"Eternal Ones" by Kirsten Miller (YA Fiction)

"Eternal Ones" is a story about what happens when someone remembers flashes of their past lives, but with an interesting twist.  In this case, Haven is a small town girl planning to head to New York for college in a few months.  However, ever since she was a child, Haven has been prone to fainting spells where she has visions of herself in a former life and her grandmother and half the town believe she's demon possessed.  Her best friend Beau, who happens to be gay, is also college bound.  The two bond as children and start a dress-making business together to help pay for college.  One day, Haven catches a glimpse of Ian, a famous playboy, on TV and has a flash of him as Ethan in her former life.  All of a sudden, they notice people watching their every moves.  There's also the problem of if Ethan killed Constance in the past life and if Haven can trust Ian.  There's a weird society that helps reincarnated people, only they're also corrupt and have a hand in several disasters and seem to have a weird obsession with Haven/Constance and Ian/Ethan.

The book was different, but I didn't see anything in it that would be objectionable (assuming reincarnation itself isn't objectionable to some).  There are a couple times that the "lovebirds" allude to sleeping together, but they don't go into any kind of detail.  It all happens off-screen.  There's less of that in it than in the Meg Cabot "Airhead" books, for example.  No swearing or anything.  Also, the secondary character, Beau, is gay, but is not in a relationship during the entire book.  Having a gay character would help students with different lifestyles to identify with someone, and yet not throw the parents or school board into a tizzy, so I wouldn't have any qualms about putting it in a middle school at all.

"Nightlight" by Harvard Lampoon (YA-parody)

Reading "Nightlight" is like watching a train wreck.  You're horrified, but can't look away.  "Nightlight" is a parody of "Twilight" by Meyers.  Granted, I'm not a fan of the original, but was intrigued by the parody, so thought I'd give it a whirl.  It's humorous in a "so bad I can't believe it way", but I have to admit that I've never been a big admirer of this type of writing either.  I got about halfway through the book before putting it down though, which says something. 

If you like parodies, then take it for a spin.  Otherwise, you may want to stay far away!

"Hunger Games", Suzanne Collins (YA fantasy)

The world is a very different place than we know it.  North America rebelled against the government and is paying the price.  We have been divided into 13 colonies that are not allowed to intermingle with each other.  In order to remind us of what we wrought, each year a boy and girl (ages 12-18) are randomly drawn from each district and forced to participate in a televised fight to the death.  Whomever is the last person standing gets food for their district for the next year...all other districts are left to starve and manage as best they can.  Hence the name, "Hunger Games".  The twist for this year?  The boy and girl from district 13, who's district hasn't won in several decades, happen to love each other.  How are they supposed to kill each other in order to survive?

"Hunger Games" is an interesting dystopian novel for young adults and the first in a trilogy.  This book is very well written with a male and female protagonist so as to engage readers of both genders.  The storyline is gripping with a few plot twists and the beginnings of a little romance (nothing more than a kiss).  There is some violent scenes, which should be obvious given the context of the book, but nothing overly descriptive.  This is a book that I would recommend for middle or high schools, as well as for adults.

"Need", Carrie Jones (YA fantasy)

"Need" is an entertaining romp into the world of pixies and weres.  After Zara's step-father dies, her mother packs her up and sends her from her Southern home to the Northern cold.  On Zara's first day of school, she sees a figure in the woods of a man that she has seen before.  Is it a stalker?  Given the evidence of gold glitter dust, her friends think he's a pixie out to either find his queen or kidnap boys.  What does he really want with her?  Why are so many of the teens at the school acting weirdly?  What's really going on?

This book has aspects of mystery, intrigue, romance (although kissing only) and suspense.  I would recommend this book for middle or high schools.  It was a nice quick read and very well written with decent character development.

"I am a genius of unspeakable evil...", by Josh Lieb (YA fiction)

"I am a genius of unspeakable evil and I want to be your class president" is not appropriate for school libraries, in my opinion.  Granted, I didn't get further than 20-25 pages into the book, so things might have turned around.  However, during those 20-25 pages, all the 7th grade protagonist did was complain about his life and mock people.  Not seeing any redeeming qualities in the character, I promptly put the book down and moved on to one more interesting.

"Fallen", by Lauren Kate (YA urban fantasy)

"Fallen", by Lauren Kate would be an excellent book for middle or high school libraries.  The storyline is about star-crossed loves who reunite every 17 years only to be tragically ripped apart...repeat.  There's also a bit of mystery and some religious overtones tossed in as you learn the origins of the characters.  This particular reincarnation finds the characters at a reform school for various misdeeds.  Parts of the story dragged on a bit, but the characters were interesting and make the reader want to get to the bottom of the mystery.  The second book in the series is due to be released this fall.

For those who would like specific details regarding appropriateness, there isn't any sex or explicit scenes, although there is some kissing.  There are a few fights and an epic battle, but most details are left out.

"Infinity" by Sherrilyn Kenyon (YA and Adult, Fantasy)

Nick Gautier is a 14 year old student who is often picked on by the more privileged students at his school.  He is from a broken home with a father in jail for murder and a mother who became a stripper to make ends meet.   While she loves him, Nick's mom keeps buying him loud Hawaiian shirts from Goodwill to wear to school, which doesn't help his image any.  Weird things start to happen in New Orleans and living teenage zombies (as opposed to undead ones) are eating his classmates.  Who's controlling them?  How do they stop the zombies?  Why do they keep coming after Nick?  And who is this guy who says he's related to Nick and trying to help him?  Is he really helping or is he the cause of the weird events?

"Infinity" poses an interesting dilemma for me.  It's a great read, and is written with a 14 year old protagonist so you'd think it was young adult lit, however, the lead character is also in her adult fantasy novels, although he's 10 years older.  I enjoyed the story overall, and it was great to see Nick as a young lad and how he met the other characters and became a Squire, but her adult novels are certainly not appropriate for middle school students, given the sexual content in them.  This book, however, is appropriate for both middle school and high school students and contains nothing more than a single kiss for romantic involvement.