Looking for something good to read?

     This selection of books would be suitable for young adults, grade 7 and up.  Please post your comments if you have read any of them, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

    

The Maze Runner By: James Dashner    c.2010,   400p.

Sixteen-year- old Thomas wakes up with no memory other than his first name in the middle of a maze and realizes he must work with the community in which he finds himself if he is to survive and escape.

  
Gone By:  Michael Grant   c.2008,  576p.

   In the blink of an eye everyone but the young disappears. Not a single adult remains. There are no parents, no teachers, no police officers or doctors.  It is a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen and war is imminent.

   
The Hunger Games By: Suzanne Collins  c.2010,  384p.

Could you survive on your own, in the wild, with everyone out to make sure you don’t live to see the morning? Sixteen-year- old Katniss Everdeen has been close to dead before, and survival for her is second nature.  If she is to win the Hunger Games though, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

   
 Found By: Margaret Peterson Haddix    c.2009,  336p.

Jonah, Chip and Katherine are plunged into a mystery that involves the FBI, a smuggling operation, a mysterious airplane that appears out of nowhere, and people who seem to appear and disappear at will.  The trio soon discover that they are caught up in a battle between two opposing forces that want very different things.

  
Tomorrow, When the War Began By: John Marsden  c.2006, 304p.                                                                                                                

A group of Australian teens return from a camping trip in the wilderness to discover that their country has been invaded by a foreign country.  They must hide to stay alive and work together against their enemy.  The teens must find courage, strength and wisdom to outwit their foe.

 
The Trap By: John Smelcer  c.2007,  176p.

Seventeen- year- old Johnny must race against the dropping temperature and the harsh Alaskan wilderness to save his grandfather. While on his quest he learns that he must decide whether to trust his grandfather or his own instincts.  Johnny soon learns that the most dangerous traps need not be made of steel.

  
Peak By: Roland Smith  c.2008, 256p.

 Peak is not only the name of this book it is also the name of the story’s main character as well as his ultimate destination.  Peak’s goal is to become the youngest person ever to scale Mount Everest. To do so he must overcome rough terrain,  icy crevasses, howling winds, bitter cold and many other obstacles that get between Peak and the 29,028 foot summit of Mount Everest.   


  
The Winter Road By: Terry Hokenson  c.2006, 175p.

    Willa is feeling ignored and estranged from her parents after the death of her brother so she decides to make a solo flight without telling them in an attempt to put herself back on their radar.  Her plan takes a deadly turn when mechanical failure brings down her plane in the wilderness of Northern Ontario.  Willa finds herself in a life or death struggle and must face the dangers of starvation and bitter cold winter temperatures in order to survive.