The Wright Book

Cover art taken from  http://www.candlewick.com/cat.asp?mode=book&isbn=0763676187&browse= . Todd is an orphan who has been raised by family friends in the New World settlement of Prentisstown, which was founded by colonists looking for an alternative to life on Earth. Life in Prentisstown in difficult- all of the women have been killed by an alien germ, and all of the men have been infected with Noise – the inescapable ability to hear other men’s every thought. On the verge of his thirteenth birthday, when Todd will officially become a man according to Prentisstown tradition, he discovers a frighteningly quiet spot. The truth behind this quiet is so dangerous that Todd, his talking dog Manchee, and a mysterious new arrival are soon running for their lives from the men of Prentisstown. Can they reach safety in time, and can they save the other settlements of New World from the army at their heels? “The world’s a dangerous place when you don’t know enough.” (p. 142...

Cover art taken from  http://www.teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2015/09/book-review-out-of-darkness-by-ashley-hope-perez/ . Naomi is a high school senior whose father died before she was born and whose mother died after giving birth to Naomi’s twin half-siblings, Beto and Cari. After being raised by their grandparents in San Antonio for the past decade, the twins’ father, Henry, finds Jesus and decides his family needs to live with him in East Texas. They are enrolled in the New London School for the 1936 school year, where Naomi endures taunts of the “dirty Mexican” variety; she puts up with this and many more indignities so that the twins (who can pass for white) will have the opportunities afforded by their state-of-the-art new school. Naomi finds solace in her friendship and budding romance with Wash, but they must keep their relationship secret because Wash is African-American. When tragedy strikes the school, a grief-stricken community looks for a scapegoat, and Naomi and Wash...

Cover art taken from  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11861815-winger . Ryan Dean West (known by his rugby nickname “Winger”) is a 14-year-old junior at a strict boarding school. As if being two years younger than his classmates isn’t bad enough, he’s been assigned to Opportunity Hall (the school’s punishment dorm), so he’s having to adjust to life without his usual roommates while sharing a room with one of the rugby team’s biggest jerks. Ryan Dean is also in love with his best friend, Annie, but he worries that she’ll never see him as anything more than a cute little kid. Just as things are starting to look up for Winger, tragedy strikes and he must figure out how to navigate high school without his moral compass. “You know, nothing ever goes back exactly the way it was. Things just expand and contract. Like the universe, like breathing. But you’ll never fill your lungs up with the same air twice. Sometimes, it would be cool if you could pause and rewind and do over. ...

Cover art taken from  http://www.simonandschuster.com/series/Arc-of-a-Scythe . In a supposedly Utopian future, death and old age have been vanquished, and humans can live forever. In order to control population levels, however, a certain number of people must be “gleaned” each year, and Scythes are the ones who must carry out this gruesome task. When the Honorable Scythe Faraday breaks with tradition and chooses not one but two new apprentices, the Scythedom is thrown into turmoil. The young apprentices, Rowan and Citra, are pitted against each other as they study and perfect their “killcraft”, and lines are drawn that threaten to change the Scythedom forever. Only one apprentice may prevail, but which one will it be? “Without the threat of suffering, we can’t experience true joy. The best we get is pleasantness.”  (p. 244) This incredibly thought-provoking and engaging book raises many interesting questions, and savvy teens who aren’t afraid to ponder heavy philoso...