Good Reads

Torey Adams, a high school junior with a seemingly perfect life, struggles with doubts and questions surrounding the mysterious disappearance of the class outcast. His search for answers opens his eyes to the lies, pain, and need to blame when tragedy strikes, and his once-safe world comes crashing down around him. ...More

Walking around New York City was what Mitty Blake did best. He loved the city, and even after 9/11, he always felt safe. Mitty was a carefree guy-he didn't worry about terrorists or blackouts or grades or anything, which is why he was late getting started on his Advanced Bio report.
Mitty does feel a little pressure to hand something in-if he doesn't, he'll be switched out of Advanced Bio, which would be unfortunate since Olivia's in Advanced Bio. So he considers it good luck when he finds some old medical books in his family's weekend house that focus on something he could write about. But when he discovers an old envelope with two scabs in one of the books, the report is no longer about the grade-it's about life and death. His own.
This edge-of-your-seat thriller will leave you breathless.

"From the Hardcover edition. ...More

Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow.
This improbable story of Christopher's quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes for one of the most captivating, unusual, and widely heralded novels in recent years. ...More

Iowa Teen Award - 1992 Winner
Seventeen-year-old April finds her comfortable life changed forever when death threats to her father, a witness in a federal case, force her family to go into hiding under assumed names and flee the pursuit of a hired killer. ...More

Rich and suspenseful, with a hair-raising conclusion, this is Nancy Werlin's most dynamic novel yet--one that explores the ethics and amazements of genetic engineering. ...More

"She leapt, a perfect arc, lithe muscles propelling her through the air, leaving what was human behind, clothes fallen to the ground. She was cat, claws unsheathed, teeth bared. Loving the hunt, the chase, the pounce and the strike, her teeth sinking into flesh, blood spurting in her mouth."
"Animal justice: ruthless and swift. And totally satisfying."
A provocative, richly layered, and utterly compelling novel that asks the answerable: what is truth, and what does it mean to be human?
Niki and Emmet are siblings with a secret: their ability to change from human to animal, and back-their ability to transform-she to a cat, he to a hawk. Their mother is clueless, but how much does the elusive writer Slanger know? Is their classmate Doug as superficial as he seems? Is the psychiatrist a caretaker or an enemy? And what did she hav ...More

Samurai fear nothing, not even death. They are loyal and brave, 14-year-old Seikel has studied the way of the samurai, and would like nothing more than to be one. But a samurai is born, not made; Seikei was born the son of a tea merchant, so a merchant he must be. But when a priceless ruby intended for the shogun--the military governor of Japan--is stolen by a ghost, Seikei finds himself having to display all the courage of a samurai. Seikei is the only person to have seen the thief, and now the famous magistrate, Judge Ooka, needs the boy's help to solve this mystery. Can the son of a merchant prove himself worthy to the shogun himself? ...More

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You
By Carter, Ally
2006/04 - Hyperion Books
1423100034 Check Our Catalog
2007 Kansas Notable Book
Texas Lone Star Reading List 2007-2008

The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women is a fairly typical all-girls' school--except that it's a school for spies. Sophomore Cammie Morgan is fluent in 144 languages and capable of killing a man. Yet she embarks on her most dangerous mission--she's falling in love. ...More

From the acclaimed author of "Martyn Pig" and "Lucas" comes another thought-provoking thriller--a story of pain and discovery that will resonate with young adult readers. ...More

A Northern Light
By Donnelly, Jennifer
2003/03 - Harcourt Children's Books
0152167056 Check Our Catalog
CCBC Choices - 2004
2004 ALA Young Adult Top Ten Selection

Set in 1906 against the backdrop of the murder that inspired Theodore Dreiser's "An American tragedy, " this coming-of-age novel effortlessly weaves romance, history, and a murder mystery into something moving, real, and wholly original. ...More

Silent to the Bone
By Konigsburg, E. L.
2000/10 - Atheneum Books
0689836015 Check Our Catalog
CCBC Choices - 2001

When he is wrongly accused of gravely injuring his baby half-sister, 13-year-old Branwell loses his power of speech and only his friend Connor is able to reach him and uncover the truth about what really happened. ...More

The #1 "New York Times" bestselling author strikes gold once more with a new series featuring a pop star-turned-girl detective in a mystery that rocks. ...More

Someone is watching Ashley. Someone is watching her very closely. The anonymous note she received proves it. Although fourteen-year-old Ashley appears to lead a dreary life made up of school and caring for her disabled mother, she has one thrilling secret. Now, someone besides her best friend knows what it is. At first, she is able to ignore the messages the stalker leaves in her backyard, but when they become uglier and more threatening, she knows she must get help. But whom can she trust? Does she dare to go to Eddie Beale, the local gang leader, or would that lead to even more trouble?

A young woman finds herself on a tightrope caught between two dangerous choices in this spine-tingling thriller. ...More

Westing Game
By Raskin, Ellen
2003/10 - Dutton Books
0525471375 Check Our Catalog
CCBC Choices - 2004

For 25 years, Raskin's Newbery Medal-winning mystery novel has been an enduring favorite and is now reissued with a brand-new jacket by Kevin Hawkes and an Introduction by Ann Durell. ...More