DJ's Life in Fiction

Welcome to Mera's YA Book List! It's night (10:36 PM EST if you are reading this when I post it) I know but hey it's still time for today's 10 To Check Out! Today's topic... ROAD TRIPS! Okay not technically road trips, but road, water, air trips. Basically YA books featuring traveling and vacays! Screaming ROAD TRIP! is just so much fun though. That's why they do it in so many movies. Okay, moving on here are the books! Which ones catch your eye the most? Which description makes you long for a summer vacay yourself or wish you'd had an awesome one? (I'll be going on vacay Saturday, btw. No worries, I won't be away too much! Busch Gardens here I come! *knocks on wood to avert bad fate*) Okay, again I say on with the list! As per usual I have read or am planning to read all of these! BTW some of these (like Heist Society and Defining Dulcie border the ROAD TRIP! line, but there's traveling in them so here they are) .                ...

Night of the Purple Moon by Scott Cramer (nanonoodle.com, 2012). Review copy provided by author. Abby and her family have just moved to Castine Island, twenty miles off the coast of Maine, from Massachusetts.  For months scientists have been talking about a comet that will pass over the earth leaving a vast trail of space dust and spectacular colors, including a purple moon.  But no one predicts the killer bacteria that attacks human hormones, leaving all adults and older adolescents dead.  Abby, her brother Jordan, and baby sister Toucan and the other kids on the island struggle to adjust to their new life, all the while hoping for a cure before they, too, die. This novel is like Hunger Games for the younger set--survival in a post-apocalyptic dystopia.  Middle grade readers will love the fast pace and vicarious exploration of life without adult supervision plus the suspense of getting the cure in time. Highly recommended for ages 10 & up.

The Faustian Host by Dave Becker (self-published, 2012). Review copy provided by author. Fourteen-year-old Tony Marino's grandmother, who has taken care of him since his mother died when he was young, has just died; that's upsetting enough, but then a bizarre stranger in the cemetery makes some cryptic comments to Tony and a meteor destroys his grandmother's Florida home.  Tony finds himself whisked away to Massachusetts by his new guardians, the Browns, and testing to get into the elite Kalos Academy, a special day school for extremely gifted students. Strange events follow Tony there, though, and many of his classmates regard him as cursed. Worse, he seems to be associated with a series of unexplained natural events similar to Biblical plagues that befall the area. Tony and his small group of friends set out to discover the source of the events, leading to hair-raising adventures including a cataclysmic showdown of epic proportions in Death Valley. Middle grade readers w...

Transcendence by C. J. Omolulu (New York: Walker & Co., 2012). Reviewed from e-galley provided by the publisher via netgalley.com . When sixteen-year-old cello prodigy Cole (short for Nicole) starts having visions of the past while visiting London, she's afraid she's going crazy. She feels as though she's walked the streets before--though they're slightly different.  And at the Tower of London she practically envisions a beheading--her own! Then she passes out in the arms of the amazingly attractive Griffon and feels an intense attraction to him.  Once she's back home in San Francisco, her visions continue, sometimes triggered by a smell or a touch.  Griffon explains that the visions are from past lives and she's transitioning to becoming an Akhet, like him--someone who has lived before and will continue to do so with memories intact in order to help the world.  But before that can happen, a rogue Akhet from Cole's past threatens her life while trying t...

Welcome to Mera's YA Book List! We are happy to be able to participate in the cover reveal for Abbi Glines' newest, Options! The cover, which was designed by Mooney Designs, has an awesome tagline and a pretty background. Without further ado, here's the cover and description! Tell me your thoughts on the cover. Yay or nay? Options  by Abbi Glines Genre: YA urban fantasy Expected publication: February 5, 2013 Blurb: Two paths. Two completely different roads. Each one standing before me. Each one holding a different destiny.   In life you're just supposed to choose one path.   In life you're not given the chance at choosing one specific future.   Until now. Until me.    Why am I different? I don't know. But I'm going to see those roads and walk down each one. When it's over I'll know which one to choose because I'll know my - options. For more, check out www.abbiglines.com or the Options Goodreads page ! Thanks so much for visiting! This cover ...

Welcome to Mera's YA Book List! Today is Monday which means it's time for another 10 To Check Out! I'm sure you're all feeling a bit tired, and sleepy because it's a new week, so today's 10 To Check Out... Sweet Tooth. No, I'm not mailing out candy. I am going to give you a list of books whose covers make your mouth water! Try to contain yourself with this list! I wouldn't want any of you to get sick from binge eating sweets! As per standard, all of the book listed are ones I have read, or plan on reading. I wouldn't recommend something to you guys that I wouldn't read myself. I actually got all of these from my Goodreads read and to read lists, along with a bunch more, lol. And of course, they are all in the YA category! :) Which covers make you drool the most? Which do you want to read and have read?                              1. Sweethearts by Sara Zarr     As children, Je...

What was Kayla thinking when she gave Narissa the solo in the Christmas recital? Caught in a world she thought she’d never be a part of, Kayla learns that what was given in a moment of frustration and pity cannot be taken back so easily…especially with Narissa. As Kayla recognizes within herself a great need to help Narissa dance, she discovers patience and forgiveness, and the beauty found within the soul of a little girl who is more angel than child…she discovers the healing power of love…and the joy found in truly caring for others. paperback , 146 pages Published September 1st 2010 by DiamondGatePublishing   The Crooked Swan is a book I would whole-heartedly recommend. The tale written on the pages of this novel is written in a style that I haven't seen in quite a while. The writing is delicate, simple, and all together beautiful. In Helm's novel, we delve into the world of a ballerina who believes she has it al...

  The feisty and determined faerie Princess Alannah is many things, but she never thought she would be the key to her people’s destruction. Kidnapped for a power she does not yet possess, Alannah finds herself in the clutches of the most malevolent sorcerer of her time. Maligo. Alannah escapes her prison with help from the handsome and stalwart warrior faerie, Brennus. Now she must cross mountains and forests fraught with rogue faeries, vicious Fae-hating trolls, dangerous shape-shifters, and more to reach the only ones that can help her control her incoming powers. The Elder Faeries. With Brennus by her side, Alannah is determined to reach the Elder Faeries and save her people. Maligo is just as determined she never makes it that far. Mark of the Princess by B.C. Morin An enchanting fantasy story about fairies, magical kingdoms and other strange and wonderful creatures that would be the perfect read for younger book lovers. The book changes from the point of view of a ...

Welcome to Mera's YA Book List! You have come across installation #4 of 10 To Check Out, where I, Mera, give you an awesome list of books to consider, based on a different topic! Today's topic: The New Adult The "New Adult" is really just someone transitioning between teen-dom and adulthood. So, around 17-25 I'll say. Finding books can be difficult for the "New Adult", because while you still love teen books, as you get older it becomes harder to relate with the characters in young adult novels. Trust me, I'm twenty so I know this. While you most likely still love YA, you have the urge to read something geared towards a more mature crowd... BUT you don't want to read those supermarket romances, or any books geared towards those thirty and forty somethings. Thankfully, a new category is emerging, called New Adult, geared towards people in transition. So upper teen and lower adult, which is what I always called books previously in this category. He...

Welcome to Mera's YA Book List! Today we have installment #3 of 10 To Check Out and this one is a little somber! Check out 10 Things To Check Out: New Releases & 10 Things To Check Out: Mermaid Novels ! Today we have 10 Things To Check Out : Sob Stories! These are ten books that actually made me cry. So, if you're looking to get a little emotional, check out these books! As per usual, tell me which books entice you most based on covers, titles, and descriptions! Also, if you've read any of them, which did you like? Which had you sniffling?                             1. Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler   Don’t worry, Anna. I’ll tell her, okay? Just let me think about the best way to do it." "Okay." "Promise me? Promise you won’t say anything?" "Don’t worry.” I laughed. “It’s our secret, right?" According to Anna’s best friend, Frankie, twenty days in Zanzibar Bay is the perfect oppor...

Welcome to Mera's YA Book List!  We are happy to be participating in the cover reveal for Lisa Orchard's The Super Spies and the High School Bomber! The Super Spies and the High School Bomber is number two in Orchard's series. The first in the series, entitled The Super Spies and the Cat Lady Killer, depicted below, is a unique cover! The second in the series has a cover that doesn't fail in unique measure, and actually ties in with the first cover, which is always a bonus. The covers only get better! Check out both covers and their descriptions below! This book opens in a small town in Michigan where fifteen-year-old Sarah Cole is stuck spending the summer at her Aunt and Uncle’s with her sister, Lacey. She’s not happy with the situation until she befriends a girl named Jackie. The three girls stumble upon the ruthless murder of a reclusive neighborhood woman. One of the officers investigating the crime believes the girls are responsible for her death. Fearing th...

Welcome to Mera's YA Book List, and welcome to installment two of 10 To Check Out! Installment one was on this month's new releases! You can check out 10 To Check Out: New Releases by hitting the link! This installment however is on mermaid novels! Listed below are ten mermaid novels that I have either read or am aching to read! I wouldn't recommend something to you all that I haven't recommended to myself! Check out the books and like last time tell me which entice yo based on cover, title, and description! And tell me if you've read any of them! How'd you like them?                            1. Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs Lily Sanderson has a secret, and it’s not that she has a huge crush on gorgeous swimming god Brody Bennett, who makes her heart beat flipper-fast. Unrequited love is hard enough when you’re a normal teenage girl, but when you’re half human, half mermaid like Lily, ...