This World We Live In -- Susan Beth Pfeffer

It is April, almost a year since the asteroid struck the moon. Though she had stopped writing in her journal for a while, 16 year old Miranda Evans decides to resume her journaling and describes the goings-on of her family in this world they now live in. For the most part, things remain as they were before: rare moments of electricity, weekly food deliveries, and dark, ash-laden skies.

But soon things start to change. Rain begins to fall, and Matt and Jon, Miranda's brothers, bike ride to the river in hopes of catching the fish that should be running. They return with garbage bags full of fish... But they also bring along Syl, a woman they met in a motel and whom Matt has "married." While the family strives to adjust to its new dynamic, tensions start to rise and only become worse when Miranda's father, his new wife and their infant son, and three strangers (including Alex and Julie Morales) show up. With the food they had already being stretched thin and now being stretched thinner, tempers flare and the definition of family becomes re-defined.

Before long, Miranda and Alex develop feelings for each other as they pilfer houses together in search of food and other items for survival. But Alex plans to leave again with Julie, feeling it is wrong of them to accept the charity of others when they can not repay it. Yet each attempt to leave is thwarted, and Alex and Julie find themselves with the Evans family longer than anticipated. When plans are finally set with a hopeful future for several members of the group, a tornado strikes and, once again, life changes for everyone.

Ice Cold -- Tess Gerritsen

While Dr. Maura Isles is at a medical conference in Wyoming, she runs into a former college classmate who invites her to join he, his friends, and his daughter for a day of skiing before they leave Wyoming. With the issues in her own relationship with Daniel Brophy on her mind, Maura decides to enjoy the company of this handsome man and accepts his offer; a choice that changes the course of her life.

When the suburban the group is traveling in winds up on its side in a ditch in a snowstorm, the group is forced to leave the vehicle and wade through snow down a road that offers the only sign of life for miles... a road that ends in Kingdom Come. There they find several abandoned houses, and before long, they know something bad had taken place in those houses. As the days pass, and as one of their group is maimed beyond repair, their only option for salvation comes through one member leaving the group in search for help.

Meanwhile, Maura's friends in Boston become unsettled when Maura neither returns calls nor returns on time from her trip. Immediately Detective Jane Rizzoli and her husband Gabriel Dean, an FBI agent, fly to Wyoming in search of clues to Maura's whereabouts. When bodies turn up charred in the suburban, everyone assumes the worst. As her friends mourn her life, Maura fights for her life in the frigid winter of Wyoming with only the help of a 16-year-old boy and his stray dog Bear to help her survive.

Voyage on the Great Titanic: the Diary of Margaret Ann Brady, R.M.S. Titanic, 1912 -- Ellen Emerson White

Margaret Ann Brody is a 13 year old orphan in England. She waits patiently for her brother, who has traveled to America, to make enough money to send for her so that she might join him there.

Quite unexpectedly, an opportunity presents itself for Margaret to accompany the wealthy Mrs. Carstairs to America on the brand new R.M.S. Titanic. In return for the fare to travel, Margaret will be responsible to assist Mrs. Carstairs in all her affairs, including dressing and walking her dog Florence.

As Margaret begins this journey, she describes in her journal everything she sees and experiences as she has the chance of a lifetime to travel first class -- a position that winds up being a blessing as she witnesses the tragic sinking of the majestic ocean liner.

Pretties -- Scott Westerfeld

Having returned to New Pretty Town to become pretty and test the cure the New Smokies have found for being pretty-minded, Tally finds all her former dreams coming true by being turned pretty. She lives a life of constant parties and constant fun, and her biggest concern is whether or not she will be admitted into the "coolest" pretty clique known as the Crims.

But then she sees an ugly face from the past -- one of the Smokies -- and her memories from her time in the Smoke return unbidden and unwelcomed. With the help of Zane, the leader of the Crims, she finds the cure left hidden for her by the Smokie, and together she and Zane ingest half of the cure, determined to face a return to non-pretty minds together if the cure works; or to die together if it doesn't.

But as Tally now remembers, the Specials don't look favorably on the non-pretty-minded who do not conform to the standards of the city. And now she and Zane must pretend to be what they no longer are in order to buy enough time to escape New Pretty Town for good.

Deadly Decisions -- Kathy Reichs

In this third installment of the Temperance Brennan series, Tempe finds herself called back to Canada earlier than planned to help identify the remains of two Outlaw Motorcycle Club members -- the latest victims of the violent turf war going on between such clubs. The death toll quickly rises as retaliation is sought, and before long, innocent people are being caught in the crossfire, hurling Tempe into a vicious and convoluted mystery that leads her to South Carolina and back again as the bodies keep piling up.

Meanwhile her personal life becomes just as convoluted as her relationship with Andrew Ryan takes a shocking turn when he is arrested for dealing drugs; and then her nephew shows up and begins showing an unsettling interest in biker clubs. As Tempe races to find the people responsible before more innocent victimes pay the ultimate price, she finds her own life in danger and only escapes with the help from a surprising source.

Nineteen Minutes -- Jodi Picoult

On what should be a typical school day in March at Sterling High School, an 11th grader named Peter Houghton enters the school and begins shooting. When the smoke clears, ten students lay dead and 19 more are wounded. Peter is arrested and held in jail while the rest of the town struggles to piece together the events of the day and the aftermath of the tragedy as some bury their own children. Peter Houghton is a monster...

...Or is he?

Through flashbacks and changing perspectives, the reader becomes acquainted with Peter and the key people in his life. Beginning in kindergarten, Peter was taunted, teased, hurt, and humiliated for 12 years, mostly by the same kids. His one true friend abandoned him in 6th grade to join the popular crowd, and his family focused more on his glorified (and tragically killed) older brother. Peter was alone in the world -- or at least he thought he was.

This book forces the reader to ask a lot of questions about actions and consequences, about the importance of friends and status. And it also reminds us that even those we perceive as monsters were loved by someone.

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner -- Stephenie Meyer

The story begins with a known conclusion: Bree Tanner will die in the end.

Stephenie Meyer brings to life the character of Bree Tanner, who was first introduced in Eclipse as one of the newborn vampires. Told from the perspective of Bree, the reader becomes acquainted with Bree's story: her "creation" as a vampire, her fears, her experiences. Though "friends" are not plentiful in the vampire coven into which Bree has been inducted, she soon finds a kindred spirit in Diego, a vampire a bit older than herself. Together they discover things about their new selves... thing their leader never bothered to tell them. As they learn more and more, they become suspicious as to why they were created, and why Riley, their leader, is keeping them in the dark. As the days pass and the reason for their existence begins to take shape, Bree finds herself on a collision course with fate as she tries to rescue Diego so they can begin their vampire lives away from Riley and his newborns.

But it turns out nothing they'd been told was ever true. And Bree's second life ends prematurely.

Who are the good guys? Who are the bad guys? It all depends on perspective.