(3) 4-6 Voyagers series. In this new multiplatform collaborative series, a group of twelve-year-olds in the not-so-distant future are chosen for a deep-space mission to retrieve an alternate clean fuel source that will save humankind from extinction. This series has it all: space travel, alien encounters, a diverse group of characters, and timely subject matter. Fans of The 39 Clues will devour these exciting sci-fi adventure stories. Review covers the following Voyagers titles: Project Alpha and Game of Flames.

Reviewer: Lana Barnes

(3) YA Oleander, Kansas, is devastated first by a day of murder-suicides, then by a tornado; things only get worse as the townspeople become inexplicably violent. Five teens touched by "the killing day" unwillingly come together to protect each other. Suspenseful action viewed from multiple perspectives keeps the tension high in this (somewhat implausible) Stephen King–esque story of darkness lurking within a small town.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(2) YA Doing research in Prague, high school senior Nora is caught up in an ancient competition between two secret societies racing to build an alchemical device intended to provide limitless knowledge and communion with God. This is a thorough mixture of contemporary American adolescence, the sixteenth-century occult, and atmospheric, historical substance, all dished up with a convoluted plot in Da Vinci Code mode.

Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2012

(3) YA The stakes are even higher for Lia (Skinned; Crashed) and her fellow "mechs" (machines with downloaded human brains): BioMax, the biotech corporation that created mechs, is now trying to destroy them. While the David-and-Goliath plot is captivating in itself, the real strength of this trilogy-ender is in its exploration of humanity and relationships in an increasingly sophisticated technological world.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith

(3) YA Rich-girl Lia (Skinned) has adapted to being dead. Now existing as an android-like "mech," she battles religious zealots while living with a group of like-minded machine/human hybrids. But there is a traitor among them--and it could be Lia. The story is fast paced, with engaging characters and plenty of teen angst focusing on appearance as a marker of identity.

Reviewer: Thom Barthelmess

(3) YA After a fatal car accident, Lia's brain is downloaded into a mechanical body. As a "skinner"--unable to breathe, sleep, eat, age, or die--Lia is rejected by her family and classmates and struggles with loneliness and anger at her situation. This first entry of a trilogy is a nuanced, riveting consideration of what it means to be human.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith