Behold the history of the end of the world - by Austin Szerba. The end of the world does not start with a bang or a bomb, or an ultimatum from outer space. It begins (and ends) in Ealing, Iowa, in Grasshopper Jungle, the parking lot behind the strip mall containing a pizza place, the liqueur store and the second-hand store. It begins when Austin and his best friend Robby (who is is pretty sure he is in love with) are bullied by the local small-town thugs who will never amount to anything (because they are not bright enough too and because they will shortly die).
Ronan Truelove's mom may be a bit eccentric, always signing him up for outdoor survival classes, judo lessons, self-defense workshops, always keeping him busy. But she has crossed a line when she grabs him from school one day and tells him she is part of an ancient group called the Blood Guard and that his father has been kidnapped and they are under attack. After watching her perform impossible acts to get away from bad guys in suits, she gives Ronan a ticket for a train to DC and tells him to meet with her Blood Guard contact there.
If you like country music this is a great summer read. Bailey and her sister Julie have been singing together as long as she can remember. But now, Bailey has been relegated to playing back-up to costumed country singer impersonators at the mall while her sister and parents are off promoting Julie's solo career. But, country music is in Bailey's blood and she'll play any gig she can get, as long as her parents don't find out. They're afraid she might steal the limelight from Julie. When Bailey meets Sam he invites her to join his band. Sam has big goals and dreams and he wants Bailey
Four Girl is unwanted and unloved by her family. Seen as a demon-child, her family practically gives her up as a lost cause. Four girl, searching for acceptance discovers catholic missionaries near her small Chinese village. After one exceptionally harsh experience with her grandfather, Four runs into the forest and sees a vision of Jeanne D'Arc. As Four distances herself from her family, and grows closer to the missionaries visions of Jeanne come more often, offering peace and guidance.
After famed dragon slayer, Lottie Thorskard, is injured on the job she takes early retirement and moves to the small town of Trondheim to escape her notoriety and the big city. She brings her partner Hannah, and nephew Owen, whose father is out fighting the carbon eating dragons that have plagued Canada since the dawn of time.
This sequel to Shadow and Bone takes all of the high adventure and dark drama of the first book and cranks it up to 11. The story starts off quietly for a chapter or two and then suddenly kicks the reader into a fast-paced, slam-bang, snarktastic rollercoaster ride that doesn't let up until the end of the novel. And the end...my heart was pounding and I was left breathless by the end of the book.
Charlie, a modern-day Holden Caulfield, reminds me of myself when I was an uber-angsty adolescent. That’s the good thing about reading Young Adult Fiction as a middle aged adult: you have a broader worldview which allows you to appreciate teenage angst in a deeper way. You’ve been there and back. You’ve lived through it. You know there’s a way out. You understand.
The day after Liyana experiences her first kiss, her father announces that he is moving the family from St. Louis, to his birthplace, Jerusalem. Liyana leaves everything she knows behind, and everything that won't fit in a few boxes and embarks on an adventure to experience a different kind of life.
This story starts with a bang! Wil Jamieson is grabbed by two guys in an airport bathroom. They stick a needle in his eye, ask him a bunch of questions and tell him if he wants to live he has to come with them. Wil gathers from their conversation that he in an important piece in a war they are fighting. Wars have casualties, and before they escape the airport one kidnapper and Wil's girlfriend are dead. Barely trusting Eliot, Wil takes off cross country as a fugitive, trying to discover what makes him so special.
Adam scores the ultimate tickets to the last concert of rock star Jimmy Earle. How does he know that it is Jimmy's last concert? Because Jimmy has taken Death, the latest and greatest drug on the street. Live one glorious week on the high of your life...then die. Adam and his girlfriend Lizzie are there to see Earle give the performance of a lifetime, then die on stage. As the crowd goes wild, the two escape the area to find masked members of the Zealots handing out Death capsules on the street.
