Dirt Road Home by Watt Key

Dirt Road Home by Watt Key is the companion novel to Alabama Moon, one of the 2010-2011 Maud Hart Lovelace nominees. Dirt Road Home is about Hal, a fifteen year old boy who, though a series of bad decisions, winds up in Hellenweiler, a home for seriously troubled boys. Hal was sent to Pinson, a different home for boys after stealing some bikes and disrespecting his mother. He and two friends, Moon and Kit, escaped from there and lived off the land in rugged Alabama until Hal split from the others and made his way home to his father. He would have been home free, but Moon needed his help, so he came forward and ended up helping Moon, but being sent to Hellenweiler in the end. Determined to get out right away, Hal decides to straighten up and follow the rules. His father, also determined to be reunited with Hal decides to clean up his act and stop drinking. They have been told by their lawyer that if they can both stay out of trouble, Hal will be out before they know it. Unfortunately, the two ruling gangs at Hellenweiler are just as determined to force Hal to choose sides. They pick fights with him, steal his things, and make life miserable. The worst news of all comes when Hal realizes that even the guards at Hellenweiler are corrupt and have been falsifying his behavior reports! Unable to prove his innocence, Hal is near the breaking point and ready to give in to the constant provoking by the other boys. But, two unlikely friends and a crazy plan give Hal hope that he still may be able to leave Hellenweiler for good.

This was a great story! I was expecting it to be like Alabama Moon, but it was completely different. Most of the story takes place at the boys' home and deals with Hal's struggle to do the right thing. I really liked the way the author wove parts of Alabama Moon into the story. I also liked the way I got to know the other characters in the story through their actions and discussions with Hal.

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick is about Nora, a typical teen who leads an a-typical life. Her father was killed several months ago and she lives with her single mother in an old farm house on the outskirts of a small Oregon town. Her mother has to travel a lot for her job, so Nora is left alone in the house more often than not. This arrangement was working out just fine until some strange things began happening. First, Nora was paired up with the mysterious transfer student in biology class, Patch, who seemed to know a lot more about her than she had actually revealed. Nora began feeling like someone was watching her and even suspected someone had been in her room! A stranger tried to attack her while driving home one night, but when she was able to escape there was no damage to the car she thought had been smashed up! Things got even more strange when Nora and her best friend Vee met a new student who had previously gone to a fancy prep school in Portland. Elliot and his friend Jules were just a little too interested in hanging out with the two girls. Nora became suspicious of this behavior when she learned that Elliot had been suspected in the death of one of his former classmates and that was the real reason he had left the private school. Nora is convinced Elliot is behind the strange events plaguing her and her friends, while Vee is just as convinced it is Patch causing the problems. Nora is inexplicably draw to Patch, and on the evening of a strange storm learns a lot more about him, Elliot, and Jules than she ever could have thought was possible.

This was a very entertaining book! I would definitely recommend it to anyone who loved the Twilight Series. There are some very similar themes within the two series. I really liked the way Nora and Patch's relationship developed and unfolded. I felt like I was a part of all the drama!

Lockdown: Escape from Furnace by Alexander Gordon Smith

Lockdown: Escape from Furnace by Alexander Gordon Smith is about Alex Sawyer, a troubled teen who was at the wrong place at the wrong time. He and his best friend, Toby, broke into a house to rob it, but were attacked by mysterious looking men in black suits and a monstrous "being" who appeared to be stitched together and wearing a gas mask. The blacksuits shot killed and framed Alex. As a result, Alex was sentenced to life imprisonment in Furnace, a new prison built into a deep rocky crevice especially for violent kids. Every night something new and horrifying awakens Alex from his sleep - skinless, vicious dogs terrorizing and eating the inmates, the "wheezers" marking certain cells and taking the inhabitants after stabbing them with a needle, and of course, the taunts and jeers from the resident gangs within the prison. And the day isn't much better - having to perform "hard labor" chipping rock walls, cleaning toilets, doing laundry, or preparing the prison food which is a mush made from rotten and moldy left-overs. Alex contemplates suicide nearly every day until he and his roommate, Donovan, and friend Zee figure out a plan for escape. If they get caught, they will be killed - they may be killed anyway! But they believe it is worth the risk for just the chance to escape the Furnace.

This was a really exciting book. It reminded me of an angrier cross between The Maze Runner and The City of Ember. At first, I didn't really even like Alex. He was a jerk and a bully. But then, as he tried to live through the horrors of Furnace, his character changed and he began standing up for the same kinds of kids he would have tormented in his old life. The book ends on a huge cliff-hanger, which makes me want to read the second book, Solitary, right away - it comes out December 21st, 2010!

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

If I Stay by Gayle Forman is about seventeen year old Mia, a typical high school senior living in Oregon. Mia has a wonderful family including two super-cool parents and an awesome eight year old brother, a perfect best friend, a boyfriend who shares her love of music, and a good chance at getting into Julliard. Everything in Mia's life is pretty great until one fateful morning. Mia and her family woke up to a slight snow storm which caused all of the schools in the area to close. Rather than miss out on a chance to spend quality family time together, everyone decides to hop in the car and head toward Portland where they'll visit with friends, eat dinner with the grandparents, and Mia will round out the evening by watching her boyfriend Adam play in his band. A terrible car accident derails all of those plans, though. Mia's entire family is killed and Mia's body is left in a coma. Her soul, however remains behind to witness all of her remaining loved ones' reactions to the accident. The rest of the story is told through Mia reliving many different moments in her life, all leading up to her big decision... should she stay or let go and join her family?

This was a really great story. I loved the way it was all told through flashbacks to various moments in Mia's life. There were parts where I laughed out loud and also parts where I nearly cried. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good romance. This book is definitely for more mature readers, though, due to language and content.

The Clone Codes by The McKissacks

The Clone Codes by The McKissacks is set in 2170 during a time when scientific advancements have made cloning of humans possible. There are many laws (or codes) governing the creation and ownership of clones, such as clones are only to be created as adults, they have no rights as humans but are recognized as property, and they aren't capable of lying. In this story, Leanna is a typical 13 year old, until her mother is arrested for belonging to a treasonous group called The Liberty Bell. This forces Leanna into hiding because suddenly the authorities are searching for her and have placed a one million bounty on her head! Many people are helping Leanna along the way, and through this she learns terrifying secrets that her mother has kept from her, including one that dramatically changes how Leanna sees herself, thus changing her views on cloning, making her determined to do what's right for humanity.

This was a really interesting book. I really liked the way the authors wove historical facts into their fictional novel, showing the similarities to slavery in the 1800s. It was fun to read the fact/fiction part at the back of the book to find the information supporting the ideas within the story. This book reminded me of The Adoration of Jenna Fox.

Sabotaged by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Sabotaged by Margaret Peterson Haddix is the third book in The Missing Series. In this story, JB has asked Jonah and Katherine to accompany Andrea, another one of the kids stolen from history, back to her own time period in order to repair time. Things don't go as easily as they would have hoped when Andrea mysteriously changes their destination. Jonah and Katherine find out that Andrea was visited by a stranger who promised she'd be able to change time and prevent her adoptive parents' death. Instead, the kids wound up in America during the early 1600s! They are all confused about who would want them there and why until they rescue an old man who was washed ashore during a terrible storm. He turned out to be Andrea's biological grandfather and Andrea herself had been born Virginia Dare, the first white girl born in the "New World". In true history's events, the two never meet, but in this new reality, everything is broken and the rules don't seem to hold. Jonah and Katherine are still determined to save Andrea and repair time, they just don't know how. With the help of two other 21st century adoptees who time-smack into Jonah, a dog named Dare, and a stranger named Second, Jonah and Katherine continue their quest to return everything to normal and make it back to the 21st century alive... turns out there are other plans in the works that no one could have suspected!

This book was definitely my least favorite of the three. I was hoping it would be more about the history of Virgina Dare and her time in New York. It was actually more about time traveling and the scientists fighting to change the world's past events than Andrea's story. It ends with a cliff-hanger which makes me think there will be a 4th book coming soon!

Zeus: King of the Gods by George O'Connor

Zeus: King of the Gods by George O'Connor is a graphic novel telling the story of Zeus's rise to power among the Olympians. It begins with Gaea, mother earth, and her creation of the sky, Ouranos, to end her loneliness. Together, they spawned the Titans, the one-eyed Cyclopes, and the fifty-headed Hekatonchieres. Ouranos was so disgusted by his monstrous children that he banished them to a deep chasm called Tartarus. Gaea was so upset by this she asked her Titan children to fight against their father. Only Kronus was brave enough to take the sickle Gaea offered and attack Ouranos. After a mighty fight, Kronus won, but he did not free his brothers from the depths of Tartarus! Gaea cursed him to the same fate as his father - that a son of his own would one day defeat him and take over the world. As a result, Kronus ate every single one of his newborn children... until his wife got smart and fed him a stone instead of his final child. Instead, Zeus was raised far away from his father's rule. When he grew up, Gaea gave him a plant to feed his father that would cause all of his children to be vomited up and freed. When Kronus saw Zeus, he immediately ate him! But, because he also ate the special plant, he violently threw up Zeus and all of his brothers and sisters: Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, and Hestia. These OIympian Gods fought together against Kronus and the Titans for years, until finally The Olympians won. Zeus imprisoned the Titans in Tartarus, punished anyone else who had fought against him, and began his rule over the heavens and earth from his seat in Mount Olympus.

This was a really cool book! I already knew the story of Zeus's rise to power, so it was really cool to see it in pictures! The battle scenes were awesome! I actually read this book aloud to my family and showed the pictures on each page. It was a great way to spend a Saturday evening. Everyone loved it - from the 6 year old boy to the 16 year old girl to my 34 year old husband! Here is a link to the author's blog, Olympians Rule!

Acceleration by Graham McNamee

Acceleration by Graham McNamee is about 17 year old Duncan. He's been having a hard time since last summer, when he witnessed a girl drown and couldn't reach her in time. He feels like it's his fault. Ever since, he's had bone chilling nightmares about that day, and has even lost his girlfriend due to his over-protectedness. Now, Duncan is working at the lost and found in the Toronto subway system. Bored one day, he picks up a leather-bound diary that someone left on one of the trains. What he finds both terrifies and intrigues him. There are journal entries, notes, newspaper clippings, and drawings of all of the terrible things he's done - setting fires, torturing animals - and, worst of all, plans to take it to the next level. Duncan finds detailed plans for harming a woman. Seeing this as his opportunity to make up for not saving the drowning girl, Duncan does his best to try to solve this mystery: Who does the diary belong to? Is he really planning to kill someone? Can he be stopped? With the help of his best friends Vin and Wayne, Duncan does his best to save the victims and stop the madman.

This was a suspenseful story. It was really interesting to see how the author unfolded the events with the drowning, the diary, and Roach (Duncan's name for the serial killer). I especially enjoyed the action sequence at the end when Duncan confronts who he suspects is the owner of the diary. This book does have some violence, content, and language, so I would recommend it for more mature readers.