Grace, the Grace of killing, and teams up with another young
fighter to save their land from a corrupt king.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
Ostracized or incarcerated her whole life, seventeen-year-old Juliette
is freed on the condition that she use her horrific abilities in support
of The Reestablishment, a postapocalyptic dictatorship, but Adam, the
only person ever to show her affection, offers hope of a better future. Sequels: Unravel Me, Ignite Me

Burn Mark by Laura Powell
In an alternate London, England, the lives of a fifteen-year-old girl
eagerly awaiting the development of her “fae,” or witch abilities, and
the son of a man who sentences witches to death by burning, intersect
when the son makes a startling discovery. Sequel: Witch Fire

If books about people with regular abilities (smart, but not super-smart; intuitive, but not mind-readers) are more your speed, check these out.

All These Things I’ve Done by Gabrielle Zevin
In a future where chocolate and caffeine are contraband, teenage
cellphone use is illegal, and water and paper are carefully rationed,
sixteen-year-old Anya Balanchine finds herself thrust unwillingly into
the spotlight as heir apparent to an important New York City crime
family. Kimberly’s review | Sequels: Because it is My Blood, In the Age of Love and Chocolate

Heist Society by Ally Carter
A group of teenagers uses their combined talents to re-steal several
priceless paintings and save fifteen-year-old Kat Bishop’s father,
himself an international art thief, from a vengeful collector. Sequels: Uncommon Criminals, Perfect Scoundrels

Don’t Turn Around by Michelle Gagnon
After waking up on an operating table with no memory of how she got
there, Noa must team up with computer hacker Peter to stop a corrupt
corporation with a deadly secret.

Tokyo Heist by Diana Renn
After a high-profile art heist of three van Gogh drawings in her home
town of Seattle, sixteen-year-old Violet Rossi finds herself in Japan
with her artist father, searching for the related van Gogh painting.

Money Run by Jack Heath
Fifteen-year-olds Ashley and Benjamin are planning the heist of a
lifetime, but they are not counting on a hit man who has plans of his
own.

Pretty Crooked by Elisa Ludwig
High school sophomore Willa and her artist mother move to Arizona where
Willa starts attending an elite prep school after her mother finally
sells some paintings, and Willa attempts to even things out by stealing
from the rich students and giving to the poor ones. Sequels: Pretty Sly, Pretty Wanted

I Am the Weapon (previously Boy Nobody) by Allen Zadoff
Sixteen-year-old Boy Nobody, an assassin controlled by a shadowy
government organization, The Program, considers sabotaging his latest
mission because his target reminds him of the normal life he craves. Sequel: I Am the Mission

June Debut YA Novels

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If you’re keeping track of this year’s debut young adult novels, here’s a roundup of what’s out in the month of June. As usual, the titles included here are actual debut novels, meaning that these aren’t books that are first YA novels or first YA novels by authors who have published elsewhere under different names. 

All descriptions are from WorldCat, unless otherwise noted. It’s possible I’ve missed titles out this month — and it’s a pretty packed month for debuts — so if there’s something I’ve missed, let me know in the comments. 

17 First Kisses by Rachael Allen: Claire Jenkins has finally found a boy worth kissing, but when she discovers that her best friend Megan also has feeling for him, Claire must decide what she is willing to risk to get what she wants.

Drift by M. K. Hutchins: To raise his family out of poverty, seventeen-year-old Tenjat joins a dangerous defense against the naga monsters that gnaw at his drifting island’s foundation.

Otherbound by Corinne Duyvis: A seventeen-year-old boy finds that every time he closes his eyes, he is drawn into the body of a mute servant girl from another world–a world that is growing increasingly more dangerous, and where many things are not as they seem.

Hexed by Michelle Krys: Popular cheerleader Indigo Blackwood, sixteen, finds her perfect life threatened when Bishop, a tattooed, leather-clad stranger, tells her the family Bible just stolen from the attic of her mother’s occult shop could mean the end to all witches, including, he says, Indigo herself.

I Become Shadow by Joe Shine: Abducted at age fourteen and trained by the F.A.T.E. Center to become a Shadow, guardian of a future leader, Ren Sharpe, now eighteen, is assigned to protect college science student Gareth Young, but with help from her secret love and fellow Shadow, Junie, she learns that F.A.T.E. itself is behind an attack on Gareth.

My Last Kiss by Bethany Neal: When a seventeen-year-old girl dies and can appear to her boyfriend, she learns that her death may not have been an accident, and must delve into her past to face all the decisions she made that led to her last kiss. 

The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings: In a world where the murder rate is higher than the birth rate, fifteen-year-old Meadow, trained by her father to kill and survive in any situation, falls in love with Zephyr, a government assassin

Trouble by Non Pratt: When Aaron willingly signs on to be the pretend father of Hannah’s unborn baby, he is looking for redemption from a past that has a stranglehold on him. Hannah, more simply, needs support in the absence of the real father, but she’ll discover so much more. 

Vivian Divine is Dead by Lauren Sabel: Teen celebrity Vivian Divine’s movie-star mom has been murdered, her famous-director dad tried to kill himself, and her boyfriend is cheating on her. When a death threat arrives with her fan mail, Vivian has no choice but to go on the run to Mexico. She soon discovers, through, that her Oscar-nominated performance killing villains on-screen did nothing to prepare her for escaping a madman in real life. Vivian finds an ally in Nick. He is everything Hollywood boys are not-genuine, kind, and determined to see Vivian for who she really is. But even he, seems like he can’t be trusted. Beat up, hungry, and more confused than ever about who she’s running from, Vivian realizes this isn’t the stuff bad TV movies are made of; this is material for a full-on blockbuster horror flick.  

My Faire Lady by Laura Wettersten: After breaking up with her boyfriend, seventeen-year-old Rowena takes an out-of-town summer job at a Renaissance fair, but romantic entanglements soon follow.

Take Back the Skies by Lucy Saxon: To escape from a planned arranged marriage, teenaged Cat Hunter disguises herself as a boy and stows away on a smuggler’s airship where she discovers a world of excitement and adventure.

The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Matthieu: When ugly rumors and lies about Alice Franklin start after one of the guys she allegedly slept with at a party dies in a car accident, questions about truth arise in her small town. 

Cinderella’s Dress by Shonna Slayton: Being seventeen during World War II is tough. Finding out you’re the next keeper of the real Cinderella’s dress is even tougher. Kate simply wants to create window displays at the department store where she’s working, trying to help out with the war effort. But when long-lost relatives from Poland arrive with a steamer trunk they claim holds the Cinderella’s dress, life gets complicated. Now, with a father missing in action, her new sweetheart shipped off to boot camp, and her great aunt losing her wits, Kate has to unravel the mystery before it’s too late. After all, the descendants of the wicked stepsisters will stop at nothing to get what they think they deserve.

Push Girl by Chelsie Hill and Jessica Love: Kara, a high school junior, is popular with a great group of friends, an amazing boyfriend, and expectations of being Homecoming Queen until she leaves a party angry and wakes up in a hospital bed, paralized from the waist down, but as she is forced to adjust to her new physical reality, she also learns that her friends are not who they seemed to be.

Behind The Scenes by Dahlia Adler: High school senior Ally Duncan’s best friend may be the Vanessa Park – star of TV’s hottest new teen drama – but Ally’s not interested in following in her BFF’s Hollywood footsteps. In fact, the only thing Ally’s ever really wanted is to go to Columbia and study abroad in Paris. But when her father’s mounting medical bills threaten to stop her dream in its tracks, Ally nabs a position as Van’s on-set assistant to get the cash she needs.  Spending the extra time with Van turns out to be fun, and getting to know her sexy co-star Liam is an added bonus. But when the actors’ publicist arranges for Van and Liam to “date” for the tabloids just after he and Ally share their first kiss, Ally will have to decide exactly what role she’s capable of playing in their world of make believe. If she can’t play by Hollywood’s rules, she may lose her best friend, her dream future, and her first shot at love. (Description via Goodreads). 

Essence by Lisa Ann O’Kane: Neutrality is the key to longevity. This motto has governed 17 year-old Autumn’s life in the mid-21st century Centrist cult, which believes that expressing emotions leads to Essence drain and premature death. But Autumn’s younger brother’s death casts her faith into question. While sprinting through a park in violation of Centrist teachings, she encounters Ryder Stone, an Outsider who claims Essence drain is nothing more than a Centrist scare tactic. She agrees to join his Community, a utopia of adrenaline junkies living in the abandoned remains of Yosemite National Park. Autumn learns about sex, drugs, and living life to the fullest. But as she discovers dark secrets beneath the Community’s perfect exterior, she realises that this illusion of paradise could be shattered.
The Girl Who Never Was by Skylar Dorset: On her seventeenth birthday, Selkie discovers that she is a half-faerie princess and that the mother she never knew wants to kill her.

“Summer” Reads, 2014 Edition

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Sure, you could have a post about beach reads or a post about the kinds of books that are about summer and how great summer is. But I thought instead of going that route, I was going to make a YA summer reading list that’s a bit more meta.

How about a roundup of YA titles out this year that feature “summer” in the title? Some are out during the summer, some are set during the summer, and maybe some have nothing to do with summer at all (I doubt that a bit, but it’s possible since I haven’t read all of these). It’s possible I’ll miss a few titles, so feel free to chime in with other 2014 YA “summer” titles you know about.

All descriptions are via WorldCat. I’ve included release dates for those titles not yet available.

Open Road Summer by Emery Lord: Follows seventeen-year-old Reagan as she tries to escape heartbreak and a bad reputation by going on tour with her country superstar best friend–only to find more trouble as she falls for the surprisingly sweet guy hired to pose as the singer’s boyfriend.

The Summer I Found You by Jolene Perry: Kate, seeking distraction from her recent diabetes diagnosis, begins dating Aidan, a young veteran who lost an arm in Afghanistan, and the two soon realize that they might mean more to each other than they first thought.

The Summer I Wasn’t Me by Jessica Verdi: Ever since her mom found out she was in love with a girl, seventeen-year-old Lexi’s afraid that what’s left of her family is going to fall apart for good. New Horizons summer camp promises a new life for Lexi–she swears she can change. She can learn to like boys. But denying her feelings is harder than she thinks. 

Summer of Yesterday by Gaby Triana: As she struggles with her parents’ divorce, seventeen-year-old Haley is mysteriously transported to a theme park in the past where she finds love and meets her teenaged mother and father.

Summer on the Short Bus by Bethany Crandell: Cricket Montgomery has been thrown under the short bus. Shipped off to a summer camp by her father, Cricket is forced to play babysitter to a bunch of whiny kids–or so she thinks. When she realizes this camp is actually for teens with special needs, Cricket doubts she has what it takes to endure twenty-four hours, let alone two weeks. Thanks to her dangerously cute co-counselor, Quinn, there may be a slim chance for survival. However, between the campers’ unpredictability and disregard for personal space, Cricket’s limits get pushed. She will have to decide if suffering through her own handicapped hell is worth a summer romance–and losing her sanity.

This One Summer by Jillian and Mariko Tamaki: Rose and her parents have been going to Awago Beach since she was a little girl. It’s her summer getaway, her refuge. Her friend Windy is always there, too, like the little sister she never had, completing her summer family. But this summer is different. Rose’s mom and dad won’t stop fighting, and Rose and Windy have gotten tangled up in a tragedy-in-the-making in the small town of Awago Beach. It’s a summer of secrets and heartache, and it’s a good thing Rose and Windy have each other. 

Since Last Summer by Joanna Philbin (second in series): Eighteen-year-olds Rory McShane and Isabel Rule are back for another summer in East Hampton, but their friendship is put to the test as each girl deals with boyfriends, summer jobs, and family issues.

The Summer Invitation by Cynthia Silver: When Franny and her older sister Valentine are summoned by their aunt Theodora from foggy San Francisco to sunny New York City for one summer, they unearth secrets about Aunt Theo’s romantic past and even have a few romantic adventures of their own.

Unforgettable Summer by Catherine Clark (this is a reissue bind up of two of Clark’s older titles, So Inn Love and Better Latte Than Never): Liza McKenzie has landed her dream job working at the Tides Inn. It will be a summer of sun, friends, and independence — if only she can figure out a way to become part of the “inn” crowd. But fitting in isn’t always easy, especially when the hotel’s cutest employee is sending mixed messages…

Summer Love by Jill Santopolo: A unique romance novel whereby readers are prompted to choose how to proceed with the plot, leading them to one of eleven different love interests and thirteen possible endings. 

The Summer of Letting Go by Gae Polisner: Four years after her brother Simon drowned while in her charge, Francesca, now fifteen, begins to move on after a summer caring for Frankie, who seems to be Simon reincarnated, and getting closer to her best friend’s boyfriend.

Summer State of Mind by Jen Calonita: Spoiled, yet lovable fifteen-year-old Harper McCallister is sent to sleepaway camp where she is an outcast at first but eventually finds a way to make her mark, gaining new perspectives on friendship and life in general. 

Two titles I needed to include on the list but don’t maybe fit the feel of the rest of the list are these two: one that’s a non-fiction title and one where the author’s last name is . . . Summer.

The Freedom Summer Murders by Don Mitchell: Coinciding with the fiftieth anniversary of the Freedom Summer murders, traces the events surrounding the KKK lynching of three young civil rights activists who were trying to register African Americans for the vote.

Trust Me, I’m Lying by Mary Elizabeth Summer (October 14): Having learned to be a master con artist from her father, Julep Dupree pays expenses at her exclusive high school by fixing things for fellow students, but she will need their help when her father disappears.

Making a List & Checking it Twice: Bucket Lists and More in YA

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An interesting microtrend that’s popped up in the last year in YA fiction is the bucket list. Either a character inherits one from a relative or friend who has died or it’s a list that’s been given to them with the understanding it’s the character’s responsibility to complete it or else fill in the blank. 

What’s been interesting about this emerging microtrend in the last year is that it’s not entirely new. It seems like bucket lists or stories where the main character works through a series of items on a list pops up periodically. There are a lot of variations on the list, too: sometimes it’s a straight bucket list that’s propelling the story forward and sometimes, it’s a list the main character keeps in order to keep his or her life in order (Amy Spalding’s The Reece Malcolm List is an excellent example of this). Sometimes, the lists work for the story, and other times, it feels like the list is the only glue keeping the characters and story together. 

As someone who is a list keeper, I find the concept interesting from the start, and I think it’s something that teens who — like me — are compulsive list keepers find this element to be compelling. 

Here’s a roundup of recent YA bucket list titles, along with descriptions from WorldCat. I’ve limited to books published in 2013 and 2014. I would love to know of other titles where there are bucket lists or lists kept out in the last year, so feel free to chime in in the comments. I’d also love to know what you think of the bucket list/list usage in books. What are some of the best ones? Which ones haven’t worked so well? 

Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy: Alice is ready to go out in a blaze of glory, but then she discovers she’s in remission from cancer and she must deal with all of the mistakes she’s made and the people she’s hurt. 

The F-it List by Julie Halpern: When Becca does something nearly unforgivable at Alex’s dad’s funeral, Alex cuts ties with her and focuses on her grieving family. Time passes, and Alex learns Becca has cancer. It also turns out Becca has a bucket list, one she doesn’t know she’ll be able to finish now. That’s where Alex comes in, along with a mysterious and guarded boy who just may help Alex check a few items off her own bucket list.

Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson: Quiet Emily’s sociable and daring best friend, Sloane, has disappeared leaving nothing but a random list of bizarre tasks for her to complete, but with unexpected help from popular classmate Frank Porter, Emily gives them a try.

There Will Come A Time by Carrie Arcos: Overwhelmed by grief and guilt after his twin sister Grace’s accidental death, seventeen-year-old Mark Santos is persuaded by her best friend to complete the “bucket list” from Grace’s journal.

Goodbye, Rebel Blue by Shelley Coriell: Rebecca “Rebel” Blue, a loner rebel and budding artist, reluctantly completes the bucket list of Kennedy Green, an over-committed do-gooder classmate who dies in a car accident following a stint in detention where both girls were forced to consider their morality and write bucket lists.

Nantucket Red by Leila Howland: Before starting college, Cricket Thompson returns to Nantucket for a summer filled with hard choices and infinite possibility. (This description tells you nothing about the list, which is a Life List that Cricket finds). 

A Look at YA Horror in 2014

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Last fall, I wrote about young adult horror for School Library Journal, hitting a wide variety of subcategories within the genre, as well as offering up a significant reading list. It’s still one of my favorite pieces I’ve written, and since it came out, I’ve been thinking a lot more about horror and keeping an eye on what’s coming up in the genre. I thought it might be worthwhile to do a roundup of forthcoming 2014 (and a couple of 2015) titles, since I know I’ve been feeling some of these out in my own reading and for building my own to-read pile. 

One of the trends I’m particularly fascinated with (and love seeing) is how many of these titles are being written by females. It looks like this is a pretty strong year especially for the more literary-leaning horror titles, like Amity, Fiendish, and The Fall. 

I know I’m going to miss some stuff, so feel free to chime in with other forthcoming horror titles that should be included. All descriptions come from WorldCat, unless otherwise noted. I’ve indicated when a title is part of a series, since some of these are sequels or installments on longer-running series. 

Amity by Micol Ostow (August 26): Two teens narrate the terrifying days and nights they spend living in a house of horrors. 

Creed by Trisha Leaver and Lindsay Currie (November 8): Three went in. Three came out. None even a shadow of who they once were. When their car breaks down, Dee, her boyfriend Luke, and his brother Mike walk through a winter storm to take refuge in a nearby town called Purity Springs. When they arrive, the emergency sirens are blaring and the small farming town seems abandoned. With no other shelter, they spend the night in an empty house. But they soon discover that not everything in Purity Springs is as it seems. When the town’s inhabitants suddenly appear the next morning, Dee, Luke, and Mike find themselves at the mercy of the charismatic leader, Elijah Hawkins, who plans to make Dee his new wife. Elijah’s son, Joseph, offers to help them escape . . . but the price of his help may be more than Dee and her friends can bear. (Description via Goodreads). 

Fiendish by Brenna Yovanoff (August 14): Clementine DeVore, seventeen, is determined to learn what happened ten years ago that led to her magical imprisonment and problems in her town, but a dangerous attraction to Fisher, the boy who freed her, town politics, and the terrifying Hollow get in the way.

Of Monsters and Madness by Jessica Verday (September 9): In 1820s Philadelphia, a girl finds herself in the midst of a rash of gruesome murders in which her father and his alluring assistant might be implicated. 

Between the Spark and the Burn by April Genevieve Tucholke (August 14, sequel to Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea): Seventeen-year-old Violet is looking for the boy she fell in love with last summer, the charismatic liar River West Redding, but as she scours the country for him, she begins to wonder who she’s really chasing–and who she really loves. 

Silver by Chris Wooding (already available as of March 25): When the students at Mortingham Boarding Academy find a group of strange, silvery beetles on school grounds they are excited, but when the beetles attack them and a mysterious virus starts spreading, a group of mismatched students must work together to survive.

Blood of My Blood by Barry Lyga (September 9, conclusion to the “I Hunt Killers” trilogy): Jazz Dent, who has been shot and left to die in New York City, his girlfriend, Connie, who is in the clutches of Jazz’s serial killer father, Billy, and his best friend, Howie, who is bleeding to death on the floor of Jazz’s own home in tiny Lobo’s Nod, must all rise above the horrors their lives have become and find a way to come together in pursuit of Billy.

Servants of the Storm by Delilah Dawson (August 5): After her best friend dies in a hurricane, high schooler Dovey discovers something even more devastating–demons in her hometown of Savannah.

The Fall by Bethany Griffin (October 7): Madeline Usher is doomed. She has spent her life fighting fate, and she thought she was succeeding. Until she woke up in a coffin. Ushers die young. Ushers are cursed. Ushers can never leave their house, a house that haunts and is haunted, a house that almost seems to have a mind of its own. Madeline’s life—revealed through short bursts of memory—has hinged around her desperate plan to escape, to save herself and her brother. Her only chance lies in destroying the house. In the end, can Madeline keep her own sanity and bring the house down?The Fall is a literary psychological thriller, reimagining Edgar Allan Poe’s classic The Fall of the House of Usher. (Description via Goodreads). 

Welcome to the Dark House by Laurie Faria Stolarz (July 22): Seven super fans have won the trip of a lifetime to meet the master of horror, legendary film director Justin Blake. But things quickly go from delightfully dark to dangerously deadly, when Ivy, Parker, Shayla, Natalie, Frankie, and Garth find themselves trapped in an abandoned amusement park. To earn a ticket out, they must face their darkest demons one ride at a time

Evil Librarian by Michelle Knudsen (September 9): When Cynthia Rothschild’s best friend, Annie, falls head over heels for the new high-school librarian, Cyn can totally see why. He’s really young and super cute and thinks Annie would make an excellent library monitor. But after meeting Mr. Gabriel, Cyn realizes something isn’t quite right. Maybe it’s the creepy look in the librarian’s eyes, or the weird feeling Cyn gets whenever she’s around him. Before long Cyn realizes that Mr. Gabriel is, in fact…a demon. Now, in addition to saving the school musical from technical disaster and trying not to make a fool of herself with her own hopeless crush, Cyn has to save her best friend from the clutches of the evil librarian, who also seems to be slowly sucking the life force out of the entire student body! From best-selling author Michelle Knudsen, here is the perfect novel for teens who like their horror served up with a bit of romance, plenty of humor, and some pretty hot guys (of both the good and evil variety). (Description via Edelweiss). 

The Fallen by Charlie Higson (June 10, fifth book in “The Enemy” series): The sickness destroyed everyone over the age of fourteen. All across London diseased adults are waiting, hungry predators with rotten flesh and ravaged minds. The fifth terrifying part of Charlie Higson’s bestselling Enemy series. The Enemy is closer than you think.

Last year, I wrote about Scholastic’s reboot of Point Horror, and these two titles are this year’s additions to the line. I read one of the titles last year on a flight and it was fun. I would call these more along the lines of campy horror than scary horror, but reader mileage will vary. 

Followers by Anna Davies (June 24): When Briana loses out on a starring role in the school’s production of Hamlet, she reluctantly agrees to be the drama department’s “social media director” and starts tweeting half-hearted updates. But then a body IS discovered in the theater: Briana’s rival. Suddenly, what seemed like a prank turns deadly serious. With the school in chaos and the police unable to find the culprit, it’s up to Briana to unmask the psycho-tweeter before the carnage reaches Shakespearian proportions . . . or she becomes the next victim. 

Wickedpedia by Chris Van Etten (June 24): Cole and Greg love playing practical jokes through Wikipedia. They edit key articles and watch their classmates crash and burn giving oral reports on historical figures like Genghis Khan, the first female astronaut on Jupiter. So after the star soccer player steals Cole’s girlfriend, the boys take their revenge by creating a Wikipedia page for him, an entry full of outlandish information including details about his bizarre death on the soccer field. It’s all in good fun, until the soccer player is killed in a freak accident . . . just as Cole and Greg predicted. The uneasy boys vow to leave Wikipedia alone but someone continues to edit articles about classmates dying in gruesome ways . . . and those entries start to come true as well. To his horror, Cole soon discovers that someone has created a Wikipedia page for him, and included a date of death. He has one week to figure out who’s behind the murders, or else he’s set to meet a pretty grisly end. (Description via Goodreads). 

Black Knight by Christopher Pike (second book in the “Witch World” series, available December 2): New dangers await Jesse, who possesses extraordinary powers and the ability to exist in both the real world and an alternate one known as witch world. Worth noting that the first book in the series was titled Witch World in hardcover, then it was changed to Red Queen in paperback. The Red Queen paperback will be available in August. 

Party Games by R. L. Stine (September 30, first in the reboot of Pike’s “Fear Street” series): It’s about girl named Rachel, who Brendan Fear invites along with a bunch of other people to the Fear’s summer house on Fear Island, in the middle of a lake. They’re 17, in high school. It’s Halloween time, and they’re reopening the summerhouse just for this party. Brendan invents games, he loves games, and one by one the guests start getting murdered—every murder is attached to a game. One girl is found all folded up and there’s a note that says, ‘Twister, anyone?’ They’re trapped on an island, and there’s a killer there who wants to kill everyone. (Description via Goodreads).  

Mary: The Summoning by Hillary Monahan (September 2): Teens Jess, Shauna, Kitty, and Anna follow all the rules, but when their summoning circle is broken the vengeful spirit of Bloody Mary slips through, and as the girls struggle to escape Mary’s wrath, loyalties are questioned, friendships torn apart, and lives changed forever.

Trollhunters by Daniel Kraus and Guillermo del Toro (March 24, 2015): This new 320-page horror novel written by Guillermo del Toro and Daniel Kraus is about monsters that move in unseen places and the resurgence of a 45-year-old mystery that threatens the seemingly sleepy city of San Bernardino, CA. (Description via Goodreads).