Crossed

This sequel to Matched by Ally Condie is sure to please fans of Cassia--the main character from the first book. Originally matched to spend the rest of her life with her long time friend Ky, Cassia's match is suddenly switched to be with Xander.

This sequel takes place after Ky has been sent by the Society to the Outer Provinces where the Society will work him to death.

Cassia follows a trail left by Ky after he and another boy escape. The trail leads them through the Carvings where Cassia learns of the Uprising. She has been given red pills. Should she trust using them or are they given by the Society for evil purposes.

Read this sequel toMatched to find out if Cassia will join the Uprising, be reunited with Ky or will Xander reappear in search of Cassia?

The Raft

S. A. Bodeen continues to delight readers with her new title--The Raft. Fans of The Compound and The Guardian will absolutely love this third title by Bodeen! The Raft is due to be released in August 2012, but I was lucky enough to receive an advanced uncorrected copy.

Robie is a typical teenager in many ways. While on a trip to Hawaii to visit her aunt who lives there, Robie decides to have her nose pierced despite that she knows she will be met with disapproval from her parents once they find out.

Robie is unlike a lot of typical teenagers in that she lives on an atoll called Midway in the Pacific Ocean.

It is on her way back home from Hawaii that the cargo plane she is flying in crash lands in the Pacific Ocean. Only Max, a new co-pilot she has never met before, and Robie survive the crash. Max helps Robie into the survival raft. He has a very bad head wound and slips in and out of consciousness.

How will they survive in the tiny raft in the vast Pacific? What will they eat once their meager supplies run out? How will they stay hydrated? Will anyone know to look for Robie? She wasn't supposed to be flying home this early and she doesn't think she was entered into the cargo ship's manifest before taking off. Will her newly pierced nose become horribly infected? Read this page turner to enjoy another great read by S. A. Bodeen!

City of Orphans

Avi is a prolific writer of books for young adults. This historical fiction title is set in New York City during 1893.  Maks Geless lives with his parents and siblings in a fourth floor walkup tenement building. There is no indoor plumbing. Maks must lug water up all four floors. The privies (outhouses) are also outside. Money is very tight. To help the family make ends meet with their bills, Maks is a newspaper boy for The World newspaper. He makes only pennies by hawking his papers near the elevated train station, but every little bit helps the family. Bruno is the leader of the Pug Uglies gang. They have targeted the newsboys--beating them up, stealing their papers, taking their hard earned money. When Maks is attacked by Bruno, a street girl named Willa fends off the gang with a large stick. Without Willa's help Maks would have been beaten severely. Maks realizes that Willa is an orphan living on the streets. He brings her back to their apartment and the family welcomes her.

When Maks' sister is accused of stealing a very expensive watch from a room that she was cleaning at the exclusive Waldorf Hotel, Maks' immigrant parents aren't much help in understanding how the legal system works in New York. With Willa's help, Maks goes to the Tombs--a holding area for prisoners waiting to be sentenced and learns that Emma is very frightened, living in deplorable conditions and very hungry. Maks and Willa end up befriending a detective who gives them ideas of how to prove his sister's innocence.

Will they be able to stay out of Bruno's way? Will the Pug Uglies stake out their apartment building making it impossible to do any detective work? Read this title to find out how difficult life was living in New York in the 1890's if you are poor and from an immigrant family.

Forgotten

What an unusal story! London Lane is 16 years old. She forgets everything and everyone from her past, yet she can "remember" the future. To cope with this perplexing disability, she writes notes to herself each evening so that when she wakes up, she can figure out what she needs to do at school, what clothing to wear, who she had a fight with, etc.

When a new boy moves to town, things start to get complicated. Luke Henry is definitely a heartthrob for London. Yet, each day it is like meeting him all over again. London tries to hide her problem from him.

London and Jamie, her best friend, whom London depends upon to keep her life sane at school, have a falling out.

What does the flash forwards or flashbacks that London is having regarding a cemetary have to do with her life? Read this book to find out!

Sarah's Key

Julia Jarmond is an American living in Paris. Julia's husband Bertrand and her daughter Zoe are about to move into larger accommodations--where Bertand's grandmother has resided since July of 1942. The apartment needs updating and will be remodeled before they move in. It is located on rue de Saintonge.

As Julia does research about an event that took place in Paris in July of 1942, she begins to have reservations about ever living in the apartment on rue de Saintonge.

Julia is asked to write an article about the roundup of Jewish families by the French police under the orders of the Nazis who were occupying Paris. Sarah Starzynski and her family were taken in the Vel d'Hiv roundup to a stadium and then eventually to a concentration camp.

What does Julia discover while researching her article? How does this affect her? Will she and Zoe and her husband move into the apartment on rue de Saintonge? Read this historical novel to find out.