"Monster High", Lisi Harrison (YA-fantasy)

"Monster High" by Lisi Harrison is the first book in a new series about students in a high school in Salem, Oregon.  Many years ago, monsters and witches moved to Salem to avoid persecution by normals.  Years and years later, they are still living there, but are in hiding.  This volume follows two teen girls new to the high school, Frankie Stein and Melody Carver.  With alternating chapters, you get to know each girl and her circle of friends, although they are in different cliques.  Melody recently moved to Salem from Beverly Hills and has a crush on the boy next door, only he burns hot and cold.  Will Melody be able to figure out what's going on with him and what his secret is?  Then meet Frankie, who was "born" a week ago.  Frankie is a little uncomfortable hiding her mint green skin under layers of make-up, not to mention her bolts and seams!  Once she meets the secret monster underground, will she stage a successful revolution or be run out of town?

This story is a lot of fun and you get to see old favorite monsters brought to life in young teens in new ways, such as Frankie, the granddaughter of Frankenstein.  This book has a little of the mean-girl clique issues, although it is toned down.  No sexual activity other than kissing in the book.  Parents are present and involved (or try to be) and no profanity, drugs or drinking.  There are other books in the series planned, each highlighting different monster and normie teens.  Recommended for grades 6 and up.

"Shiver", by Maggie Stiefvater (YA-fantasy)

“Shiver” is a romance story about teenage werewolves but it is rather unique.  In this werewolf tale, werewolves are created once the human is bitten by a werewolf.  The former humans change into wolves whenever it the weather turns cold.  As time progresses, they need it to be warmer and warmer before they’ll turn human until, finally, they no longer can return to their former human shapes and live their lives as wolves.  Grace was kidnapped as a child by wolves who attacked her, but one wolf saved her from death and returned her to her home.  Since then, Grace has been drawn to the wolves.  When one of her classmates was killed by a wolf, but then Grace sees a wolf with his eyes, she starts to wonder if werewolves are real.  Eventually, she meets “her” wolf in human form, Sam.  They fall in love and have to uncover mysteries and resolve his dwindling time as a human dilemma before they can live happily till the next installment in the Wolves of Mercy Falls series.

While Sam and Grace are in a romantic relationship, their scenes together are not overly descriptive.  However, given some graphic scenes involving the wolves attacking humans, and Sam’s parents slitting his wrists after he first changes to a wolf and back, I would only recommend this book for junior high and high school students.