Sorrow’s Knot (Arthur A. Levine Books, 2013) by Erin Bow is one of the those books I really enjoyed reading, but don’t want to see it as a movie–it’d be too creepy. 🙂 Probably because the world and its magic are so very believable. The flavor of the book reminds me of Carrie Ryan’s The Forest of Hands and Teeth.
Sorrow’s Knot is the story of 3 young people amongst the Shadow People–Otter and her close friends. Kestral will be a ranger and Cricket wants to be a storyteller. Otter knows she will be a binder, yet now her mother won’t teach her how to handle her power. There have been hints that Willow and her power are not as they should be, but this and what else is coming is so much worse than anything Otter or the others imagined. Will their village survive if the wards fail and the dead get in? Especially since there is a White Hand in the forest?
The book was a Kirkus Best Book of 2013 and a Winner of the 2014 Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy.
Read about the author on her site, where you’ll discover she once was a physicist and now lives in Canada.
Category: YA Novels
young adult novels (for 13+ yo)
The Rithmatist
The Rithmatist (Dragonsteel Entertainment/Tor, 2013) by Brandon Sanderson was one of those lucky finds off the library shelf. It has an interesting premise and surprising plot twists. Aimed at the YA market, as the main character is 16, it’s definitely appropriate for upper middle grade readers who like Harry Potter.
Rithmatists–those who can make chalk drawings come to life to fight the wild chalklings in far off Nebrask–are set apart in school society. Poor scholarship student Joel desperately wishes he could become a Rithmatist even though he wasn’t chosen. When Rithmatist students start disappearing from Armedius Academy, Joel manages to get himself assigned as an assistant to the professor who is investigating the disappearances, but doesn’t realize how dangerous that will be.
Fascinating Illustrations of chalklings and the rithmatists defenses are done by Ben McSweeney.
This is the first book in a series. Go here to read an interview of Brandon about this book.
The author has written both children and adults series. Of those, I’ve read and enjoyed Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians (Scholastic, 2007)–the first of his middle grade series. Doesn’t the title just make you want to read it? See more on his website.
Of interest, too, is Sanderson’s 3 laws of magic and links to 14 University Lectures by Brandon Sanderson on Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy on this page of writing advice.
Suspect
Suspect (Peachtree Press, 2010) by Kristin Wolden Nitz is a great read for cozy mystery fans. And if you don’t know what that means, read her book and you’ll get the idea. Here’s the set-up:
17-year-old Jen doesn’t want to help her grandmother at her Victorian bed-and-breakfast, but when Dad tells her that Grandma Kay thinks Jen’s mother is dead instead of having left her daughter and husband, she agrees to go and keep an idea on her grandmother. Unfortunately, the mystery weekend is focused on this family mystery and Jen finds out some unpleasant truths.
On the author’s site, Nitz Bits, Kristin has a Blog Hop post on July 2nd, that gives some background to why she wrote this book and her others. And this post talks about what was blooming the weekend that Suspect was set. I love hearing about this attention to detail.
The False Prince
The False Prince (Scholastic Press, 2012) by Jennifer A. Nielsen has it all: orphans, plots, a lost prince, danger and adventure. Sage, one of the orphans forced to learn how to impersonate the lost prince, begins his story with, “If I had to do it all over again, I would not have chosen this life. Then again, I’m not sure I ever had a choice.”
I found the book hard to put down and am thrilled to find out it is the first in a trilogy. 
The next book is The Runaway King and the third is The Shadow Throne. In February 2015, there’s supposed to be news on whether or not Paramount will make a movie of The False Prince. I hope it is a yes!
In addition, Author Jennifer A. Nielsen has two series already out and another one where the first book, The Mark of the Thief, is coming in February 2015. Read about her and her books on her website.
The Rules for Disappearing
The Rules for Disappearing (Hyperion, 2013 ) by Ashley Elston grabbed me and held on till the very end. Look at the opening lines to see how quickly I was hooked: “What do you want your name to be this time? We have about thirty minutes.”
Meg’s family is in Witness Protection and she’s determined to find out what her father did to put them there. After 6 moves, her little sister is not doing well and neither is their mom; Meg feels like she can’t do it again either. She sets up rules for herself, but finds it incredibly hard to stick to them. Especially with Ethan.
I zipped through this book in 2 evenings and just found out there is a sequel! It’s called The Rules for Breaking. Must get this book!
Don’t you love these covers?
Read more about author Ashley Elston here–especially take note of her other jobs and where she lives. It’ll give you some insight to at least one character in the first book.