Creature of Moonlight, Rebecca Hahn
As the only heir to the throne, Marni should have been surrounded by wealth and privilege, not living in exile-but now the time has come when she must choose between claiming her birthright as princess of a realm whose king wants her dead, and life with the father she has never known: a wild dragon who is sending his magical woods to capture her. (Goodreads)
First lines: All Summer long the villagers have been talking of the woods. Even those living many hills away can see it: their crops are disappearing; their land is shrinking by the day. We hear story after story.
Gifts, Ursula K. Le Guin
Scattered among poor, desolate farms, the clans of the Uplands possess gifts. Wondrous gifts: the ability–with a glance, a gesture, a word–to summon animals, bring forth fire, move the land. Fearsome gifts: They can twist a limb, chain a mind, inflict a wasting illness. The Uplanders live in constant fear that one family might unleash its gift against another. Two young people, friends since childhood, decide not to use their gifts. One, a girl, refuses to bring animals to their death in the hunt. The other, a boy, wears a blindfold lest his eyes and his anger kill. (Goodreads)
First lines: He was lost when he came to us, and I fear the silver spoons he stole from us didn’t save him when he ran away and went up into the high domains. Yet in the end the lost man, the runaway man, was our guide.
The end or something like that, Anne Dee Ellis
Emmy’s best friend Kim had promised to visit from the afterlife after she died. But so far Kim hasn’t shown up even once. Emmy blames herself for not believing hard enough. Finally, as the one-year anniversary of Kim’s death approaches, Emmy is visited by a ghost—but it’s not Kim. It’s Emmy’s awful dead science teacher. Emmy can’t help but think that she’s failed at being a true friend. But as more ghosts appear, she starts to realize that she’s not alone in her pain. Kim would have wanted her to move forward—and to do that, Emmy needs to start letting go. (Goodreads)
First lines: One day my best friend named Kim died. Before she died, Kim made me promise to contact her. I didn’t want to. But she made me promise. So then I tried. And tried. And tried. And tried. And tried. Turns out I suck at talking to dead people.
Calypso Summer, Jared Thomas
After failing to secure employment in sports retail, his dream occupation, Calypso finds work at the Henley Beach Health Food shop where his boss pressures him to gather native plants for natural remedies. This leads him to his Nukunu family in southern Flinders Ranges and the discovery of a world steeped in cultural knowledge. The support of a sassy, smart, young Ngadjuri girl, with a passion for cricket rivalling his own, helps Calypso to reconsider his Rastafarian façade and understand how to take charge of his future.(Goodreads)
First lines: It was thirty-nine degrees, my boss hadn’t paid me and I was too broke to fix my piece of shit ten-speed. A woman in skirt and bathers walked around the corner and quickly sidestepped out the way. People are always doing that type of thing to me.
Scan, Sarah Fine and Walter Jury
Tate and his father don’t exactly get along. As Tate sees it, his father has unreasonably high expectations for Tate to be the best—at everything. Tate finally learns what he’s being prepared for when he steals one of his dad’s odd tech inventions and mercenaries ambush the school, killing his father in the process and sending Tate on the run from aliens who look just like humans. All Tate knows–like how to make weapons out of oranges and lighter fluid–may not be enough to save him as he’s plunged into a secret inter-species conflict that’s been going on for centuries. Aided only by his girlfriend and his estranged mother, with powerful enemies closing in on all sides, Tate races to puzzle out the secret behind his father’s invention and why so many are willing to kill for it. (Goodreads)
First lines: In my world, things are simple. At least, they are right now, The hard, pulsing beat of my music is all my head contains. My muscles are loose. My bare feet are flat on the hardwood. My ass is on this metal bench, but not for long. Any second now, they’re going to call me. I am ready.
September 17, Amanda West Lewis
September 17 is a novel that tells the story of three of the children that were on board the City of Benares, as they experience and survive the disaster and wait to be rescued. One lifeboat was not picked up by the destroyer sent to make the rescue, and was at sea with 46 passengers, children and adults for eight days until it was picked up near the Irish coast. Two teenaged girls held onto an overturned lifeboat for 18 hours before they were picked up, while another family, including two children not on the CORB program, floated on a tiny raft for hours before being rescued. The characters whose adventures are described are all real, though some conversations and encounters have been fictionalized by author Amanda Lewis. (Goodreads)
First lines: A heavy clod of wet earth fell on Ken’s head. His hands began to shake. It wasn’t the hideous and sickening lurch of the ground. It wasn’t the overwhelming, deafening crash. It wasn’t even the thought of death. No, it was the idea of being buried alive that most terrified Ken.
House of Ivy and Sorrow, Natalie Whipple
Josephine Hemlock has spent the last 10 years hiding from the Curse that killed her mother. But when a mysterious man arrives at her ivy-covered, magic-fortified home, it’s clear her mother’s killer has finally come to destroy the rest of the Hemlock bloodline. Before Jo can even think about fighting back, she must figure out who she’s fighting in the first place. The more truth Jo uncovers, the deeper she falls into witchcraft darker than she ever imagined. Trapped and running out of time, she begins to wonder if the very Curse that killed her mother is the only way to save everyone she loves.(Goodreads)
First lines: They say a witch lives in the old house under the interstate bridge. Always in the shadows, draped in ivy and sorrow, the house waits for child too daring for his own good. And inside, the witch sits with her black eyes and toothless sneer.
Resurrection, Amy Carol Reeves
When she catches Edmund Wyatt following her through the streets of London, Abbie Sharp learns that every British monarch for hundreds of years has known about—and financially supported—the Conclave. Furious that the monarchy would cooperate with such a nefarious group, Abbie refuses Wyatt’s request for help in catching the person who is blackmailing Queen Victoria with this secret information. But a far greater threat emerges when the Ripper, Max, returns and brings a string of new murders with him. Abbie must choose whether to help the Queen she now despises or stop Max from succeeding at his most diabolical plan yet—the creation of a whole new Conclave aimed at usurping the British throne. (Goodreads)
First lines: By the time he stepped outdoors to escape the stifling billiard game conversation, young Lionel Millbrough the Third’s head swam from the three brandies he had unwisely consumed.
A time to dance, Padma Venkatraman
Veda, a classical dance prodigy in India, lives and breathes dance—so when an accident leaves her a below-knee amputee, her dreams are shattered. For a girl who’s grown used to receiving applause for her dance prowess and flexibility, adjusting to a prosthetic leg is painful and humbling. But Veda refuses to let her disability rob her of her dreams, and she starts all over again, taking beginner classes with the youngest dancers. Then Veda meets Govinda, a young man who approaches dance as a spiritual pursuit. As their relationship deepens, Veda reconnects with the world around her, and begins to discover who she is and what dance truly means to her.
First lines:
Clinging to the free end of Ma’s sari,
I follow the tired shuffle of other pilgrims’ feedt
into the cool darkness of the temple,
where sweat-smell mingles with the fragrance of incense.
One man guy, Michael Barakiva
Alek Khederian should have guessed something was wrong when his parents took him to a restaurant. Everyone knows that Armenians never eat out. Between bouts of interrogating the waitress and criticizing the menu, Alek’s parents announce that he’ll be attending summer school in order to bring up his grades. Alek is sure this experience will be the perfect hellish end to his hellish freshman year of high school. He never could’ve predicted that he’d meet someone like Ethan. Ethan is everything Alek wishes he were: confident, free-spirited, and irreverent. He can’t believe a guy this cool wants to be his friend. And before long, it seems like Ethan wants to be more than friends. Alek has never thought about having a boyfriend—he’s barely ever had a girlfriend—but maybe it’s time to think again. (Goodreads)
First lines: Alek stared at the menu suspiciously. He smelled mrinara sauce and a trap.
“Welcome to Trattori dell’Arte. My name is Lizzy. Can I start you off with something to drink?” The waitress was young, maybe a college student alreadt home for the summer, with a kind, round face framed by bangs the curled up at the bottom. Alek pitied her. She had no idea what she was in for.
The drowned Forest, Kristopher Reisz
Losing Holly is the hardest thing Jane has ever had to endure … until Holly comes back.
Best friends Jane and Holly have jumped off the bluff over their Alabama reservoir hundreds of times. But one day, Holly’s jump goes wrong. Her body never comes up, yet something else does—a sad creature of mud, full of confusion and sorrow. It’s Holly, somehow, trapped and mixed up with the river. And if Jane can’t do something to help, Holly will take everybody down with her—even the people they love the most. (Goodreads)
First lines: But it’s a beautiful day, Holly, It’s the most beautiful day. Pastor Wesley stands in the river, frog-green water swirling around his thighs. Sunlight ripples in his outstretched hands and across the robes of those about to be baptised.
Always, Emily Michaela MacColl
Emily and Charlotte Brontë are about as opposite as two sisters can be. Charlotte is practical and cautious; Emily is headstrong and imaginative. But they do have one thing in common: a love of writing. This shared passion will lead them to be two of the first published female novelists and authors of several enduring works of classic literature. But they’re not there yet. First, they have to figure out if there is a connection between a string of local burglaries, rumors that a neighbor’s death may not have been accidental, and the appearance on the moors of a mysterious and handsome stranger. The girls have a lot of knots to untangle—before someone else gets killed. (Goodreads)
First lines: The minister pronounced the final benediction for Elizabeth Bronte, aged 10. The funeral was finally over. The surviving Brontes huddled in the family pew. Charlotte, the eldest child at nine, sat stiffly, her back perfectly straight. She frowned at her younger sister, Emily, who had fidgeted unconscionably during the long service. Then she clutched her eight year old brother Branwell’s hand.
I have a bad feeling about this, Jeff Strand
Henry Lambert would rather play video games than spend time in the great outdoors–but that doesn’t make him a wuss. Skinny nerd? Fine. But wuss is a little harsh. Sadly, his dad doesn’t agree. Which is why Henry is being shipped off to Strongwoods Survival Camp. Strongwoods isn’t exactly as advertised. It looks like the victim of a zombie apocalypse, the “camp director” is a psycho drill sergeant, and Henry’s sure he saw a sign written in blood…(Goodreads)
First lines: “Hi everybody. This is Rad rad Roger here at the world premiere of I Have a Bad Feeling About This, and let me tell you, this par-taaay is wild! You can’t spit without hitting a celebrity! Watch – I’m gonna try it right now! Hoccccccccchhhhh-patoo!”
Nowhere boys, Elise McCredie
Four teenage boys are hiking in the bush when they are caught in a freak storm. After surviving the night, the boys expect a hero’s welcome, but instead they find that nobody knows who they are. Not their family. Not their friends. They are faced with a town of blank faces and are trapped in a world where they don’t exist. Sam, Jake and Andy are desperate to right their lives. They need to figure out how to make things go back to the way they used to be. Only Felix is conflicted: there are certain things about this new world that he likes. But as they grapple with their situation, it becomes clear that other things have been disturbed. A dark force has been unleashed and suddenly the situation becomes desperate. The boys must find a way to right their lives before evil destroys them. (Goodreads)
First lines: Felix’s fingers thrashed at the strings of his electric guitar as if he were trying to do it damange. The chords screeched out of his amp in ragged harmony with his vocals.
“Water, fire, earth and air
Elements that we all share.”