Edge of Your Seat Fiction
(Suspense, Action & Survival Stories)
YA FIC ABA Abani, Chris Song For Night
Part Inferno, part Paradise Lost, and part Sunjiata epic, Song for Night is the story of a West African boy soldier's lyrical, terrifying, yet beautiful journey through the nightmare landscape of a brutal war in search of his lost platoon. The reader is led by the voiceless protagonist who, as part of a land mine-clearing platoon, had his vocal chords cut, a move to keep these children from screaming when blown up, and thereby distracting the other minesweepers. The book is written in a ghostly voice, with each chapter headed by a line of the unique sign language these children invented. This book is unlike anything else ever written about an African war.
YA FICABR Abrahams, Peter Bullet Point
Wyatt never really thought much about his dad—a hardened criminal, a lifer in a prison somewhere on the other side of the state. But then the economy had to go and tank, and the community had to go and cut the baseball program from Wyatt's high school. And then the coach had to go and show Wyatt a photograph of his dad at sixteen, looking very much like Wyatt himself. Through a series of unfortunate—or perhaps they were fortunate—events, Wyatt meets a crazy-hot girl named Greer with a criminal dad of her own. A criminal dad who is, in fact, in jail with Wyatt's own criminal dad. Greer arranges a meeting, and Wyatt's dad is nothing like the guy he's imagined—he's suave, and smart, and funny, and cool, and—Wyatt's pretty sure—innocent. So Wyatt decides to help him out. A decision that may possibly be the worst he's ever made in his life.
YA MYSADA Adam, Paul Max Cassidy: Escape from ShadowIsland
Max Cassidy can escape from anything
Only fourteen years old, Max is the world's foremost escape artist. Chained, handcuffed, locked in an airtight water tank, there's nothing he can't get himself out of. He learned the art from his father—a man who just two years ago was murdered, and Max's mother went to jail for the crime.
Now a mysterious man has shown up backstage after one of Max's shows, telling Max that not only is his mother innocent, but his father is still alive. He can provide only one clue: a slip of paper with eight digits written on it. It is this clue that will lead Max from his home in London to the exotic and deadly Central American country of Santo Domingo and the impenetrable fortress on the sinister Isla de Sombra. Max Cassidy can escape from anything–but given the chance to finally know the truth about what has torn his family apart, escape from ShadowIsland is the last thing on his mind.
YA FICADO Adoff, Jaime Names Will Never Hurt Me
In this gripping story, four very different teenagers reveal their deepest feelings and fears during a day in which the hurts and struggles of high school escalate dangerously. There's Kurt, the "freek" who listens to loud music, trying to escape the kids who bully him; Tisha, the girl who feels "out of place" because she's biracial; Ryan, the football star who rules the hallways but hides a terrible secret; and Floater, who wields power over students by acting as the principal's eyes and ears. As tensions rise and emotions reach the breaking point, will Kurt, Tisha, Ryan, and Floater be able to reach out to one another in time to prevent a tragedy?
YA FICALE Alender, Katie Bad Girls Don’t Die
Alexis thought she led a typically dysfunctional high school existence. Dysfunctional like her parents' marriage; her doll-crazy twelve-year-old sister, Kasey; and even her ownanti-social, anti-cheerleader attitude. When a family fight results in some tearful sisterly bonding, Alexis realizes that her life is creeping from dysfunction into danger.Kasey is acting stranger than ever: her blue eyes go green sometimes; she uses old-fashioned language;and sheeven loses track of chunks of time, claimingto know nothing about her strange behavior. Their old house is changing, too. Doors open and close by themselves; water boils on the unlit stove; and an unplugged air conditioner turns the house cold enough to see their breath in. Alexis wants to think that it's all in her head, but soon, what she liked to think of as silly parlor tricks are becoming life-threatening—to her, her family, and to her budding relationship with the class president. Alexis knows she's the only person who can stopKasey — but what if that green-eyed girl isn't even Kasey anymore?
YA FICALE Alender, Katie From Bad to Cursed (Bad Girls Don't Die v 2)
Alexis is the last girl you'd expect to sell her soul. She already has everything she needs—an adorable boyfriend, the perfect best friend, and a little sister who’s finally recovering after being possessed by an evil spirit. Alexis is thrilled when her sister joins a club: new friends are just what Kasey needs. It’s strange, though, to see how fast the girls in the Sunshine Club go from dorky and antisocial to gorgeous and popular. Then Alexis learns that the girls have pledged an oath to a seemingly benevolent spirit named Aralt. Worried that Kasey’s in over her head again, Alexis and her best friend, Megan, decide to investigate by joining the club themselves. Soon, Alexis trades in her pink hair and punky clothes for a mainstream look, and finds herself reveling in her newfound elegance and success. The club’s connection with Aralt seems harmless, and before long, Alexis can hardly remember why she joined in the first place.Surely it wasn’t to destroy Aralt. . . . Why would she hurt someone who has given her so much, and asked for so little in return?
YA FICALE Alender, Katie As Dead As It Gets (Bad Girls Don't Die v 3)
Alexis battles a more powerful ghost than she's ever faced before... and one whose fate is tied to hers in ways she couldn't possibly imagine
SR Section & YA FICALL Allende, Isabel City of the Beasts
When fifteen-year-old Alexander Cold accompanies his individualistic grandmother on an expedition to find a humanoid Beast in the Amazon, he experiences ancient wonders and a supernatural world as he tries to avert disaster for the Indians.
Tween & YA FICAND Anderson, John David Sidekicked
Andrew Bean might be a part of H.E.R.O., a secret organization for the training of superhero sidekicks, but that doesn’t mean that life is all leaping tall buildings in single bounds. First, there’s Drew’s power: Possessed of super senses – his hearing, sight, taste, touch, and smell are the most powerful on the planet – he’s literally the most sensitive kid in school. There’s his superhero mentor, a former legend who now spends more time straddling barstools than he does fighting crime. And then there’s his best friend, Jenna – their friendship would be complicated enough if she weren’t able to throw a Volkswagen the length of a city block. Add in trying to keep his sidekick life a secret from everyone, including his parents, and the truth is clear: Middle school is a drag even with superpowers. But this was all before a supervillain long thought dead returned to Justicia, superheroes began disappearing at an alarming rate, and Drew’s two identities threatened to crash head-on into each other. Drew has always found it pretty easy to separate right from wrong, good from evil. It’s what a superhero does. But what happens when that line starts to break down?
YA FICYA MYSAND Anderson, Laurie Halse Speak
Since the beginning of the school year, high school freshman Melinda has found that it's been getting harder and harder for her to speak out loud: "My throat is always sore, my lips raw.... Every time I try to talk to my parents or a teacher, I sputter or freeze.... It's like I have some kind of spastic laryngitis." What could have caused Melinda to suddenly fall mute? Could it be due to the fact that no one at school is speaking to her because she called the cops and got everyone busted at the seniors' big end-of-summer party? Or maybe it's because her parents' only form of communication is Post-It notes written on their way out the door to their nine-to-whenever jobs?
Tween & YA SFAND Anderson, M.T. The Game of Sunken Places
Thirteen-year-old Gregory Buchanan receives a letter from his Uncle Max and tells his friend Brian, Uncle Max "lives in kind of a different world from the rest of us." Gregory and Brian discover just how different that world is when they accept Maximiliam Grendle's invitation to visit. The two boys discover a game board in the nursery and are swept into competition. But who is their competitor? There are no apparent rules to this Game, either. The mysterious and frightening Jack Stimple gives pointers, but refuses to reveal the rules. The Game takes the boys to fantastic places in the woods around Grendle Manor: Clock Corner, the Petroglyph Wall, Fundridge's Folly. They encounter an axe-wielding troll named Kalgrash, an ogre called Snarth, and a tiny man, Wee Sniggleping. As the boys advance in the Game, additional locations on the game board appear and they discover the mythical people for whom they compete.
Tween & YA SFAND Anderson, M.T. Suburb Beyond the Stars
Something very strange is happening in Vermont. It's not The Game of Sunken Places - Brian and Gregory have been through that before, and there's not supposed to be another Game until they say there's a Game. But still . . . when they go to visit a relative in the Vermont woods, they find many things are . . . off. Like, people aren't where they're supposed to be. And houses are everywhere. In fact, the houses seem to be taking over.
If anyone in the universe can make high adventure out of supernatural urban sprawl . . . well, it's M. T. Anderson. And in The Suburb Beyond the Stars he brings both humor and intelligence to a thrill ride that's part quest, part mystery, part fantasy, and part Abbott and Costello.
Tween & YA SF AND Anderson, M.T. The Empire of Gut and Bone
The land of New Norumbega is an unusual one--an empire of gut and bone, a kingdom of blood and mucus. At its dark, dry heart is a ruling class that doesn't care about much besides itself . . . and a ruler who is (literally) a one-eyed stump of flesh. Brian and Gregory have come to New Norumbega for a reason--to get the Norumbegans to help them thwart an alien attack back home on earth. But instead, the two boys find themselves caught up in both a robot rebellion and a murder mystery after one of the Norumbegan leaders is sent to sleep . . . permanently. In New Norumbega, it's very hard to know who to trust. There are assassins around every corner, and secrets pave every conversation. Brian and Gregory will be lucky to make it out alive, never sure if they are meant to catch the murderer . . . or be the killer's next victim.
YA SF AND Anderson, R.J. Ultraviolet
Anderson blends paranormal, science fiction, and scientific elements in an intriguing story about a teenager who is convinced that she’s crazy—and a murderer—though reality is even more unpredictable. Sixteen-year-old Alison Jeffries awakens in the psych ward of a hospital, and is soon transferred to a treatment center for “youth in crisis.” The police, meanwhile, believe Alison knows something about the disappearance of her classmate, Tori. She does. Alison had watched Tori disintegrate before her eyes, and she believes that her barely understood “powers” are to blame. With the help of Sebastian Faraday, a mysterious neuropsychologist, Alison starts to get answers: she is a synesthete—her senses of smell, taste, sight, and hearing intertwined in surprising ways—as well as a tetrachromat, able to perceive ultraviolet light
YA SF AND Anderson, R.J. Quicksilver
Back in her hometown, Tori Beaugrand had everything a teenaged girl could want—popularity, money, beauty. But she also had a secret. A secret that could change her life in an instant, or destroy it. Now she’s left everything from her old life behind, including her real name and Alison, the one friend who truly understood her. She can’t escape who and what she is. But if she wants to have anything like a normal life, she has to blend in and hide her unusual... talents.
Plans change when the enigmatic Sebastian Faraday reappears and gives Tori some bad news: she hasn’t escaped her past. In fact, she’s attracted new interest in the form of an obsessed ex-cop turned investigator for a genetics lab. She has one last shot at getting her enemies off her trail and winning the security and independence she’s always longed for. But saving herself will take every ounce of Tori’s incredible electronics and engineering skills—and even then, she may need to sacrifice more than she could possibly imagine if she wants to be free.
YA FICANH Anhalt, Ariela Freefall
Luke was not eager to accompany his best friend, Hayden, and the cocky new kid, Russell, up to the cliff that night. The plan was to watch Russell jump off the cliff into the lake—his initiation to the BriarAcademy fencing team. But instead, after an angry confrontation with Hayden, Russell falls to his death. Now Hayden is in jail and the pressure is on Luke to report what he saw. But what did he see? An accident—or a murder? Luke has always followed Hayden's lead, but this is one decision he'll be forced to make on his own. And to do it, he must face the truth about his friendship with Hayden and his own painful past.
YA FICARM Armstrong, Kelly The Gathering
Maya lives in a small medical-research town on Vancouver Island. How small? You can't find it on the map. It has less than two-hundred people, and her school has only sixty-eight students — for every grade from kindergarten to twelve. Now, strange things are happening in this claustrophobic town, and Maya's determined to get to the bottom of them. First, the captain of the swim team drowns mysteriously in the middle of a calm lake. A year later, mountain lions start appearing around Maya's home, and they won't go away. Her best friend, Daniel, starts getting negative vibes from certain people and things. It doesn't help that the new bad boy in town, Rafe, has a dangerous secret— and he's interested in one special part of Maya's anatomy: Her paw-print birthmark.
YA MYS ARN Arnold, Tedd Rat Life
The dead body found in the ChemangaRiver has nothing to do with Todd. He’s been busy making beds at the family motel and writing alien stories to entertain his friends. Sure, a murder is big news, but what would really interest him? A paying job and a story line free of UFOs and poop jokes. And then he meets Rat. Just a little older than Todd, Rat’s already been to Vietnam and back. He’s got a tattoo and a messed-up family life. And when he offers Todd a gig at the drive-in theater, Todd takes it. After all, it pays actual money. But hanging out with Rat leads to a host of strange experiences and perplexing questions. More and more, that corpse from the river is on Todd’s mind, and no matter how he shifts the pieces around, Rat is always part of the puzzle.
YA FICASH Ashby, Amanda Fairy Bad Day
While most students at BurtonwoodAcademy get to kill demons and goblins, fifteen-year-old Emma gets to rid the world of little annoying fairies with glittery wings and a hipster fashion sense. She was destined to be a dragon slayer, but cute and charming Curtis stole her spot. Then she sees a giant killer fairy - and it's invisible to everyone but her! If Emma has any chance of stopping this evil fairy, she's going to need help. Unfortunately, the only person who can help is Curtis. And now, not only has he stolen her dragon-slayer spot, but maybe her heart as well! Why does she think it's going to be a fairy bad day?
YA FIC AYA Ayarbe, Heidi Wanted
Sanctuary. A one-word text message: That's all Michal "Mike" Garcia needs to gather a crowd. Mike is a seventeen-year-old bookie, and Sanctuary is where she takes bets for anyone at Carson City High with enough cash. Her only rule: Never participate, never place a bet for herself.
Then Josh Ellison moves to town. He pushes Mike to live her life, to feel a rush of something—play the game, he urges, stop being a spectator. So Mike breaks her one rule. She places a bet, feels the rush. And loses. In an act of desperation, she and Josh—who has a sordid past of his own—concoct a plan: The pair will steal from Carson City's elite to pay back Mike's debt. Then they'll give the rest of their haul to those who need it most. How can burglary be wrong if they are making things right?