Young Adult/Science
Fiction/Aliens
The Dark Side of Nowhere
Neal Shusterman
Little, Brown 0316789070
This intense tale of aliens among us is told from the viewpoint of Jason Miller, a natural leader who is living a rather bland life in a Norman Rockwell style town. When he is given a weird glovelike weapon by the school janitor after one of his best friends dies mysteriously and suddenly, he starts on a path of self discovery in the midst of a scheme for the alien conquest of Earth.
Shusterman's slightly askew way of looking at life and science fiction is refreshing and satisfying. I love the way that I end up thinking of his books long after the last page is turned. He is also the author of Scorpion Shards where he also explores alien differences.
Young
Adult/Contemporary/Sexual Identity
Blue Coyote
Liza Ketchum
Simon & Schuster 0689807902
Alex Beekman of Twelve Days in August takes the opportunity of returning to California with his father for the summer so he can try to find his missing friend Tito. A wonderful athlete, he renews his love of surfing and finds clues in the culture of Venice Beach that lead him to revelations about Tito and himself. A wild fire and a job in a tattoo parlor also lead him to new discoveries. Ketchum is an expert at sensitively exploring delicate issues and creating believable characters.
Young Adult/Crime/Suspense
Yesterday's Child
Sonia Levitin
Simon & Schuster 0689808100
Obviously inspired by last year's startling revelations about mystery author Anne Perry, this exquisitely crafted tale slowly, layer by layer, unravels the twisted history of sixteen year old Jasmine's recently deceased mother. Trying to find some connection with her late mother, Jasmine reads a letter written the day before she died and never mailed. When Jasmine mails it and it is returned unopened she decides to take advantage of her class trip to Washington D.C. to sneak away to her mother's hometown to find out about her darkly shrouded past. Sometimes outrageous, the exploits Jasmine attempts make for an exciting read.
Young
Adult/Contemporary/Humorous
A Fly Named Alfred
Don Trembath
Orca 1551430835
Harper Winslow, last seen in The Tuesday Cafe, has started secretly writing a very successful column for the school paper called "Fly on the Wall" in which he exposes some of the silly and weird things that happen around school. When he lampoons a popular girl's older boyfriend, the school bully forces Harper to try to find out the identity of the pseudonymous "Alfred."
Readers of Gordon Korman, Jane McFann, and Will McCants will enjoy the humorous high school high jinks. Chapter 7 had me laughing so hard my stomach hurt!
Young Adult/Crime/Suspense
Switch
Kevin McColley
Simon & Schuster 0689811225
Epileptic teen Ken befriends Ricky, a homeless man who makes origami in this darkly atmospheric mystery. His only other friends are Mariah and Tracy two very different girls, one of who betrays him horribly. His older half brother Leo seems to finally be coming around to be accepting him now that he has returned from the Navy and is planning on starting college. Ken becomes immersed in bizarre and mysteriously surrealistic happenings after he comes to the conclusion that Ricky has disappeared and someone who looks like him has been substituted.
Picture Book/Poetry
Harlem
Walter Dean Myers, illustrated by Christopher Myers
Scholastic 0590543407
Stunning collages coordinate with a poem that brings the rhythm, history, sounds, and color of Harlem to vibrant life.
Juvenile/Mystery
Secrets At Hidden Valley
Willo Davis Roberts
Atheneum 0689811667
Eleven-year old Steffi is sent off to a grandfather she has never known when her recently widowed actress mother goes on location. Arriving unexpected at his run down RV park, Steffi slowly builds a relationship with her curmudgeonly grandfather Victor as she sets out on a path of upgrading the park. Many of the campers are permanent residents, all seemingly with secrets. When a suspicious visitor arrives Steffi and her pal Casey try to find out if he is a detective and why he is hanging out in Hidden Valley.
Crime/Amateur Sleuth
Death in Still Waters
Barbara Lee
St. Martin's 0312957807
St. Martin's Press does a great job of finding great new talent in genre fiction. Death in Still Waters was a winner of their Malice Domestic Contest for Best First Traditional Mystery and is a real find.
Manhattan advertising whiz Eve Elliott decides she just can't promote products she abhors and since her marriage is falling apart it is a good time to respond to her widowed aunt's request for help in rural Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Upon arriving she discovers the murder of a dog followed swiftly by the suspicious death of an elderly man. Both bodies are discovered in the same cove where a young woman's possibly murdered body had been found decades ago. While contemporary, this mystery has a somewhat gothic feel to it rather like some of Victoria Holt's tales. Eve is a likable character, at 40 experiencing life in a way far different than the crowds of twenty-something sleuths and elderly detectives.
Young Adult/Contemporary/
Thin Ice
Marsha Qualey
Delacorte 0385322984
Marsha Qualey who penned a couple of my favorite novels Revolutions of the Heart and Come in From the Cold has a stunning new tale. It seems to be a trend this year to have protagonists who are raised by older siblings. As in Jenkins' Breaking Boxes the sibling relationship is deftly handled.
When her parents were killed in a plane crash ten years earlier, Arden's older brother dropped out of college to come home and raise her. Now at seventeen she is doing well in school and has started her own small business but all falls apart when her brother's snow mobile is found at the bottom of the river. After grieving for a while Arden comes up with the theory that he really isn't dead. After all, no body has been found. Thin Ice is a riveting tale well told. A "Best Book" for sure!