In April 1865, following the assassination of President Lincoln, a massive manhunt began for John Wilkes Booth and his accomplices that lasted for twelve-days until Booth was cornered in the tobacco barn on the Garrett farm. Swanson traces the events that lead up to Lincoln’s assassination, vividly portrays the assassination, and offers a day-by-day account of the manhunt. Swanson provides

Since I reviewed this book for VOYA, I'm not allowed to post my review. However, this was one of my favorite books this year, and I can't wait to read the sequels. If you love gothic horror/fantasies, pick this book up! In honor of Halloween, Michelle Zink is having a contest where she is giving away some great swag, check it out! http://michellezinkbooks.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/

Anke is jealous of the attention that her siblings receive from their physically and sexually abusive father. While she is relieved that her father barely notices her existence, she can’t help but long for some sort of attention from him. It is only after she joins the school volleyball team and begins to find her own voice that she builds the courage to stand up to her father.Chalta’s simple

The last thing Mia remembers is going for a drive with her parents and younger brother Teddy, and then suddenly she is staying outside the wreckage of a terrible car crash watching paramedics work on her body. While Mia’s body languishes in a coma, her spirit floats around the hospital contemplating her state, reflecting on her past, and observing the loved ones who come to the hospital. Mia

Ida Mae Jones dreams of becoming a pilot like her father. During World War II, the army creates the WASP (Women’s Airforce Service Pilots) and Ida becomes determined to join the program, but the WASP program will not accept black women. Ida’s light skin will enable to her pass as a white woman, but to do so she must deny her family and her heritage.Smith has created a gripping, compelling

12-year-old Eon is living with a dangerous secret- he is actually sixteen-year-old Eona. Eona must masquerade as a boy in order to study Dragon Magic and be a candidate to become the Rat Dragoneye Apprentice as girls are not allowed to practice Dragon Magic. During the ceremony, the long absent Mirror Dragon returns and selects Eona. As the newest Dragoneye Lord, Eona finds herself caught in a

Eighteen-year-old Eunice “Bug” Smoot has a tough life- orphaned, struggling to pay her rent, and barely able to hold onto her job delivering pizzas. Bug’s pride and joy is the 1958 Cadillac Biarritz her grandfather left to her when he died. Unfortunately, her grandfather signed away not only his soul but Bug’s as well as collateral for the car and now Bug has a power-hungry demonic repossession

Ryan Smithson was sixteen-years-old the day the United States was attacked on September 11, 2001. Like so many Americans, Ryan was deeply affected by the events of 9-11 and so he enlisted in the Army Reserves when he turned seventeen and two years later was deployed in Iraq.Smithson’s biography reads exactly for what is it- therapeutic writing combined into a collection of memories about his

To marry, or not to marry? That was the question the Charles Darwin posed himself. He could come up with so many more reasons not to marry- a wife and family would interfere with his research after all, yet the desire for love and companionship ultimately won out. Darwin’s decision was confirmed the more time that he spent with Emma, though he was concerned that deeply religious Emma could

Terra Cooper may be tall, slender, and blond- but her otherwise perfect body is marred by the large port-wine birthmark on her cheek. Terra’s life is dominated by her controlling abusive father, a disgraced mapmaker who constantly ridicules Terra and her mother. Terra has her life mapped out until she meets Jacob, an Asian goth boy, who sends Terra’s life off course and forces her to examine

Travis Morrison is a risk-taker, a trait required to become a champion diver. His high-risk behavior, ultimately lands him in the hospital after a cliff diving accident in which he broke his leg. While in the hospital, Travis learns that he has bone cancer and as part of the treatment, doctors will have to amputate his leg. As Travis becomes sicker, he becomes determined to die on his own

Rose and her eleven younger sisters somehow manage to wear out a pair of dancing shoes every night despite the fact that they are watched and guarded each night. Galen, a young gardener in love with Rose, accepts the King’s challenge to discover where his daughters go each night. When Galen discovers the girls secret, he is determined to help rescue his love from her horrible curse.George’s

Celeste and her sister Nanette have grown up in the polygamist community of Unity. Taviana, a young runaway, has found security in the community but has found it difficult to find acceptance and completely give up all of her old ways. Celeste is an independent thinker unlike her sister Nanette who is devout and committed to the ways of the community. Celeste has difficulty accepting her

The war between humans and faeries has devastated both sides and nothing has been seen or heard from Faerie since. The impact of the war on the world can be seen everywhere. Trees are sinister and attack at will. Magic is forbidden in the town where Liza lives. and when Liza discovers she has faerie powers she is forced to flee. Her journey takes her into Faerie where she is determined to

Riley, a non-religious, self-proclaimed “bad girl” is being sent to Spirit Ranch Holiday Camp by her father and she cannot imagine how she will survive. Riley is determined to maintain her rebellious and hostile attitude at camp, keeping herself isolated from her peers. In spite of herself, Riley begins to form connections with a few other “outcast” campers, including equally hostile and angry

Eddie lives in a small coal-mining town and wants nothing more than to quit school, work in the mines, and spend as much time as possible with his friend/girlfriend Sally. His brother Larry, on the other hand, is determined to do well in school and escape life in their small town but he does not have the social graces to successfully pursue the girl he is interested in. Their father has

Parker has determined that she is not going to be perfect anymore- she’s quit the cheerleading squad, dumped her perfect boyfriend, is failing her classes at school, drinks heavily, and has attempted suicide. What Parker refuses to admit to anyone is that she knows what happened the night her friend Jessica disappeared and the events that unfolded prior to that were all caused by Parker.Summers

Kyra has grown up in a small polygamist community but has always had rebellious thoughts and never truly embraced their way of life. She loves reading and secretly visits the Mobile Library on Wheels which stops near the borders of the compound and even worse she secretly meets with Joshua, a boy her own age, who she loves and hopes to marry someday. Kyra’s world is shattered, however, when

After a night of partying with friends that ends on the forbidden train bridge, seventeen-year-old Meg finds herself arrested. As part of her punishment, Meg has to forgo her spring break and spend each night on a ride along with her arresting officer. Over the course of the week, Meg finds herself falling in love with nineteen-year-old John After, whose own connection to the bridge nearly

Matt, Coop, and Sean have been best friends since kindergarten. Every summer the trio sets a goal that has to be complete prior to the start of school and this summer Coop has set the bar high as he has decided that this summer each of them will have to see a woman naked, in person- porn does not count. Matt cannot see this challenge ever happening, after all the guys are not remotely cool and

Shawna has never really gotten over her mother, Penny, abandoning her to live with her lesbian partner Fran in New York ten years earlier. Now seventeen, Shawna has been raised by her domineering father who expects her to be perfect and follow his footsteps into the medical field. Everything changes for Shawna when she receives a call from Fran that her mother has had a stroke and is dying.

Can't post my review because it will be published in VOYA, but I just have to say that this book is wonderful. If you like dark, Gothic books like Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle trilogy pick this one up.

After the death of her adoptive mother Grace, feisty and independent, sixteen-year-old Katherine Bab wants no part of her expected marriage and so she does exactly what Grace told her not to do and flees to London in search of her true identity, taking her deaf sister Anna with her. Katerine’s flame red-hair catches the eye of Queen Elizabeth and soon Katherine finds herself installed among the

Daniel’s parents put all of their money into the boat passage to New York that was supposed to ensure his escape from Nazi Germany. Unfortunately, the boat full of refugees that Daniel is on has been turned away from both the Canadian and United States ports where they attempted to land. Cuba is their last chance or they will be forced to return to Germany. When Daniel is finally allowed into

Every teenager knows that fifteen is the year of the optional summer job, after all once you turn sixteen you start working until you retire or die. Dave finds his plans of relaxing and hanging out with his best friends Curtis and Victor dashed when their dads decree the teens must get summer jobs. Unwilling to give up their final summer of freedom, the boys dream up Project Sweet Life, in