MECHANICA, by Betsy Cornwell

The story: In this futuristic Cinderella tale, our heroine isn't waiting around for a handsome prince to come and save the day. And while there's a stepmother, and two really awful stepsisters, there's no fairy godmother--just Mechanica's own hard work and smarts. Handsome prince? Check. (But things don't quite go the way you'd expect there, either.) If you liked Cinder, take a look at this one too!

June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG; Violence PG; sexual content PG; Nudity G; substance abuse G; magic and the occult PG; GLBT content G; adult themes (death of a parent, abusive home situations) PG; overall rating PG--although it's not really a book for ES.

Liz's comments: You have to admire a girl who's not waiting around to be rescued by Prince Charming. Mechanica (as her stepsisters rudely name her, not realizing she'll come to appreciate the title) is hard-working, smart, and curious. This isn't your standard fairy-tale mashup, but that doesn't mean there isn't a happy ending.

I AM PRINCESS X, by Cherie Priest

The story: May and Libby created Princess X in 5th grade, and her adventures grew up with them--right until the time Libby drowned, May's parents divorced, and May moved away. Now back in Seattle for summer break, May is stunned to find Princess X everywhere she looks--on stickers attached like graffiti to vacant stores, on walls, on lampposts. Even more mysterious--there's a web comic detailing Princess X's adventures. May knows that Libby must be alive--but where is she, and why is she hiding the details of her life in hidden riddles that only May can solve? Teaming up with Patrick, the downstairs hacker guy, May sets out to find Libby...and ends up finding a whole lot more than she expected. None of it good.

June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG; Violence PG; Sexual content G; Nudity G; Substance abuse PG; Magic & the occult G; GLBT content G; adult themes (murder, kidnapping, forced imprisonment; none of it graphic;) PG-13; overall rating PG-13--mostly for lots of techno talk.

Liz's comments: This quick read has something for everyone: technology for the guys, an undying friendship for the girls, an in-book graphic novel for the 741.5 crowd, and a mystery/thriller you just can't put down. Hand this one to everybody!

REBEL MECHANICS: ALL IS FAIR IN LOVE AND REVOLUTION, by Shanna Swenson

The story: When Verity Newton set out for New York City in 1888, she never expected to witness a train robbery on the way, experience the first ride of a mostly-illegal steam car that could possibly put magical carriages out of business, or get hired as a governess by one of the most powerful magical families in the British American colonies. But then again, nothing's quite what you'd expect in this dashing alternative history featuring steampunk and swashbucklers! If you're a sci-fi or steampunk fan, this one's for you.

June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG; Violence PG-13; Sexual content G; Nudity G; substance abuse PG-13; magic & the occult PG-13; GLBT content G; adult themes (nothing wicked, but again, difficult text and unexpected technological terms make this better for slightly older readers) PG-13; overall rating PG-13.

Liz's comments: It's true--I'm a fan of YA steampunk. Call me a weirdo. This one is very comparable to Garth Nix's "Newt's Emerald", which I also really liked, and is great for fans of Gail Carriger's "Finishing School" series.

BOYS DON'T KNIT (IN PUBLIC), by T.S. Easton

The story: Ordered by his probation officer to take up his spare time with something productive, Ben ends up in a knitting class, desperate to keep the secret from his father, his friends, and his enemies alike. Problem is...turns out he LIKES knitting, and he's good at it. When he wins a regional competition for junior knitters that qualifies him for the nationals, he has no idea just how much knit is going to hit the fan....

June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG-13; Violence PG; Sexual content PG-13, nudity PG; substance abuse PG-13; magic & the occult G; GLBT content PG; adult themes (teen boys' mental fixation on girls and sex) PG; overall rating PG-13.

Liz's comments: I thought this was a spot-on picture of a worried, nerdy kid who's also sweet and really funny. Some raunchy talk and bad behavior make it not good at all for the younger crowd, though--8th and up for sure.

LOST IN THE SUN, by Lisa Graff

The story: That pick-up hockey game changed Trent's life, and everyone else's around him, too. But they're the lucky ones--Jared Richardson is dead from a freak heart attack when Trent's wild shot sent a puck slamming into his chest. Now Trent is trying to deal with the fallout--distancing himself from his friends, fighting with his dad, even purposely failing at school. So why doesn't that weirdo Fallon Little get that he doesn't want to be friends with her? (Even if he kind of does?!?!)

June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG-13; violence PG; sexual content G; nudity G; substance abuse PG; magic & the occult G: GLBT content G; adult themes (divorce; accidental death; grief; guilt) PG; overall rating PG.

Liz's comments: I really liked this one. Trent feels so overwhelmed by his guilt and grief that it causes him to screw up in the rest of his life too--but Fallon, and his mom, and even his Old Crone teacher Ms. Emerson, all help him to move through it and figure out how to put right the things he can change, and learn to live with what he can't. Not a bad lesson for all of us. The only drawback for MS readers is that Trent is going into 6th grade when the book opens--so the 4th-8th rating is generous since most MS kids won't read younger.

ALL FALL DOWN, by Ally Carter

The story: Grace knows her mother died three years ago--she was there, and saw it all. What no one else wants to believe is the other thing Grace saw: a scar-faced man pulling the trigger, firing the shot that killed her mother. It's bad enough that Grace has been sent back to live with her grandfather, the American ambassador to Adria--but what's even worse is that the scar-faced man is here too...and he's getting ready to kill again. If everyone thinks she's crazy, how will she be able to stop someone else from becoming his target?

June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG; Violence PG-13; Sexual content PG; Nudity G; Substance abuse PG; magic & the occult G; GLBT content G; adult themes (PTSD, murder) PG-13; overall rating PG-13.

Liz's comments: Ally Carter's work gets a bit darker with her first novel in the Embassy Row series, but readers who liked The Gallagher Girls and the Heist Society books will be willing to overlook that, and Grace as a rather unreliable narrator. My biggest complaint is that while Grace solves the initial mystery of her mother's murder, the ending feels rushed and rest of the book ends up seeming to have been a set-up for later books, with a bunch of loose ends pretending to be a cliff-hanger. :P

THE GLASS ARROW, by Kristen Simmons

The story: Aya has lived in the wild all her life, avoiding the ugly reality that comes to girls who are caught and taken into towns to be sold to the highest bidder. But now that the Trackers have managed to capture her, she's determined she won't go down without a fight. Held in solitary confinement until the next auction day, little does Aya know that the mute Driver, or horse master, across the poisoned drainage ditch--along with a silver wolf named Brax--will end up being her only hope of avoiding a fate worse that death.

June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG; Violence R; Sexual content PG-13; Nudity R; Substance abuse PG; magic & the occult G; GLBT content G; adult themes (slavery, prostitution) PG-13; overall rating PG-13. (According to June's matrix, the violence and nudity contents deserve an "R" rating, but since neither is in any way graphically described, I think the whole outing still comes in as a PG-13, for 8th-up.)

Liz's comments: As I did with Joelle Charbonneau's "The Testing", I have to admit that I'm getting a little burned out on dystopian fiction, especially when it's so durn grim (as this one is). That said, Aya is a spunky heroine, Kiran is a hunky and mysterious hottie and co-conspirator, and Brax is as cool an animal companion as they come. The setting--where women have gone back to being chattel and some even take part in the buying and selling of others--is gritty, although grit can't substitute for actual world building, which is a bit skimpy in this story. Anyway, it's fine for readers looking for their next Hunger Games read-alike, and thankfully, it appears to be a stand-alone book and not a trilogy! (Practically a miracle.)

MONSTROUS, by MarcyKate Connolly

The story: Don't let the picture on the cover fool you--this isn't a cartoon story about a 4th-grade girl. It's a great fantasy read featuring a young woman who's been assembled from pieces and parts of others. What makes her different from Frankenstein? Even she doesn't know, except that as her memories come back a bit at a time, she knows she loves the town and people of Bryre, and that she'll do whatever is necessary to save them. (Oh, and Frankenstein's monster was never friends with a dragon. There's that.)

June Cleaver's ratings: Language G; Violence PG-13; Sexual content G; Nudity G; Substance abuse PG; Magic & the occult PG-13; GLBT content G; adult themes (kidnapping, betrayal) PG; overall rating PG.

Liz's comments: Despite the grade-school look to the cover, this is really a story for middle-school readers--a straight-up fantasy with a strong lead character coming into her memories and into her own just in time to make an unexpected decision--one that sets this story apart from other fantasy/romance novels out there. Good stuff!

INHERIT MIDNIGHT, by Kate Kae Myers

The story: Move over, Amy and Dan Cahill! The 39 Clues plot gets a stylish upgrade in this YA book from Kate Kae Myers. Avery VandeMere is one of eight competitors pitted against each other in the ultimate Family Feud: avoid being eliminated while completing a series of challenges representing family values. The winner will take control of Grandmother's vast business holdings, as well as a mansion, fine art, and an entrance into the lifestyles of the rich and famous. From diamond mining to Revolutionary War battle re-enactments, Avery and hottie "chaperone" Riley race against the clock, and against the others, to be the last team member standing--because this time, the winner really does take all.

June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG; Violence PG; Sexual content PG; Nudity PG; substance abuse PG; magic & the occult G; GLBT content G; adult themes (betrayal by family members) PG; overall rating PG.

Liz's comments: Don't get me wrong--despite the PG rating this is a YA book, clearly aimed at the same audience as Ally Carter's "Heist Society" series. (If you liked those books, you'll like this one too.) Even with the wholesale co-opting of the basic plot-line in the 39 Clues series, this is its own book: a fun story with a lot going on, and a hefty dash of romance that girls will really fall for.

INK AND ASHES, by Valynne E. Maetani

The story: Claire never realized her father knew the man who became her stepfather before he died--but there's a lot about him she and her brothers haven't been told. When they start snooping around to try to figure out the connection, they discover things they never expected...things they'd be better off not knowing. Things that will endanger not only them, but the close-knit group of boys who are the Takata siblings' best friends...and especially Claire's longtime BFF Forrest--who just might make the change from best friend to boyfriend.

June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG; Violence PG-13; Sexual content PG-13; Nudity PG; substance abuse PG; magic & the occult G; adult themes (organized crime, murder) PG-13; overall rating PG-13.

Liz's comments: Here's a mystery story with tie-ins to Japanese culture that not only make it more interesting, but actually move the mystery forward. Claire's romance with Forrest is a nice add-on for girls who like a little romance with their action and adventure, but there's not so much that it would be a complete turn-off for guys who like an unusual mystery with other strong male characters as well.

MARK OF THE DRAGONFLY, by Jaleigh Johnson

The story: When Piper discovers a wounded girl in the debris of a meteor storm, she doesn't know Anna is going to change her life. Not that it's much of a life--her father is dead, and Piper scrapes by fixing broken machines people have scavenged from the meteor fields. Once Piper realizes there could be a reward if she returns Anna safely to her home, she and the girl stow away on the mighty 401 start their journey to a new life. At first it seems that the shape-shifting boy Gee is going to stand in their way, but when they join forces, things seem to get better--right before they get a whole lot worse. None of them have any idea who's on their trail, or to what lengths he'll go to get his hands on Anna.

June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG; Violence PG-13; Sexual content G; Nudity PG; substance abuse PG; magic and the occult PG-13; GLBT content G; adult themes (being orphaned, slavery, political entanglements) PG; overall rating PG.

Liz's comments: This is a cool story with a gritty steampunk setting. Piper defies expectations in lots of ways, and both boys and girls will like this one!

RED BUTTERFLY, by A.L. Sonnichsen

The story: Kara feels invisible. Abandoned as a baby in China because of her deformed hand, she lives in secret with Mama, an American woman whose Chinese visa has long since expired, doing her best not to be noticed by the authorities. When her mother is exposed, Kara is sent to live in a Chinese orphanage. Will she and Mama ever be reunited?

June Cleaver's ratings: Language G; Violence G; Sexual content G; Nudity G; Substance abuse G; magic & the occult G; GLBT content G; adult themes (being orphaned, living with disabilities) PG; overall rating G.

Liz's comments: Here's another novel in verse (see also "House Arrest") that will expose readers to life in other places, and ways that their own lives could be different/worse. Kara learns not only that it's possible for her to live with change, but that she can refuse to be invisible by speaking out--both important concepts for middle-school aged kids. (Target age grades 4-7.)

HOUSE ARREST, by K.A. Holt

The story: It seemed like stealing that wallet would solve a whole bunch of problems, but instead, it just caused more: rather than paying for his baby brother's medical bills for a month, using that credit card is costing Timothy a year under house arrest. But it's a year where he learns a lot - how to unplug Levi's trach tube while dodging snot bullets, how to show that maybe you like a girl, and possibly the biggest deal of all: learning to trust other people enough to let them help you, even when you can't figure out why they would want to.

June Cleaver's ratings: Language G; Violence G; Sexual content G; Nudity G; Substance abuse G; Magic & the occult G; GLBT content G; adult themes (abandonment, juvenile crime, financial issues and their resultant pressures) PG; overall rating PG (mostly due to the adult themes; content just isn't going to work for most ES readers).

Liz's comments: I liked this one a lot. Timothy makes some poor choices, but he's a loyal, dedicated brother who's able to learn from his mistakes. The journal/novel in verse format make this story one that will appeal to struggling readers, both boys and girls.

NIGHTBIRD, by Alice Hoffman

The story: Twig and her mother keep to themselves, and no one knows they're hiding a strange secret: the result of a 200-year-old curse. When a new girl moves into the cottage next door, it turns out she's the descendant of the witch who cast the curse on Twig's ancestors all those years ago. Now the time is right and the ingredients are in hand for the girls to try to reverse the curse...but will they be able to do it before the rest of the townspeople find out the truth about the Sidwell Monster?

June Cleaver's ratings: Language G; Violence G; Sexual content G; Nudity G; substance abuse G; magic & the occult PG; adult themes (deception, curses) PG; overall rating G (although probably best for grades 4-7).

Liz's comments: Hand this one to a girl who's ever wished for magic--or even for a best friend.