Archive for June 2010
Upcoming YA Releases
To go along with the theme of all things YA this month, I thought I would give you a peek at some great books that are going to be released in the next couple of months in the YA genre. Some of the books Novel Reaction will be reviewing for sure and some I am hoping to review/read. Let me know if there are any great books out there I should add to this list. Also, check out the New Releases page where I will keep adding books as I become aware of them.
From the publishers:

A Robin Hood -esque heroine stars in this historical masterpiece
In 1794 England, the beautiful Sovay dons a man’s cloak and holds up stagecoaches in broad daylight. Posing as a highway robber began as a lark to test a suitor’s devotion. But when she lifts the wallet of one of England’s most dangerous men, Sovay begins to unravel a web of deceit and duplicity. Acclaimed author Celia Rees’ talent for romance and intrigue are sure to thrill a paperback audience.
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A sequel to the smash hit paranormal NEED that had teens everywhere thinking about pixies in a whole new way…
Zara and her friends knew they hadn’t solved the pixie problem for good. Far from it. The king’s needs grow deeper every day he’s stuck in captivity, while his control over his people gets weaker. It’s made him vulnerable. And now there’s a new king in town.
A turf war is imminent, since the new pixie king, Astley, is moving in quickly. Nick nearly killed him in the woods on day one, but Zara came to his rescue. Astley swears that he and Zara are destined to be together, that he’s one of the good guys. Nick isn’t buying it, though Zara isn’t as sure — despite herself, she wants to trust the new king. But it’s a lot more than her relationship with Nick that is at stake. It’s her life — and his.
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A tale of heart-stopping love, death, amnesia . . . and dangerous creatures
The only thing Avery Hood can remember about the night her parents died is that she saw silver—deadly silver, moving inhumanly fast. As much as she wants to remember who killed them, she can’t, and there’s nothing left to do but try to piece her life back together. Then Avery meets the new boy in school—Ben, mysterious and beautiful, with whom she feels a connection like nothing she’s ever experienced. When Ben reveals he’s a werewolf, Avery still trusts him—at first. Then she sees that sometimes his eyes flash inhuman silver. And she learns that she’s not the only one who can’t remember the night her parents died.Part murder mystery, part grief narrative, and part heart-stopping, headlong romance, Low Red Moon is a must-read for teen paranormal fans. As breathless as Twilight and as spooky as Shiver, this is a book to be devoured in one sitting—by an acclaimed YA author making her paranormal debut under the pseudonym Ivy Devlin.
(Okay, the cover looks awesome in person but this was the only digital version I could find.)
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A gorgeously-written fantasy about the friendship between a princess and her pegasus 
Because of a thousand-year-old alliance between humans and pegasi, Princess Sylviianel is ceremonially bound to Ebon, her own pegasus, on her twelfth birthday. The two species coexist peacefully, despite the language barriers separating them. Humans and pegasi both rely on specially-trained Speaker magicians as the only means of real communication.
But it’s different for Sylvi and Ebon. They can understand each other. They quickly grow close—so close that their bond becomes a threat to the status quo—and possibly to the future safety of their two nations.
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Jason has a problem. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up on a school bus holding hands with a girl. Apparently she’s his girlfriend Piper, his best friend is a kid named Leo, and they’re all students in the Wilderness School, a boarding school for “bad kids.” What he did to end up here, Jason has no idea; except that everything seems very wrong. Piper has a secret. Her father has been missing for three days, and her vivid nightmares reveal that he’s in terrible danger. Now her boyfriend doesn’t recognize her, and when a freak storm and strange creatures attack during a school field trip, she, Jason, and Leo are whisked away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood. What is going on? Leo has a way with tools. His new cabin at Camp Half-Blood is filled with them. Seriously, the place beats Wilderness School hands down, with its weapons training, monsters, and fine-looking girls. What’s troubling is the curse everyone keeps talking about, and that a camper’s gone missing. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist they are all,including Leo, related to a god.
Rick Riordan, the best-selling author of the Percy Jackson series, pumps up the action and suspense in The Lost Hero, the first book in The Heroes of Olympus series. Fans of demi-gods, prophesies, and quests will be left breathless–and panting for Book Two.
Belle by Cameron Dokey
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but what happens when you realize that your sisters overshadow you to the point that you become invisible?! Belle by Cameron Dokey begins with Belle realizing that by standing in between her two beautiful older sisters she became invisible to others. When tragedy strikes her father’s business, the family is forced to move away from the big city to the rural country and to get to their new home they must travel through the large forest where the mythical Heartwood Tree is rumored to be. When her father travels back to the city, promising to bring back one gift for each of his daughters, Belle’s only request is for a good piece of wood to be able to carve.
Cameron Dokey’s retelling of the classical story of Beauty and the Beast is both unique and familiar. Belle’s belief that she is invisible is an interesting look at the concept of what we consider beautiful. I enjoyed the relationship Belle shared with her sisters and how their relationship grew in the face of adversity. Belle’s fear and anger at being held a prisoner by the Beast was believable, even though Belle agreed to become the prisoner to save her father. I have to admit this was my favorite fairy tale growing up and have read a lot of versions. This was a great quick read and an enjoyable reminder that true beauty exists beyond the exterior and it is only by truly looking that we will see it.
Title: Belle
Author: Cameron Dokey
Format: Paperback
Page Nos.: 204
ISBN: 1416961313
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: November 2008
Reviewer: Jessica
Winner of Deception by Lee Nichols
And the winner is……..Martha who said “I loved anything by Edgar Allan Poe! He was so creepy. High school was a long time ago!:
Jocee said “My least favorite book was Lord of The Flies. I did not like this book, it just creeped me out!”
Melati said “I think that my favorite book is probably Goose Girl. I loved the description, and the plot. It is a GREAT book.”
Kira said “My favorite: Wuthering Heights – the was just something appealing about the young, stormy, angsty Heathcliff that appealed to my high school girl heart – the bad boy appeal. He didn’t turn out so great though. But I just loved that everything worked out in the end, and while Katherine and Heathcliff had a tragic love story, their children came together in the end and old rifts were healed. Silly, yes, but I was in high school!”
Thanks to everyone who entered and shared their favorite and least favorite YA novels, the winner was chosen using Random.org.









