Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

With five minutes before my kids got home for lunch and fifteen minutes before I had to head to work I was racing through the last few pages of Life As We Knew It. I really wanted to know how things were going to turn out for 16-year- old Miranda and her family who are trying to survive after a meteor knocks the moon into closer orbit to the earth, resulting in tsunamis, earthquakes, illness, and starvation (among other things).

As a reader, you know from page one that disaster is just around the corner. But of course, everyone is looking forward to viewing this night-time spectacle - many of Miranda's neighbours are hosting parties to coincide with the meteor's arrival. Maybe not such a bad idea, since no-one's going to be celebrating again for a long time - if ever.

As the year progresses, things get progressively worse for the family. While not directly affected by tsunamis, volcanoes erupting around the world block out the sun and cause food shortages. The local and national infrastructure is fractured and gradually oil, internet, radio, and medical help disappear. Through it all, life becomes increasingly precarious for the family but they are determined to survive if at all possible.

Dead Girls Don't Write Letters by Gail Giles

After Jazz supposedly dies in a fire, her mom sinks into a deep depression and her dad is drinking heavily. Younger sister Sunny is struggling to run the household and keep up with her school work. Then a letter arrives - supposedly from Jazz - saying that she is still alive and is coming home. Trouble is, the girl who shows up looks like Jazz, acts like Jazz, but isn't Jazz. Who is she and why is she doing this?

The plot of "Dead Girls" reminded me a lot of Lois Duncan but with more substance. The relationships between family members is what makes it stand above other books in the suspense genre. Although a quick read , Giles manages to convey a lot about the complex interactions between family members and between family members and the Jazz impersonator.

Named an American Library Association Quick Pick for Reluctant readers.

Keepers of the Flame by Jennifer Armstrong

Five years have passed since a virus killed most of the world's adults. The children who have not died, scavenge for food and shelter in the ruins of towns and cities. They cling to their memories of the pr-virus (fire-us) world, but these memories are distant and distorted. A small group of teens and children are travelling up the coast of Florida and for the first time in five years they have come across adults. Living in a mall, these adults welcome the group warmly and invite them to stay. However, there is something peculiar about these adults....

While this is a trilogy, it was easy to jump into book two without reading the first book. It's a great seat-of-pants adventure with some real depth to the characters and their will to survive.

The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

15-year-old twins, Sophie and Josh are working at summer jobs in San Francisco when they are inadvertently pulled into a struggle between alchemists Nicholas Flamel and John Dee for a book that will give immortality and unlimited power to whoever owns it. After a fierce battle in a bookstore, the twins flee for safety with Flamel. But is he really concerned for their well-being and the survival of humanity or does he have a much darker agenda, as Dee suggests? Lots of action, lots of great fantasy.

Those Who Hunt the Night by Barbara Hambly

Someone is killing the vampires of London, England by exposing them to sunlight while they rest and then draining their blood. Simon Ysibro, who has been a vampire since before the Renaissance, wants to know who is responsible for these murders. Because he and his cohorts must avoid daylight, he seeks the assistance of James Asher, former agent for the British government, currently an Oxford professor. To Asher, the vampires are monsters, and deserve their fate. But Asher agrees to search for the murderer, since Ysibro has threatened to harm his wife if he refuses.

Hambly successfully creates an eery1907 London and Paris with flickering gaslight, swirling fog, and shadowy characters. Her vampires are indeed murderers - not exactly the type you'd want to invite to dinner. But they are not card-board characters - Ysibro especially, exibits a certain faded old-world charm and noblesse oblige. Nor are the humans two-dimensional. As a government agent, Asher has committed acts which make him wonder if he is any better than the vampires. A word about Asher's wife Lydia - she is a brave, intelligent woman who is willing to take things into her own hands. For those who can't stomach Bella, from the Twilight series, she comes as a welcome changes.

A good book for teens who enjoy the vampire genre.

Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman

Shawn has cerebral palsy. He is unable to dress himself, feed himself, or communicate with anyone, due to the severity of his condition. He has frequent seizures. Specialists have determined that he has the mental capacity of a three-month-old baby. But locked inside this unresponsive body is a highly intelligent teenager. As an observer of life he is humorous, astute, sometimes wise - mostly however, he is a fourteen-year-old boy. Because people think that he is in a near-vegetative state, they say an awful lot of things in front of him that they might not otherwise say. And one of the things that he seems to be hearing is that his dad might kill him, because he believes that Shawn's life is tragic and painful.

This is a lovely little book - there are no black and whites in this story - no villains - no heroes. A good book to provoke thought and discussion.

London Calling by Edward Bloor

Martin hates the private school he is attending. Henry Lowery and his gang are bullying him, but school officials won't help because Henry's family donates much-needed money to the school. When a bullying incident leads to a statue of Henry's great-grandfather, World War 2 hero General "Hollerin' Hank" Lowery, being damaged, Martin and his friends are unfairly blamed. Depressed, Martin retreats to his basement bedroom feeling that his life has no purpose, but when he inherits a 1940's radio from his grandmother his , perspective begins to change.

As he is drifting off to sleep one night, he hears the voice of a little boy over the radio, and suddenly he finds himself in London England during the blitz. Jimmy needs his help but for what?

This is a marvelous book on many. It gives young readers a gripping glimpse of a period in London's history where every moment of life to mattered because it was so precarious. It provides reflection on the nature of history - who determines how it will be seen by future generations. And it is shows a boy learning to determine his own path in life rather one that has been determined by others. Oh yes - and all written beautifully