Shhhh! It's a Secret!

This week we are focusing on teen books that contain plots hinging on secrets and lies . . . .

Freakling by Lana Krumwiede
After a traumatic accident removes his telekinetic ability, or psy, twelve-year-old Taemon is exiled to the "dud farm," where he is surprised to find kind, open people who enjoy using their hands but there are also mysteries at the colony and when Taemon unwittingly leaks one of the secrets he must find the courage to repair the damage, even if it means returning to the city from which he was banished.

The Miles Between by Mary Pearson
Seventeen-year-old Destiny keeps a painful childhood secret all to herself until she and three classmates from her exclusive boarding school take off on an unauthorized road trip in search of "one fair day."

This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith
Perfect strangers Graham Larkin and Ellie O'Neill meet online when Graham accidentally sends Ellie an e-mail about his pet pig, Wilbur. The two 17-year-olds strike up an e-mail relationship from opposite sides of the country and don't even know each other's first names. What's more, Ellie doesn't know Graham is a famous actor, and Graham doesn't know about the big secret in Ellie's family tree. When the relationship goes from online to in-person, they find out whether their relationship can be the real thing.

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
In a world where dragons and humans coexist in an uneasy truce and dragons can assume human form, Seraphina, whose mother died giving birth to her, grapples with her own identity amid magical secrets and royal scandals, while she struggles to accept and develop her extraordinary musical talents.

Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
In small-town Australia, teens Jasper and Charlie form an unlikely friendship when one asks the other to help him cover up a murder until they can prove who is responsible.


More Secrets & Lies --
34 Pieces of You by Carmen Rodrigues
After the End by Amy Plum
Before Wings by Beth Goobie
Chime by Franny Billingsley
Crash Into You by Katie McGarry
Crushed by Laura McNeal
The Night My Sister Went Missing by Carol Plum-Ucci
Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King
The Safe-Keeper's Secret by Sharon Shinn
Sea Change by Aimee Friedmann
September Girls by Bennett Madison
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
There Will Be Lies by Nick Lake
The Truth Commission by Susan Juby
V Is for Villain by Peter Moore
What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell

Check out these books on display through July 1, 2016.

Crime Scene!

This week, I'm highlighting teen books featuring crime stories.  These might be stories of teen criminals, teen detectives, and teen mysteries.  Here are some of my favorites . . .

Nothing to Lose by Alex Flinn
A year after running away with a traveling carnival to escape his unbearable home life, sixteen-year-old Michael returns to Miami, Florida, to find that his mother is going on trial for the murder of his abusive stepfather.

Invisible by  Mats Wahl
A Swedish teenager is assaulted and killed, but returns as a ghost to find his killer.

Mister Death's Blue-Eyed Girls by Mary Downing Hahn
Narrated from several different perspectives, tells the story of the 1956 murder of two teenaged girls in suburban Baltimore, Maryland.

Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
In small-town Australia, teens Jasper and Charlie form an unlikely friendship when one asks the other to help him cover up a murder until they can prove who is responsible.

After by Amy Efaw
In complete denial that she is pregnant, straight-A student and star athlete Devon Davenport leaves her baby in the trash to die, and after the baby is discovered, Devon is accused of attempted murder.


More Books --
Blood With Tell by April Henry
Exposed by Kimberly Marcus
Gentlemen by  Michael Northrop
Jude by Kate Morgenroth
The Killer's Cousin by Nancy Werlin
The Knife That Killed Me by Anthony McGowan
Looking for Normal by Betty Monthei
Monster by Walter Dean Myers
The Morgue and Me by John C. Ford
Playing in Traffic by Gail Giles
The Rag and Bone Shop by Robert Cormier
Right Behind You by Gail Giles
Rucker Park Setup by Paul Volponi
The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes
Shine by Lauren Myracle

Check out these books on display at the Arnold Branch through April 30, 2016.

It's a Mystery!

Here are some great mysteries for teens . . .

The Uninvited by Tim Wynne-Jones
After a disturbing freshman year at New York University, Mimi is happy to get away to her father's remote Canadian cottage, only to discover a stranger living there who has never heard of her or her father and who is convinced that Mimi is responsible for leaving sinister tokens around the property.

First Shot by Walter Sorrells
David Crandall, haunted by his mother's murder two years ago, uncovers a dark family secret that leads him to believe that his father, headmaster of the military school in which David is currently a senior, is the killer.

Acceleration by Graham McNamee
Stuck working in the Lost and Found of the Toronto Transit Authority for the summer, seventeen-year-old Duncan finds the diary of a serial killer and sets out to stop him.

Jasper Jones: A Novel by Craig Silvery
In small-town Australia, teens Jasper and Charlie form an unlikely friendship when one asks the other to help him cover up a murder until they can prove who is responsible.