New summer fiction for teens

Before summer slips away there are still long days and hot nights for reading. Here are some new titles featuring science fiction, fantasy, and -- of course -- vampires! Find your copy here on BookBag using the Amazon.com and World Catalog search boxes ... and stay cool....

Ship Breaker, by Paolo Bacigalupi (Little, Brown) Science Fiction. Living on the devastated U.S. Gulf Coast, 17-year-old Nailer scavenges for copper wire and other precious metals aboard beached oil tankers, hoping to "make quota," avoid his violent father, and just get by. When Nailer discovers a wrecked clipper ship filled with riches, he thinks his fortune is made...but that's before he finds wealthy young Nita, the sole survivor, on board. He could kill Nita for a profit or he could help her--but helping Nita might cost Nailer everything. This exciting, action-packed tale takes place in a bleak, carefully constructed future that fans of great world-building (à la the Uglies series) will love.


Sisters Red, by Jackson Pearce (Little, Brown) Dark Fantasy. Sisters Scarlett and Rosie March were orphaned when one of the Fenris (werewolves) killed their grandmother, and Scarlett lost an eye fighting him. Eight years later, the sisters still hunt the Fenris, who take the form of handsome men in order to prey on unsuspecting pretty young things. Their neighbor, a young woodcutter named Silas, helps the March sisters on their quest to rid the world of a burgeoning pack of Fenris ... but while Scarlett loves the hunt, Silas and Rosie each secretly wish for a different life. Sisters Red will grab you with action, romance, danger, and suspense and hold you breathless until its shocking conclusion.

As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth, by Lynne Rae Perkins (Greenwillow Books) Fiction. On a train headed to summer camp, Ry finally gets around to opening a letter marked "Urgent" from the camp director ... and finds out that camp has been cancelled. When the train stops, Ry gets off and tries to call his grandfather, since his parents are on a Caribbean vacation ... and the train leaves without him, stranding him in Montana in the middle of nowhere. This, dear reader, is only the beginning of a long, winding, and highly entertaining journey filled with near-misses and misadventures galore (including those of the family dog, which appear in comic-strip form). Believability takes a back seat to wry humor, colorful characters, and the lessons of the road in this meandering, good-humored tale.

Spells, by Aprilynne Pike (HarperTeen) Paranormal Romance. In this bewitching sequel to Wings, Laurel Sewell--still getting used to the idea that she is a faerie (and the fact that faeries are highly evolved plants)--is summoned to the Academy at Avalon for training. While at the Academy, Laurel spends time with Tamani, the electrifying faerie sentry who longs for her...and misses David, her loyal, earthly boyfriend. But when she returns home, Laurel finds trolls on the prowl again, and they're after more than just her. Danger, romantic tension, and unusual faerie mythology make for a delicious brew in Spells.

How I Made It to Eighteen: A Mostly True Story, by Tracy White (Roaring Brook Press) Graphic Novel. After putting her fist through a window, Stacy Black checks herself into Golden Meadows mental hospital, finally realizing that she has to face the reasons for her depression in order to stop from self-destructing. Readers of this harrowing, honest near-memoir (events in the book are based on author Tracy White's own experiences) get a front-row seat as Stacy works through her issues with relationships, addiction, and, finally, her negative body image. For another brutally honest story of battling personal demons, try Susanna Kaysen's Girl, Interrupted.