The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Todd lives on a New World where people can hear each others thoughts and also hear animal thoughts. They call it the Noise. One day Todd hears a space of silence with no Noise. As he investigates, he finds a girl named Viola. There are no girls or women in Prenticetown. When his guardians Ben and Cillan find out, they tell him he must flee. They send him with supplies and a diary of his mother's and tell him, "You must warn them." As he and Viola race to escape the men of Prenticetown who are chasing them, they find that they are being pursued for other reasons that they don't even realize. They come to town after town where the townspeople are afraid and the army is always following them. Those who shelter them are destroyed. When they finally make it to Haven, where they hope to find safety, they find no one except the Mayor of Prenticetown who has been following them. A sequel is to follow.

Diamond Willow by Helen Frost

There’s more to me than most people see. Twelve-year-old Willow would rather blend in than stick out. But she still wants to be seen for who she is. She wants her parents to notice that she is growing up. She wants her best friend to like her better than she likes a certain boy. She wants, more than anything, to mush the dogs out to her grandparents’ house, by herself, with Roxy in the lead. But sometimes when it’s just you, one mistake can have frightening consequences . . . And when Willow stumbles, it takes a surprising group of friends to help her make things right again. Using diamond-shaped poems inspired by forms found in polished diamond willow sticks, Helen Frost tells the moving story of Willow and her family. Hidden messages within each diamond carry the reader further, into feelings Willow doesn’t reveal even to herself.

Leepike Ridge by N. D. Wilson

Eleven-year-old Thomas Hammond is in for the ride of his life when he's swept downstream and underground aboard a crumbling raft of Styrofoam. Washing up on a dark subterranean "beach," his only companions are an impulsive dog named Argus and a corpse, from which he takes a flashlight and an all-too-limited supply of batteries. What Tom finds under Leepike Ridge—a castaway, four graves, a tomb, and buried treasure—will answer questions he hadn't known to ask and change his life forever. Now, if he can only find his way home again. . . . An original mix of Robinson Crusoe, King Solomon's Mines, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and The Odyssey , N. D. Wilson's first book for young readers is a remarkable adventure, a journey though the dark of the grave and back out into the light.
From Shelfari

STORM: the Infinity Code by E.L. Young

Will and his friend Gaia attend a special school in England. They are both extremely bright. One day Gaia invites Will to join STORM, a group hoping to combat global strife. The group is headed by Andrew, a teen software designer, and millionaire. Another friend Caspian also belongs to the group. After rescuing a plane load of passengers during a solar explosion or CME, the three find out that a new weapon is being developed to create a black hole in space and destroy the new space hotel. Caspian's father has been kidnapped and has asked for Caspian's help with the project. By following him, Will, Gaia, and Andrew go to St. Petersburg, Russia and discover a secret missile launching site. They only have minutes to destroy the launcher before the new weapon explodes. Will discovers that his mother, an astrophysicist, has also been forced to work on the project. The three teenagers manage to destroy the device and Caspian and Roden Cutler, the man behind the plan are captured. This science fiction novel is packed with action and adventure. Will is an expert inventor, coming up with James Bond type gadgets to help with their quest. Gaia is a strong female character who creates bombs. All of the students are gifted. This would appeal to science fiction fans, gifted students, and those interested in science.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

In the Seven Kingdoms, when a person is born with eyes of two different colors, they possess a Grace. Sometimes the Grace is powerful and sometimes not. Katsa is born with one of the most powerful of all - the grace for killing. She is used by her uncle Randa, King of the Middluns to revenge his enemies. Katsa hates killing, but feels that she has no choice. She has created a council of good to offset her evil deeds. On one of her chosen quests, she rescues the kidnapped father of the King of Lienid. During the quest, she meets Prince Greening (Po), his grandson. He also has a Grace, the grace for fighting. Although they start as enemies,they soon become friends, and eventually lovers. He convinces Katsa that she does not have to follow King Randa's commands. They set off together to find out why Po's grandfather was kidnapped and discover more evil than they can handle in Monsea with King Leck who is graced with the power to alter people's thoughts. He is a very evil man who kills and maims and then convinces others that he is kind and generous. Po and Katsa rescue Bitterblue, King Leck's daughter before he is able to harm her, then they set out to kill King Leck. Although Po is almost killed, Katsa is able to escape and eventually kill Bitterblue's father. Bitterblue becomes Queen of Monsea. Katsa returns to find Po is blind, but has learned to compensate for his blindness by sensing things around him. They marry and everyone lives happily ever after. This book has a slow start, but lots of adventure and action. Very strong female characters. Survival story. First novel by this author.

Night of the Howling Dogs by Graham Salisbury

Dylan and his scout troop live on the island of Hawaii. They are going on a weekend campout at Halape, a remote beach campground on the southern flank of Kilauea volcano. While they are there, there is an earthquake and tidal wave. Their entire campground is gone, and all of the boys and scout leaders are lost and injured. Dylan and his enemy Louie must team up to find the rest of the troop and rescue them. They finally locate everyone. Some of them are so badly injured that they can't hike back up the trail. Louie and Dylan decide to hike out to get help. When they are about to give up, they are rescued by the Coast Guard. Everyone survives and they are all very glad to get home. This book is based on a true story of a scout troop that experienced just such an event in 1975. In the real tsunami, one of the scouts and one of the leaders was killed.

Elephant Run by Roland Smith

This is a great book. It was hard to get started, but once I got into the book, it was hard to put down. Nick is a teenage boy living with his mother in England during World War II. When the bombings got too bad in England, his mother decided to send him to live with his father on his plantation in Burma. Nick was safe there for a while, but then the Japanese invaded and captured his father and the plantation. His father was captured and sent to a prison camp. Nick was also captured and kept locked in his room and treated as a slave in his own home. He manages to escape and after hiding, tries to find and rescue his father. His friend Mya has a brother who has also been captured. She goes with him to try to free her brother along with the help of Hilltop, a buddhist monk who helps them. The first two or three chapters were slow and I almost didn't read the rest of the book, so don't give up on it. Keep reading! You'll love it.

The Sword Thief

This is the third book in the 39 Clues series. The books chronicle the adventures of two orphans who are searching the world for the clues that will lead to a Cahill family secret that could change the course of human history. They are battling mysterious forces, as well as their own relatives to reach the clues and solve the mystery. This particular book takes them from Italy to Japan after they discover ancient swords and their next clue. The series is being written by many authors; each of the first three books have had a different writer, but all of the books have flowed together perfectly. The books all read very fast too which makes them fun for all levels of readers.
Reviewed by Sarah Berblinger

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

If you were stranded in the wild, what is the one thing you would you want to have with you? Why? (short discussion)

Imagine if all you had was a hatchet. In Gary Paulsen's book, Hatchet, Brian Robeson is a thirteen-year-old boy trying to adjust to his parents’ divorce. While flying to visit his dad, things go horribly wrong and Brian is left to fly the plane.

(excerpt p. 24-25) He repeated the radio call seventeen times at the ten-minute intervals, working on what he would do between transmissions…He did what he could, tightened his seatbelt, positioned himself, rehearsed mentally again and again what his procedure should be…Over and over his mind ran the picture of how it would go. The plane running out of gas, flying the plane onto the water, the crash—from pictures he’d seen on television. He tried to visualize it. He tried to be ready.

But between the seventeenth and eighteenth radio transmissions, without a warning, the engine coughed, roared violently for a second and died. There was sudden silence, cut only by the sound of the windmilling propeller and the wind past the cockpit.

Brian pushed the nose of the plane down and threw up.

This is a story of Brian’s survival. The hatchet he is wearing on his belt plays a key role as does Brian’s wits and resourcefulness. And, throughout the book, his Secret haunts him. This is a fast-paced book, with lots of action that leaves you wanting more. Check out Hatchet, and if you like it, there is a series of books about Brian and his adventures.
(from Nancy Keane's booktalking course)

Iron Thunder by Avi

January, 1862, Tom Carroll goes to work in the ship yard to help earn money for his family. Mr. John Ericsson is building an iron clad ship called the Monitor. It is the first of it's kind - "a tin can on a raft". It is being built to fight the Merrimac, the first iron clad ship ever and to protect the Naval Blockade of the North. March 9, 1862, the Monitor met the Merrimac at Fortress Monroe and saved the flagship Minnesota. Both sides claimed to have won the battle, but the blockade held and the Merrimac was never used again. The Monitor only was used for one year. It sank in a storm, but it was a turning point in the Civil War that has gone down through history. This is told through the eyes of the young boy Tom as he works at the ship yard and later sails on the Monitor and takes part in the historic battle.