When the world is threatened by a diabolical madman, the British Secret Service knows the name to call—Alex. Alex Rider. (What, you were expecting someone else?) The teenage super spy from Stormbringer and Snakehead is back to save the day in Crocodile Tears, the eighth installment in the popular action series from Anthony Horowitz. If you’re not familiar with the series, just think “James Bond in sneakers.” (At one point Horowitz even dresses the hero in a tuxedo and black tennis shoes.) Alex Rider is a perfectly normal British teenager, except that he’s been unknowingly trained as a spy by his uncle, an agent of MI6 (the British equivalent of the CIA). When his uncle is murdered in the first novel, Alex is recruited by the agency for both his talents and his age—because who would suspect a 14-year-old of being a spy?

By the time of Crocodile Tears, however, Alex is weary of the spy business. He just wants to be a regular schoolboy and spend time with his girlfriend, Sabina. He’s told MI6 and Sabina that he’s out for good. But when someone tries to kill Alex, Sabina and her father, Alex is swept back into action. In short order, Alex is infiltrating the laboratory of a bio-geneticist with a fascination for poisons and running afoul of a disaster-relief charity, and a penchant for showing up just a little too quickly after devastating industrial “accidents.”

As in the other books, the action is nonstop, the villains suitably villainous and the gadgets are just the sort of things any reader would love to get his or her hands on (what schoolboy wouldn’t want an exploding pen?). Horowitz’s background as a screenwriter is evident—it’s easy to imagine the tale as a blockbuster movie with exotic locales, explosions and death-defying stunts. And as always, Alex is both fully believable and easy to root for. Whether you’re already a fan of the series, or just jumping into the action, Crocodile Tears is another great ride.

Howard Shirley is a children’s writer living in Franklin, Tennessee. Visit his website at www.howardshirleywriter.com.

In Rebecca Barnhouse’s The Book of the Maidservant, Dame Margery Kempe is the most pious woman in Lynn, a natural candidate for undertaking a pilgrimage to Rome. The only problem is that her teenage serving girl Johanna must accompany her—and Johanna knows she won’t be a pilgrim, just a maidservant. She has never been far from the home she loves, and she has misgivings about traveling with Dame Margery, who is prone to lamentations and caterwauling, and insists that there be no laughing or joking. When Dame Margery abandons Johanna in Venice, she must summon the strength to continue on to Rome and find a new place in the world.

It is Johanna’s voice—at times longing for home, at times angry, fearful or sad—that will draw readers in and make them care about this memorable character. Johanna really did exist, though not by that name, in The Book of Margery Kempe, the first autobiography written in English. Barnhouse has taken the essence of Kempe’s story of the 1413 pilgrimage and brought it to life with sensory details about the journey across the Alps and the sights and smells of the markets of Venice. This moving volume may well lead interested readers to other excellent tales of medieval life, including two Newbery Medal-winning tales—Karen Cushman’s The Midwife’s Apprentice (1995) and Amy Laura Schlitz’s Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village (2007).
 

Jock lives a seemingly idyllic life; it’s the summer between eighth and ninth grade and he spends his days working an admittedly easy job on his grandfather’s golf course. He does a little greens keeping, helps his Grampus work on adding holes (the course only has 13), and mans the front counter when his older sister Meredith ditches work to be with her boyfriend.

All is not peaceful in paradise, however. There’s his younger brother Egon, for one thing. He’s bigger than Jock, and as anti-social a personality as you’ll find. Egon would be an even bigger headache if it weren’t for the fact that he’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Then there are the Noblett brothers, who have a major grudge against Egon, and by extension, Jock; dodging them takes some of the fun of summer away. And finally, there are Jock’s parents, Leonard and Peach—while Grampus is a little eccentric for an ex-Marine, Jock’s ex-hippy dad and mom are downright weird. Chris Lynch’s hilarious new novel, The Big Game of Everything, stirs all these ingredients into a perfect storm of trouble for Jock.

Trouble arrives one day in the form of two of Grampus’ ex-Marine buddies. They come to play a round of golf, but they leave with Egon, or at least they capture his greedy heart. Egon is assigned to caddy the two men, and by the time he returns, he has reached new levels of obsequiousness with the big tippers, including sporting a huge gold ring one has given to him. Then, when his Grammus arrives with a new boyfriend, things get even crazier, and Jock wonders if his family will ever be the same again—and if that’s necessarily a bad thing.

Lynch is an award-winning author who has written some serious novels, but this one takes a serious concept and stands it on its ear. The Big Game of Everything is a book full of laugh-out-loud humor, with a cast of crazy but believable characters. At its center, young readers will find an entertaining life lesson about discovering what really matters.

James Neal Webb once hit himself with his own golf ball.

Liam Lynch’s father, a famous fiction writer, has often said that “the real world is the very very strangest of places.” Liam was out wandering with his friend Max when they found an abandoned baby girl with a scribbled note attached to her blanket: “PLESE LOOK AFTER HER RITE. THIS IS A CHILDE OF GOD.” Next to her was a jam jar filled with notes and coins. Mr. Lynch has always told Liam to “Live an adventure. Live like you’re in a story.” And now Liam does—in a story of wandering children, a strange baby, a message and a treasure. The story broadens to include a war refugee from Liberia, the local bully and a teenage girl who survived a fire in which her family perished.

Raven Summer is David Almond’s darkest novel yet, evolving from characters and themes in his previous works, with unsettling undertones of Lord of the Flies and Heart of Darkness. There is a narrative arc in Almond’s body of work, pointing the way to this beautiful and poetic look at the dark side of human nature. Almond’s Skellig was all about mystery and the feeling that “the world’s full of amazing things.” In Kit’s Wilderness, the theme of darkness and light is developed, reflected in Grandpa’s statement, “This is our world. Aye, there’s more than enough of darkness in it. But over everything there’s all this joy, too, Kit. There’s all this lovely, lovely light.”

Raven Summer shares with The Fire-Eaters a cast of characters trying to live in a world in the face of war. In Clay, a monster is created to get back at the local bully; in Raven Summer, we are the monsters, each of us capable of the “darkness at the heart of the world.” This is a Brothers Grimm mindscape of fairy babies and fairy gold; witches and monsters, foundlings and angels; ancient border raids and modern war; snake pits and caves, ravens and wanderers.

Still, what remains after this dark tale is an angel baby, an ordinary family and their familiar garden—a well-lighted home in a dangerous world. Almond is one of the finest writers in the world of children’s literature, a writer of uncommon vision and elegant prose, fully capable of plumbing the heart of darkness and the “lovely, lovely light” as well.

Dean Schneider teaches middle school English in Nashville.

When the first World Trade Center tower is hit on 9/11, high school senior Claire worries about her mother at work and her brother across the street in elementary school; classmate Peter, skipping study hall to buy the new Bob Dylan album at Tower Records and dreaming of his first date with Jasper, wonders how listening to music will ever be the same; and Korean American Jasper, at home until his college classes begin, sleeps through it all and wakes to emptiness. In the eloquent Love Is the Higher Law, these young adults’ lives intertwine in a way that wouldn’t have been possible before the tragic event.

The focus of this episodic story is not on what happened on September 11, 2001, but during the hours, days and weeks afterward. Temporarily forced away from home, breathing in the dust of the remains and peering at the immense hole left behind, the three teens wonder how they will ever sleep, date and feel again. From even simple acts, such as a shoe store handing out free sneakers to fleeing workers, they discover that surviving is finding the gratitude in one another.

Author David Levithan’s repertoire includes Boy Meets Boy and other masterful love stories. While romance may be a possibility for Peter and Jasper, the real love in this novel is for New York City and humanity. Taking its name from a U2 lyric, the slim but powerful story also features pop culture song lyrics that continue to strike a chord with today’s hearts. Teen readers, just children on 9/11, may remember the facts from watching them on television, but Love Is the Higher Law relates the emotions of that day, defined by Before and After, and how we all began living in the After that rocked the world.

Angela Leeper is a librarian at the University of Richmond.

In a departure from her Victorian-era trilogy for teens, Libba Bray dishes out a multi-layered dark comedy in her latest book, Going Bovine. Sixteen-year-old Cameron Smith, a self-absorbed slacker from Texas, is dying from Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, the human variant of Mad Cow.

Doctors don’t give Cameron much time, but Dulcie, a punk angel with pink hair, explains that the prions attacking his brain are from dark energy released by Dr. X. While parallel world-hopping, this mad scientist opened a wormhole, allowing dark energy to penetrate Earth. If Cameron can track down Dr. X, he’ll not only find a cure for his Mad Cow, but also save the planet in the process.

Cameron sets out on a farcical road trip to Daytona Beach, where Dr. X may be hiding. With help from his hospital roommate (an anxious, hypochondriac Little Person named Paul Henry “Gonzo” Gonzales), guidance from Dulcie and messages from tabloids, the pair tackles a series of hilarious, Don Quixote-like battles.

During the journey, Cameron begins to appreciate his parents, reconnect with his near-perfect sister and most importantly, learn about himself and how to trust, love—and live. While enjoying the hijinks, readers will have to decide whether Cameron’s escapades are really happening or merely the result of his deteriorating spongy brain, an element that adds to the madcap fun.

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Read an interview with Libba Bray for Going Bovine.

Prolific fantasy writer Sharon Shinn spins another imaginative tale with gentle romance in Gateway. Taking time out from a busy summer internship, Chinese adoptee Daiyu stops at a jewelry vendor near the St. Louis Arch and is captivated by the beautiful and unusual stones that reflect her birth heritage. After wearing them for only a few moments, she is transported to Shenglang, an alternate St. Louis that resembles 19th-century China and in which Chinese culture is dominant while whites and blacks serve as ostracized laborers.

The confused teen is taken in by a biracial couple, who explain to Daiyu that she is one of the few individuals who can travel between dimensions with the aid of magical amulets. They ask for her help in bringing justice to Chenglei, their corrupt prime minister. With the help of Kalen, an orphaned, white teenage boy, and a wealthy socialite, Daiyu quickly learns espionage tricks and the finer skills of high society for her auspicious meeting with Chenglei.

Once her mission is completed, the teen is free to return home, but she will forget all that she experienced in Shenglang, including her developing and secret relationship with Kalen. Caught between two worlds, Daiyu is afraid of losing memories from both. But can love survive beyond time and space? The possibility will enthrall teen readers, as will the author’s detailed descriptions of this parallel world; her interesting explanations of travel across time and dimensions; and thought-provoking discussions of race and culture. Shinn concludes with room for a sequel and the chance to explore love and time once more.

Fifteen-year-old Samara is fed up with a summer when everything is broken—the air-conditioner, the ceiling fan, the icemaker, even her family. While her mother is serving a “suggested” court-ordered rehab for DUI, her father, charismatic Pastor Charlie, has time and answers for everyone in their small town, except his wife and daughter. “Everyone thinks they know us, me. Everyone is wrong,” Sam explains. Left out of “non-Christian” activities on the weekends because she’s the pastor’s daughter, she sinks into depression and a crisis in faith in Sara Zarr’s Once Was Lost.

In the midst of Sam’s burgeoning doubt, 13-year-old Jody from her youth group disappears without a trace. As each day passes and the mystery continues, smothering hope and fueling rumors, no one is above suspicion. Red herrings run aplenty, duping readers to the very end. Time begins to stand still, as community members reach out to one another and Sam develops a relationship with Jody’s big brother. And as she realizes the reasons behind her father’s neglect, Sam begins to view him as a multifaceted, misunderstood figure, just like herself.

Once Was Lost is part realistic fiction, part mystery, part religious story and all together one gentle, smart read that features believable characters, flaws and all. Small-town life, for better or worse, is frankly depicted, too. For likeable, resilient Sam, who expresses her feelings to readers before she does to the rest of the world, her summertime struggle to reclaim her faith is more about reclaiming her identity.

Callie is part of the most popular clique at Endeavor High. When a teacher asks her to help new student Amanda Valentino get caught up in math class, Callie is initially irritated, but she soon finds herself becoming good friends with Amanda. Something about this new girl draws Callie in, particularly the fact that Amanda chooses Callie to be her “guide” at Endeavor. Amanda explains that she moves quite a bit, so she always chooses one—and only one—person to help her get to know a new school.

When Amanda mysteriously disappears, Callie is less than thrilled to learn that Amanda also chose super-weirdo Nia and geek-turned-artsy-cool Hal to be her “one and only” guides. As the mystery grows more and more intense, Callie finds herself drawn to her new, “uncool” classmates. They begin to discover that very little of what they believed they knew about Amanda is actually true, and they start to wonder if they ever really knew her at all. United in their desire to find Amanda, the girls decide to stick together and embark on what they eventually term “The Amanda Project.”

The Amanda Project: Book 1: Invisible I is the first installment in a series of eight books that will eventually (hopefully) solve the Amanda mystery. And for readers of this first volume, the next installment cannot come soon enough. Savvy teen readers looking for a more in-depth experience than the typical teen novel will devour Invisible I and head straight to the book’s website for more mystery and drama.

“Hell isn’t some fiery/ pit ‘down there.’ It’s right here on Earth, / in every dirty city, every yawning town. / Every glittery resort and every naked stretch / of desert where someone’s life somersaults / out of control.” So says 16-year-old Eden Streit, near the end of Tricks, a free-verse narrative that takes readers and five narrators on a journey straight to hell.

It’s Eden’s narrative that opens the story. Her father is a hellfire-and-brimstone minister, and when he discovers Eden’s relationship with a boy outside their congregation, Eden is sent away for “rehabilitation,” with disastrous results. Four other teenaged characters—Seth Parnell, Whitney Lang, Ginger Cordell and Cody Bennett—face crises that catapult them into journeys Cody describes as a “snowball roll toward hell.”

The five separate first-person narratives of these teens eventually come together among the walking dead of the sex trade in Las Vegas. An intense, utterly compulsive tale that readers may well read in one day-long binge, this is a disturbing look at teen prostitution, a big problem in the U.S., where, as Hopkins says in an author’s note, the average age of a female prostitute is 12 years old. In alternating sections, narrators tell their stories, each section opening with a poem that could stand alone in its poetic and reflective power.

Hopkins is a fine practitioner of the free-verse novel; her voices are distinct and put readers directly into the minds and hearts of her characters. These are five teens that readers will come to know and care about, and at the end of the novel, there is, indeed, some amount of hope as they continue down their difficult paths.

Many writers of fiction for adults have tried to bridge the gap to writing for young people, with mixed success. Adriana Trigiani, the popular author of the Big Stone Gap series, among other novels, breezily navigates the transition to young adult fiction with her first book for teens, Viola in Reel Life.

The last place 14-year-old Viola Chesterton wants to be spending her freshman year of high school is at all-girls Prefect Academy. But when her parents, documentary filmmakers, head to Afghanistan on assignment, they decide that boarding school in South Bend, Indiana, is a much safer option than home-schooling in Kabul. Viola’s sure she’ll hate everything about boarding school. She’s an only child, unused to sharing anything—let alone a single dorm room with three other girls. She’s a lifelong New Yorker, not sure how her unique fashion sense will go over with her Midwestern classmates.

Fortunately, Viola is also creative—something that goes a long way toward both saving her sanity and improving her social standing. She’s inherited a dramatic flair from her actress grandmother and the filmmaking bug from her parents. Over the course of her year at Prefect, Viola’s creative talents come into their own, as she creates multimedia sets for the Founder’s Day pageant and eventually writes and directs her own short film. As if that weren’t enough, over the course of this single pivotal year, Viola gains three new friends, falls in love, and falls right back out again.

Narrated by Viola herself, Viola in Reel Life is loaded with Viola’s wryly funny observations about boarding school life, as well as with plenty of pop culture references and IM-speak. Although Viola’s three roommates may seem a little underdeveloped in this novel, they’ll get their own chance to shine in three subsequent books in this projected series.

With its light, optimistic tone and easygoing storytelling, Adriana Trigiani’s boarding school novel might just be the perfect way for young readers to ease back into their own school days.

Norah Piehl is a writer and editor who lives near Boston.

If this were the classic road novel, 17-year-old Remy Walker would leave his little West Virginia town of Dwyer and go off with his $1,000 life savings, his beat-up old car, and his girlfriend Lisa as she heads to college in Pennsylvania. After all, what does this old mining town offer? It’s old, worn out and “past the purpose it was built for.” The coal is gone, the old miners’ houses are falling apart, hotels and offices are boarded up, and kudzu is taking over everything. It’s a “town full of people who didn’t know they were living in a time warp, people who’d been left behind or were too stupid to get up and go.” Even Remy’s mother couldn’t take this life and walked out, leaving Remy and his father to live on in the little trailer on Walker Mountain.

Remy loves Lisa, and what 17-year-old boy could resist a pretty girl, the lure of the open road and a new life in a better place? But when another pretty young artist comes to town and sees Dwyer with an outsider’s eyes, she makes Remy see things anew and wonder about his decision to leave and his single-minded love for Lisa. When Mr. Walker tells his son he’s thinking of selling the land to a mining company to help Remy have a better future, Remy’s decision becomes tortured and tangled. After all, Walker Mountain has been in Remy’s family for 160 years, before there ever was a town. “It was woven through every memory he had.”

Wyatt’s prose is simple and poetic, a perfect match for a quiet, reflective story about the tug of home and the lure of the road. The dialogue is pitch-perfect, the third-person voice perfect for dissecting the complexities of relationships and life-changing decisions. It’s a beautiful gem of a book, with resolutions, but not easy ones—and enough to make readers look anew and appreciate the wonders of their own places in the world.

Dean Schneider teaches middle school English in Nashville.
 

"I don’t mean to be weird P but in your letter you said how you wanted the truth about stuff even if it’s ugly and trust me it’s going to get a little ugly,” writes Jamie, aka Punkzilla, in this gritty novel told in letters. AWOL from the military school his conservative parents forced him to attend, 14-year-old Jamie has been scraping by in Portland, Oregon, rooming in a boarding house, stealing iPods for Fat Larkin, experimenting with meth and suffering from ennui.

When he receives word that one of his older brothers, Peter, a gay playwright living in Memphis and a fellow black sheep of the family, has cancer, the teen starts a long, strange journey to see his brother before he dies. In stream-of-consciousness prose, filled with idiomatic expressions, visceral details and dark humor, Jamie describes traveling by Greyhound bus and hitched rides and staying in seedy motels. Each interstate stop features a new cast of evocative, unpredictable characters from a boy genius obsessed with robots to an old lady with a leaky eye to a caring transsexual named Lewis. Filling in the gaps of Jamie’s story are letters from his depressed mother, his father, “the Major,” and other family and friends.

In this modern-day version of Kerouac’s On the Road, the teen discovers the vastness of the United States and tells his brother, “P life is really weird really really weird but I’m sure you already know that.” With a raw and unique style, author Adam Rapp draws attention to the marginalized youth of this country in a manner that’s never been accomplished before. Just as pressing as Jamie’s time crunch to reach his brother is his need to connect to other people—a need, Jamie shows us, we all have.

Angela Leeper is a director at the University of Richmond.