Mrs. Rein’s Recommendations
Every Exquisite Thingby Mathew QuickREALISTIC FICTION
Nanette O'Hare is an unassuming teen who has played the role of dutiful daughter, hardworking student, and star athlete for as long as she can remember. But when a beloved teacher gives her his worn copy ofa mysterious, out-of-print cult classic--the rebel within Nanette awakens.As she befriends the reclusive author, falls in love with a young but troubled poet, and attempts to insert her true self into the world with wild abandon, Nanette learns the hard way that rebellion sometimes comes at a high price.
Hunter by Mercedes LackeyFANTASY
Long ago, the barriers between our world and the Otherworld were ripped open, and it's taken centuries to bring back civilization in the wake. Now, the luckiest Cits live in enclosed communities, behind walls that keep them safe from the hideous monsters fighting to break through. Others are not so lucky. To Joyeaux Charmand, who has been a Hunter in her tight-knit mountain community since she was a child, every Cit without magic deserves her protection from dangerous Othersiders, whatever that might cost her.
I am Princess X by Cherie PriestMYSTERY/ PART GRAPHIC NOVEL
Years after writing stories about a superheroine character she created with a best friend who died in a tragic car accident, 16-year-old May is shocked to see stickers, patches and graffiti images of the heroine appearing all over town. It turns out there's an entire underground culture, focused around a webcomic at IAmPrincessX.com. The more May explores the webcomic, the more she sees disturbing similarities between Libby's story and Princess X online. And that means that only one person could have started this phenomenon---her best friend, Libby, who lives.
Everybody Sees the Antsby A. S. KingFICTION/BULLYING
Lucky Linderman didn't ask for his life. He didn't ask for a lot of things. And he didn't ask to be the target of Nader McMillan's relentless bullying, which has finally gone too far. But Lucky has a secret--one that helps him wade through the daily mundane torture of his life. In his dreams, Lucky escapes to the war-ridden jungles of Laos--the prison his grandfather couldn't escape--where Lucky can be a real man, an adventurer, and a hero. It's dangerous and wild, and it's a place where his life just might be worth living. But how long can Lucky keep hiding in his dreams before reality forces its way inside?
Last Seen Leavingby Caleb Roehrig MYSTERY
Flynn's girlfriend, January, is missing. The cops are asking question he can't answer, and her friends are telling stories that don't add up. All eyes are on Flynn--as January's boyfriend, he must know something.But Flynn has a secret of his own. And as he struggles to uncover the truth about January's disappearance, he must also face the truth about himself.
Zeroes by Scott WesterfeldACTION ADVENTURE/ SCI-FI
Told from separate viewpoints, teens Scam, Crash, Flicker, Anonymous, Bellwether, and Kelsie, all born in the year 2000 and living in Cambria, California, have superhuman abilities that give them interesting but not heroic lives. Take Ethan, a.k.a. Scam. He's got a voice inside him that'll say whatever you want to hear, whether it's true or not. This is handy, except when it isn't—like when the voice starts gabbing in the middle of a bank robbery. The only people who can help are the other Zeroes, who aren't exactly best friends these daysuntil they must work as a community to respond to a high stakes crisis.
The Stranger Game by Cylin BusbyMYSTERY
When Nico Morris's older sister mysteriously disappears, her parents, family, and friends are devastated. But Nico can never admit what she herself feels: relief at finally being free of Sarah's daily cruelties. Then the best and worst thing happens: four years later, after dozens of false leads, Sarah is found. But this girl is much changed from the one Nico knew. Sarah's retrograde amnesia has caused her to forget almost everything about her life, from small things like the plots of her favorite books and her tennis game to the more critical—where she's been the last four years and what happened at the park on the fateful day she vanished.
Girl About Town by Adam Shankman ROMANCE/MYSTERY
Not too long ago, Lucille O'Malley was living in a tenement in New York. Now she's Lulu Kelly, Hollywood's newest It Girl. She may be a star, but she worries that her past will catch up with her. Back in New York she witnessed a Mafia murder, and this glamorous new life in Tinseltown is payment for her silence. Dashing Freddie van der Waals, the only son of a New York tycoon, was a playboy with the world at his feet. But when he discovered how his corrupt father really made the family fortune, Freddie abandoned his billions and became a vagabond. When fate brings Lulu and Freddie together, sparks fly—and gunshots follow.But can they escape their pasts and finally find the Hollywood ending they long for?
Wolf by Wolf by Ryan GraudinFANTASY/HISTORICAL FICTION
Inmate 121358?X. That’s the designation Yael was given in a concentration camp as a child. She still has those numbers, but Experiment 85 also gave her shape-shifting abilities—and a powerful desire to seek revenge on the Führer. In an alternate version of 1956 where the Axis powers won WWII, and hold an annual motorcycle race across their conjoined continents to commemorate their victor, Yael is burdened with the task of killing Hitler. Her abilities allow her to get close- if she wins.
The Leaving by Tara AltebrandoTHRILLER
Eleven years ago, six kindergartners went missing without a trace. Todayfiveof those kids return. They're sixteen, and they are . . . fine. Scarlett comes home and finds a mom she barely recognizes, and doesn't really recognize the person she's supposed to be, either. But she thinks she remembers Lucas. Lucas remembers Scarlett, too, except they're entirely unable to recall where they've been or what happened to them. But as details of the disappearance begin to unfold, no one is prepared for the truth.
Lab Girl by Hope JahrenBIOLOGY/MEMOIR
Acclaimed scientist Hope Jahren has built three laboratories in which she's studied trees, flowers, seeds, and soil. Lab Girlis a book about work, love, and the mountains that can be moved when those two things come together. It is told through Jahren's remarkable stories: about her childhood in rural Minnesota with an uncompromising mother and a father who encouraged hours of play in his classroom's labs; about how she found a sanctuary in science, and learned to perform lab work done "with both the heart and the hands"; and about the inevitable disappointments, but also the triumphs and exhilarating discoveries, of scientific work.
The Weight of Feathers by Anne-Marie MclemoreFANTASY/ROMANCE
For twenty years, the Palomas and the Corbeaus have been rivals and enemies, locked in an escalating feud for over a generation. Both families make their living as traveling performers in competing shows-the Palomas swimming in mermaid exhibitions, the Corbeaus, performing in the tallest trees they can find.
Lace Paloma may be new to her family's show, but she knows as well as anyone that the Corbeaus are pure black magic from the devil himself. Simply touching one could mean death. But when disaster strikes, it's a Corbeau boy, Cluck, who saves Lace's life. And his touch immerses her in the world of the Corbeaus, where falling for him could turn his own family against him, and one misstep can be just as dangerous on the ground as it is in the trees.
Dumpling by Julie Murphy REALISTIC FICTION/SELF ESTEEM
Willowdean has always been at home in her own skin. What are her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American-beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked . . . until Will takes a job at Harpy's, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn't surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Teen Blue Bonnet Pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any twiggy girl does.
As I Descended by Robin TalleyCLASSIC RETELLING/LGBTQ
Maria Lyon and Lily Boiten are their school's ultimate power couple—but one thing stands between them and their perfect future: campus superstar Delilah Dufrey-the presumptive winner of the distinguished Cawdor Kingsley Prize. But Delilah doesn't know that Lily and Maria are willing to do anything—absolutely anything—to unseat Delilah for the scholarshipTogether, Maria and Lily harness the dark power long rumored to be present on the former plantation that houses their school. But when feuds turn to fatalities, and madness begins to blur the distinction between what's real and what's imagined, the girls must attempt to put a stop to the chilling series of events they've accidentally set in motion.
The Pact bySampson DavisOVERCOMING ADVERSITY/ MEMOIR
Three doctors grew up in the streets of Newark,facing city life's temptations, pitfalls, even jail. But one day these three young men made a pact. They promised each other they would all become doctors, and stick it out together through the long, difficult journey to attaining that dream. Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt are not only friends to this day--they are all doctors.
This is a story about joining forces and beating the odds. A story about changing your life, and the lives of those you love most... together.
Pasadena by Sherri SmithTHRILLER
When Jude's best friend is found dead in a swimming pool, her family calls it an accident. Her friends call it suicide. But Jude calls it what it is- murder. Now everyone is a suspect-family and friends alike. And Jude is digging up the past like bones from a shallow grave. He will do anything to get closer to the truth, but that's the thing about secrets. Once they start turning up, nothing is sacred. And Jude's got a few skeletons of her own. Pasadenais a tale of love, damage and salvation set against the backdrop of California's City of Roses.
Half Bad by Sally Green FANTASY
Sixteen-year-old Nathan lives in a cage: beaten, shackled and trained to kill. In a modern-day England where two warring factions of witches live amongst humans, Nathan is an abomination, the illegitimate son of the world's most terrifying and violent witch, Marcus. Nathan's only hope for survival is to escape his captors, track down Marcus, and receive the three gifts that will bring him into his own magical powers--before it's too late. But how can Nathan find his father when his every action is monitored, when there is no one safe to trust, not even family and not even the girl he loves?
Ashes byIlsa Bick DYSTOPIAN/ADVENTURE
An electromagnetic pulse flashes across the sky, destroying every electronic device, wiping out every computerized system, and killing billions. When it happens, Alex was hiking in the woods to say good-bye to her dead parents and her personal demons. Now desperate to find out what happened after the pulse crushes her to the ground, Alex meets up with Tom--a young soldier--and Ellie, a girl whose grandfather was killed by the EMP. With this improvised family and the others who are spared, it's now a question of who can be trusted and who is no longer human.
The Thousandth Floor by Katherine McGee DYSTOPIAN/SCI- FI
A hundred years in the future, New York is a city of innovation and dreams.Leda Cole's flawless exterior hides a secret addiction to something she never should have tried and a boy she never should have touched.Eris, Rylin, and Wattalso cross perilous lines both above and below, but living above everyone else on the thousandth floor is Avery Fuller, the girl genetically designed to be perfect. The girl who seems to have it all—yet is tormented by the one thing she can never have.
Stop by the library anytime to check one of the books out!