GEORGIA PEACH BOOKS

2015-2016

Are You Experienced?By Jordan Sonnenblick

When 15-year-old Rich Barber travels back in time from 2014 to the

1969 Woodstock festival, he encounters the '60s, including his

teenage father. Rich loves playing the guitar and wishes he had been

around in the '60s, like his father and uncle who played in a rock band

and attended Woodstock. After his older brother died from a heroin

overdose, though, Rich's father turned into a depressed,

overprotective adult. Rich has spent his whole life limited by his

father's rules. When he discovers his father's been hiding a guitar rock

luminary Jimi Hendrix played at Woodstock, Rich defiantly strikes a

chord and wakes up on the road to Woodstock with his father, his

uncle and his uncle's girlfriend. A stranger from the future who knows

what's going to happen, Rich conceals his identity and bonds with his

father. Together, they witness Woodstock's free love, rampant drug

use and incredible music. When Rich learns his father had abusive

parents, he's determined to "meet Jimi Hendrix, save [his] uncle and

change [his] father's future." Alternating his first-person narration

between past and present, Rich proves a sensitive, insightful and

humorous 21st-century guide to the hippie generation's most iconic

event. This provocative, personal peek at legendary Woodstock

rocks. (Fantasy. 12 & up)(Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 2013)

Caged WarriorAlan Sitomer

On the mean streets of Detroit, McCutcheon Daniels—aka Bam

Bam—has a mean rep in the underground sport of mixed martial

arts. Trained by his father, McCutcheon has been preened to be

a fighter with killa instinct whose no-holds-barred battles are his

family’s sole source of income. Out of the cage, this weekend

warrior is a tenth-grader and loving brother who does everything

he can to keep his little sister safe and provided for. When a

teacher takes a special interest in McCutcheon, offering him a

future that isn’t determined by his fists, he is given a choice for

the first time in his life, but it’s one that might incur the wrath of

his father as well as the men running the fight circuit. Sitomer

pulls no punches in this novel where fights and life alike are

merciless and characterized by grit, blood, endurance, and

smarts. Yet amid the violence, McCutcheon’s inner strength

shines, guaranteeing readers will back him through the book’s

harsh twists and turns. -- Smith, Julia (Reviewed 05-15-2014)

(Booklist, vol 110, number 18, p54)

A Death-Struck YearNina LaCour

Seventeen-year-old Cleo Berry frets over an uncertain future devoid of plans,

dreams, and ambitions. However, when the Spanish influenza strikes her

hometown of Portland, Oregon, she does not hesitate to volunteer for the

American Red Cross. Lucier's vividly accurate description of the 1918 pandemic

will make readers tremble over the teen's fate, wondering whether she will be next

on the list of victims. Cleo faces the ultimate dilemma: Given a choice between

herself and others, who will she choose in the face of calamity? The pace of the

writing is swift, and the author spares little in her account of those afflicted and

others who sacrificed their own lives to help save them: loved ones and strangers

burying individuals on their own without burial societies, members of the Red Cross

going door-to-door in search of the sick, and young people dying as easily as their

elders from the disease. This first-person narrative is as much Cleo's coming-of-age

story as it is a full historical account of the pandemic. The novel's strong voice

intimately places readers directly into the dramatic plot right up to climactic

ending. Nothing is sugarcoated, making this a difficult pick for the squeamish, who

may not easily tolerate the abundant flow of blood and raging fever throughout.

The mood of almost hopeless desperation that mounts toward the second half of

the book cannot be readily shaken off. In the same vein of Laurie Halse Anderson's

Fever 1793 (S. & S., 2000), Lucier's debut novel deserves a place in all high school

collections.—Etta Anton, Yeshiva of Central Queens, NY --Etta Anton (Reviewed

April 1, 2014) (School Library Journal, vol 60, issue 4, p169)

Everything Leads to YouMakiia Lucier

A dream job, a film legend’s living legacy, a shining mystery, and an

epic sun-soaked summer—it’s the stuff of Hollywood, and that’s the

stuff for Emi. She is 18, a set designer, and a deep believer in the

romance of the movies. When a series of coincidences lead her to

beautiful and talented Ava, the long-lost granddaughter of a film

cowboy, Emi no longer just works in the movies, she is living in one. But

as the final kiss and a fade to black seem just within reach, Emi begins

to see that life outside of the frame is messier and harder, but has the

potential to be much more rewarding. Emi is smart, sweet, and sexy,

and through her infatuation with Ava, she grows in her understanding

of herself, her privilege, and her role in the movie of life. Their chaste,

careful romance focuses on emotion and expectation: the problems

of any teens in love. Mature in tone more so than content, this is

summer love for the ages. -- Booth, Heather (Reviewed 06-01-2014)

(Booklist, vol 110, number 19, p92)

Fake IDLamar Giles

Nick Pearson (not his real name) and his family are on their last lifeline.

Stepton, an anonymous Southern town, is their final chance to stay out

of trouble and avoid being removed from the witness protection

program. More specifically, it is the last chance for Nick’s father, whose

dodgy dealings continue to risk exposing the family. Nick has changed

identity so frequently that he has become adept at “staying low-key.”

But in Stepton he befriends high-school journalist Eli Cruz, who is

leading a one-man crusade to unearth the truth behind

“Whispertown.” But when Eli ends up dead, it throws Nick into an

investigation. While each revelation brings him closer to the truth, it

also brings him closer to blowing his cover. Nick is a resourceful,

intelligent kid who lives within a set of circumstances beyond his

control. Decisions about whom he can trust with varying levels of the

truth have to be made on the fly as Nick tries to honor his dead friend

while ensure his own self-preservation. Conspiracy theorists and thriller

fans alike will be guessing right up to the end of this exciting debut. --

Dean, Kara (Reviewed 01-01-2014) (Booklist, vol 110, number 9, p106)

Faking NormalCourtney Stevens

Somewhere between Sarah Dessen and Laurie Halse Anderson lies

Stevens’s rich debut about two adolescents grappling with

extraordinary trauma. Alexi Littrell has two close friends, dates football

players, and has a family that her older sister’s fiancé describes as “the

best family in the world.” But she is carrying a secret about something

that happened to her over the summer and is self-harming to mute the

pain. Her classmate Bodee’s Kool-Aid dyed hair and quiet demeanor

already set him apart from peers, but after his father kills his mother, he

becomes even more of an object of pity and curiosity. When Alexi’s

parents invite Bodee to live with them, the pair become friends, with

Alexi helping Bodee release his guilt over his mother’s death and

Bodee encouraging Alexi to speak out about what happened to her.

Though the busy plot sometimes swallows Alexi herself, the mood is

intense and the story moves briskly, complete with an ending so

surprising that some readers may flip back to the beginning to start

fresh. Ages 14–up. Agent: Kelly Sonnack, Andrea Brown Literary

Agency. (Feb.) --Staff (Reviewed November 18, 2013) (Publishers

Weekly, vol 260, issue 46, p)

Far from YouTess Sharpe

Debut novelist Sharpe attempts a delicate balancing act between

past and present in this murder mystery about secrets and truth. The

story begins with the crime, which is then unraveled by our narrator,

Sophie, as she describes how she got to the point where her best

friend, Mina, was murdered. Sophie alternates between telling her

current story and relating past events, starting with the car accident

three years before, which ravaged her physically and led to an

OxyContin addiction. It will not take the reader long to realize that

Sophie and Mina were not only best friends but in love with each other;

Sophie’s heartbreak is as much about this as it is about Mina’s death.

Despite Sophie’s eagerness to find the killer, the hunt for him feels a bit

abandoned as past events are continually revisited and analyzed.

Fortunately, Sharpe’s writing is beautiful and her characters are fully

realized, which should carry readers through to the book’s sorrowful

finale. -- Dean, Kara (Reviewed 05-01-2014) (Booklist, vol 110, number

17, p53)

Free to Fall

Lauren Miller

It’s 2030—handhelds are tinier, Gnosis is society’s current technology

juggernaut, and people rely on a program called Lux to maximize

happiness for their every decision, down to ordering coffee. Like most

people, Rory Vaughn consults Lux every chance she gets, but she has

a secret: she suffers from “the Doubt,” an inner voice that supposedly

marks a person as crazy. After Rory is accepted to the exclusive

Theden Academy, she begins searching for answers about her long-

dead mother, who also attended the school. While there, the Doubt

only grows stronger, and Rory’s Lux consultations diminish. Then Rory

falls for North, a sexy, antiestablishment barista-hacker, who has her

back as she’s drawn into a complex web of secrets and lies. Miller

(Parallel) offers an intricately plotted, intellectually rich thriller that will

please a range of readers, from those searching for a page-turner to

those wishing to thoroughly engage the mind. Mathematics and

Milton’s Paradise Lost serve as additional drivers pushing Rory toward

the truth in this boarding school murder-mystery with a near-future SF

twist. Ages 13–up. Agent: Kristyn Keene, ICM. (May) --Staff (Reviewed

March 10, 2014) (Publishers Weekly, vol 261, issue 10, p)

Girls Like UsGail Giles

In compelling, engaging, and raw voices, 18-year-olds Biddy and Quincy,

newly independent, intellectually disabled high-school graduates, narrate

their growing friendship and uneasy transition into a life of jobs, real world

apartments, and facing cruel prejudice. Obese and illiterate Biddy has more

emotional intelligence than Quincy, whose normal brain development was

shattered when her mother’s boyfriend hit her with a brick when she was six.

Biddy’s limited cognitive capacities spring from oxygen deprivation during

birth as well as lifelong deprivation of nurturing. Paired by a social service

program, the girls are made roommates in a live-work placement where they

share a small apartment at the home of a wealthy, sensitive, and supportive

widow, Elizabeth. Biddy cleans and provides physical assistance for Elizabeth,

while Quincy, who loves cooking, works at a market. Biddy and Quincy share

deep secrets and narrate lives heartrendingly full of anger, abandonment,

and abuse, including explicit, realistic descriptions of two rapes. But with the

help of patient Elizabeth and the support they gain from each other, they are

empowered to move forward with strength and independence. Giles (Dark

Song, 2010) offers a sensitive and affecting story of two young women

learning to thrive in spite of their hard circumstances. -- Goldsmith, Francisca

(Reviewed 05-01-2014) (Booklist, vol 110, number 17, p93))

Hostage ThreeNick Lake

Amy Fields walks out of her A Level exams required for entrance into the

Royal Academy; she is still grieving over her mother's death and cares little

about the future. Her rich father and new stepmother hope that sailing

around the world will allow much-needed family bonding, but the idyllic trip

ends when Somalian pirates seize their yacht and hold them for ransom.

Tension is palpable as the frightened family and crew become pawns in the

businesslike negotiations. Although carefully guarded with machine guns, the

British teen observes a pecking order among her captors and befriends

Farouz, the pirates' handsome translator. They share memories of personal

pain that include Amy's mother's suicide, the execution of Farouz's parents,

and the political imprisonment of his brother. Their stories are vivid and

poignant, adding layers to a rich characterization, especially details of

Somalian culture and mythology. Amy falls in love, understanding Farouz's

vow to use ransom money to free his brother, but is startled back to reality

when he agrees to follow orders to shoot her on command. Circumstances

become dire when she learns secrets about her father's business that

jeopardize their release, and rival pirates and the navy get involved. The

author playfully tells Amy's account of the rescue the way she hoped it would

play out, and then again, as it actually happened. The narrative twist is

brilliant, taking readers on an emotional ride to the very last page.—Vicki

Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NY --Vicki Reutter (Reviewed September 1,

2013) (School Library Journal, vol 59, issue 9, p160)

I’ll Give You the SunJandy Nelson

Twins Noah and Jude are inseparable until misunderstandings,

jealousies, and a major loss rip them apart. Both are talented artists,

and creating art plays a major role in their narratives. Both also struggle

with their sexuality—Noah is gay, which both thrills and terrifies him,

while Jude is recovering from a terrible first sexual experience at age

14, one of two important reasons she has sworn off dating. Nelson (The

Sky Is Everywhere) unravels the twins’ stories in long chapters that

alternate between their perspectives. Noah’s sections are set when

the twins are 13, Jude’s at age 16, giving readers slanted insights into

how their relationship deteriorated and how it begins to mend. The

twins’ artistic passions and viewpoints suffuse their distinctive voices;

Noah tends toward wild, dramatic overstatements, and Jude’s world is

wrapped up in her late grandmother’s quirky superstitions and truisms.

Readers are meant to feel big things, and they will—Nelson’s novel

brims with emotion (grief, longing, and love in particular) as Noah,

Jude, and the broken individuals in their lives find ways to heal. Ages

14–up. Agent: Holly McGhee, Pippin Properties. (Sept.) --Staff

(Reviewed June 23, 2014) (Publishers Weekly, vol 261, issue 25, p)

JackabyWilliam Ritter

Toss together an alternate 19th-century New England city, a strong

tradition of Sherlockian pastiche, and one seriously ugly hat, and this

lighthearted and assured debut emerges, all action and quirk. In the

best Doyle tradition, the first-person narrator is pragmatic yet naÃóve

Abigail Rook, native of Britain and seeker of adventure. Thwarted in

Ukraine, she catches ship for the U.S. and lands in New Fiddleham,

penniless and with few employable skills. This matters not to R.F.

Jackaby, the peculiar stranger with the awful hat, who is more

interested in the kobold (household spirit) Abigail has unknowingly

picked up on her travels. Jackaby is a detective in need of an

unflappable assistant—literally, as his last one “is temporarily

waterfowl.” Abigail’s keen eye for detail and complete ignorance of

the paranormal make her observations invaluable to him, and she’s

soon caught up in the eccentric mayhem that is Jackaby’s workaday

world. Ritter is also capable of tenderness and pathos, as his

description of a suffering banshee demonstrates, leaving room for

development in any future cases Abigail may chronicle. Ages 12–up.

Agent: Lucy Carson, Friedrich Agency . (Sept.) --Staff (Reviewed June

30, 2014) (Publishers Weekly, vol 261, issue 26, p)

Killer of EnemiesJoseph Bruchac

In a future in the southwest of what used to be the U.S., one fearless,

lethal, spiritual young woman must fight the evil of man and the

anomalies of nature to rescue her family and start again. Seventeen-

year-old Lozen, Apache KillerofEnemies, is employed by four evil

tyrants in unstable alliance. Her job is to travel out from Haven, the

former penitentiary that is now their shelter, and dispatch the Gemods

(genetically modified animal monsters), bloodless zombies, and other

threats to the compound. Skilled in hand-to-hand combat, armed to

the hilt, and blessed with extrasensory and spiritual gifts, Lozen could

easily escape, but the four Ones and their soldiers are keeping her

family prisoners. Episodic high-octane chapters alternate between

Lozen’s battles in the wilderness and the sinister intrigue in Haven.

Though the imaginative dystopian mythology is thick and occasionally

heavy, the brisk pace and nonstop action keeps things moving. This

original addition to the dystopian genre ends with the open-ended

promise of more to come. -- Barthelmess, Thom (Reviewed 10-15-2013)

(Booklist, vol 110, number 4, p48)

Nearly GoneElle Cosimano

In an impressive debut, Cosimano delivers a tense thriller that sees a

teenage math whiz pitted against a serial killer who’s knocking off her

classmates in increasingly fiendish ways. When 16-year-old Nearly

“Leigh” Boswell discovers that a killer is leaving her coded messages in

the newspaper personals, she becomes the only one capable of

solving the murders. But all of the evidence points to her as the chief

suspect—someone’s making it extremely personal. With her only ally

being the teenage narc (and resident bad boy) assigned to

investigate her for the police, Leigh must somehow solve the case

before she loses her friends, her freedom, or her life. Cosimano weaves

together math riddles, science-based clues, an edgy romance, and

psychological terror to create an unpredictable page-turner. Nearly’s

psychometric ability to glean emotions through touch is somewhat

underexploited, and some of the clues are so blatant it’s a wonder she

overlooks them. Nevertheless, this is a good choice for fans of “savant”

procedurals and dramas like Bones, Elementary, or Numbers. Ages 14–

up. Agent: Sarah Davies, Greenhouse Literary Agency. (Mar.) --Staff

(Reviewed January 13, 2014) (Publishers Weekly, vol 261, issue 02, p)

Phoenix IslandJohn Dixon

An unusual premise makes Dixon’s thriller debut a welcome series

kickoff. Carl Freeman, a 16-year-old orphan, can’t help himself from

intervening on behalf of the bullied, and, given his boxing prowess, the

results for the aggressors are often quite serious. After another such run-

in, a judge sentences Carl to “a military-style boot camp,” Phoenix

Island, until he turns 18. The facility is worse than anything he could

have imagined, with sadistic drill sergeants, violent fellow detainees,

and plenty of bullies. Carl’s independence earns him the enmity of a

particularly cruel drill sergeant. Carl discovers a journal that suggests

some of his predecessors were actually killed, indicating that

something beyond tough love is going on. There are some predictable

elements—Carl falls for an attractive girl with a secret—but the pacing

and smooth prose will have suspense fans waiting for the next book, as

well as the upcoming CBS adaptation, Intelligence. Agent: Christina

Hogrebe, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Jan.) --Staff (Reviewed December 2,

2013) (Publishers Weekly, vol 260, issue 48, p)

Say What You WillCammie McGovern

Amy has cerebral palsy, and has spent the past 17 years with walkers,

voice boxes, and adults. She's gone through school at the same pace

as her peers but without friends or socializing. When one of her

classmates, Matthew, challenges her cheerful facade, Amy realizes

she's missed out on developing true peer relationships. So for their

senior year, Amy asks her parents to pay classmates to be her

companions instead of her usual adult aids. She begs Matthew to

apply, and the two embark on a friendship that addresses Amy's

limitations, Matthew's own disorder, and all their secrets—all except the

one they really need to share. Both teens struggle with their realities

and limitations, and a love soon develops between them. The harsh

reality of high school social dynamics are authentically portrayed. The

main characters are well developed, though secondary characters

are little more than background noise. Recommend to fans of John

Green's The Fault In Our Stars (Dutton, 2012) and realistic fiction with a

love story angle.—Natalie Struecker, Rock Island Public Library, IL --

Natalie Struecker (Reviewed May 1, 2014) (School Library Journal, vol

60, issue 5, p134)

Scar BoysLen Vlahos

Harbinger “Harry” Jones was horribly disfigured in a childhood

accident involving lightning and a flaming tree branch, but despite

years of therapy, he has never been able to move beyond his

mangled appearance. He finds some comfort and even popularity as

the lead guitarist of the punk outfit The ScarBoys—with his best friend,

Johnny, on vocals; stalwart Ritchie on drums; and enigmatic Chey on

bass—but it’s still not enough to make him feel like anything but a

freak. Playing in the band is the only time Harry feels normal, so he

urges the ScarBoys to embark on a tour, which radically changes their

lives and gives Harry a healthy dose of perspective. Vlahos’ debut has

all the hallmarks of a coming-of-age story, but the first-person narration

is compelling enough that it still feels fresh. Harry’s obsession with punk

music will appeal to music lovers, while his journey to accept himself for

who he is—scarred face and all—is one that will likely resonate with

any teen trying to find his way in the world. -- Hunter, Sarah (Reviewed

01-01-2014) (Booklist, vol 110, number 9, p108)

We Were Liars

E. Lockhart

Cadence Sinclair Easton comes from an old-money family, headed by a

patriarch who owns a private island off of Cape Cod. Each summer, the

extended family gathers at the various houses on the island, and Cadence, her

cousins Johnny and Mirren, and friend Gat (the four "Liars"), have been

inseparable since age eight. During their fifteenth summer however, Cadence

suffers a mysterious accident. She spends the next two years—and the course

of the book—in a haze of amnesia, debilitating migraines, and painkillers, trying

to piece together just what happened. Lockhart writes in a somewhat sparse

style filled with metaphor and jumps from past to present and back again—

rather fitting for a main character struggling with a sudden and unexplainable

life change. The story, while lightly touching on issues of class and race, more

fully focuses on dysfunctional family drama, a heart-wrenching romance

between Cadence and Gat, and, ultimately, the suspense of what happened

during that fateful summer. The ending is a stunner that will haunt readers for a

long time to come.—Jenny Berggren, formerly at New York Public Library --

Jenny Berggren (Reviewed April 1, 2014) (School Library Journal, vol 60, issue 4,

p168)

What I Thought Was TrueHuntley Fitzpatrick

Gwen Castle feels like her future is sealed for myriad reasons: because

of the working-class family she was born into; because of the beach

town where she grew up and where her family owns a ramshackle

summer business she can’t get away from; and, cringingly, because of

some ill-fated decisions she made around a group of richer guys from

the mainland back in the spring. But then Gwen is offered a ritzy

summer job taking care of a wealthy elderly vacationer, and gorgeous

Cassidy Summers, one of her spring hookups, is hired to be the island’s

yard boy. Individually, Gwen and Cass each begin to reconsider how

much control they actually have on the direction of their lives.

Fitzpatrick (My Life Next Door, 2012) offers a sometimes steamy and

very believable account of how it feels to discover how important it is

to take responsibility for oneself and the decisions that shape one’s life.

A must for collections that can’t keep Sarah Dessen, Stephanie Perkins,

or YA summer romance titles on the shelves. -- Walters Wright, Lexi

(Reviewed 04-01-2014) (Booklist, vol 110, number 15, p87)

When I Was the GreatestJason Reynolds

A literary story of growing up in Brooklyn. Ali, 15 going on 16, lives in Bed-

Stuy with his mom, a social worker, and his little sister, Jazz, who has a

knack for markers. He hangs out on the stoop with his two BFFs, brothers

nicknamed by his sister: Noodles and Needles. Needles, the older, suffers

from Tourette's syndrome, and Noodles and Ali look out for him. In the

lead plotline, the three boys crash an illegal party in the basement of a

nearby brownstone and then deal with the fallout. Action

notwithstanding, the story actually reads more like a character study of Ali

and his sister and friends and a tender homage to this seemingly

dangerous neighborhood. Even though Reynolds thoughtfully (and most

likely truthfully) depicts the neighborhood as one where guns and drug

transactions are seen regularly, readers don't necessarily feel the danger

due to the tender and deeply protective relationships of the characters,

who are realistically if not exquisitely drawn. The plot, though compelling,

takes back seat to them, and what unfolds is a moving and thought-

provoking study of the connectivity among a family and friends that plays

upon and defies readers' expectations. An author worth watching.

(Fiction. 12 & up)(Kirkus Reviews, November 1, 2013)

BOOK COVER IMAGES FROM: ALIBRIS.COMREVIEWS FROM: KIRKUS, SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY AND

BOOKLIST BY WAY OF GALILEO’S NOVELIST

March 5, 2015