Afterworlds

by Scott Westerfeld

Genre: Realistic fiction/Fantasy
Age group: Mature 12/Mature 13/14+

Darcy should be heading to college, but she just got a two-book contract with a big-name publishing company. They want to publish her book Afterworlds, so instead of going to Oberlin, like she and her parents had planned, she's taking a year off to go to New York and write.
New York is noodle-filled and exciting—when Darcy arrives, she's immediately surrounded by a new crowd of friends: authors, whether they're famous or obscure, published or still waiting. She's particularly close to Imogen, another writer who's getting published soon. There's still a lot about Imogen Darcy doesn't know, but she might just be falling for her...
At the same time, Darcy's revising Afterworlds, about a girl named Lizzie who was caught in a terrorist attack and wished so hard that she was dead that she went to the Afterworld. Now she's become a psychopomp, and she's gained the power to walk in the Afterworld whenever she needs to—but power comes at a price. Other psychopomps, strange ghosts, and serial killers are the priorities in her mind—after Yama, that is, another psychopomp that she just might be in love with.

A very well-written book. I sat down with it intending to read for just a little while, and I ended up reading half the book before I got up and realized I had been there for far longer than expected. It might sound strange, but there are actually two stories intertwined in this book: Darcy's story and Lizzie's story. The chapters alternate. It's a little hard to get used to at first, but it's actually very well done and becomes easier to follow. Honestly, Lizzie's story feels a little more cliched, but it's still quite well-written and does have those small differences in tone and plot that make it truly interesting. I personally liked Darcy's story more; I've never read a teen book before about publishing a book. (There is the younger-age-range book The School Story by Andrew Clements, but it's very different.) There are tons of great details, and the setting and backstory are unique and interesting. Darcy's life just sounds so exciting. It's fun to read about! Overall, a very good read.
Plus, the cover is great.

The Sixth Extinction

by Elizabeth Kolbert

Genre: Nonfiction
Age group: Technically, this is for adults. However, mature kids can read it too. So... Mature 13/14+

There have been five mass extinctions in the world, and we are currently undergoing the sixth. The ones in the past have been caused by various things: Meteorites, or ice ages, or volcanoes, for example. This one is not caused by those: It is caused by humans. This book looks at the stories of many different animals that have gone extinct or are on the brink of extinction and examines the many, many effects and impacts of this sixth extinction.

I really, really enjoyed this book. I'm not exactly sure how to summarize it, but I gave it my best shot, and I think it's a decent overview. Each chapter talks about a different animal that went extinct or is very close to going extinct and connects that back to how humans are changing the environment and causing new extinctions. The book is mildly scary, but, then again, the things that humans are doing to the world are very scary. It actually really inspired me to try to do something about all of these extinctions. The book is incredibly well-written, and it's very easy to understand the language. It's interesting; not dry at all. It was well-deservingly chosen as one of the New York Times' 10 Best Books of 2014, and I would recommend it for everyone: We all need to know what effects humans are causing on Earth. However, you should DEFINITELY read it if you are the least bit interested in science. An incredible, well-written, fast-moving, eye-opening book.
Also, I just found out, The Sixth Extinction has won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction! All the more reason why you should read it! Congratulations, The Sixth Extinction and Elizabeth Kolbert!!!!

Greenglass House

by Kate Milford

Genre: Realistic fiction, with a dash of fantasy mixed in for good measure.
Age group: 10+

Milo's adoptive parents run Greenglass House, an inn for smugglers, and right now it's Milo's winter break. He's looking forward to relaxing and taking it easy for the whole vacation... but then, the doorbell rings. And rings again, and again, and again. Soon the inn is filled with mysterious people, all of whom seem to be hiding things and keeping secrets... secrets that could connect them to Greenglass House. Then Milo meets Meddy, the cook's daughter, and together they decide to piece together the clues and figure out the mysteries their guests have brought to the inn.

First of all, I'd just like to say: I think this is the most beautiful book cover I've ever seen. That house is just amazing. I would LOVE to live in it and be able to explore it. But back to the actual story: The mystery is really interesting. I love the premise and the plot, and I love how each guest has different backstories connecting to the house and different reasons for coming to stay that ultimately weave together to tell a broader story of Greenglass House. (Isn't that an amazing name, too?!) There are plenty of false leads and red herrings, and there are also subplots that add to the story. For example, Milo is adopted, and a subplot of the book is his struggle with imagining an alternate life with his birth parents while not wanting to appear ungrateful to his adoptive parents. This subplot was really excellently written. In the book, Milo and Meddy don't investigate as themselves—the story doesn't follow the typical average-kids-solve-crazy-mystery-and-impress-grown-ups plotline, necessarily—Meddy introduces Milo to an RPG (role-player game) in which you choose the person you want to pretend to be and play as that person. The inclusion of an RPG adds another level of excitement to the book and also sparks more thought in Milo about whether or not he should be pretending to be someone else or whether dreaming about a different life is okay.
Also, the plot twist is AMAZING. I'm telling you, I NEVER saw it coming. Yet it all makes so much sense!!!!!
This book is really quite complex, but it's very well-written and entertaining. A whimsical yet mysterious read.

Bringing Down the House

by Ben Mezrich

Genre: Nonfiction, but it's not dry or boring or anything (not that nonfiction books are dry or boring). It feels, at times, like a fiction book, or perhaps a memoir. But it isn't.
Age group: 13+

Kevin was a relatively normal MIT college student—that is, until he got recruited by a secretive, clandestine team of card-counters, run by Micky, a former MIT professor. This group of students has developed a nearly foolproof system for counting blackjack cards and beating the system—and winning millions of dollars. Now they want Kevin to join them, to help them bring down the casino giants of Vegas and show them that the system can be outsmarted. Kevin is introduced to the world of card-counting—it's technically not gambling, and isn't even illegal—and learns to work seamlessly with the other members of the team to create a money-winning powerhouse. But card-counting is risky business. When casinos figure out who's outsmarted the game, they take many precautions to make sure it doesn't happen again, including hiring prestigious private investigators to track down the card-counters and stop them. The MIT team has been doing well so far, but that doesn't mean their good luck can't change.

I originally chose to read this book because I thought it would be interesting to look at the mathematical and scientific parts of blackjack, and how those things can be mathematically and scientifically beaten, but that turned out to be only one of the many great parts of this book. It does take about that stuff, and at the end, it even provides a brief description of the MIT team's card-counting methods, but it's also about the people, and the story. It's technically nonfiction, but it doesn't read like nonfiction. It feels a lot like fiction at times. The story is really cool—a bunch of MIT students take down Vegas with math! Talk about real world application! And the characters, and their interactions with each other, were really interesting to watch. Martinez and Fisher, the two biggest players on the team, are really into blackjack and card-counting, and some of the other members, like Kevin, only want to do it part-time. Viewing this book from a social angle could also be really interesting. Plus, it's gambling. It's addictive. That certainly has an effect on the characters as well.
I would recommend this to people interested in math, interested in card-counting, or just interested in a good story.

Prisoners in the Palace

 by Michaela MacColl

Genre: Historical fiction - set in London in 1836
Age group: 12+

Liza Hastings was looking forward to attending balls, meeting charming young men, and being introduced to society—but then her parents died. Now, not only is she alone in the world, with no connections and no work, but she has also been left deeply in debt. She has little choice but to accept the job of a lowly lady's maid at Kensington Palace, serving the Baroness Lehzen and Princess Victoria. It doesn't take long for Liza and Princess Victoria to take a shine to each other, and they soon become friends, even though they are employer and employee. However, Victoria isn't on such good terms with her mother, especially because Victoria is likely to become the Queen when the King dies. Victoria's mother, the Duchess, wants the crown to herself! Liza soon discovers a plot between the Duchess and Sir John Conroy, her "personal secretary and comptroller," to take over the crown and stop Victoria from ever becoming Queen. Can Liza help the true heir become ruler? Or will the Duchess and Sir John succeed in their dastardly plot?

I loved the language used in this book. It feels somewhat old-fashioned, which suits the book perfectly. It's just nice to read the language: It's so much more beautiful and artful than many books I've read. This book also succeeded in getting me interested in Victorian history. There's a reading list included in the back, and the book made this time period seem so interesting that I may actually take a couple of those books out. The plot is great. It takes place in what seems like a domestic place—Kensington Palace—but there's actually quite a lot of intrigue and suspense. Liza makes periodical forays into the more grungy, lowlife parts of London as well, which adds a nice contrast. The characters of this book are interesting, and the plot is exciting, and the book is quite well-written. I definitely recommend it for anyone.

Bitter Melon

by Cara Chow

Genre: Realistic/historical fiction, but it does take place in the 1980s. It could potentially still happen today, though, I suppose. Or maybe not.

Age group: 12/13+

Frances' mother has her whole life planned out for her: She's going to ace school, go to a prestigious university, and become a successful doctor. Then Frances will be able to support her mother, and her mother's work will finally have paid off. But then Frances is accidentally registered in Speech class instead of Calculus, which is a non-negotiable class in her mother's eyes. Frances knows her mother will be upset if she doesn't switch out of Speech, but the thing is, she's actually enjoying it. She's good at speech.
Frances decides to stay in Speech class, secretly defying her mother's strict regime, and this is only the first step towards becoming her own person and doing the things that she wants to do: not the things that her mother convinced her she wanted to do.

I read this book as part of a book group. We all vote on what book we're going to read next, and we came dangerously close to not reading this book. I'm really, really glad that we did.
This book is one of the saddest ones I've ever read. I know, I'm probably being melodramatic, but it just felt so real: I could relate to Frances, even though I've never been in her situation. The characters really came alive for me, so I couldn't just think of them as little paper people in the book. They had feelings too. This thought was very present in my mind whenever anyone made a decision that affected other people in the book.
The choice Frances had to eventually make... It's not sad, exactly, but I was thinking about what I might do if I were in her shoes, and no matter which way I decided to go, I still felt really bad, either for Frances or for her mother. At the end, I felt especially bad for Frances' mother. She did some very bad things, and she should be punished, but her punishment was harsh. She's still a human being, and I think she still needs to be shown at least a little compassion.
I really, really enjoyed reading this book. It made me think a lot about issues that I don't always think about.

Some questions from the book group about this book:
1) What would you have done in Frances' situation: Done your own thing or try to please your mother?
2) Do you agree with Frances' mother about how eating lots of bitter melon will make you like, or at least tolerate, it? Do you agree that the strong endure suffering and eat the bitterness? Why/why not?
3) Do you think Frances' mom was really a bad person? Why/why not?
4) Was Derek a good thing for Frances or a bad thing?
5) Do you think that because of this bitterness, Frances will be a stronger person later on? Why/why not?
6) Do you think it was right of Frances to do everything behind her mom's back? Do you think things would have turned out differently if she had told?

Sophie's World

by Jostein Gaarder

Genre: Science fiction? Realistic fiction? Nonfiction? It's hard to classify. Let's just say it's nonfiction and fantasy combined.
Age group: 12+ (but older is fine too. If you read it at 12 you might want to read it again at, say, 22 and see if you notice anything new.)

One day, a perfectly normal 14-year-old girl called Sophie gets a letter in the mail. The letter has no return address—it's just a simple white envelope, and inside it contains a piece of paper with two questions on it: Who are you? and Where did the world come from? Sophie, who has never thought about these things before, suddenly finds herself asking these questions too. And soon another envelope arrives, with the start of a philosophy course inside.
But as Sophie is learning philosophy from the strange professor Alberto, she's also finding mysterious letters with cryptic messages addressed to a girl named Hilde, c/o Sophie. Who is Hilde, and why are these letters turning up? This is only one the questions Sophie must ask as she journeys into the world of philosophy.

My dad strongly recommended I read this book, but I put it off for a while. When I finally did start reading, I actually found it very interesting. Be warned; there's a lot of philosophy and talking about philosophy inside. It can seem daunting. But Jostein Gaarder does a really good job of making philosophy accessible for young people. He uses comparisons and allegories and metaphors and similes and whatnot to make concepts easier to understand. He often has Alberto say something and then demonstrate it, or have Sophie restate it in simpler terms. Sometimes certain sections require re-reading, but I learned a lot and enjoyed the story too.
The sub-plot with Hilde is AWESOME. At first it can be really confusing, and for a while I had no idea what Hilde had to do with anything. But in the middle of the book everything changes and everything falls into place and you understand! It is just remarkable. This book was very different from any of the other books I have ever read, fiction and nonfiction alike. It is very aware that it is a book. I think that is probably the aspect of it that I most enjoyed.