msjamgochian'sinfinitebooklist

The most comforting, delightful, and pleasurable read I have had in a long time, AO tells the story of 16 year-old Morwenna, who has just been sent off to boarding school in order to escape her evil witch of a mother and connect with a father she has never known. Grief struck after the death of her twin sister (while evading her evil mother), Mor finds solace in the world of books and magic. She has incredible appeal for oddball bibliophiles around the world: "What I mean is, when I look at other people... and see what they like and what they're happy with and what they want, I don't feel as if I'm part of their species. And sometimes - sometimes I don't care... Sometimes it feels as if it's only books that make life worth living..." A gorgeous book, endorsed by Ms. Le Guin herself, and a perfect match for sci-fi book clubs. Give it to fans of Le Guin, Vonnegut, Rowling, and magic. Guaranteed to make you feel less lonely. Grade 9+

This prequel to The Maze Runner takes place 13 years before Thomas gets to the Glade. Mark and Trina are in the underground when The Flares hit the city, wiping out most of humankind and life as we know it. The two make it out alive, but harsher scenes await them when a man-created plague begins to wipe out earth's remaining survivors. Although it was my least favorite in the series, it delivers what fans of Dashner have come to expect: fast-paced, violent, ruthless action that doesn't stop. Click here for a full review. Grade 7+

Another excellent entry into the burgeoning dystopian young adult genre, Divergent is set in a futuristic Chicago that is divided into five factions, each representing a virtue: Candor, Abnegation, Amity, Erudite, and Dauntless. When Beatrice Prior turns sixteen, she has to choose a faction for life. Torn between staying loyal to her family's faction, which feels oppressive in its austerity, or being true to her own desire for excitement, she decides to leave the only life she has known behind and join the Dauntless. What ensues is a suspenseful, thoughtful, and entertaining ride to a cliffhanger ending. Beatrice's (who renames herself Tris) intimate voice will endear her to readers , and the slow burn of a romance between her and hunky Tobias will hook them on the trilogy completely. Not to be missed. Click here for a full review and here for Ms. Roth's website . Perfect for fans of The Hunger Games. Grade 7+

At last! A superbly written, craftily woven, incredibly wonderful fantasy-adventure-techno tale that I can recommend to fans of Ready Player One (which sadly left me in the lurch back around December: I had no hope of finding anything quite like it and begrudgingly moved on to other genres), brought to you by award-winning graphic novelist G. Willow Wilson . Alif (his handle - the first letter in the Arabic alphabet) is a young hacker living in an unnamed Middle Eastern country. He spends most of his time providing his clients with secure connections and invisible digital footprints with enviable skill, diligently protecting them from state surveillance, run by the terrifying head of state, or, The Hand of God, as Alif and his gweek friends have nicknamed him. Alif is also in love with Intisar, a high-born girl who is out of his reach in the real world due to his mixed Indian-Arab background. The two sign a "stock marriage contract," but when Intisar becomes engaged to som...

Fifteen year-olds June and Day are from different worlds. Day, the country's most wanted and elusive criminal, lives in the slums under the radar, fighting for justice against the Republic, the elite government who periodically poisons its own people in the name of science. June, born into a high-ranking military family, lives in an exclusive neighborhood and is training to be the next big thing in the Republic's ongoing fight against the Colonies (North America is divided in half). Day becomes the prime suspect when June's beloved older brother Matias is killed, and their paths intertwine in a confusing mix of suspicion, lies, friendship, and illicit feelings. The action-packed story is told in alternating chapters in the completely credible voices of June and Day. The incredible Ms. Lu has an undeniable talent for writing prose that is easy to understand yet complex and poetic enough to entice even the most reluctant reader. Legend is a fantastic, fast-paced, fun, and...

Sixteen-year-old Gaia Stone is following in her mother's footsteps: training as a midwife and providing the Enclave (a walled community unlike her own, with running water, electricity, and resources) with three infants each month, when her parents are kidnapped for harboring secrets and her world is turned upside down. Gaia decides to smuggle herself into the Enclave to save her family and finds out the ugly truth swimming just underneath the Enclave's pristine surface. An action-packed adventure with a strong, impulsive, and spirited heroine that fans of fantasy will fall in love with. Don't miss the sequel, Prized , and look for the final installment, Promised , in October. Check out Ms. O'Brien's wonderful wiki for teachers, , full of ancillary materials, here . Give it to fans of The Giver and Graceling. Grade 7+

This story has it all: a smart princess, a cute-coming-of-age prince, a good-natured giant, humor, romance, and a plot that keeps the pages flying without becoming unrealistic (in a fantastical kind of way)! Taoshira (Tashi), the Fourth Crown Princess of the Blue Crescent Islands, is less than thrilled when she finds out that a marriage to Prince Ramil ac Burinholt of Gerfal has been arranged for political reasons. Ram isn't excited about becoming a groom either. Tashi travels to the Gerfalian capitol to meet her betrothed, the two of them are kidnapped by neighboring warmonger Fergox during an unsuccessful riding lesson, and the flame is lit. Julia Golding captures the wondrous transition from irritation to adoration that so often happens in first love. Dragonfly would be an excellent catalyst to a discussion on tolerance and justice.Give this to fans of The Princess Bride, Graceling, or The Hunger Games, and they will eat it up. Grade 6+

Sixteen-year-old Jack gets drunk in the wrong place at the wrong time and ends up kidnapped and molested by a psychotic doctor and that is where this horror-fantasy-sci-fi story begins. I have to admit I was underwhelmed by TML; I didn't empathize with the characters and I just didn't believe the romantic subplot. The alternate universe of Marbury wasn't fleshed out enough for me to care about and I found the use of the glasses as transporter to the alternate universe rather weak. I could have gotten past some of those issues, but Smith's constant use of the f-bomb (and I mean on every single page multiple times) felt comical and I found myself making fun of the story long before the end. I'm hoping Smith's In the Path of Falling Objects will be a more inspiring read. Grade 10+