The companion novel to Saints, this book looks at the same situation from a different angle. Little Bao has grown up reenacting his favorite Chinese operas and looking up to his father. When his father is hobbled by European colonists, Bao's older brothers take over the family, relegating Bao to the role of little brother. In secret he trains with a martial arts master, and quickly out paces his brothers.
Josh Bell, known as Filthy McNasty to those on the court, is one of top two players on his middle school basketball team. The other player is his twin brother, Jordan. The two are expected to become big stars as their father was an amazing basketball player before he retired, known to his fans as Da Man!
Filthy and Jordan are ready for an epic year on their team, taking them all the way to playoffs, when things are complicated by a new girl, who captures Jordan's eye and their father's heart problems.
Samantha is discovered stumbling along a highway, dirty, dehydrated and bloody, three days after she and her best friend Cassie went missing. Cassie still hasn't been found and Samantha suffers from amnesia and can't remember anything before the police picked her up.
This book has caught everyone’s attention (as Levithan’s books often do). The story centers around an attempt to break the Guinness Book of World Records longest kiss (over 32 hours) by ex-boyfriends Craig and Harry in protest of a hate crime. Add to that the love story of Ryan and transgendered Avery, Peter and Neil (a new couple ready to take the next step) and Cooper, a runaway obsessed with gay hook-up apps and the story is full of interesting and well rounded characters.
In the age of tumblr, fanfiction and fanart, Cath is a relatable character for any teen who has geeked out over a book, tv show or movie. Starting her freshman year of college, Cath is facing several new obstacles. Her twin sister Wren doesn't want to room with her so “they can meet other people.” She is dealing with her father’s mental illness. And college has taken time away from completing her epic online fanfiction Carry On written in the world of Simon Snow (a character reminiscent Harry Potter). On top of it all, Cath might be falling in love with her roommate's boyfriend.
Imagine having your worst moments caught on film, and your best moments edited out. When he was five years old Gerald Faust’s mother auditioned the family for Network Nanny, a reality tv show. In one-hour on network TV, Gerald became a national phenomenon for taking a dump on the family’s kitchen table. Twelve years later, Gerald is still haunted by the actions of his five-year-old-self.
An amazing and unique retelling of Hansel and Gretel this story is narrated by the Jacob Grimm himself, caught in the plane between life and death. Jacob has become rather fond of Jeremy Johnson Johnson, who has the unique ability to hear spirits, a gift that has ostracized him from many in his small town of Never Better, unfortunately suffering from a rash of missing persons. Luckily it does not deter the friendship of the enigmatic and problematic Ginger Boultinghouse, who’s thirst for adventure has gotten them both in trouble on more than one occasion.
When Kyra, the youngest and most talented potions master in the kingdom, has a vision of the soon-to-be-married Princess destroying the land, she knows what she must do: kill the princess…her best friend. Kyra is distraught at the thought of killing her best friend, which must be what causes her poisoned dart to miss it’s target and send Kyra running for her life from the Crown’s justice. Looking for another chance to save the kingdom, Kyra acquires a tracking pig from the King of Thieves, and a boisterous traveling companion, Fred.
The main character in Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series is a type of heroine I like to call “the flawed hero who can’t stop herself from helping those in trouble even if it gets her into trouble; sometimes potentially fatal trouble.” There are a number of supernatural series that feature this type of character - Harry Dresden from Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files, Rachel Morgan from Kim Harrison’s Hollows, Sookie Stackhouse from Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse, the women in Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld.
In many ways, I love Pritchard’s story of rebuilding his family farm. Against the advice of pretty much everyone, Pritchard takes up farming the land that his parents could never make a living off of. Gaining Ground is his amazing journey. He starts off with crushing debt, little help, and no plan. Through trial and error, trial and error, and then a little more trial and error, Pritchard finds a way to make the farm not only his own, but profitable for the first time in many years.
