Fantasy: "Magic Under Glass"

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Dolamore, Jaclyn. Magic Under Glass. New York: Bloomsbury, 2010.

When Nimira leaves her music-hall job for a position at Mr. Parry's estate, she finds illusions abound and reality may be hidden in the closed off upper stories of Vestenveld. Add to this a piano-playing automation who may or may not be human and you have the story of a young lady with the voice of an angel and the courage of a tiger.

When Hollin Parry discovers Nimiri singing in a music hall and asks her to sing with his piano playing automation, it is not a difficult decision for Nimiri. Leave behind the brown bread, and bland vegetables, and pennies thrown at her feet? For the glittering world of the Vestenveld estate? This would be a big step up for a trouser girl from Tiansher.

But perhaps it would be more than just a step up, perhaps it would be the beginning of a great love story. A love story about a young woman and a man who loves her and a man she cannot have. All in a place where a madwomen roams the the upper floors and the magical world swirls like a mist through the corridors of Vestenveld.

That night I heard a girl scream. I shot up in bed, throwing back the covers. Bare feet slapped down the hall, closer and closer. I rushed to the door. Linza? Sleep blurred my eyes. I flung open the door, and a caped figure barreled toward me, trailed by dim orbs of light that floated after her like fireflies. Her desperate cries filled my ears. Not Linza...

In this story, we learn about the strength, courage, and determination of not only Nimiri, but also of a mechanical man who may or may not be human.

Supernatural: "hush, hush"

Fitzpatrick, Becca. hush,hush. New York: Simon & Schuster BFYR, 2009.

In the Old Testament a group of angels are thrown down from heaven because they lusted after mortal women. Is one of these fallen angels attending Nora Grey's high school in Coldwater, Maine?

Nora Grey lives on the outskirts of town with a mother who is rarely home. Their centuries old farmhouse is lit from the inside with memories of a father who was killed by a random act of violence. Outside fog swirls and the number of terrifying encounters is on the rise.

As an internal struggle over who trust becomes an external struggle to stay alive, Nora finds herself in the midst of an ancient battle between those who have fallen and one who is immortal. She will need strength. She will need endurance. Most of all she will need to shield her thoughts from those who would take them and use them against her.

As the stakes are raised and the players begin to reveal themselves, will Nora be able to stay one step ahead? Or will she be silenced forever by the one who beckons her with a hush, hush?

Supernatural: "Lips Touch Three Times"

Taylor, Laini. Lips Touch Three Times. New York: Scholastic, 2009.

When lips touch caution vanishes in a shimmer of whispered secrets leaving Kizzy, Anamique, and Esmé to find out that a kiss may have astonishing consequences.

Kizzy's not an It girl she's a Not It girl, so when the new boy, a beautiful poet of a boy, pursues her she can almost forget... Almost, but not quite forget, that she comes from a family that believes in things; "in vampires and the evil eye, in witch soldiers, and curses and even talking foxes... And of course they believed in goblins."

Oh yes, she can't quite forget, but will she cease to care?

Anamique's life begins with a bassinet and a curse by the old woman Estrella, "I curse this child with the most beautiful voice ever to slip from human lips. But take care that you never hear it. Anyone who does shall fall down dead on the spot. From this moment forward, any sound this child utters will kill."

And so the little child stays silent believing in the curse until a young man determines to lead her out from the shadow of superstition. But is it superstition?

Esmé comes from a mother who was raised as a pet and who's night terrors keep her daughter awake. When her mother cuts her long persimmon red hair and forces them to flee, Esmé wonders if they can outrun the wolves in the city. Taken to a fortress of stone and incredible beauty where kittens are thrown to the beasts that line the drawbridge- is that any place for a young girls first kiss?

Finalist for the National Book Award for Young Peoples Literature

Fantasy: "Skellig"

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Almond, David. Skellig. NY: Dell Yearling, 1998.

Lying among the dead bluebottles and dust, Skellig inhabits the garage of Michael's new house. With the help of Mina, Michael will try to help this sorrowful creature recover.

Well: who is Skelling? This story takes us into a crumbling garage where bluebottles and spiders drop unexpectedly, and unknown things scuttle about. Where also a retched creature in a dusty black suit slowly deteriorates...

This story is set in a small town in England where David and his family have moved with the new baby who is very sick. As his parent's tend to his sister, David is full of tension and resentment. Why did they have to move? Why doesn't his sister get well? Why all this change?

David finds Skellig in the garage and sets about trying to help him. Together with Mina, his new friend and neighbor, they embark upon a course of action that they hope will bring about recovery. It is in that healing they will find out who they are and who exactly is Skellig.

Carnegie Medal. Garden State Teen Book Award. New York Times Notable Book. ALA Notable Children's Book. Booklist Editors' Choice. School Library Journal Best Book. Costa Book Award. Michael L. Printz Honor Book. Parents' Choice Award.

Horror: "Vampire Kisses"

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Schreiber, Ellen. Vampire Kisses. NY: Harper Collins, 2003.

Raven Madison dreams of vampire love. Could Alexander Sterling be the one she's been dreaming of?

Raven resides in Dullsville, a modern day town without pity. Rumors fly, like bats in a belfry, circling the new family living in the mysterious mansion on the hill. Although Raven is excited about the prospect of having her first vampire kiss, she also worries about what a town without pity can do...

Raven is the number-one outcast in her highly conformist high school, she finds solace engaging in her number one, two, and three passions- watching vampire movies, dreaming about vampires, and plotting the fall of her nemeses Trevor. Her fantasies of vampire love seem about to come true when she finally meets Alexander Sterling. The boy on the hill.

"I had waited for a moment like this all my life. To see, to meet, to befriend someone who was very different from everyone else, and just like me. Suddenly the reality of the situation hit me. I had been caught."

It's the height of the high school social season and the Snow Ball is approaching. Will Raven be caught in the tangled web of her own deceit or will she be the willing victim of Vampire Kisses?

YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers.