From Tayshas List 2018 and Other YA Favorites:
April 2018
I read Thunder Head by Neal Shusterman, the sequel to Scythe. What an ending! What a cliffhanger! I can't bear the wait until the third book is released.
March 2018
I read Dear Martin (a Tayshas book) by Nic Stone. Very powerful, moving, surprising, gripping book.
I read Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds (not a Tayshas book but it should be). Very powerful. Very quick read because it's written in verse (think poetry). The cover art matches the content of the book perfectly.
I read Piecing Me Together (a Tayshas book) by Renรฉe Watson over Spring Break. What a great book! There's a common theme with some of these books - African American teen from poor neighborhood goes to school in wealthy neighborhood and struggles with who he or she is supposed to be.
February 2018
I read The Door to January by Gillian French. This is a short, quick read. It's part survival story, part ghost story.
I read The Disappearance by Gillian Chan. Fascinating mix of a post-child abuse survival and fantasy/mystery story. A quick read.
I read Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. Unusual science fiction book. Good moral about overcoming differences between groups. It feels like the main character was from Africa, but in a future when people travel between planets. A short, quick read, but lots of math (this is where the unusual comes in).
I read The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate (not a Tayshas book but it did win the Newbery Medal a few years ago). Very touching and heartwarming story.
I read The Hate You Give (a Tayshas book) by Angie Thomas. Hugely emotional and raw. A must-read. Soon to be a movie.
I read Turtles All the Way Down (a Tayshas book) by John Green. Frustrating in its realness with regards to OCD (look it up) and anxiety. Very good book. A little romance, a lot of angst. A good starter for an important discussion on mental health issues.
January 2018
I read The Detour by S.A. Bodeen. Kept my attention. Good suspense story, but could be better.
I read Count All Her Bones by April Henry. She is a fantastic writer who has written award-winning books. Gripping suspense story that keeps you guessing. I'll give you a clue - a blind girl drives a car.
November 2017
I read Sparks of Light by Janet B. Taylor, the sequel to Into the Dim. It was very interesting, a wonderful combination of history, action, romance, and suspense.
October 2017
I read Decelerate Blue by Adam Rapp, a fascinating graphic novel about a futuristic world where everything moves very quickly: people talk fast, work fast, etc. This one girl is recruited by a sub-culture that just wants to takes things slow.
I read Spill Zone by Scott Westerfeld, a dystopic graphic novel about a future city that has been contaminated by some sort of toxin. Our protagonist goes into the spill zone, very carefully, and takes amazing photographs for money. A very quick read.
May 2017
I just finished reading Scythe (now a Tayshas book) by Neal Shusterman. It's almost 10:30 on a school night, but I just couldn't put it down. Mr. Shusterman is an amazing storyteller, and this new series proves to be quite exciting already. What if technology had advanced so far that no one could die anymore? Instead, to control the population and to maintain some sense of normalcy, a select group of people called Scythes gleaned selected people according to a yearly quota. This book introduces you to two apprentices Scythes and takes you on a journey with them. I can't wait for the next book in the series.
From Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
From Tayshas List 2017:
May 8, 2017
I tried to read The Memory Book by Lara Avery, about a girl who has a terrible disease where she's going to lose her memory so she's writing everything down so she'll remember it later. I gave up today because it was too detailed and too hard to plod through it. It got great reviews, and someone else might love it. But I was having difficulty getting through it. So I skipped to the end to at least get an idea of how it ends. It seems to have a satisfying and poignant ending. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
April 3, 2017
I just finished reading Flawed by Cecilia Ahern. So good! At first, the plot frustrated me because it's about a society where everyone must be perfect and if you make one mistake, one error in judgement, you are deemed to be Flawed and are branded and punished for life. But then, I was pulled into the story and hooked. The ending leaves you yearning for the sequel, which is already available. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
March 11, 2017
I just finished reading Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow. A very powerful book. It's about self-harm and survival, about finding your voice and your place in this world. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
March 3, 2017
I just finished reading Into the Dim by Janet B. Taylor. So good! It's about time travelers. It has romance, history, science fiction, and suspense. If you've ever heard of The Outlanders series by Diana Gabaldan, I think it's like that. But I bet it's better! The sequel comes out in August. I can hardly wait. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
February 21, 2017
I just finished reading The Call by Peadar O'Guilin. It was a gripping, fascinating story set in Ireland. It was a fairy tale of sorts, but in this story the fairies are evil and steal teenagers away to the Grey Land for 3 minutes and 4 seconds of terror and pain. This is a story of victims but also survivors. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
Other YA Favorites:
June 3, 2017
I just finished reading In the Woods by Tana French, a modern-day mystery set in Ireland. It was very good, gripping and fascinating. It read like an autobiography, like it was real and not fiction. The ending was a little less than satisfactory. There was some language, but overall this work of adult fiction is quite appropriate for a young adult audience. Many adult authors do that, write for adults but crossover into YA. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
May 18, 2017
I just finished reading The Haven by Carol Lynch Williams. Imagine a world where you seem to be safe but you aren't. Where you are well fed and educated but you feel no emotions. What if everything you've been told is a lie? What if you think you have a terminal illness and that's why you live in this protected hospital, but the truth is something else entirely? That's the world that is vividly portrayed in this gripping dystopic book. I enjoyed it very much. I wish there was a sequel. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
May 5, 2017
I just finished reading Perfect by Cecilia Ahern, the sequel to Flawed. I loved it. I hated to stop reading it but couldn't read much at work so I had to wait and read in the evenings. This book concluded the series and the ending was very satisfying. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
April 5, 2017
I just finished reading A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, which is based on a true story about the Lost Boys of South Sudan. During the war that began in 1983, many people were displaced from their homes, including boys and young men who did not want to be forced to fight or even killed. So they walked across South Sudan and into Ethiopia and Kenya to find refuge. Their journey was difficult and dangerous, and so the story was very fascinating. It is a very quick read and I highly recommend it. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
March 16, 2017
I just finished reading The Bodies We Wear by Jeyn Roberts. It's about a girl who survived a drug overdose that was forced on her. Her best friend wasn't so lucky. And now she's spent six year yearning for revenge. Will it be worth it? Or will it destroy what's left of her life. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
February 6, 2017
I just finished reading Spinning Starlight by R.C. Lewis, the same author that wrote Stitching Snow. It was another fascinating, futuristic, other worldly, technological, science fiction adaptation of a fairy tale. This time it was an adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson's The Wild Swans, which I was unfamiliar with. It was a very good story and I hope the author writes another one. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
January 28, 2017
I just finished reading another terrific book by April Henry. The Girl I Used to Be is on the Lone Star list for 6th - 9th graders this year. It was a fascinating read about a girl whose parents were murdered. She was only 3 at the time and doesn't remember them or their deaths. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
December 14, 2016
I read Stitching Snow by R.C. Lewis. It was a fascinating sci-fi adaptation of Snow White. Instead of seven dwarfs, there were seven drones (robots). It has a companion book (not a sequel). - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
September 10, 2016
I just finished reading Evil Librarian by Michelle Knudsen. On a Saturday. When I could have been doing anything else, but instead I was reading. It was that captivating. And yes, the librarian really was evil. But there was also humor and drama and romance. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
July 22, 2016
I just finished reading Hungry by Heather Swain. In Thalia's world, there is no more food and no need for food, as everyone takes medication to ward off hunger. But when she meets a boy who is part of an underground movement to bring food back, she realizes that the meds are not working anymore. I enjoyed reading this book because I enjoy dystopic stories, but also because of the realistic relationship between Thalia and Basil and her desire to do what's right. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
April 13, 2016
I just finished reading Zom-B: Goddess, the 12th and final book in the series by Darren Shan. I loved it! I won't give it away except to say that it had a really satisfying ending. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
February 5, 2016
I just finished reading Memory of Water by Emmi Itaranta. This book is set in an imagined future where the icecaps have melted, flooding cities along the coastal regions, yet fresh water on the earth is scarce and controlled by the military. Wars have taken place over oil, which is now gone. People use sunlight for power. The story is told from the point of view of an apprentice tea master, a tradition passed down through families and generations. Tea and water are very important in this story. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
January 25, 2016
I recently reread The Scorch Trials by James Dashner because I saw the movie and it was very different from the book, so I wanted to read it again. Then I read The Death Cure, which is the third book in the trilogy. It was very good. I felt very satisfied at the conclusion (and that's all I'm going to say.) - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
November 18, 2015
I just finished reading Period.8 by Chris Crutcher. This guy is a phenomenal writer. I recommend all his books. This particular book is about a guy called Paulie who has a class in the middle of the day called Period.8. It's like a discussion group/lunch bunch thing where kids meet with a teacher named Mr. Logdon and talk. A girl who attends the class goes missing and afterward a lot of secrets start to surface at school and in the town, and eventually things get dangerous for anyone who knows anything about it. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
November 13, 2015
I just finished reading We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach. It's about some kids in high school reacting to the imminent threat of an asteroid colliding with the earth in a couple months. It's told in alternating perspectives. The kids are realistically portrayed and not everything about their personalities or lifestyles is "nice". In fact, the book gets a little depressing as people destroy Seattle, where the story takes place, because they have nothing left to lose. But the story had an undercurrent of hope throughout, all the way to the end. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
November 6, 2015
I just finished reading Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis. It was the author's debut novel and it was really well-written and interesting. It was about a girl who lives out in the country with her mom protecting their pond during a time when water is scarce. Every day for her consisted of lying on the roof, aiming a rifle at strangers, and picking them off if they came near her pond. For years, the only person she knew was her mom, but then she lets other people into her life. I really enjoyed this book. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
November 3, 2015
I just finished reading Zom-B: Fugitive, the 11th book in the series by Darren Shan. Now I have to wait a while for the 12th and last book in the Zom-B series to arrive. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
October 19, 2015
I just finished reading Shade's Children by Garth Nix. He wrote one of the short stories in After, and it was set about 10 years prior to Shade's Children, so I had to read this book to find out more about the story. It was very good, despite being written back in 1997. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
October 14, 2015
I just finished reading After: Nineteen Stories of Apocalypse and Dystopia, edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. This was an excellent collection of short stories. When I finished the book, I almost wanted to read it again. I probably will someday. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
April 24, 2015
I just finished reading the 4th book in the Unwind Dystology by Neal Shusterman. It's called UnDivided. I didn't even know there was going to be a 4th book. I felt like the series had reached some kind of conclusion a year ago when I read the 3rd book. But now after reading UnDivided, I definitely see why we needed one more book to wrap everything up neatly and satisfactorily. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
December 4, 2014
I just read a very quick book called Pale by Chris Wooding. Here's a synopsis from Goodreads: "The Lazarus Serum can bring you back from the dead - but when you come back you've changed - you're a Pale, an outcast. It's the last thing Jed wants, but an accident changes everything and Jed's forced to discover the true cost of living forever." I enjoyed the story, although it only took me about an hour to read. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
October 22, 2014
I just finished reading Zom-B by Darren Shan. Mr. Shan is known as the Master of Horror, so I'd never read anything by him before. But I was interested in finding out what his zombie series was like, since we have eight of the books in the series. I was pulled in by the descriptions of the zombie killings at the beginning of the book, but also by the description of the dysfunctional family that our main character is a part of. And I was intrigued by her recurring nightmare and how it might be connected to the zombie apocalypse in the story. Now I guess I have to finish the series. (Between October and February I managed to find time to read eight books. Then in March and April I read two more. That makes 10 in all!) - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
October 18, 2014
I just finished reading The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey. This is really an adult fiction book instead of a YA book, but I can see how it has appealed to many young adults. It's about what could happen if a zombie-like virus spread through the population, and the infected were "hungry" for human flesh. It was very gripping and exciting. But also very scientific, with a very detailed cranial dissection described early on in the book. The main character is a young girl named Melanie, and her internal monologue draws you in so that you spend the entire book rooting for her to survive and thrive. The ending was a surprise to me. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
July 2, 2014
I just finished reading the books in The Testing trilogy: The Testing, Independent Study, and Graduation Day, all by Joelle Charbonneau. The first book is on the Lone Star recommended reading list. All three are exciting, riveting, fast-paced books of dystopian fiction featuring a strong female protagonist. I highly recommend this series! Anyone would enjoy reading these books. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
June 25, 2014
I just finished reading the first and second novels about Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. In Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, we meet Jacob and a group of peculiar children - peculiar meaning that each one has special abilities. And we find out that they are in danger because of their abilities. In Hollow City, the second book, they have escaped their island home in Wales, which was destroyed by a bomb during WWII, and they make it to London to save their headmistress who is trapped in the form of a bird. These books are very exciting and fascinating, and the stories are enhanced with old black and white photographs of unusual people and places. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
March 5, 2014
Last night I finished reading UnSouled, Book 3 in the Unwind Dystology by Neal Shusterman. I was so eager to continue reading and find out the ending of the three books. While it does end, it wasn't completely satisfying. I won't tell you any more about that. I will tell you that if you haven't read these books, you really should. They begin with Unwind, and they are gripping and challenge you to think about ethics and society and horrifying possibilities that should never become reality. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
Dec 19, 2013
I just finished reading The Fallout by S.A. Bodeen, the long-awaited sequel to The Compound. Both books are exciting, fascinating stories about a boy whose father kept his family in an underground compound for six years, making them believe the world had been destroyed. And The Fallout deals with what the family goes through after escaping the compound and trying to have normal lives again. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
Oct 28, 2013
I just finished reading Allegiant, the last book from the Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth. I highly recommend this dystopic series - it has something for everyone: adventure, suspense, romance, violence, betrayal, action, friendship, and hope. Read it before the movie comes out! - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
Oct 16, 2013
I just finished reading Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach, which was this year's secondary choice for the Global Read-Aloud. I'm kind of glad now that we decided not to participate in the Global Read-Aloud because there was some profanity in the book. Otherwise, I enjoyed the book and was invested in the main character and his struggles and really wanted to finish the book to see how it would all turn out for him. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
Sep 15, 2013
I just finished reading Reached, the last book in the Matched Trilogy by Ally Condie: "In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die." - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
From Tayshas List 2015:
June 4, 2015
I just finished reading And We Stay by Jenny Hubbard. In this book, Emily goes away to boarding school and has to deal with the emotional aftermath of her boyfriend bringing a gun to school and killing himself. He did it in the library of her old school, so whenever she visits the library at her new school, she refers to it as the "lieberry". - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
May 30, 2015
I just finished reading Fake ID by Lamar Giles. This book was about a teenager named Nick (at least that's his most recent name) who's in the Witness Protection Program with his family. They move to a new town and he meets a friend who runs the school newspaper. Then it starts to get really interesting. This book has murder, intrigue, drama, and excitement. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
May 21, 2015
I just finished reading Girls Like Us by Gail Giles. It's about two girls who were in the Special Education program in school, and now they've graduated and are sharing an apartment. It's told in alternating short chapters for each character and is about what life is really like for them. It gets a bit intense but has an ending that leaves you feeling good. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
May 18, 2015
I just finished reading Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer. It's about a girl named Jam from New Jersey who is sent away to a therapeutic boarding school in Vermont for "fragile" teens, according to the brochure. Then she attends her first period class, Special Topics in English, and her life will never be the same. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
May 13, 2015
I just finished reading When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds. It was a really good book about friendship and family and fighting for what's right. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
May 11, 2015
I tried to read Perfectly Good White Boy by Carrie Mesrobian, but it had too many cuss words in just the first three pages for me to feel like I could get through the whole book. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
May 8, 2015
I just finished reading Coaltown Jesus by Ron Koertge. Each chapter is like a little poem. It's about what it might be like if Jesus appeared in your bedroom one day and talked with you and walked around with you. It was funny, irreverent, and touching. And it was a very quick read. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
May 7, 2015
I just finished reading The Vanishing Season by Jodi Lynn Anderson. This was a really good book about friendship and love and loss. It was both romantic and mysterious. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
May 5, 2015
I just finished reading Bird Box by Josh Malerman. Imagine a world where you can't leave your house without a blindfold on, where you can't look out your windows for fear you'll see something that will drive you so crazy that you'll kill yourself. That's the world Mallory lives in. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
May 4, 2015
I just read the book She is Not Invisible in one day. It was that fascinating. It's about a blind sixteen-year-old who travels from England to New York City with her seven-year-old brother. At first I couldn't put the book down because I wanted to see how she would make it to New York with just her little brother to help her. Then I had to keep reading because she believed her father was in trouble (that's why she made the trip) and I wanted to know if she would find him and how everything would work out. Some of the book was very scientific and detailed, but if you don't mind that, then the story itself was interesting and fairly suspenseful. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
April 29, 2015
I just finished reading Rotten by Michael Northrop. It's a quick read and very interesting. It's about a sixteen year old boy who goes by JD who comes home from a summer "upstate" to find out that his Mom rescued a Rottweiler while he was gone. But things go downhill when the dog, that he named JR, short for Johnny Rotten, bites someone. I had to find out what was going to happen to JD and his dog. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
From Tayshas List 2014:
May 27, 2014
I just finished reading Earth Girl by Janet Edwards. It started off a little slowly, but then the excitement built until I couldn't put it down. Jarra is an eighteen year old girl living on Earth in the year 2788. She has a birth defect that won't allow her to portal to other planets like most other "normal" people can. And she loves history. So she enrolls in a university program on Earth with "normal" people from other planets, but without revealing her handicap to them. I loved the archeological aspects of the story, the futuristic utopian society, and the romance. I think you'll like it, too. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
May 6, 2014
I just finished reading If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch. Wow. This is a really powerful story told in first-person that reads like an autobiography. It tells the story of a fourteen year old girl and her six year old sister who had been abandoned at their campsite in the woods by their bipolar, meth-addicted mother. Luckily, her father and a social worker find them and the story just continues from there. "This is one of the best books I've ever read.", said the student I recommended it to, and I have to agree. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
May 2, 2014
I just finished reading The Sin Eater's Confession by Ilsa J. Bick. I won't give anything away except to tell you that the main character, Ben, is not actually a sin-eater. But he does do something that a lot of us have done, which is to keep something buried deep inside you even though it almost makes you sick and crazy to think about it. This was a really interesting page-turner that I couldn't wait to finish so I would know everything Ben knew. I think anyone would enjoy the suspense and the emotion of this book, but maybe especially male readers. But I don't know that for sure since I'm obviously a female. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
April 1, 2014
I just finished reading All the Truth That's in Me by Julie Berry. The setting of the story is long ago, but the yearnings in this girl's heart are current. She vanished from her village for two years and returned without her tongue, seemingly unable to speak. The story is told from the thoughts of her point of view, written as if directed to the boy next door who she has always loved. This book was recommended to me, and I recommend it to you. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
Feb 6, 2014
I just finished reading The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die by April Henry. This book is a fast read, mostly because it hooks you and won't let you stop reading until you finish the story and know whether the main character and her family are going to be okay. I highly recommend anything by this author. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
From Tayshas List 2013:
Nov 22, 2013
I just finished reading A Certain October by Angela Johnson. Ms. Johnson writes with feeling and realism and allows you inside the head and heart of the main character in a very believable way that makes you empathize with this person and root for their success. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
Nov 19, 2013
I just finished reading The Raft by S.A. Bodeen. The book starts out a little slowly, but then the suspense quickly builds until you can't put it down. It is a story of courage and survival with an emotional ending. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
Nov 8, 2013
I just finished reading The Night She Disappeared by April Henry. Told from alternating character points of view, this is a real page-turner about a girl who was kidnapped and the people who are trying to find her. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
Nov 5, 2013
I just finished reading The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. It was one of those stories that will stay with me for a long time. I laughed. I cried. Literally. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
Feb 13, 2013
I just finished reading The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. Wow, that was an incredible story about mythical water horses who come up out of the water each fall on this island and people train them and race them. But riding them and racing them are very dangerous because they will bite people and even kill them, or they will fight other horses, or turn and go back into the sea. The book is written in two different points of view, a boy and a girl. I highly recommend reading this book! - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
From Tayshas List 2012:
Nov 5, 2012
I just finished I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced. Wow! I am so impressed with the bravery of that little girl to stand up to her husband, her family, and her culture and demand a divorce. I expect that this girl will accomplish great things as an adult besides what she has already done for other women as a child. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
Aug 3, 2012
I just finished The Space Between Trees by Katie Williams. The protagonist and narrator, Evie, is a very different kind of character than you usually read about, but she was also very real. She didn't have friends so she made up believable stories to get attention. After a childhood friend, Elizabeth or Zabet, is murdered in the woods, Evie befriends that girl's best friend and together they try to figure out who killed her. This friend, Hadley, is angry and troubled by her own demons. The story kept my attention and had me hoping that things would turn out well in the end for all concerned. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
Jun 23, 2012
Yesterday I read Blank Confession by Pete Hautman. This book was a fairly quick read and it kept my attention the whole time. The chapters switched point of view which also helped keep it fast-paced. The ending was somewhat unexpected. I enjoyed this story of teen vigilante justice. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
Jun 23, 2012
I just recently finished Hothouse by Chris Lynch. It was very interesting. It has a very strong male point of view but I could still relate to the main character. His Dad was a firefighter and local hero who died with another firefighter while putting out a fire. The other firefighter's son is also a main character and the two boys renew their childhood friendship while dealing with their grief and loss and with the investigation of the fire. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian
May 2, 2012
I just read Trapped by Michael Northrop. OMG, I actually gave up TV to finish it. It was hilariously funny at times, which makes sense considering that it's told from the point of view of a 15 year old boy trapped in his high school with 6 other kids during a blizzard. You should read some of the stuff they had to do to survive. - Miss Middleton, DHS Librarian