t's been quite awhile since I posted. Now that I look at the blog, I see it's missing something. I discovered that I need to hear your favorites.

Kiss Me, Kill Me by Lauren Henderson

Scarlett Wakefield is dying to kiss Dan McAndrew. Unfortunately, after kissing Scarlett, Dan starts wheezing, choking and then dies in Scarlett's arms. Scarlett is blamed by everyone, including herself and can no longer attend the private school with a powerful clique headed by Plum. She's forced to change to the private school her grandmother runs in order to escape the constant bullying.
This isn't a happy place for her as she has to live with her aunt who finds any interaction with Scarlett, painful. And there's a hot guy that she doesn't dare kiss.
 Then one day she finds a note in her desk that says "It wasn't your fault." She needs to find out who wrote the note and what they know so that she can clear her name. It's only then that she may be able to forgive herself.

image fromhttp://www.tumblr.com/tagged/lauren-henderson

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart

Okay, so it's not thought of as YA, but I think anyone of any age would love it.  The four main characters have special gifts, but not unbelievable out-of-the-realm of reality gifts - e.g. Sticky has a photographic memory: Kate who is exceptionally fast and carries a bucket filled with a variety of things that help them on their quest. Their mentor Mr. Benedict has been captured by the evil Mr. Curtain.  Without parental permission, they sneak away.  Originally they were to follow clues that Mr. Benedict left for them.  This would lead them to a wonderful mysterious location where they would have a holiday with him.  They decide to follow the clues, thinking they will lead to his last location. They have a small problem, these bad guys - the ten men -are after them.  In a Dr. Who-ish way, they have devices of torture that they use to stun, incapacitate, kill, etc. They dress like business men with brief cases, but they have hidden things of destruction, e.g. large silver watches under their shirt cuffs.  They have electric wires which come out and deliver severe shocks.  How will they escape from the Salamander, a huge tank, driven by smartest of the ten men, McCracken? And more more more

Listen by Nancy Cofelt

Brilliant depiction of three separate characters whose lives intertwine.  Kurt lives with his grandmother and his intent in life is to get enough money so he can travel to live with his father.  And he hasn't heard from him in months.  He meets Carrie who appears normal to him when he first meets her. She wants to rescue neglected animals.  A godsend - she will pay him for every neglected animal he brings her.  It appears normal that she talks to her animals, but Kurt doesn't pick up that she hears them talking to her.
Will, a good student, whose brother is in jail, lives by himself. He's dropped all his friends. He becomes Kurt's tutor.
Things gradually unravel for all three.  Kurt brings a dog to Carrie and sees that this dog isn't really neglected and is unhappy at her house. Will dislikes Kurt at first, but then sees him out late at night in a strange location.  He doesn't know if he should get involved.  And Carrie is getting stranger and stranger. Then there's a neglected baby.  And Carrie rescues her.

photo of cover from http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Listen/Nancy-Coffelt/e/9781934813072

Buried by Robin Merrow MacCready

It's a fascinating look at someone disintegrating with little clues along the way.  Claudine's mom has disappeared and she's handling things by organizing her empty home - cleaning, vacuuming, but there's that reddish spot near the door.  She starts using post-it notes with reminders of what she has to do, but gradually this A+ student starts remembering to clean but not about the big test on Monday.
Spoiler alert.  Don't read any further in case you want to read this book.

Of course I wish I was published, but none-the-less as a writer, I have to critique two things.
1. The teachers that don't notice her raw red hands, her dirty clothes, etc.  Must suspend disbelief and plow on.
2. No way she could be at her mother's funeral after being in the shape she eventually was in.  I'm not sure that denial of that magnitude goes away in two weeks.....

image from http://www.richardsonsbooks.com/shop_image/product/9780142411414.jpg

Madapple by Christina Meldrum

Confession.  This book made me so nervous, I skipped pages and read the ending.  I rarely do this - honest. Aslaug is being raised by her brilliant, troubled mother who keeps her totally isolated from the rest of the world.  They spend time collecting herbs, preparing them for medicine or food. Aslaug has been taught Danish, Sanscrit, Greek, world religions and mythology, but nothing prepares her for the reality that faces her when her mother dies.
The book is arranged in alternating chapters of court testimony against Aslaug for the murders of three people and the real story of Aslaug's life as she tells it.  The story builds and builds suspense and worry.  Try to resist skipping to the end like me, and hold on for the truly fascinating story.

Jude by Kate Morgenroth

This is a terrific page turner as long as you can overlook one thing - he's still alive even though he was there when his father was gunned down.  Then settle in for a character you can admire and see what happens to him when he goes to jail.  His mother's good friend persuades Jude that if he goes to jail for a crime he didn't commit, it will ensure his mother staying state's attorney and help her in her run for mayor.\  It will make her look good because she is willing prosecute her own son. He's willing for his mother to despise him, until the truth comes out. Unfortunately, the friend appears helpless to lessen Jude's sentence as he had promised.