By Brianna Diodata
Staff Writer

Contemporary

Eleanor and Park – Rainbow Rowell

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two 16-year-old, star-crossed misfits who are smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but courageous and desperate enough to try. This novel really captures the awkwardness and. This book is for John Green and Stephanie Perkins fans and overall just fans of a stunning and emotional love story.

We Were Liars – E. Lockhart

Cadence Sinclair Eastman, heiress to a fortune her grandfather amassed is the highly undependable narrator of this searing story, which begins during her 15th summer when she suffers a head injury on the private island her grandfather owns off Cape Cod. The book unfolds two summers later, with Cadence trying link together the memories she lost after the accident while up against crippling headaches, she has no help from family members who refuse to speak on the subject of her injury. Lockhart has created a mystery with an ending most readers won’t see coming, one so shocking it will prompt some to return immediately to the beginning to figure out who they could of missed it.

Paranormal

Miss Peregrines Home of Peculiar Children – Ransom Riggs

Soon to be made into a major motion picture directed by non-other than Tim Burton Miss Peregrines Home For Peculiar Children sets its course on a mysterious island, an abandoned orphanage and a bizarre collection of very strange photographs. This is an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. A horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

Shatter Me- Tahereh Mafi

Juliette hasn’t touched anybody for 264 days. The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color. This apocalyptic, paranormal series is jam packed with adventure, romance and success.

Fantasy

Cinder – Marissa Meyer

This fantastical and unique retelling of the beloved Cinderella story delves into the world of New Beijing, where humans and androids crowd the boisterous streets. And a deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a race of Lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one cyborg Cinder, She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Rebel Belle – Rachel Hawkins

Harper Price, peerless Southern belle, was born ready for a Homecoming tiara. But after a strange run-in at the dance imbues her with incredible abilities, Harper’s destiny takes a turn for the weird. She becomes a Paladin, one of an ancient line of guardians with agility, super strength and lethal fighting instincts.

Just when life can’t get any more disastrously crazy, Harper finds out who she’s charged to protect: David Stark, school reporter, subject of a mysterious prophecy and possibly Harper’s least favorite person. But things get complicated when Harper starts falling for him – and discovers that David’s own fate could very well be to destroy Earth.

With snappy banter, cotillion dresses, non-stop action and a touch of magic, this new young adult series from bestseller Rachel Hawkins is going to make y’all beg for more.

Historical Fiction

Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the Universe – Benjeman Saenz

The book has been a critical success, with a Publishers Weekly review calling it “a tender, honest exploration of identity and sexuality, and a passionate reminder that love—whether romantic or familial—should be open, free, and without shameThe book has won numerous awards, including the Lambda Literary Award and Stonewall Book Award for LGBT fiction, an Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award honor, Pura Belpré Author Award for Latino fiction, and Michael L. Printz Award honor for Young

Adult fiction

Code Name Verity- Elizabeth E. Wein

This is a gripping spy novel centered on the friendship of two young women in World War II Britain. When secret agent “Verity” is caught by the Gestapo, she promises to write down the details of her mission in hopes of prolonging her life and avoiding further torture. The narrative she weaves recounts the history of her friendship with Maddie, who piloted their plane that crashed in Nazi-occupied France.

Sci-fi

Grasshopper Jungle – Andrew Smith

To be warned this novel is very odd. “The end of the world began at about 2:00 a.m., around three-and-a-half feet away from a discarded floral-print sleeper sofa infested with pubic lice in Ealing, Iowa.”

Sixteen-year-old Austin Szerba interweaves the story of his Polish legacy with the story of how he and his best friend , Robby, brought about the end of humanity and the rise of an army of unstoppable, six-foot tall praying mantises in small-town Iowa. This is a piece of gonzo fiction that captures the complex realities of the human condition

Noggin – Corey Whaley

In the not-too-distant future, 16-year-old Travis Coates loses his head once — literally — after a deadly bout with cancer left him for dead. His head, cryogenically frozen as part of an experimental process to bring cancer victims back to life using donors, is the only thing that’s left of him until he wakes up with it attached to the body of Jeremy Pratt in the Saranson Center for Life Preservation five years later. From there on out, Travis’ life gets just as crazy as Whaley’s bizarre setup

Dystopian

Shadow and Bone- Leigh Bardugo

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee. Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life. a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling. The book ends with a shocking cliffhanger that will have some sprinting to Barnes and Noble to see what happens next

The Knife of Never Letting Go- Patrick Ness

Prentisstown isn’t like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else’s thoughts in an overwhelming, never-ending stream of Noise. Just a month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd and his dog, Manchee — whose thoughts Todd can hear too, whether he wants to or not — stumble upon an area of complete silence. They find that in a town where privacy is impossible, something terrible has been hidden — a secret so awful that Todd and Manchee must run for their lives