Christmas Gifts for YA Readers
Not sure what to buy the YA and crossover readers in your life? Looking for a read that will sweep them off their feet? We’ve got stunning coming-of-age drama, romance, adventure, action and mysteries. Gift them something they’ll really love this Christmas: a great book.
The Death House by Sarah Pinborough
Toby’s life was perfectly normal . . . until it was unravelled by something as simple as a blood test.
Taken from his family, Toby now lives in the Death House; an out-of-time existence far from the modern world, where he, and the others who live there, are studied by Matron and her team of nurses. They’re looking for any sign of sickness. Any sign of their wards changing. Any sign that it’s time to take them to the sanatorium.
No one returns from the sanatorium.
Withdrawn from his house-mates and living in his memories of the past, Toby spends his days fighting his fear. But then a new arrival in the house shatters the fragile peace, and everything changes.
Because everybody dies. It’s how you choose to live that counts.
The Death House is available in paperback, eBook and audio download.
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
Ged, the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, was called Sparrowhawk in his reckless youth.
Hungry for power and knowledge, Sparrowhawk tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death’s threshold to restore the balance.
A Wizard of Earthsea is available in eBook.
The Reckoners Series by Brandon Sanderson
Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics. But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his wills.
Nobody fights the Epics… nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them.
And David wants in. He wants Steelheart – the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David’s father. For years, like the Reckoners, David’s been studying, and planning – and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience.
He’s seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge.
The Reckoners Series is contains the thrilling Steelheart, Firefight and Calamity. Steelheart and Firefight are available in paperback, eBook and audio download. Calamity will be published in February 2016.
The Falconer and The Vanishing Throne by Elizabeth May
Lady Aileana Kameron, the only daughter of the Marquess of Douglas, was destined for a life carefully planned around Edinburgh’s social events – right up until a faery killed her mother.
Now it’s the 1844 winter season and Aileana slaughters faeries in secret, in between the endless round of parties, tea and balls. Armed with modified percussion pistols and explosives, she sheds her aristocratic facade every night to go hunting. She’s determined to track down the faery who murdered her mother, and to destroy any who prey on humans in the city’s many dark alleyways.
But the balance between high society and her private war is a delicate one, and as the fae infiltrate the ballroom and Aileana’s father returns home, she has decisions to make. How much is she willing to lose – and just how far will Aileana go for revenge?
The Falconer and The Vanishing Throne are available now.
Spinning Thorns by Anna Sheehan
Once the fairy tale is told and the spell has been broken . . . what happens next . . . ?
Sleeping Beauty has woken.
The world has been renewed.
Everyone is living happily ever after . . .
Almost.
Sharp, blood-seeking thorns still surround the castle. A feud remains between those who wield magic and those who were subjected to it. And while the kingdom is divided against itself, nothing can thrive.
A rebellion may be needed – and that’s where Sleeping Beauty’s daughter comes in . . .
Spinning Thorns is available in paperback and eBook.
The Mistborn Series by Brandon Sanderson
Brandon Sanderson’s epic fantasy series overturns the expectations of readers and then goes on to tell the epic story of evil overturned in a richly imagined world.
A thousand years ago evil came to the land and has ruled with an iron hand ever since. The sun shines fitfully under clouds of ash that float down endlessly from the constant eruption of volcanoes. A dark lord rules through the aristocratic families and ordinary folk are condemned to lives in servitude, sold as goods, labouring in the ash fields.
But now a troublemaker has arrived and there is rumour of revolt. A revolt that depends on criminal that no-one can trust and a young girl who must master Allomancy – the magic that lies in all metals.
The Mistborn series includes: The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, The Hero of Ages, The Alloy of Law, Shadows of Self and the forthcoming Bands of Mourning ( available January 2016).
Robot Overlords by Mark Stay
To find his father, one boy must defy an empire…
Three years ago, Earth was conquered by a force of robots from a distant world. They have one rule:
STAY IN YOUR HOMES
Step outside and you get one warning before you’re vaporised by a massive robot Sentry, or a crawling Sniper, or a flying Drone. That’s if the vast Cube doesn’t incinerate you first.
But Sean Flynn is convinced that his father – an RAF pilot who fought in the war – is still alive. And when he and his gang figure out a way to break the robots’ curfew, they begin an adventure that will pit them against the might of the ROBOT OVERLORDS.
Robot Overlords is available in paperback, eBook and audio download.
The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima
Before he knew about the Roses, 16-year-old Jack lived an unremarkable life in the small Ohio town of Trinity. Only the medicine he has to take daily and the thick scar above his heart set him apart from the other high-schoolers.
At least, until one day Jack forgets his ‘medicine’. Suddenly, he is stronger, fiercer, and more confident than ever before. And it feels great – right up to the moment when he loses control of his own strength and almost kills another player during the soccer team tryouts. An incident which proves to be just the beginning.
Jack is about to learn the startling truth about himself: he is Weirlind; part of an underground society of magical people who live among us. At the head of this magical society sit the feuding houses of the Red and the White Rose, whose power is determined by playing The Game – a magical tournament in which each house sponsors a warrior to fight to the death. The winning house rules the Weir. As if his bizarre magical heritage isn’t enough, Jack discovers that he’s not just another member of Weirlind: he’s one of the last of the warriors, and his power has manifested at a time when both houses are scouting for a player. Jack’s performance on the soccer field has alerted the entire magical community to the fact that he’s in Trinity. And until one of the houses is declared Jack’s official sponsor, they’ll stop at nothing to get Jack to fight for them …
The Warrior Heir is available in paperback and eBook.
The Seventh Miss Hatfield by Anna Caltabiano
Cynthia, an 11-year-old American, isn’t entirely happy with her life, comfortable though it is. Still, even she knows that she shouldn’t talk to strangers. So when her mysterious neighbour Miss Hatfield asked her in for a chat and a drink, Cynthia wasn’t entirely sure why she said yes. It was a decision that was to change everything.
For Miss Hatfield is immortal. And now, thanks to a drop of water from the Fountain of Youth, Cynthia is as well. But this gift might be more of a curse, and it comes with a price. Cynthia is beginning to lose her personality, to take on the aspects of her neighbour. She is becoming the next Miss Hatfield.
But before the process goes too far, Cynthia must travel back in time to turn-of-the-century New York and steal a painting, a picture which might provide a clue to the whereabouts of the source of immortality. A clue which must remain hidden from the world. In order to retrieve the painting, Cynthia must infiltrate a wealthy household, learn more about the head of the family, and find an opportunity to escape. Before her journey is through, she will also have – rather reluctantly – fallen in love. But how can she stay with the boy she cares for, when she must return to her own time before her time-travelling has a fatal effect on her body? And would she rather stay and die in love, or leave and live alone?
And who is the mysterious stranger who shadows her from place to place? A hunter for the secret of immortality – or someone who has already found it?
The Seventh Miss Hatfield is available in paperback and eBook.
White Cat by Holly Black
CASSEL IS CURSED.
Cursed by a memory. He murdered the girl he loved – and he doesn’t remember why.
In a world where magic is illegal and his family is branded criminal, Cassel doesn’t fit in. He has no magical talent – just a gift for getting into trouble.
Boarding school offers an escape, but then the dreams start. Dreams that drive him home to unravel his past.
Dreams that force him to confront who he really is and what he’s really done. Cassel is about to discover that his family hides an incredible secret – one that will transform his life for ever.