A-Z Recommendation Z: Zeroes

Our book recommendation for the letter Z for YA is... Zeroes

By Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan and Deborah Biancotti 

YA Fiction - Available in book and eBook format 

Meet a different breed of Superheroes!  Six Californian teenagers are gifted with unusual superpowers. Sometimes their powers aren’t that great, sometimes they’re pretty unpredictable and don’t quite work how or when they are needed. Sometimes they’re not really ‘gifts’ at all. They really just need to learn how to control them. 

Follow Bellwether, Scam, Flicker, Mob, Crash and Anonymous as they go on the run from the police and from the gangsters whose money Scam has accidentally taken.  

  

Did you ever want to have superpowers when you were a kid?  What would your superpower have been?  Read this to see how you would feel in these situations if you were one of these kids who have extraordinary powers! 

Read - Book #2 Swarm and Book #3 Nexus 

A-Z Recommendation Y: The ghost of Young Nick's Head

Our book recommendation for the letter Y for YA is... The ghost of Young Nick's Head

YA – Available as book 

A great ghostly adventure set in New Zealand at Young Nick’s Head in Poverty Bay.. 

Joe and Eddie are staying in a very old house sitting on a remote headland. One night they hear noises and sneak into a creepy unused bedroom in the house and see a ghost!  

There are multiple ghosts in this story, friendly ones and not-so-friendly ones, and Joe and Eddie set off to find out the terrible things that happened there in the past and why the spirits of the people lost at that time have not left for the next world.  Their search leads them down some terrifying paths and they discover some incredible things that happened in history. 

Can Joe and Eddie find out what happened in the area over a hundred years ago?  Who are the ghosts and why are they still there?  Is it possible to set things right after all these years? 

Read at night if you dare!!! 

See also :- The ghosts of Tarawera 

A-Z Recommendation X: Daniel X

Our book recommendation for the letter X for YA is... Daniel X

 The Dangerous days of Daniel X – # 1 Daniel X series - By James Patterson and others 

Various titles available as YA Fiction, Audiobooks, eBooks, Manga 

Daniel X is not an ordinary boy.  He was born on Alpar Nok and his parents were alien-hunters.  When Daniel was just three, his parents were killed by an alien called The Prayer.  Daniel is sent to earth, where he begins his quest to hunt down the worst aliens in the galaxy.  In his role as an Alien Hunter, Daniel uses his special powers to help him defeat the aliens on The List. 

Follow the series to see if Daniel succeeds in his quest. 

A-Z Recommendation W: The Warrior Heir

Our book recommendation for the letter W for YA is... The Warrior Heir

Cinda Williams Chima – The Heir Chronicles #1   Available in Book format 

Jack Swift is 16 years old.  He is just like the other kids, only he has had heart surgery and has a scar above his heart.  Every day he must take medicine to keep him well.  One day he forgets to take his heart medicine and finds that he feels really well and has suddenly become very strong and powerful.  Why does he need the medicine?  What is it? 

Jack discovers that, far from being like any other kid, he is a Weirlind, a member of an ancient magical society.  The scar remains from the implantation of a special stone …  

Read on to find out how Jack tries to fulfill his destiny. Does he belong in the Red Rose House or the White Rose House? 

Read Book #2 The Wizard Heir – Book #3 The Dragon Heir 

A-Z Recommendation V: Vortex

Our book recommendation for the letter V for YA is... Vortex

Code Red #6  Available in book format 

Ben Tracey is the main character in the Code Red series.  He is a teenage boy who comes from Macclesfield in England.  Ben’s father is a scientist and his mother is an environmental activist, so Ben has some pretty strong environmental ethics. 

In this story Ben is on a birdwatching (twitching) holiday with his cousin Annie, when they see a man in an RAF uniform shooting a Hen Harrier, an endangered bird. They find this very puzzling, and when they meet an old man who tells them about his ‘conspiracy theories’ around the RAF training base Spadeadam, they decide to sneak into the base to see what’s going on there.  They find themselves in serious danger once they get into the base, and they find out things that they are not supposed to know.   

Read the book to see what happens to Ben and Annie.  What is happening at the base that is so secret?  Will they be able to save the Hen Harriers and will they escape detection? 

Read the other books in the series to find out about the exciting but life-threatening adventures that Ben encounters in his travels. These books are oldies but goodies for those of us who like adventures. 

A-Z Recommendation U: Until We Win

Our book recommendation for the letter U for YA is... Until We Win

YA Fiction - Available in book format  

Linda Newbery has written a short story about the Suffragette Movement in England.  This story is set in 1914, before women in England had the vote.  It was thought in those days that women weren’t capable of making important decisions such as voting for a government. In New Zealand, women got the vote in 1893, well ahead of the rest of the world. 

Lizzy Frost is a young woman working in an insurance company.  She works hard and saves up to buy herself a bike.  Her boss sends her off to a night class to learn shorthand, but she finds herself attending her first Suffragette meeting.  Lizzy decides to join the Suffragette movement and this story will take you along on her journey.  You will learn about why the movement was formed, you will meet famous people who were involved, and you will find out how these women were treated in their quest for equality. 

The Barrington Stoke collections are short format books that are written by a wide variety of well-known authors.  They cover many different genres and are perfect for you if you don’t like long books. 

A-Z Recommendation T: Tomorrow, When The War Began

Our book recommendation for the letter T for YA is... Tomorrow, When The War Began

The last few days of summer ... perfect time for one last camping trip

Ellie gathers her friends and sets of for one last trip away before starting back at school.

The trip is just what see needed but now she must return to reality back home, but when she arrives home something is off ....

Her parents aren't home - no ones parents are, its like they have disappeared. Cups and plates are still out on tables, tractors are still sitting in field what has happened...

When Ellie and her friends investigate further into town they discover that their town has been overtaken and all the town people have been rounded up and held captive

Its now up to the group of friends to decide will they run and hide or will they stand up a fight for their town...

This book is full of cunning plans and Aussie back country espionage. There is so much going on in this book series it will definitely hold your attention!