Tornadoes, time-travelers (of a sort), a faery killer, and a surf rat all figure prominently in this column's featured titles. And one, Everyone Dies in the End, is written by a school librarian. As a reminder that no two readers are alike, take the time to check out our Double Take on Elizabeth May's The Falconer. BROWN, Jennifer. Torn Away. Little Brown. May 2014. Tr $16.99. ISBN ISBN13: 9780316245531. Gr 8 Up—Jersey Cameron's life is super normal—until a tornado hits her town. Jersey's world is completely rocked as she loses everything, except herself. Alone and homeless, Jersey is sent to live with her biological father and his entire family. There she faces hate and secrets exchanged on a back porch. After running away, she is forced to live with her mother's parents who might change everything. Tornadoes have always terrified me. Like Jersey, I have lived in towns where tornado alarms were sounded often and even now, tornadoes are one of my worst fears. I think the book captures that feeling, the shakiness, the shrug of it at first, perfectly. The total lack of light is intense… somehow it keeps you hanging on through the darkness, so attached to Jersey, so angry for and with her, so aching with her, that you can't just let it go. Jersey's journey is heartbreaking yet incredible. It's absolutely terrible and the emotions reach inside you and shake you until all you want to do is punch a hole in a wall or scratch someone's face off. Yet there were bits and pieces that made my heart melt. The drawings and memories on gum wrappers, the scene in the book store, the hair dye, the card games… and her strength! I liked it because it was realistic—she was so weak and so so strong at the same time. It inspired me and it made me think and wonder and hope for my own life. Torn Away is heavy. It sits on your chest and pushes into your core and rattles the floor beneath your feet. From the first pages, you feel it. The writing, the story… it's quite masterful. Most teenagers (or adults!) will be able to appreciate this book. It reveals the horror of the things you can't control. It reminds us to love our family and cherish every moment. It reminds us to notice all the little things in our lives and to feel gratitude.—Emma, age 17 KATCHER, Brian. Everyone Dies in the End. Dark Continents. 2014. pap. $15.99. ISBN 9780615710174. Gr 9 Up—Sherman Andrews is driven; at 17, and a student at the Missouri Scholar Academy, Sherman is taking as many steps as possible to become a successful reporter. Including researching a baffling story from 1935 involving extremely dangerous men who will do anything to keep the story silent. It hooked me right away. The style, the voice, the mood. It's vivid, funny, quirky, and strong. I was surprised to find that it was a thriller with fun characters and maybe a dose of the undead?! The characters and the voice! The story is strong, full of hooks to keep you reading. The flashbacks were intense and well written, and the craziness of it had me laughing-silently screaming. Recommended for YA readers who love a laugh, a mystery, a thrill, a bit of history, and maybe a bit of zombies.—Emma, age 17 TWO TAKES ON The Falconer: MAY, Elizabeth. The Falconer. May 2014. Chronicle. Tr $16.99. ISBN 9781452114231. Gr 9 Up—Lady Aileana Kameron has the looks and the money, but when her mother the Marquess of Douglas is murdered, she needs to use her abilities and learn how to kill faerys. Aileana hopes to destroy the faery that murdered her mother. If things couldn’t get more messy, Aileana’s father returns and is forcing her to get married and save the world. I thank the author for not making this book another one of those insta-love romances. I also liked the teaching behind this story. Alieana copes with the loss of her mother and the hardships with her rocky relationship with her father. The story moved at a glacial pace and sometimes there was an overuse of unnecessary details that never had a huge impact on anything. For example, the faery prison that was almost going to shut down and apparently do a ton of damage, never served any purpose and didn't ever have an interaction with the plot, which distracted this reader. Throughout the book, there were many other scene similar to this where the reader would think this was leading to somewhere but actually, the item the reader thought was a 'cliffhanger' never got resolved. The Falconer wasn’t something that I was hooked onto and desperately wanted more of; however, it is probably mostly because these types of books don’t interest me much. I’m sure there are others who appreciate this writing style. People who are drawn it to bloody slaughter, mayhem, a 19th-century Scotland setting, and minor steampunk would probably enjoy this book.—Esther L., age 13