msjamgochian'sinfinitebooklist

Need a little something-something to melt away the madness? If you unwittingly made it through the 90s without reading Griffin & Sabine, as I did, you'll find it's just the thing: a delightful anachronistic correspondence via painted carte-postale tucked into actual envelopes, a slow getting-to-know-you, a return to the possibility and pleasure of mystery between two near-strangers. It's a puzzle, it's a love story, it's an artful multi-media mezcla. Griffin, a painter living in London, receives a postcard from Sabine, an artist who designs stamps for a living on a small island in the South Pacific. They have never met, but Sabine can see Griffin's brushstrokes in her mind as he works. Unable to resist the allure of the unknown, Griffin replies with a postcard of his own, and the two of them embark upon their nonnormative relationship with intrigue and aplomb. My only frustration is not having access to the rest of the collection until June! Merci, magnifi...

Girlfriends Bridge, Tab, and Em are a self-determined set; they have Twinkie-sworn* to remain fight-free through their seventh grade year. Their pledge is put to the test as they navigate through conflicts both candid and contemporary - Tab joins a feminist club, Em finds herself in a selfie shaming fiasco, and Bridge isn't sure if her friend Sherm is just a friend. What I love most about award-winning Ms. Stead's latest is a notable absence of typically clichéd treatment of middle school life. Rather, her cast of characters provide a refreshingly real rendition of what it means to be human, not just a middle schooler. GS is a perfect match for tween or teen book clubs, and would be a welcome addition to reading rec lists for the same audience. Click here for a full review. Grade 6+ * a Twinkie-swear is not a Pinkie- swear

A heart-warming story filled with gorgeous chiaroscuro illustrations that I read in one sitting, Peter Brown's debut middle-grade book is ultimately about making friends and creating family wherever you find yourself. Robot Roz wakes up on a remote island after the cargo ship she was on sinks at sea, and finds that she is anything but alone. A delightful cast of animal inhabitants make themselves known as Roz slowly becomes a contributing part of their community, adopting an orphaned gosling, teaching the creatures how to build lodges, and even protecting them from would-be predators. This is the perfect match for anyone who loves cozy stories with animals that aren't overly saccharine. Buy this one for all of your young reader friends, or relish it yourself! Grade 4+

Spark picks up right where Glow left off: a diminished Waverly has returned to the Empyrean, after escaping Anne Mather's clutches on enemy spaceship the New Horizon, to nurse her wounds and assess conditions. Wracked with guilt over the acts she was forced to commit on the New Horizon, she is surprised to find her boyfriend, Kieran, in self-imposed charge of the ship, acting as a semi-evangelical spiritual leader with an authoritarian approach. When Waverly discovers that Kieran has incarcerated hunky Seth Ardvale in the brig for treason, she decides he's taken his power too far. After an unxplained and frightening explosion rocks the Empyrean, Kieran points his paranoid finger at Waverly and Seth, who set out to discover the truth behind the terrorist act. Plenty of action will keep readers turning the pages, even though the plot gets a bit convoluted towards the end, and Waverly's new alliance with Seth turns up the heat on the romance angle. A solid follow-up that wil...

"The war tried to kill us in the spring." So begins this unforgettable, unflinching, uncompromising look at the Iraq war and its impact on the life of a soldier from debut novelist, national book award finalist, and former soldier Kevin Powers. 21 year-old Private John Bartle unravels his story in poetic prose that shifts between his preservice days in 2003, his time as a private in Al Tafar in 2004, and his personal aftermath in 2009. The perfect addition to a study of war and not to be missed. Click here for a full review. Grade 10+

17-year-old Jamie is madly in love with gorgeous hunk Josh. Unfortunately, Josh and his family are members of The Right and The Real, a religious cult, and Jamie's Dad has fallen victim to their trap. He ends up marrying another cult member, and at the creepy mass ceremony, Jamie is required to pledge herself as a member of The Right and The Real, and devote herself to their leader, the self-named Teacher, who, according to the cult, is Jesus Christ himself. When Jamie refuses to take the pledge, her brainwashed father uncharacteristically rejects her, and, taking the side of The Right and The Real and his new wife, Mira, kicks her out of the only home she knows, leaving her essentially homeless with the majority of her senior year ahead of her. Jamie is a survivor, and in spite of her grim situation (she ends up living in a cheap motel full of people on the edge), manages to survive, keep her dreams of attending art school in NYU alive, and save her father in the process. Anothe...

Dare Me has been dubbed The Fight Club of cheerleading stories, and for good reason: it is a dark, subversive, unique look at teen girl boredom, power, and misbehavior. Mean girl cheerleaders Addy and Beth are BFF; Beth is squad leader and Addy her bad lieutenant. When new beautiful bad-ass coach Colette French arrives on the scene, the squad willingly answers her jump with a how-high, and Queen Bee Beth is removed from the top of the totem pole with a dismissive shake of Coach French's perfectly-manicured hand. As the squad falls in love with captivating Coach French (Addy is completely twitterpated, "driving by her house like a boy might do"), Beth's resentment and need for revenge rises, culminating in a surprise ending that will leave you gritting your teeth. Teen readers will eat this up. Give it to fans of Chuck Palahniuk and Brett Easton Ellis. Click here for a full review. Grade 10+

How can you be afraid of becoming a zombie if you already feel like one? Abandoned by her older sister Lily and left behind to endure her father's physical and emotional abuse, Sloane Price is just waiting for the bite that frees, with a suicide note tucked into her pocket to prove it. Now she's holed up in her former high school with five other students, watching them fight for their lives while she waits for the inevitable. A unique take on the zombie genre that will stay with the reader long after the last page is turned. Give it to fans of Carrie Ryan's The Forest of Hands and Teeth . Grade 8+

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+

Reading HBB restored a bit of the faith I had recently lost in the Man Booker prize (it was shortlisted for the prize in 2011). A sweeping historical account of one man's journey from Baltimore to the wannabe jazz bars of 1930 Berlin to the streets of Nazi-occupied Paris and back again, fifty years later. This is the perfect read for anyone obsessed with Paris, jazz, or WWII. Give it to someone who enjoys all three and they will remember you for life. Click here for a full review . Grade 11+

Another sublime entry in the young adult coming-of-age-during-the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it genre, TAOM stands out in part due to its original disaster scenario: the earth's rotation is slowing, resulting in erratic days and nights, changes in gravity, and a host of other unexpected changes. The Slowing is dramatic but not necessarily catastrophic. Julia and her parents learn to deal with two o'clock in the morning sunsets and fewer supplies, but the emotional strain takes its toll on their interpersonal relationships as their traditional family life breaks down. Julia is a likable heroine and teens will relate to both her romance with a neighborhood boy and the loss of her best childhood friend. Give this one to fans of Susan Beth Pfeffer's Last Survivor's series and Joelle Anthony's Restoring Harmony , and don't miss the extras (including a reading guide)Ms. Thompson Walker's website . Grade 8+

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...

You. Are. Indestructible. Don't miss this entertaining, action-packed, adventure-fantasy-superhero-romance set in a private high school in the Pacific Northwest. Perfect for fans of Cherub, Blood Ties, and Darren Shan, who are looking for something a bit deeper. Check out the extras-packed website. Grade 7+

On a hot summer night in a small country town, local teen pariah Jasper Jones raps on book nerd-sensitive Charlie Bucktin's window, and leads him to a discovery that will change both of their lives. Laura Wishart, daughter of the town shire, and friend to Charlie, is found hung from a tree where she and Jasper used to meet in secret. Knowing that Jasper will be suspected of the murder, the boys hide her body in the river, and that is where the trouble, and their relationship, truly begins. As the summer progresses and Laura's disappearance is investigated, Charlie is faced with a host of hard truths: his parents' marriage isn't what it seems to be, his best friend Jeffrey Lu suffers at the hands of racists, and the local tendency to turn the other way rather than stand up for what is right has tragic results. The bitterness is balanced by the sweetness of Charlie's relationship with Laura's little sister Eliza; Mr. Silvey masterfully depicts the magic of first ...

Booklist Review: Luke’s Inupiaq name is “hard like ocean ice grinding at the shore or wind pounding the tundra.” But at Alaska’s Sacred Heart boarding school, which Luke attends with his brother, Bunna (a third brother is effectively kidnapped and sent to Texas), his name and the nuances of his culture aren’t treated as being important. It’s the 1960s, though, and the times are a-changing. In lovely, evocative language, Edwardson weaves Luke’s story of displacement, loss, and growth into those of his fellow students’ in a story about the collision of culture and the growing awareness of civil rights. It’s a testament to her skill that even clueless priests and sisters at the school come across as rounded characters; several of them are even aware that military experiments with radioactive drinks, allowed on native students, may be suspect. Some point-of-view changes from first person to third-person omniscient are jarring; nevertheless, this is an illuminating novel of changing perspec...

Another creepy gothic thriller set in a small German town from the author of The Vanishing of Katherina Linden . Seventeen year-old Lin Fox is uprooted from her comfortable life in the UK when her father, a renown scholar in medieval history, decides to move to a tiny village to study the legend of the Allerheiligen Glass, a series of medieval stained-glass windows that may or may not be inhabited by demons. The problem is, nobody actually knows where the windows are, and the locals aren't exactly helpful. In fact, it quickly becomes clear that Lin's family isn't welcome when bodies start turning up, surrounded by shards of broken glass. Ms. Grant is a master of building suspense; you'll find yourself turning on lights and checking that the doors are locked if you read this late at night. Give this to fans of Agatha Christie or anyone living in a small German village. Grade 8+

I hope I haven't already said this in 2012, and if so, forgive me, but if you only read one YA novel this year , TFIOS should be it. Here are three pretty reasons why: "I disagree, but here's the rub: The dead are visible only in the terrible lidless eye of memory." "...and then we talked about Peter Van Houten's amazingly brilliant comment about the sluttiness of time, and even though I was in bed and he was in his basement, it really felt like we were back in that uncreated third space..." "There are days, many of them, when I resent the size of my unbounded set. But... I cannot tell you how thankful I am for out little infinity. You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I'm grateful." You will laugh through your tears. Don't miss the opportunity to meet two of the most brilliantly funny terminally ill teens ever to grace the page. Click here for a full review and here for John Green's website . Grade 8+

A complex and moving story told by two survivors: Jill, who is stunned by her father's recent sudden death, and Mandy, who has left behind her abusive family in the hopes of making a new life for her unexpected and unborn child. Jill's mother, Robin, agrees to an open adoption with Mandy, who wants a better life for her baby. Jill believes her mother is making a life-altering mistake and simply trying to replace her beloved father. Slowly both girls move towards love and trust while redefining their respective futures. As usual, Ms. Zarr's strength lies in her believable, sympathetic, and honest depictions of troubled yet strong young women. Mandy's sweet naivete pairs perfectly with Jill's tough facade, and a robust cast of supporting characters round out the charming ensemble. Click here for Ms. Zarr's interview at ALA 2011 . Grade 8+

Mix High School Musical with Sweet Valley High then add a dash of Strawberry Shortcake and you'll have something that approximates this little graphic novel full of masochistic mean girl friendships and stereotypical characters. That isn't to say that plenty of young ladies won't thoroughly enjoy watching popular-girl-with-an-arty-side Zoe mourn her love hate relationship with bitchy-glam-boyfriend-stealing Mackenzie. They will. But they should read Paige by Paige instead. Grade 6+

Set in 1996, TFOU tells the story of Emma and Josh, next-door neighbors trying to redefine their feelings for each other after a 'we're just friends but we almost kissed' incident. When Emma and Josh discover a link on her family's new computer called the facebook, they find they can look into their respective futures, and start making adjustments with unexpected repercussions. A fun nostalgic look at life in the 90s and friendship from the authors of 13 Reasons Why and The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things. Grade 7+