Newes from the Dead
Mary Hooper
Anne Green is dead. All of Oxford was there to see her hanged for the crime of infanticide. Even Anne Green knows that she’s dead.
Told in alternating perspectives – that of Anne Green as well as that of the doctors examining her body following her public hanging – this is the story of the events leading to Anne’s eventual conviction. However, in an unbelievable turn of events, a roomful of witnesses notice a twitch in Anne Green’s body, and none are able to deny when she takes a breath of air. A mixture of history, science, and mystery, this story captures the attention of even the most skeptical of readers. Recommended especially to early high school readers looking for something different – maybe for an unexpectedly pleasant read to satisfy a historical fiction reading requirement.
Foiled
Jane Yolen
Aliera Carstairs is not really all that cool, at least not according to her super-girly high school classmates. But to her fencing opponents, Aliera is magic (though perhaps still not liked for it). When a new boy at school, Avery Castle, seems to be paying attention to Aliera, she’s flustered and confused, but she tries not to second-guess his intentions towards her. She’s thrilled — and terrified! — when he asks her out for a Saturday night. Typically, Avery is late and Aliera spends quite a while people-watching in Grand Central Station waiting for him. Here, she meets a beautiful winged woman. And a troll. And something evil existing within a dark cloud. And she discovers that she’s supposed to be the Defender . . . of someone or something else’s world. Aliera learns that not everything is as it appears, and that sometimes you can only see clearly with a focus, or a purpose. This graphic novel is recommended to all middle grade fantasy or adventure readers.
Bumped
Megan McCafferty
Melody and Harmony have nothing in common except for their identical DNA. They were separated at birth, handed over to different families, and raised without the knowledge of the other’s existence. Only recently has Melody, to her horror — and Harmony, to her joy — become aware that there is someone in the world just like her.
America has encountered a time during which it is impossible for women over a certain age to become pregnant and reproduce. Society now can only look to teenage girls to continue to produce offspring, and as a result getting pregnant is not only the popular thing to do, but it is an expectation and a responsibly placed on all girls. Even though Melody is under contract with a wealthy family to “bump” with another “repo” (reproductive professional), she isn’t convinced that she wants to satisfy this business and societal requirement. Without the knowledge of Melody’s contractual situation nor her personal dilemmas, Harmony leaves her Christian community to find Melody and help direct her moral compass. But nothing is really quite as it seems, and it’s all too easy to slip up, even with the best laid plans . . .
There is an interesting concept behind this dystopian existence, and the story should be enjoyed thoroughly by female readers. The sequel, Thumped, is due out on April 24.
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Katherine Vasilik, A/YA Librarian
J. F. Kennedy Library
Piscataway, NJ
telephone: 732-463-1633 x6
email: kvasilik@piscatawaylibrary.org or kate_thelibrarian@yahoo.com
blog: http://katethelibrarian.blogspot.com
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