See your future in Facebook?

I was immediately hooked on the main idea in The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler.  The time is 1996, when many families were buying their first home computer and receiving American Online (AOL) CD-ROMs in the mail for free time on the Internet.  After Emma logs on to AOL, something strange pops up - "Facebook."  Of course, Facebook hadn't been invented yet, and when Emma sees a picture of herself, obviously much older and with a different last name, she figures out she's looking at her future in 15 years and it's not a happy life.  Her friend Josh finds his future Facebook page, too, and he's ecstatic to learn that he's wealthy and married to the hottest girl at their high school.  Every time they check Facebook, something is a little different; Emma and Josh learn that changes they make now, even small ones, impact their future.  The reader will easily figure out the direction of the book (are Emma and Josh just friends...or more?), but watching the ripple effect of their actions is pretty cool.  A great book for high school kids and older, more mature middle schoolers.

For Twilight fans

No, there aren't any vampires, but I still think fans of Twilight would also like Through Her Eyes by Jennifer Archer.  Tansy, her mom, and her grandfather (Papa Dan) have just moved to a Papa Dan's hometown in Texas, and they're living in an old, creepy house that is supposedly haunted.  Tansy discovers a beautiful box containing a pocket watch, a crystal, and a poetry journal; she's sure they belonged to Henry, a troubled teen who committed suicide while living in Tansy's house long ago.  Tansy is a photographer, and she soon starts to see strange images through her camera lens - black and white, rather than color, and people that she knows are Henry and Papa Dan, as a youth.  They were friends?  She then finds that with the help of the watch and crystal, she can actually enter the world and time of the two.  Why is she so attracted to Henry?  Why is Papa Dad so upset to be back in his hometown?  And most of all...is Tansy losing her mind? Hmmm......

"How do you stand up for truth?"

If you like getting to the bottom of a story and finding out the truth, check out Peeled by Joan Bauer. Hildy reports for The Core, her high school newspaper. Creepy stuff is happening around the old Ludlow house, but Hildy and her friends suspect that the town's local newspaper is really blowing things out of proportion to spook the residents of her small apple-growing community. It seems like there's no way to get the truth out of the mayor and the local paper's editor, but with a lot of hard work and help from the school newpaper advisor and a local cafe owner, Hildy and her classmates discover the real story, which could damage many of the townspeople's livelihoods and turn the town into a tacky tourist trap. Excellent pace, great characters, and for you budding journalists - terrific reporting advice.

" 'Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott"

You'll have to guess what's a coincidence and what isn't in Avalon High by Meg Cabot. Ellie's in a new high school because she's moved yet again - her parents are professors of medieval history, and they're both taking sabbaticals (temporary leaves from their jobs) in Annapolis. Ellie has heard about the legend of King Arthur all her life, and she's even named after one of the legend's characters, Lady Elaine of Astolat, aka the Lady of Shalott. Maybe the name of her new school is getting to her (Avalon is a place in the legend), but it seems pretty spooky the way her life, as well as those of the perfect guy Will, his friend Lance, golden girl Jennifer, and Will's creepy stepbrother Marco mirror the lives of Elaine, King Arthur, Lancelot, Guinevere, and Mordred. Throw in romance, lies, betrayals, and a teacher who thinks they've all been reincarnated, and you'll have a good story...that leaves you wondering!