Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

"Wilcox had books but no family. Minnie had a family now, but those babies would keep her from reading for a good long time. Some people, like my aunt Josie and Alvah Dunning the hermit, had neither love nor books. Nobody I knew had both."

It is the early twentieth century, and Mattie Gokey is a farm girl in the Adirondacks. Mattie is brilliant and filled with potential, but tied to her father's farm since the death of her mother and her brother's desertion. Her seemingly impossible dreams of college in New York City conflict with her loyalty to her family and her duties on the farm. When she takes a job at the Glenmore Hotel, Mattie finds herself entangled in the aftermath of a young woman's mysterious death. Mattie's story voice examines feminism, poverty, and racism set against Donnelly's romantic description of the Adirondacks at the turn of the century. I found myself wondering the same as Mattie, why can't a girl have books and boys? Oh, and the part about the mysterious death is a true story!

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SLJ reccommends grades 8 and up.

Dead Connections by Charlie Price

"They are not graveyards. I hate it when people say that. They are cemeteries. The one I know best is Forest Grove. I spend most of my time there. That's where most of my friends are. I don't spend much time with the older people. I figure they deserved it. Not deserved it, really, but what could they expect? After forty, you're going to die. The ones my age and the children, they almost all need someone to talk to. I comfort them the best I can. They weren't ready. They'll tell you that. They're not jealous or mean or scary like you might think. Just really lonely. Everybody needs a friend."

Murray spends most of his free time in the local cemetery. It's probably because all of his friends are there. Murray speaks to the dead. Now he's hearing a new voice and doesn't know how to help. Told in many voices from many points of view, this unusual page-turner follows the lives small town residents and their connections to one dead girl.

SLJ recommends grades 8 and up.

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Grand and Humble by Brent Hartinger

"And inside his head, he was suddenly in a different place and time. A city street at night? A truck--or was it a van?--was bearing down on Harlan. He could see the expanding headlights, could watch the vehicle veering to one side as the driver tried to swerve away at the last second.
It was too late."

Manny has been dreaming, lately...about drowning. The dreams are terrifying, puzzling, and very real. Harlan's been having inexplicable panic attacks. Two boys from different worlds, Manny is an unassuming geek while Harlan is the popular son of a local politician. Both boys are startled by the sudden onset of their nightmares and anxiety, and puzzled by the cause. Hartinger spins an unusual tale in this brief thriller.

SLJ recommends grades 9 and up.

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Road of the Dead by Kevin Brooks

"One moment she was with me--sitting in the back of the Mercedes, looking around the yard--and then the moment suddenly cracked and I was with her, walking a storm-ravaged lane in the middle of a desolate moor. We were cold and wet and tired and scared, and the world was black and empty, and I didn't know why."

When Rueben's sister Rachel is murdered far from home, Rueben knows about it immediately. In fact, due to his psychic abilities, Rueben feels as if he had been there with her. When the police refuse to return Rachel's body to her family until the crime is solved, Rueben and his older brother Cole set off to solve the crime themselves. The more clues they uncover, the stranger the mystery gets. Kevin Brooks uses poetic language to tell his page-turning story. All of the loose ends seem to tie up a bit too quickly in the end, but the book is still well-worth the read.

SLJ recommends grades 9 and up.

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Losing Gemma by Katy Gardner

"Isn't it incredible how those tiny apparently minute, spilt-second decisions can change the course of a life? If we had gone with one of the tours, or asked the backpackers how best to get into the city center, or even done the unthinkable and visited the Tourist Information Office, everything might have been different."

Girlhood friends Esther and Gemma are off on a once in a lifetime adventure--backpacking in India. Esther is confident, beautiful, and accomplished, while Gemma is a cautious homebody. Before long, Esther's dream of capriciously wandering around the exotic countryside becomes a tedious chore as she coddles timid Gemma and hides a guilty secret. Eventually Esther is forced to return home, alone. What happened to dear Gemma? And what is Esther supposed to do now? This tale of a friendship past its prime is a riveting page-turner.

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