I hope your Thanksgiving was as wonderful as mine.  Spending time with family is the greatest gift (and the food was a nice plus).  So, as a special treat, here’s the Young Adult readers with their books of the week on Your Turn Friday.  In the comment sections, please feel free to let everyone know what you’ve been reading lately.  Also, I am totally out of YA books, so if you’d like your book considered, please email me at barbaravey@gmail.com

Black is for Beginnings by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Read By Bekah, 17
 
Stacey Brown isn’t your average teenager. For years she’s had to deal with being a witch. Prophetic visions have lead her to more trouble and danger than she would care to deal with. Now, she’s once again having dreams about the girl she used to baby-sit who was murdered years ago. Based on the nature of these dreams, she doesn’t think they’re to warn her of danger, but of something else entirely. Simultaneously, her ex-boyfriend is having dreams as well. Like her, he’s having difficulties letting go of the past, especially the parts that they shared. They’re next journey together may not hold terrifying murderers or creepy stalkers, but love can be just as scary.
 
 This was a really cool and fun book. Unlike the other books in the series, this one is set up as an American style manga or like a comic book. With amazing pictures, this story really caught my attention. It was both amusing and moving. I’ve read the other books in the series and this one is definitely my favorite.

The Secret of Starlight Landing by Kristen Maree Cleary

Read by Maddy, 17

Starlight Landing is Kacy Cannon family’s home town. Her father decides to move back after Kacy’s grandmother dies. Her grandmother’s last words to her was to "save Starlight Landing." How, Kacy has no clue. The town is old, falling apart, and so is the house she has to live in. The only thing to do there is to look for the gift her grandmother left her and to visit Star Cavern, which as been closed down for forty years. She has a lot to discover and learns secrets that change her whole life.

This was a wonderful story that was entertaining to read. I didn’t expect a lot of the things that happened, and I couldn’t stop reading until I figured it out. I would recommend it to anyone in middle school and up.

Give Up the Ghost by Megan Crewe

Read by Jess, 17   Cass McKenna knows what it’s like to have friends, to have boys’ attention, and to have fun.  But in the years after her sister died, her preferred company became those without a pulse.  With invisible friends who can walk through walls, Cass has access to everyone’s secrets.  When the class VP asks her for help, she has a chance to forget the past and make new relationships with the living.  Will she take another chance on those with a reflection?   It’s true.  Everyone has secrets and anyone is capable of deception.  It’s hard to know who you can trust.  I like the idea of having my own personal spies (AKA the ghosts).  And since they don’t have many living people to talk to, you know they will listen when you need to talk to someone too.

Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater

Read By Bekah, 17
 
James has just started his first year at Thornking-Ash, a school for students gifted in music. He’s looking for a new start after experiencing a painful summer that will haunt him for the rest of his life. But when a strange girl shows up to give him a deal he finds hard to resist, James realizes that the faeries of his past aren’t going to remain there for too long. Though he wishes her gone, this oddly human-like faerie, Nuala, is unlike anyone he’s ever met. But not even love can stop what’s coming. There is something not quite right with this school and the even odder things occurring around it are all too familiar. Almost nothing can stop the events that are unfolding are them, but James will stop at nothing to save the ones he cares for.
 
After reading this story had a new respect for music. The author portrayed musical artists as these almost magical beings, though, they are completely human. This was a totally original story that used some great folklore to create a wonderfully suspenseful tale.

Blue Moon by Alyson Noel

Read by Maddy, 17
 

Ever is in love with Damen, who made her immortal just like he is. Theres a lot to learn, like how to create things out of nothing, and how to block peoples thoughts so Ever doesn’t go insane listening to what everyone is thinking. She also has to act like a normal high school girl, which is getting difficult to do because something unexpected is happening to Damen that is about to change everything.
 

This is the second book in the series The Immortals. Even though I haven’t read the first book (because I just discovered the series) It was easy for me to know what was going on, and what happened in Ever’s past that lead her and Damen to fall in love. I am excited to read the next one, because I can wait to finally figure out what happens.

Bottom Line: Yes, I know today is Black Friday, but rather than shop I’ll watch all the entertainment of it on tv with a nice cup of hot coffee.