The Reading of Manuscripts

We asked on Twitter whether you wanted to hear about how we go about reading manuscripts and what we’re looking for, and heard a hearty yay from at least five people, so we’re going to go ahead and write a few posts about it.

So, the manuscripts that come into Strange Chemistry for reading are of the agented variety (although do remember our Open Door period in April when unagented authors can submit their novels!) Our preferred method is that an agent will approach us and introduce the novel before sending it through. This way we gain an idea about what the novel is about and who the author is. Some editors like to see a full synopsis of the novel – we actually don’t like this much. We prefer a teaser blurb, and then to go into the novel fresh. The reason for this is that we then experience exactly what the future reader of this novel will when they pick the book off the shelf in a bookstore. That reader won’t be given a handy dandy two page synopsis of all major events in the book – they will have to rely on the blurb and possibly the first few pages.

We do turn down some novels sent through by agents. They might not fit the remit of the imprint; they might be a middle grade tale rather than YA; they might be too similar to something we’ve already taken on or are considering. We will probably be much more discerning once the Strange Chemistry list is fuller, but at the moment we take a look at a variety of genres, styles and titles.

When we ask to see something, we are never concerned about the current title of the novel. When something comes in called POLTERGEEKS we are obviously going to be massively intrigued, so a good title will help! However, we have changed titles already. Blackwood came to us as Strange Alchemy and Katya’s World was Blood and Water – these were both decent titles, but the former was too similar to the imprint name (unfortunately!) and the latter didn’t convey as much about the SF element as we would have liked. We suggest that an author thinks hard about the best title that suits their book, but also be prepared to accept ideas for changes if need be.

Now…timings. We know that, as the author of a novel that has been accepted by a publisher for reading, you will be actively waiting for a reply. We know that it can be a desperate time waiting for the decision to come through. However… to the publisher your manuscript will inevitably join a list of novels to be considered. At the moment Strange Chemistry has over fifty manuscripts in the inbox – these are manuscripts that have been submitted through agents and accepted for reading. We try so very hard to make a quick turnaround with these submissions, but our work also encompasses editing the novels that we’ve signed, preparing those same novels for publication (copy editing, proof reading, art briefs, typesetting and other funky things), marketing our authors and novels… And we haven’t even mentioned the hours per day spent looking round the Internet and talking on Twitter (which is actually a valid part of our jobs here!) So perhaps it becomes a little easier to understand that, while you as the author are having sleepless nights through the excitement of being read by a publisher, we’re getting stressed at the fact that we haven’t read the manuscript and it’s been sat there for over two months…

Now and then we will set aside a day for some reading. We’ll pick two or three manuscripts (and this is done on a date stamp basis) and settle down to make a decision one way or the other.

When you read a manuscript sometimes you know straight away that you want the book and will read on purely through interest to see what the author has done and how they have taken the rest of the story. This happened to us with SHIFT – the prologue and the first page was enough to make that decision. It’s hard to describe exactly how this feels – a sense of excitement, perhaps, or slight goosebumps; definitely a sense that you want to show this novel to other people. The principle part of picking a novel is knowing that you absolutely have to share a book.

Sometimes it will take a couple of pages, and then you find that you are gripped and cannot put the novel down – we had this with BLACKWOOD. We were intrigued by the premise and felt an immediate empathy with Miranda, the female protagonist, and couldn’t resist turning the pages to find out what would happen.

POLTERGEEKS was all about the voice. Julie, the sassy apprentice witch, was a person we absolutely had to spend more time with, while KATYA’S WORLD left us curious about the setting, so much so that we found ourselves swept into this tale about underwater danger and unseen evils.

In all four cases we knew that they were novels that had to be read by a wider audience. We loved them and we know that others will love them.

There are other types of submissions, though. The one that you read twice over because you’re just not sure how to take it – it will be a complete Marmite read, in most cases, that you know will be loved and hated in equal measure, and you just can’t gauge how much love there will be. The one that you read fifty pages of because you love the prose but don’t know where the plot is. The submission that has a premise to die for, but the writing doesn’t back it up. These have all been ultimately rejected by Strange Chemistry – but we are pretty sure another publisher will have enough faith in them to do them justice.

Because here’s the thing: we have to pick the novels that we are prepared to champion to the hilt. We can’t waver in our belief of them. These are novels that we will be closely working with for the foreseeable future – we will have to read them a number of times, to a great depth of detail, and we will have to shout about them to the whole world. We can’t take on a novel that we have any uncertainty about, because we can’t then do the best job for the author and their book. But another publisher might – what you’re uncertain about, another editor will have read and gone into raptures over. It’s all subjective.

What isn’t subjective is the fact that an editor will often know within the first few pages whether a novel is for them – so, above everything else, make those first pages sing. I mean, sure, the rest of the novel needs to be pretty damn special, but those first pages are going to be what grabs people into your story.

From the picking of the manuscript we then have to take the novel into acquisitions – which we will cover in our next article, since we’ve rambled on quite enough!

So, over to you – ask us your questions about the reading process; this is your chance to quiz us!

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Strongest Female Protagonist in YA?

One of the complaints made about Twilight is that Bella, the central female protagonist, is not the strongest person. She is clumsy and gawky; she needs to be rescued – a lot; and she stands in the shadow of both Edward and Jacob. We at Strange Chemistry are frustrated that this is one of the few examples of a YA female protagonist that people know, because there are some *fantastic* examples of truly great and strong female characters.

We asked our trusty bloggers to tell us who they deemed to be the strongest female protagonists in YA and they came through for us again!

Deeba from Un Lun Dun by China Mieville

In my opinion, the strongest YA heroine I’ve read so far is Deeba from China Miéville’s Un Lun Dun. No, she doesn’t have awesome kickass fighting skills or supernatural talents, but she’s got spunk and a sense of duty and a sensible streak a mile wide. And most of what she accomplishes is done by being smart and deciding to step up and do the right thing. When told she needs to retrieve a magical object to to beat the Smog and that this is a quest which will lead her on various expeditions via clues to get the next piece in the puzzle, she just decides ‘Sod that!’ and skips right to the end and still manages to get what she needs anyway. She’s feisty, funny and smart and, at the end of the day, manages to save her friends and herself. In my book that makes for a very strong heroine!

Mieneke from A Fantastical Librarian

Riley from The Demon Trappers series by Jana Oliver

There are a lot of strange females in YA but one of my favourites of recent years has been Riley from The Demon Trappers series by Jana Oliver. She kicks butt and has to deal with being a girl in a job that is mainly done by men who aren’t all very accepting of her and she has to deal with being alone and regular stuff like money and school. An all action female that is just plain cool.

Laura from Sister Spooky: Book Fangirl

Tris from Divergent by Veronica Roth

The strongest female protaganist in YA fiction is Tris from the Divergent series by Veronica Roth. To me, strong doesn’t automatically mean angry and acting without thinking. Tris has a lot to overcome, and a whole lot to prove- to Dauntless and to herself. Tris has proven time and time again that she is courageous, caring, dependable, and won’t give up- not matter what the odds are. She gains strength- not by some super human power, but by hard work (and some blood and tears too). She makes choices that are difficult and works hard to protect the ones that she loves. Tris goes through a major change in the pages of Divergent- from meek and quiet to bold and strong. Tris is a heroine that I want to believe in.

Coranne from Short & Sweet Reviews

Hermione from the Harry Potter series by J K Rowling

While I might have been tempted to say Kat from HUNGER GAMES or Kate from the GIDEON TRILOGY, I feel I mist give credit where credit is due. Hermione Granger from the HARRY POTTER books. She’s just so strongly written from the get-go. Here is a girl who came from the lower end of the wizard totem pole, but applied herself and used her smarts to get ahead. More gifted than even full-blooded wizards, she cruises through classes with ease by the simple act of concentration and application. She can be both utterly loveable and cantankerously snarky in equal measure, showing me a balance of the opposite ends of the teen spectrum of angst. What really begins to show about her is that when life around her gets her down, when life’s tables turn on her (whether because of boys, school, or even bullies) she stands in front of the onslaught and simply takes it. Not only that, she even finds the courage to rise above it. She uses it to fuel her skills, becoming more and more accomplished. As the series goes on she shows us time and again that she can face adversity and triumph over it. She actually makes her parents forget her existence to keep them safe from Voldemort. To me that is selfless. She joins in the leadership role to help her friends, no better yet her entire society, to face an unimaginable and powerful evil. She does this not because she has to, or because she wants to, or even because it is asked of her. She does this because she is aware that she is strong enough to do so. Probably one of the most self-aware female protagonists in fiction, not just YA fiction, Hermione Granger get’s my vote for being unequivocally brave and astonishingly strong.

Scott from Iceberg Ink

Lyra from His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

As far as firecrackers go, I am an enormous fan of Pullman’s Lyra and any character ever found in a Robin McKinley novel, but most especially Rae from “Sunshine” and Harry from “The Blue Sword”. I’d have to argue that the strongest, at least in emotional terms, would have to be Lyra as she understands what she has to give up to save her world (and Will’s) and does so, with the depth of sadness and strength of character that make her so remarkable. Of course, Rae can kill vampires with her bare hands (and, occasionally, a penknife) so there is certainly some competition!

Jennie from Book Geeks

Katsa from Graceling by Kristin Cashore

The strongest female protagonist that I’ve encountered in some time is Katsa from GRACELING. I know that many of you find her extremely hard to relate to, but that’s not the case for me. I love that she can never put her intense emotions aside. I love that she’s not poised or proper. I even love that she punches people in the face without thinking of the consequences. Basically, I love Katsa because she never censors herself. She never pretends to be someone she’s not, she never filters what’s on her mind before speaking, she never goes along with an idea if she disagrees with it. Katsa is just this really passionate person who never, ever holds back– and that’s what makes her so strong.

Ana from What YA Reading?

Karou from Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

It took me a while to come up with this answer, because the strongest female YA protagonists are not necessarily my favorite female protagonists. So while Calla from Nightshade and Grace from Shiver immediately came to mind, pressing for attention, it was impossible to ignore their many slip ups (especially in the name of love). So the search continued until I came up with one name: Karou from The Daughter of Smoke and Bone. She is edgy; unfazed by the looks she gets for her crazy blue hair and not paying attention to what others think of her. She even lives with creatures (not spoiling) and isn’t weirded out by it! The fact that she is unwavering in her own self-image and self-importance makes her strong. She is just really lively. But what is even more impressive is her ability to put her life into danger to find answers, to push on for those answers even after a boy becomes involved (since so many protagonists seem to loose focus at that point). Plus, if you read and find a little more about her, she can kick some ass. I mean that in the most literal sense possible.

Britta from I Like These Books

Rose from the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead

Rose is a seventeen year old dhampir (half-human, half-moroi). She ran away from St. Vladimir Academy with her vampire Princess/Best Friend Lissa, only to find herself dragged back by a Guardian who would one day end up being her forbidden lover (*cough* Dimitri *cough*). But that is hardly the reason why Rose Hathaway is so frightening and maybe it’s because she died in a car accident with the rest of Princess/ Best Friend Lissa’s family and was then brought back to life by Lissa using the extremely rare element of spirit creating a bond between the two girls. Maybe that’s the reason why…because she has been trained all her life to be able to hunt and kill the Strigoi aka. bad vampires. Plus attacking things is basically second nature for Rose.

Maryann from Chapter by Chapter

Unsurprisingly, however, there was but one winner. Many, many people came back with this name:

Katniss from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I have to say the strongest female protagonist in YA fiction has to be Katniss from The Hunger Games (I’m sure many will agree with me). After reading the books, what stuck with me is Katniss’ love and determination to protect her younger sister, Prim. Regardless of the cost. She was willing to sacrifice herself to keep Prim safe, and to me, that is truly heroic behavior. Katniss knows that she is walking into a nightmare when she volunteers to take Prim’ place in the Games, but she doesn’t hesitate to do it. Once she made her choice, she tapped into the strength of character and bravery that she didn’t know she possessed. I wanted her to succeed so badly, because she was doing everything for all of the right reasons. She loved Prim, and she would do anything for her. That’s what being a hero is all about – putting yourself in harm’s way to protect what you love.

Julie from Manga Maniac Cafe

The way she stood in place for her sister showed courage and how much she adored and wanted to protect her family and the fact that though she came from the poorest District in The Hunger Games Trilogy , she did not care and she fought her way to the top and to come out the winner. She held her head high and did not let herself become caught up in the war and brutal side of the Hunger Games. The fact that she won also showed that she is one kick-ass heroine :)

Paula from The Phantom Paragrapher

Katniss of The Hunger Games has to be the strongest. She goes through being separated from her family and the only life she’s known and has to play a game she wants to part of. She does this to immediately save her sister, but in the long run it’s to save much more than even she realizes. She is smart and strong and doesn’t back down from anyone.

Jessica from Book Sake

Well? What do you think? Do you agree that Katniss is the strongest female protagonist in YA literature? Who is a glaring omission from the above list?

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Give a Warm Welcome to Jonathan L Howard!

We are delighted to announce the signing of another wonderfully exciting author!

Jonathan L. Howard has been signed for two books – the first of which is titled Katya’s World and will be published in November 2012 – in a deal for World English rights, concluded between Strange Chemistry’s Amanda Rutter and Sam Copeland, of Rogers, Coleridge and White Ltd.

ABOUT KATYA’S WORLD (PART 1 OF THE RUSSALKA CHRONICLES): The distant and unloved colony world of Russalka has no land, only the raging sea. No clear skies, only the endless storm clouds. Beneath the waves, the people live in pressurised environments and take what they need from the boundless ocean. It is a hard life, but it is theirs and they fought a war against Earth to protect it. But wars leave wounds that never quite heal, and secrets that never quite lie silent.

Katya Kuriakova doesn’t care much about ancient history. She is making her first submarine voyage as an apprentice navigator; the first nice, simple journey of what she expects to be a nice, simple career. But there is nothing nice and simple about the deep, black waters of Russalka and soon she will encounter pirates and war criminals, see death and tragedy at first hand, and realise that her world’s future lies on the narrowest of knife edges.

For in the crushing depths lies a sleeping monster, an abomination of unknown origin. And when it wakes, it will seek out and kill every single person on the planet…

ABOUT JONATHAN L HOWARD: Jonathan L. Howard has been a game designer for the last twenty years, and a full-time author for the past three. He is the author of the Johannes Cabal series of novels. He lives near Bristol.

Visit Jonathan online at http://johannescabal.com/ and follow him on Twitter.

Jonathan L. Howard says: “I grew up on a diet of science fiction that would now be called YA, with novels by the likes of John Christopher, Lester del Rey, Hugh Walters, and Robert Heinlein. Hard-ish SF isn’t quite as common as it used to be, and – while it’s cool to see fantasy doing so well – I did wonder what was available for readers who like a few nuts and bolts mixed in with their reading material. This novel is the result of that thought, and is perhaps something of a love letter to the authors who sparked my imagination with their stories back in the seventies.

“When I saw that Strange Chemistry was specifically looking for that sort of SF, it just seemed like kismet. Angry Robot has earned itself an impressive reputation, and I am very happy indeed to be aboard and working with their new YA imprint, Strange Chemistry.”

Amanda Rutter says: “I am a massive fan of Jonathan L Howard’s, having read and loved the three Johannes Cabal novels, and so it is a dream come true to welcome him to the Strange Chemistry family.

“Katya’s War is a brilliant story about growing up and what it means to survive in the harshest of environments, and I love the fact that it harkens back to traditional SF. Roll on November!”

Please give some love to Jonathan L Howard in the comments – are you looking forward to KATYA’S WORLD?

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New YA Releases for February 2012

Okay, so we were informed that our last New Releases post prompted confusion in some quarters – people thought that *WE* had released those 50-odd novels in January! Well, we should be so lucky – to (a) have the resources and time to release that many in a single month and (b) to simultaneously release some of the biggest selling YA novels of January!

Nope, the Strange Chemistry novels are not being released until September – we have SHIFT and BLACKWOOD coming your way in September 2012, then POLTERGEEKS and THE ASSASSIN’S CURSE in October (more information to follow about the latter very soon). Finally, we round off our first year in November with a just-signed novel that we’re very excited to tell you about.

With all that said, here comes the YA Releases for February (as usual, the disclaimer that release dates are never final – y’know, until the book is actually released, we haven’t listed all of them, and some of these are being released for the first time in the UK or the US after already being released in the other!)

1) Street Fighter by Simon Scarrow

‘It is settled. The boy is in your charge. You will train him to fight.

He must be able to use the dagger, throwing-knife, staves and his bare hands.

One day young Marcus may well become a gladiator in the arena.

But you must also teach him the ways of the street.’

Now a member of Julius Caesar’s palace, Marcus’s training continues in the city of Rome. The streets are plagued by vicious gang war attacks, and Caesar must employ his own gang leader, who learns of a plot to murder him.

Only Marcus can go in undercover. But he’s in terrible danger. If the rival gang discover him the price will be fatal. Julius Caesar’s isn’t the only life at risk . . .

2) Fallen in Love by Lauren Kate

Unexpected. Unrequited. Forbidden. Eternal. Everyone has their own love story.

And in a twist of fate, four extraordinary love stories combine over the course of a romantic Valentine’s Day in Medieval England. Miles and Shelby find love where they least expect it. Roland learns a painful lesson about finding-and losing love. Arianne pays the price for a love so fierce it burns. And for the first -and last- time, Daniel and Luce will spend a night together like none other.

3) Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she’s returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld…this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can’t find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists. Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there’s a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he’ll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen. As Nikki’s time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she’s forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole’s…

4) Charmfall by Chloe Neill

Protecting Chicago from the dark side can be an exhausting job, especially when you’re a sophomore. So when the girls of St. Sophia’s start gearing up for Sneak, their fall formal, Lily decides to join in on some good, old-fashioned party prep – even if it means not giving demons, vampires and the twisted magic users known as Reapers her undivided attention. But when a Reaper infiltrates the school, Lily doesn’t forget what she’s sworn to protect. She reaches deep into herself to draw out her magic – and finds that it’s gone. And it turns out she’s not alone. A magical blackout has slammed through paranormal Chicago, and no one knows what – or who – caused it. But Lily knows getting back her magic is worth the risk of going behind enemy lines …

5) The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

A bewitching tale of heartbreak and hope set in 1920s Alaska.

Jack and Mabel have staked everything on making a fresh start for themselves in a homestead ‘at the world’s edge’ in the raw Alaskan wilderness. But as the days grow shorter, Jack is losing his battle to clear the land, and Mabel can no longer contain her grief for the baby she lost many years before.

The evening the first snow falls, their mood unaccountably changes. In a moment of tenderness, the pair are surprised to find themselves building a snowman – or rather a snow girl – together. The next morning, all trace of her has disappeared, and Jack can’t quite shake the notion that he glimpsed a small figure – a child? – running through the spruce trees in the dawn light. And how to explain the little but very human tracks Mabel finds at the edge of their property?

6) Advent by James Treadwell

For centuries it has been locked away
Lost beneath the sea
Warded from earth, air, water, fire, spirits, thought and sight.

But now magic is rising to the world once more.

And a boy called Gavin, who thinks only that he is a city kid with parents who hate him, and knows only that he sees things no one else will believe, is boarding a train, alone, to Cornwall.

No one will be there to meet him.

7) Bzrk by Michael Grant

These are no ordinary soldiers. This is no ordinary war. Welcome to the nano, where the only battle is for sanity. Losing is not an option when a world of madness is at stake. Time is running out for the good guys. But what happens when you don’t know who the good guys really are? Noah and Sadie: newly initiated to an underground cell so covert that they don’t even know each other’s names. Here they will learn what it means to fight on a nano level. Soon they will become the deadliest warriors the world has ever seen. Vincent: feels nothing, cares for no one; fighting his own personal battle with Bug Man, the greatest nano warrior alive. The Armstrong Twins: wealthy, privileged, and fanatical. Are they the saviours of mankind or authors of the darkest conspiracy the world has ever seen? The nano is uncharted territory. A terrifying world of discovery. And everything is to play for…

8) A Midsummer Tights Dream by Louise Rennison

Yaroooo! Tallulah’s triumphant Heathcliff in ‘Wuthering Heights’ the comedy musical was enough to secure her place at Dother Hall performing arts college for another term. She can’t wait to see her pals again, Charlie and the boys from Woolfe Academy and maybe even bad boy Cain…

Could the bright lights of Broadway be calling? And for who? Find out in the next Misadventures of Tallulah Casey.

9) The Gray Wolf Throne by Cinda Williams Chima

Han Alister thought he had already lost everyone he loved. But when he finds his friend Rebecca Morley near death in the Spirit Mountains, Han knows that nothing matters more than saving her. The costs of his efforts are steep, but nothing can prepare him for what he soon discovers: the beautiful, mysterious girl he knew as Rebecca is none other than Raisa ana’Marianna, heir to the Queendom of the Fells. Han is hurt and betrayed. He knows he has no future with a blueblood. And, as far as he’s concerned, the princess’s family killed his own mother and sister. But if Han is to fulfill his end of an old bargain, he must do everything in his power to see Raisa crowned queen.

Meanwhile, some people will stop at nothing to prevent Raisa from ascending. With each attempt on her life, she wonders how long it will be before her enemies succeed. Her heart tells her that the thief-turned-wizard Han Alister can be trusted. She wants to believe it—he’s saved her life more than once. But with danger coming at her from every direction, Raisa can only rely on her wits and her iron-hard will to survive—and even that might not be enough.

10) Fever by Lauren DeStefano

For 17-year-old Rhine Ellery, a daring escape from a suffocating polygamous marriage is only the beginning…

Running away brings Rhine and Gabriel right into a trap, in the form of a twisted carnival whose ringmistress keeps watch over a menagerie of girls. Just as Rhine uncovers what plans await her, her fortune turns again. With Gabriel at her side, Rhine travels through an environment as grim as the one she left a year ago – surroundings that mirror her own feelings of fear and hopelessness.

The two are determined to get to Manhattan, to relative safety with Rhine’s twin brother, Rowan. But the road there is long and perilous – and in a world where young women only live to age twenty and young men die at twenty-five, time is precious. Worse still, they can’t seem to elude Rhine’s father-in-law, Vaughn, who is determined to bring Rhine back to the mansion…by any means necessary.

11) The Wood Queen by Karen Mahoney

Born into the mysterious world of an ancient alchemical order, Donna has always been aware of the dark feud that exists between the alchemists and the fey. Her own mother – bound by a dark Faerie curse – has been confined to a hospital bed for as long as she can remember . . . But now there is a chance to release her, and Donna will stop at nothing until she is free.

Armed with her own brand of powerful magic, Donna must face the fearsome Wood Queen in order to save her mother. But in the Ironwood – a place that haunts Donna’s dreams – there is far greater and more dangerous magic already at work . . .

12) Two Truths and a Lie by Sara Shepard

My killer is out there. And my sister might be next to die.

Two months before I died, my best friend’s brother disappeared. I have no idea where Thayer went or why he left, but I know it is my fault. I did a lot of horrible things while I was alive, things that made people hate me, maybe even enough to kill me.

Desperate to solve my murder, my long-lost twin, Emma, is pretending to be me and unravelling the many mysteries I left behind – my cryptic journal, my tangled love life, the dangerous Lying Game pranks I played. She’s uncovered my friend’s darkest secrets, but she’s never had the chance to dig into Thayer’s past – until now.

Thayer’s back and Emma has to move fast to figure out if he’s after revenge … or if he’s already got it.

13) Hollow Pike by James Dawson

Something wicked this way comes… She thought she’d be safe in the country, but you can’t escape your own nightmares, and Lis London dreams repeatedly that someone is trying to kill her. Lis thinks she’s being paranoid – after all who would want to murder her? She doesn’t believe in the local legends of witchcraft. She doesn’t believe that anything bad will really happen to her. You never do, do you? Not until you’re alone in the woods, after dark – and a twig snaps… Hollow Pike – where witchcraft never sleeps.

14) Pure by Julianna Baggott

We know you are here, our brothers and sisters. We will, one day, emerge from the Dome to join you in peace. For now, we watch from afar.

Pressia Belze has lived outside of the Dome ever since the detonations. Struggling for survival she dreams of life inside the safety of the Dome with the ‘Pure’.

Partridge, himself a Pure, knows that life inside the Dome, under the strict control of the leaders’ regime, isn’t as perfect as others think.

Bound by a history that neither can clearly remember, Pressia and Partridge are destined to forge a new world.

15) The Nightmare Garden by Caitlin Kittredge

Everything Aoife thought she knew about the world was a lie. There is no Necrovirus. And Aoife isn’t going to succomb to madness because of a latent strain—she will lose her faculties because she is allergic to iron. Aoife isn’t human. She is a changeling—half human and half from the land of Thorn. And time is running out for her.

When Aoife destroyed the Lovecraft engine she released the monsters from the Thorn Lands into the Iron Lands and now she must find a way to seal the gates and reverse the destruction she’s ravaged on the world that’s about to poison her.

16) Wyrmeweald: Bloodhoney by Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell

Fullwinter in the weald – a season of almost unsurvivable cold for anyone foolish enough to venture outside. Even wyrmes die, frozen in the icy wasteland, or falling lifeless from the skies as the host heads west to escape the advance of the two-hides: man… Huddled in a winter den, Micah is thankful to cragclimber Eli Halfwinter for providing him and kingirl Thrace with shelter, while Thrace aches to leave and fly through the skies on her whitewyrme once more. But sniffing out their whereabouts, fuelled by the invigorating liquor known as bloodhoney, is a brutal assassin, seeking vengeance. And worse is to come when they stumble upon a bizarre community headed by a charismatic stone prophet – Deephome…

17) Dead to You by Lisa McMann

Ethan was abducted from his front yard when he was just seven years old. Now, at sixteen, he has returned to his family. It’s a miracle… at first. Then the tensions start to build. His reintroduction to his old life isn’t going smoothly, and his family is tearing apart all over again. If only Ethan could remember something, anything, about his life before, he’d be able to put the pieces back together. But there’s something that’s keeping his memory blocked. Something unspeakable…

18) Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

“Blessed with a gift…”cursed” with a secret.”

Everybody knows Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they’re witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship – or an early grave.

Before her mother died, Cate promised to protect her sisters. But with only six months left to choose between marriage and the Sisterhood, she might not be able to keep her word . . . especially after she finds her mother’s diary, uncovering a secret that could spell her family’s destruction. Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate starts scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra.

If what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren’t safe. Not from the Brotherhood, the Sisterhood – not even from each other.

19) Harbinger by Sara Wilson Etienne

When sixteen-year-old Faye arrives at Holbrook Academy, she doesn’t expect to find herself exactly where she needs to be. After years of strange waking visions and nightmares, her only comfort the bones of dead animals, Faye is afraid she’s going crazy. Fast.

But her first night at Holbrook, she feels strangely connected to the school and the island it sits on, like she’s come home. She’s even made her first real friends, but odd things keep happening to them. Every morning they wake on the floors of their dorm rooms with their hands stained red.

Faye knows she’s the reason, but what does it all mean? The handsome Kel tries to help her unravel the mystery, but Faye is certain she can’t trust him; in fact, he may be trying to kill her – and the rest of the world too.

20) A Beautiful Evil by Kelly Keaton

Ari has finally learned the terrifying truth. She is a descendant of Medusa, cursed to become a monster designed to kill with a single touch. Haunted by the image of what she will become, Ari, with the help of the gorgeous Sebastian, is doing everything she can to learn more about Athena, the goddess who cursed her family and kidnapped young Violet. But the battle between good and evil is much bigger than she realises, and Ari is about to be pulled into a world more horrific than she could ever imagine. And now, as she prepares to face Athena, Ari must unleash the very thing she’s most afraid of…herself.

21) The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg

Brie’s life ends at sixteen: Her boyfriend tells her he doesn’t love her, and the news breaks her heart – “literally.” But now that she’s in heaven, Brie is about to discover that love is way more complicated than she ever imagined. Back in Half Moon Bay, her family has begun to unravel. Her best friend knows a secret about Jacob, the boy she loved and lost – and the truth behind his shattering betrayal. And then there’s Patrick, Brie’s mysterious new guide and resident Lost Soul who’s been D&G (dead and gone) much longer than she? and who just might hold the key to her forever after. With Patrick’s help, Brie will have to pass through the five stages of grief before she’s ready to move on? but how do you begin again, when your heart is still in pieces?

22) The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan

Rollrock is a lonely island of cliffs and storms, blunt fishermen and their fierce wives. Life is hard for the families who must wring a poor living from the stormy seas. But Rollrock is also a place of magic – the scary, salty-real sort of magic that changes lives forever. Down on the windswept beach, where the seals lie in their herd, the outcast sea witch Misskaella casts her spells, and brings forth girls from the sea – girls with long, pale limbs and faces of haunting loveliness.

But magic always has its price. A fisherman may have and hold a sea bride, and tell himself that he is her master. But from his first look into her lovely eyes, he will be just as transformed as she is. He will be equally ensnared.

And in the end the witch will always have her payment.

23) Freax and Rejex by Robin Jarvis

Five months have passed since the publication of the devilish book discovered in Dancing Jax. It is on its ninth reprint and tens of millions of copies have been sold in the UK. The entire country is now under its evil spell.

Yet a tiny percentage of the population have proven to be immune to the words of Austerly Fellows. The number of unaffected children between the ages of 7 and 15 is only 49. With the critical eyes of the rest of the world turned towards Britain, the Ismus decides to send the children for an intensive holiday camp, where they will study the sacred text and learn to embrace it.

But after the holiday is over, the children are told their stay has been extended. A barbed wire fence is put up around the site. And it soon becomes apparent that the place is not a camp and the children are not guests. They are prisoners of war…

24) Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

Senior year is over, and Lucy has the perfect way to celebrate: tonight, she’s going to find Shadow, the mysterious graffiti artist whose work appears all over the city. He’s out there somewhere—spraying color, spraying birds and blue sky on the night—and Lucy knows a guy who paints like Shadow is someone she could fall for. Really fall for. Instead, Lucy’s stuck at a party with Ed, the guy she’s managed to avoid since the most awkward date of her life. But when Ed tells her he knows where to find Shadow, they’re suddenly on an all-night search around the city. And what Lucy can’t see is the one thing that’s right before her eyes.

25) Revealing Eden by Victoria Foyt

Eden Newman must mate before her 18th birthday in six months or she will be left outside to die in a burning world. But who will pick up her mate-option when she’s cursed with white skin and a tragically low mate-rate of 15 per cent? In a post-apocalyptic, totalitarian, underground world where class and beauty are defined by resistance to an overheated environment, Eden’s colouring brands her as a member of the lowest class, a weak and ugly Pearl. If only she can mate with a dark-skinned Coal from the ruling class, she’ll be safe. Just may be one Coal sees the Real Eden and will be her salvation her co-worker Jamal has begun secretly dating her. But when Eden unwittingly compromises her father’s secret biological experiment, she finds herself in the eye of a storm and thrown into the last area of rainforest, a strange and dangerous land. Eden must fight to save her father, who may be humanity’s last hope, while standing up to a powerful beast-man she believes is her enemy, despite her overwhelming attraction. Eden must change to survive but only if she can redefine her ideas of beauty and of love, along with a little help from her “adopted aunt” Emily Dickinson.

26) Shooting Stars by Allison Rushby

Meet Josephine Foster, or Zo Jo as she’s called in the biz. The best pint-sized photographer of them all, Jo doesn’t mind doing what it takes to get that perfect shot, until she’s sent on an undercover assignment to shoot Ned Hartnett—teen superstar and the only celebrity who’s ever been kind to her—at an exclusive rehabilitation retreat in Boston. The money will be enough to pay for Jo’s dream: real photography classes, and maybe even quitting her paparazzi gig for good. Everyone wants to know what Ned’s in for. But Jo certainly doesn’t know what she’s in for: falling in love with Ned was never supposed to be part of her assignment.

27) When the Sea is Rising Red by Cat Hellisen

After seventeen-year-old Felicita’s dearest friend, Ilven, kills herself to escape an arranged marriage, Felicita chooses freedom over privilege. She fakes her own death and leaves her sheltered life as one of Pelimburg’s magical elite behind. Living in the slums, scrubbing dishes for a living, she falls for charismatic Dash while also becoming fascinated with vampire Jannik. Then something shocking washes up on the beach: Ilven’s death has called out of the sea a dangerous, wild magic. Felicita must decide whether her loyalties lie with the family she abandoned . . . or with those who would twist this dark power to destroy Pelimburg’s caste system, and the whole city along with it.

28) A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford

Eden didn’t expect Az.

Not his saunter down the beach toward her. Not his unbelievable pick-up line. Not the instant, undeniable connection. And not his wings.

Yeah.

So long, happily-ever-after.

Now trapped between life and death, cursed to spread chaos with her every touch, Eden could be the key in the eternal struggle between heaven and hell. All because she gave her heart to one of the Fallen, an angel cast out of heaven.

She may lose everything she ever had. She may be betrayed by those she loves most. But Eden will not be a pawn in anyone else’s game. Her heart is her own.

And that’s only the beginning of the end.

29) The Secret Book of Sacred Things by Torsten Krol

The coming of the Great Stone to Earth has erased almost everything that used to be. But in one isolated valley, the Church of Selene has found its way back from destruction. Sister Luka and her female converts offer sacrifices to the scarred (and very close) moon that hangs over their convent. It has been this way since the meteor hit. Among the Little Sisters of Selene is twelve year-old Aurora, respected Scribe of the church. She endlessly writes down the name of the moon to keep her in the sky where she belongs. But Rory has a secret book she keeps hidden in her Scribe’s chamber and into this diary she pours out her hopes and desires. Upsetting this fragile equilibrium is Willa, a young tomboy whose flamboyant arrival threatens the hard-won status quo of the sisters’ community. As Rory and Willa inch toward friendship, insurrection grows. But when an unexpected marvel occurs in the sky, it is clear that Rory’s work as the Scribe has failed. The moon is threatening to remake the world all over again…

30) Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Every other day, Kali D’Angelo is a normal sixteen-year-old girl. She goes to public high school. She argues with her father. She’s human. And then every day in between…she’s something else entirely. Though she still looks like herself, every twenty-four hours predatory instincts take over and Kali becomes a feared demon-hunter with the undeniable urge to hunt, trap, and kill zombies, hellhounds, and other supernatural creatures. Kali has no idea why she is the way she is, but she gives in to instinct anyway. Even though the government considers it environmental terrorism. When Kali notices a mark on the lower back of a popular girl at school, she knows instantly that the girl is marked for death by one of these creatures. Kali has twenty-four hours to save her, and unfortunately she’ll have to do it as a human. With the help of a few new friends, Kali takes a risk that her human body might not survive…and learns the secrets of her mysterious condition in the process.

31) Someone Else’s Life by Katie Dale

How can you face your future when your past it a lie? When Rosie Kenning’s mother, Trudie, dies from Huntingdon’s disease, her whole world falls apart. Not only does Rosie desperately miss her mum, but now she has to face the fact that she could have inherited the fatal illness herself. Until she discovers that Trudie wasn’t her biological mother at all …Rosie is stunned. Can this be true? Is she grieving for a mother who wasn’t even hers to lose? And if Trudie wasn’t her mother, who is? But as Rosie delves into her past to discover who she really is, she is faced with a heart-breaking dilemma – to continue living a lie, or to reveal a truth that will shatter the lives of everyone around her…

32) Bagheads by Karen Woods

Shaun was always a child who demanded more than life could give. His mother’s struggle began when she became a single parent, leaving her abusive husband behind. Unable to cope without the family unit, Shaun turns to a life of crime and drugs and eventually ends up in the care system.

33) This is Not Forgiveness by Celia Rees

Everyone says that Caro is bad …but Jamie can’t help himself. He thinks of her night and day and can’t believe that she wants to be his girlfriend. Gorgeous, impulsive and unconventional, she is totally different to all the other girls he knows. His sister, Martha, hates her. Jamie doesn’t know why, but there’s no way he’s going to take any notice of her warnings to stay away from Caro. But as Jamie falls deeper and deeper under her spell, he realises there is more to Caro – much more. There are the times when she disappears and doesn’t get in touch, the small scars on her wrists, her talk about revolutions and taking action, not to mention the rumours he hears about the other men in her life. And then always in the background there is Rob, Jamie’s older brother, back from Afghanistan and traumatised after having his leg smashed to bits there. Jamie wants to help him, but Rob seems to be living in a world of his own and is increasingly difficult to reach. With Caro, the summer should have been perfect …but that isn’t how things work out in real life, and Jamie is going to find out the hard way.

34) Forbidden by Syrie James & Ryan M James

Desperate to stay put in L.A. long enough to finish high school at the elite Emerson Academy, Claire Brennan hides the psychic visions she s been having from her paranoid, overprotective mother, even the ones warning her she s in danger. Fed up with his duties to watch and, when necessary, eliminate the superhuman descendants of his angelic forefathers, Alec MacKenzie abandons his post in the hopes of experiencing a normal life at Emerson. But he didn t count on falling in love with Claire, a half angel, whose very existence is forbidden.

35) Mortal Chaos by Matt Dickinson

‘The Butterfly Effect ‘: the scientific theory that a single occurrence, no matter how small, can change the course of the universe forever. When a butterfly startles a young rabbit, and the rabbit makes a horse rear, it starts a chain of events, over the course of one day, that will change people’s lives . . . and end people’s lives. From a climber on Everest to a boy in Malawi . . . from a commercial pilot to an American psycho . . . the chaos knows no bounds.

36) Thief’s Covenant by Ari Marmell

Once she was Adrienne Satti. An orphan, she had somehow escaped destitution and climbed to the ranks of Davillon’s aristocracy in a rags-to-riches story straight from an ancient fairy tale. Until one night a conspiracy of forces – human and other – stole it all away in a mist of blood and murder. Today she is Widdershins, a thief making her way through Davillon’s underbelly with a sharp blade, a sharper wit, and the mystical aid of Olgun, a foreign god with no other worshippers but Widdershins herself. It’s not a great life, certainly nothing compared to the one she once had…but it’s hers. But now, in the midst of Davillon’s political turmoil, an array of forces is rising up against her, prepared to tear down all that she’s built. The City Guard wants her in prison. Members of her own Guild want her dead. And something dark and ancient is reaching out for her. Widdershins and Olgun are going to find answers, and justice, for what happened to her – but only if those who almost destroyed her in those years gone by don’t finish the job first.

37) The Queen of Kentucky by Alecia Whitaker

Fourteen-year-old Kentucky girl Ricki Jo Winstead, who would prefer to be called Ericka, thank you very much, is eager to shed her farmer’s daughter roots and become part of the popular crowd at her small town high school. She trades her Bible for Seventeen magazine, buys new “sophisticated” clothes and somehow manages to secure a tenuous spot at the cool kids table. She’s on top of the world, even though her best friend and the boy next door Luke says he misses “plain old Ricki Jo.”

Caught between being a country girl and wannabe country club girl, Ricki Jo begins to forget who she truly is: someone who doesn’t care what people think and who wouldn’t let a good-looking guy walk all over her. It takes a serious incident out on Luke’s farm for Ricki Jo to realize that being a true friend is more important than being popular.

38) Drowning Instinct by Ilsa J Bick

Jenna Lord’s first sixteen years were not exactly a fairytale. Her father is a controlling psycho and her mother is a drunk. She used to count on her older brother—until he shipped off to Afghanistan. And then, of course, there was the time she almost died in a fire.

There are stories where the monster gets the girl, and we all shed tears for his innocent victim. (This is not one of those stories either.)

Mitch Anderson is many things: A dedicated teacher and coach. A caring husband. A man with a certain…magnetism.

And there are stories where it’s hard to be sure who’s a prince and who’s a monster, who is a victim and who should live happily ever after. (These are the most interesting stories of all.)

39) The Secret Journeys of Jack London: The Sea Wolves by Christopher Golden & Tim Lebbon

Jack is making his way back to civilization after barely surviving his adventure in the Yukon. That episode tested his body, his mind, and even his grip on his humanity–but it was nothing compared to what he is about to face.

40) The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour

Colby and Bev have a long-standing pact: graduate, hit the road with Bev’s band, and then spend the year wandering around Europe. But moments after the tour kicks off, Bev makes a shocking announcement: she’s abandoning their plans – and Colby – to start college in the fall.

But the show must go on and The Disenchantments weave through the Pacific Northwest, playing in small towns and dingy venues, while roadie- Colby struggles to deal with Bev’s already-growing distance and the most important question of all: what’s next?

41) The Butterfly Clues by Kate Ellison

Penelope (Lo) Marin has always loved to collect beautiful things. Her dad’s consulting job means she’s grown up moving from one rundown city to the next, and she’s learned to cope by collecting (sometimes even stealing) quirky trinkets and souvenirs in each new place–possessions that allow her to feel at least some semblance of home.

But in the year since her brother Oren’s death, Lo’s hoarding has blossomed into a full-blown, potentially dangerous obsession. She discovers a beautiful, antique butterfly pendant during a routine scour at a weekend flea market, and recognizes it as having been stolen from the home of a recently murdered girl known only as “Sapphire”–a girl just a few years older than Lo. As usual when Lo begins to obsess over something, she can’t get the murder out of her mind.

As she attempts to piece together the mysterious “butterfly clues,” with the unlikely help of a street artist named Flynt, Lo quickly finds herself caught up in a seedy, violent underworld much closer to home than she ever imagined–a world, she’ll ultimately discover, that could hold the key to her brother’s tragic death.

42) Beneath a Meth Moon by Jacqueline Woodson

Laurel Daneau has moved on to a new life, in a new town, but inside she’s still reeling from the loss of her beloved mother and grandmother after Hurricane Katrina washed away their home. Laurel’s new life is going well, with a new best friend, a place on the cheerleading squad and T-Boom, co-captain of the basketball team, for a boyfriend. Yet Laurel is haunted by voices and memories from her past.

When T-Boom introduces Laurel to meth, she immediately falls under its spell, loving the way it erases, even if only briefly, her past. But as she becomes alienated from her friends and family, she becomes a shell of her former self, and longs to be whole again. With help from an artist named Moses and her friend Kaylee, she’s able to begin to rewrite her story and start to move on from her addiction.

43) Catch and Release by Blythe Woolston

I should have died quick. But I didn’t. I’m a miracle of modern medicine, only the medicine doesn’t get much credit, I notice. People say I’m lucky, or I’m blessed, and then they turn away.

I’m not the only miracle. There’s Odd too.

Polly Furnas had The Plan for the future. Get married to Bridger Morgan, for one. College, career, babies. Etc. All the important choices were made.

It was all happily-ever-after as a diamond-ring commercial.

But The Plan did not include a lethal drug-resistant infection. It did not include “some more reconstruction and scar revision in the future.” And it certainly did not include Odd Estes, a trip to Portland in an ancient Cadillac to “tear Bridger a new one,” fly fishing, marshmallows, Crisco, or a loaded gun.

But plans change. Stories get revised and new choices must be made.

Polly and Odd have choices: Survival or not. Catch or release.

44) The Girls of No Return by Erin Saldin

The Alice Marshall School, set within a glorious 2-million acre wilderness area, is a place where teenage girls are sent to escape their histories and themselves. Lida Wallace has tried to negate herself in every way possible. At Alice Marshall, she meets Elsa Boone, Jules, and Gia Longchamps, whose glamour entrances the entire camp. As the girls prepare for a wilderness trek, Lida is both thrilled and terrified to be chosen as Gia’s friend. Everyone has their secrets – the “Things” they try to protect; and when those come out, the knives do as well.

45) Racing California by Janet Nichols Lynch

There is plently of sports action in this YA novel about a gifted athlete who surprises everyone, especially himself, in his first pro race when as the youngest rider at age eighteen, he becomes a sensation with his astounding climbing skills and all-around stunning performance.

46) Riding out the Storm by Sis Deans

Zach is riding the Greyhound bus through a snowstorm to visit his older brother Derek, whom he hasn’t seen in seven months. That’s when their parents finally went broke paying Derek’s doctor’s bills and had to give him up as a ward of the state. Nothing—not drawing in his sketchbook, not basketball—lets Zach forget that his brother is living in a mental institution five states away. But surprisingly, sitting next to a talkative teenage girl he nicknames Purplehead starts to take the edge off Zach’s pain.

47) Somebody, Please Tell Me Who I Am by Harry Mazer

Ben has always had it pretty easy–with no acting experience, he landed the lead in his high school musical, and he’s dating the prettiest girl in school. Haunted by memories of 9/11, he makes the decision to enlist in the army–with devastating consequences. Somehow nobody ever thought Ben would be one of the soldiers affected, but after his convoy gets caught in an explosion, Ben is in a coma for two months. When he wakes up, he doesn’t know where he is, and he doesn’t remember anything about his old life. His family and friends mourn what they see as a loss, but Ben perseveres. Although he will never be the person he once was, this is the story of his struggle and transformation.

48) Trafficked by Kim Purcell

Hannah believes she’s being brought from Moldova to Los Angeles to become a nanny for a Russian family. But her American dream quickly spirals into a nightmare. The Platonovs force Hannah to work sixteen-hour days, won’t let her leave the house, and seem to have a lot of secrets – from Hannah and from each other. Stranded in a foreign land with false documents, no money, and nobody who can help her, Hannah must find a way to save herself from her new status as a modern-day slave or risk losing the one thing she has left: her life.

49) The Vanishing Game by Kate Kae Myers

Jocelyn’s twin brother Jack was the only family she had growing up in a world of foster homes-and now he’s dead, and she has nothing. Then she gets a cryptic letter from “Jason December”-the code name her brother used to use when they were children at Seale House, a terrifying foster home that they believed had dark powers. Only one other person knows about Jason December: Noah, Jocelyn’s childhood crush and their only real friend among the troubled children at Seale House.

But when Jocelyn returns to Seale House and the city where she last saw Noah, she gets more than she bargained for. Turns out the house’s powers weren’t just a figment of a childish imagination. And someone is following Jocelyn. Is Jack still alive? And if he is, what kind of trouble is he in?

50) Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

I’m pushing aside the memory of my nightmare,
pushing aside thoughts of Alex,
pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school,
push,
push,
push,
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and flame.

Okay, so there are fifty releases – and we didn’t include books such as Choker by Elizabeth Woods or Daylight Saving by Edward Hogan!

Which of the above novels are you most looking forward to? How about linking us to your reviews, to let us know which of these we should be reading immediately?

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Strange Chemistry Announces Gwenda Bond!

It feels like it is all go here at the moment *grins* Right on the heels of announcing Sean Cummings and Kim Curran, and then letting you all know about our Open Door in April for unagented authors, we now have more BIG NEWS!

That’s right – another author! And a simply fabulous book!

Strange Chemistry are thrilled to announce a two book deal with Gwenda Bond, concluded between Amanda Rutter and Jennifer Laughran, of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Inc. The first book, Blackwood, will be one of the imprint’s September 2012 launch titles, with the second following in 2013.

About BLACKWOOD:

On Roanoke Island, the legend of the 114 people who mysteriously vanished from the Lost Colony hundreds of years ago is just an outdoor drama for the tourists, a story people tell. But when the island faces the sudden disappearance of 114 people now, an unlikely pair of 17-year-olds may be the only hope of bringing them back.
Miranda, a misfit girl from the island’s most infamous family, and Phillips, an exiled teen criminal who hears the voices of the dead, must dodge everyone from federal agents to long-dead alchemists as they work to uncover the secrets of the new Lost Colony. The one thing they can’t dodge is each other.

Blackwood is a dark, witty coming of age story that combines America’s oldest mystery with a thoroughly contemporary romance.

About GWENDA BOND:

Gwenda Bond is a contributing writer for Publishers Weekly, has reviewed books for the Washington Post and Locus Magazine, and has appeared on NPR’s Weekend Edition. She won the 2010 Veritas Media Award from the Romance Writers of America for her article “Romancing the Recession” in PW, and recently guest edited a special YA issue of Subterranean Online featuring work by Kelly Link, Sarah Rees Brennan, Malinda Lo, and others.

Gwenda also holds an MFA in Writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts’ program in writing for children and young adults, and maintains an active online presence. She lives in a hundred-year-old house in Lexington, Kentucky, with her husband, SF author Christopher Rowe, and their menagerie.

Visit Gwenda online at http://gwendabond.typepad.com/ and stalk…I mean, follow her on Twitter here.

Gwenda says: Gwenda says: “Angry Robot has quickly built a reputation as one of the smartest, most innovative imprints publishing speculative fiction. I was instantly intrigued when I saw the news about the launch of their new YA imprint, and I couldn’t be happier to become a Strange Chemistry author. I can’t wait to work with Amanda and the rest of the Angry Robot team as they continue on the path toward world domination.”

Amanda says: “Gwenda is clearly a massive talent and I am absolutely delighted to have signed her in a two book deal. BLACKWOOD is a truly impressive debut novel and I’m certain it will be a great success.”

Jennifer says: “BLACKWOOD is a super-smart and inventive YA novel with an exceptional voice. Angry Robot is a super-smart and inventive publisher with an exceptional list. It’s a perfect fit.”

Hopefully you are all as super excited as we are about this deal! Would be great for you to give some love to Gwenda in the comments and welcome her to the Strange Chemistry family.

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Open Door 2012

Last year our angry but adorable Overlords Angry Robot Books ran an Open Door month.

Which is what, you ask?

It involved AR relaxing the usual submission guidelines and allowing authors-to-be who were unagented to send in a manuscript.

It worked wonderfully well, with three authors signed up!

Why am I telling you this?

Because this year Strange Chemistry is jumping on the band wagon!

That’s right – we are looking for YA authors-to-be who have written any form of speculative YA fiction (fantasy, SF, horror, or some mash-up of the three!) to submit in the period between April 16th and April 30th.

Full details can be found HERE and we do advise that you read the WHOLE list of requirements!

In addition Angry Robot Books are asking for Classic Fantasy – high, epic, medieval, magical, etc – but only adult fiction. See their requirements here.

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Announcing… The First Two Strange Chemistry Authors!

I am absolutely delighted to bring you the news of the first two authors signed to Strange Chemistry! I know a lot of you have been waiting impatiently to hear about the novels that will be coming out later this year, so it’s very exciting to be able to start giving you some details. Both of these authors have been signed into the Strange Chemistry family for two novels, so you will be hearing lots about them over the next few years!

 

Kim Curran is an incredibly talented debut novelist, with an absolute flair for YA writing.

Her debut novel, Shift is the tale of your average, 16-year old loser Scott Tyler. When he meets the beautiful and mysterious Aubrey Jones, he learns he’s not quite so average after all. He’s a ‘Shifter’. And that means he has the power to undo any decision he’s ever made. At first, he thinks the power to shift is pretty cool. But as his world quickly starts to unravel around him he realises that each time he uses his power, it has consequences; terrible unforeseen consequences. Shifting is going to get him killed. In a world where everything can change with a thought, Scott has to decide where he stands.

Shift is a page-turning, kick-ass SF thriller novel with a very down-to-earth male protagonist. It will be published Autumn 2012, with a sequel to follow in 2013.

When we asked Kim how she felt, she said, “When I saw Angry Robot was launching a YA imprint I literally said I would kill to be published by those guys. So to have signed with Strange Chemistry is everything I could have wished for and then some. To say I’m excited is a massive understatement. I just hope I won’t be expected to actually kill anyone!” We got a teensy bit nervous at that last comment – we will try to keep her in check!

In our formal press release, we said: “As soon as I read the first page of Shift, I absolutely knew I wanted Kim on board. The novel is fast-paced, exciting and a real page turner. I simply cannot wait to introduce the world of Scott and Aubrey to YA readers!” And this pretty much equates to you needing to read the book NOW. Except you’ll have to wait *grins*

The deal was made between Amanda Rutter of Strange Chemistry and Sam Copeland of Rogers, Coleridge and White Ltd. Sam said of the deal: “I’m delighted to have placed Kim with Strange Chemistry. They are a great match; Kim is a hugely exciting young writer, and Strange Chemistry are a hugely exciting new imprint. I have admired from afar the work Angry Robot have been doing, and I’m sure Amanda and Strange Chemistry are going to do great things.”

Find out more about Kim on her website.

 

Our second new author is Sean Cummings, who brings us the remarkably dark and funny Poltergeeks. Julie is an apprentice witch – or so she believes. When a dark power comes stalking out of the past to haunt her and her mother, Julie learns that she is far more than just a witch. With the help of her best friend Marcus and a rather unusual Great Dane, Julie has to race against time to ensure she can defeat the bad guy, save her mother and avoid being grounded – again!

We have signed Sean for two novels in the Poltergeeks universe, the first to be published in Autumn of this year with the second to follow in the summer of 2013.

Sean said, “I’m a huge fan of Angry Robot Books and when I heard they were starting a Young Adult imprint I just knew they’d be publishing some of the best in YA fiction. I’m thrilled that POLTERGEEKS has found a home with Strange Chemistry and I look forward to working with Amanda. (Did I mention that Angry Robot has fantastic cover art, too?)” while our Amanda said, “Sean has written a wonderful book with a title that made the whole AR office sit up and take notice – who wouldn’t want to read a novel called Poltergeeks?! And, as you read further, you just become gripped by this sassy and sarcastic apprentice witch who has to face down the darkest of powers. It’s just a tremendous story, and I’m thrilled that Strange Chemistry is bringing it to you.”

The deal was negotiated by Amanda Rutter, and Jenny Savill and Ella Kahn, from Andrew Nurnberg Associates. Jenny and Ella said: “We are thrilled that Strange Chemistry will be publishing POLTERGEEKS on their launch list this September. They have been hugely enthusiastic from the start and, with their obvious passion for genre YA, we knew they would be the perfect home for Sean’s fabulously funny and distinctive YA voice.”

Author picture credit is: David Marc Anderson and you can find out more about Sean (including details about his three previously published adult novels) on his website.

 

SO! HOW EXCITED ARE YOU NOW?! WE’RE SO EXCITED WE’VE MOVED TO ALL CAPS LOCK! *ahem* Anyway, give some love to Kim and Sean in the comments and stalk them on Twitter (Kim Curran and Sean Cummings) – and look out for more announcements soon!

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Who is your YA Crush?

Welcome to Part Two of our romp through the beautiful boys and gorgeous girls beloved of our bloggers!

As always, please feel free to add your own favourites in the comments section.

Dimitri Belikov from the Vampire Academy series

My YA crush?

Need you even ask?

Four words: Dimitri. Belikov. Is. AMAZING!

If you’ve read Richelle Mead’s entire Vampire Academy series, you’ll know that there are dozens of reasons to crush on Dimitri—assuming you even need a reason other than his sexy, swoon-worthy appearance. He’s smart, witty, great in hand to hand combat… but, honestly, the thing that I love the most about him? He believes in Rose’s strength. In the finale Clockwork Prince Will is so heroic while saving Tessa’s behind, and it’s adorable how Patch is so protective of Nora in Hush, Hush. But the true sign of a great guy? He believes in you. You, being able to save yourself. Dimitri doesn’t save Rose’s life—though he does help her out every now and then—instead, he tells her that he believes in her, encourages her, gives her advice. Somewhere deep inside his muscular chest, Dimitri knows that his girl can kick ass. And he respects that. And this, my friends, is why he is my ultimate YA crush.

Well… assuming I need an excuse to be crushing on Dimitri ;)

– Ana @ What YA Reading

Peeta from The Hunger Games

My YA crush is Peeta from THE HUNGER GAMES. The man is blonde, artistic, a survivor, AND he bakes. Ladies..come on. There’s no competition.

 - Lindsay from Lindsay Cummings

Adam Wilde from If I Stay series

If you would have known me in my teenage years, you would know that Adam from If I Stay was my type. Completely my type. Adam and his skinny jeans, black lucky t-shirt, singer in a band, punk/emo and I would have probably developed an unhealthy obsession with him when I was in high school. Forman doesn’t give much of a physical description of Adam which is probably another thing that draws me in, because I have made him into whatever I wanted him to be in my head.

I also love how much he loves Mia. He loves all of her so much it makes my heart happy to think of it. He encourages her and loves her family as well. He wants the best for Mia because he truly believes she deserves nothing but the absolute best.

Where She Went gives us deeper side of him that we don’t see much of in YA characters. We get to see Adam at his most vulnerable moments and I wanted nothing more than to snuggle him while he was going through so much pain. He is absolutely broken and it’s heartbreaking to see him go through these things.  We see him practically fall apart and we see that he is strong enough to get through it. Basically, he is just amazing on every level.

– Lauren @ Lauren Gets Literal

Ash from the Iron Fey series

My favorite YA Crush is Ash from The Iron Fey series. He’s an ice prince yes, and he gives up everything to be with Meghan. He ignores the fact that it is forbidden for them to be together, and he doesn’t even care what others will think. At first, it appears he has a heart of ice, but he’s super warm-hearted once you get to know him. He also can fight like no other and is completely noble. He is practically perfect! Go Team Ash! :)

 - Erica @ The Book Cellar

Patch from the Hush, Hush series

My YA crush just has to be Patch from the Hush Hush Series he’s perfect! Ultimately perfect!! I mean who wouldn’t want him sent to look after you and keep you safe then fall in love with you! He’s just ever girls dream guy . . .  well mine anyway. What girls always secretly want is a bad boy and Patch fits the description for me amazingly well! Although he isn’t that bad . . . He just has that bad boy streak which appeals to me. I love reading about him and his part in the books as you never know what to expect next from him.

 - Kerry-Ann @ Reading a Little Bit of Everything

Kaleb from Hourglass

My YA crush is Kaleb from Myra McEntire’s Hourglass series. He’s a bad-boy, an empath and completely in love with someone he’s not supposed to be. He flips every single one of my triggers. I can’t wait to read more about him in Timepiece.

 - Dulcy @ My Summer Girl Books

Hale from Heist Society

W.W. Hale (or just Hale) from Heist society by Ally Carter

Why I love Hale-

He comes with an air of mystery from a non-existent family, and although you don’t really know what he’s thinking, you know that he’ll never let you down. Not only is he gorgeous and an extremely talented thief, but hes loaded. His never ending excess of money lets him do what ever he wants, and help his friends in whatever crazy schemes they come up with, from his multiple private jets and yachts, to a house in every place you can think of. Hale is extremely charismatic, which just aids in letting people fall into Kat and his con’s. Hales is extremely smart, sarcastic, and a good actor, but most of all he’s extremely loving and protective of his friends, and the new family that Kat has brought him into.

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YA Releases for January 2012

*takes deep breath*

Well, here we go with our first New Releases post of 2012 and there are more than a few to choose from. We’ve included just about every YA book we could find – romance, science fiction, dystopian, thriller. We’re sure there is something here to your taste! These will be a mix of UK and US January releases. This is because a) we’re being a bit lazy and b) we wanted to appeal to ALL the readers of this site!

Of course, we might have missed some – please do add those we’ve missed into the comments section. And, here’s an idea: how about linking through to your reviews of any of these novels so that you can encourage people/warn people away from the respective books?

1) The Storyteller – Antonia Michaelis

Anna and Abel couldn’t be more different. They are both seventeen and in their last year of school, but while Anna lives in a nice old town house and comes from a well-to-do family, Abel, the school drug dealer, lives in a big, prisonlike tower block at the edge of town. Anna is afraid of him until she realizes that he is caring for his six-year-old sister on his own. Fascinated, Anna follows the two and listens as Abel tells little Micha the story of a tiny queen assailed by dark forces. It’s a beautiful fairy tale that Anna comes to see has a basis in reality. Abel is in real danger of losing Micha to their abusive father and to his own inability to make ends meet. Anna gradually falls in love with Abel, but when his “enemies” begin to turn up dead, she fears she has fallen for a murderer. Has she?

2) Cinder – Marissa Meyer

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

3) Bloodrose – Andrea Cremer

Calla has always welcomed war. But now that the final battle is upon her, there’s more at stake than fighting. There’s saving Ren, even if it incurs Shay’s wrath. There’s keeping Ansel safe, even if he’s been branded a traitor. There’s proving herself as the pack’s alpha, facing unnamable horrors, and ridding the world of the Keepers’ magic once and for all. And then there’s deciding what to do when the war ends. If Calla makes it out alive, that is.

4) Fracture – Megan Miranda

Eleven minutes passed before Delaney Maxwell was pulled from the icy waters of a Maine lake by her best friend Decker Phillips. By then her heart had stopped beating. Her brain had stopped working. She was dead. And yet she somehow defied medical precedent to come back seemingly fine – despite the scans that showed significant brain damage. Everyone wants Delaney to be all right, but she knows she’s far from normal. Pulled by strange sensations she can’t control or explain, Delaney finds herself drawn to the dying. Is her altered brain now predicting death, or causing it?

Then Delaney meets Troy Varga, who recently emerged from a coma with similar abilities. At first she’s reassured to find someone who understands the strangeness of her new existence, but Delaney soon discovers that Troy’s motives aren’t quite what she thought. Is their gift a miracle, a freak of nature-or something much more frightening?

5) Under the Never Sky – Veronica Rossi

Aria has lived her whole life in the protected dome of Reverie. Her entire world confined to its spaces, she’s never thought to dream of what lies beyond its doors. So when her mother goes missing, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland long enough to find her are slim.

Then Aria meets an outsider named Perry. He’s searching for someone too. He’s also wild – a savage – but might be her best hope at staying alive.

If they can survive, they are each other’s best hope for finding answers.

6) Pretty Little Secrets – Sara Shepard

Rewind to junior year in Rosewood, Pennsylvania, to a winter break no one has ever heard about. . . .

Fat snowflakes fall onto manicured lawns, quilted stockings hang over marble fireplaces, and everyone is at peace, especially Hanna, Emily, Aria, and Spencer. Now that Alison’s murderer is in jail and A is dead, they can finally relax. Little do they know there’s a new A in town. . . .

Rule number one of being an effective stalker: Get to know your prey. So I watch these liars day and night, keeping an eye on the trouble they get into, the messes they make, and the secrets they keep. Hanna’s desperate for a very personal session with her gym trainer. Emily is number one on Santa’s naughty list. Aria’s old flame from Iceland is about to land her in hot water. And Spencer’s resorting to some backhanded tactics to get what she wants.

What happens on holiday break stays on holiday break—right? But guess what. I saw. And now I’m telling.

7) Winterling – Sarah Prineas

With her boundless curiosity and wild spirit, Fer has always felt that she doesn’t belong. Not when the forest is calling to her, when the rush of wind through branches feels more real than school or the quiet farms near her house. Then she saves an injured creature—he looks like a boy, but he’s really something else. He knows who Fer truly is, and invites her through the Way, a passage to a strange, dangerous land.

Fer feels an instant attachment to this realm, where magic is real and oaths forge bonds stronger than iron. But a powerful huntress named the Mor rules here, and Fer can sense that the land is perilously out of balance. Fer must unlock the secrets about the parents she never knew and claim her true place before the worlds on both sides of the Way descend into endless winter.

8) Bittersweet – Sarah Ockler

Once upon a time, Hudson knew exactly what her future looked like. Then a betrayal changed her life, and knocked her dreams to the ground. Now she’s a girl who doesn’t believe in second chances… a girl who stays under the radar by baking cupcakes at her mom’s diner and obsessing over what might have been.

So when things start looking up and she has another shot at her dreams, Hudson is equal parts hopeful and terrified. Of course, this is also the moment a cute, sweet guy walks into her life…and starts serving up some seriously mixed signals. She’s got a lot on her plate, and for a girl who’s been burned before, risking it all is easier said than done.

It’s time for Hudson to ask herself what she really wants, and how much she’s willing to sacrifice to get it. Because in a place where opportunities are fleeting, she knows this chance may very well be her last…

9) Unraveling Isobel – Eileen Cook

Isobel’s life is falling apart. Her mom just married some guy she met on the internet only three months before, and is moving them to his sprawling, gothic mansion off the coast of nowhere. Goodbye, best friend. Goodbye, social life. Hello, icky new stepfather, crunchy granola town, and unbelievably good-looking, officially off-limits stepbrother.

But on her first night in her new home, Isobel starts to fear that it isn’t only her life that’s unraveling—her sanity might be giving way too. Because either Isobel is losing her mind, just like her artist father did before her, or she’s seeing ghosts. Either way, Isobel’s fast on her way to being the talk of the town for all the wrong reasons.

10) Cracked – K M Walton

Sometimes there’s no easy way out.

Victor hates his life. He has no friends, gets beaten up at school, and his parents are always criticizing him. Tired of feeling miserable, Victor takes a bottle of his mother’s sleeping pills—only to wake up in the hospital.

Bull is angry, and takes all of his rage out on Victor. That makes him feel better, at least a little. But it doesn’t stop Bull’s grandfather from getting drunk and hitting him. So Bull tries to defend himself with a loaded gun.

When Victor and Bull end up as roommates in the same psych ward, there’s no way to escape each other or their problems. Which means things are going to get worse—much worse—before they get better…

11) The International Kissing Club – Ivy Adams

Piper, Cassidy, Mei, and Izzy have been best friends their whole lives. And they’ve always agreed on one goal: to get out of tiny Paris, Texas, and see the world. The school’s foreign exchange program seems like the perfect escape: Piper will go to the original Paris; Mei will go to China; Cassidy will go to Australia; and Izzy, unable to afford the program, will stay at home. To add spice to their semester away, and to stay connected to their best friends, the girls start The International Kissing Club, a Facebook page where they can anonymously update one another and brag about all the amazing guys they’re meeting. After all, these girls are traveling abroad: amazing guys abound at every turn! But sometimes fun, flirty vacation flings turn into more serious romances, and sometimes you don’t return from abroad the same person you were. Will the girls’ relationships-and their friendships-be able to survive?

12) Darkness Falls – Cate Tiernan

Nastasya has lived for hundreds of years, but for some reason, life never seems to get any better. She left her spoiled, rich girl life to find peace at River’s Edge, a safe haven for wayward immortals. There, she learned to embrace River’s Edge, despite some drama involving the sexy Reyn, who she wants but won’t allow herself to have. But just as she’s getting comfortable, her family’s ties to dark magick force her to leave.

She falls back into her old, hard partying ways, but will her decision lead her into the hands of a dark immortal? Or will it be her first step to embracing the darkness within her?

13) The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight – Jennifer E Smith

Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan’s life. She’s stuck at JFK, late to her father’s second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon to be step-mother that Hadley’s never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport’s cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he’s British, and he’s in seat 18C. Hadley’s in 18A.

Twists of fate and quirks of timing play out in this thoughtful novel about family connections, second chances and first loves. Set over a 24-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver’s story will make you believe that true love finds you when you’re least expecting it.

14) Sadie Walker is Stranded – Madeleine Roux

Sadie Walker fights for survival as the dead close in…In the months since The Outbreak, Seattle has become a walled citadel – the Infected are kept at bay but the city is rife with kidnappings, religious cults and black-market dealings. And things are about to get much, much worse. A group of frustrated religious fanatics, the ‘Repopulationists’, destroy part of the wall and zombies swarm the city. Devastated by the brutal kidnapping of her nephew, illustrator Sadie Walker flees Seattle with her best friend Andrea and secures passage on a boat with no destination. The ragtag bunch aboard the ship are thrown ashore by a storm and stumble across what appears to be a thriving survivors camp. The shipwrecked group, relived to find food, shelter and friendship, relax into the rhythm of the community’s existence. But then people start to disappear…

15) Dark Warning – Marie Louise Fitzpatrick

Ever since Taney was four she’s known she could see things before they happened. She also knows that she must keep her gift a secret – at all costs. Teased and isolated by the local children for being strange, as Taney grows older, she has more and more questions. Why is her father so terrified of her gift? What happened to her mother?

Then she meets the mysterious Billy, an outsider just as she is. Charming and attentive, Billy is the first person with whom Taney can simply be herself; with whom she can share her strange burden, and begin, instead, to feel proud of her ability. But then the visions come – lone girls attacked as they walk home at night.

And as Billy begins to withdraw further into himself, Taney must ask herself who to trust – her only friend, or the visions that torment her dreams…

16) Stormswept – Helen Dunmore

Morveren lives with her parents and twin sister Jenna on an island off the coast of Cornwall – an island that in the long distant past was devastated by a tidal wave, its halls and people lost. Only some of those taken by the sea may not have been lost at all! Now, as Morveren and Jenna’s relationship shifts and changes, like driftwood on the tide, Morveren finds a beautiful teenage boy in a rock pool after a storm. Going to his rescue, she is shocked to see that he is not human but a Mer boy. With Jenna refusing to face the truth, Morveren finds herself alone at the worst possible time. Because when the worlds of Air and Mer meet, the consequences can be terrible!

17) Love? Maybe – Heather Hepler

Just because Piper’s birthday is on Valentine’s Day does not mean she’s a romantic. In fact, after watching her father and then her stepfather leave, she’s pretty sure she doesn’t believe in love at all. Then her friends concoct a plan to find them all Valentine’s dates, and somehow Piper finds herself with the most popular guy in school. But true love never follows a plan, and a string of heartfelt gifts from a secret admirer has Piper wondering if she might be with the wrong guy.

In this heartwarming romance, true love is more than a maybe – and it might be closer than you think.

18) In Darkness – Nick Lake

In darkness I count my blessings like Manman taught me. One: I am alive. Two: there is no two. In the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake a boy is trapped beneath the rubble of a ruined hospital: thirsty, terrified and alone. ‘Shorty’ is a child of the slums, a teenage boy who has seen enough violence to last a lifetime, and who has been inexorably drawn into the world of the gangsters who rule Site Soleil: men who dole out money with one hand and death with the other. But Shorty has a secret: a flame of revenge that blazes inside him and a burning wish to find the twin sister he lost five years ago. And he is marked. Marked in a way that links him with Toussaint L’Ouverture, the Haitian rebel who two-hundred years ago led the slave revolt and faced down Napoleon to force the French out of Haiti. As he grows weaker, Shorty relives the journey that took him to the hospital, a bullet wound in his arm. In his visions and memories he hopes to find the strength to survive, and perhaps then Toussaint can find a way to be free …

19) A Million Suns – Beth Revis

Godspeed was fueled by lies. Now it is ruled by chaos.

It’s been three months since Amy was unplugged. The life she always knew is over. And everywhere she looks, she sees the walls of the spaceship Godspeed. But there may just be hope: Elder has assumed leadership of the ship. He’s finally free to enact his vision – no more Phydus, no more lies.

But when Elder discovers shocking news about the ship, he and Amy race to discover the truth behind life on Godspeed. They must work together to unlock a puzzle that was set in motion hundreds of years earlier, unable to fight the romance that’s growing between them and the chaos that threatens to tear them apart.

In book two of the Across the Universe trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Beth Revis mesmerizes us again with a brilliantly crafted mystery filled with action, suspense, romance, and deep philosophical questions. And this time it all builds to one mind-bending conclusion: They have to get off this ship.

20) The Fault in our Stars – John Green

Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs… for now.

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

21) Hallowed – Cynthia Hand

For months part-angel Clara Gardner trained to face the raging forest fire from her visions and rescue the alluring and mysterious Christian Prescott from the blaze. But nothing could prepare her for the fateful decisions she would be forced to make that day, or the startling revelation that her purpose—the task she was put on earth to accomplish—is not as straightforward as she thought. Now, torn between her increasingly complicated feelings for Christian and her love for her boyfriend, Tucker, Clara struggles to make sense of what she was supposed to do the day of the fire. And, as she is drawn further into the world of part angels and the growing conflict between White Wings and Black Wings, Clara learns of the terrifying new reality that she must face: Someone close to her will die in a matter of months. With her future uncertain, the only thing Clara knows for sure is that the fire was just the beginning.

22) Stolen Away – Alyxandra Harvey

For seventeen years, Eloise Hart had no idea the world of Faery even existed. Now she has been abducted and trapped in the Rath of Lord Strahan, King of Faery. Strahan was only meant to rule for seven years, as Faery tradition dictates, and then give up his crown to another. But he won’t comply, and now chaos threatens both worlds.

The only one who can break his stranglehold on the Faery court is his wife. . . Eloise’s aunt Antonia. Using Eloise to lure Antonia, Strahan captures his wife, desperate to end the only threat to his reign. Now Eloise must become the rescuer. Together with her best friends Jo and Devin, she must forge alliances with other Fae, including a gorgeous protector named Lucas, and Strahan’s mysterious son, Eldric-who may or may not betray them.

23) Daughter of the Centaurs – Kate Klimo

Malora knows what she was born to be: a horse wrangler and a hunter, just like her father. But when her people are massacred by batlike monsters called Leatherwings, Malora will need her horse skills just to survive. The last living human, Malora roams the wilderness at the head of a band of magnificent horses, relying only on her own wits, strength, and courage. When she is captured by a group of centaurs and taken to their city, Malora must decide whether the comforts of her new home and family are worth the parts of herself she must sacrifice to keep them.

24) Havoc – Jeff Sampson

Emily Webb thought life would return to normal after the death of the man who attacked her and her fellow “Deviants.” Or as normal as it could be, after discovering that she has nighttime superpowers . . . and she’s a werewolf. But when Emily awakes one night to find an otherworldy Shadowman watching her, she knows the danger has only just begun.

So Emily and her pack-mates set out to find the people who made them what they are, and why. But as they get closer to the truth, they realize they aren’t the only ones in town with special powers: The most popular girls in school might just have a secret of their own–and they might just have it out for Emily.

With shadowy beings stalking them, a mysterious company doing all it can to keep the truth hidden, and the secrecy of her new identity in jeopardy, life threatens to spiral out of control for Emily. Soon these dangers will come together in one terrifying confrontation that may force her to make the toughest choice of her life . . . so far.

25) The Way We Fall – Megan Crewe

When a deadly virus begins to sweep through sixteen-year-old Kaelyn’s community, the government quarantines her island—no one can leave, and no one can come back.

Those still healthy must fight for dwindling supplies, or lose all chance of survival. As everything familiar comes crashing down, Kaelyn joins forces with a former rival and discovers a new love in the midst of heartbreak. When the virus starts to rob her of friends and family, she clings to the belief that there must be a way to save the people she holds dearest.

Because how will she go on if there isn’t?

26) Fifteen Days Without a Head – Dave Cousins

Fifteen-year-old Laurence Roach just wants a normal life, but it’s not easy when your mum is a depressed alcoholic, and your six-year-old brother thinks he’s a dog. When Mum fails to come home one night, Laurence tells nobody, terrified he and his brother will be taken into care if anyone finds out. Instead, he attempts to keep up the pretence that Mum is still around: dressing up in her clothes to trick the neighbours and spinning an increasingly complicated tangle of lies. After two weeks on their own, running out of food and money, and with suspicious adults closing in, Laurence finally discovers what happened to his mother. And that’s when the trouble really starts . . .

27) Venus Rocks – Fiona Dunbar

Hey, Kitty Slade here. Just hanging out, doing ordinary things. You know, like seeing ghosts. It’s been happening for a while now, but this time – this time is different…

When Kitty sees a ghost ship, she knows her spooky powers are growing stronger. Plunged into a dark mystery from long a go, she soon encounters Beth, a lost soul who drowned on board. Kitty must uncover the secrets buried at the bottom of the sea – before it’s too late…

28) Shadow’s Edge – Maureen Lipinski

Sixteen-year-old Leah Spencer didn’t mind being a natural-born Shaman to the Créatúir. Until she broke Rule #1 and traveled to the Other Realm, where she quickly lost time. Like, a whole year of time. She missed out on everything—holidays, school, her sixteenth birthday, the boyfriend who ditched her. So Leah swore to leave all things magical behind her and lead the life of a normal high school girl.

But when a mysterious dark force starts offing the Créatúir, both Light and Dark, Leah must choose between her new life and “getting all CSI” on the Other Realm murder spree. With the help of her three sisters (each with their own magical gift), and three gorgeous guys—who may or may not be part of the evil magic—Leah must vanquish an ancient dark force that is connected to her family in unimaginable ways.

29) The Book of Blood and Shadow – Robin Wasserman

It was like a nightmare, but there was no waking up.  When the night began, Nora had two best friends and an embarrassingly storybook one true love.  When it ended, she had nothing but blood on her hands and an echoing scream that stopped only when the tranquilizers pierced her veins and left her in the merciful dark.

But the next morning, it was all still true: Chris was dead.  His girlfriend Adriane, Nora’s best friend, was catatonic. And Max, Nora’s sweet, smart, soft-spoken Prince Charming, was gone. He was also—according to the police, according to her parents, according to everyone—a murderer.

Desperate to prove his innocence, Nora follows the trail of blood, no matter where it leads. It ultimately brings her to the ancient streets of Prague, where she is drawn into a dark web of secret societies and shadowy conspirators, all driven by a mad desire to possess something that might not even exist. For buried in a centuries-old manuscript is the secret to ultimate knowledge and communion with the divine; it is said that he who controls the Lumen Dei controls the world. Unbeknownst to her, Nora now holds the crucial key to unlocking its secrets. Her night of blood is just one piece in a puzzle that spans continents and centuries. Solving it may be the only way she can save her own life.

30) Truth – Julia Karr

Nina Oberon’s life has changed enormously in the last few months. When her mother was killed, Nina discovered the truth about her father, the leader of the Resistance. And now she sports the same Governing Council–ordered tattoo of XVI on her wrist that all sixteen-year-old girls have. The one that announces to the world that she is easy prey to predators. But Nina won’t be anyone’s stereotype. And when she joins an organization of girls working within the Resistance, she knows that they can put an end to one of the most terrifying secret programs the GC has ever conceived. Because the truth always comes out…and the consequences can be deadly.

31) Horizon – Sophie Littlefield

Cass Dollar is a survivor. She’s overcome the meltdown of civilization, humans turned mindless cannibals, and the many evils of man.

But from beneath the devastated California landscape emerges a tendril of hope. A mysterious traveler arrives at New Eden with knowledge of a passageway North—a final escape from the increasingly cunning Beaters. Clutching this dream, Cass and many others decamp and follow him into the unknown.

Journeying down valleys and over barren hills, Cass remains torn between two men. One—her beloved Smoke—is not so innocent as he once was. The other keeps a primal hold on her that feels like Fate itself. And beneath it all, Cass must confront the worst of what’s inside her—dark memories from when she was a Beater herself. But she, and all of the other survivors, will fight to the death for the promise of a new horizon….

32) New Girl – Paige Harbison

They call me ‘New Girl’…

Ever since I arrived at exclusive, prestigious Manderly Academy, that’s who I am. New girl. Unknown. But not unnoticed—because of her.

Becca Normandy—that’s the name on everyone’s lips. The girl whose picture I see everywhere. The girl I can’t compare to. I mean, her going missing is the only reason a spot opened up for me at the academy. And everyone stares at me like it’s my fault.

Except for Max Holloway—the boy whose name shouldn’t be spoken. At least, not by me. Everyone thinks of him as Becca’s boyfriend but she’s gone, and here I am, replacing her. I wish it were that easy. Sometimes, when I think of Max, I can imagine how Becca’s life was so much better than mine could ever be.

And maybe she’s still out there, waiting to take it back.

33) Tempest – Julie Cross

The year is 2009.  Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.

That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future.

Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities.

But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler.  Recruit… or kill him.

Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly… and possibly the entire world.

34) My Awesome/Awful Popularity Plan – Seth Rudetsky

Justin has two goals for sophomore year: to date Chuck, the hottest boy in school, and to become the king of Cool U, the table in the cafeteria where the “in” crowd sits.

Unfortunately, he has the wrong look (short, plump, Brillo-pad curls), he has the wrong interests (Broadway, chorus violin), and he has the wrong friends (Spencer, into Eastern religions, and Mary Ann,  who doesn’t shave her armpits). And Chuck? Well, he’s not gay; he’s dating Becky, a girl in chorus with whom Justin is friendly.

But Justin is determined.

In detention one day (because he saw Chuck get it first), Justin comes up with a perfect plan: to allow Becky to continue dating Chuck, whom Becky’s dad hates. They will pretend that Becky is dating Justin, whom Becky’s dad loves. And when Becky and Justin go out on a fake date, Chuck will meet up with them for a real date with Becky. Chuck’s bound to find Justin irresistable, right? What could go wrong?

35) Incarnate – Jodi Meadows

NEWSOUL
Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.

NOSOUL
Even Ana’s own mother thinks she’s a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she’ll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are suspicious and afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?

HEART
Sam believes Ana’s new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana’s enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else’s life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?

36) Tangled – Erica O’Rourke

Constance started to keen as the air around us began to thrash and twist, the caustic scent of ozone burning my nose. As I watched, her dark gold hair began to lift and kink into knots.

“I’m here. It’ll be okay.” It was the last thing I said before my best friend’s little sister went supernova in the second-floor girls’ bathroom, taking me with her.

A month ago, Mo Fitzgerald risked her life to stop an ancient prophecy and avenge her best friend’s murder. Now, she only wants to keep her loved ones safe. But the magic—and the Chicago Mob—have other plans.

Mysterious, green-eyed Luc is back, asking for help—and a second chance. Colin, her strongest protector, is hiding a shocking secret. And inside Constance, the magic is about to go terribly wrong. Tangled in a web of love and betrayal, Mo must choose between the life she’s dreamed of and the one she’s destined for.

37) The Edumacation of Jay Baker – Jay Clark

A few “sexy” bullet points about Jay:
• He is in love with a cheerleader named Cameo “Appearance” Parnell
• He is forever losing “Love-15” to tennis-playing goddess Caroline Richardson
• He rocks a touché array of pop-culture references, jokes, and puns
• His family-life cookie is about to crumble.

Live vicariously through Jay as he faces off against his mortal enemy, gets awkward around his dream girl(s), loses his marbles in a Bermudian love triangle, watches his parents’ relationship implode, and, finally, learns to get real and be himself(ish).

38) Pale – Chris Wooding

The Lazarus Serum can bring you back from the dead. Only thing is, it turns you into a Pale. Jed can’t imagine anything worse, but then the choice is taken out of his hands…

39) Scattering Like Light – S C Ransom

Alex knows there’s a way that she and Callum can be together. Catherine holds the key to unlocking the secret but she’s disappeared. Olivia has answers, too, but they’re hidden deep inside her troubled mind and won’t be found. It seems impossible but Alex can’t give up. The question is, how much will she risk to be with the one she loves? Could it be everything?

40) Crow Girl Rises – Kate Cann

Brimming with confidence after her spooky display at the Halloween party and with love on the horizon, Lily and her best friend Marsha decide to take on the bullies so they know she is not a girl to be messed with any more. But when they start picking on the younger girls instead, Lily vows to stop them forever.

41) The Future of Us – Jay Asher

It’s 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They’ve been best friends almost as long – at least, up until last November, when Josh did something that changed everything. Things have been weird between them ever since, but when Josh’s family gets a free AOL CD in the mail,his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they’re automatically logged onto their Facebook pages. But Facebook hasn’t been invented yet. And they’re looking at themselves fifteen years in the future.

By refreshing their pages, they learn that making different decisions now will affect the outcome of their lives later. And as they grapple with the ups and downs of what their futures hold, they’re forced to confront what they’re doing right – and wrong – in the present.

42) A Witch in Winter – Ruth Warburton

Anna Winterson doesn’t know she’s a witch and would probably mock you for believing in magic, but after moving to the small town of Winter with her father, she learns more than she ever wanted to about power. When Anna meets Seth, she is smitten, but when she enchants him to love her, she unwittingly amplifies a deadly conflict between two witch clans and splits her own heart in two. She wants to love Seth, to let him love her – but if it is her magic that’s controlling his passion, then she is as monstrous as the witch clan who are trying to use her amazing powers for their own gain.

43) Fated – Sarah Alderson

What happens when you discover you aren’t who you thought you were? And that the person you love is the person who will betray you? If your fate is already determined, can you fight it?

When Evie Tremain discovers that she’s the last in a long line of Demon slayers and that she’s being hunted by an elite band of assassins –Shapeshifters, Vampires and Mixen demons amongst them – she knows she can’t run. They’ll find her wherever she goes. Instead she must learn to stand and fight.

But when the half-human, half-Shadow Warrior Lucas Gray – is sent to spy on Evie and then ordered to kill her before she can fulfil a dangerous prophecy, their fates become inextricably linked. The war that has raged for one thousand years between humans and demons is about to reach a devastating and inevitable conclusion. Either one or both of them will die before this war ends.

If your life becomes bound to another’s, what will it take to sever it?

44) Wereworld: Shadow of the Hawk – Curtis Jobling

Enslaved by the Goatlord Kesslar, young werewolf Drew finds himself on the volcanic isle of Scoria, forced to fight in the arena for the Lizardlords. With the help of an unlikely ally, he must find a way to break free – but who has ever managed to escape?

Meanwhile, Hector the Wereboar flees the forces of the Catlords. Now on board the pirate ship Maelstrom, the enemy’s net is closing in. Haunted by the spirits of the dead, Hector is soon left wondering who the true enemy is . . .

45) Night School – C J Daugherty

Allie Sheridan’s world is falling apart. She hates her school. Her brother has run away from home. And she’s just been arrested.

Again.

This time her parents have finally had enough. They cut her off from her friends and send her away to a boarding school for problem teenagers.

But Cimmeria Academy is no ordinary school. Its rules are strangely archaic. It allows no computers or phones. Its students are an odd mixture of the gifted, the tough and the privileged. And then there’s the secretive Night School, whose activities other students are forbidden even to watch.

When Allie is attacked one night the incident sets off a chain of events leading to the violent death of a girl at the summer ball. As the school begins to seem like a very dangerous place, Allie must learn who she can trust. And what’s really going on at Cimmeria Academy.

46) The Feral Child – Che Golden

Her parents dead, Maddy is sick of living in Ireland, sick of Blarney and sick of her cousin Danny, one of the nastiest people you could meet this side of an Asbo. Mad as hell one evening, she crawls inside the grounds of the castle, the one place she has always been forbidden to go. Once inside, she is chased by a strange feral boy, who she suspects is one of the faerie: cruel, fantastical people who live among humans and exchange local children for their own.

When the boy returns to steal her neighbour Stephen into his world, Maddy and her cousins set off on a terrifying journey into a magical wilderness, determined to bring him back home. To do so, they must face an evil as old as the earth itself…

47) Merion of the Stones – Allan Frewin Jones

Branwen must bravely follow destiny’s path even when it leads her into the enemy’s stronghold …Branwen is set her next task by the Shining Ones: she must rescue an ancient god trapped in a Saxon prison. But the trail leads into the heart of Saxon territory, and she and her followers face their greatest challenge yet…until she learns that she is being hunted by the most feared warrior of all Scandinavia. Surrounded by danger, it is the worst time for her loyal band to splinter. But as Branwen seeks to outgrow her mentor, tensions within her band are growing. In her darkest hour, can Branwen remain on destiny’s path?

48) Doubleborn – Toby Forward

Tamrin doesn’t like being at the Canterstock College for Wizards, but when the tailor who sent her there arrives to take her away she knows that she should not go with him. She sets off to find Sam, only to find that their mutual enemy, Ash, has been waiting for her to lead the way to Flaxfield’s old apprentice so that she can use him to help her to escape from the Tower in which she is imprisoned.

49) Saving Daisy – Phil Earle

Losing love, fighting guilt, seeking hope.

Daisy’s mum is gone. Her dad refuses to talk about it and as far as Daisy’s concerned, it’s all her fault…

Saving Daisy is a powerful and moving story that follows the life of Daisy Houghton who first featured in Phil Earle’s critically acclaimed debut, Being Billy.

As Daisy struggles with misplaced guilt over her mother’s death, she turns to extreme and violent measures and soon her life starts spiralling out of control. This leads to tragedy and suddenly Daisy finds herself left all alone. But sometimes the kindness of a stranger can turn things around. A stranger who desperately wants to save Daisy – if she’ll only let herself be saved.

50) The Beast – Barry Hutchison

There is a beast on the loose and it has killed Kyle’s head teacher. Now Kyle has to stop it — but it would help if he knew where to look. Can Kyle stop this monster from the Darkest Corners before anyone else dies? Certainly not, if the police have anything to do with it. Because they think they know who the beast is. They think it’s Kyle!

There you have it! A massive fifty YA releases for January.

Your turn…

 - What have we missed?

 - Which books from this list are unmissable?

- Which hadn’t you heard about before, but are now desperate to read?

 - Howabout linking us to your reviews?

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YA Novels You Should Be Reading: Fantasy

At first we thought we would struggle to come up with a proper list of YA fantasy – true, epic fantasy, rather than paranormal fantasy – and would have to rely on old-time series like David Eddings’ Belgariad (which we still do urge you to check out). However, once we started working our brains, we came up with plenty and could have added even more. The fantasy side of YA is thriving, for sure! Here are our top ten picks of what to read – as is usual, if you agree, disagree or have more to add, then leave us comments – we luuuuuurve comments! *grin*

1) Kristin Cashore

First up is the series of books by Kristin Cashore – start with Graceling, move onto Fire and then join us all in waiting feverishly for Bitterblue, which is due out this year.

Here is the blurb for Graceling:

Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight—she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug.
When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change. She never expects to become Po’s friend. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace—or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

We loved this review of Graceling and this review of Fire!

2) Alison Goodman

Be warned that Goodman’s series came out with two different titles in the US and the UK – in the US, you’ll be picking up Eon and Eona, while in the UK it is The Two Pearls of Wisdom and The Necklace of the Gods (got any preference over title?)

Here is the blurb for Eon:

Twelve-year old Eon has been studying the ancient art of the Dragoneyes for two years. But he is playing a dangerous game: Eon is actually Eona, 16 years old and a girl. Her true identity must remain hidden at all costs: it is forbidden for women to practise the Art, and to be discovered would be punishable by death.

Let down by her injured leg, it seems that Eon is destined to fail in her quest, until a spectacular twist in events catapults her into the opulent but treacherous world of the Imperial court. Without a master to guide her, Eon must learn to harness her unprecedented natural power, while protecting the secret that could cost her everything…

We loved this review of Eon and this review of Eona.

3) Tamora Pierce

Tamora Pierce has written a whopping 27 novels – we want to particularly highlight her Tortall series of books. This has been published over various quartets and duologies, and we still think it is best to start with Alanna: The First Adventure (from there read In the Hand of the Goddess, The Woman Who Rides Like a Man and Lionness Rampant. You’re welcome).

Here is the blurb for Alanna:

Call it fate, call it intuition, or just call it common sense, but somehow young Alanna knows she isn’t meant to become some proper lady cloistered in a convent. Instead, she wants to be a great warrior maiden–a female knight.But in the land of Tortall, women aren’t allowed to train as warriors. So Alanna finds a way to switch places with her twin, Thom, and take his place as a knight in training at the palace of King Roald. Disguising herself as a boy, Alanna begins her training as a page in the royal court.Soon, she is garnering the admiration of all around her, including the crown prince, with her strong work ethic and her thirst for knowledge. But all the while, she is haunted by the recurring vision of a black stone city that emanates evil… somehow she knows it is her fate to purge that place of its wickedness. But how will she find it? And can she fulfill her destiny while keeping her gender a secret?

We loved this review of Alanna!

4) Megan Whalen Turner

We first heard about this series (The Queen’s Thief) after the championing of The Book Smugglers, and now we want to become champions ourselves! Start with The Thief, moving on to The Queen of Attolia, then The King of Attolia and finally A Conspiracy of Kings.

We loved these reviews of The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, The King of Attolia and A Conspiracy of Kings.

5) Philip Pullman

It is quite likely that you have already read His Dark Materials, the trilogy that comprises Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass. These books have become a phenomena, held up as one of the finest examples of fantasy writing for young people.

Here is the blurb for Northern Lights:

Lyra and her animal daemon live half-wild and carefree among the scholars of Jordan College, Oxford. But the destiny that has awaited her since birth takes her on a dangerous journey to the frozen North in search of a kidnapped friend. It is a journey that will have immeasurable consequences for her own world…

We love these reviews of Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass!

6) Melina Marchetta

We include this author even though she is most famous for her contemporary YA, since it demonstrates that many fine authors have turned their hand to fantasy and achieved great success. The novel we are talking about here is Finnikin of the Rock.

Here is the blurb for the novel:

At the age of nine, Finnikin is warned by the gods that he must sacrifice a pound of flesh to save his kingdom. He stands on the rock of the three wonders with his friend Prince Balthazar and Balthazar’s cousin, Lucian, and together they mix their blood to safeguard Lumatere.But all safety is shattered during the five days of the unspeakable, when the king and queen and their children are brutally murdered in the palace. An impostor seizes the throne, a curse binds all who remain inside Lumatere’s walls, and those who escape are left to roam the land as exiles, dying by the thousands in fever camps.Ten years later, Finnikin is summoned to another rock—to meet Evanjalin, a young novice with a startling claim: Balthazar, heir to the throne of Lumatere, is alive. This arrogant young woman claims she’ll lead Finnikin and his mentor, Sir Topher, to the prince. Instead, her leadership points them perilously toward home. Does Finnikin dare believe that Lumatere might one day rise united? Evanjalin is not what she seems, and the startling truth will test Finnikin’s faith not only in her but in all he knows to be true about himself and his destiny.

We loved this review of Finnikin of the Rock.

7) Cinda Williams Chima

Cinda Williams Chima has written two fantasy series that will be enjoyed thoroughly by teens. The first is The Heir Chronicles (comprising The Warrior Heir, The Wizard Heir and The Dragon Heir) and the second is the Seven Realms quartet (comprising The Demon King, The Exiled Queen, The Gray Wolf Throne and The Crimson Crown).

The blurb for The Warrior Heir is:

Before he knew about the Roses, 16-year-old Jack lived an unremarkable life in the small Ohio town of Trinity.  Only the medicine he has to take daily and the thick scar above his heart set him apart from the other high-schoolers.  Then one day Jack skips his medicine.  Suddenly, he is stronger, fiercer, and more confident than ever before.  And it feels great—until he loses control of his own strength and nearly kills another player during soccer team tryouts.Soon, Jack learns the startling truth about himself:  He is Weirlind; part of an underground society of magical people who live among us.  At the head of this magical society sit the feuding houses of the Red Rose and the White Rose, whose power is determined by playing The Game—a magical tournament in which each house sponsors a warrior to fight to the death.  The winning house rules the Weir.As if his bizarre magical heritage isn’t enough, Jack finds out that he’s not just another member of Weirlind—he’s one of the last of the warriors—at a time when both houses are scouting for a player.

We love this review of The Warrior Heir and this review of The Demon King.

8) Garth Nix

It could be argued that The Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix – currently Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen (with a handful of short stories and companion novels) – is more for middle grade. However, when we read it we felt that teen readers would gain just as much from the reading experience. Besides, it’s damn brilliant *grins*

The blurb for Sabriel is:

Who will guard the living when the dead arise? Sabriel is sent as a child across the Wall to the safety of a school in Ancelstierre. Away from magic; away from the Dead. After receiving a cryptic message from her father, 18-year-old Sabriel leaves her ordinary school and returns across the Wall into the Old Kingdom. Fraught with peril and deadly trickery, her journey takes her to a world filled with parasitical spirits, Mordicants, and Shadow Hands — for her father is none other than The Abhorson. His task is to lay the disturbed dead back to rest. This obliges him — and now Sabriel, who has taken on her father’s title and duties — to slip over the border into the icy river of Death, sometimes battling the evil forces that lurk there, waiting for an opportunity to escape into the realm of the living. Desperate to find her father, and grimly determined to help save the Old Kingdom from destruction by the horrible forces of the evil undead, Sabriel endures almost impossible challenges whilst discovering her own supernatural abilities — and her destiny.

We loved these reviews of Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen!

9) Trudi Canavan

We realise that Trudi Canavan is also shelved under adult fantasy in bookstores, but we think her books fit better in the YA section. Read the Black Magician trilogy, starting with The Magicians’ Guild, then The Novice and finally The High Lord.

The blurb for The Magicians’ Guild is:

Each year the magicians of Imardin gather together to purge the city streets of vagrants, urchins and miscreants. Masters of the disciplines of magic, they know that no one can oppose them. But their protective shield is not as impenetrable as they believe. Sonea, angry, frustrated and outraged by the treatment of her family and friends, hurls a stone at the shield, putting all her rage behind it. To the amazement of all who bear witness, the stone passes unhindered through the barrier and renders a magician unconscious. The guild’s worst fear has been realised …There is an untrained magician loose on the streets. She must be found before her uncontrolled powers unleash forces that will destroy both her, and the city that is her home.

We loved these reviews of The Magicians’ Guild, The Novice and The High Lord.

10) Sherwood Smith

Sherwood Smith is our last entry – she has written a large number of YA fantasy books, but we’ll concentrate here on the Inda quartet, comprising Inda, The Fox, The King’s Shield and Treason’s Shore.

The blurb for Inda is as follows:

Indevan Algara-Vayir is the second son of a powerful prince, destined to stay at home and defend his family’s castle. Inda is sent to the Royal Academy where he learns the art of war and finds that danger and intrigue don’t only come from outside the kingdom—and that one can find oneself on the outside, fighting the dangers that do exist there.

We loved these reviews of Inda, The Fox, The King’s Shield and Treason’s Shore!

So there you have our ten!

 - What do you think of our choices?
 - Which books would you add to the list for YA Fantasy You Should Be Reading?

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