In the After (455 Pages)

Demitria Lunetta has written her first YA book and it is filled with edge-of-your-seat reading! Amy is by herself, at home, watching TV, when she learns that the world has been attacked by "Them." This is how she refers to the creatures who have killed anyone not protected by electronic fences or some other protection device. Amy's mother works for the government in what sounds like it could be the CIA. As a result she has made sure that their home is safely guarded by the latest protective devices. She believes that her mother and father are dead as both were out of the house, and the creatures feed on living humans (or any other protein they come across.) As days go by, Amy ventures from her home being careful to avoid the creatures. One day, she goes into a grocery store and finds a baby. She scoops her up and takes her home. Baby and Amy live together for several years. Because the creatures are lured by even the slightest sound, the girls develop their own signing language. Baby has become very adept at moving silently and so they are able to get canned food and other supplies without being attacked by the creatures. Eventually, they are picked up by a silent helicopter and brought to a secure "town" known as New Hope. Life there is very safe, yet Amy finds that safety can be a facade and should not be trusted. This is an interesting, fast paced debut novel.

A Bad Boy Can Be Good For A Girl (223 Pages)

This is the first book I've red by Tanya Lee Stone. I often give my books to former students who are trying to build a classroom library. This book I'm going to keep. I want my grand daughters to read it.  And I want to talk to them about all of the messages in it. Three girls who all students at the same high school are all approached by the same boy at different times. The first girl is Josie, and she is a freshman swept away by the idea that a senior football player who is so good looking and popular- that he would be interested in her- seems beyond understanding. But Josie is a special girl because she finally refuses to allow this young man to "nail" her as his buddies call it. She takes everything one step further. She goes to the library and finds Judy Blume's book Forever and at the back of it are 4 blank pages. She writes a warning to other girls who may fall prey to his desires. She never mentions his name, but gives plenty of hints. Not all of the girls follow the same path as Josie, but they all learn valuable lessons about themselves and about choices they may be faced with in the future. This book includes some description of the kids making out- touching, etc. Therefore, I think it may not be a book for a classroom library, but it sure is a book for those of you who are mothers and have daughters who eventually may face some of these "choices." It is an easy read, and is written in free verse poetry.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone (418 Pages)

I've never read anything by Laini Taylor. After this, I may never read anything else by her....I think. This is a long book about characters who never seem real. I guess that is what bothered me most. I am a character driven kind of reader. After about 275 pages, I started talking to Laini. "Where the hell are you going with this story? I feel like you're starting a new story all over again, without resolving the first.!" And that is exactly what she was doing. By the end of the novel, both stories join to make sense of the entire plot. That said, I just can't identify and/or become attached/care for characters that are part human part animal.Some students might enjoy it; I didn't.