The Girl Who Owned a City by O. T. Nelson, Joëlle Jones (Illustrator)

A deadly virus killed every adult on Earth, leaving only us kids behind. My parents are gone, so I’m responsible for my little brother, Todd. I have to make sure we stay alive. Many kids are sick or starving, and fierce gangs are stealing and destroying everything they find. Lots of people have given up, but here on Grand Avenue, some of us are surviving. Because of me.

I figured out how to give the kids on Grand Avenue food, homes, and protection against the gangs. But Tom Logan and his army are determined to take away what we’ve built and rule the streets themselves. How long can we keep fighting them off? We need to find another place for us to live safely. A strong place. A secret place.

In a world like this, someone has to take charge. But do I have the strength to take charge of a whole city?

Hardcover, 125 pages
Published April 1st 2012 by Graphic Universe (first published January 1st 2012)  ISBN  0761349030 (ISBN13: 9780761349037)

With the popularity of dystopian and post-apocalyptic books today, this story appealed to me. Although it is based on a book for more middle grade readers, I thought it was something that you may be interested in as well. From the synopsis the first thing that came to mind was the Gone series by Michael Grant.

The story focuses on Lisa and her brother Todd. Chicago becomes an all out war zone with kids fighting for weapons, food and shelter. Lisa has been driving her parents’ car around town looking for supplies and seeing the situation that all the kids are in. Even though she wants to protect herself and her brother, she knows that they have no choice but to form groups and try to work together

Lisa is a really strong main character. She is smart and has great leadership skills. She can think on her feet and can be stubborn, especially if she knows she’s right. She builds a little city in an abandoned building for the neighbourhood children to gather in and help each other.

When another faction decide to cause trouble in her city, she fights back. She is the epitome of a strong leader, but sometimes a dictatorship is not the best for the situation. This story is very detailed for a graphic novel and will definitely get you thinking.

This is one of those stories that you want to become a series. I would love to see the development in a couple of years when Lisa is a teenager. What would the years of running the city done to her? I also really enjoyed how detailed the pictures were.

Mackenzie and Amy were best friends. Until Amy was brutally murdered.

Since then, Mac’s life has been turned upside down. She is being haunted by Amy in her dreams, and an extremist group called the Trackers has come to Mac’s hometown of Hemlock to hunt down Amy’s killer: A white werewolf.

Lupine syndrome—also known as the werewolf virus—is on the rise across the country. Many of the infected try to hide their symptoms, but bloodlust is not easy to control.

Kathleen Peacock’s thrilling novel is the first in the Hemlock trilogy, a spellbinding urban fantasy series filled with provocative questions about prejudice, trust, lies, and love.

Hardcover, 400 pages  Published May 8th 2012 by Katherine Tegen Books  ISBN  0062048651 (ISBN13: 9780062048653)

I like books that have flawed characters. The main character in Hemlock, is highly flawed. She’s had a bad childhood and has a group of friends that are far from perfect. At this time in their lives they are not only dealing with a werewolf scare in their town, but their best friend Amy has just recently been killed by one.  Each of these characters are dealing with the death of Amy in their own way. So far, it seems that Kyle is the one who is the least focused on what happened to Amy and more about the problems in his own life with his old and new girlfriends. Both Mac and Jason are emotionally troubled in their personal lives, as well as with the new loss of Amy. When the Trackers come into town to rid them of the “dangerous werewolves”,  Mac, Kyle,and Jason are at odds with their opinions on the Trackers being there and taking over.

The main character, Mac, is really put through a lot physically as well. She seems to be the heart of all the drama happening in town and whenever something bad happens (except when Amy dies,) she seems to be right there in the middle of it. She is continually getting herself in the wrong place at the wrong time and the lead Tracker, Derby locks in on her almost immediately.

There are some unique things in the book that make it different. Mac still talks to Amy in her dreams, but through these dreams the reader gets clues to what Mac is searching for. The dream sequences are incredibly informative and give us an insight to who Amy was as well. So even though her character is deceased, the reader still gets a very good look at the person she was (through Mac’s eyes anyway). She is still very much a part of the story, and a constant character throughout.

The other thing  that stands out is how much of a role Mac’s father plays into her daily life. She bases most of her thoughts and actions around how she was raised even though she has not lived with him for years.

It has been awhile since I have read a book that got me thinking as much as this one did. I was mesmerized with how much I could associate with the characters. Despite being a highly paranormal story, in a world setting that I will never live in, the characters, the actions and emotions were all so relatable and understandable.

There were moments that shocked me. I was not expecting the story to get so dark, but loved every minute of it. I found that there was not a moment when I was not reading, that I was not thinking of the story and what could possibly happen next.

Even though there are two boys and a girl and some romantic aspects to the story, I would not say that this story has a love triangle. It’s a different take on relationships and secrets and friendship that some could interpret as a triangle, but I don’t label this story that way. Hemlock is unique with it’s highly flawed characters, a town full of secrets and a dangerous person around every corner. Talk about not knowing who to trust!

In a future world, Vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity.

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.

Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die or become one of the monsters.

Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.

Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.

But it isn’t easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for.
Julie Kagawa who is is known for her Iron Fey series has taken a turn to the darker with her newest book The Immortal Rules. A new born vampire Allison Sekemoto is struggling from inner turmoil of having become what she hates most in life.
Set in a future world, the humans have become separated into those who are willing to become registered and the unregistered. To become registered means that you willingly provide blood to the vampire leaders who have overtaken the cities; housing, food, necessities.

Allison is an unregistered human when this story begins. She lives a transient life with 3 guys in which every day is a battle for food and shelter. Unregistered’s form small groups, usually to help each other gather necessities, but also fight off the rival groups that compete for the same reasources.

In this world the cities have been walled off. Huge fences surround the cities to fend of the Rabids that have come to occupy the outer lands. These Rabids are dangerous half breeds that are zombie-like in description and are known to attack the cities and can cause complete devastation if unconstrained.

After a food run to the outer limits of the city, Allison and her group are attacked by the Rabids and to save her life, a vampire offers to turn her. Choosing to live and in turn lose her humanity, she becomes a vampire. Her hatred for the vampires drives her to try to become a better, controlled vampire, but the need for human blood, and only human blood will change the way she thinks about vampires.In turn, maybe she can change the way other humans view them as well.

The reader learns that there is no Vegan in Vampire. In this world, it’s human blood and only human blood that a vampire can survive on. The drive is unbearable and the need uncontrollable. Soon Allison is forced out of the city to live among the Rabids. She comes across a group of traveling humans in search for the mythical city of Eden in which there are no vampires. They also search for a cure for the disease that wiped out most of the humans previously. Allison pretends to be human to travel with the group. She makes friends, finds a sense of family and love. But how long can this last, especially if she has to feed?

One thing that I have always enjoyed about Julie Kagawa’s writing is the constant flow of action happening. With The Immortal Rules, Allison is not only an extremely able newborn vampire with ninja-like skills, she actually prefers to fight with a Katana, which also ties into her Asian heritage. She is always in motion and keeps the story moving. With the emotional conflicts that Allison is having to endure over her decision to become what she most despises, and having to find a way to live without hurting those she loves, this is a twist on vampires that I enjoyed – and I think you will to.

Hardcover, 485 pages

Published April 24th 2012

Harlequin Teen

ISBN 0373210515 (ISBN13: 9780373210510)