Copyboy

Copyboy

By Vince Vawter

In this sequel to Paperboy, Victor is now 17 years old.  He has changed a lot since he was an 11-year-old paperboy, and although he still stutters, he has come to terms with his disability.  He doesn’t stutter as much as he used to, but he also isn’t bothered by it as much.

Victor now has a job as a copyboy at a newspaper and he’s on the verge of going to college.  But when one of his closest friends dies, Victor must fulfill a promise he made to spread his ashes at the mouth of the Mississippi river.  

In the days before school starts and against his mother’s wishes, Victor makes a trip south to New Orleans.  There he meets Philomene Moreau, a girl who quickly captures his full attention.  With her help, he hopes to find the mouth of the Mississippi – a location that is hotly disputed among the locals.

There’s only one thing stopping Victor and Phil from setting out on the river.  Hurricane Betsy has taken a sudden turn and is now heading straight toward New Orleans.  Things get pretty tense as those living on the Gulf of Mexico begin to evacuate.  But Victor is determined to fulfill his promise – and he hopes Phil will help him.

Copyboy is just as good as Paperboy but is suitable to an older audience.  Just as Victor has grown up, readers will need to have grown up a little before reading this next installment.  Copyboy is also good as a standalone novel.

Royal Bastards

Royal Bastards

by Andrew Shvarts

Tilla is a Royal Bastard. Her father is Lord Kent of the Western Province, who doted upon Tilla until his trueborn children came along. In this world, the bastard children of nobles can be legitimized if their noble parent wishes. This is something Tilla secretly longs for - to sit by her father’s side, dressed in fancy gowns, enjoying feasts with the rest of the family.

Until that day, Tilla and her half-brother Jax, a stablehand, spend their time exploring hidden tunnels beneath the castle and feast at the bastard table with the other bastards. One such bastard is Miles of House Hampstedt, an awkward scholar who’s been in love with Tilla since they were children.
At a feast that honours the kingdom's Princess Lyriana, Tilla meets the princess when, going against protocol, the princess chooses to sit at the bastards’ table. Lyriana explains that she wants more adventure and she talks Tilla, Jax, Miles and Zell, a Zitochi warrior from the north to take her on a late-night escapade outside the castle. While beyond the castle walls, they stumble upon a crime they were never meant to witness.
The group flees for their lives, relentlessly pursued by murderous mercenaries; their own parents have put a price on their heads to prevent the king and his powerful Royal Mages from discovering their treachery.

The bastards have no choice but to stick together and forge unlikely friendships as they try to thwart a war they know is coming.

A fast paced action magic filled story, that begins the Royal Bastards series.

Not If I Save You First

by Ally Carter

Maddie and Logan are best friends who both live at the White House. Logan’s dad is the president and Maddie’s is the head of the Secret Service charged with protecting the president.

At a party one night, trouble erupts and suddenly Maddie is torn away from everything she knows when her dad takes her to Alaska where there is no phone, no internet and no Logan. She writes weekly to Logan, but never gets a reply.

Fast forward 6 years and Logan’s parents are tired of his rebellious behaviour so they send him to Alaska for a taste of reality. Maddie can’t believe it, he just shows up, unannounced. She wants to kill him for abandoning her, for never writing back to her.

Maddie has plans to simply ignore Logan and get on with her chores, but a kidnapper interrupts them, injures Maddie and runs off with Logan. With the weather turning to icy winter conditions and little options for getting help, Maddie sees no choice but to track Logan and the kidnapper.  This begins an adventure in the Alaskan wilderness requiring Maddie to use all of the survival skills she has honed in the 6 years of living in the back country. 

Will it be enough to save Logan? 

It is a good adventure story with surprises and turns that are somewhat unexpected. All around a good read, typical spy, action chase kind of tale – wilderness style!.

This is a standalone novel from the author of Gallagher Girls and the Heist Society series for young adults.