In My Mailbox #9

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren as a way to highlight the books you receive every week (or so). A full explanation and rules can be found here.




From NetGalley:


The Loners
by Lex Thomas

Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 416
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Release date: July 10, 2012
Suggested tags: young adult, dystopia



I'm a big fan of YA survival stories; anything along the lines of Lord of the Flies or The Hunger Games is right up my alley. So I'm really looking forward to this one - sounds dark and intense!

First in the Quarantine series. From Goodreads:

"It was just another ordinary day at McKinley High—until a massive explosion devastated the school. When loner David Thorpe tried to help his English teacher to safety, the teacher convulsed and died right in front of him. And that was just the beginning.

A year later, McKinley has descended into chaos. All the students are infected with a virus that makes them deadly to adults. The school is under military quarantine. The teachers are gone. Violent gangs have formed based on high school social cliques. Without a gang, you’re as good as dead. And David has no gang. It’s just him and his little brother, Will, against the whole school.

In this frighteningly dark and captivating novel, Lex Thomas locks readers inside a school where kids don’t fight to be popular, they fight to stay alive."

Whispers from the Grave
by Leslie Rule

Available as: Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: unknown
Publisher: Andrews McMeel
Publication date: April 3, 2012
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, ghosts



A ghost story with "murder, deception, and sinister experiments" - what more could you ask for?

From Goodreads:

"The similarities between Jenna and Rita were uncanny. They looked and acted exactly alike. Each was experiencing the thrill of first love. Each was empowered with a gift of the supernatural. And each harbored dark secrets. Jenna and Rita could have been sisters. Except for one thing . . . Rita was murdered over a century ago.

Out of the yellowed pages of her diary, Rita's frightening legacy is reborn. But the more Jenna reads of Rita's spellbinding past--of murder, deception, and sinister experiments--the more she fears her own future. Because Rita's history is repeating itself, moment by horrifying moment. And Jenna has to live it."

BEA BUZZ BOOKS: Excerpts From Over 30 Top Fall 2012
Titles
by various authors

Available as: ebook
Pages: unknown
Publisher: Publishers Lunch
Publication date: May 18, 2012
Suggested tags: young adult, sampler



I'm really excited to flip through this one! Excerpts from lots of upcoming 2012 books, including YA!

From Goodreads:

"BEA in an eBook. Start reading exclusive excerpts from over 30 top Fall titles featured at the BookExpo America convention right now. Enjoy new work from Junot Díaz, Mark Helprin, Rhoda Janzen, Barbara Kingsolver, Jessica Khoury, Dennis Lehane, J.R. Moehringer, Neil Young, and many others in the free BEA BUZZ BOOKS from Publishers Lunch."

BEA BUZZ BOOKS excerpts from upcoming 2012 YA books include:

From the library:

The Book of the Maidservant
by Rebecca Barnhouse

Available as: hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, ebook, audiobook
Pages: 236
Publisher: Random House
Publication date: October 27, 2009
Suggested tags: middle grade, historical fiction, adventure



I was really intrigued by the fact that this was based off the first autobiography in English, told from the maidservant's point of view. So far it's wonderfully written and quite interesting!

From Goodreads:

"Johanna is a servant girl to Dame Margery Kempe, a renowned medieval holy woman. Dame Margery feels the suffering the Virgin Mary felt for her son but cares little for the misery she sees every day. When she announces that Johanna will accompany her on a pilgrimage to Rome, the suffering truly begins. After walking all day, Johanna must fetch water, wash clothes, and cook for the entire party of pilgrims. Then arguing breaks out between Dame Margery and the other travelers, and Johanna is caught in the middle. As the fighting escalates, Dame Margery turns her back on the whole group, including Johanna. Abandoned in a foreign land where she doesn’t even speak the language, the young maidservant must find her own way to Rome.

Inspired by the fifteenth-century text The Book of Margery Kempe, the first autobiography in English, debut novelist Rebecca Barnhouse chronicles Johanna’s painful journey through fear, anger, and physical hardship to ultimate redemption."