THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

YA GIVEAWAY OF THE WEEK

Grasshopper Jungle
by Andrew Smith
Hardcover
Dutton Juvenile
Released 2/11/2014
Sixteen-year-old Austin Szerba interweaves the story of his Polish legacy with the storyof how he and his best friend , Robby, brought about the end of humanity and the rise of an army of unstoppable, six-foot tall praying mantises in small-town Iowa.
To make matters worse, Austin’s hormones are totally oblivious; they don’t care that the world is in utter chaos: Austin is in love with his girlfriend, Shann, but remains confused about his sexual orientation. He’s stewing in a self-professed constant state of maximum horniness, directed at both Robby and Shann. Ultimately, it’s up to Austin to save the world and propagate the species in this sci-fright journey of survival, sex, and the complex realities of the human condition.
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Steelheart
by Brandon Sanderson
Hardcover
Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Released 9/24/2013
Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics.
But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his wills.
Nobody fights the Epics… nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them.
And David wants in. He wants Steelheart—the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David’s father. For years, like the Reckoners, David’s been studying, and planning—and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience.
He’s seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge.
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WHAT WE’RE READING
Martina
by Megan Shepherd
Hardcover
Balzer + Bray
Released 1/28/2014
To defeat the darkness, she must first embrace it.
Months have passed since Juliet Moreau returned to civilization after escaping her father’s island—and the secrets she left behind. Now, back in London once more, she is rebuilding the life she once knew and trying to forget Dr. Moreau’s horrific legacy—though someone, or something, hasn’t forgotten her.
As people close to Juliet fall victim one by one to a murderer who leaves a macabre calling card of three clawlike slashes, Juliet fears one of her father’s creations may have also escaped the island. She is determined to find the killer before Scotland Yard does, though it means awakening sides of herself she had thought long banished, and facing loves from her past she never expected to see again.
As Juliet strives to stop a killer while searching for a serum to cure her own worsening illness, she finds herself once more in the midst of a world of scandal and danger. Her heart torn in two, past bubbling to the surface, life threatened by an obsessive killer—Juliet will be lucky to escape alive.
With inspiration from Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, this is a tantalizing mystery about the hidden natures of those we love and how far we’ll go to save them from themselves.
Note from Martina
I was excited to read this sequel after loving MADMAN’S DAUGHTER, and I wasn’t disappointed. The author delivers a well-crafted, beautifully written story with complex, deeply flawed (and often monstrous) characters, who nevertheless are believable and sympathetic. I love the fact that Juliet doesn’t always have the expected reactions, that she is allowed to be an individual and that the author takes the courageous route of letting her be less-likeable sometimes in the interest of being rounded and deep and layered. The mystery and the romance(s) — yes plural — and the way that we are pulled into one surprise after another kept me turning pages and loving every minute of the read.
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Prisoner of Night and Fog
by Anne Blankman
Hardcover
Balzer + Bray
Released 4/22/2014
In 1930s Munich, danger lurks behind dark corners, and secrets are buried deep within the city. But Gretchen Müller, who grew up in the National Socialist Party under the wing of her “uncle” Dolf, has been shielded from that side of society ever since her father traded his life for Dolf’s, and Gretchen is his favorite, his pet.
Uncle Dolf is none other than Adolf Hitler.
And Gretchen follows his every command.
Until she meets a fearless and handsome young Jewish reporter named Daniel Cohen. Gretchen should despise Daniel, yet she can’t stop herself from listening to his story: that her father, the adored Nazi martyr, was actually murdered by an unknown comrade. She also can’t help the fierce attraction brewing between them, despite everything she’s been taught to believe about Jews.
As Gretchen investigates the very people she’s always considered friends, she must decide where her loyalties lie. Will she choose the safety of her former life as a Nazi darling, or will she dare to dig up the truth—even if it could get her and Daniel killed?
From debut author Anne Blankman comes this harrowing and evocative story about an ordinary girl faced with the extraordinary decision to give up everything she’s ever believed . . . and to trust her own heart instead.
Note from Martina
This book is a beautiful thing. It takes the easy, almost cliché Hitler character we’ve all come to know and makes him more personal and more chilling, while simultaneously showing us how easy it was to want to believe the horror of his viewpoint. Every character in this book feels true and complete, and each story within the story from the romance to the mystery and the shifting relationships between the characters feels effortlessly interwoven, flawlessly researched, and brilliantly executed. PRISONER OF NIGHT AND FOG is also beautifully written. Loved it. Can’t wait to read more from Anne!
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Jan

Dangerous
by Shannon Hale
Hardcover
Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Released 3/4/2014
Maisie Danger Brown just wanted to get away from home for a bit, see something new. She never intended to fall in love. And she never imagined stumbling into a frightening plot that kills her friends and just might kill her, too. A plot that is already changing life on Earth as we know it. There’s no going back. She is the only thing standing between danger and annihilation.
From NY Times bestselling author Shannon Hale comes a novel that asks, How far would you go to save the ones you love? And how far would you go to save everyone else?
Note from Jan
I don’t normally read SciFi, but something about the description for Dangerous sucked me in. And I was not disappointed at all. First of all, the heroine’s middle name is Danger. Now normally this would bug me, but Maisie Danger Brown is a strong, smart, and witty character. Oh, and did I mention that she only has one arm? So yeah, after finishing the book, I LOVE that her middle name is Danger. The plot is fast-paced and full of unexpected twists and turns. This was a quick and very satisfying read.
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Clara

Tell Me When
by Stina Lindenblatt
eBook
Carina Press
Released 1/20/2014
Amber Scott should be enjoying life as a college freshman. She should be pursuing her dream of becoming a veterinarian. She should be working hard to make sense of her precalculus math class.
She shouldn’t be waking up her college roommate with screaming nightmares. She shouldn’t be flashing back, reliving the three weeks of hell she barely survived last year. And she definitely shouldn’t be spending time with sexy player Marcus Reid.
But engineering student Marcus is the only one keeping Amber from failing her math course, so she grudgingly lets him into her life. She never expects the king of hookups will share his painful past. Or that she’ll tell him her secrets in return, opening up and trusting him in a way she thought she’d never be able to again.
When their fragile future together is threatened by a stalker Amber thought was locked away for good, Marcus is determined to protect her–and Amber is determined to protect Marcus…even if that means pushing him away.
Note from Clara
I have a huge interest in books that deal with the way individuals overcome trauma. Both the hero and the heroine in TELL ME WHEN survived horrific ordeals, and I loved reading how they help each other heal as they slowly reveal their secrets and deal with the tragedies of their past. Marcus is an ideal hero–wounded, tough, and tender, and Amber is so brave.
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BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS
The Vampire Academy movie came out yesterday! Who’s going to see it this weekend? Here’s the trailer, just in case you haven’t seen it.
Ciel Rouge posted a great list of 2014 YA Books by People of Color, along with this graphic of the covers.
WRITING TIP

WRITING TIP OF THE WEEK
Why Your Protagonist Might Not Always Be Your Hero from K. M. Weiland.









