New York Times Best Young Adult Books of 2013

Check out these notable books of 2013!

Boxers and Saints by Gene Luen Yang:  In these companion graphic novels, Yang, a Michael L. Printz Award winner, tackles the complicated history of China’s Boxer Rebellion, using characters with opposing perspectives to explore the era’s politics and religion.    New Teen Fiction Yang

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell:  A misfit girl from an abusive home and a Korean-American boy form a happy bond over music and comics on the school bus in this novel, which John Green said “reminded me not just what it’s like to be young and in love with a girl, but also what it’s like to be young and in love with a book.”   New Teen Fiction Rowell    

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell:  In her second Y.A. novel published this year, Rowell cleverly weaves the story of an introverted girl’s freshman year in college--and first romance--with the “Harry Potter”-like fan-fiction she writes in her spare time.   New Teen Fiction Rowell

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey: Yancey’s wildly entertaining novel, in which aliens come to Earth, manages the trick of appealing to teens and adults alike.   New Teen Fiction Yancey

Picture Me Gone by Meg Rosoff:  Mila, a young Londoner with an uncanny gift for empathy, accompanies her father to upstate New York to search for his best friend. Questions of honesty and trust are central to this novel, a ­National Book Award finalist.  Coming soon!*

The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson:  A boy longs to join a magical group defending humanity against merciless “chalklings” in this fantasy, set in an alternate version of ­America.   New Teen Fiction Sanderson

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein:   In this sequel to the highly-praised Code Name Verity, Rose, 18, an American transport pilot and aspiring poet, struggles to survive in a women’s concentration camp after her plane is grounded in World War II-era Germany.  Coming soon!*

*available through interlibraryloan

       

 

 

Top 10 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Books for Youth

Aliens!  Shape-shifters!  Deadly diseases!  Check out the best science fiction and fantasy books for middle and high schoolers.

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey:  This heartfelt, violent survivalist series debut is set in the aftermath of a an alien invasion in which the aliens never appear.  New Teen Fiction Yancey

The Diviners by Libba Bray:  In Prohibition-era New York, 17-year-old flapper Evie is under the wing of an uncle who runs the Museum of the Creepy Crawlies.  Business is slow until the arrival of what the papers dub the Pentacle Killer.  New Teen Fiction Bray

Every Day by David Levithan: A teenager called A wakes up in a different body every day, trying not to interfere with daily routines and to steer clear of romantic attachments.  That works until A meets Rhiannon and falls in love.  New Teen Fiction Levithan

The Future We Left Behind by Mike Lancaster: The events of Human.4 are thousands of years in the past, so distant that Kyle Straker's account of humanity being "upgraded" by alien forces is considered superstition except by true believers.  Now it's time for a teen named Peter to upload his story into the worldwide shared space of the Link.  Available through interlibrary loan

The Girl with Borrowed Wings by Rinsai Rossetti: Frenenqer--a name meaning restraint--was born inside her father's imagination and sculpted into his vision of the perfect daughter.  But when she meets a shape-shifter, the world opens up before her in this stunningly imagined paranormal romance.  New Teen Fiction Rossetti

Railsea by China Mieville:  In this inventive fantasy that draws from Moby Dick, the crew of the diesel train Medes hunts moldywarpes--enormous, man-eating, molelike creatures who burrow in the  earth beneath a tangled ocean of train tracks.  Available through interlibrary loan

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman: After 40 years of peace between human and dragon kingdoms, their much-maligned treaty is on the verge of collapse.  Serpahina's secret--that she's a human-dragon half-breed--must be protected in this richly drawn fantasy.  Teen Fiction Hartman

Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin:  This mesmerizing companion to Newbery Honor-winning Where the Mountain Meets the Moon weaves Chinese folklore with the main narrative, as a runaway named Rendi attempts to figure out why the moon is missing from the sky.  Available through interlibrary loan

Quarantine by Lex Thomas:  A gritty, apocalyptic thriller about a sick teen who infects a Colorado high school with a disease so deadly that half the building is blown up the by the military and the rest is sealed inside a giant dome.  Available through interlibrary loan

Quintana of Charyn by Melina Marchetta: The brilliant final volume in the Lumatere Chronicles sees Froi setting out to find and protect pregnant Quintana, his strange and savage love; raise an army against an enemy; and prevent war.  Available through interlibrary loan

New Books for June!

Check out these new books coming to Riverdale Public Library soon!



The More and More by Sarah Dessen:  During her last summer at home before leaving for college, Emaline begins a whirlwind romance with Theo, an assistant documentary filmmaker who is in town to make a movie.  New Teen Fiction Dessen




Tales from a Not-So-Happy Heartbreaker by Rachel Renee Russell:  In the sixth book of the popular series, middle-school drama queen Nikki Maxwell worries about asking a boy to her school's "sweetheart dance."  New Teen Fiction Russell







Doll Bones by Holly Black: Zach, Alice, and Poppy, friends from a Pennsylvania middle school who have long enjoyed acting out imaginary adventures with dolls and action figures, embark on a real-life quest to Ohio to bury a doll made from the ashes of a dead girl.  New Teen Fiction Black 




The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani:  Sophie knows she'll earn top marks at the School for Good and join the ranks of past students like Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Snow White.  Meanwhile, Agatha seems a natural fit for the villains in the School for Evil.  The two girls soon find their fortunes reversed—Sophie's dumped in the School for Evil to take Uglification, Death Curses, and Henchmen Training, while Agatha finds herself in the School for Good, thrust among handsome princes and fair maidens for classes in Princess Etiquette and Animal Communication.  But what if the mistake is actually the first clue to discovering who Sophie and Agatha really are...?  New Teen Fiction Chainani




The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson: As Wild Chalklings threaten the American Isles and Rithmatists are humanity's only defense, Joel can only watch as Rithmatist students learn the magical art that he would do anything to practice.  New Teen Fiction Sanderson



Crushed by Sara Shepard: In the 13th installment of the Pretty Little Liars series, Hanna, Spencer, Emily, and Aria are on a different kind of hunt: they're looking for A...Hanna puts her campaign for prom queen on the back burner to volunteer at a burn clinic, where one of A's victims is recovering. Emily digs into Ali's past at the psychiatric hospital with some very crazy consequences. Spencer contacts an amateur private eye to help her stalk her stalker. But when their sessions get a little too private, they may forget to keep their eyes on A. And Aria's worried that A is even closer than she thought. When her dark secret from Iceland comes to light, she discovers that maybe, just maybe, the one person she's been trying to hide the truth from has known all along. New Teen Fiction Shepard



The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey:  In this best-seller, Cassie Sullivan, the survivor of an alien invasion, must rescue her young brother from the enemy with help from a boy who may be one of them.  New Teen Fiction Yancey