Patron Book Review ~ In Front of God and Everybody

In Front of God and Everybody (Confessions of April Grace, bk #1) by K.D. McCrite
Published: 2011
Genre: Christian Fiction

Description:
In the summer of 1986, eleven-year-old April Grace, who lives on a rural Arkansas farm with her family, across a field from her grandmother, has her sense of Christian charity tested when a snooty couple from San Francisco moves into a dilapidated house down the road and her grandmother takes up with a loud, obnoxious, and suspicious-acting Texan.

Review by patron, Lindsey:  
It was a great teen Christian book for girls. I love it tons! She was herself, and a funny character.

Patron Book Review ~ Killer

Killer (Pretty Little Liars #6) by Sara Shepard
Published: 2009
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery

Description:
In picture-perfect Rosewood, Pennsylvania, ash-blond highlights gleam in the winter sun and frozen lakes sparkle like Swarovski crystals. But pictures often lie - and so do Rosewood's four prettiest girls.

Hanna, Aria, Spencer, and Emily have been lying ever since they became friends with beautiful Alison DiLaurentis. Ali made them do terrible things - things they had to keep secret for years. And even though Ali was killed at the end of seventh grade, their bad-girl ways didn't die with her.

Hanna's on a mission to corrupt Rosewood's youth, starting with a very attractive sophomore. Aria's snooping into her boyfriend's past. Spencer's stealing - from her family. And pure little Emily's abstaining from abstinence.

The girls should be careful, though. They thought they were safe when Ali's killer was arrested and A's true identity was finally revealed. But now there's a new A in town turning up the heat. And this time Rosewood is going to burn.
Review by patron, Anonymous: 

I love these books. They are very suspnsful. I learned what was coming in the tv show. It was also pretty funny too.

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Book Review ~ A Great and Terrible Beauty

A Great and Terrible Beauty (Gemma Doyle, book 1) by Libba Bray
Published: Sept. 2007
Genre: Fantasy/Historical Fiction

Description:
A Victorian boarding school story, a Gothic mansion mystery, a gossipy romp about a clique of girlfriends, and a dark other-worldly fantasy--jumble them all together and you have this complicated and unusual first novel.

Gemma, 16, has had an unconventional upbringing in India, until the day she foresees her mother's death in a black, swirling vision that turns out to be true. Sent back to England, she is enrolled at Spence, a girls' academy with a mysterious burned-out East Wing. There Gemma is snubbed by powerful Felicity, beautiful Pippa, and even her own dumpy roommate Ann, until she blackmails herself and Ann into the treacherous clique. Gemma is distressed to find that she has been followed from India by Kartik, a beautiful young man who warns her to fight off the visions. Nevertheless, they continue, and one night she is led by a child-spirit to find a diary that reveals the secrets of a mystical Order. The clique soon finds a way to accompany Gemma to the other-world realms of her visions "for a bit of fun" and to taste the power they will never have as Victorian wives, but they discover that the delights of the realms are overwhelmed by a menace they cannot control. Gemma is left with the knowledge that her role as the link between worlds leaves her with a mission to seek out the "others" and rebuild the Order. A Great and Terrible Beauty is an impressive first book in what should prove to be a fascinating trilogy. (Ages 12 up) -Patty Campbell

YA Staff Review:
I really enjoyed this book. There are parts that make me think of Harry Potter (discovering you’re something more than you thought you were), Mean Girls (new girl dislikes the main clique of girls and the way they treat others but joins them to try), and Ghost Whisperer but is enough different to not be annoyingly copycat.