Mysteries

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson (YA Fiction JOH)
Rory Devaux moves to London to start boarding school just as a series of murders that mimic the murders of Jack the Ripper breaks out across the city.  The police can find no leads and no witnesses to the crimes.  Rory, however, spots a man believed to be the prime suspect, but she is the only one who can see him.  Unless she can tap into her newly found abilities, Rory may be the next victim.  This is the first book in the Shades of London series.

The Diviners by Libba Bray (YA Fiction BRA)
Evie O’Neill is thrilled when she is sent to live in New York City with her Uncle Will.  Evie is excited to experience the speakeasies, shopping, and movie palaces of NYC.  However, when an outbreak of occult-based murders breaks out, Evie and her uncle find themselves wound up in the investigation.  Evie discovers that she has a mysterious power that could help catch the killer, as long as the killer doesn’t catch her first.  This is the first book in The Diviners series.

Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday (YA Fiction HAL)
When Hartley Featherstone discovers that her boyfriend is cheating on her, the last thing she wants to do is help him.  However, that is just what she has to do when her boyfriend becomes the number one suspect in a murder and she is the only one who can prove his innocence.  As Hartley begins to investigate the murder, murder victims begin to pile up, suspects multiply, and Hartley begins to fear that she may be the next victim.  This is the first book in the Deadly Cool series.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (YA Fiction LOC)
Cadence has always spent summers with her cousins on her family's private Island.  These idyllic summers have included her cousins Johnny and Mirren as well as Gat, the nephew of Johnny's mother's boyfriend.  Together the four of them call themselves "The Liars."  This story focuses on two summers, the summer Cadence turned 15, when she fell in love with Gat, and the summer she turned 17, when she returned to the Island after a summer away.  But after a traumatic head injury, Cadence can't recall what happened during her 15th summer and when she begins to recall, she realizes that everything on the Island is not as it seems.

Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard (YA Fiction SHE)
Alison disappeared three years ago and has not been seen or heard from since.  Her friends mourned her disappearance, but were secretly relieved.  Each of her friends had a secret that only Alison knew.  With Alison gone, these secrets will never get told.  However, soon each of them begins receiving anonymous emails and text messages.  Who in their circle has betrayed them?  Is Alison back?  This is the first book in the Pretty Little Liars series.

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart (YA Fiction STE)
The ad in the newspaper reads, “Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?”  Orphan Reynie Muldoon answers the ad and as a result is subject to a series of strange tests.  Many other children also answer the ad, but only two boys and two girls, including Reynie, pass the tests.  These four children are sent to accomplish a secret mission relying only their brains and creativity.  This is the first book in the Mysterious Benedict Society series.

Heist Society by Ally Carter (YA Fiction CAR)
Kat’s family are thieves and they have been grooming her to become a thief as well.  To get away from their way of life, Kat goes away to boarding school.  However, she discovers that escaping her past is more difficult than she imagined.  Soon an old friend appears and informs Kat that her father is the prime suspect in the theft of a priceless collection of art.  In order to save her father, Kat must track down the paintings and steal them back.  This is the first book in the Heist Society series.

A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro (YA Fiction CAV)
Jamie Watson is not excited about attending a Connecticut prep school.  Especially when she learns that one of the students is Charlotte Holmes, great-great-great granddaughter of famous detective Sherlock Holmes.  From the moment they meet, the two girls seem to be instant enemies.  That is until a student dies under suspicious circumstances and Jamie and Charlotte are accused of the murder.  Jamie must work alongside Charlotte to clear their names.  This is the first book in the Charlotte Holmes series.

Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz (YA Fiction HOR)
Fourteen-year-old Alex knows that his uncle did not die in a car crash, even though that is what everyone tells him.  When he finds bullet holes in his uncle’s windshield, he knows he was right.  However, Alex can’t believe it when he learns that his uncle was a spy for MI6, Britain’s secret intelligent agency.  Alex is soon recruited to find his uncle’s killers and complete the mission his uncle was working on before he died.

Draw the Dark by Ilsa J. Bick (YA Fiction BIC)
In the town of Winter, Wisconsin, Christian Cage lives a solitary life.  Christian’s parents disappeared when he was little and to try to remember his mother, Christian spends his time drawing and painting.  But Christian can not only draw his own memories, he can also draw the thoughts of those around him.  When people encounter thoughts they would rather avoid, they often die.  Because of this, Christian is not very popular.  When Christian meets Winter’s last surviving Jew, he uncovers memories that the town has forgotten, the day the Nazi’s came to town.

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (YA Fiction BAR)
Cassie is an expert a reading people. When the FBI starts a program that uses exceptional teenagers to crack cold cases, they  recruit Cassie right away.  Cassie is sent to live with the other teens in the program, who all have unusual gifts. She soon discovers that she can trust nobody in the program, but when a new killer strikes, the Naturals have to work together to find the killer and survive.  This is the first book in The Naturals series.