It’s Veterans Day, and we want to remember that some of our veterans are barely out of their teen years. In 2012 a number of new teen books came out where a major character served in either Iraq or Afghanistan. Each book is compelling in different ways, and are all quick reads.
In E.M. Kokie’s Personal Effects, 16-year-old Matt’s life is not easy. His brother, JT, was recently killed while serving in Iraq. His mother is gone, too, so he has to deal with his terrifying father all on his own. His father expects him to enlist if he can’t get into college. But Matt isn’t sure he wants to be a solider like his brother. He becomes fascinated by a small bag of his brother’s belongings the military gave to him. His father keeps them hidden after finding some kind of medallion he didn’t approve of. Matt becomes obsessed with finding those personal effects to learn what his father may be hiding about his brother. This book is gritty, and young readers, especially boys, will relate to Matt’s tough choices and how he tries to wrestle with his anger. This is Kokie’s debut novel for young adults.
Continue reading New Teen Reads About Wars In Iraq and Afghanistan: A Post for Veterans Day
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Ransom Riggs’ book of fascinating photos, Talking Pictures: Images and Messages Rescued From The Past, is now available. I was curious if we can expect more deliciously creepy photographs in the next installment of Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children. The bestselling book was recently named in YALSA’s 
Robert Pattinson may always be best know as Edward in Twilight or Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire, depending on which fanbase you hail from. His latest projects take him far away from those roles. 
Hidden is the final book in the Sophie Jordan’s Firelight trilogy. In this series Jacinda is a Draki, which means she can transform into a dragon. The books are full of beautiful flight scenes where Jacinda and members of her pride transform and soar on leathery wings. In this book Jacinda allows herself to be captured by the ENKROS, the cruel scientists who cut up and do experiements on the Draki, not realizing they are part human. This book is full of action from start to finish. When they escape from the ENKROS stronghold they are being tracked and have to use all of their powerful skills to evade and fight back against hunters. Jacinda is dealing with deep emotions. She still loves Will but has stronger feelings for Cassian now that they are bonded. She feels everything he feels. The action made this such a quick and satisfying read. Hidden will be available in September.
Illumiate is Amiee Agresti’s first novel for teens. Haven Terra is tapped to do an internship under the toast of Chicago, the young, beautiful, and highly successful Aurelia Brown. She is the owner of the Lexington Hotel, which was the notorious home of Al Capone. It is about to reopen as the hottest place in town. Haven and her best friend Dante and another classmate named Lance move into the hotel. The employees are ridiculously beautiful and part of an exclusive club called “The Outfit” after Capone’s gang. The three figure out quickly there is something unnatural about the whole thing. When the photos Haven takes of the staff start changing, strange and scary things start to happen. Haven discovers a mysterious blank book with her name on it. When an unknown person or spirit starts writing to her in the book calling her a winged one, her adventure truly begins and turns into an intense battle between good and evil. Agresti is brilliant at world building. She describes this hotel with its deep underground nightclub and tunnels with great detail. I felt like I was there experiencing this rich, luxurious hotel. I even felt a little claustrophobic when she described Haven’s hotel room in the basement. The characters were multidimensional and believable.
If you are my age, you remember being a teen long before Facebook and cell phones, and a computer was a thing you used at school. The Future of Us takes us back in time to when dial-up Internet was the new hot thing and you paged someone on a beeper to get their attention.