Let's begin with the newest and latest in stand-alone novels:
The Lost Gate (Tor Books) by Orson Scott Card is about Danny North, descendant of exiled mages from another world, who is taken aback when he comes into his true powers as a gatemage. Fleeing his home, Danny finds refuge and slowly explores his potential, planning to open the first Great Gate in 14 centuries.
Lark (HarperCollins) by Tracey Porter, in which two of 16-year-old Lark’s estranged friends must come to terms with her murder, and the life she left behind. When sixteen-year-old Lark Austin is kidnapped from her Virginia hometown and left for dead in a snowy forest, she leaves behind two girls who are shocked by the loss of their former friend. At the same time Eve must face the hole left by Lark’s absence, she also can’t shake the guilt that Lark’s death was her fault. Meanwhile, Nyetta is haunted by Lark’s ghost, who comes through the bedroom window and begs Nyetta to set her soul free. Eve and Nyetta realize it is their responsibility to uncover why Lark is trapped in limbo, but only by coming together to find the missing pieces of themselves can they bring peace to Lark.
Series
Desires of the Dead (HarperCollins) by Kimberly Derting is the follow-up to The Body Finder. Violet can sense the echoes of those who've been murdered—and the matching imprint that clings to their killers. Only those closest to her know what she is capable of, but when she discovers the body of a young boy she also draws the attention of the FBI, threatening her entire way of life.
Maggie Stiefvater’s Forever (Scholastic Press) is the last book in The Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy and will be published in July. In Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. In Linger, they fought to be together. Now, in Forever, the stakes are even higher than before. Wolves are being hunted. Lives are being threatened. And love is harder and harder to hold on to as death comes closing in.
Across the Universe (Penguin/Razorbill) by Beth Revis is the debut title in a new science fiction trilogy. Godspeed is a spaceship on a 300-year trip to a new planet that is thought to be inhabitable by humans. Its cargo contains not only provisions for 3,000 people, but also 100 cryogenically frozen humans from all walks of life with various expertise in areas that will make their mission to inhabit a new planet successful. When 17 year-old Amy is unfrozen 50 years before they are scheduled to land, the carefully made plans and the society that has been built over the last 250 years begin to unravel.
Delirium (HarperTeen) by Lauren Oliver is her second novel after the NYTimes bestselling Before I Fall. This is the first book in her new Delirium series. Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love - the deliria - blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy. But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.
Darke (Katherine Tegen Books) by Angie Sage, is the sixth entry in the Septimus Heap series.
Scorpia Rising (Philomel) by Anthony Horowitz is the concluding book in the Alex Rider series.
Sign of the Moon (HarperCollins) by Erin Hunter is the fourth book in the Warriors: Omen of the Stars series.
Michael Grant has a new book in his Gone series, from HaperTeen, titled Plague.
This is just a sampling of young adult fiction for Spring 2011. For more suggestions, check out publisher's websites, favorite author websites and major search engines.
Debbie Whittemore - I've been blogging for the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) since 2006. SIBA is a trade association which represents over ...
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