July Book Club

It's summer reading time! Be it the beach or vacation, below is a great sampling of sizzling Young Adult summer titles that can accompany you anywhere you go.

Today's 10 Links a Day: July Book Club: Young Adult Edition

1. Savvy by Ingrid Law

Ingrid Law brings to life a distinct type of “magic” in Savvy that centers on the delightfully eccentric Beaumont family. On the eve of a Beaumont’s thirteenth birthday, their savvy – a special supernatural power – strikes. As if waiting weren’t hard enough, Mibs’s father is in a terrible accident two days before her thirteenth birthday. In a singular mission to prove that her new power can save her dad, Mibs finds herself on an unforgettable odyssey that will force her to make sense of growing up – and of other people, who might also have a few secrets hidden just beneath the skin.

Dive into this modern day classic for free! From July 14th-July 20th Savvy will be available at no cost to readers. Get caught up in the Beaumont family’s larger-than-life talents in this extraordinary adventure!

2. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

The rules are pretty simple. There are only two. Rule number one: You listen. Number two: You pass it on. Hopefully, neither one will be easy for you. (from Cassette 1: Side A)

There are thirteen reasons why Hannah Baker decided to end her life. When Clay Jensen discovers a mysterious box of cassette tapes on his porch he knows he must listen to discover how he made her list. Jay Asher’s New York Times bestselling novel Thirteen Reasons Why is shatteringly real in an intricate story of confusion and desperation. It’s a gripping take on teenage suicide that leads the reader through all of the seemingly insignificant actions and words that lead to a decision of such finality. This is a book that will stay with readers long after the last page and that will inspire conversations about a difficult topic and rising epidemic.

The interactive website animates Hannah through it’s audio and visual components, including a virtual map and audio clips.

3. Looks by Madeleine George

Looks is an unforgettable novel that will change the way you look at others as well as the way you see yourself. Meghan Ball is both the most visible and the most invisible person in school. Her massive size is impossible to ignore, yet people freely spill their secrets in front of her, perhaps because they think she isn't listening. But she is. Meghan’s attention soon turns to the new girl with the stick-figure body and defiant attitude, Aimee Zorn. When the two unlikely friends join forces the result is a plot certain to take down their shared enemy, in this provocative title from Madeleine George.

4. Artichoke’s Heart by Suzanne Supplee

Rosemary Goode is smart and funny and loyal and the best eyebrow waxer in Spring Hill, Tennessee. But only one thing seems to matter to anyone, including Rosemary: her weight. And when your mom runs the most successful (and gossipy) beauty shop in town, it can be hard to keep a low profile. Rosemary resolves to lose the weight, but her journey turns out to be about everything but the scale. Her life-changing, waist-shrinking year is captured with brutal honesty and humor, topped with an extra-large helping of Southern charm.

5. Talent by Zoey Dean

It’s all about talent in LA: who has it, who doesn’t, who wants it, and who can find it first! When it comes to talent - you either have it or you don't. From Zoey Dean, the author of the national best-selling A-List novels, comes a new series about fame, friendship, and surviving school in the world's most cut-throat town - Hollywood.

Click here for exclusive content, blog entries, chapter excerpts and a chance to win a meeting with a Hollywood Casting Agent!

6. Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway

Audrey Cuttler dumps Evan, the lead singer of The Do-Gooders. Evan writes, “Audrey, Wait!,” a break-up song that’s so good it rockets up the billboard charts. And Audrey is suddenly famous! Take a wild ride with Audrey as she makes headlines, has outrageous amounts of fun, confronts her ex on MTV, and gets the chance to show the world who she really is.

Born for fame? Find out with the tabloid generator! Check out the Audrey, Wait! site for a preview of your front page antics!

7. Death by Bikini by Linda Gerber

A fun, murder-mystery romance for all teen sleuths! Aphra Behn Connolly lives on a remote tropical island. When a smoldering Seth Mulo arrives she is immediately drawn to him. Then a famous rock star's girlfriend turns up on the beach. Is it too great a coincidence that Seth turned up just one day before the murder? As the plot thickens, Aphra finds that danger lurks behind the most unexpected of faces.

8. The Secret Rites of Social Butterflies by Lizabeth Zindel

When does truth become gossip? Desperate to make new friends and to distract herself from troubles at home, Maggie falls in with a group of social butterflies who collect gossip on their classmates. However Maggie soon learns that information in the wrong hands can do irreparable damage.

9. Fancy White Trash by Marjetta Geerling

“If only life were as easy as your sisters.” Abby’s heard that one before. And it’s true —Shelby and Kait aren’t exactly prim and proper. Abby is determined not to follow in their footsteps, so she has created the One True Love Plan. The most important part of the plan is Rule #1: Find Someone New. This means finding a guy who hasn’t already dated Shelby or Kait. But when Abby starts falling for the possible father of Kait’s baby, she has to figure out if some rules are meant to be broken. This debut novel, a modern comedy of errors, is as lighthearted and irreverant as its title.

10. Paper Towns by John Green

For when you have finished all your summer reading…Paper Towns (available October 2008) by Printz-medalist John Green.

Paper Towns is a smart, thoughtful, funny, and hopeful novel that epitomizes Green's brilliance. It has razor-sharp wit, fantastic writing, originality in spades, truth, and everything that makes for a truly unbelievable wonderful novel.

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. Then Margo disappears. But Quentin soon learns that there are clues – and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Quentin sees the girl he thought he knew.