Friday Finds (06.19.09)

Friday Finds is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

This week's post is actually inclusive of my finds from both this week and last week. I think I've discovered some good ones, and hopefully someday soon I'll get around to reading them! My apologies for not keeping track of where I stumbled across these books and finally decided to add them to my wish list, but know that all of you are awesome bloggers who give great recommendations!!

Gone by Michael Grant. Synopsis from BN.com:

In the blink of an eye.

Everyone disappears.

Gone.

Everyone except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not a single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Gone, too, are the phones, internet, and television. There is no way to get help.
Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents—unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers—that grow stronger by the day.

It's a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen and war is imminent.

Hunger by Michael Grant. Synopsis from BN.com:

IT'S BEEN THERE MONTHS SINCE EVERYONE UNDER THE AGE OF FIFTEEN BECAME TRAPPED IN THE BUBBLE KNOWN AS THE FAYZ.

THREE MONTHS SINCE ALL THE ADULTS DISAPPEARED.

GONE.

Food ran out weeks. Everyone is starving, but no one wants to figure out a solution. And each day, more and more kids are evolving, developing supernatural abilities that set them apart from the kids without powers.
Tension rises and chaos is descending upon the town. It's the normal kids against the mutants. Each kid is out for himself, and even the good ones turn murderous.

But a larger problem looms. The Darkness, a sinister creature that has lived buried deep in the hills, begins calling to some of the teens in the FAYZ. Calling to them, guiding them, manipulating them.

The Darkness has awakened. And it is hungry.

Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender. Synopsis from BN.com:

Alexis thought she led a typically dysfunctional high school existence. Dysfunctional like her parents' marriage; her doll-crazy twelve-year-old sister, Kasey; and even her own anti-social, anti-cheerleader attitude.

When a family fight results in some tearful sisterly bonding, Alexis realizes that her life is creeping from dysfunction into danger. Kasey is acting stranger than ever: her blue eyes go green sometimes; she uses old-fashioned language; and she even loses track of chunks of time, claiming to know nothing about her strange behavior. Their old house is changing, too. Doors open and close by themselves; water boils on the unlit stove; and an unplugged air conditioner turns the house cold enough to see their breath in.

Alexis wants to think that it's all in her head, but soon, what she liked to think of as silly parlor tricks are becoming life-threatening—to her, her family, and to her budding relationship with the class president. Alexis knows she's the only person who can stop Kasey — but what if that green-eyed girl isn't even Kasey anymore?

A Bride in the Bargain by Deanne Gist. Synopsis from Amazon.com:

Mr. Asa Mercer placed his pen back in its holder and looked at Anna. "A cook, you say?" "Yes. I prepared the menu and all courses for the morning, noon, and evening meals, having only Sundays off." Mercer leaned back in his chair. "Well. We aren't taking any passengers on credit, but there is one man who wanted a br--, err, a woman who could feed the men who work for him." She straightened. "Well, I daresay he'd be very pleased with me." Mercer gave her a quick appraisal. "I daresay he would." "How many men does he employ?" "He's a lumberjack. I'm not sure how many men are involved in his operation. No more than a dozen, I'd say, if that." A lumberjack. The word conjured up visions of pine forests, fresh air and wilderness--something far removed from the bustling city, the aftermath of the war. "Goodness," she said, a flicker of anticipation whisking through her. "I could feed a dozen men with one hand tied behind my back." He rubbed his hands against his legs. "Well, he was very specific that he would pay for the fare. You would then have to work off your debt for him." "I'm agreeable to those terms, if he is." Mercer said nothing. She could see his inner struggle. Was he worried she wouldn't measure up to her new employer? Sitting a little straighter, she forced herself to not squirm. Finally, he turned again to his desk and retrieved his pen. "Very well, Miss Ivey. I will draw up your papers and award you passage to the Washington Territory on the S.S. Continental."

Never the Bride by Cheryl McKay & Rene Gutteridge. Synopsis from BN.com:

Since she was just a little girl, Jessie Stone dreamed up hundreds of marriage proposals, doodled the romantic ideas in her journal with her treasured purple pen, and fantasized about wedding dresses and falling in love. She’s been a bridesmaid nearly a dozen times, waved numerous couples off to sunny honeymoons, and shopped in more department stores for half-price fondue pots than she cares to remember.

But shopping for one key component of these countless proposals hasn't been quite as productive–a future husband. The man she thought she would marry cheated on her. The crush she has on her best friend Blake is at very best…well, crushing. And speed dating has only churned out memorable horror stories.

So when God shows up one day, in the flesh, and becomes a walking, talking part of her life, Jessie is skeptical. What will it take to convince her that the Almighty has a better plan than one she’s already cooked up in her journals? Can she turn over her pen and trust someone else to craft a love story beyond herwildest dreams?