OELMA Conference Presentation: October 24, 2014

OELMA CONFERENCE: October 24, 2014

YA TITLES YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS

presented by

Krista Taracuk,

Retired high school librarian/State Library of Ohio Board Member

1.      Alexander, Kwame.  Crossover.  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 978-0-544-10771-7. On-the-court action is interspersed with real life tensions in this novel in verse. Twins Josh and Jordan Bell are basketball phenoms. As they grow older, they begin to grow apart. One shaves his head; one has long locks. One is more serious; one is more immature. One has a girlfriend; one is jealous of the girlfriend. Reluctant readers.

2.      Anderson, Laurie Halse. The Impossible Knife of Memory. Penguin Group. 978-1922182227. Hayley Rose says, "It was enough to make me want to flee into the mountains and live out my life as a hermit, as long as I could find a hideaway that had a decent public library within walking distance.” Hayley and her war hero father have hopscotched from town to town and have finally settled in one spot, but both live with the constant pain of her father’s PTSD.

3.      Armentrout, Jennifer L.  Don’t Look Back. Hyperion. 978-142317512-4. High school senior Samantha Franco was found wandering along the roadside. Bloody and dazed, she has no recollection of her previous life as a “Mean Girl.”  Most importantly, she has no idea where she left her best friend Cassie. Even when Cassie’s body is found, Sam can not remember anything—but the killer does. And he doesn’t want Sam to remember. Mystery thriller.

4.      Binns, Barbara A.  Minority of One.  AllTheColorsofLove Press.  9780988182127. Alone and lonely, Neill and Sheila are looking for someone who understands them when they connect in the least likely place, French classroom. Sheila is trying to find her way around her father’s suicide while Neill is trying to overcome his boyfriend’s rejection. Barbara Binns is one of the featured authors at this year’s OELMA conference.  LGBT. Reluctant readers.

5.      Brown, Pierce. Red Rising. Del Rey. 978-0-345-53978-6. For generations, the Reds have been told that they are the pioneers of Mars, making way for habitation. Sixteen year-old Darrow and his family know no other life than mining and Darrow is a highly touted driller called a Helldiver. After the death of his wife Eo, Darrow has the opportunity to seek revenge and finds out that for five hundred years his people have been slaves mining for fuel for all of mankind. For fans of The Hunger Games. Science fiction.

6.      Cardi, Annie. The Chance You Won’t Return. Candlewick Press. 978-0-7636-6292-9. Alex is struggling trying to keep the family together because her mom has had a nervous breakdown and thinks she’s Amelia Earhart. To top it off, she needs help passing driver’s ed.

7.      Casella, Jody. Thin Space. Simon Pulse/Beyond Words. 978-1582703923. Marshall Windsor is devastated over the loss of his twin brother in a car accident where Marsh was the driver.  Marsh has been trapped in a foggy haze of grief and remorse since that fateful night. The tension builds as Marsh frantically searches for that sliver of space between the living and the dead to meet up with Austin once again and make things right.  Identical twins often switch places so all Marsh has to do is convince Austin to switch places with him one more time.  Buy multiple copies of this supernatural thriller! Jody Casella is one of the featured authors at this year’s OELMA conference.

8.      Coben, Harlan.  Missing You. Dutton. 978-0-525-95349-4. For twenty years as a cop and a daughter, Kat Donovan has searched for her hero father’s murderer. Little does she know that a case involving almost 40 missing people will bring her to the very doorsteps of the killer. The reader won’t guess the identity of the killer until the very end of the book. Good choice for older readers (as well as adults) because of the size of the book.

9.      Cotugno, Katie.  How To Love.  Balzar + Bray.  978-0-06-221635-9.  Serena Montero has always loved Sawyer LaGrande, but has never let him really know.  She has also always wanted to travel and write, but those dreams are put on hold when sixteen year old Serena becomes pregnant with Sawyer’s baby. Addicted to pain killers, Sawyer suddenly leaves town and disappears completely. Just as Reena is finally getting her life together, Sawyer returns after an absence of two years.

10.  Ford, Gabrielle with Sarah Thomson.  Gabe & Izzy: Standing Up For America’s Bullied.  Puffin Books. 978-0-8037-4062-4.  Gabrielle Ford lived a normal until the age of 13 when she was diagnosed with the rare Friedreich’s Ataxia, a life-threatening disease of the nervous system. This book is for the bullied, the bully, a witness to bullying, or dog lovers in general as Gabe takes her story on the road.

11.  Grant, AnnaLisa. The Lake.  Layla has been orphaned twice and is once again relocating, this time from Florida to North Carolina to live with her unknown aunt and uncle. Although the main character, Layla Weston, is a 17 year old senior, the content and the situations of this book are very appropriate for a freshman. She falls in love with the first boy she meets in this simple romance. First book in the Lake Trilogy. Reluctant readers. FREE DOWNLOAD FROM AMAZON.

12.  Landers, Melissa. Alienated. Hyperion. 978-1-4231-7028-0. The term foreign exchange student takes on a whole new meaning when that person is a Liehr alien. Two years ago Liehr made contact with Earth; now they want to set up a student exchange program. The Liehrs need human emotion while humans need the scientific advances provided. Cara Sweeney has earned a scholarship and been chosen as one of the hosts but she must fight HALO (Humans Against Liehr Occupation). Can love overcome treachery and paranoia? Readers will eagerly anticipate the sequel. Science fiction.

13.  Maciel, Amanda. Tease. Balzer + Bray. 978-0-06-230530-5. So what’s the big deal that during junior year new student Emma Sluts-A-Lot Putnam killed herself? “Everyone” knew she was a boyfriend-stealing bitch and even after her death, she’s ruining Sara Wharton’s life. Sara doesn’t understand why she and four of her classmates have been charged in the death of Emma.  Now Sara must spend the summer before her senior year meeting with lawyers, seeing a therapist, attending summer school, and defending herself to the entire town.

14.  McGovern, Cammie. Say What You Will. Harper Teen. 978-0-06-227110-5. High school senior Amy has spent seventeen years trapped in a body because of cerebral palsy while Matthew has disabilities on the inside. Trapped by his obsessive compulsive behavior, Matt becomes an aide for his classmate Amy. What starts out as a job for Matt grows into friendship with each overlooking the physical and emotional hurdles in each other.

15.  Nelson, Jandy. I’ll Give you the Sun. Dial Books. 978-0-8037-3496-8. Inseparable twins Jude and Noah are torn apart by the tragic death of their mother.  The story is told in two parts, first by Jude and then by Noah. Each is hiding secrets from the other and they struggle to maintain their closeness. LGBT. Language. Situations.

16.  Oliver, Lauren. Panic.  Epicreads.  978-0-06-201455-9. Graduating seniors in the small town of Carp hold an annual challenge with a prize of $67,000. With the chance to escape their stifling small town, the contestants are challenged to such tasks as a walk across a plank between two water towers. Secrets, alliances, and fear will overcome the entire town as candidates are pushed to their limits.

17.  Prestsater, Julie. So I’m A Double Threat. Freshman Megan Miller and her three best buddies are super excited to start high school and experience everything it offers, especially when they make it into the IN crowd by being both smart and popular. Unfortunately, they hadn’t figured on the daily angst involved in high school life.  Language and realistic situations. Reluctant readers. (First book in Double Threat Series) FREE DOWNLOAD FROM AMAZON.

18.  Roberts, Robin with Veronica Chambers. Everybody’s Got Something. Grand Central Publishing. 978-1-4555-7845-0. Her mother always said, “Everybody’s got something, but they also have something to give.” Robin Roberts does just that by giving us a glimpse into her fight with breast cancer five years ago, the loss of her mother, and her fight with a rare blood disorder. Robin is a former college athlete, a former ESPN announcer and anchor, and now anchor for the number one morning show, Good Morning America.  In this wonderfully uplifting memoir, she talks about her faith, her family, her gay partner, and her friends. Memoir.

19.  Scott, Elizabeth.  Heart Beat. Harlequin Teen.  978-0-373-21096-1.  Seventeen year old Emma, the valedictorian candidate who always did the right thing, has realized that none of that matters.  All that matters is that her stepfather is keeping her dead mother hooked to give birth to their unborn son. Emma is barely operating through the fog of her grief when she runs into bad boy, Caleb Harrison, who is wading through his own struggle with anger and grief.

20.  Scottoline, Lisa.  Keep Quiet. St. Martin’s Press. 978-1-250-01009-4. Jake Buckman is hoping to reconnect with his 16 year old son, Ryan, and lets him illegally drive home from the movies. After Ryan hits and kills a woman, Jake decides that they should leave the scene and not tell anyone what happened. Mystery thriller.

21.  Shecter, Vicky Alverar.  Curses and Smoke: A Novel of Pompeii. Arthur A. Levine Books. 978-0-545-50993-0.  Lucia is a pawn in her father’s plan to get out of debt, while Tag is a slave whose only dream is to become a famous gladiator. The childhood friends are reunited as the city is beset with tremors of the forthcoming earthquake.  Historical fiction.

22.  Wolitzer, Meg. Belzhar.  Dutton. 978-0-525-42305-8. Devastated by the death of her boyfriend Reeve, Jam (short for Jamaica) is overcome with grief. Because they are unable to reach Jam during the following year, the Gallahue family has run out of options and sends her to The Wooden Barn to recuperate.  Jam has been assigned to the legendary class Special Topics in English with four other students.  The five students are assigned readings and journal writings on Sylvia Plath for the first semester. With no Internet and nowhere to go, the students delve into their journals, only to find another world opens to them. Fantasy.