ELLINWOOD — "I am Number Four" and "The Power of Six", two titles by Pittacus Lore. Nine alien teenagers are hiding on Earth. Three are dead, leaving only six to complete a desperate mission. They are living anonymously, and waiting for the day when they will find each other to make a last stand. If they win, they are saved, and so is all of humankind.
"Plain Kate" by Erin Bow. A mysterious fog has covered the countryside, ruining crops and spreading fear of hunger and sickness in the village. The townspeople are looking for someone to blame, and they look to Kate, an orphan suspected of bewitching magic. Can the stranger Linay, offer her an escape, or are his designs darker than she understands?
"Bluefish" by Pat Schmatz. Travis is a young man who moves to a new community with his grandfather and hates everything about it. But suddenly, there’s a girl...and in his face. She is a loud, pretty, very smart girl. She’s determined to find out what his secrets are, as is McQueen, a teacher who might just be the one to unleash something in Travis that has been held back for a very long time.
"The Lost Songs" by Caroline B. Cooney. In small-town Carolina, sixteen-year-old Lutie Painter treasures the "Laundry List" of songs written by her ancestor and does not want to share them, but ultimately they help her learn more about her absent mother and connect with fellow students Kelvin, Doria, and especially Train, a former friend. In this luminous novel, Cooney delves deeply into a southern community to reveal the comfort, inspiration, and hope its members draw from the power of faith, the glory of music and the meaning of family.
"Incarceron" by Catherine Fisher. Incarceron is a prison so vast that it contains not only cells, but also metal forests, dilapidated cities, and vast wilderness. Finn, a 17-year-old prisoner, has no memory of his childhood. He is sure that he came from outside Incarceron, a place that most prisoners do not believe actually exists. But then Finn finds a crystal key that allows him to communicate with a girl who claims to live on the Outside. Is their hope for escape?
"Everlost", "Everwild", and "Everyfound", all three titles in the Skinjacker trilogy by Neal Schusterman. Nick and Allie don’t survive a car accident, but their souls don’t go where they’re supposed to, either. Instead, they’re caught halfway between life and death, in a sort of limbo known as Everlost. It’s a shadow of the living world, filled with all the things and places that no longer exist. Will they be trapped in this unknown place forever, and if they escape, what are the consequences for those in the living world?
Sharon Sturgis is the librarian at the Ellinwood School/Community Library.
