It's been a while since a book has moved me like this one.

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
Noah and Jude are twins.  Until the year they turned 14 they were inseparable, to the point that they would sit together with shoulders, heads and hips touching as if they were physically one being. They bargained with each other for parts of the universe.  “ 'I gave up practically the whole world for you' I tell him, walking through the front door of my own love story. 'The sun, stars, ocean, trees, everything, I gave it all up for you.' ”  But things change, and a lot happened in that fateful year that changed their relationship.  This is a book about truth and lies, failure and redemption, love and anger.  Oh, yes, and art. This book is about art and the artistic person, and the pain that encompasses them from time to time.  And it's about ghosts and spirits and superstitions and love and a whole lot more!  And it contains the best description of "mean girls" I've ever read:  Noah talking about Jude and her new friends: " She's surrounded by the same bunch of girls she's been hanging around with all spring and so far this summer instead of me.  Pretty hornet-girls in bright bikinis with suntans that glimmer for miles. I know all about hornets: If one send out a distress signal, it can trigger a whole nest attack. This can be deadly to people like me."  
Told in beautiful lyrical prose, devour this one in a few days.  Time jumps back and forth from 
age 13 1/2 to age 16, the early years are told by Noah, the later ones by Jude.  Secrets and lies are revealed little by little until the truth about what happened that year finally emerges in a very emotional final few chapters. Forgiveness and redemption really are possible!  

Messenger of Fear

"If you are wicked, the messenger will find you."  This is the tagline for Michael Grant's (Gone series, BRZK series) new series, The Messenger of Fear.  Mara wakes up shrouded by mist and with total amnesia to find herself in the company of an unusual young man who calls himself Messenger. She soon learns that she is to be apprentice to Messenger and eventually take over for him. What is his job?  To seek out and punish those who do evil things and go unpunished in the "real" world.  This story is gruesome and hard to read at times, therefore it's not for younger teens. I would recommend this for at least age 15 and up. It's a short book, quick to read, and leaves one eagerly anticipating the second book in the series. Sorry, no information on when that book will be published yet! 

A few new books on the teen shelf!

No Parking at the End Times by Bryan Bliss
 Aaron and Abigail's parents truly believed that the end times were coming, so they sold everything they had and gave all of their money to the preacher who convinced them of the coming apocalypse.  But, of course, it didn't happen.  Now the family is penniless, living in a van and trying to scrape together meals at the soup kitchen and Brother John's "church" (it's a storefront).   Aaron is angry and Abigail just wants to heal the family and get things back to normal.  This is a fresh perspective on homelessness, poverty, and blind faith in an unworthy person.

For fans of The Pretty Little Liars series, the latest book is now here!  Vicious reunites the 4 liars, Aria, Spencer, Hanna and Emily, as they find themselves framed for the murder of Alison DiLaurentis. No one knows that Ali is still alive and well and laughing at the plight of the 4.  This is the final book in the very popular series, so don't miss it!

There's more than a little magic in Tricia Stirling's book When My Heart Was Wicked.  Lacy is a good witch, a green witch who uses plants to heal. But she is unable to prevent her father's death. She has a very close relationship with her stepmother, but when her real mother, Cheyenne, returns to take her away to Sacramento, she is powerless to resist. But there's something really wrong with Cheyenne, and Lacy finds herself drawn to dark magic.  This is Stirling's debut novel, and was published to rave reviews.  It's on my "to read" list.

For those out there who love a little horror (but not too much) in their reading, there's Beneath by Roland Smith. This one is about two brothers, Pat and his older brother Coop who is "weird" and, after a huge argument with their parents, ends up running away. One year later he sends Pat a cryptic message that leads him on a hunt to find the older brother that he idolized. Coop is living in a radical underground community in New York City. Creepy enough?

Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan is a huge story about 4 people connected by of all things a harmonica. Lyric and imaginative, this one will take a while to read at over 500 pages.

If you read and loved Aimee Carter's dystopian book Pawn, then pick up the sequel, Captive. Kitty is still impersonating Lila Hart and supporting the Blackcoat rebels. No one is to be trusted in this book which is full of intrigue and adventure.

 On the light and fluffy side, Geek Girl by Holly Small takes a self-proclaimed geek and throws her into the world of high fashion models. Good fun.

Science fictions and superheroes take the lead in Emily Lloyd-Jones' book Illusive. A deadly virus caused a worldwide epidemic until a vaccine was created to prevent infection. That vaccine, however, had a very unusual side effect for a small number of people: it gave them super powers.  Lots of action in this one.

The sequel to best seller Seraphina is also here!  And it's big sprawling fantasy complete with dragons and warring kingdoms, continuing the story of Seraphina the half-dragon. 

Don't let the cover of this one fool you!

Vivian Apple at the End of the World by Katie Coyle.
The cover illustration would lead one to think that this is a light airy fun story, but it's not. Vivian Apple lives in a future where a corporate religion has taken over America.  The country is split between Believers and Non-Believers (encompassing all other religions as well as atheists). The Church of America was founded by Beaton Frick, based on the bible, but he wrote his own "updated" version called The Book of Frick told to him when Jesus came to him driving a powder blue convertible. The book opens with Vivian coming home to find that her parents, Believers, have been Raptured. All that's left of them are two holes in the roof of their home. Vivian goes to live with her atheist grandparents, but when the country descends into chaos following the disappearance of a few thousand Believers she decides to seek out the truth behind the Church of America.  Fast-paced and dark, with strongly drawn characters, this is a must-read! 

In the Shadow of Blackbirds

This novel by Cat Winters takes place during two simultaneously occurring tragic events: World War I and the Spanish influenza epidemic. With death surrounding everyone, spiritualism, spirit photography, and seances have become incredibly popular in the United States and Europe. Mary Shelley Black has been sent to live with her aunt after the death of her mother and the arrest and imprisonment of her father who is a pacifist and anti-draft activist.  After the death of her childhood friend and recent love interest Stephen, who enlisted in the army at age 17 and was sent to fight in France, Mary, in her grief, steps out into a thunderstorm and is hit by lightening and dies briefly. Hovering over her body, she is compelled to return to life, but something has changed in her. Never a believer in spirits, she finds she suddenly can communicate with Stephen, who is suffering and believes he is being attacked and tortured by blackbirds. What follows is a desperate search for the truth of what happened to Stephen which includes delving into seances and spirit photography to solve the mystery.
This book can best be described as an historical mystery/fantasy.  Plenty of atmospheric description of seances, and the society which believed in the ability to contact dead spirits, as well as the horror of the influenza epidemic. The terror felt by ordinary people is palpable and descriptions of those who died of the flu that year are not for those with weak stomachs!   Highly recommended!

The Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winters

This one is really a mix of genres: lots of historical detail and facts about women's suffrage that I never learned in history classes with some elements of fantasy and horror thrown in.  Olivia feels strongly about women's rights and has attended rallies and demonstrations in support of this cause. Her father, however, strongly believes that women should never be educated, should always be married and should stay in the home cooking and cleaning. So strongly that when hypnotist Henri Reverie comes to town to entertain he hires him to "cure" Olivia of her unfeminine dreams of being more than a housewife and mother.  But he does not realize that Henri does not feel the same way as he does about women. Henri, a male feminist,  proceeds to hypnotize Olivia and instructs her to "see the world as it really is".  With this gift she begins to see "monsters" in what used to be normal average people. What ensues is a battle between Olivia, her father, and uppercrust society's anti-suffragette group, and a budding love story between Olivia and Henri.  
Winters' writing is crisp and flows really well, keeping the story exciting. It's a page-turner for sure!