Inhuman by Kat Falls

This book is written by the author of Dark Life, one of this year's Golden Sower Nominees.  I really enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed Dark Life.  When I was little, a movie came out called The Island of Dr. Moreau (it was based on H.G. Wells' book of the same name).  I LOVED it.  An evil scientist was creating hybrid animal/people.  Inhuman also has "manimals" in it.  A biological disaster has caused everything east of the Mississippi to be "quarantined."  A virus is causing those infected to become blood thirsty savages.   Even those not infected often act like savages!  This is a very exciting read. I had trouble putting it down. I am pretty sure that this will have a sequel but don't know when it will be released.   

The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven: a True Story by Kevin & Alex Malarkey

I really liked the book Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo.  In fact, I like most books that address near death experiences.  This book is about another young boy who is in a TERRIBLE car accident and miraculously lives.  Most of the story focuses on how the family and the community rally around this young man to encourage his healing, but there are some parts where Alex tells about what HE experienced while he was in a coma. 

Tesla's Attic by Neal Shusterman and Eric Elfman

I am a BIG fan of Neal Shusterman (author of the Unwind trilogy) and this latest book, co-authored by Eric Elfman, didn't disappoint.  This is going to be a great series.  Tesla's Attic is the first book in the Accelerati Trilogy.  Nick and his father and brother have moved into an old Victorian mansion after a fire destroyed old house and took his mother's life.  He discovers what he thinks is just a lot of old junk in the attic, but soon finds out that the old junk has some pretty amazing powers.  All the objects seem to have been invented by Nikola Tesla.  Now Nick and his friends (a great cast of characters) are trying to keep the objects from getting into the hands of a secret society.  I really enjoyed the creativity of this book.  I am sure the authors had a lot of fun coming up with what each object could do.  I am looking forward to the next book which is due out in February 2015.

Seeing Red by Kathryn Erskine

I thought this was just another book about a boy (Red) whose father dies and he doesn't want to move...but it is so much more than that.  This book takes place in Virginia in 1972, smack dab in the middle of the civil rights movement.  Both Red and his mother are pretty progressive in their thoughts about equal rights for all, but that hasn't always been the case with Red's ancestors.  He finds out about a wrong committed by his family and he goes about trying to set things right.  This is a great historical fiction book.  Lots of references to the events and people involved in the civil rights movement. 

The Fairy-Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley

I read (and really enjoyed) this book and the rest of the books in the series years ago (well, 7 of them the author hadn't written the 8th and the 9th yet so I haven't read those).  I had to reread this first one because it was one of the books chosen for the One Book One Family book club and I remembered why I liked it so much. I like fairy-tales and the retelling of fairy-tales and this one has both old characters and new action.  Sabrina and Daphne Grimm have been abandoned by their parents and after some awful experiences in foster care have come to live with their Grandmother, Relda Grimm.  The problem is, their parents told them that she had died before they were born.  Sabrina is very suspicious of "Granny," especially when she starts spouting crazy stories about how the fairy-tale characters are real and living in their town and it's the Grimm family's job to keep them in line.  The Sisters Grimm is a great series.  

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

I had heard of this book, but did not realize we had a copy in the library till it literally jumped off the shelves when I was helping someone find a different book.  I just had to read it.  I love books that deal with near death experiences.  One of my favorites is "Heaven is for Real."  Anyway, this is the story of Eddie.  Eddie is a pretty gruff old man, and unfortunately, Eddie dies.  This is the story of the 5 people Eddie meets after his death.  They help Eddie make sense of his life and the choices that he made during his life.  Some of them are people that Eddie has no idea he had an effect on.  I liked the way this book showed that our lives are tied to others by even the smallest choices that we make.  I couldn't put this little book down!  I loved it.

Lincoln's Grave Robbers by Steve Sheinkin

This was a very interesting nonfiction title.  I loved the narrative nonfiction book about the hunt for John Wilkes Booth after he shot Abraham Lincoln (Chasing Lincoln's Killer).  This book is equally good about the plot to steal Lincoln's body from his monument and hold it until demands were met.  Just like Chasing Lincoln's Killer, this book is written in narrative form so it reads like a "story." This is a true crime thriller.  You get a look at counterfeiting, grave robbing, detective work and the early days of the secret service.