Vampire Academy

by Richelle Mead 

       Lissa Dragomir, a vampire princess, and Rose Hathaway, Lissa's guardian, are bound together by more than friendship.  Rose can actually enter Lissa's thoughts and emotions and feel what she feels.  For two years, they have lived on their own, with Rose protecting Lissa from the Strigoi, the undead, but they are finally captured and returned to St. Vladimir's Academy where they have to adjust all over again to royal intrigues, tons of homework, and having no control over their own lives.  As much as she dislikes being back, Rose recognizes that she needs the intense physical training she is getting from the incredibly handsome guardian, Dimitri.  That becomes even more evident when terrifying things start happening to Lissa, even in the safe world of the Academy.  Dark and edgy, Vampire Academy has everthing a young adult novel should have--conflict, a strong, sarcastic main character, and romance.  Vampire Academy is the first in a five-book series.  Reviewed by Mrs. Sams.

REALITY CHECK
By Peter Abrahams

Cody Laredo somehow has managed to go from a nearly perfect life--amazing girlfriend, good job, football scholarship potential--to a torn ACL, failing grades, and his girlfriend Clea shipped off to boarding school in Vermont.  Not yet 17, Cody drops out of school and takes a full-time job, floating through life without any goals.  When he hears that Clea has gone missing, he has little motivation for staying home.  He loads up his truck, withdraws some money from his account, and takes off for Vermont to look for Clea.  He somehow feels that a letter he receives from Clea, written the morning of her disappearance, holds the clues to her whearabouts. 
      When Cody arrives at Clea's fancy school, he soon learns that he has no idea whom he can trust, so he shies away from telling anyone who he is.  The local police officer gradually gains a part of Cody's trust, but the shooting of Clea's beloved horse Bud in the school's stables, along with other weird occurrences, put Cody on his guard, and lead him into an investigation he alone could do.  Reality Check, on this year's Tayshas list, is a suspenseful crime novel with an appealing teen protagonist.  ~reviewed by Mrs. Sams

The Forest of Hands and Teeth

by Carrie Ryan

       Mary lives in an insulated world where, for all she knows, her village is the only one left in the world.  Beyond the fences surrounding the community is nothing but forest where the Unconsecrated, the undead, wander, moaning and hungering for the flesh of the living.  Ruling the village with ironclad rules and traditions is the Sisterhood, who live in the cathedral in the center of everything.  The sisters established the Guardians, men of the village whose job it is to mend and maintain the fences which have kept the townspeople safe ever since the Return.  And it is the sisters who decided in ages past how the infected are to be treated. 

       All her life, Mary has heard her mother's stories of life before the Return--stories of large cities with tall buildings.  Stories of the ocean, a body of water so vast that it disappears into the horizon.  She dreams of seeing that ocean someday, though it seems impossible.  She also dreams of a life with her childhood friend, Travis, even though he is betrothed to her best friend, Cass.  When her mother is bitten by an unconsecrated one day when Mary is not keeping close enough watch on her, her mother decides to leave the compound and search for her husband who had disappeared beyond the fence weeks before.  After that, Mary is rejected by her brother Jed and is forced to join the Sisterhood in the cathedral, since no man had spoken for her.  Mary feels angry and betrayed, but has no choices. 

       While in the cathedral, she begins to realize that the Sisterhood is keeping dark secrets about the history of her world, and she is determined to learn the truth and desires to look for the ocean more urgently than ever.  In an effort to keep Mary quiet and content, the Sisters approve a betrothal between Mary and Harry, Travis's brother, but before the marriage can be completed, there is a breach in the fence and the Unconsecrated overrun the village, scattering the townspeople in terror.  Mary, Harry, Cass, Travis, Jed, his wife Beth, and a small boy, escape down a fenced path into the forest, the Unconsecrated dogging their every step.  This dark journey away from everything they have ever known to be true, is a dangerous and eye-opening experience, causing the travelers to make heart-breaking decisions of life and death.  This story of a world ravaged by plague, is on next year's Tayshas list.     ~reviewed by Mrs. Sams