I have purchased 15 new titles and need someone to read them and rate them. Students will be able to publish their reviews on this blog!
After reading them, the books will be added to the Library collection so other students can take them out.
Here are the titles:
I Am Number Four
by Pittacus Lore
In rural Ohio, friendships and a beautiful girl prove distracting to a fifteen-year-old who has hidden on Earth for ten years waiting to develop the Legacies, or powers, he will need to rejoin the other six surviving Garde members and fight the Mogadorians who destroyed their planet, Lorien.
The Gryphon Project
by Carrie Mac
Phoenix envies her brother Gryphon. The daredevil and sports hero has all of his recons left: three more chances at life. But she is left with only one, and learns that her beloved brother is responsible for one of her deaths. When Gryphon himself has an accident, the governing body Chrysalis refuses to recon him, deeming his death to be a suicide. His friends' code of silence makes it difficult to find out what happened, but Phoenix is determined to unravel the mystery and save her brother.
Charlie's Key
by Rob Mills
When Charlie Sykes wakes up in hospital in St. John's, he learns that he and his father have been in a car accident and that his father is dying. Charlie inherits little more than the brass key that his father pressed into his hand before he passed away. As far as Charlie knows, he has no family in Newfoundland. But then Uncle Nick shows up and is keen to meet his nephew--not because of who Charlie is, but rather because of what Charlie has: the key. That key will unlock a treasure Uncle Nick began searching for more than thirty years earlier. And he would have found it all those years ago if he hadn't been arrested and sent away for murder. But Charlie isn't convinced he should give up the key. He leads Uncle Nick on a wild chase through old St. John's, across Signal Hill and out to the coast. There, high above the rugged Atlantic, Charlie finally comes face-to-face with Uncle Nick, the treasure, and a family history that will leave him with a new understanding of where he comes from and where he's going.
Fly Boy
by Eric Walters
Robbie McWilliams wants to be part of the victory against the Nazis. His father had served as a Spitfire pilot before he was shot down and became a prisoner of war, and now Robbie knows it is his duty to serve as a pilot as well. Unfortunately, his mother and his country do not agree with him that 17-year-old school-boys should serve. Determined, Robbie devises a plan to enlist early.
The Hunchback Assignments
by Arthur Slade
Shot at Dawn
by John Wilson
Sentenced to death for abandoning his unit, a soldier recounts the events leading up to his arrest.
The reality of trench warfare is a shock to Allan McBride. Like many other young soldiers, he enthusiastically signed up for the chance to join the war effort and be a part of the fighting. But after months in the ravaged battlefields, watching men, including his friend Ken, get blown up by German shelling, something in Allan snaps and he leaves his unit, believing he is "walking home to Canada" to get help for his friend.
After nearly a week of wandering aimlessly, Allan is taken in by a band of real deserters — men who have abandoned their units and live on the edge of survival in the woods of northern France. Once Allan realizes what he's done, he is paralyzed by the reality of his circumstance: if he stays with these men, it's possible they will be found and have to face the consequences; and if he returns to his unit, he will be charged with desertion — a charge punishable by death.
Undergrounders
by David Skuy
Can playing hockey help a street kid get his life back? After his mom dies, and the landlord kicks him out, 12-year-old Jonathan faces the loneliness and danger of life on the streets -- until he meets Lewis. Lewis takes him under his wing and leads him to his new home among a group of kids living in an abandoned underground shopping mall who call themselves the "Undergrounders." Now renamed "Mouse," Jonathan runs errands, delivers packages and panhandles for food money. An escape from this life underground comes to him in the form of hockey gear. Stolen hockey gear, but hockey gear nonetheless. He suits up and heads to the community rink, where he befriends regular kids who welcome him into their game and onto their team. He agrees, knowing he can never tell them about being homeless. Playing hockey makes him feel like a kid again, but keeping his double life a secret proves to be more difficult and dangerous than he ever could have imagined.
Ghost Messages
by Jaacqueline Guest
Thirteen year-old Ailish, a feisty Irish fortune-teller, is about to become part of history. She becomes trapped on the mighty Great Eastern just as the ship sets off on its voyage to lay the very first trans-Atlantic telegraph cable. Escape is impossible! Ailish must pretend to be a boy to keep from being pitched into the ocean by the superstitious sailors, while dodging a dangerous ruffian who has stolen her golden treasure. She frequently gets help from a pale young boy named Davy, who seems to know everything about the Great Eastern, but won't ever come up on deck. Will Ailish's wits, her determination, and her friendships help her to survive the trip, find her treasure and solve the mystery of her young companion?
Ghosts of the Titanic
by Julie Lawson
Kevin and his family are enroute to Halifax to check out a house they have mysteriously inherited from a man named Angus Seaton — mysterious because none of them have any clue who he was or why they would be named in his will. While at the house, Kevin does his own investigating and discovers some old artifacts hidden behind a wall, including enigmatic photographs dating back to 1911, which show a young woman and her baby. This puzzling discovery leads to troubling dreams for Kevin — haunting dreams and a voice that plagues him, a voice he cannot escape. Someone — somehwere — needs his help. One night he tries to answer the call, and finds himself in another reality, another time, in a flooded corridor... aboard the ship Titanic.
The Gathering
by Kelley Armstrong
Maya lives in a small medical-research town on Vancouver Island. How small? You can’t find it on the map. It has less than two-hundred people, and her school has only sixty-eight students–for every grade from kindergarten to twelve. Now, strange things are happening in this claustrophobic town, and Maya’s determined to get to the bottom of them. First, the captain of the swim team drowns mysteriously in the middle of a calm lake. A year later, mountain lions start appearing around Maya’s home, and they won’t go away. Her best friend, Daniel, starts experiencing “bad vibes” about certain people and things. It does’t help that the new bad boy in town, Rafe, has a dangerous secret…and he’s interested in one special part of Maya’s anatomy: Her paw-print birthmark.
Once Every Never
by Lesley Livingston
Clarinet Reid is a pretty typical teenager. On the surface. She's smart, but a bit of a slacker; outgoing, but just a little insecure; not exactly a mischief-maker but trouble tends to find her wherever she goes. Also? She unwittingly carries a centuries-old Druid Blood Curse running through her veins.
Now, with a single thoughtless act, what started off as the Summer Vacation in Dullsville suddenly spirals into a deadly race to find a stolen artifact, avert an explosive catastrophe, save a Celtic warrior princess, right a dreadful wrong that happened centuries before Clare was even born, and if theres still time literally maybe even get a date.
This is the kind of adventure that happens to a girl once every never.
Now, with a single thoughtless act, what started off as the Summer Vacation in Dullsville suddenly spirals into a deadly race to find a stolen artifact, avert an explosive catastrophe, save a Celtic warrior princess, right a dreadful wrong that happened centuries before Clare was even born, and if theres still time literally maybe even get a date.
This is the kind of adventure that happens to a girl once every never.
The Secret Under My Skin
by Janet McNaughton
In the year 2368, humankind must struggle to survive under dire environmental conditions and strict government control. In this startling world, one brave young woman begins to unravel a web of lies about life on Earth that will empower her to discover, at last, who she really is. McNaughton vividly imagines an all-too-believable future and celebrates the impact that one person can make on the world.
Dreamline: a novel
by Nicole Luiken
Lissa is a dream come true. Literally. She has the power to cross the dreamline into the world of dreams even while awake.Years ago Lissa decided she could either have friends or secrets, but not both. Now there's a new boy in town who sees past Lissa's social outcast label, but is he someone Lissa can trust, or a spy for the evil wulfdraigles?
Crescent Star
by Nicholas Maes
Avi Greenbaum is Jewish and lives in West Jerusalem. Moussa Shakir is Palestinian and lives in East Jerusalem. Both are 15 years old, live without their fathers, adore their older brothers, and belong to the same soccer club. Avi commemorates the Holocaust and celebrates Israeli independence, while Moussa mourns on Nakba Day, marking the expulsion of Palestinians from their homes and land in 1948. Their lives are parallel lines: they have everything in common and nothing at all. Each is oblivious to the other's existence. As Avi and Moussa go about their daily routines in the spring of 2006, they face reminders of the conflict that has dogged the region for the past three generations ? the security wall, suicide bombings, police operations, and the looming shadow of war. While navigating this legacy of suspicion and violence, they must decide what their own roles in the stalemate will be.
This Dark Endeavour: the apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein
by Kenneth Oppel
Victor Frankenstein leads a charmed life. He and his twin brother Konrad and their beautiful cousin Elizabeth take lessons at home and spend their spare time fencing and horseback riding. Along with their friend, Henry, they have explored all the hidden passageways and secret rooms of the palatial Frankenstein chateau. Except one.
The Dark Library contains ancient tomes written in strange languages, and filled with forbidden knowledge. Their father makes them promise never to visit the library again, but when Konrad becomes deathly ill, Victor knows he must find the book that contains the recipe for the legendary Elixir of Life.
The elixir needs only three ingredients. But impossible odds, dangerous alchemy, and a bitter love triangle threaten their quest at every turn.
Victor knows he must not fail. But his success depends on how far he is willing to push the boundaries of nature, science, and love – and how much he is willing to sacrifice.
