msjamgochian'sinfinitebooklist

Tory Brennan is bored. She has been living with her Dad on a small island off the South Carolina coast since her mom died, and she isn't exactly fitting in with the wealthy southern kids she goes to school with. Luckily, she makes fast friends with a group of island boys and the four of them form their own pack. While exploring a nearby island's research laboratory, they find a puppy and decide to save him from the experimentation he is obviously enduring. When Tory and her pack fall ill themselves, they realize they have been infected with a virus normally associated with dogs, and start manifesting doggy traits! In the meantime, they sniff out the trail (no pun intended) of an unsolved mystery, dig up a skeleton, and encounter a rude research librarian with a secret. Will the fun never end? Some readers may scoff at the occasionally loose plot, but those willing to suspend their disbelief will enjoy this fast-paced sci-fi fantasy thriller. Click here for the book trailer. Gra

Everyone eventually envisages the death of the people they love, but Adam Ross has taken those fleeting feelings and turned them into a shiver-inducing depiction of love and marriage. When Alice is found dead at the kitchen table, her husband David is the prime suspect. Both detectives investigating the case have their own respective sets of marital woes and are convinced that David is guilty. Fans of Who's Afraid of Virigina Woolf will be impressed with the caustic atmosphere Ross manages to create with a word or a glance. Not to be missed for fans of the dark side. Click here to see Adam Ross discussing the connections between Hitchcock's work and Mr. Peanut and here for the NY Times book review .

Kathryn Erskine's 2010 National Book Awards Young People's Literature Acceptance Speech from National Book Foundation on Vimeo . This year's National Book Award winner for Young Adult literature is a sweet sad story about a girl with asperger's trying to overcome the loss of her beloved older brother after a school shooting and another title to add to the growing list of young adult works featuring characters with learning disabilities. Give it to fans of Nora Leigh Baskin's Anything But Typical. Grade 5+

Pat Peoples has issues. The mere mention of a certain Pacific Northwest saxophone player with the initials K.G. sends him over the edge. He believes his life is a film directed by God - and if he performs well enough he'll achieve his dream: getting back together with his exwife, Nikki. Matthew Quick slowly teases out the truth about the wife that Pat idolizes through a series of hilariously poignant vignettes. An amazing debut novel not to be missed. Give this one to fans of Jonathan Tropper's This Is Where I Leave You .

Sisters Dora and Elena are opposites: Dora is outgoing and wild, Elena is quiet and practical. They are also close friends. When Dora attempts suicide, Elena is left wondering why she couldn't help her older sister cope and why Dora didn't talk to her about it. When she returns after a brief stay in a mental hospital, it's up to Elena (at least in her mind) to make sure that Dora doesn't try it again. With the help of a new friend, Jimmy, and a counselor she calls the Grandma Therapist, Elena manages to begin to let go of the guilt, anger, and shame that one often feels when a friend or loved one is depressed and/or suicidal. Grade 8+