Whats New Category: Graphic Novel

Last Days of Summer… Check Out These Teen Novels Set In Summer

Posted August 10, 2016 by LARRY

YA BRODY, J.

Welcome to Winlock Harbor. Where the weather is always sunny, the water is the perfect temperature, and the boardwalk boasts the best food around. Where best friends Grayson, Mike, and Ian first met as kids, building a sand castle on a cloudless beach day. And where this summer, the loyalties of a lifelong friendship will begin to unravel.

The Square Root of Summer by Harriet Reuter Hapgood

YA REUTER HAPGOOD, H.

Gottie Oppenheimer, a seventeen-year-old physics prodigy, navigates grief, love, and disruptions in the space-time continuum in one very eventful summer.

Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina

YA MEDINA, M.

Nora Lopez is seventeen during the summer of 1977, when New York is besieged by arson, a massive blackout, and a serial killer named Son of Sam. Meg Medina transports us to a time when tempers and temperatures ran high to share the story of a young woman who discovers that the greatest dangers are often closer than we like to admit.

This is the Part Where You Laugh by Peter Brown Hoffmeister

YA HOFFMEISTER, P.

Rising sophomore Travis and his best friend, Creature, spend a summer in a Eugene, Oregon, trailer park dealing with cancer, basketball, first love, addiction, gang violence, and a reptilian infestation.

Look Both Ways by Alison Cherry

YA CHERRY, A.

The story of a girl who apprentices at a summer theater festival hoping she’s finally found a place to belong only to learn that neither talent nor love is as straightforward as she thinks.

Lumberjanes. Volume 1, Beware the Kitten Holy written by Noelle Stevenson & Grace Ellis; illustrated by Brooke Allen; colors by Maarta Laiho; letters by Aubrey Aiese

YA GRAPH STEVENSON, N.

Best friends Jo, April, Mal, Molly, and Ripley spend a fun summer at Lumberjane scout camp where they encounter yetis, three-eyed wolves, and giant falcons while solving a mystery that holds the fate of the world in the balance.

The Many Lives of John Stone by Linda Buckley-Archer

YA BUCKLEY-ARCHER, L.

When seventeen-year-old Spark takes a summer job working at a secluded house in England, organizing journals that span centuries and all written in the same hand, she discovers her true connection to the people who live there and the trait that makes them unique.

Summer State of Mind by Jen Calonita

YA CALONITA, J.

Spoiled, yet lovable fifteen-year-old Harper McCallister is sent to sleepaway camp where she is an outcast at first but eventually finds a way to make her mark, gaining new perspectives on friendship and life in general.

Summer Games Fever?! Checkout these teen books!

Posted August 3, 2016 by LARRY

Gearing up for the 2016 Summer Games?! Check out these teen books:

Fiction

Rush for the Gold: Mystery at the Olympics by John Feinstein
YA FEINSTEIN, J.
Two teenaged aspiring journalists who are dating solve a mystery at the 2012 Olympic Games, while one simultaneously competes for a gold medal in swimming.

Tumbling by Caela Carter
YA CARTER, C.
They sacrificed their childhoods to compete in the two days of the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials. Grace lives and breathes gymnastics– but can never be perfect enough. Leigh has a gymnastics career, a normal high-school life… and a secret that could ruin everything. Camille wants to please her mom and her boyfriend… but most of all she wants to walk away. Wilhelmina was denied her Olympic dream four years ago, and she wont let anything stop her this time… anything. Monica is terrified: nobody believes in her– and why should they? Some will be stars. Some will be going home with nothing. And all will have their lives changed forever….

Goldfish by Nat Luurtsema
YA Luurtsema, N.
Lou Brown is a fast individual medley swimmer, training for the Olympics. But when she tanks the time trials, she starts over and goes back to school. It’s hard to fit in with the existing social groups. But then, she begins to coach boys in a different type of swimming activity, for a different type of competition.

Signed, Skye Harper by Carol Lynch Williams
YA WILLIAMS, C.
In 1972, while her idol, Mark Spitz, is in Germany competing in the Olympics, fifteen-year-old Winston, her Nanny, and her crush, Steve, head to Las Vegas in Steve’s parents’ motorhome to reconnect with Winston’s mother, who left ten years before to become a star.

Graphic Novel

An Olympic Dream: the story of Samia Yusuf Omar by Reinhard Kleist; translated by Ivanka Hahnenberger
YA GRAPH 796.4209 OMAR, S.
The image of Samia Yusuf Omar running for last place at the 2008 Beijing Olympics will forever be imprinted in the minds of all who saw it: The lean Somalian, wearing knee-length leggings and a baggy T-shirt, came in seconds behind her competitors. What the cheering crowd couldn’t know then was what it took to get there. An Olympic Dream follows Omar’s second attempt to represent her country at the Olympics, this time in London. Reinhard Kleist pictures the athlete training in one of the most dangerous cities in the world; her passage through Sudan and into Libya; and her fateful attempt to reach Europe. By telling the story of one remarkable woman, Kleist gives voice to the thousands of migrants who risk their lives daily for a better future.

Nonfiction

The Matchless Six: the story of Canada’s first women’s Olympic team by Ron Hotchkiss
YA 796.4808 HOT
It is July 1928, and Canada’s first women’s Olympic team — “The Matchless Six” — is heading to Amsterdam, the site of the ninth Olympiad of the modern era. Canada’s finest female track-and-field athletes, having survived rigorous training and the grueling selection process at the Olympic Trials, were determined to take their big talent and big dreams to the top. Meet Jane Bell, Myrtle Cook, Bobbie Rosenfeld, and Ethel Smith, the “Flying Four” who comprised Canada’s first relay team; Ethel Catherwood, the “Saskatoon Lily,” who became the champion high-jumper and the most photographed female athlete at the Olympic Games; and Jean Thompson, the youngest member of the team at seventeen, who became one of the world’s most outstanding middle-distance runners.

The Boys of Winter: the untold story of a coach, a dream, and the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team by Wayne Coffey
YA 796.962 COF
Explores the victory of the U.S. hockey team at the Lake Placid Olympics in 1980 and the paths of the players and coaches since 1980.

Teen Novels for Gamers

Posted July 21, 2016 by LARRY

Cure for the Common Universe by Christian McKay Heidicker
YA HEIDICKER, C.
Jaxon meets the girl of his dreams on the same day that his father ships him off to video game rehab. Now he must earn 1 million therapy points in a week, if he wants to be released from rehab in time for his date.

The Leveller by Julia Durango
YA SF DURANGO, J.
Nixy Bauer, a sixteen-year-old self-made video-game bounty hunter, gets in over her head when she attempts to rescue a game developer’s son from a virtual trap.

Guy in Real Life by Steve Brezenoff
YA BREZENOFF, S.
The lives of two Minnesota teenagers are intertwined through the world of role-playing games.

Dirt Bikes, Drones, and Other Ways to Fly by Conrad Wesselhoeft
YA WEWWELHOEFT, C.
Seventeen year-old dirt-bike-riding daredevil Arlo Santiago catches the eye of the U.S. military with his first-place ranking on a video game featuring drone warfare, and must reconcile the work they want him to do with the emotional scars he has suffered following a violent death in his family.

The Eye of Minds by James Dashner
YA SF DASHNER, J.
Michael is a skilled internet gamer in a world of advanced technology. When a cyber-terrorist begins to threaten players, Michael is called upon to seek him and his secret’s out.

Don’t Turn Around by Michelle Gagnon
YA GAGNON, M.
After waking up on an operating table with no memory of how she got there, Noa must team up with computer hacker Peter to stop a corrupt corporation with a deadly secret.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
YA CLINE, E.
In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the virtual utopia known as the Oasis. Wade’s devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world’s digital confines – puzzles that are based on their creator’s obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade’s going to survive, he’ll have to win – and confront the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape.

Insignia by S.J. Kincaid
YA SF KINCAID, S.
Tom, a fourteen-year-old genius at virtual reality games, is recruited by the United States Military to begin training at the Pentagon Spire as a Combatant in World War III, controlling the mechanized drones that do the actual fighting off-planet.

Free to Fall by Lauren Miller
YA SF MILLER, L.
In a near-future world where everyone is controlled by their smartphones, sixteen-year-old Rory Vaughn suddenly begins listening to the voice within–which kids are taught to ignore–and discovers a terrible plot at the heart of the corporation that makes the devices.

Rush by Eve Silver
YA SF SILVER, E.
Rochester, New York, high schooler Miki Jones is pulled into a sort of a game in which she and other teens battle real-life aliens and the consequences of each battle could be deadly.

Coda by Emma Trevayne
YA SF TREVAYNE, E.
Ever since he was a young boy, music has coursed through the veins of eighteen-year-old Anthem — the Corp has certainly seen to that. By encoding music with addictive and mind-altering elements, the Corp holds control over all citizens, particularly conduits like Anthem, whose life energy feeds the main power in the Grid. Anthem finds hope and comfort in the twin siblings he cares for, even as he watches the life drain slowly and painfully from his father. Escape is found in his underground rock band, where music sounds free, clear, and unencoded deep in an abandoned basement. But when a band member dies suspiciously from a tracking overdose, Anthem knows that his time has suddenly become limited. Revolution all but sings in the air, and Anthem cannot help but answer the call with the chords of choice and free will. But will the girl he loves help or hinder him?

In Real Life by Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang
YA GRAPH DOCTOROW
Immersing herself in an online role-playing game where she enjoys fantasy heroics, Anda confronts a difficult choice when she befriends a disadvantaged Chinese kid who works illegally to collect valuable objects and sell them to other players for real money.

Sword Art Online: Progressive: 001 original story, Reki Kawahara; art, Kiseki Himura; character design, abec; translation, Stephen Paul
YA GRAPH KAWAHARA, R. V.1
An astute teen, Yuuki Asuna spends most of her time studying for her high school entrance exams. One day, she borrows her brother’s virtual reality game, ‘Sword Art Online,’ and finds herself trapped in its fantasy world. Soon, though, she learns the mechanics of the game, develops her swordplay technique and impresses a pro gamer who invites her to join the best players on the front lines. Is Asuna ready to swap her hard-earned education ethics for high-rank play in a virtual realm?

6 Teen Books to Read If You Like to Play Tennis

Posted June 22, 2016 by LARRY

The Prince of Tennis, Vol. 1 story & art by Takeshi Konom
YA GRAPH KONOMI, T.
There is a rumor going around that a twelve-year-old boy is going to enter the sixteen-year-old and under tennis group. How can someone so young ever hope to compete with kids much older and more experienced than him? This is no ordinary kid: he is none other than Ryoma Echizen, the Prince of Tennis! Can the prince gain the respect of his fellow team-mates despite his small size and young age?

Game On by Monica Seles and James La Rosa
YA SELES, M.
Sixteen-year-old tennis star Maya’s dreams come true when she earns a scholarship to the Academy, a sports training facility/boarding school for teenaged athletes, but can she survive the constant drama of her talented classmates?

Jersey Tomatoes are the Best by Maria Padian
YA PADIAN, M.
When fifteen-year-old best friends Henry and Eve leave New Jersey, one for tennis camp in Florida and one for ballet camp in New York, each faces challenges that put her long-cherished dreams of the future to the test.

Vanishing Act: Mystery at the U.S. Open by John Feinstein
YA MY FEINSTEIN, J.
Eighth-grade sports reporters Susan Carol and Stevie reunite at the U.S. Open tennis championships where they investigate the mysterious disappearance of a top Russian player.

Amazing Grace by Megan Shull
YA SHULL, M.
Tennis has a new “it” girl and her name is Grace Kincaid. The only problem is — Grace has suddenly realized that being a teen sensation isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. With fame and fortune just a backswing away, all she really wants is to be …NORMAL!

Mixed-Up Doubles by Elena Yates Eulo
YA EULO, E.
With the help of an unlikely new friend, ninth grader Hank tries to adjust to his parents’ recent divorce and works toward his dream of being a successful tennis player.

Teen Novels Featuring Dragons for the Game of Thrones Fans!

Posted May 3, 2016 by LARRY

Bloodsong by Melvin Burgess
YA BURGESS, M.
Forced into the clutches of a bloodthirsty dragon, Sigurd–the new hope of the Volson clan–fights not only for his life, but for the survival of an apocalyptic Britain.

Returner’s Wealth by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell
YA STEWART, P.
Young pioneer, Micah, enters Wrymeweald full of hope to return home having made his fortune. But this is a land where wyrmes, fabulous dragon-like beasts, roam wild and reign supreme. After a near-brush with death on the edge of a canyon, Micah soon finds a chance to prove his worth when he meets with Eli, a veteran tracker of Wrymeweald.

The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde
YA FFORDE, J.
Fifteen-year-old Jennifer Strange runs an agency for underemployed magicians in a world where magic is fading away, but when visions of the death of the world’s last dragon begin, all signs point to Jennifer–and Big Magic.

Talon by Julie Kagawa
YA KAGAWA, J.
Long ago, dragons were hunted to near extinction by the Order of St. George, a legendary society of dragon slayers. Hiding in human form and growing their numbers in secret, the dragons of Talon have become strong and cunning, and they’re positioned to take over the world with humans none the wiser. Ember and Dante Hill are the only sister and brother known to dragonkind. Trained to infiltrate society, Ember wants to live the teen experience and enjoy a summer of freedom before taking her destined place in Talon. But destiny is a matter of perspective, and a rogue dragon will soon challenge everything Ember has been taught.

Talker 25 by Joshua McCune
YA SF MCCUNE, J.
The fifteen-year-long war between man and dragons seems nearly over until Melissa becomes an unwilling pawn of the government after she–and those driving the beasts to extinction–discovers that she can communicate with dragons.

Scorched by Mari Mancusi
YA MANCUSI, M.
Sixteen-year-old Trinity Foxx does not believe her grandfather’s latest treasure is a real dragon’s egg until soldiers invade trying to steal it, a strange boy tells her she must work with him to stop an impending dragon war, and the dragon inside the egg begins telling her what to do.

The Story of Owen, Dragon Slayer of Trondheim by E. K. Johnston
YA JOHNSTON, E.
In an alternate world where industrialization has caused many species of carbon-eating dragons to thrive, Owen, a slayer being trained by his famous father and aunt, and Siobahn, his bard, face a dragon infestation near their small town in Canada.

Slayers by C. J. Hill
YA HILL, C.
At a rustic summer camp, sixteen-year-old Tori, a senator’s daughter, learns that she is descended from medieval dragon slayers, that dragons still exist, and that she is expected to hone her special abilities to join her fellow campers in battling the beasts and the man who controls them.

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
YA HARTMAN, R.
In a world where dragons and humans coexist in an uneasy truce and dragons can assume human form, Seraphina, whose mother died giving birth to her, grapples with her own identity amid magical secrets and royal scandals, while she struggles to accept and develop her extraordinary musical talents.

Firelight by Sophie Jordan
YA JORDAN, S.
When sixteen-year-old Jacinda, who can change into a dragon, is forced to move away from her community of shapeshifters and start a more normal life, she falls in love with a boy who proves to be her most dangerous enemy.

Eon by Alison Goodman
YA GOODMAN, A.
Eon has disguised herself as a boy in order to study Dragon Magic and become a Dragoneye, one of a select group that forms a conduit to the power of energy dragons, but if the secret of her sex comes out, she will be killed.

Here, There Be Dragons by James A. Owen
YA OWEN, J.
Three young men are entrusted with the Imaginarium Geographica, an atlas of fantastical places to which they travel in hopes of defeating the Winter King whose bid for power is related to the First World War raging in the Real World.

Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley
YA MCKINLEY, R.
When Jake Mendoza, who lives in the Smokehill National Park where his father runs the Makepeace Institute of Integrated Dragon Studies, goes on his first solo overnight in the park, he finds an infant dragon whose mother has been killed by a poacher.

Dragon’s Keep by Janet Lee Carey
YA CAREY, J.
In 1145 A.D., as foretold by Merlin, fourteen-year-old Rosalind, who will be the twenty-first Pendragon Queen of Wilde Island, has much to accomplish to fulfill her destiny, while hiding from her people the dragon’s claw she was born with that reflects only one of her mother’s dark secrets.

The Dragons of Darkness by Antonia Michaelis
YA MICHAELIS, A.
Two boys from very different backgrounds are thrown together by magic, mayhem, and a common foe as they battle deadly dragons in the wilderness of Nepal.

Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey
YA MCCAFFREY, A.
Menolly flees her home, because she is not permitted to make music there, and is taken by the Masterharper himself to Harpershall, where she learns that only her own self-doubt stands in her way

Eragon by Christopher Paolini
YA PAOLINI, C.
In Alagaesia, a fifteen-year-old boy of unknown lineage called Eragon finds a mysterious stone that weaves his life into an intricate tapestry of destiny, magic, and power, peopled with dragons, elves, and monsters.

Voices of Dragons by Carrie Vaughn
YA VAUGHN, C.
In a parallel world where humans and dragons live in a state of cold war, seventeen-year-old Kay and her dragon friend, Artegal, struggle to find a way to show that dragons and humans can co-exist.

Four Eyes: Forged in Flames Vol. 1 by Joe Kelly
YA GRAPH KELLY, J.
When Enrico’s father is killed by a dragon in Great Depression-era New York, Enrico takes a job with his father’s employer, Christoforo Boccioni, to help train dragons to fight for money and glory.