The Disappearance of Emily H. by Barrie Summy

Have you every felt special but everyone else just thought you were weird? Well, so does Raine. Everyone in her new school just thinks her awkward hand movements are a nervous tic, but when Raine catches a "sparkle" that she sees floating on someone, she can see a person's memories come to life in her mind. Cool, huh? It might be cool enough to solve a mystery.

The mystery is about a missing girl named Emily Huvar. Emily disappears after she tries to go to a sleepover, invited by the popular girls who are only using her for her brains and homework-doing abilities. And then Raine moves into Emily's house. Everyone is creeped out, except for Raine, The sparkles are everywhere, but it takes some time for her to piece together why.

This book was a great read because it has a little something for everyone. It tackles bullies, supernatural abilities, single parents, moving, friendship, and of course, mystery. It kept my attention til the very end. I hope you'll give it a try and let me know what you think!

I picked up Darkest Minds because it was checked out at school for so long, that I asked the school librarian what was up. She said that it was so popular that kids were passing it around and around reading it. So, needless to say, I had to try. 

The idea here is that the children in the United States suddenly start getting a virus at the age of 10 which ultimately either kills them or changes their brain chemistry so that they have new and powerful abilities. The government and all the adults don't really know what to do with the kids who survive because some the "powers" the kids now possess seem dangerous. So, the really great system the government comes up with is to label the kids by ability, giving it a color name, and putting them in separate camps away from their parents and the rest of humanity. Ruby is one such girl, labeled "orange" because of her ability to read people's thoughts and memories. Orange kids are extremely rare by the time Ruby is 16, and so various organizations are looking for her to be their secret weapon. What could a girl who could read people's thoughts and erase their memories do for a government? An army? Yeah. A lot.

There is a little bit of something for every reader in this series, I believe. There is thrilling action, good dialog, a smart heroine, a couple of handsome love interests, friends with loyalty, war, and any number of other social issues. Pick it up and give it a try.

Ashfall series by Mike Mullin

Another librarian friend of mine told me about this series, and it's truly amazing. I read all three of the books some time ago, but I like to recommend them all the time to kids and adult alike.It's especially cool because they are set in our very own Iowa.

In the first chapter of the first novel, a teen boy named Alex is left home alone for the weekend. While he is trying decide which computer games to play without interruption, the house begins to shake, thunder sounds louder than he's ever heard, and he ends up pulling himself from the rubble pile that is his home. No one in his small town seems to know what is going on, but a strange substance begins to fall from the sky and doesn't quit - the ash from a distant mega-volcano. Alex tries desperately to get back to his family who is a  couple hours away. The ash becomes like the dust in the American Dust Bowl era, covering everything and killing people and animals who breathe it in and destroying the natural resources by suffocating them. Along the road, Alex is met with violence both from other people and the desolate environment and altered weather patterns that follow the volcano's destruction. He does find a friend, Darla, along the way, who becomes very important to him and the story.

I'm not quite sure why I couldn't put Ashfall down. It was dark and dystopian, yes, but the idea of the ash and the struggle and randomness of the characters Alex meets was like no other. It seemed very real and unbelievable at the same time, and while the journey had a pattern and rhythm to it, it was so exciting, I couldn't wait to see if he made it to his family.  The others in the series, Ashen Winter, and Sunrise are equally wonderful and exciting as well And I didn't even know about the prequel, Darla's Story, but I'll be getting that one soon!