Hot Pick from TAB - Plague

By Michael Grant
(YA F Gran)
512 pages 2011 Science Fiction

If you have read the books in the Gone series I believe that you will enjoy this book as long as you understand the confusing inferences. Most of the characters in this book are nearly identical. They are all power-hungry and overwhelmed by the multiple plagues. The plot carries the series on well, yet it does feature a lot of main characters’ deaths. Upon finishing this book, you realize that you can’t wait for the sequel, Fear, to be released. The kids of Perdido Beach have fought disappearance, starvation, deception, illness, and now, desperation. (Grades 6 & up)

Reviewed by TAB member Andrew C.

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Wither

By Lauren DeStefano
(YA F Dest)
358 pages 2011 Science Fiction

Nearly a century ago, science created a perfect generation free from disease and premature death. Every generation following has been cursed with a virus that kills females at 20 and males at 25. When sixteen-year-old Rhine is kidnapped and sold into a polygamous marriage, she dreams only of escape. Her new husband is wealthy and gentle, but her new father-in-law, a member of that one perfect generation, is a terrifying and sinister geneticist. Rhine soon realizes in order to gain her freedom she must use her cunning to become the favorite wife and daughter-in-law. (Grades 9 & up)

Reviewed by Teen Librarian Sara H.

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Mockingjay

By Suzanne Collins
(YA F Coll)
398 pages 2010 Science Fiction

In the suspenseful conclusion to the Hunger Games Trilogy, Katniss Everdeen has made it out of two trips to the Hunger Games alive. Now safe in District 13, Katniss must decide to become the Mockingjay, the symbol of hope for all the rebelling districts of Panem. But how will she cope being the leader of a cause when she is riddled with fear and guilt for her fellow tribute Peeta, who was captured by the Capitol, or when she begins to see for herself the true atrocities of war? (Grades 8 & up)

Reviewed by Teen Librarian Sara H.

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Lockdown: Escape from Furnace

By Alexander Gordon Smith
(YA F Smit)
273 pages 2009 Science Fiction

Convicted of a murder he didn’t commit, Alex, age 14, has just been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in Furnace, an ultra-secure penitentiary located a mile beneath the earth’s surface. As if being locked up forever isn’t bad enough, Alex must also deal with the strange inhuman creatures that prowl the cell blocks at night, occasionally dragging screaming inmates out of their cells to a fate worse than death. The possibility of escape gives him hope, but will he be able to pull it off before the creatures come for him? (Grades 6 & up)

Reviewed by Teen Librarian Shelly P.
 
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Hot Pick from TAB - The Comet's Curse

By Dom Testa

(YA F Test)

236 pages 2009 Science Fiction

A comet has passed too close to Earth--everyone thought it was going to be harmless, but, months after it leaves, people all over the earth start getting strange symptoms. No one is safe. No one, that is...except those who are younger than sixteen. Once the scientists figure that out, one decides to try to save the human race by sending 251 teenagers in a spaceship/humongous mobile-home-and-rec-center to another planet in some distant space system. But after liftoff, the ship's almost-human computer notices some problems: he has been "blacking out" for short periods of time...destruction has been occurring in crucial places, like the ship's garden, and the ratios are off, but not a large amount...just enough to account for one extra person. Told in a back-and-forth mode, this book takes you through the lives of these 251 "chosen ones," then back for a chapter into the pre-liftoff world, then up to the present time again. This story is full of suspense and action, with a little romance and a lot of mystery thrown in the mix as well. Even if you don't like science fiction, this is the book for you! (Grades 8 & up)

Reviewed by TAB member Colleen K.

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The Maze Runner

By James Dashner

(YA F Dash)

375 pages 2009 Science Fiction

Don't get stuck in the maze after dark. That's one of the lessons Thomas learns after he wakes up in the middle of a maze one morning with no memory. He's the newest in a group of boys who've been dropped off in the maze one by one over the past two years. Not knowing how or why they're there, the boys have tried their best to survive, searching the maze for an exit during the day and retreating back to the center at night. But no exit has been found, and everything seems hopeless until Thomas starts to regain some memories and realizes he may hold all the answers. (Grades 6 & up)

reviewed by Teen Librarian Shelly P.

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