New YA Fiction For Everyone

The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe (translated by Lilit Thwaites) is based on the experiences of real-life Auschwitz prisoner Dita Kraus. This incredible story tells how Dita risked her life to keep the magic of books alive during the Holocaust. At fourteen, Dita is one of the many Jews and other "undesirables" imprisoned by the Nazis at Auschwitz in Poland. First, she and her parents were removed from their home in Prague and moved to the ghetto. Then, they were moved northward to the Terezin settlement. Finally, they were brought to Poland and Dita is trying to adjust to the constant terror that makes up the life in the camp. When a Jewish leader, Fredy Hirsch, asks Dita to take charge of the eight precious books the prisoners have managed to sneak past the guards, she agrees and becomes the librarian of Auschwitz even though her life would be forfeit if the Nazis found her out.

If You're Gone is a novel by Brittany Goodwin. When her boyfriend, Brad, disappears, Lillian White's perfect plans for the summer are shattered. Brad didn't go home after his graduation ceremony. That also happens to be the night he told Lillian that he loves her for the the first time. Law enforcement insist that Brad is voluntarily missing and they are not pursuing his disappearance as related to foul play. Lillian believes otherwise and sets out to prove that he would not just walk away from his friends, family, and especially not from her. As she digs deeper, however, she comes to the realization that there is a lot that she doesn't know about the love of her life. Soon, she is questioning everything she thought she knew about Brad, their relationship, as well as her own faith.

In the novel, Before I Let Go by Marieke Nijkamp, Corey and Kyra don't fit in with the other kids in their small Alaska town, but they do fit together. They become inseparable, so when Corey's family has to move away, she makes Kyra promise to stay strong during the long, dark winter until Corey is able to come back and visit. Only, just days before Corey is to return, Kyra dies and Corey is devastated and more than a little confused. The entire community seems to speak in whispers about Kyra, call her a lost daughter and saying her death was meant to be. To add insult to injury, they push Corey away like she's a stranger. She knows something is wrong, but what can you do when the whole town is keeping secrets and you are determined to find out what happened to your best friend?

This is Not a Love Letter is a novel by Kim Purcell. Jessie thought that a one week break to get some perspective before graduation and before she and her boyfriend, Chris, had to make all the big, scary decisions about their future was a perfectly logical idea. Only, those decisions had them fighting for weeks. When Chris vanishes, the police think he has just run away, but Jessie isn't buying it. Chris is popular and good-looking, not to mention, he's about to head off to college with a full baseball scholarship. He disappeared while going for a run along the river--the same place where he was jumped by some boys from a rival school a few weeks earlier. Chis is one of the only black kids in their depressed paper mill town, and Jessie is afraid something unthinkable has happened. As Jessie searches for answers, she will face her fears, her guilt, and the frightening threats of an unknown evil.