Unwind
by Neal Shusterman
The Second Civil War
was fought over reproductive rights. The chilling resolution: Life is
inviolable from the moment of conception until age thirteen. Between
the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, parents can have their child
"unwound," whereby all of the child's organs are transplanted into
different donors, so life doesn't technically end. Connor is too
difficult for his parents to control. Risa, a ward of the state is not
enough to be kept alive. And Lev is a tithe, a child conceived and
raised to be unwound. Together, they may have a chance to escape and to
survive.
Incarceron
by Catherine Fisher
Incarceron -- a
futuristic prison, sealed from view, where the descendants of the
original prisoners live in a dark world torn by rivalry and savagery. It
is a terrifying mix of high technology -- a living building which
pervades the novel as an ever-watchful, ever-vengeful character, and a
typical medieval torture chamber -- chains, great halls, dungeons. A
young prisoner, Finn, has haunting visions of an earlier life, and
cannot believe he was born here and has always been here. In the outer
world, Claudia, daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, is trapped in her
own form of prison -- a futuristic world constructed beautifully to look
like a past era, an imminent marriage she dreads. She knows nothing of
Incarceron, except that it exists. But there comes a moment when Finn,
inside Incarceron, and Claudia, outside, simultaneously find a device --
a crystal key, through which they can talk to each other. And so the
plan for Finn's escape is born
Graceling
by Kristin Cashore
Katsa has been able to
kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight—she’s a Graceling,
one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece
of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced
as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug.
When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no
hint of how her life is about to change. She never expects to become
Po’s friend. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own
Grace—or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a
secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.
Uglies
by Scott Westerfeld
Everybody gets to be
supermodel gorgeous. What could be wrong with that? Tally is about to
turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- for turning
pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation
that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty
and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to
have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.
But
Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather
risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a
whole new side of the pretty world and it isn't very pretty. The
authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her
friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally
makes changes her world forever.
City of Bones
by Cassandra Clare
When fifteen-year-old
Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she
hardly expects to witness a murder -- much less a murder committed by
three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre
weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the
police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there
is nothing -- not even a smear of blood -- to show that a boy has died.
Or was he a boy?
This is Clary's first meeting with the
Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's
also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little
like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary
is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother
disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would
demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And
how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to
know. . . .
Fresh Vegetable Soup
