Deborah Ellis once again brings to light the voice of children. In Children of War, Ellis compiles the stories of Iraqi children displaced by war. 
Death recounts the story of a little girl, Liesel. He first met Liesel when he took her brother in 1939 on a train to Molching, a suburb of Munich. He sees her steal a book, The Gravedigger's Handbook, from her brother's graveside. Why an illiterate girl would steal a book? Death follows Liesel on her journey to stay with the Hubermann's, her foster home. Liesel's illustrious career as a book thief grows in Nazi Germany amid book burnings and Nazi Youth meetings. As World War II unfolds she sees Death through the eyes of Max, a Jew the Hubermann's hide in their basement. He is there to carry the Jewish souls from Dachau, the concentration camp just up the hill from Molching.
Chanda’s Secret is a portrayal of the effect of AIDS in Africa and the stigma and shame that surround it. The novel also focuses on the strength and courage that young people have, even in the most desperate of circumstances.
review submitted by Library Peer Tutor, grade 11
This is the tenth book in the series that inspired the television drama “Bones.” Fans of the show will find the book drastically different when compared to the TV series they have become accustomed to. The book starts with forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan working at an archaeological dig on Dewees Island with some grad students. The dig takes a turn for the worse when a newer body is uncovered in the dig and upon further investigation is shown to have some unusual characteristics. The hunt is on for both the identity of the body, and the killer. Soon another body is found with similar markings. After that the bodies keep piling up. Tempe’s personal life is also in disarray when both her estranged husband Pete, and her current beau Ryan show up on the island. With the emotional turmoil threatening to boil over and a killer on the loose, Tempe takes some of the investigating into her own hands. This could have dire consequences for Tempe. Break no Bones is another success from Kathy Reichs. This book is not for those who don’t like murder mystery or who are not comfortable with extensive forensic detail. A forensic anthropologist herself, Reichs always has intense detail in her writing. It is not required for the reader to have read the other books prior to this one in this series. 
When 15-year-old Jude’s drug dealing father is murdered, he is a witness to the shooting. The murderer allows him to live on a whim. In debt to a killer and under suspicion for his father’s murder, a new future is revealed to Jude as he is sent to live with a mother he never knew (DA Anna Grady) and told he was kidnapped by his father at only 3 months old. Anna may mean well but she has little time for Jude and the demands of her job come first. Sent off to a prep-school and desperate for friends Jude takes a wealthy boy to his old neighbourhood for drugs. When he overdoses questions start to arise and accusations are pointed left, right, and center. Harry Wichowski (Anna’s boyfriend and police chief) uncovers the truth and sets up Jude to take the fall (with Jude’s permission) on the promise of immediate release after the mayoral election his mother is running in is over. Caught in a web of lies and deceit Jude must discover the truth of his past and strive for the justice he deserves. An edge-of-your-seat page turner, easy to read and get into. An all-around good read. 
In A Place Called Here, Sandy Shortt has been haunted for years by the disappearance of her classmate Jenny-May Butler. Sandy has made it her goal to find all things missing; it is an obsession. As we follow her journey we realize that Sandy can’t come to terms with the fact that sometimes objects go missing and never reappear. Sandy’s mission is to find missing people, so when Jack Ruttle comes to her trying to find his younger brother Donal, Sandy decides to help him. But before she can start, Sandy disappears to. Now all she has to do is find her way home.
In the novel, Awake and Dreaming the main character Theo (Theodora) lives with her irresponsible mother. They make money by singing and dancing in the streets for passersby. Theo dreams of a better life, and one day that dream is granted. She is taken in by the Kador family. They give her everything she ever wanted and love her like her mother never did. But Theo soon finds herself back in her mother’s care, and she is left wondering if her adventure with the Kaldors was real or just a dream.
Matt Gratton, 15, has two summer goals. First, get the attention of 'hottie' Kelly West. Second, learn to swim the gruelling 'fly' so he can compete in the local swim meet. By swimming the fly he is sure to impress Kelly.
While Compestine's debut novel is touted as fiction; the narrative draws on Compestine's experiences growing up in China during Mao's Cultural Revolution. She poignantly describes the erosion of individual rights in China in the 1970's. Ying Chang watches as her classmates, neighbours and eventually her father are denounced as bourgeoisie and thus enemies of the revolution.
The last in Pfeffer's Life as We Knew It trilogy brings Miranda and Alex together. The two form a a deep relationship as the world continues to disintegrate.
Isabel is sold after her mistress dies. Her life as a slave in 1776 for a New York couple turns political when she finds herself caught up in the revolutionary war. Isabel narrates a haunting tale of the role slaves and free men played out at the onset of the American battle for independence.
Miles Halter seeks the "Great Perhaps" in John Green's Looking for Alaska. His public school life in Florida is uneventful, uninteresting, and unfriendly. He leaves for Culver Creek Boarding School, Birmingham, AL seeking a more fulfilling existence. He finds his meaning of life in Alaska. The "hottest girl in all of human history." She is smart, adventurous and mischievous. Her past is somewhat of a mystery which she slowly divulges during late night smoking and drinking sessions.
w1n5t0n and his friends are arrested as a suspected terrorists in the confusion surrounding the terrorist attack on the San Francisco. They are held by the Department of Homeland Security. Their families are in mourning as their children are missing and assumed dead . w1n5t0n is released after days of interrogation. In the wake of the attack and the United States' security fears he vows to use his computer skills to fight back against the increasingly Orwellian tactics used in the guise of safety.
Thomas Chatterton Williams reflects on his dual persona growing up in suburban America. He portrays the struggle between the academic opportunities his father, a self taught scholar, provided in the family home, a home filled with 15, 000 books and the allure of Hip Hop culture that permeated black youth in the 1990's. The story is punctuated with lyrics from Hip Hop fame such as Biggie Smalls, Dr. Dre and Ice-T.
