Scat by Carl HiaasenNutmeg Synopsis: After mean Mrs. Starch goes missing during a class field trip to the Black Vine Swamp, two of her students, Nick and Marta, believe her disappearance is mysterious and that there is something strange about the note that she left behind. Can Nick and Marta solve the mystery of the missing teacher?
The Teen Librarian's Review: Carl Hiaasen's books tend to have a focus on Florida, environmentalism and conservation--Scat doesn't disappoint. Hiaasen is hilarious. Mrs. Starch seems horrible, the villains are diabolical and the mystery is intriguing.
The Maze Runner by James DashnerNutmeg Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Thomas wakes up in an elevator with no memory except for his first name. He’s arrived in “the glade,” an area surrounded by stone walls that open to a maze every morning. With him in the glade are about 60 boys, all searching for an escape route. And then a girl appears with a message, and things begin to change.
The Teen Librarian's Review: This fantastic dystopian novel starts out slow but ends with the reading dying for the next installment. Thomas may have no memory but everyone seems to think he knows more about the maze than he does--especially after he does what has never been done before: stay alive overnight in the maze and defeat three terrifying grievers.
I Am A Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want To Be Your Class President by Josh LiebNutmeg Synopsis: Running for seventh-grade class president looks easy to Oliver Watson. With his good looks, intelligence, and wealth, he can control his classmates, teachers, and parents. But can he control the outcome of an election?
The Teen Librarian's Review: Oliver Watson isn't the dumb boy he pretends to be. He is secretly the world's richest man and head of a world wide empire. They only person he actually cares about is his mom and his nemesis is his father. So how does this evil genius take on his nemesis? He runs for class president. But can he win?
Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day GeorgeNutmeg Synopsis: Galen, a soldier recently returned from the war, now works in the royal palace, where he meets 12 beautiful princesses. As innocent as the king’s twelve daughters seem, they harbor a secret. Will Galen be the one to uncover the activity that leaves their slippers in tatters, as if worn for years? Or will he, like the others, fail… and die for his trouble?
The Teen Librarian's Review: This book is a take on one of my favorite fairy tales, The Twelve Dancing Princesses. In that story, the king invites all the princes to try and discover why his 12 daughter's dancing slippers are worn out every morning. The prince who can discover their secret will get to choose a princess to marry.
Princess of the Midnight Ball stays true to this tale, which is told by both the eldest princess, Rose, and a palace gardener and former soldier, Galen. Each night the princesses are forced to dance the night away in an underground realm.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne CollinsNutmeg Synopsis: In the ruins of North America lies the nation of Panem, a capitol surrounded by twelve districts. Each year, the districts send one boy and one girl to participate in the Hunger Games, a brutal fight to the death televised for Panem’s entertainment. Sixteen-year-old Katniss steps in to take the place of her sister
in the Hunger Games, hoping to survive the competition.
The Teen Librarian's Review: I could not put this down, and had reserved the second book before I finished the first. This book has it all: Action--a brutal fight for survival, Love--you must have heard some of the love triangle between Katniss, Peeta and Gale by now, and Horror--how can a society ask this of their children.
