Age Group:
Young Adult

Genre:
Adventure, Coming-of-age, American, Fiction, Dystopian, Mystery, Science Fiction

Summary:
Imagine a world in which love is a disease to be cured of, a world in which you are stripped of the choice to love against your will. This is the America that young protagonist Lena finds herself living in.

Lena is looking forward with anticipation to the surgery that will prevent her from contracting the ‘deliria.’ She’s witnessed first hand the dangers of not being cured after her mother committed suicide. She is determined not to suffer the same fate.

Everything’s going on schedule for Lena. But then she meets Alex, an Invalid from the Wilds, who teaches her that life is better with freedom and choice. When they discover an eerie truth about Lena’s mother, Alex and Lena realize their lives will never be the same.

My Thoughts:
This is a strong second novel from author Lauren Oliver. The novel’s plot is an interesting concept and one that is easily explored from many dimensions. The ability to love, and with it, to experience great sorrow and overwhelming passion is the source of many a great fictional tale.

Oliver provides a unique and stunning twist to the traditional narratives, forcing readers to imagine a world stripped of strong emotions and immense joy. The reader must decide for themselves which world is more threatening: the safety, peace and calm of routine, or the floodgate of feelings stirred by love.

A great spin-off choice for fans of The Hunger Games, borrow Delirium from your local Vaughan library today!

Share: Is it just me, or who else is excited about the upcoming Hunger Games movie? Sooo pumped!

Age Group:
Adult

Genre:
Wilderness Adventure, Canadian Literature, Historical Fiction, Humourous, Mystery, Native, Realistic, Suspense

Summary:
Wow, part murder-mystery, part wilderness adventure, part courtroom drama, part budding romance; this book has it all! Leckie succeeds in skillfully fusing these genres in a story that really keeps the pages turning!

Coppermine tells the remarkable tale (based on true events) of the disappearance of two Catholic priests in a remote Arctic region known as the Coppermine. Determined to solve the case, Northwest Mounted Police officer Jack Creed is joined by Angituk McAndrew, a young Inuit interpretor, on a year-long journey to uncover the mystery.

In a place called Bloody Falls, they discover the dismembered remains of the two missionaries. After some investigation, they track down the two Eskimo hunters responsible for the crime and the four begin the dangerous journey back to Edmonton. When the two hunters are brought to justice, no one can predict their fate, but Jack is determined to save them at all costs.

My Thoughts:
Kudos to Ruthanne for discovering this gem. It’s not usually the kind of book I would pick up to read, but I ended up really getting into it. I loved that it was full of many surprises and twists and turns, right until the very end. It had so much of what makes great fiction: an intriguing plot, charming characters and mysterious, magical surroundings. I highly recommend it!

Borrow Coppermine from your local Vaughan library today! If you’re interested in the true account of the Coppermine case, try Bloody Falls of the Coppermine: madness, murder, and the collision of cultures in the Arctic, 1913.

Share: Have you already heard of the Coppermine murders?Tell us what you know!

Age Group:
Adult

Genre:
Native, Realistic Fiction, Canadian, Adventure, Survivalism, Coming-of-age, Historical, Humourous

Awards:
Nominee for the Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Award and the Books in Canada First Novel Award in 1998.

Summary:
Champion and Ooneemeetoo Okimasis are young men growing up in a magical Cree world in northern Manitoba. They live a charmed life with their brave father Abraham and nurturing mother Mariesis. But their innocence ends much too soon when they are forced to abandon culture and tradition to live in a Catholic residential school.

At school, the newly renamed Jeremiah and Gabriel are abused by priests. It is only through music and dance and their spirit guide – the Fur Queen trickster – that they learn to come to grips with the trauma they endure. Together Jeremiah and Gabriel become successful young men who struggle with their identity as they are drawn back to their home at Mistik Lake year after year.

My Thoughts:
A poignant and humourous story with a cinematic tone. I enjoyed this novel. It is raw and real and passionate. The stories of Jeremiah and Gabriel are the collective stories of Native Canadians living in the 20th century – pressured to adopt Catholic values and take on new identities. And yet, there is such a sense of hope, survival and strength from these two young men who refuse to be silenced.

Borrow Kiss of the Fur Queen from your local VPL library today!

Intrigued by this title? Try Tomson Highway’s award winning The Rez Sisters, a hilarious play portrayal of seven women from a reserve attempting to beat the odds by winning at bingo.

I read this play for a university course but it also makes a great leisure read

Have you read either of these books? If so let us know what you thought.

Age Group:
Adult

Story:
While on business in Paris, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call – the elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered among a number of mysterious clues, codes, and ciphers. While working to solve the enigmatic riddle, Langdon is stunned to discover it leads to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Leonardo Da Vinci.

Awards:
Winner of the 2004 Book Sense Book of the Year, 2005 Galaxy British Book Award, and 2005 Teen Buckeye Book Award.

My Thoughts:
An exciting and exhaustively researched page turner about secret societies.

Borrow Da Vinci Code from your local VPL Library!

Top Three Similar Reads:

1. The Mephisto Club, by Tess Gerristen
2. The Color of Death, by Elizabeth Lowell
3. Suspect, by Michael Robotham

Have you read Da Vinci Code yet? If so, what did you think?

Age Group:
14 and up

Story:
Meggie Folchart life dramatically changes when she discovers that her father has an unusual ability – when he reads aloud, he can bring charcters from books into the real world in exchange for something from their world.

Awards:
Many! Including the 2004 American Library Association Notable Books for Children, 2009 Nene Award, and the 2006 Flicker Tale Children’s Book Award.

My Thoughts:
This book is for anyone who ever wished they could bring the characters to life! You might think twice after this book…

Borrow Inkheart from your local VPL Library!

Top Three Similar Reads:

1. The Waterless Sea, by Kate Constable
2. The Dark Hills Divide, by Patrick Carman
3. Fablehaven, by Brandon Mull

Have you read Inkheart yet? If so, what did you think?

Age Group:
12 and up

Story:
Tells the tale of Despereaux Tilling, who is a small mouse of unusual talents, the princess that he loves, the servant girl who longs to be a princess, and a devious rat determined to bring them all to ruin.

Awards:
Won the 2004 Newbery Medal, 2005 Bluegrass Award, the 2006 Young Reader’s Choice Award, and many many more!

My Thoughts:
A very cute and inspiring story! I fell in love with the little mouse, Desperaux Tilling, and I’m sure you will too!

Borrow Tale of Despereaux from your local VPL Library!

Top Three Similar Reads:

1. The Amazing Maurice And His Educated Rodents, by Terry Pratchett
2. Redwall, by Brian Jacques
3. The Two Princesses Of Bamarre, by Gail Carson Levine

Have you read Tale of Despereaux yet? If so, what did you think?

Age Group:

14 and up

Story:

While working summer jobs in San Francisc, Sophie and Josh, who are fifteen year old twins discover that the owner of the bookstore where Josh works is the immortal French alchemist Nicholas Flamel.  Flamel and his wife are the guardians of the Book of Abraham which contains the most powerful spells in the world.  Dr. John Dee, a rival alchemist discovers Flamels whereabouts and steals the book.  Suddenly Sophie and Josh find themselves caught up in a deadly magical struggle in which they could either save or destroy the world.   

Awards:

None

My Thoughts:

This book had my attention from the very first page.  It is filled with non-stop action.  What I find really neat is that all of the main characters in this book are based on figures from history or mythology. 

Borrow The Alchemyst from your local VPL Library!

Top Three Similar Reads:

1. Fifth Sorceress, by Robert Newcomb
2. The Warrior Heir, by Cinda Williams Chima
3. Drangonlance, by Brian Augustyn

Have you read The Alchemyst yet? If so, what did you think?

Age Group:
16 and up

Story:
This novel is a comic adventure about bombardier Yossarian who is desperately trying to avoid flying missions during World War II in order to stay alive. Problem is, according to army regulation Catch-22, insane men who ask to be grounded prove themselves sane through a concern for personal safety, while truly crazy people are those who readily agree to fly more missions. Therefore the only way to be grounded is to make a formal request to be relieved of such missions, but this act demonstrates sanity and therefore makes one ineligible to be relieved.

Awards:
None But it has stood the test of time, and is seen as one of the most significant novels of the 20th century. He is the man who coined the phrase “Catch-22”.

My Thoughts:
One of the funniest books I’ve ever read. A must read!

Borrow Catch 22 from your local VPL Library!

Top Three Similar Reads:
1. Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
2. Naked and the Dead, by Norman Mailer
3. Days of Infamy, by Newt Gingrich

Have you read Catch – 22 yet? If so, what did you think?

Age Group:

9 to 12

Story:

Percy Jackson is a twelve year old boy who is about to be kicked out of another boarding school.  That, however, is the least of his troubles.  After, finding out that he is a demigod (he has a mortal mother, and his father is Poseidon, the god of the sea), he learns that Zeus’s master lightning bolt has been stolen, and he is the prime suspect.  Now, Percy and his friends have only ten days to find and return Zeus’s stolen property and bring peace to Mount Olympus. 

Awards:

None

My Thoughts:

Being an individual who loved studying the Olympic gods in school, it is no wonder that I really enjoyed this book.  It was an exciting and action packed novel, filled with my favourite gods from Classical Greece.

Borrow The Lightning Thief from your local VPL Library!

Top Three Similar Reads:

1. Odysseus in the Serpent Maze, by Jane Yolen
2. The Akhenaten Adventure, by Philip Kerr
3. Corydon and the Island of Monsters, by Tobias Druitt

Have you read The Lightning Thief yet? If so, what did you think?