From a new volume set in the Grisha universe to a gripping nonfiction title about Typhoid Mary, the titles reviewed by Kitsap (WA) Regional Library YA Book Group offer spell-binding plots and action-packed pacing. ASLAN, Austin. The Girl at the Center of the World. Random/Wendy Lamb Bks. Aug. 2015. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780385744041. Gr 9 Up—With 17- year-old Leilani, who controls the Orchid, and her family trying to survive off the land and defend themselves with dangerous gangs, Leilani is put to the ultimate test when her secret reaches a gang and she now has to try to stay safe. I really liked that they brought back soldier boy because I really liked him and I liked the survival aspect of the book. They struggle to live with no electricity but are still able to survive and defend their house against the so-called gangs. I wish they had brought soldier boy back sooner. The first book, The Islands at the End of the World (2014), is the best and I really recommend.—Tyler M., 14 BARDUGO, Leigh. Six of Crows. Holt. Sept. 2015. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9781627792127. Gr 9 Up—Kaz Brekker is a well-known name in the slums of Ketterdam, renowned as a criminal mastermind, so he's not exactly surprised to be asked to carry off a heist. However, when the retrieval of a famous scientist in enemy hands takes him and his diverse crew to the Ice Court of Fjerda, far more is at stake than meets the eye. I absolutely love the cover of Six of Crows. I love how the crow's wing silhouettes the towers of the Ice Court. I love the title font and the color scheme. Everything is so icy and cold, perfectly fitting the cold, northern setting of the plot. In addition, the cover isn't what I call a Clip-Art cover. It feels like something I would want to view independently, as well as being a very effective cover for the novel. Again, I absolutely adored the title font, as it's fanciful but very easily readable. It's not a font that makes it easy to mistake the title for another phrase entirely, while still keeping with the fantastical tsarpunk setting of Six of Crows. The most compelling aspects of Six of Crows are its plot, characters, and world. I absolutely love Bardugo's attention to world-building. I often find YA fantasy to be rather lacking in the world-building department, but I was highly impressed by the world in in this novel. While it has not been created as a completely alien world, it is still an impressive fusion of Amsterdam, perhaps a bit of Venice, and a healthy dose of the fantastical. It's amazing and it swallows you completely. The plot of the book is also fantastic. It's a heist story at heart, but also ties in loose threads from the end of the “Grisha trilogy” (Holt) and some lovely discussions of ethics. Finally, and most importantly, romance does not hijack the plot. This is huge for a YA novel, because despite the romance being relegated to a subplot for two characters and lightly being touched on for the other possible couples, Six of Crows is very YA. I was hugely impressed by this, because it is very hard to find non-romance–focused YA novels. Finally, we reach the characters, and I loved them all. Nina and Matthias have a lovely story line of ethics, love, and betrayal, Kaz and Inej have interesting backstories and flesh out wonderfully, and Wylan and Jesper play off each other in a very wonderful way. In addition, the full group interactions are wonderful, hilarious, touching, and tense. In short, the book was everything I expected from Bardugo and more.  I was not disappointed in any way by Six of Crows, but one major flaw did stand out to me. As a major fan of the trilogy, I was easily able to slip into the world of this sister series, but someone who is not so familiar with Bardugo's other work might have less of an easy time understanding what's going on. Six of Crows is far more character-driven than the previous plot-oriented series. Therefore the world-building expands on the previous work rather than standing on its own. While Six of Crows would be enjoyable to someone not familiar with the Grisha-verse, it will appeal mostly to fans of the previous series. I absolutely adored this book. I don't think I can say this enough. It was everything I wanted and more. Now, I desperately want the sequel, but I'm just going to have to be patient. Finally, I think this is one of the few books I've read that's held up to its marketing blurbs. While I've never seen Oceans 11, I'm currently reading George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire and can therefore say that the Game of Thrones comparison is not only apt, but spot-on. Six of Crows is complicated, richly plotted, and well worth your time.—Ella W., 15 BARTOLETTI, Susan Campbell. Terrible Typhoid Mary: A True Story of the Deadliest Cook in America. HMH. Aug. 2015. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780544313675. Gr 5 Up—I like the cover, but I do not feel that it reflects the contents of the book.  It shows Mary as cruel and plotting, which she wasn't.  She had no intention of infecting and killing people, and at the time, her understanding of germs and illness was entirely acceptable.  She did not believe that she was harming anyone.  Even if the strands of loose hair were taken out of Mary's face on the cover, it would reflect the contents and her personality better. The most compelling aspect of this book is learning about early ideas of germs, illness, and American rights. The germ theory was very new when Mary was alive.  She probably hadn't even heard of germs before she was held for spreading typhoid.  The idea of being a healthy carrier probably seemed absurd to her. I had also heard that Mary was cruel and meant to kill, but she didn't. It was unreasonable to ask Mary to allow herself to be quarantined without understanding why.  She thought it was just bad luck that people got typhoid in every house that she worked in, and she always tried to help heal them.  The people trying to quarantine her were also very harsh and saw Mary as a threat to public health, not as a human being. The first person to approach Mary walked into the kitchen that Mary was currently working in and told her to give blood samples and possibly be quarantined.  She was told that she was spreading typhoid germs that where thriving inside of her. She chased him into the street with a knife. Mary also had next to no rights. She was quarantined against her will and went almost without a trial, and got no fair trial. She was pretty much kidnapped.  She was then forced to live on an isolated island.  Eventually she was allowed to go back to the mainland, if she agreed to not cook for anyone.  Mary only knew how to cook. It was how she made a living. Although Mary was the first healthy carrier found in the United States, she was not the only one. There were even other healthy typhoid carriers.  None of them had to go through what Mary went through. Learning about early germ theory and American rights are the best parts of this book. "Typhoid Mary" had her civil rights violated and was thought of as nothing more than a threat to public health and something to be stopped.—Olivia C., 14  COZZO, Karole. How to Say I Love You Out Loud. Feiwel & Friends/Swoon Reads. Aug. 2015. pap. $9.99. ISBN 9781250063595.  Gr 7 Up—The book is very hard to put down! I was sitting in my room until 1:00 a.m. with the book, some pretzels, and a box of tissues. Readers should have a box of tissues at the ready.—Sarah H., 12 MOSKOWITZ, Hannah. A History of Glitter and Blood. Chronicle. Aug. 2015. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9781452129426. Gr 10 Up— In a world where gnomes prey on immortal fairies—leaving them alive but feeling all the pain from their missing parts—Beckan, Josha, Cricket, and Scrap survive in the only ways they can. But Ferrum is a war zone, and peace within their close-knit group and in the outside world seems more and more unlikely every day. I HATE the cover of A History of Glitter and Blood. I rarely use all-caps in my reviews, but this called for it. Yes, I know that the cover is supposed to be glittery, but it's still boring and it still doesn't fit the book at all. There's just a girl on the cover, and glitter, and this doesn't fit a rich, complex book like A History of Glitter and Blood at all. It's too light and washed out, and even though Ferrum has a very industrial society and feels like it would be colored in exclusively shades of silver in the book, the cover just feels pastel. This is a dark fairy tale about war, belonging, and discrimination, and it gets a bland cover with an unpleasant title font and the author's name in a nigh-unreadable tiny font that clashes horribly. The most compelling aspects of A History of Glitter and Blood were the world and the way it was written. The world of the novel is unlike anything I've read about, with an interesting social system and a completely fascinating and disturbing air. This is not a fairy world I'd ever experienced, with odd fantasy creatures, and gnomes who prey on immortal fairies. It's dark, sticky, and encrusted with glitter, and I loved every minute I spent in it. The writing helped me fall in love with the world even more. A History of Glitter and Blood is written like a memoir-in-progress by one of the characters, and this is what makes it special. The narrative regularly breaks the fourth wall with asides to the readers, retcons, the narrator ranting to himself, and notes to both readers and narrator. It's an interesting technique, and the book is all the better for it. But I'm not going to lie: A History of Glitter and Blood was weird. I'm not sure if it was weird in a good way or a bad way, or if it was just weird. Honestly, I don't even know if I liked it or not. It was that strange. In addition, while I think it was a worthwhile reading experience, the world was not as fleshed out as it could be, and I wanted more details. I wanted more backstory, more character development, more fleshing out of the main conflict. It was almost as if the format limited the actual story line, in addition to making the book very special. This is just a very weird book and I'm not sure what I thought about it at all. The quirkiness of A History of Glitter and Blood is not the only reason I cannot in good conscience recommend it to anyone. There are many sections of fourth wall–breaking where almost every other word is the f-word. While, personally, I have no problem with this, I understand why others do. More pressingly, the main four characters are prostitutes, making this a book that is not appropriate for younger YA readers, though older ones who read things like Susann Cokal’s The Kingdom of Little Wounds (Candlewick, 2013)—a personal favorite of mine—might be more of the target audience.— Ella W., 15 REYNOLDS, Luke. The Looney Experiment. Blink. Aug. 2015. Tr $15.99. ISBN 9780310746423. Gr 5-8—Atticus's father leaves the family, Atticus's bully won't leave him alone, Atticus's crush doesn't notice him, Atticus's classmates think that he is a wuss, and Atticus's new teacher, Mr. Looney, is absolutely nuts. Then Atticus realizes that he can stop his bully, his crush does notice him, Atticus's classmates can be easily persuaded that he is not a wuss, and Mr. Looney is not only not nuts, he is brilliant. The cover's likeness to a notebook page with doodles helped it seem sincere, but also looked pretty juvenile. Personally, I liked it, but some teens probably wouldn't want to read it because from the cover it looks sort of like Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I think it definitely represents the funny aspects of the book, but it doesn't really convey all the deepness and sadness inside this title. The vivid characters were the most compelling aspect of the book. All of them were so realistic and each had flaws that I could relate to. I especially enjoyed the character of Audrey Higgins, and laughed out loud during Atticus's daydreams.  She also has the same name as me which is always cool. I was disappointed in the more unrealistic aspects, such as how Danny wasn't suspended until he had been bullying Atticus for four years. I am disappointed with our school system, but they probably would have spotted it beforehand. Also, the divorce was not quite accurate. You need more than a few days to fill out the paperwork and get it approved. A friend of mine just went through her parents getting divorced. This book uses a lot less swearing than most teen books which is refreshing, and I love the voice of Atticus.—Audrey C., 13 Another take on Drowning Is Inevitable, which was reviewed in the July 17 column. STANLEY, Shalanda. Drowning Is Inevitable. Random. Sept. 2015. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780553508284. Gr 9 Up—READ THIS BOOK. IT IS FRESH AND LOVELY. Olivia has spent every day of her life living with the constant stares that the people of local St. Francisville keep giving her, always expectant, that before she turns 18, she'll follow in the steps of her mother, who committed suicide by drowning in the Mississippi River. But there is one person who sees Olivia for who she is—not as Lillian, her late mother—and his name is Jamie. He has been Olivia's best friend since kindergarten, and they’ve always looked out for one another and are inseparable. Olivia won't kill herself because she has to look out for Jamie; in the house next door, Jamie's father is a drunk who beats up his mom every night. Tired of fleeing to Olivia's house every day to escape the torture of hearing his father's cruelty, Jamie has Olivia come over to his house to make dinner with him and his mom. Conflict arrives, when Jamie's dad shows up at the house early and drunk and he starts hitting on Olivia and beating up Jamie’s mom. Jamie reacts, because he's had enough and tragedy ensues. In a frantic rush, Olivia calls her boyfriend Max, and her other friend Maggie, and all four of them begin a road trip to New Orleans because Jamie is wanted for first-degree murder. This kicks off an adventure of survival helped only by people's goodwill, hide-and-seek with the police, and Olivia's quest to know more about the mother whose shadow she stands in. Because suicide isn't a trait, it's a choice. This is a book you will pick up with your own two hands and not be able to put down. Every time I had to tear myself away from this story, I groaned. The writing style is fabulous and the character's voice is simple, almost like she understands everything about how the world spins. There were amazing characters in this book, all of which were so well-rounded; I thought they were real. This book is more believable beyond reason, which is an odd thing to say considering how I hardly find a book that is so truthful. Nothing was exaggerated beyond necessity. The plotlines also felt fresh, like there was a reasonable conflict that Olivia had to solve along with her three friends: Jamie, Max, and Maggie. I was disappointed with nothing. You hear me? NOTHING! Which is all the more reason why you should read this book right now. But like every fabulous novel, there had to be an ending which would bring you to tears. If you are lucky enough to see this review, I really want you to stop reading this right now. Find the book. Pick it up and start reading it. Go ahead, I'll wait.–Sam G., 14