The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

"I can't believe he even has to ask. I would go anywhere.'Yes,' I tell him. It feels like nothing else exists outside of that word, this moment. There's just us. Everything that happened this past summer, and every summer before it, has all led up to this. To now."

Belly measures life in summers. For her, life really doesn't begin until June when she, her mother, and older brother Steven head towards Cousins Beach. Or specifically to Susannah Fisher's beach house at Cousins. There they hang out with Susannah and her two sons, Conrad and Jereimah. It has always been that way for as long as Belly can remember.

Conrad is the oldest. He is dark and completely unattainable. Jeremiah is Belly's friend. Though thick and thin, they have been by each others side. He is the fun one who is not embarrassed to hug his mother. Conrad is quiet, moody and prefers to be alone. Belly wants to make Conrad hers. This summer, Belly has come into her own and Susannah's boys have noticed. Join Belly during the summer she turns sixteen, starts to date and is dealt a devasting blow. 

Visit Jenny Han's website.

Belly's life one summer later and all that has happened since that time.

The story of Belly, Conrad and Jeremiah will continue in the summer of 2011 in We'll Always Have Summer.

The Dark Divine by Bree Despain

"A thought hit me like a slash of paint on canvas. What if Daniel, in his own sideways manner, had been asking for help the other night? Asking for my help?"
"I knew what I had to do."

Grace Divine is the member of a loving, tight-knit family. Her father is a pastor and the family devotes themselves to charitable deeds and supports their parishoners. That even meant taking in the boy next door four and a half years ago when Daniel came to live with the Divines after being beaten by his father. Daniel who became their brother before disappearing that night. The night Grace's brother Jude came home covered in his own blood.

Now two and a half years after disappearing, Daniel Kalbi has returned and shows up in Grace's AP Art class. When Grace announces at dinner that she saw Daniel, everyone gets quiet and Grace is told never to mention his name again. Nothing was off limits for discussion at the Divine dinner table, except Daniel. And Grace is troubled by the fact that Jude makes her promise not to talk to Daniel again. But according to her upbringing, were you not suppose to talk to help those in need? And didn't everyone deserve forgiveness? Grace feels the need to Help Daniel, but it means breaking her promise to Jude.

First, Grace helps Daniel get readmitted to AP Art in the hopes of going to design school. Then she leaves with him after a funeral and ends up inviting him to Thanksgiving dinner. The Divine family is none too happy to see Daniel, but invite him to stay. When a tragic disappearance occurs during dinner, Grace slowly learns Daniel's secret and the dangerous implications that go along with it. Will the "prodigal son" be welcomed back home? And can Grace survive what can only be a dangerous love, one that may require her to risk her soul?

Grace's story of what one person would do for love will keep the reader on the edge of their set until the very end. The Lost Saint comes out December 28, 2010.

Visit Bree Despain's website.

The Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott

"I liked him first, but it doesn't matter.
      I still like him.
      That doesn't matter either.
      Or at least, it's not supposed to." -- Chapter One

Everyone knows the unwritten rule: You don't like your best friend's boyfriend.

Ryan has been Sarah's secret crush for years. At a party, Sarah notices that summer has been really kind to Ryan. Tall with muscles, Sarah soon realizes that deep down it is the same old Ryan she has always liked. And it seems like Ryan is interested in Sarah as well. That is until Sarah's best friend Brianna sets her eyes on the "new" Ryan. And Ryan soon becomes Brianna's new boyfriend.

Sarah tries to distance herself from Brianna and Ryan. It is just too painful to watch them together. But Bianna continually pushes Sarah to join them. On night at a party, Sarah just wants to go home and escape. Brianna pushes Ryan to drive Sarah home and for Sarah to find out why Ryan doesn't hang with her. Needless to say that on the car ride home, Ryan and Sarah fall into easy conversation that ends with a long awaited kiss.

So now Sarah is stuck. On one hand she really likes Ryan but on the other, she is Briana's friend. Will her feelings for Ryan win out or does Sarah stick by her friend?

Visit Elizabeth Scott's website.

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

"I stared at him for a moment, shaken by how dead on he was. I didn't get the feeling it was a lucky guess. He knew. And I wanted to know how - right now."

Nora Grey's life is turned upside down when her biology teacher, Coach McConaughy changes the class seating chart in April and it's the beginning of the unit on human reproduction. Nora's partner goes from being her friend Vee Sky to the transfer student. He is the one person in the class that Nora doesn't know and their first assignment is to get to know one another. Unfortunately Patch already knows everything there is to know about Nora, including her darkest fears and secrets. She doesn't know how he knows nor does she know anything about him. But things begin to heat up between them.

As Nora finds herself grappling with her feelings for Patch, weird and horrible things start to happen to her that cannot be explained. Part of her feels frightened of Patch, yet another part feels drawn towards him. While at a coffee shop, Nora and Vee meet Elliot and Jules. Jules seems very aloof while Elliot informs the girls that he is starting school at Coldwater High, the same school that Nora and Vee attend. Soon it seems as if both Patch and Elliot are vying for Nora' attention.

As Elliot attempts to get into Nora's good graces, everyone around Nora warns her to stay away from Patch; from Vee to her school psychologist. As things continue to go horribly wrong around her, Nora finds herself increasingly drawn towards Patch. Is Patch a dangerous guy to stay away from or will Patch turn out to be the one person Nora can count on? Nora soon finds herself in the middle of a battle between good and evil.

This is a great book to read if you enjoyed Lauren Kate's Fallen. Hush, Hush is a somewhat darker read. Nora's story is continued in the sequel Cresendo due out November 16, 2010.

Visit Becca Fitzpatrick's website.

Vampire Kisses 7 : Love Bites by Ellen Schreiber

"I hope I find her soon, too, Raven. I'm starved to death"- Sebastian Camden

SPOILER ALERT! This is the seventh book in the series. Do not read any further if I don't want the story spoiled.

Now that the Sterlings have returned to Romania, Raven and Alexander are now alone to carry on their romance. That is until a new visitor arrives, Sebastian Camden, who turns out to be Alexander's best friend. Raven sees this as an opportunity to learn more Alexander while Sebastian is in town to see what or who Aleaxander has decided to remain in Dullesville for. Sebastian is on the lookout for his one true soulmate. But what happens when Sebastian thinks his true love is Becky, Raven's best friend and the steady girlfriend of Matt?

Raven really likes Sebastian and wants him to stay around in Dullesville. She sets him up with Onyx and Scarlet from the Coffin Club but once again thiongs are turned upside down when some unexpected visitors show up.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

Frances Rose Landau-Banks is a student at Alabaster Preparatory Academy, a highly competitive boarding school where graduates usually go on to schools in the Ivy League. At the age of fourteen and a member of the freshamn class, Frankie was a scrawny, awkward child who was a member of the Debate Club and was still called "Bunny Rabbit" by her parents. She tagged around school sometimes with her sister Zada, a senior and had a boyfriend Porter Welsch, a member of the Spy Club. That is until she caught Porter folling around with a junior.

The summer before Frankie's sophomore year, she gains twenty pounds and grow four inches. She goes from gangly to filling out her figure and how has a look that boys find distinctly appealing. While on vacation at the Jersey shore, Frankie meets a sandy-haired boy of about seventeen who asks her for her frozen custard and he finds out that she goes to Alabaster. That brief encounter comes into play later on.

At the beginning of her sophomore year, Frankie misses her sister, avoids Porter Welsch, worries about her geometry class and starts to pine for older and unattainable boys. Namely Matthew Livingston who she has the very fortunate circumstance of meeting on the second day of school. Having met Matthew a couple of times while hanging out with her sister, he tells her that he has never met her before. His friends say the same thing about her including Matthew's best friend, Alpha, who incidently is the sme sandy-haired boy she met at the shore just two weeks earlier. None the less, Frankie is thrilled when Matthew and his friends plan a party just so he can go out with her without actually having to ask her out.

Frankie soon realizes that Matthew treats her as if she is not as smart as he is, acts like she is his property and tells her lies. And then her ex-boyfriend Porter reenters the picture. He attempts to warn Frankie about Matthew; that he is older, more experienced and that Frankie has really blossomed since last spring. He just wants to keep her from getting in over her head. Frankie doesn't take the attitudes of everyone too lightly and something inside her begins to change. When Frankie begins to trail Matthew to see what he is up to, she discovers the resurrgence of the Bassett Hounds, a boys-only club. What happenes when Frankie discovers their secrets and begins to anonymously pull their strings? Trouble and mayhem ensues.

The Shadow Project by Herbie Brennan

Danny Lipman is a thief who has the misfortune of robbing the wrong house one night. What looked like an old run-down country house was actually a disguise for a top-secret government organization known as the Shadow Project. A joint venture between the CIA and MI6, the project uses teenage spies for its covert missions. The teens use astral projection or an out-of-body experience to travel around the world. When Danny accidentially witnesses a mission experience between Opal and Michael, project coordinators realize that Danny has a special talent that would be extremely useful to the project. When Sir Roland Harrington's daughter Opal disappears while on a mission, Danny is given a choice; join the Shadow Project or go to jail. A deal is made that is almost too good to be true.

Danny joins the project and is quickly thrown into investigating the Sword of Wrath, a terrorist organization. He soon finds out that both the Project and the Sword of Wrath are not what they seem. Opal is found but is still in great danger as is the Project itself. As Danny finds out more about what is going on, he also discovers some truths about himself and those around him.

The book is told in revolving points of view between Danny, Opal, Sir Roland, Michael and Danny's grandmother; who has a few surprises of her own. The next book in the series, The Doomsday Box continues Danny's story in January 2011. The reader is not left with a major cliffhanger dealing with the battle, but there are several unanswered questions and the quiet beginnings of a love triangle. This a the book for those readers who enjoyed Catherine Fisher's Incarceron and The Maze Rinner by James Dashner.

Visit Herbie Brennan's website.

Born to Rock by Gordon Korman

In the fourth grade, Leo Caraway needed his birth certificate for a field trip to Canada. What Leo would learn was that Erik Caraway, the man he knew as his dad was not his biological father. A man by the name of Marion X. McMurphy was. Fast forwarded to Leo's senior year; 4.0 GPA, early acceptance to Harvard, a prestigious scholarship and a member of the young Republicans, Leo has his future mapped out and tries to keep McMurphy or the X factor, his wild impulses as he calls them, under control. That is until Melinda Rapaport, Leo's oldest friend, asks him to tutor Owen Stevenson, someone Leo does not really like. Melinda is the complete opposite of Leo; liberal, Goth and punk rock all the way.

After "tutoring" Owen, Leo has the bad luck of sitting next to him during the test. He notices that Owen is having difficulty with the one concepthe actually let Leo help him on. On impulse, Leo whispers a one word clue to Owen and gets in trouble for cheating. When the assistant principal gives Leo the opportunity to throw Owen under the bus to save himselk, Leo's inner McMurphy comes out. Now accused of cheating, Leo has a black mark on his permanent record. He is kicked out of the Young Republicans and his full scholarship is rescended. Leo has learned that Melinda keeps a blog and secretly reads it to see what his friend that he is slowly drifting away from is writing. On it she posts her English class essay entitled "Poets of Rage: A Sociological History of Punk and Its Offshoots" and in it Leo finds out exactly who his biological father is. Marion X. McMurphy, aka King Maggot, is the lead singer of Purge, the "angriest band in America". Leo discovers that he is Prince Maggot.

When Purge announces a reunion tour over the summer, Leo sees a way to get his tuiton to Harvard, he decides to ask the King. After causing an incident at the Purge press conference, Leo finally gets to meet his supposed father. Leo is surprised when Marion wants to get to know him better and offers him a job with the tour over the summer. Leo decides to do it and after a little father-son time to hit me up for a loan.

Leo soon realizes that life on the road is hard, especially when you are the boss' son. And Leo learns about true friendship, love and what a father really is.

Visit Gordon Korman's website.

Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey

"They say love is all about great chemistry..."

Jill Jekel's life has been turned upside since the police knocked on the door to let she and her mother know that her father was murdered. Good girl Jill soon learns that her father was keeping secrets and depleted her college fund. When her chemistry teacher Mr. Messerschmidt informs Jill and two of her classmates about a scholarship competition, she sees a way to possibly fund her college dreams.

Tristan Hyde is a brooding, gorgeous young man in Jill's chemistry class. He and his psychiatrist father are in the U.S. from Britain so that his father can do research at the local university. Mr. Messerschmidt attempts to push Jill and Tristan together to work on the scholarship competition. They could play off their names, Jekel and Hyde, and tie into the book The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Jill begins to think about a Jekel-Hyde combination and the mysterious locked box in her father's office, the box Jill has been warned never to touch.

Jill takes up her case with Tristan to enter the competition conducting an experiment based on the book. Jill tells Tristan that her dad believed the Jekels were descended from Dr. Jekyll and that in the box are the opriginal documents detailing the famous experiment. Tristan agress to work with Jill because he believes that he is descended from Mr. Hyde and that he too is an out-of-control monster just under the surface. If their experiment works, Tristan hopes thathis sanity and life can be saved. But what happens when Jill accidentially ingests some of the formula? Will she decide that being a bad girl might not be so bad after all, even if it means risking Tristan's love?

Visit Beth Fantaskey's website.

Ironside : a modern faery's tale by Holly Black

SPOILER ALERT! Ironside is the sequel to Tithe. Please do not read any further if you do not want the story ending ruined for you.

Two months have passed since the ending of Tithe. It is Midwinter's Eve and Roiben is assuming the title of Unseelie King. A formal coronation can only occur on the darkest day of winter and the fey folk have gathered to witness and swear fealty to Lord Roiben. But it is also a dangerous time in the Court and the war with the Seelie Court is expected to soon resume. Kaye Fierch, a changling faerie, still lives between the faerie and the human world. Roiben has asked Kaye not to swear fealty to him or be a part of his court. Kaye, feeling down on herself, has too much wine to drink at the coronation and is tricked into making a declaration of love to Roiben. Kaye is given the impossible task to find a faery that cannot tell a lie. If successful, she will sit beside Roiben as his consort.

Kaye is not allowed to see Roiben again until she fulfills he requirements of her quest. So she returns to Ironside, the mortal world, and her human life. She and Corny head to New York City to visit Kye's mother Ellen and see her new band perform. While Ellen is setting up, Kaye and Corny head to a coffee shop where a girl catches Kaye's eye and leaves her a note. The note states that the Queen would like to see her and the Fixer knows the way along with his pager number. When they reach the club, Corny notices a faery man looking at Kaye and takes him into the bathroom. A fight ensues and Corny realizes the faery is there for Kaye; the Queen of the Seelie Court is looking for her. The faery in turn curses Corny. In the meantime, Silarial and the Seelie Court have attacked the Unseelie Court of Roiben.

After the fiasco at the bar, Kaye and Corny head back to the apartment where Kaye tries to use her magic to remove Corny's curse. The failed attempt leaves her weakened and unable to fully disguise herself when her mother returns home. Kaye tells her mother that she is a changling and her child is with the faeries. She promises Ellen to return her human child to her. Kaye and Corny call the Fixer in hopes that he can remove Corny's curse. When they meet him, it is Luis, who is first introduced in the book Valiant. Luis takes Kaye to meet with Silarial. The Seelie Queen hopes that Kaye will order Roiben to turn over the Unseelie Court to her and become her consort since he fulfilled her quest. Can Kaye, Corny and Luis help Roiben from losing not only the Unseelie Court but his life as well? And can Kaye fulfill Roiben's quest? Another spectacular book from Black that will satistfy the reader.

Visit Holly Black's website.

Valiant: a modern tale of faerie by Holly Black

Seventeen-year-old Valerie Russell is having bad day. First she is kicked off the lacrosse team at school for punching another girl and then when her boyfriend Tom is late for their date, Valerie leaves to go ahead without him. Only when she feels guilty for going off and goes back home, she discovers Tom and her mother are having a physical relationship behind her back. She takes off for the hockey game date solo in New York City and ends up missing the train back to New Jersey. After spending the night in the train station, Val meets Lolli and Sneaky Dave the next morning in a coffee shop.

Val soon joins the gang of vagrant teens who live in an abandoned subway station. While walking through New York City with Sneaky Dave, Val learns that his brother Luis can see things the rest of them cannot. Luis can see faeries and he makes deliveries for them. Indebted to the troll Ravus for saving Dave's life, Luis delivers a potion to the exiled faerie folk in the city so that the effects of living around so much iron are reduced. When Val and Lolli decide to search out where Ravus lives, trouble ensues and Val soon becomes indebted to the troll as well to spare Lolli.

When the faerie folk of the city soon start dying from Ravus' potions, Val is determined to find out who the real culprit is. The second book in the "modern faerie tale" series seems to be a stand alone book from Tithe. A few of the scenes detailing the faerie courts involve characters from the previous book but it is not necessary in the understanding of the storyline. Once again, Black's descriptions make the reader feel like an active participant rather than an observer.

Visit Holly Black's website.