Fat Cat by Robin Brande

Catherine "Cat" Locke is a major science geek. This year she's even taking Mr. Fizer's Special Topics in Research Science class - a class known to cause stress overload in even the best students. And they don't even get to pick their own topic. They must blindly choose a photograph from Fizer's desk and base their project on that photo somehow. So Cat, who spent the summer studying fig wasps, is horrified when she pulls an illustration of Homo erectus - "Early hominins from 1.8 millions years ago." She now has until the end of class to write down a preliminary project idea and turn it in. How in the world can she base an entire year's research project - and science project final - on this?!?!

Eureka!

By the end of class Cat has her answer. It will involve Cat becoming her own science experiment. It will mean giving up the conveniences of modern life and most of the foods she loves. But if she succeeds, it will be one heck of a project. It might even beat Matt McKinney's (as if she cared about things like that).

This story is not about a fat girl losing weight and becoming popular, getting the guy, and ruling the school. It's a story about a girl taking control of her life for an unusual reason, but in the process becoming stronger, more confident and healthier. While her decisions may or may not be ones the rest of us are willing to make, they are definitely inspiring. I highly recommend this title!

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Thomas arrives in the Glade with no memories of his time before. But strangely, things are familiar: the gray walls, the maze, the Grievers with their poison and knives, the Changing, the grounds of the Glade. Somehow, Thomas knows he's the only one who can get everyone out of the Maze. The Maze that has contained them for over two years...

If you enjoyed The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, you will love this book. It has the same plot of survival and leadership, but the circumstances and elements are entirely new and inventive. I highly recommend this one!

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Shiver is an interesting twist to the werewolf story. The wolves aren't monsters, at least, not any more than most humans, and they don't turn to wolves during the full moon. Instead the shift is dictated by temperature. Warm, sunny months are human where the chill of winter is wolf. As time goes on, time spent human becomes shorter and shorter, until eventually there is nothing but wolf time. This is Sam's last summer in human form. And it's the summer he finally gets to know Grace. It's the summer they officially fall in love, though they've loved each other long distance and inter-species for years. But in a few weeks it will all be over...unless they can figure out a way for one of them to permanently join the other's species for good.

I started this one on audiobook, then switched to hardback to finish it off. Audiobooks just don't go as fast as my eyes/brain, and I get frustrated - desperately wanting to know how the situation is resolved and how it all ends. If this describes you, too, check out the book so you can race to the end and find out who loves, who loses, and who finds a new form!

 

FYI: The sequel to Shiver, Linger, comes on on July 20th!