53) A Year Without Autumn-Liz Kessler

It's the last Saturday of August, the day that Jenni and her family settle into their condo for another last-week-of-summer vacation. Everything is perfectly planned out and organized, just like it always is. Jenni's best friend Autumn, however, has quite a different family. They are a family of artists and live a carefree life of joy and wide-eyes. On the first night, Autumn tells Jenni they're going horseback riding the next day. Nervous for it through the next morning, Autumn reminds Jenni to be at her condo at exactly two o'clock.

At two o'clock, Jenni heads towards Autumn's building and without paying attention, uses the old elevator. When she knocks on the door of 210, it's not Autumn or her family that answers the door; it's a woman that Jenni has never met. She says that this is her condo now and if she wants to find Autumn, she needs to go down a floor. But what she finds there is startling. Autumn has lost her sparkle, her dad is missing and her mother refuses to get out of bed. Where is Autumn's younger brother? Why is everyone sad? Why does Jenni appear to be a year older?

She's gone forward a year. She's gone to a year that is full of nothing but heartbreak and pain, of waiting and watching as everything falls apart. Everything has changed. Now the question is: How does she fix it?

I liked this book. I'm a pretty big fan of Liz Kessler because I'm (secretly 11 and) in love with her stories of mermaids and fairies. I was excited to hear that not only was she coming out with a new book, but that it was a solo ride this time. It was a fun time-traveling story. It was a nice quick read and full of suspense. You wanted to know how far forward in time she went and if she was able to fix everything.

52) Recovery Road-Blake Nelson

"You don't see those moments coming, you don't know it when they're happening, but later, as the plainness of life begins to show itself, you realize how important they were. You understand who really changed you, who made you what you are."

Madeline is sixteen years old. She's also a drug-addicted, alcoholic filled to the brim with anger that has resulted in her stint at the Spring Meadow rehab facility. Despite making it to the halfway house portion of her recovery, she still feels angry and annoyed. Even having a friend in Trish, an 18-year-old with similar dependencies, doesn't make things easier. When Trish leaves, Maddie feels alone. That is, until 19-year-old Stewart checks into treatment. They attended movie night twice before making plans to bend the rules and hangout. Before they even make it back to the center on the night of their hangout, they realize their attraction, but Maddie is meant to leave in two weeks. When that day comes, they figure out a way to make things work. 

But Maddie's life is different now. She's back in the high school that she hated without any friends. How long will it last until she gives in? Will she give in and relapse? As hard as she tries to fix things, tragedy strikes. Blow after blow hits Maddie hard. It takes all of this to help her realize just how much has gone wrong and figure out how to fix it.

I actually really loved this book. The chapters are maybe five pages at the longest and you just couldn't stop. I randomly picked it up because, well, there are pills on the cover and that usually makes for good reading. I'm sorry, but it does. It took about two sittings to rip through. You really understood just how hard it is for someone in that sort of position. They are always dealing with the temptation and influence of others. It has to be hard to deal with. You wanted things to go right with her. You wanted to see her succeed. You wanted her love life to be right. I felt like this girl's biggest cheerleader. It was entertaining and sad, interesting and thought provoking. 

It was a story about losing and finding yourself. It was a very bizarre and twisted coming of age story. Cancel out the drugs and the rehab and what have you and you're left with a story about a girl just trying to figure out her life. This is definitely something I would pass around (however, I borrowed this and do not have a copy of my own).

51) Divergent-Veronica Roth

After a futuristic Chicago is ripped apart, it separates into five factions: Candor (the honest), Amity (the peaceful), Erudite (the intelligent), Dauntless (the brave) and Abnegation (the selfless). On one designated day every year, every sixteen-year-old from every faction takes an aptitude test that determines which faction they belong in.

Beatrice Prior has never felt like she belonged in Abnegation. She was never selfless enough and was far too curious. She stares at members of other factions on the day of the test and wonders if she would be a better fit in any of them. She doesn't understand how the simulation changed the way it did and why her results came back inconclusive. The woman tells her that she qualifies as a highly dangerous person known as a Divergent and that she is meant to keep this to herself. At the Choosing Ceremony, she betrays her family and chooses to join the Dauntless where the truth about who she is awaits along with those that are waiting to find and use her.

I absolutely loved this book. It was really, really great. I could not put it down. It kept you on edge and you were always wondering what would happen next. You wanted everything to work out. However, living just outside Chicago my entire life made it difficult for me to picture it laying in ruin. It made me really anticipate the sequel and I absolutely didn't want it to end.

If you're a big fan of The Hunger Games (like me), then this is definitely something you should pick up. It's the first in a trilogy and the movie rights were recently acquired, so get to reading before everyone else jumps on the bandwagon! 

50) The Forest of Hands and Teeth-Carrie Ryan

Earth has fallen to the infection of the Unconsecrated. Those unharmed live within the series of fences that keep the Unconsecrated at bay and those living from entering the Forest of Hands and Teeth. When Mary stays too long at the river, she learns that her mother has gotten too close to the fence and been infected. When her brother turns her out and forces her into the Sisterhood, she learns a few secrets that the Sisterhood hold and wondering what else they're keeping from the villagers. She also learns of love when she is asked to help care for Travis, a boy she has longed for since childhood. When she visits him one night, an Outsider is brought to the Cathedral and Mary is consumed with discovering out who she is and where she came from. 

Before she can find out any vital information and marry Harry (the brother of Travis), the Unconsecrated   breach the fences. Harry and Mary are unable to make it to the platforms and turn to the Cathedral in hopes that they can take shelter there. Just before they can make it to the doors, the Fast One attacks the head of the Sisterhood and they are forced to make a run for it towards the path where the Outsider came through the fence. Mary, Harry and a boy they saved named Jacob wait along the path and watch as the Unconsecrated rip apart their village. Also escaping the breach is Travis, his future wife Cass, Mary's brother Jed and his wife Beth. 

With the Unconsecrated dominating their village and surrounding the fence line all around them, it's now a fight to stay alive and find out where the path will lead them, if anywhere.

This was my first foray into zombie literature. This was also the final title on my Adolescent Fiction required list. This one made me massively paranoid and wondering if I should start hoarding food, water and clothing for the impending zombie apocalypse. It was a good book, but be forewarned: there is hardly even a sliver of hope within the pages of this story. It's 308 pages of loss, despair, destruction and bloodlust. However, it's also incredibly gripping and you can't stop flipping the pages wanting to know if they get away safely, if they survive or if they have been infected. There's also romance, but even that is somewhat depressing. There's no way around it: it was extremely depressing. Good, but depressing.

I think I'll wait to start the sequel.

49) Wintergirls-Laurie Halse Anderson

Cassie calls Lia's cell phone 33 times. After not talking for months, Lia assumes she's drunk and refuses to answer. By Monday morning, Lia finds out that Cassie is dead, her body found dead and alone is a sleezy motel room. So, where does that leave Lia? Alone and with a mountain of guilt. 

Only months out of her second stint at New Seasons Rehab facility for Anorexia Nervosa, Lia is back to her old habits. She tricks the stepmom who is given the task of weighing her every Tuesday to make sure she's on track. She helps her dad believe that she is doing OK and eating like she should be. She almost never speaks to her mom. She loves the (step)sister she would do anything (but get better) for. 

She sees the ghost of Cassie every day.

Her doctor and parents warn her that the services and funeral for Cassie might be too emotional and triggering for her. Lia does not listen. Even after discovering exactly how Cassie died, she does not listen. She continues to not eat, barely drink anything and work out for hours. They are the only things that help keep Cassie at bay. She's there cheering Lia on to continue down the path she's on. Soon, she will no longer be a wintergirl, she'll be dead just like Cassie. 

This book was honestly horrifying. I love and appreciate food just a bit too much to ever develop an eating disorder, so this was a bit eye-opening. I have read plenty of depressing books, plenty of scary and eerie books, but this one was just...horrifying. It was a constant internal battle between "oh my god, I need to eat!" to "she's RIGHT, I don't need to eat until tomorrow." Be forewarned, passages are incredibly graphic. I'll totally admit that after having read the majority of this in a sitting, I shot straight up at 6:40 AM from a nightmare. It's raw and it's honest and it's real. I would not have read this had it not been assigned for class, but it was still a really great read.