Evie Spooner is a 15-year-old New Yorker growing up in post-World War II Queens; she loves the Dodgers, candy cigarettes, her parents and Frank Sinatra, though not necessarily in that order. She's learning from her friends how women are supposed to act, but she doesn't think she'll ever be as pretty and sophisticated as her mother. Evie's looks apparently came from her long-departed father, a man eclipsed by her adored stepfather, Joe. Her late summer reverie is broken by his announcement that the three of them will be vacationing in Palm Beach, Florida, but this is a trip that will cover more than miles: it will be a journey from childhood to adulthood, where her loyalty will be tested and she will learn both the joy of love and the shattering pain of betrayal.

What I Saw and How I Lied, which won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature in November, is the marvelous new book for teens by Judy Blundell, a veteran writer of more than 100 books, who is publishing under her own name for the first time.

Blundell has good reason to want her name on this work; it's a compelling coming-of-age story of blackmail and tragedy with a strong moral center. Evie Spooner is that center, and as the awkward teen tries to fit into the social scene at a rundown hotel her father is negotiating to buy, she finds herself falling in love with handsome young Peter Coleridge, whose Long Island father has "business interests" in Palm Beach. More importantly, he served with Evie's father in post-war Austria, and she quickly realizes that there's more to their past connections than he's saying. As summer wanes, her feelings for Peter increase, her stepfather's negotiations become strained, and there's talk of bad weather ahead. More than one kind of storm is brewing for Evie.

This beautifully written story is full of period detail, from a post-war New York City right out of Life magazine to a sleepy and sticky Florida courthouse, and its well-drawn and original characters spring to life on the page. Like much of the best literature being written for teens, this gripping novel would also make a top-notch read for adults.

James Neal Webb works in a university library.

They’re not charming or sexy. The undead members that make up The Reformed Vampire Support Group, by Australian author Catherine Jinks, are bored, apathetic, unattractive whiners prone to headaches, eye bleeds and nausea. Rather than spread their “infection” among more of the living, they curb their addiction and sustain themselves with specially bred guinea pigs (easy to clean up and dispose of) and supplements.

Narrator and Sydney native Nina used to be a party girl until she was fanged 51 years ago at the age of 15. Now she spends her time holed up in her faded bedroom, writing romanticized novels of vampire super-heroine Zadia Bloodstone. Former musician Dave, physician Sanford, arthritic Gladys, Internet scammer Horace and the rest of the motley group pick up odd jobs when they can (a vampire still has to pay the rent). Even their Tuesday night, AA-like support group has become mundane until fellow member Casimir (directly and indirectly responsible for most of the group’s fangings) turns up staked in his coffin.

Now the ragtag bunch must really support each other, as they solve the mystery of Casimir’s killer and protect themselves from a potential vampire slayer. They receive more help from Nina’s elderly chain-smoking mother, idealistic Father Ramon and unlikely strays they meet along the way. Because vampires are dead to the world during the day (literally and figuratively), these humans are needed to take care of daytime necessities and fill in the gaps of Nina’s narrative.

Through the adventurous twists and turns of saving herself from vampire haters, Nina discovers justice, friendship and maybe even romance. She begins to emerge from the depression, lethargy and victimization of vampirism (also symptoms of adolescence) to find life (er, death) worth living. With this budding heroine in her own right at the forefront, this ensemble of eccentric characters gives a wry spin to the ever-popular vampire tale.

As a child, Angela Leeper slept with a blanket around her neck to ward off vampires.

In the 15 years since Virginia Euwer Wolff’s Make Lemonade was published, novels in verse have become a familiar genre, but Wolff was a pioneer and remains a master of the form. Interviewed by Roger Sutton for the Horn Book magazine in 2001, she said she wasn’t even sure that her writing was poetry, calling it “prose in funny-shaped lines.” But her free verse poetry was a perfect vehicle for her story of 14-year-old LaVaughn, who takes a babysitting job for down-on-her-luck Jolly, an unwed mother of two young children, and their relationship becomes a journey of discovering how to turn life’s lemons into lemonade.

Wolff won the National Book Award and a Printz Honor for True Believer, the sequel to Make Lemonade. Now, in the final novel in the Make Lemonade trilogy, three years have passed since the tale began, and LaVaughn is zeroing in on her life’s ambition to be the first in her family to attend college. She has been accepted into a special program called WIMS—Women in Medical Science. Science is her passion, as is doing good works for people, and she continues to babysit Jolly’s children, Jilly and Jeremy. But she makes a startling revelation and the scientific mystery she unravels will pull readers into the narrative as LaVaughn stakes her whole future on an act of conscience that could reunite Jolly with the mother she has never known.

Free verse poetry serves LaVaughn’s first-person narrative as a direct line to her heart and mind, carrying the energy and emotional truth of LaVaughn’s voice in natural speech rhythms. The three volumes of the Make Lemonade trilogy exemplify what the free verse novel can be, a perfect matching of form and narrative to tell a powerful story.

This Full House is a memorable tale of family, friendship, conscience and tenacity. Though this third novel in Wolff’s series can stand on its own, teen readers new to the story will want to go back to the beginning and live three years with LaVaughn and Jolly.

The Devil’s Paintbox begins in April 1865. At the close of the Civil War, 16-year-old Aiden Lynch and his younger sister, Maddy, are near starvation, the sole survivors on their family’s Kansas farm. So when a man named Jefferson Jackson shows up looking to recruit workers for a Seattle lumber camp, Aiden knows his only chance is to convince the man that taking them along is worth the risk.

In this compelling coming-of-age adventure for teens, Victoria McKernan, author of the acclaimed Shackleton’s Stowaway for middle-grade readers, doesn’t shy away from some of the grittier aspects of life in the old West. Aiden’s journey is marked by hardship, tragedy and conflict. Through Aiden’s experiences, readers glimpse a changing world, where settlers, soldiers, timber workers, Civil War veterans, women and Native Americans struggle for existence.

Aiden is a likeable, engaging hero, and the secondary characters stand out as real individuals of the time. For instance, the wagon train’s doctor is a man trying to recover from his war experiences. A young woman Aiden meets explains why she is forced to make her living as a prostitute. McKernan also captures the dramatic, often random events that transformed people’s lives: a difficult crossing, an encounter with a rattlesnake, an outbreak of disease.

Smallpox and its tragic effects on Native Americans are major themes of the novel. The book gets its title from the words of a doctor describing this dreaded disease: “This death is a devil child playing with a paintbox, just spattering all over. You reach out to grab its hand and make it stop, but you find this devil child is made of smoke.”

Through his unlikely friendship with Tupic, a Nez Perce boy, Aiden is thrown headfirst into the controversies surrounding the vaccination of Indians against smallpox. The author’s extensive research makes Aiden’s world accessible to readers, whether it’s daily life on a wagon train, or learning to survive in the harsh world of Pacific Northwest timber camps.

The Devil’s Paintbox is a wonderful choice for teens—both boys and girls—who want a break from a diet of fantasy, science fiction and of course, vampires.

Seventeen-year-old Miranda has no idea that she’s being watched—and followed and loved—by a guardian angel. Zachary has known Miranda since the moment of her birth, watching and protecting her—and falling in love with her as she grows into a beautiful, if a bit awkward and insecure, young woman. But when Miranda’s life is threatened by a rogue band of vampires, Zachary falls down on the job. 
He’s been disgraced in the sight of “the Big Boss,” and he’s lost track of Miranda, who has become the gothic Princess to the reigning Dracula, head of a worldwide underground vampire network. So when Zachary is given a second chance to redeem himself, he jumps at the chance to help Miranda find her own brand of redemption. But there’s one little problem. As a human, Miranda was sometimes unhappy, sometimes ridiculed, sometimes disappointed over her parents’ divorce. Life as an eternal, where she has a horde of servants, a killer wardrobe and a tricked-out SUV, is something completely different: “I’m finally the life of the party. All I had to do was die.”

Peopled with vampires, werefolk, angels and other eternals, Cynthia Leitich Smith’s book continues to explore the mythology she developed in her first gothic novel, Tantalize. Riddled with references to popular culture and classic literature, filled with dozens of clever one-liners (“With each button, I feel more like a refugee from the prom of the damned.”), Eternal introduces serious ideas—about loyalty, love, faith and salvation—in a lighthearted guise. Fans of Tantalize and Eternal—especially those frustrated by the cliff-hanger endings of both novels—will be pleased to learn that these parallel story lines will unite in a future series installment. Smith has built on centuries of vampire lore to create a spooky, snarky, supernatural world all her own.
 

On his famous voyage on the HMS Beagle, Charles Darwin traveled around the world, from the Cocos-Keeling Islands of the Indian Ocean to Australia, Patagonia, Brazil and Chile, collecting fossil bones, fish preserved in spirits of wine, rocks, plants, carcasses of dead animals, and beetles. Home for two years, he thought long and hard about another adventure: should he marry? Would marrying rule out future voyages? Would he miss the “conversation of clever men at clubs”? Most importantly, would he have time to develop his new theory to explain evolution—or transmutation, as it was called then—that would change the way the world thought about creation?

Darwin decided to marry his first cousin, Emma Wedgwood. Where Charles was devoted to science, Emma was devoted to her Christian faith. Their love story—a true marriage of science and religion—became one of the greatest adventures of Darwin’s life, and readers will revel in the drama of the opposites captured by Deborah Heiligman in Charles and Emma. Darwin’s scientific work—his theory of evolution, in particular—was, indeed, a real test of their relationship.

Emma feared that Charles would go to hell and they would not be together for eternity. But they were a loving couple, their marriage a leap of faith that love could transcend differences. It’s a story for all time, a story of appreciating differences and getting along in spite of them.

Heiligman’s writing is so good—so rooted in particulars of time, place and Darwin’s scientific thought, yet so light and full of drama—that readers will care about Charles and Emma and their love story. The debate between science and religion continues today, but the relationship of Charles and Emma Darwin demonstrates that science and religion are not incompatible.

It wasn’t terrorist attacks but a war between humans and faeries that left the Earth destroyed 20 years ago. In the post-apocalyptic Bones of Faerie, Janni Lee Simner’s first young-adult novel, 15-year-old Liza has been taught by her xenophobic father that magic leads to death. When her baby sister is born with pale, almost translucent hair, a sure faerie sign, and left to die; her mother disappears; and she begins to see disturbing visions of the War and her mother, Liza must escape before her father discovers her own treacherous secret.

The teen flees her isolated village, despite warnings that trees in the adjoining forest start to kill at night. She is not alone long before she is joined by Matthew, another teenaged villager who has been hiding his shape-shifting abilities. Soon, the two are indeed attacked by sinister trees. Rescued by a wandering faerie and taken to a fey village, Liza must reconcile her trust of the faeries and her own growing magic with her teachings about the War.

Riddled by more visions and a puzzling connection between her mother and her faerie caretakers, Liza must find her runaway mother. Matthew joins her again, as does Allie, a faerie healer. The three young people head for St. Louis, now known as Faerie, where the famous Gateway Arch has become a portal to a world of magic. They use their special gifts of sight, touch and smell to help one another and ward off evil.

Amid the recent deluge of post-apocalyptic novels, Simner offers a unique spin, with her poetic, atmospheric prose brilliantly capturing the tug between human and faerie and the blending of the two. Because Liza narrates the story, readers, pulled into the teen’s search for her mother and questions about the War, slowly learn the answers along with her. They not only relish her gains in magic, but in her self-confidence, trust and love. Readers can only hope that lingering questions in the book will be answered with a sequel and more glimpses into Liza’s faerie powers.

Angela Leeper recently visited the Arch and saw no signs of faerie infiltration.

It’s been 10 years since Laurie Halse Anderson burst onto the literary scene with her powerful debut novel, Speak. Now Anderson is back with her fifth novel, one whose raw emotion, troubling subject matter and indelible images will further cement her reputation as one of the best young adult authors writing today.

Although Anderson’s theme is eating disorders, Wintergirls is a far cry from the kind of popular “problem novels” about anorexia and bulimia that seem to flood bookstore shelves. Instead, Anderson simultaneously explores both the brutally isolating self-loathing experienced by those suffering from these diseases and the twisted “support” that girls with eating disorders offer each other, encouragement that often spirals into mutual self-destruction.

At the center of Wintergirls is Lia, a high school senior who has already been hospitalized twice for anorexia. Now living with her father, stepmother and stepsister to avoid conflict with her overbearing mother, Lia has managed to keep her whole family in a state of denial.

Inside, though, Lia is in crisis. Her longtime best friend, Cassie, died the night she called Lia 33 times, each voice mail more desperate than the last. Lia ignored every one and is now wracked with guilt. The two girls had a difficult relationship, both of them locked in a dangerous pact to be the skinniest girl in school.

Tear-jerker novels and books of pop psychology might lead many to believe that there are simple, straightforward reasons why girls develop eating disorders. In her typically thoughtful style, Laurie Halse Anderson reveals that, in many cases, the motivations are far more complex, nuanced and dangerous. With naked emotion, brutal honesty and a narrative that’s simultaneously captivating and claustrophobic, Wintergirls gives readers a haunting window into the disordered thinking behind eating disorders.

Like most 12 year olds, Mibs (short for Mississippi) Beaumont is looking forward to her 13th birthday. But in the Beaumont family, this means a lot more than just becoming a teenager at last. On her special day, Mibs will discover her very own "savvy," her special, paranormal power.

Before that fateful day, Mibs can only speculate what her savvy will be. It might be a bit overwhelming, like her brother Fish’s tendency to cause terrible weather. It might be electric through and through, just like her brother Rocket’s power. Or it might be gentle, like her mother’s gift of making everything turn out, well, perfect.

But just before Mibs’ big day, her beloved poppa is in a traffic accident. Her mother and Rocket drive off to be with him (Rocket is needed to power the old station wagon!), leaving the rest of the family with Grandpa Bomba (whose savvy is, well, making new places. Where do you think the entire state of Idaho came from, anyway?).

When Mibs suspects her savvy might help Poppa wake up, she has to find a way to get the 90 miles to Salina, Kansas, even if it means commandeering the pink bus of the Heartland Bible Supply company. And if Mibs thinks she can undertake this journey alone, well, fate would have it otherwise.

Mibs is destined to share the ride not just with the Bible delivery-man, Lester, but with the preacher’s kids, the snooty Bobbi and the sweet Will Junior. And then of course there’s a small stowaway, her moody little brother, Samson. And that’s just the beginning!

During this event-filled journey, Mibs discovers that her savvy—along with her first impressions about people—might be different than she expected. She also comes to realize that although the Beaumonts have often been outcasts, it’s possible to find community in unexpected places.

Ingrid Law’s debut novel Savvy is already a hit with tween readers and is being mentioned as a Newbery contender. If you thought the road trip in the film Little Miss Sunshine was wild, hold onto your hat! Or better yet, open up Savvy and settle in for a delightful read.

Inspired by the real-life stories of Nat "Deadwood Dick" Love, a famous black cowboy and former slave who penned his own adventures in 1907, Helen Hemphill's latest novel features a young teen with a zeal for the Wild West. Prometheus Jones, like his mythical namesake, possesses a wily intelligence that often tests the powers above. Known for his sharp-shooting, horse-riding skills and his streak of good luck, he wins Good Eye, a half-blind black stallion, in a raffle. When the Dill brothers accuse him of stealing their raffle ticket, however, Prometheus and his 11-year-old cousin, Omer (short for Homer), hightail it west.

Ever since Prometheus learned that his father was sold to a man in Texas, he's been determined to go there. The boys find a way, albeit a roundabout one, to Texas, as they take part in a cattle drive that will deliver 3,000 steers to Deadwood, Dakota Territory, just in time for the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. While the trek allows for moments of humorous and heartwarming camaraderie among his Hispanic, Irish and fellow African-American companions, Prometheus also experiences buffalo stampedes, the deaths of friends and other cowboy hardships. And while Pawnee and Sioux Indian raids are a constant threat, the boy empathizes with their outsider status in their own land. Once a victim of prejudice, Prometheus finds that hard work rather than color sets him apart during the cattle drive. With a little luck left, the boy makes a name for himself (literally and figuratively) during a shooting competition. Even the Dill brothers' return —or the truth about his father—can't deter him from his goal.

Hemphill lassos readers with her gift for dialogue and nail – biting scenes of danger, and holds them with fascinating descriptions of cowboy life and clever historical references, such as a near – escape from braves fatigued from their victory over Custer at Little Big Horn. For a high-spirited tale of courage, talent and passion, gather 'round the campfire!

Normal. Natural. These are words that Katsa would never, could never use to describe herself. How could she be considered normal when she shudders at the thought of falling in love or having a baby? And then there’s her unique talent, the one that has brought her infamy through seven kingdoms. If that’s not unnatural, what is?

Throughout the kingdoms, there are people gifted with Graces, known as Gracelings. They can be identified by their different-colored eyes and, more importantly, by the unique, almost magical gifts that set them apart from mere mortals. Others have Graces of drawing, singing, dancing, even swimming. So why is Katsa fated to have the most fearsome Grace of all—the Grace of killing?

Katsa’s Grace was discovered when, as a young girl, she accidentally killed a relative who made unwanted physical advances. Since then, her life has been marked by the fear and aversion of others, even as she’s spent her entire youth learning to control her urges and master her terrible gift. But Katsa’s uncle, the ruler of the middle kingdom, also has learned to control Katsa, and she spends her days helping him enact his reign of terror. Katsa has found small ways to rebel, but she has seen few ways to escape her uncle’s tyranny for good. That is, until she meets Po, a prince from the island kingdom of Lienid, and a Graceling himself. Po’s unique Grace seems to make him both Katsa’s ideal dueling partner and, perhaps, the only man who could break through Katsa’s fortifications and into her heart.

Graceling is the first novel in a new series by first-time novelist Kristin Cashore, and it marks the debut of an intriguing new fantasy world and a fantasy author to watch. Cashore strikes a strong balance between adventure, drama and romance—bloody battles and sexual tension co-exist in equal measure—and Katsa’s combination of pride in her unique talents and vulnerability in her self-doubts make her a strongly sympathetic character. Readers will identify closely with this young woman, whose coming of age also involves coming to terms with a talent that is both a blessing and a curse.

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

Josh Connors lives in the 19th century; well, not literally, but he might as well. The eighth-grader is a resident of Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, a little town whose stock-in-trade is the fact that in 1859 a preacher-turned-revolutionary attempted to capture the Union Army ammunition depot housed there in order to precipitate a slave rebellion. That man was the famous (or infamous, depending on how you look at it) John Brown.

This historical link is more than an idle plot device in the haunting new novel for teens, The Night I Freed John Brown. Author John Michael Cummings cleverly draws parallels between the fanatical Brown and his loyal sons, and Josh’s dysfunctional family. Josh’s father, Bill Connors, is a beaten, bitter man, and everything in his life reflects this, from his lack of pride in himself and his home, a period house overgrown with trees, trash and weeds, to his hateful, almost evil treatment of his wife and three sons.

Josh’s involvement with the well-to-do new neighbors, the Richmonds, triggers a reaction in his father that makes his previous treatment of the family seem mild, and his subsequent interaction with his ex-con cousin Ricky and the new priest at St. Peter’s down the block makes things even worse. His decision to defy his father and appear as one of John Brown’s sons in a play sets off a chain of events that threatens to tear his family apart. A happy ending doesn’t appear very likely.

The Night I Freed John Brown succeeds on many levels; it’s a deeply affecting story of a young man’s efforts to break free from an abusive parent, a look at life inside a national historic site and something of a mystery to boot. Cummings brings out the all too often ignored point that sometimes parents don’t tell kids everything, and that ignorance can alter how we see things. Finally, it subtly, but firmly, tells us that we have to make our own happy endings, and that life will go on, whether we like it or not. That’s quite an achievement for any book, regardless of genre.

James Neal Webb’s favorite historical site is Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

It’s 1944 and everyone is doing their part for the war effort. While her mother and sister roll bandages for the Red Cross, 18-year-old Bernadette “Byrd” Thompson sneaks out of their poor, small-town Iowa home and hops a train to Sweetwater, Texas. In Skies Over Sweetwater, an absorbing coming-of-age novel by Julia Moberg, the insecure teen joins the elite Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) training program at Avenger Field.

By donning oversized men’s overalls (aka “zoot suits”), suffering through morning calisthenics, studying meteorology and Morse code, and learning to fly trainers, utility planes, bombers and other aircraft, the WASPs free up men for combat overseas. Byrd is eager to share these exhilarating experiences with Sadie, a spunky, college-educated Oklahoman; Opal, a Chinatown native who elicits many stares; and even “Miss Peach” Cornelia, the smug socialite from Atlanta. But she’s not ready to divulge what happened eight years ago: her father’s accidental death while performing an aerial dive and her own narrow escape from the broken plane.

Byrd’s passion never wavers, but still harboring guilt and fear over her father’s tragedy, she questions her ability to fly among the nation’s best, especially during the required training dives. When another disastrous event turns into a heroic, life-saving act, the young woman is finally able to prove to her commander, her selfish training partner, the men who scoff at women pilots – and most importantly, to herself – that she can succeed. And when not flying or catching the local rattlesnakes, Byrd just might capture the heart of Lt. Andrews, an instructor with a secret of his own.

From Victory Gardens to butter rations to lines drawn on the back of women’s legs to look like nylon stockings, Moberg includes many details that allow readers to understand Byrd’s time in history. The teen’s struggles and achievements form an inspiring portrayal of America’s first military-trained female pilots, bringing this often forgotten part of history to light and showing that men were not the only ones risking their lives during World War II.

Angela Leeper prefers life on the ground in Wake Forest, North Carolina.