Alameda's Young Adult Book Group

May 2012 Pick: A "New York Times" bestseller. For years, Jacob Reckless has enjoyed the Mirrorworld's secrets and treasures. Not anymore. His younger brother has followed him. Now dark magic will turn the boy to beast, break the heart of the girl he loves, and destroy everything Jacob holds most dear--unless he can find a way to stop it.

December 2011 Pick: After Reggie finds an old journal and reads about the Vours, creatures who feast on fear, she assumes they are just the musings of some lunatic author. They soon become a terrifying reality when she begins to suspect that her younger brother may be one of their victims.

October 2011 Selection: From the co-creator of the bestselling "Animorphs" comes a gripping new series in which everyone disappears in an flash on the day they turn 15. It's a terrifying new world, and time is running out.

August 2011 Selection: Sixteen-year-old London Lane forgets everything each night and must use notes to struggle through the day--even to recall her wonderful boyfriend. She "remembers" future events and, as her "flashforwards" become more disturbing, realizes she must learn more about the past before it destroys her future.

June 2011 Selection: In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might

February 2011 Selection: In the blink of an eye everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall what happened afterwards, watching her own damaged body being taken from the wreck. Little by little she struggles to put together the pieces- to figure out what she has lost, what she has left, and the very difficult choice she must make. Heartwrenchingly beautiful, Mia's story will stay with you for a long, long time.

December 2010 Pick: Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games." The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When Kat's sister is chosen by lottery, Kat steps up to go in her place.