Archive - books for young people

2021

Eva Frantz: Queen of the Night, 2021 – also as an e-book

The book begins with a prologue, where we live in the year 1786. On a gray, quiet morning, the carts are going towards the hill. There are not many people in the convoy, besides eight soldiers, a priest and a scribe. That's what Christine, a young woman who is being carted off to execution, counts. Christine is tired, she can't resist when they push her off the cart and take her to the slaughtering place. Christine is accused of infanticide. He hasn't done it, but who believes him, no one. Cristine still has the right to speak before her death, and she speaks, cursing the place. "Let the place be cursed until justice prevails." After this, Christine falls to her knees and the hangman raises his sword.

Helsinki 1915. Twelve-year-old Viktor has moved with his mother and grandmother to Helsinki, Boulevard, from Paris. Life had been open there; mother was an opera singer at the Paris Opera. The home was always full of flowers, mother was happy and so was Viktor. However, everything changes in Helsinki. The mother has no job and seems depressed. The grandmother who has moved in is rude. Viktoria is bullied at school, the worst bully is the janitor's son Algot. Bullying is not just being mean, but Viktor is abused for this.

But good things also happen, the director of the Russian Theater asks the mother for the main role of the opera, the Queen of the Night. There has been an accident, the singer of the role has been injured in an accident during rehearsals and a replacement is needed for the role. Mother agrees and Viktor also gets a few roles in the show.

Everything seems great, but Viktor finds out that the opera house is haunted. Someone wants evil, the mother is in danger. Viktor is scared, but luckily he gets help from Agnes, the daughter of stage master Andersson. Help is needed, because the singing ghost is not over yet. Real evil lives in the basement of the opera house.

Finnish-Swedish Eva Frantz has once again written an extremely exciting book for young people.

 

Åsa Larsson & Ingela Korsell (writers), Henrik Jonsson (illustrator): A wand (Pax : 1), 2021 – also as an e-book

The start of the horror fantasy series The Spell Wand is set in the small Swedish town of Mariefred. The city has already existed in the Middle Ages and a monastery has been located there. All that's left of it is the basement and the magical library there. Only a few know about the library. Its books house the forces of evil that must not be unleashed. The library is guarded by elderly siblings who are only thought to be gardeners in the castle park. Evil has remained for centuries inside the covers of books, but now the predictions are dark: "evil will come upon us and the innocent will die"

At the same time, Stockholm brothers Alrik and Viggo move to the town. They come to live in a foster home and once again go to a new school, Alrik to the sixth and Viggo to the fourth grade. The boys are used to unfair treatment and once again they immediately get into a fight during recess and get the blame on their necks. But when the evil spirits are unleashed, Alrik and Viggo accidentally get involved in the events. The courage and intelligence of the brothers are needed and they grow up to be the heroes of the book.

The first part ends excitingly with the beginning events of the next book. It is an exciting and short children's book illustrated in cartoon style. Something like this has been needed! Not suitable for little ones, because, for example, in the very first pages, the necks of the little devil who eats children are twisted upside down.

Elizabeth Acevedo: With all condiments, 2020 – also as an e-book.

17-year-old Emoni Santiago is a high school student, a fast-food restaurant worker and a single mother to her toddler daughter Emma ("Babygirl"). In addition to this, she takes care of her aging grandmother, takes care of the housework and tries to keep things in order with her child's father's family.

So it goes without saying that Emon's life is quite full – it revolves around everyday life and responsibilities. My mother is almost convinced that her own youth is over. Cooking is the only thing that frees him from everyday worries, and Emon has a natural talent for cooking. With her food, Emoni makes people feel things; food is like magic.

When Emon's school starts a new elective, related to cooking, Emon has to be able to participate despite the busyness of everyday life. However, the course is not as easy as Emoni imagined, the teacher Chef Ayden wants to test the self-confident chef and challenge him outside his comfort zone. Emoni doesn't give up but makes her way to the best of the course. However, the challenges don't end there: the course includes a study trip to Spain. However, Emon doesn't have any extra money to spend, and even if he did, it would go to Babygirl's new winter shoes. Will Emoni have to give up her dream for the sake of her family?

Emoni also gets to know a new boy who came to her school and tries to learn to trust both herself and others again after the previous bad relationship. The book is full of interesting characters, both in Emon's family and circle of friends. The book also deals with important issues such as minority rights (the status and life of dark-skinned and other ethnic minorities in society), young parenthood, organizing one's own affairs, bearing responsibility, difficult relationships and dreams that seem almost unattainable.

 

Sarah Crossan: Moonrise, 2020 – also as an e-book

New York native Joe was seven years old when he last saw his big brother Ed. As a child, Ed was everything to Joe; the only person in the world that he could secure and trust. The departure of his brother was a tough experience for the little boy. Joe grew up with his older sister and aunt.

It's been ten years. Seventeen-year-old Joe goes to visit his brother far away in Texas. Ed has spent all that time on the 'farm', the infamous prison. He was once arrested for shooting a police officer and received the death sentence for it. For ten years, he has been waiting for the execution of his sentence and has gone through almost all appeal possibilities. None of them have gone through. The execution date has been set and Joe wants to spend the last weeks with his brother. There is still hope for the charges to be overturned.

Joe travels to Texas, gets a rickety place to stay and even gets a part-time job. He spends the afternoons in prison with his brother. He gets to know his brother again and gets to hear Ed's story about the course of events. This short-sentence verse novel is deeply absorbing. The reader immerses himself in Joe's world; suffers in the hot Texas heat and goes through the brothers' childhood and mutual relationship. The girl Nell, whom Joe meets in Texas, brings light and goodness to the book.

The book is an impressive reading experience and is based on true events. At the age of fifteen, the author saw a BBC documentary about a young man whose dignity on death row made a deep impression on him. The book makes you think about crime and punishment, guilt and innocence; justice and injustice and it leaves a strong impression on its reader.

 

Siiri Enoranta: Summer storm, 2020

Thirteen-year-old Andrew paid attention to Josh almost as soon as his family moved to the city of Queensbridge. There would have been more to marvel at in the city: a large part of the traffic was handled by small planes, pilots who used indigo as their fuel, that wonderful, almost magical substance.

Josh is the snobbish son of a rich family who leads the Sooty Wings gang at school. Around him revolves a group of vicious tailgaters; it is always ready to bully all outsiders. Despite that, Andrew desperately wants to join Nokisiip. For that he has to complete the task and pass the tests.

Andrew gets a great opportunity to get close to his crush and complete the tests when Josh's family offers his father a job and Andrew joins. The father is a famous child psychiatrist and is hired to take care of Josh's little sister, Penelope. Andrew and his father move into Josh's family's lavish villa for the summer. Penelope has 'gone mad' after witnessing a murder that shocked the small town. Penelope is a very original girl anyway, arrogant, furious and contradictory. The atmosphere of the last summer of Andrew's childhood is dense, threatening, mysterious and intense at the same time.

The densely atmospheric text strongly absorbs its readers into its world. The book is in the category of world literature, and Siiri Enoranta has not been awarded several times for that reason.

 

Jenni Hendriks and Ted Caplan: A really tough trip, 2020

A hysterically funny book about a difficult subject. Veronica is a seventeen-year-old American girl whose life is perfect. She does well in school, has a good home, a boyfriend that everyone admires, and many good friends. After high school, Veronica is going to a top university. One day, his world completely collapses.

To her horror, Veronica discovers that she is pregnant. She takes the test in the school restroom and there her childhood best friend, Bailey, whom she has since abandoned, accidentally learns about her pregnancy. The girls haven't spoken to each other in four years and Bailey has been a lone wolf at school with her landing shoes and turquoise hair. Now Bailey has reason to be gloating.

Veronica wants an abortion, but in her home state, a minor is not allowed to terminate her pregnancy without her guardian's permission. And under no circumstances does she want to reveal her pregnancy to her parents, who have always been proud of their perfect daughter. He also hides it from his best friends. However, Veronica tells her boyfriend Kevin and is dismayed when Kevin is happy about the future baby and proposes to the girl outright.

So Veronica has no one to turn to but Bailey. He blackmails her into helping himself. The girls sell Veronica's new engagement ring, get a big chunk of money and start driving nearly a thousand miles to New Mexico to a clinic where the abortion is successful. The trip doesn't go according to plan at all. One weekend can fit an avalanche of events: not only car thefts and getaways, but also a strip bar, a stalking boyfriend, remote entertainment, a herd of cows and a limousine. In addition to that, there is also laughter, arguments, complaints, horror, pain and friendship.

One of the authors works in the film industry and notices it. Reading the book is like watching a movie. Undoubtedly, this John Green-esque road trip will also appear on the big screen. The book has a lot of coarse language in places, but it is not essential. At the end you will find out what it is.

 

Kim Liggett: Year of Grace, 2020 – also as an e-book

As the girls approach the age of 16, they are banished from their home village to the wilderness for a year. This has been happening for years. The year is a year of grace and it is not talked about, of course it is whispered secretly. In the year of grace, girls must face their magic and power, with which they can drive youths and men crazy and make other women jealous. Girls face their magic and lose it in the year of grace, after which they are ready to take their place in the community, as meek and helpful wives, under their husbands, giving birth to male children. The Year of Grace is a difficult year, not everyone returns and those who return are completely changed, either physically or spiritually or both.

Tierney has always been a rebel and has secretly gained the rights to live more freely than the other girls in the community. Before the year of grace, certain selected girls get a veil, the boy of the community has chosen the girl and gives the veil as a sign that he is waiting for his future wife after the year of grace. Not everyone can wear a veil and Tierney is sure that they can't and she doesn't even want one. All the other girls want a veil because the alternative is a life as a field worker or something.

After the shroud ceremony, the girls set off towards the goal, towards the year of grace. Even the journey there is full of dangers, predators are lurking to kidnap the girl, to skin her. Not everyone even makes it there.

After arriving there, a strange force takes over the girls, no one is the same and everyone is in danger. Tierney knows that everyone needs to pull together to get through the year. Nothing will come of it. Also, the girl in Tierney's dreams is guiding him, but where?

An impressive book, we live somewhere in time, future or past. Men have all the power, a wife can end up on the gallows in an instant, all it takes is one wrong sentence, a word said in a dream or the man getting bored. Everyone has to watch these hangings, even the children. However, hope emerges in the book, change is possible, maybe.

 

Katharine McGee: American royalty, 2020 – also as an e-book

America is a monarchy, George Washington became America's first king. This book is about what America looks like two hundred and fifty years later, with the descendants of King George in power.

Princess Beatrice is the crown princess, she has been raised to her future position as queen from a young age and she has embraced her role perfectly. Still, she is surprised when her parents, King George IV and Queen Adelaide, ask her to start looking for a partner, a future royal consort, and of course only royal consorts are accepted. Beatrice has no romantic experiences of any kind and the idea terrifies her.

Meanwhile, Beatrice's younger siblings, twins Samantha and Jefferson, lead a carefree life. Samantha feels inferior because she feels that Beatrice is so superior in everything: beauty, intelligence and also has excellent manners. This causes Sam to act even wilder. Jefferson, on the other hand, is every American girl's dream. He has dated Daphne's people for three years. Daphne is just the kind of girl to be a prince's consort and America loves her. However, Americans don't know anything about Daphne's true nature, they only see a beautiful exterior. Jeff and Daphne have broken up and Jeff has set his sights on his sister Sam's best friend Nina. Nina is a student and "from the people". They keep their relationship a secret, but Daphne finds out and a dirty game begins.

Beatrice and Sam also have love worries, both in love. But the objects of love are impossible, although both princesses receive reciprocated love. However, in the lives of royals, the crown comes first and only then love.

The book is entertaining and exciting. At the end, completely unexpected things happen and the book must be continued, the lives of the royal youth are left unfinished, will the princesses find their love and what about Jeff, will Daphne manage to get a prince consort for herself...

 

Katharine McGee: American Royals: Majesty, 2020 – also as an e-book

21-year-old Beatrice has just been crowned Queen of America. However, she and the entire royal family are still overshadowed by the sadness of the sudden death of Beatrice's father, the king. American Royals: Majesty is the immersive sequel to the book that started the series, American Royals.

Given a huge responsibility, Beatrice makes drastic decisions in her relationships. Will he get married just for example and for the pleasure of the American people or is listening to his own feelings more important and in the end a better decision for the people as well? Does Beatrice even know who her heart beats for? Beatrice is America's first queen. She is surrounded by thousands of people who think that a woman cannot act as a credible ruler.

Although Beatrice feels terribly lonely at times, she still has a few true friends around her who believe in her as herself. As the book progresses, Beatrice's self-esteem grows and she herself begins to wonder if she really needs a prince consort to act as a leader. So what about the most anticipated event in decades: the royal wedding?

Samantha, Beatrice's younger sister, has always felt like she lives in her sister's shadow. She is an excited party princess whose purpose in life has always seemed to be adventures in stories about scandals. As the book progresses, Samantha makes an exploration of herself. Who is he really and what is his place in the world? Will her feelings for Teddy, Beatrice's fiancé, remain, or will someone completely different enter the picture, bringing out new sides of Samantha?

In this part of the book series, the machinations of Daphne, already introduced in the first part, continue. Daphne's goal in life is to have Prince Jefferson for herself and reach the highest social level that a non-royal like her can climb. But is Jeff the one for Daphne? Is there someone else around who has loved Daphne for years? Will Daphne realize her true feelings, and will it be too late by then? While Daphne plots, Samantha's best friend Nina tries to get over her ex-boyfriend, Prince Jeff. All of this creates a cobweb-like interpersonal drama, which can only be understood by reading the book from cover to cover!

 

Kristina Ohlsson: Zombie fever, 2020 – also as an audiobook

The author, known for his popular young and adult detective stories, is starting a new exciting series. Zombie fever offers its readers horror this time. In the book, a painfully hot summer is lived in a small Swedish town. There are a lot of stinging wasps, but even more trouble is coming.

Twelve-year-old Herbert lost his parents six years ago and has been living with his grandfather ever since. They have a small inn, which is especially popular with local bird watchers. Now a new resident arrives at the inn in the middle of the night. He is not interested in birds. The man has two heavy suitcases with him, one of which seems to be dripping with blood! At the same time, a strange fever breaks out in the village. Herbert and his friend Sally find out how many of their friends become life-threateningly ill. There is no cure for the disease. Why doesn't everyone get sick, though? Friends are forced to participate in dangerous events.

What does the resident of the inn have to do with all this? Why are dead animals that have been bitten in the neck starting to be found in the village. Who's walking around covered in blood? Why does an old windmill act as a refuge? What secret does Herbert learn about himself? The tension is maintained until the end of the book and more is expected.

 

Salla Simukka: Locked, 2020 – also as an e-book

"We were picked up in the middle of a bright day, politely and calmly"

Fifty young people are arrested and imprisoned. They will be judged for the crimes they will commit in the future. All young people are seventeen years old. You can get out if you guess your crime and confess it before you turn eighteen. Otherwise, he will have to serve his entire sentence. No one has any idea what they are accused of. The name of the system is "Reconciliation before the crime"'

The plant is fully automated. The young people do all the prison work themselves: cooking, cleaning, laundry. There is one hour of outdoor activities per day. They are monitored with a bracelet, which punishes wrongdoing with electric shocks. Sometimes orders from unknown supervisors are heard over the loudspeakers.

Five young people get a voice in the book: Kaspian, Vega, Meea, Oliver and Johannes. Some of the young people progress to supervisors, which gives them access to better conditions; get privileges and have the right to punish others.

Soon a spirit of rebellion will arise in the prison….

 

Zoe Sugg & Amy McCullogh: The magpie society: a secret society, 2020

"The body lay on the beach, the waves splashed over the soles of its feet. The girl was lying on her stomach, but her head was tilted to one side, her lips were unnaturally blue.... And on the back a complicated tattoo depicting a magpie."

When the American Audrey starts a new school in England, she finds herself in the middle of a tragedy. The Illumen Hall boarding school in a new country with its medieval atmosphere and discipline alone would be enough, but in addition to that, the whole school mourns Lola, who died at the end of the semester party in early summer. According to the police, it was an accident: Lola fell off the cliff either by accident or by committing suicide. But why would a popular, successful and admired girl take her own life?

A podcast soon begins to appear claiming that Lola was killed and more victims are coming. Rumors begin to circulate even more frequently; fear, confusion and mutual suspicion take over the school. What really happened to Lola? Who is behind the podcast?

Audrey soon finds herself embroiled in investigating the death of a girl she doesn't know. Together with their roommate Ivy, they take turns as narrators of the book. At the end, nothing is clear, but even stranger, and the reader is left with excitement waiting for the next part!

 

Laura Suomela: Airspace violation, 2020

16-year-old Rosa spends her summer vacation. The sun is shining and the nice guys, Helmi and Elli, are the best holiday company. However, life changes a little when mother's boyfriend Jari moves in with Rosa and Rosa's mother. Jari is a nice man from Ostrobothnia and Rosa is happy when her mother is happy. Son Iiro, a young man starting high school, moves in with Jari. Rosa and Iiro are from completely different worlds, Rosa has interrupted her catering studies in the winter and Iiro is aiming for the boarder's papers in high school. Collisions are inevitable. In addition, Rosa's summer job as a telemarketer does not start well, on the fourth day of work she hits a wall and Rosa decides to quit. Before finally leaving, he makes another phone call and Samu answers the call. Samu's day is not going well, he is locked up in a small warehouse and no one answers the phone calls. Luckily, Rosa happened to call and luckily Samu and his warehouse live nearby, so Rosa goes to rescue Samu. Things begin to progress quickly and after a while Rosa finds herself in Ruisrock, in a new, nice company, and of course Helmi and Elli too.

The book is progressing nicely and as can usually happen in life, everything is not as it seems, especially with Iiro. In addition, there is love, and that is always wonderful!

 

Emma Sofiana Söderholm: Even for a moment alive, 2020

Once upon a time, Elsi's family was very ordinary. Now everything is wrong. After the divorce of the parents, the mother moved to America. As an artist, he focuses on his work and only manages to play a few times a year. He hardly has time to read the messages either. Father is on sick leave due to depression. Elsi's important big brother Topias hasn't been home for six months. He moves around in drug gangs and Elsi is very worried about him.

Elsi is a spring high school student. He should be focusing on his upcoming graduation papers, but worrying about his brother is distracting him from focusing on school. One day, Elsi gets to know Kallee, with whom Topias is staying. Elsi's intention is to save Topias, but it turns out differently. Elsi falls in love with Kalle, Kalle also offers her smokes from the joint and it doesn't stop at one time. The girl starts staying at Kalle's place herself. School and everything else remains secondary to me. Elsi quickly sinks deeper into the brutal world of drugs. For young girls, that world is particularly brutal.

A long overdue realistic book about the drug world and its addictiveness. Even written by a young author. As you might expect, the book doesn't end well, but it's not bad for everyone.

 

Vilu Varento: Be cool, 2020

An incredible mix of the everyday life of seventh graders: going to school, arguing with parents, groping sexuality and falling in love, teasing and embarrassment, shame and fun. Added with hostages, international con business, detective meining and disembodied!

Kullervo, or Paw, starts the seventh grade. He equally hates and is ashamed of both his real name and his nickname. At the very beginning of school, the shame only grows when Tatsu messes up at every turn so that he gets a strange reputation. Fortunately, my best friend Justus is in the same class. Right now, Justus is most interested in his own 'Jeremy'. After the first few pages, you feel that the book is mainly focused on one young man's egging and another's passion for the size of his genitals, but then something else starts to happen, and a lot!

The popular energy drink, Be cool, is available free of charge at the school. In particular, opo offers different flavors freely and organizes familiarization visits to a nearby factory. A couple of years ago, Tassu's big sister disappeared, reportedly went to dance school in New York. However, the boy is surprised that nothing has been heard from his sister. How do the shame of youth, a missing sister, an energy drink and the mysterious research institute Ignom inc. join together?

II Davidson: The Ghost network: Activate, 2019

This is the start of an exciting and eventful international adventure in the world of hacking.

The reader soon finds himself involved in a complex battle between good and evil that is like a hybrid of Harry Potter and James Bond. At the beginning of the book, thirteen-year-old American friends John and Slack get caught in a hacking prank. Because of that, the boys are sent far to the north to the high-tech special education center, Sudenpesä. The school is located in Alaska, on a small island near the Russian border. There, young people are strictly monitored with the help of an implant, and there is no access outside the school, and students are not even allowed to contact outside the school.

It is soon revealed that the students have come from all over the world and they are all super talented code breakers. The boys get to know the Ethiopian Salome and the Russian Eva the best. Akane, John's hacker friend living in Japan, also plays an important role. The most popular of the teachers is Roy Lykos and the most feared is the principal Irma Reiffelt, a former GDR secret police spy.

However, not everything is as it first seems. It begins to become clear to the reader that the main characters are united by something other than technological top intelligence. How do the events relate to John's father, who is missing, maybe dead, and has made a career as a brain surgeon? The book also quickly dives into the world of artificial intelligence, biotechnology and cyborgs. And ends with an exciting escape. Fortunately, The Ghost network has already been continued.

The book is an international collaboration and the author II Davidson is a pseudonym. Aleksi Delikouras, known for being a geek, has created the characters and the plot, they have been edited into English by Gillan Philip and translated into Finnish by Inka Parpola. The text is easy to read and has an emphasis on dialogue, which captivates even eleven-year-olds.

 

Juno Dawson: Model piece, 2019

Jana Novak is a 16-year-old girl from London starting high school. However, Jana's ordinary life as a young girl suddenly changes when a talent scout finds her at an amusement park. Jana signs a contract with a modeling agency, and dozens of modeling jobs come pouring in. It was as if the whole world had fallen in love with Jana's being. Jana gets to experience how it feels when her face is in advertisements around the world and her name is constantly on people's lips.

Jana soon finds out, however, that the model's work is not what one could conclude from the advertising pictures. Models are treated like objects and the work is both mentally and physically tough. Young girls are thrown out into the world on their own for many photo shoots and working hours are impossible. In addition, agents encourage skinny girls to lose even more weight. The bitter modeling world feels unreal and Jana finds it difficult to combine her new busy life with her growing environment.

After the first fashion weeks and photo shoots, Jana is dead tired. In order to numb his emotions, he has popped a variety of narcotic pills and hasn't slept or eaten properly for a long time. However, he has made more money in a few weeks than many in their entire lives. The book truthfully describes the feelings of exhaustion, loneliness, popularity, admiration, homesickness, addiction and the growth of a young woman, as well as the raw model world where only a few people can really be trusted.

In addition, the book tells about the oversexualization of girls and sexual harassment. Jana ends up suing the photographer who abused his position. Will Jana be able to influence even a little the future of the modeling industry or will her efforts prove to be in vain?

Reading the book is an eye-opening experience that really brings out that "all that glitters is not gold". Although the book's themes are quite heavy, it gives perspective on, for example, one's own body image and the modeling business.

 

Henrik Fexeus: The lost ones (The Last Illusion: 1), 2019

The book is like a nightmare from start to finish. The main characters and the reader are fooled all the time. You can never know what is real, what is a dreamlike hibernation.

The series will be continued soon. The main characters are fifteen-year-old Adam and seven-year-old Ky. The venue is Stockholm, but not as we know it. The Stockholm of the book is like a prison from which there is no escape. Invisible walls enclose the residents.

At the beginning of the book, Adam begins to change. Is he sick or slipping into another reality for some other reason? At the same time, a hole appears in Ky's wall. He enlarges it, crawls inside it and enters another world. Both Ky and Adam both end up underground; They go to Stockholm's basements and secret service tunnels and join a youth group there, led by the eccentric and scary Bossi. Can the Boss be trusted? What about others? ​Young people have to flee hs. grays trying to take them over. What do the grays want from them? What happens to young people? The atmosphere of the book is chilling and the reader is almost as confused at the end as at the beginning.

 

Eva Frantz: Department 23, 2019 – also as an e-book

Set at the beginning of the last century and awarded Runeberg Junior 2019, the thriller begins with a rather fateful introduction: "My name is Stiina and I will die soon." The reader is immediately hooked.

Ten-year-old Stiina has lung disease. He is coughing up blood and is in poor condition. The girl's home is poor; the father is dead and the mother has six small children to support. When the doctor treating Stiina tells her that the girl has a chance to get treatment in the Vadelmarinte sanatorium, located in the countryside, in the middle of a fresh forest, the family clings to this straw with hope.

The sanatorium is as handsome as a castle. It has four floors and a magnificent tower, while Stiina's home in Helsinki only has a kitchen and a pantry. The environment is beautiful and the doctor treating Stiina is wonderful. Often at night another patient sneaks into Stiina's room, little Ruben. Together they have an adventure in a night sanatorium.

However, not everything is as open as it seems. The nurse, Sister Emerentia, is stern and scary. The East Wing wards are said to be closed due to the recent fire, but there's still something strange going on in Ward 23. Why don't any of the adults even seem to notice Ruben? And why is a girl with heart disease brought to the pulmonary sanatorium? The tension of the book only thickens towards the end.

 

Jenny Jägerfeld: Comedy Queen, 2019

The book begins with the definition of a funny person, because the girl Sasha wants to make people laugh and has decided to become a stand-up comedian. And that's what he's seriously working on. Sasha would also have grief to deal with because her mother has recently died. The father and close circle are worried about the girl. But Sasha is determined not to mourn and not to cry and especially not to do anything that her mother did. For this, he compiles a list of things to avoid. One of them is not to get attached to anyone or anything.

When the father promises the girl a long-awaited puppy for her twelfth birthday, it's really hard for Sasha to refuse it. But he does. Escaping everything that reminds her of her mother and is related to affection, Sasha tries to keep herself together. But the thing we avoid always comes across at some point. Sasha learns to make people laugh: she gets to perform at a stand-up club and makes the audience roar with laughter, but will she learn to cry?​

 

Courtney Summers: Sadie, 2019

Shocking things have happened in an American small town of 800 inhabitants: a 13-year-old girl has been found murdered. For 19-year-old big sister Sadie, little sister Mattie has been her whole life. After he dies, his world collapses. For the girls' single mother, intoxicants and ever-changing men have been more important than children. Three years ago, mother disappeared; nobody knows where. Since then, the girls have had to get along with each other.

The police have no leads on the killer, but Sadie is sure she knows her sister's killer. A desperate chase across the United States begins. With the help of clues from the people she meets along the way, Sadie tracks down her target. Nothing else matters to Sadie anymore than finding the murderer and getting revenge. At the same time, Sadie herself disappears.

The book follows the story from two perspectives. The second narrator is Sadie herself. The second level is a podcast hosted by a radio reporter who tries to reach not only the murderer but also Sadie and find out what really happened. The suspenseful thriller keeps the reader in its grip until the last page. The structure is so demanding and the topic dark that the book cannot be recommended for a beginner reader.

2018

Max Brallier & Douglas Holgate (photo) : The last types of the world, 2018

A richly illustrated dystopia filled with cruise humor, somewhat reminiscent of Neropati's diary. So a pioneer of his own kind.

Thirteen-year-old Jack has always been a basic baby until 42 days ago, everything changed. That is, everything when giant monsters, zombies and other big monsters took over the world. Jack is an orphan and his past has been full of changing foster families. He has absorbed his life attitude from video games.

After the end of the world, Jack has fortified himself in his tree house and fights the monster from there. Since it's a bit difficult alone, he teams up with his friend Quint and his former bully Dirk. Gaming skills are useful even after the end of the world. The boys have an ambitious task not only to fight against the teachers who have turned into zombies, but also to save the most beautiful girl in the world. June. But does June need a savior?

 

Jenny Han: To the boys I once loved, 2018

An affectionate and funny book about the ups and downs of teenage love starts the trilogy. Lara Jean is an American high school girl. He has led a peaceful life at school and at home. Her mother died years ago and her father, big sister and little sister are the most important people in the world to her. Lara has never dated, but has loved five different boys in her life. She has written love letters to all the boys that were never meant to be sent. He keeps these letters as memories in his mother's old hat box, completely secret from everyone else.

One of the five, and at the same time Lara's current love interest, is the boy next door, Josh. Too bad, he happens to be the big sister's boyfriend, and Lara doesn't want her feelings for Josh to come out at all! However, Lara has been able to spend a lot with her great love, because she, her sister and Josh have been a tight trio. Everything changes when the older sister moves to Scotland to study. She leaves Josh because she only visits home a couple of times a year in the future and doesn't believe in long distance relationships. Lara also starts avoiding Josh because she is afraid of her own feelings. Josh is completely broken.

Shortly after leaving, Lara's life gets even more complicated when someone finds her secret letters and mails them to all five boys. Lara's life is suddenly very embarrassing and messy. It gets even more complicated when one of the recipients of Lara's letter is the school's most wanted boy, Peter. His girlfriend has just left him for another boy. To get revenge on his ex, Peter asks Lara to pretend to be his new girlfriend for a while. Lara is at a loss not only with lies, but also with her own feelings. Who exactly are they beating for? The book keeps you in your grip until the end.

 

Satu Kivinen: Brush your teeth before you brush, 2018

The author's first work is a fun-filled spiel of cheesy chicklit aimed at teenage girls. Fourteen-year-old Sofia starts writing a diary in the fall of the eighth grade. He lives with his single mother and a dog named Raipe Helminen. The father hasn't been seen in Sofia's life for a while, but that doesn't seem to bother the girl. The things reported in the diary mainly consist of going to school, hanging out with best friends, appearance pressure and boyfriend dreams: "I wish I had a boyfriend or even B-cup tits."

In addition to her best friends, Iines and Leo, an important person in Sofia's life is godmother Päivi. The aunt saves her from many problems and from her aunt Sofia has absorbed numerous life instructions, which the girl is also happy to pass on to her friends: whiskey is a good elixir of life and the best moisturizer is semen.

Even in Sofia, words are bigger than actions. Despite her gentle language, she is quite inexperienced and a shy girl when it comes to the opposite sex. When Sofia falls in love with Perttu, it takes a long time before we even get close to a first kiss.

The book is comfortably caught up in time and it should be allowed to wait for a sequel.

 

Laura Lähteenmäki: One spring, 2018

With her novelty novel, Laura Lähteenmäki brings the events of 1918 within the reach of young readers. The events take place in Tampere and take place from spring to autumn. War and misery are depicted brutally, but at the same time with beautiful sensitivity. The linguistic contrast skilfully used by Lähteenmäki makes the book especially impressive.

The main characters are five factory girls. They are still almost children, 15-16 years old. The work at the shoe factory has ended and the girls work as nurses for the reds in the villa taken over by the whites. The girls do what they can, being uneducated and inexperienced, but it's not much when they hardly get food and personal care equipment. All the girls have their own background and the war also touches them personally.

When the situation for the reds gets worse, the girls also have to take up arms. That's not going well. Quiet Aada and energetic Bea get to speak in the book. Both have dreams for their future and despite everything, the young mind also embraces love, but is that also a death sentence under these circumstances? Do the girls have any future when there is no guarantee of survival?

 

Riina Mattila: Tremors, 2018

Eelia doesn't feel like a girl or a boy, she doesn't even want to be either. He was born Elisa, but that name has not been used for a long time. At the age of fourteen, Eelia realizes that, according to many, people like her do not have the right to love, or even the right to exist: "How does it feel to be fourteen and realize that the love I dreamed of was forbidden on four continents?".

Eelia lives in a small town, a baseball town, as she calls the place herself, and there, as in many small places, it's good to be the same as everyone else. Under no circumstances should you resign! Parents are very conservative; if pictures of the Pride march appear in the news, they are shocked, it shouldn't be shown to decent people, and children can be influenced, of course, little brother Ville, for example.

Eelia moves away from home to another city to an art-focused high school, where life is completely different from the baseball town. Friends, soul mates and the greatest of all: first love. Little fox-eyed girl Isla is something shocking and the love is mutual. But where do you get courage and daring to live your own life when you have been silent about everything since childhood?

Touching and heartfelt, the book is short and quick to read, suitable for seventh and eighth graders.

 

Karen M. McManus: One of us is lying, 2018 – also as an e-book

Five high school students, three boys, two girls, have to attend an after-session. In his own opinion, completely innocent; someone has framed them as guilty. However, the after-session is dramatically interrupted when one of the boys, Simon, dies after drinking a glass of water. And it's not an accident. A murder investigation begins, where all four remaining young people are suspected.

Out of the four suspects, Bronwyn is the perfect model student who will easily progress to university. Cooper is already a baseball star and the absolute favorite of the girls. Nate is a bad boy who finances his life with petty crime and Addy is a dazzling prom queen. As the thriller progresses, it is revealed that none of the young people are what they appear to others. They all have something to hide. Something they are afraid of revealing.

Before his death, Simon ran the school's infamous gossip blog, where he revealed the secrets of others. The blog was feared and loathed, but still everyone always read it. With the gossip, Simon had a lot of enemies. So many had reason to kill him. Just a day before his death, Simon was about to reveal something dark about the lives of Bronwyn, Cooper, Nate and Addy. The worst thing is that updates appear on Simon's blog even after the son's death.

The murder investigation progresses and each of the four young people takes turns being questioned and suspected. The reader does not get there easily; so cunningly, the author sometimes also leads us astray and finally leads us through complicated steps towards a surprising solution.

 

Kristina Ohlsson: Silver boy, 2018 – also as an audiobook

The second and independent sequel to the exciting detective series Lasilaps. Now the events are followed from the point of view of the twelve-year-old Aladdin. The name of the book comes from an old theft, when valuable silverware was stolen from the town's silversmith.

It's November in a small Swedish town. It is unusually cold and the river that flows through the city has also frozen over. That doesn't happen often. Aladdin's parents run a popular restaurant located in a water tower. Everyone praises its food. But now the parents have a problem: food is stolen from the restaurant at night. Because of the thefts, the parents are considering moving the family back to their old home country, Turkey. Aladdin is horrified; he doesn't want to go there.

At the same time, a strange boy begins to appear to Aladdin, who appears and disappears at the same time without leaving a trace. The boy always wears the same clothes: a shirt and shorts. In the cold of November! No one else sees the boy and Aladdin is not even believed. Is the boy Aladdin saw a ghost? Aladdin and his friends Billie and Simona set out to solve the restaurant's food thefts and at the same time solve the mystery of the strange boy. To their surprise, they find more unknown children.

 

Kristina Ohlsson: Glass children, 2018 – also as an audiobook

The first part of the thriller trilogy. Billie moves into a new house with her mother. The father is dead and the mother wants a change of scenery. The new home is already creepy in appearance, like a haunted house. It's also strange that the previous residents of the house seemed to have a sudden departure; all their furniture has remained in the house.

Billie doesn't like the house at all. There's something really creepy about that. One night, the girl wakes up to a knock on the window, but there is no one behind it. Other scary things also happen: the lamp in the guest room swings every now and then by itself and objects move without anyone touching them. Mom doesn't notice these oddities and gets angry when Billie tries to tell her about them.

In the library, Billie meets an old woman who can tell more about the creepy happenings in the house. After hearing them, the reader also thinks that it is necessary to get out of the house. He gathers his courage and sets out with his friends Aladdin and Simona to solve the mystery of the house. But who were the glass children who named the book?

 

Jukka-Pekka Palviainen: Tunes, 2018

The book starts at a fast pace, when Valtteri is speeding on his tuned moped. He gets the police after him and runs away along the sidewalks. At first, everything goes well until it crashes: an open fracture occurs in the thigh and you won't be able to get home from the hospital quickly. Of course, the result is also the loss of the card for a while and eventually also fines.

It's still not so boring in the hospital when Valtteri gets to know Amanda, who is the same age. The girl often visits her grandfather, who is Valtteri's roommate. Amanda is a cheerful case who keeps an online video blog called My Day. His vlog is full of hilarious verbal acrobatics and has a huge following. However, the situation changes when Amanda is attacked by an online bully. Who sends nasty hate mail? And is Valtteri and Amanda's friendship starting to spark something else?

Jukka-Pekka Palviainen once again offers middle schoolers easy reading, lots of lines and snarky humor.

 

Jyri Paretskoi: K15, 2018 – also as an e-book

Here is quite a book review, which, despite its brevity, is a memorable reading experience. Sex is mentioned on almost every page: sometimes seriously, sometimes as a joke, sometimes with horror or annoyance.

Ninth grader Roni is a boy who understands everything concretely. It is difficult for him to understand the jokes of his classmates and so the boy is often bullied. And then he gets mad. The others, on the other hand, bully him just for fun, in order to provoke Ron into a fit of rage. Ron's only friend is Niko.

The book starts with the mother tongue class. The class writes a subject, the topic of which is hobbies. Roni can't get anything on paper because he has no hobbies. The teacher tries to help and asks what the boy would like to do, because you can write about that too. Roni answers completely seriously "I would like to have sex." The class bursts into laughter and Ron's next sentence makes everyone howl.

To add to the boredom, Ron's statement is recorded on video and it goes around the world. In no time, Ron's embarrassing video gets thousands of views. Roni gets a raiver and the class is over. Sara, a new girl in the class, unexpectedly appears as Ron's defender and friend. As the book progresses, Roni, Niko and Sara find themselves in a new embarrassing situation together. It's not easy to get over it! We are waiting for the continuation of the book.

 

Jyri Paretskoi: K15: Secrets, 2018 – also as an e-book

The second part of the domestic, fun-free children's book series. And what's also great: the books are thin and dialogue-driven. Even someone who avoids reading can grasp them.

Ninth graders Roni, Niko and Sara are friends who often spend time together. However, Niko is in love with Sara and would like to be more than a friend to her. He just doesn't dare ask a girl out on a date. Roni starts to help Niko and that's what creates such comedy that the reader laughs out loud.

After all, Roni is a complete geek and Niko is an avid athlete, so matters of falling in love are strongly outside the area of ​​expertise of both of them. But you can get help from the internet and get results. Soon we are so far that Niko and Sara agree to go nude swimming on a beautiful summer night. However, the book ends with quite a surprise and the reader is already hooked to wait for the next part.

 

Jyri Paretskoi: Shell's Angles : the brain to crack, 2018

The motorbike gang Shell's Angles is on an adventure for the third time. The book is a continuation of the previous parts, but it can also be read as an independent work. The text flows forward as if by itself, and the reader often gets to laugh at the silly words of the young people.

The gang includes first-class moped riders Rudi, Samu, Henri and Milla; the last two are dating each other. Everyone finishes elementary school in the spring, and the future makes me think. The biggest life change is about to happen to Rudi: he is becoming a father! An accidental teenage pregnancy with a girlfriend has changed life plans. But Samu is doing badly now: his girlfriend has left him. In addition, the math teacher has treated the boy unfairly and has been doing so for a long time. The teacher is a nasty guy anyway. Complaints to the principal have not led to anything because there are no witnesses. When Samu, fed up with all of this, goes wild on his moped a little more, of course, that's when the police arrive. Of course, the boy gets fines to top it all off.

In order to cheer Samu up, the group decides to have a brainstorming weekend. It's done by having everyone write down the craziest, yet doable tasks on little slips of paper. Cards are picked up one by one and everyone performs the task on it. There are group belfies, changing clothes and other crazy things. But then it becomes a little more demanding: you have to take revenge on the math lesson, but in such a way that it is not bullying or criminal. Surprisingly, the new girl in the class also joins the moped gang's weekend, who also has a motorcycle hobby, and that's no small thing!

 

Timo Parvela and Pasi Pitkänen (pictured) Kepler62: New World 1, Two Tribes, 2018 – also as an e-book ja as an audiobook

The book starts the second season of the Kepler62 series. The series is written by Finnish Timo Parvela and Norwegian Bjørn Sortland, now more independently than before. Pasi Pitkänen's illustrations are also an integral part of the books.

In the first season of the series, the Earth was taken over by artificial intelligence. That's why twelve children and young people were gathered from all over the world and sent to Kepler62, the barely habitable planet found in space. They were selected and lured into the game with the help of a computer game of the same name. Thirteen-year-old half-brothers Ari and eight-year-old Joni set off from Finland. Later, even more people were sent to the planet in follow-up groups.

At Kepler62, the group is divided into two tribes. Ari and Joni also ended up in different tribes. In their own tribe, Joni, Lisa and Svetlana belong to the so-called to the first, the others came later. Now the food starts to run out, when the monstrous gangsta rabbits eat everything from the vegetable garden. Some of the tribesmen rise up in rebellion against the first ones. Someone's life is in danger.

 

Siri Pettersen: kupla, 2018 – also as an e-book

The cemetery is Kine's only refuge, there he can be in peace. In the small town of Möllby, everything seems to be wrong and Kine needs a refuge from her parents' command, and school is also a place where Kine would not want to go. There are friends, of course, but also bullies who have given Kine the nickname Kupla. Something has happened in the swimming pool that Kine doesn't even want to remember.

In the cemetery, Kine finds a small glass ball with a rag doll inside. Kine takes the glass ball home and suddenly the glass ball starts to grow and Kine discovers that it can be entered; he can go in and out as he wants, it becomes Kine's very own Bubble. The rag doll inside the bubble looks disgusting, but that doesn't bother Kine. Everything gets even better when Kine discovers that only he can get inside the Bubble, the others can't. Kine can also control the Bubble, use it to fly anywhere and also wish anything inside the Bubble, although not anything living, like for example his cat Tips, but everything else is possible and yes Kine wishes.

Life seems perfect, the evil world is outside and Kupla has everything Kine wants inside. Little by little, Kupla becomes tough, it's hard for Kin to get out of Kupla and back. Kine has to choose whether to stay in the Bubble or outside of the Bubble. Kine makes his choice, but is it the right choice, and why does the rag doll feel alive, malevolent and scary at times. With the help of the book, the reader can easily immerse himself in the quite unconditional world of an adolescent or a little younger.

 

Philip Pullman: Flood (Books of Lyra; 1), 2018 - also as an e-book

The opening part of a captivating fantasy novel trilogy. Tells about the time before the author's main work so far, Dust of Universes. Eleven-year-old Malcolm's parents run an inn and the boy also has to work there after school every night. Near the inn is a monastery that Malcolm often visits. The nuns of the monastery have recently taken in an abandoned baby girl, Lyra. There's something so strangely charming about this little kid that even Malcolm is completely charmed by him.

One day in midwinter, guests different from the usual customers arrive at the inn. They are very interested in the convent baby. Why? And why do so many others seem to be interested in this little girl abandoned by her parents? The situation becomes even stranger and more exciting when Malcolm and fifteen-year-old Alice, who also works as an assistant at the inn, happen to see things that are not meant for their eyes. Then something really horrible also happens. A great flood, a direct deluge sweeps over the kingdom and takes entire cities with it. Malcolm and Alice rescue baby Lyra and set out to ferry her to safety in London by canoe. The trip will be very dangerous.

The book is quite a puzzle of fantasy, adventure and an agent story. Conspiracies, murders, intelligence services, prophecies, mythical creatures, philosophy and science have all been made possible. Still, the package is built so skillfully that it stays together and finally, despite 700 pages, the reader is impatiently waiting for the sequel.

 

Marja-Leena Tiainen: A ride gig (paperback), 2018

A plain-language detective story and not any less crazy despite its brevity.

Fifteen-year-old Niko is an enterprising young man; he earns money by handing out free newspapers after school. Big brother Juuso is from another country. He's in a good mood, but he's lynching, drinking and always short of money. Juuso also spends a lot of time in a vague group. Niko is worried about his brother. Classmate Maria brings light to Niko's life; a sweet girl whom Niko is passionately in love with, but whom he does not dare to approach.

When Juuso buys an expensive computer as a gift for the boys' father, Niko has a very bad feeling. Not long ago, a series of burglaries began in the village. Is Juuso involved in it? On his magazine distribution tour, Niko gets a tip about the next breakout gig. A young man finds himself in a situation that would be difficult for any of us. He wants to stop the robbery, but will he accompany his brother to prison at the same time?

 

Martin Widmark & ​​Ola Skogäng (illustrator): The secret of the rose, 2018

When you've been used to reading Martin Widmark's Lasse-Maija's detective agency for several years, you naturally assume that the new series is similar to detective fiction for beginner readers, spiced up with fun illustrations and humor. But it's not like that. The secret of the rose is of course a detective story and a quick read, but it is very dark and there is no humor in it. Although the illustration is charmingly old-fashioned, it is also dark and sometimes startling. So not a book for beginning readers.

It is 1918 and Christmas Eve. Twelve-year-old Stefan from Stockholm spends his first Christmas alone with his father. They are sad and upset because the mother of the family has just died. He committed suicide by hanging himself. What drove the happy and wonderful mother to such a desperate act? Is the mother's death somehow related to her work? So many questions run through Stefan's mind.

Stefan finds a package addressed to him under the Christmas tree, sent by his mother's friend. Who? We'll find out later. The package contains a magnifying glass and it leads Stefani to look for mysterious messages left by her mother around Stockholm. All messages have a small picture of a rose. Will the mother's death survive?

2017

Becky Albertalli: Me, Simon, Homo sapiens, 2017 – also as an e-book ja as a movie

Once again, it will be proven that books for young people today deal with all kinds of topics that are naturally delightful. This book reflects on the interpersonal problems of a young homosexual man and his schoolmates.

The main character of the book is 16-year-old Simon. He has already had three girlfriends, but now he has started to feel more and more clearly that he likes boys. However, he is not yet ready to come out of the closet. On the Internet, he writes about the topic with his unknown fate partner named Blue. Together, boys of the same age deal with their sexuality and also discover that they are attracted to each other.

The problems start when Simon's classmate Martin accidentally sees a message Simon sent to Blue. Simon has forgotten to close his e-mail while using the library's computer. Martin starts blackmailing Simon. He threatens to reveal Simon's secret to everyone. Martin promises to keep his mouth shut if Simon introduces him to Abby, the girl he has a crush on. Simon and Abby are both acting in the same group.

Simon and Martin don't know each other from before and naturally don't like each other due to the situation, but with the joint secret they start to enjoy themselves together. But you can't be friends with your extortionist, can you? And who is the mysterious Blue, is he someone familiar? And above all: does Simon dare to come out of the closet? A nice, entertaining book about a serious topic that makes the reader think about Blue's identity and Simon's solutions in a detective-like way.

 

Jukka Behm: A soft toy girl, 2017

The first work that competed for the Finlandia Junior nomination describes a difficult subject skillfully, thought-provoking and without being overbearing.

Emilia is a conscientious schoolgirl in the ninth grade of elementary school. He lives in a small town by the railway and dreams of becoming an interior architect. For that, he wants to do well in school and that's why the eight in the certificate is just a disgrace. Emilia's family is an upper-middle-class nuclear family: she has an older brother and parents in prestigious professions. A terraced home is like straight out of an interior design magazine. But Emilia has a secret that she only reveals to her beloved soft toys.

Everything starts by chance. Emilia asks her mother for money to travel with her friend to a concert in Stockholm in the summer. The mother urges the daughter to go to work in order to save the money. On a hot summer evening, Emilia runs into a man in the city center park who offers money for watching. Soon the girl will understand what it is all about and how easy it is to get money if you are young and pretty.

Emilia is looking for her clients online. And there are plenty of them. She has something that men want to look at and touch. And he decides what will be done to him and how far we will go. He is in control of the situation. Or dominate? A touching and believable description of a child who longs for the presence of adults, who has more fateful companions than we want to believe.

 

Ali Benjamin: What I learned about jellyfish, 2017

Suzy, a seventh-grader, is thought of by her classmates as a pimppippippip. Suzy knows everything about bugs, but nothing about youth fashion or bands. The girl is undoubtedly a future researcher in the natural sciences, but human relationships are completely Hebrew for her. Medicine might classify Suzy as having Asperger syndrome. Suzy has had only one, but even more important friend her whole life, Franny. So Suzy's life completely falls apart when Franny dies. What makes Suzy feel worse is that right before Franny's death, she had an argument with her and never had time to apologize to Franny.

Each person grieves in their own way. Suzy's way is as follows: she withdraws into her own world, stops talking and sinks all her energy into studying jellyfish. The reader also learns a lot about them through the book, for example that jellyfish have no heart, no brain, no bones, no blood, and jellyfish do not interact with other jellyfish. They survive alone. But will man survive? Will Suzy survive?

 

Jack Cheng: See you in the cosmos, 2017 – also as an e-audiobook

A sweet book about a heroic boy and his journey across the United States; a book full of encounters, disappearances and discoveries.

Eleven-year-old Alex lives alone with his mother, his father is dead. Adult big brother Ronnie lives far away on the other side of the country. Alex has an almost Aspergerian interest in space. He records his thoughts and everyday events on an iPod, which he plans to send into space with the rocket. Thus, he would tell the other inhabitants of the cosmos about life on Earth. This is also how the boy's great idol Carl Sagan worked. After his idol, Alex also names the stray dog ​​puppy he found. It becomes the boy's closest friend.

Alex is quite independent in his everyday life. He cooks alongside his schooling and space exploration. Mom has bad days sometimes; then he won't talk or even get out of bed. There have been bad days for a long time now. Big brother has sworn that Alex is not allowed to tell anyone about his life.

Alex's life changes radically when he goes with his dog to a worldwide rocket festival with the intention of sending his own rocket into space. The journey ends immediately at the train station, but even there fate intervenes. Throughout the eventful journey, Alex comes across helpful people. Soon a mixed congregation is gathered and the journey progresses. Also to Alex's past.

 

Aleksi Delikouras: Geek 5: Multiplayer, 2017

Dragonslayer666, aka Nörtti, is adventuring again and the same hilarious mood and linguistic fireworks continue. There are swear words, but they are not an end in themselves and the author knows how to write. The old familiars MegaMan, Hege91, Pinocchio and Apocalypse77 will be there again.

Old friend Brassmo has made our Nörti not only numerous video clips for YouTube, but now also a TV series for Yle. It has gathered hundreds of thousands of viewers online in no time. There is quite a buzz around people asking for selfies and selfies. In the book, facta and fictio mix quite successfully.

So our hero is trying to survive not only high school, but also the publicity brought by the TV series, as well as being the leader of his CS player group, The Amesome Team. So much good has happened since the last book that the winning game trip to Sweden generated money that was used to rent a decent game room for the team. There we train for Canada and the Word cup tournament in Toronto.

But now something comes along that messes with our hero's head. That something comes across at the checkout and is called Emma. The girl confuses Nerd's head with gaming. There isn't enough time for everything, and dating isn't easy either. How are you? As usual, the solution is unpredictable for the reader. On the final page, our hero receives a notification about invitations. I can hardly wait for the next book about Nert's encounter with the Finnish army.

 

John Green, David Levithan: Will GraysonWill Grayson, 2017

John Green has written another addictive book, now together with David Levithan. The book is an amazing mix of young people's lives: love, depression, joy, sadness, everything that human life can contain.

The book is about two boys with the same name, Will Grayson. Both of them alternately tell their own story, and presumably John Green tells the story of Will Grayson and Davis Levithan tells the story of Will Grayson. Will Grayson's best friend is Tiny Cooper, an adorable, warm-hearted and exhilarating giant gay. Will has lost his other friends (if he ever had any) defending Tiny. Will has a crush on Jane, his school friend, but doesn't dare or want to share his feelings. Tiny Cooper also has his own production, Tiny Dancer. The purpose is to make a musical about Tiny Cooper and to recruit students from the school.

will grayson (only lowercase letters are used in the story of the second will grayson) is the depressed son of a single mother. Life seems really dark in his story, but then he meets Isaac online, who could be true love. will wants to meet Isaac and the date is arranged at a porn store. It's all a big hoax though, but thanks to a date, the two Will Graysons meet.

The joy of life, tolerance and love emerge as the main themes in the book, although there is no lack of longing and the ruthlessness of life.

 

Blue Pearl: In the stashes of Kaarna (Bloodbloods : 1), 2017 – also as an e-audiobook

Magical realism; well written, but quite a peculiar book. Starts a series that mixes youth and love and the mythical creatures of Finnish folklore.

Pinja's matriculation essays go straight to the pine tree. It's a big disappointment for a girl in her twenties, but it's not a miracle in itself. Pinja skips the benches in order to focus on the tailgating. However, something happens at the bench party that completely shocks the girl: Pinja's boyfriend Arttu and her best girl friend. Erika fall in love with each other. The girl has been doubly betrayed; it is not easy to get over it. After the graduation party, the mother forces the girl to work for the summer at the city park department. At work, a colleague named Virve catches Pinja's eye. Surprisingly, Pinjak also feels attracted to her and soon we are already exchanging kisses. A girl named Tuulia also begins to appear in Pinja, whom others do not see.

Pinja has scars on her back, which she is ashamed of. When he was little, the bark-like skin was cut off his back. Virve's back, on the other hand, is full bark. With the help of Virve, Pinja realizes that she belongs to the people of the forest through her grandmother and that she is a forest maiden. Soon, Pinja's long-dead grandfather also appears. Grandpa appears in a completely different character than me, Pinja remembers him.

After the mother finds out about Pinja's budding lesbian relationship, the girl is sent to her other grandparents. There she meets a wonderful young man. And we kiss again and ride a motorcycle to the man's home. Already on the way, it becomes clear that the man is a creepy guy. Pinja becomes a house slave of the Hiis.

Are you starting to get dizzy? What a waste. The second part of the series has already been published and the third will come out next year.

 

Laila Kohonen: Manhood test 1917, 2017

A thin book for young people based on true events takes the reader to the troubled moments of Finland's independence. Vilho is a schoolboy from Savonlinna. At the beginning of the book, he passes a manhood test developed by a group of friends. At the end of the book, he faces a completely different manhood test.

We are living in August 1917. The time is unsettled and dangerous. Finland belongs to Russia, but a revolution took place in Russia in the spring and winter: the tsar was overthrown and he and his family were killed. There are still a lot of Russian soldiers, or Cossacks, in the country. They riot in the city, scaring people.

Finland is starting to move in favor of independence. More Russian soldiers are being sent to Finland to keep the people under control. A punishment company arrives in Savonlinna as well. With that, Vilhok is also in danger.

 

Kaj Korkea-aho & Ted Forsström, Pentti Otsamo (photo): Viral Geniuses (Zoo! 1), 2017

The richly illustrated book bursting with boyish teenage angst and humor is related to Nörti and Neropati's diary, and of course also to the standard bearer of the genre, Bert. However, this work by domestic authors does well compared to its predecessors. The diary style has also been preserved; the book consists of the e-mails of eighth-grader Atlas. He sends them to his best friend Elliot, who has moved to the other side of the globe, to New Caledonia. Atlas misses Elliot, but of course he doesn't tell him that.

The friends draw an online comic called Zoo. It is made with thought, but it only has a measly 15 readers. Instead, Justus, an athlete of the parallel class, grabs a video of 90 viewers in an instant. She pictures herself sitting bare-backed on top of a hot waffle iron. In addition, Justus charms all the girls. Really annoying guy.

When both Atlas and Justus are nominated as candidates for the school board elections, action must be taken. Atlas has the cutest girl in the world, Sarah-LI, to help. Communicating with girls is not Atlas's strongest area, but with Sarah-Li he doesn't mess up any worse. How is it going in the election campaign and when will we get a continuation of the book?

 

Sarah J. Maas: Throne of Glass: Glass palace, 2017

After spending a year in slavery in the salt mines of Endovier, 18-year-old Celaena Sardashien, Adarlan's most feared assassin, gets a chance at freedom. The King of Adarlan holds a contest to name the King's Sword for himself. The winner earns his freedom and the losers are sent back to prison. However, it turns out that competition, or the criminals involved, are not the only threat to freedom or life. At night, something sinister moves in the castle. Something that leaves behind the shapeless, mangled bodies of the contestants.

The opening part of the Throne of Glass fantasy series takes its readers to Erilea's fantasy world and draws them in with its fast narration, excitement and a touch of romance. The book has been included in e.g. New York to the Bestseller list and a TV series adaptation is planned.

 

Juha-Pekka Palviainen: Wind that varies in direction, 2017

Easy-to-read youth literature, but not the author's best. Sixteen-year-old high school student Milla is forced against her will to move to a small, faraway island because of her father's work. Father gets a researcher's pet from the archipelago's seal research station for a limited time. The family splits when the mother and her little brother, Vaippapaaani, move to Brussels because of the mother's work.

Milla rebels and fusses over her time, but what can she do. A minor must follow the will of his parents. What hurts the most is parting with your best friend. Milla and father stay in the only small hotel on the island and everyday life begins. A few young people live on the island. There are four school-aged children and the school is attended remotely, i.e. via video connection and via the Internet. So there is no teacher in the class at all. Still, studying is going surprisingly well. There is also romance in the air and Millak falls in love with one or another boy.

Shortly after the father and Milla arrive, the father's workplace is attacked. When they both continue and get worse, the island's inhabitants begin to wonder and fear. Similarly, they also suspect each other and the atmosphere becomes tense. Who is behind it all? And who does Milla's heart finally beat for?

Camilla and Viveca Sten: In the Deep (Dark Waters 1), 2017 – also as an e-book

A chilling start to a new Swedish youth detective series. Twelve-year-old Tuva has been different all his life. He was bullied in the lower grades and is still being rejected now. He lives by the sea, in an archipelago, and knows the routes and coves of the surrounding area just like everyone else who lives in the same area. That is why it is strange that this autumn there have been a strange number of accidents at sea and not all the missing have even been found. Also strange is the everyday gloomy fog that covers the landscape and creates an eerie atmosphere.

The thriller begins when Tuva's classmate Axel disappears in the middle of an orientation lesson. It was as if the mist was engulfing him. Tuva arrives at the scene just at the moment of the incident and is able to save his other classmate, Rasmus. Saved from what? Before Axel's disappearance, Tuva and Rasmus both see something supernatural, which they don't even dare to tell the police investigating the case.

The secret brings Tuva and Rasmus together and makes them get more and more involved in the story. There is also another secret related to Tuva's childhood, which he himself is not quite aware of. As a foster child, he has been in a life-threatening boat accident and the scars on his neck are still a memory of that. Even now, he does not escape the danger of his life. Who or what is Tuva? And where did Axel disappear to?

 

Chris Weitz: Days of Chaos (The Young world; 1), 2017

Another dystopia aimed at young people that starts a trilogy. The author has previously been known as a film director, and that's probably why the narration is quite vivid. Interestingly, the book parallels Finnish KK Along's Kevätuhrii. The books have a lot of similarities, even though they were published around the same time. Mysterious.

The book has two narrators: a girl and a boy from New York, Donna and Jefferson. The book also has different fonts for their narration. There are only young people alive in the whole world; all the adults and children are dead. They have been killed by a virus, against which the hormones of youth can defend themselves. But all young people die immediately after turning 18. At the very beginning of the book, this also happens to the leader of the group, Jefferson's brother, and Jeff becomes his follower against his will.

Despite their young age, the characters in our book have already seen a lot of death; they have had to burn corpses killed by the disease and survive without hot water and electricity. Naturally, no device, home appliance or computer, will work either.

Brainbox is the brain of the bunch. At his suggestion, a group of young people is assembled to go to the library to get information about the deadly virus and how to defeat it. While traveling through New York, the group encounters other youth groups and the journey becomes very dangerous. After all, some of the city's young people have become hateful madmen. Even though we are living in the atmosphere of the end of the world, young people still have a strong will to live and feelings for each other. Falling in love and disappointments are not avoided in this book either.

 

Mika Wickström: Zlatan of our gang and a long solo, 2017

Another part about the Helsinki football team Tykittäji and its young promises. Fourteen-year-olds Karri and Arsa are best friends and play futsal on the same team. Now they also have a band called Karria ja arsenikki.

Summer vacation begins! In honor of that and to impress the girls of the first class, the boys give them a private show at a nearby land-based swimming pool after closing time. Of course it is forbidden. The band's playing is going well; a video about it uploaded to YouTube gathers more than 10 viewers in no time. But an uninvited crowd also comes to the party. An incident ensues, as a result of which everyone is banned from the swimming pool. In addition, Karri and Arsa have a nasty and scary problem with the hoe guests at the pool party.

However, the main topic of the book is football. The boys themselves have had to reassemble the team after the coach abandoned them once. Now let's try again. During the summer, the Gunners play against the youth teams of many well-known clubs. You see, it's trying to get into the Premier League. Karri is the team's goal stick. Will he succeed in important matches or will he fall into Zlatan-like behavior once again?

 

Tuuli Vourma: Caappari's Wrap (Roistocademy : 1), 2017

Roi Hopponen is a 16-year-old boy whose goal is to become a police officer like his uncle. After finishing basic school, the application to the Police School has been sent and the books for the entrance exam have been packed. However, there is a big twist in the plans when the school's address is lost on the day of the entrance exam, and in the end Roi passes the entrance exam - but which school?

Instead of the entrance exams for the police academy, Roi has ended up in the Roistoakatemia entrance exam and he is accepted to the educational institution. Roi accepts the position, after all, he now has a front-row seat to find out what the thugs are doing and then expose them to the police. However, it is difficult not to be revealed to the thugs, and to claim to the family and police uncle that he is in the Police School.

Roi has to do things that are against his principles, but he also learns a lot of useful skills. He makes good friends at school. Then it turns out that the bandits are after Caappari's scroll, and through a coincidence Roi happens to find out where this scroll confiscated by the police is located and it forces Roi to make a difficult choice.

Roistokatemia is the opening of a book series written with a humorous touch and an amazing adventure that grabs you!

2016

KK Alongi: Spring sacrifices, 2016

The world changes in the blink of an eye in the middle of a May morning. The opening of a new domestic thriller series is a Hunger Games-like thrill.

15-year-old punk girl Jade wakes up in the Helsinki subway to nothing but darkness. Soon the harsh truth is revealed: all the other passengers are dead. Jade gets off the subway in Sörnäis and soon notices that the whole city is full of dead bodies. Electricity and cell phone networks have been destroyed, cars do not work, and there is no water. What has happened?

Soon Jade meets another survivor, Susete, who is the same age. Susette is like a bard whose most important things in life until now have been make-up and clothes. Now these two young people from completely different worlds have to survive together. It's not easy! Soon the girls will also have a boy, Tom. At the same time, they also encounter other survivors; dangerous and violent raving youths who must escape. Jade, Susette and Tomi decide to head out of Helsinki, towards the countryside. From the shops they get food and water; progress is made on bicycles. Along the way, they encounter more survivors, corpses are still everywhere, and more rabid killers are encountered, as well as packs of rabid dogs. Accidents and fights cannot be avoided either.

In the end, there are six girls and boys of different ages. Why exactly have they survived? Why haven't they mingled like the young killers? What unites young people? What caused this sudden change in the world that young people call the Death Wave? How to survive from here on out? Many questions, few answers. An addictive and worth reading book, whose main characters are fresh and feel real. After reading it, you are immediately thirsty for more. Fortunately, it's coming soon: in the spring of 2017, the second part called Ansassa will appear.

Right from the beginning, the book feels refreshingly un-Finnish. Part of the reason is probably that the writer Katariina Alongi (b.1967 in Helsinki) lives with her American husband and son in California. He is a physical education instructor, master of philosophy and life skills coach and works as a life skills and riding coach.

 

Katy Birchall: It girl: popular in one day, 2016

14-year-old Anne has moved to London with her father. The new school doesn't start well: Anne, by accident of course, sets her classmate Josie's fire on fire during chemistry class. What is very sad about it is that Josie is the most popular girl in school and Anne only has two friends. Anne will find out about it in the follow-up session, but the popularity is low after what happened. However, one Brendan stands up for Anne.

Anne has two friends, Jess and Danny, who are funny and smart. Anne would also like to be popular or even normal.
Anne's life takes a surprising turn when her father starts dating the famous actress Helena Montaine. Helena has a daughter, Marianne, who is almost as famous. Helena and Marianne are followed on celebrity blogs and the paparazzi chase them. When the relationship between Anne's father and Helena is revealed, Anne also becomes famous. Because of this, Anne's company starts to be sought after at school. How will Anne survive this or will she survive?

 

Holly Black & Cassandra Clare: Iron Test (Magisterium: 1), 2016 – also as an e-book

The first part of a five-part fantasy series.

The 12-year-old boy Callum is by no means the stuff of heroes. Call also limps on one leg; it has been damaged by the so-called In a cold bloodbath when he was a baby. At the same time, his mother has died. Just before she died, the mother managed to carve her last words into the ice: "Kill the child". Why on earth did he say such a cruel thing about his own son?

Callum shows a talent for magic and is invited to the entrance exams of the Magisterium, an underground wizarding school. The father does not want the boy to have anything to do with magic and asks Callum to fail the test. Callum pleases his father and gets the worst marks in the exam. Nevertheless, he is accepted into the school. Callum forms a team with two other students, Aaron and Tamara, and they get Master Rufus as their instructor. Right from the start, they learn that the magic of a sorcerer or mage is manifested in the ability to control the four elements: earth, air, water and fire. They also learn that mages have dangerous enemies. And that's what Callum and his friends do encounter, including the creepy hooded skeleton man on the cover of the book. At the end of the book, the story is left unfinished and continues in the already published second part called Kuparikoura.

 

Aleksi Delikouras: Geek 4: pro gamer, 2016

The main character of our book series, the game virtuoso Dragonslayer666 has, miraculously, made it to high school. He is still not interested in going to school, but he misses middle school. A miracle of its own, too, because he hated it so much. Above all, he misses his friends from middle school. None of them seem to have time for him these days. So our hero is alone; without friends let alone a girlfriend.

However, with his gaming skills, he gets into the CS player team, whose boss is the determined Daisuke. He guides our hero not only in his playing career but also in women's affairs. The team trains and gets to participate in a tournament played in Germany, where the main prize is €100. Then something unexpected happens and then something even more unexpected! In the end, the patterns include all the old friends from middle school: Hege000, Pinocchio and Megaman.

It's fun again, at least for the reader. The young author is still making fun of his cult figure and the plot of the book is still not predictable. And that's not all: a movie is being planned about the character who started life on YouTube.
P.S. Curse-loving: tight beanies: stay away from this work again.

 

John Green: A theory about Katherine, 2016

The super popular author's second and fourth translated works.
High school boy Colin is a genius, but a bit socially awkward. Now he is wallowing in heartache because his girlfriend Katherine has left him. In itself, this is nothing new, since it is Colin's nineteenth girlfriend named Katherine. He has failed with all of them. Well, okay, not all relationships have been terribly serious; the first Katherine left him at the age of seven after two minutes of dating. But the boy has had real dating relationships.

To get the latest Katherine out of Colin's mind, his best friend Hassan takes him on a road trip, driving across America. On the way, Colin tries to form a theory about Katherine. Why does he only fall in love with girls with the same name and why does everything always go wrong? The friends end up in a God-forsaken backyard, where they meet another Colin and a girl named Lindsey.

The book hooks its readers again like the author's previous works and is also quite funny this time.

 

Magdalena Hai: The smelly hand and other terrible stories from the Uhrniitutakai, 2016 – also as an e-book ja as a paperback

Finally, a long-awaited horror book for young people appears; still quite a decent one and quite Finnish too. The author, who hides behind a pseudonym, has previously published the Gigi and Henry trilogy for young people, representing steampunk or alternative history. Now it's a collection of short stories, all of which are related to a small village, Uhriniitutakainen. The shortest ones are only a couple of pages long.

An ancient evil lurks beyond the Sacrifice Meadow. In a story related to the beginning of the century, an innocent-looking doll with strange abilities, won from the Tivoli game of chance, is transported to a country house. It takes the whole family to corruption. In a short story called Namusetä, set in modern times, evil revolves around a nursery rhyme. Children's play takes care of:
Uncle Namuset, Uncle Namuset
We are not afraid of you
Uncle Namuset, Uncle Namuset
Give us CANDY!
There is also another stanza in the rhyme, but it must never be recited aloud. Why not?

And why is a quiet girl hiding under her long black hair lurking behind the class in Pirita's new school. A girl that none of the students in the class and not even the teacher wants to notice. In the title novel of the book, the chemistry teacher has lost one of his hands in an accident. A new hand is planted on the stump, which starts to smell. It smells horrible and always gets worse. An ugly blob of rot spreads throughout the school. The principal dismisses it as a mild indoor air problem. Why do only students suffer from the smell?

The short stories in the book are surprising, upsetting and sometimes even funny. You never know how the story will end; who of the persons is alive, who is dead and who is something in between.

 

Shane Hegarty: Kalmankita: the legend begins, 2016

The first part of the youth horror fantasy series. In the remote corners of Ireland lies the town of Kalmankida, which few have heard of and even fewer will ever get lost there. You can't even find the town on most maps.
The main character is a Finn boy who is about to turn 13, whose fate is sealed in the family's history. All of the boy's Ancestors have been fairy hunters and Finn is also expected to continue this tradition. Their clan is the only one that protects the village from those bloody cruel monsters. Shrinker is used as a weapon in hunting. You have to be extremely careful in battle.

Finn would like to do something completely different in his life, but has resigned himself to his fate and has therefore obediently trained for his future mission all his life. Finn has no friends at school and is made fun of because of his family. Savage's twins, in particular, outright fuck the boy. Even though Finn should be preparing for the role of the hero, he doesn't even measure up to his classmates. How embarrassing!
The story takes a new turn when something rare happens: a new girl, Emmie, comes to the town and to Finn's class. Finn gets a friend and ally from him. Meanwhile, elsewhere, monstrous mythical creatures are planning a major attack on Kalmankita.

 

Johanna Hulkko: K18, 2016

The first book for young people by the author known from the popular Geoetsivät series, and still relatively easy to read. The narrator is a high school boy Aksu. The book is so crass in the language of a young man that a middle-aged person will blush while reading it. Aksu goes to high school, dates the most beautiful Maria in the world, plays on the computer and hangs out with his friends, i.e. does everything that people of his age usually do. Hormones are raging a thousand and one hundred, but Aksu doesn't care about booze. Until one day, when the groups are on trips, the boy is alone at home and the whole house is in use...

 

Siri Kolu: After the summer, everything is different, 2016

 

Peetu lives summer, but is already waiting for autumn. After the fall, everything is different, Peetu becomes Peetu, the person he has always been. The sub-title of the book is a life-changing novel.

Peetu wasn't originally born Peetu, he was Petra. The family includes father, mother, older brother Pyry and Peetu. In the beginning, life was nuclear family life, father, mother, son and daughter. Pants and dresses, Hello Kittys and cars. Until it wasn't anymore. Peetu knew early on that he was a boy, with absolute certainty. He has already started treatments aimed at his recovery, as he says himself. In the fall, Peetu turns 18 and it's time to start the big surgeries, Peetu is ready. Father is also ready and big brother Pyry almost too, but mother doesn't want to understand, maybe tries, but keeps insulting Peetu. Fortunately, Peetu has Aamu in his life, a girl who understands and realizes everything.

Father and Peetu get closer to each other through gliding. Father is a passionate glider pilot and gives Peetu ten gliding flights as a gift, just Peetu and father alone in the sky.

The book was an impressive reading experience. There are hardly any books about transgender youth, and reading this almost brought tears to my eyes, why is it so difficult for some to accept being different. A person is what he is, hardly anyone voluntarily wants such a difficult life as what Peetu lives. While reading the book, I got a strong feeling that Peetu is of course a boy, nothing else is out of the question.

After the summer, everything is different.

 

Hanna Kökkö: A mega mystery, 2016

Hämeenlinna's geocaching high school students Manu and Helmi aka Kalkaros and Hermiina travel to Sastamala. A big annual gathering of geocachers, Megamite, is held there. Helmi's grandfather conveniently lives in the village and the young people stay with him. The most anticipated event in Megamite is the nightly search for the dark cache.

Before that, however, the young people had time for a canoe trip. They take a break at the famous old medieval Tyrvää church. There are many tourists visiting its foothills. Suddenly, someone makes a gruesome discovery on the beach: a woman's body is lying there! Once again, Manu and Helmi are involved in solving the crime. The summer is also overshadowed by the awareness that Helmi may have to move to Jyväskylä in the fall. It would separate the young lovers far apart.

 

Laura Lähteenmäki: nut case, 2016

Fifteen-year-old Saimi lives in the countryside, in a remote village. Even the church village is twenty kilometers away. When there are no other people of the same age living in the neighborhood, Saimi and his one year older brother Juho have been each other's best friends. Now, however, a big change is happening, when Juho moves to a city many tens of kilometers away to attend high school. Juho gets to know new people at his place of study, begins to enjoy himself there and rarely visits his home anymore.

Saimi will be really alone. He is enjoying himself even more on the internet and starts closely following a few blogs. The girl is especially hooked on the blog of an author named Sumu and comments on it regularly. One Sora often comments on the same blog; Sora's comments are almost always very mean. But when Sora uploads pictures of landscapes familiar to Saim to Sumu's blog and seems to know a strange lot about Saim's personal affairs; horror creeps into Saim's mind. Who is Sora, who is Fog?

 

Tamsyn Murray: Camilla of all time: Genius label, 2016

Another humor series about starting middle school.

English 11-year-old Camilla is going to middle school and she is nervous. In English schools, you don't wear your own clothes, but a school uniform. The Camilla parka has to wear the big brother's old school uniform jacket. The annoying brother's coat is too big and on top of that it stinks! The girl is sure that she will not even survive the first day. But he'll make it.

To improve her appearance, Camilla dyes her hair with her friends. The result is a bright orange and green monstrosity. How do you get over it when your mother is screaming like a fire siren? But then something very remarkable happens: in the school's placement tests, Camilla turns out to be a genius to everyone's surprise. He is selected along with other smart people for the school's racing team. The famous inter-school quiz is coming up. How is Camilla now? The best thing in the smart group is one absolutely wonderful boy.

A quick-read book about the embarrassing antics of early teenagers.

 

Timo Parvela & Bjørn Sortland, photo. Pasi Pitkänen: Kepler62: Book Three: The Journey, 2016 – also as an e-book, as a cd audiobook  ja as an audiobook

The sci-fi series by Timo Parvela, the hero of the Finnish Ella books, and Bjørn Sortland, a Norwegian, has progressed to the third part and is getting more and more exciting. The comic-like illustration is by Pasi Pitkänen and attracts readers. Suitable for reading from second graders to first graders and is especially popular with boys. The books are just disappointingly short!

Twelve children are waiting to be sent into space in the United States. They have been carefully selected from around the world. Each child has their own special characteristic, which is why they have been chosen. Still, none of them know for sure why he is in the crowd. All of them are united by the computer game Kelper62. There are two Finnish boys, brothers Ari and Joni. The group also includes the Norwegian girl Marie.

The space shuttle is scheduled to transport the children to the space station ISS 4, where the convoy's three spacecraft are waiting. The old general gives a farewell speech to those leaving: "You are the hope of the world. The future of humanity rests on your narrow shoulders. You are the pioneers of humanity and are clearing living space where man has never been before." The children board the shuttle and it takes off towards the space station. There, Ari, Joni and Marie are placed in the same spaceship and the journey towards the Kepler62 planet begins. But soon there will be trouble. Serious problems.

 

Teija Rekola: top models, 2016

Noora and Erika are 16-year-old schoolchildren. Especially beautiful Erika, who has always had everything, dreams of working as a model. Noora has always been bullied at school because of her height, Kirahvi has been her nickname for a long time. Noora walks in a slouch and thinks how much easier it would be if she were a normal girl, wouldn't stand out in any way. Being average is his dream. It's paradoxical that everyone wants to stand out, to be special in some way, but in a good way.

Noora and Erika are friends. Their friendship is not equal; Noora considers herself ugly and Erika kind of agrees with this opinion; she herself is perfectly beautiful in her own opinion. Erika participates in the Laura-tyttö magazine's competition, the winner gets to go to Paris on the model agency's lists. For the competition, Noora takes pictures of Erika, and out of pity, Erika also takes a few pictures of Noora, with the result that both girls get to participate in the competition.

The book also describes the modeling world from the side that doesn't always come out: fierce competition, lack of money and even drugs come into play. Life is not always rosy and the work of a model is just glamour. The book is so harsh and brutal that it is not recommended for children under 12 years old.

 

Ronja Salmi (photo by Jami Turunen): Is it embarrassing?, 2016

The Finnish bookstore's 2016 Book and Rose Day book. The main characters are sixth graders Petja and Toni. Petja in particular ends up in embarrassing situations here and there. What if you have to slow dance with a girl at a disco? And surely a sixth-grader can't miss his mother at night school anymore? Or can I? What if you happen to release the smelliest and loudest fart in school history? Is it a bit embarrassing?

The book is full of hilarious incidents that embarrass people of all ages, but especially sixth graders. The reader can participate in the story by choosing different plot lines and thus decide how embarrassing situations our heroes get into. However, jumping back and forth from page to page also makes it difficult to read an otherwise easy-to-read book. And that's why it might not be the most appropriate choice for someone with reading problems or an immigrant.

 

Jessica Schiefauer: Ester & Isak, 2016

A beautiful, sensitive, tough and sad love story that makes a strong impression on its reader. Partly based on true events.

That summer, high school aged Ester and Isak meet, fall in love and break up. And meet again. Love is shockingly powerful, maybe too much so. It is also strongly erotic and especially Ester's sexual awakening is beautifully described.

The young people meet each other on the beach, where the young people of a small Swedish town tend to gather to party. In an instant they are inseparable. Before Isak, Ester lived a boring, nothing life. With Isak, everything is beautiful for a while and nothing hurts. Then the love story begins to crack and break. When first love ends, it's more like the end of the world. Can it be fixed, even if the emotions flare up again?

That summer, a young boy is beaten to death on the same beach. Isak's younger brother Anton is arrested on the charge of complicity in the murder. The event shocks the entire community. Isak's family is persecuted and the young people's rekindled love is tarnished by a violent event.

The book grips its reader deeply. It contains not only beautiful love scenes, but also detailed brutal violence. It is precisely the contradiction that makes the book impressive. Because of its shocking depictions of violence, it is also not suitable for too young readers.

 

Lina Stoltz: There's no need to be afraid of tomorrow, 2016

An easy-to-read, realistic and touching book about a delicate but important subject. It is estimated that even in Finland there are five students in every school class whose parent has an alcohol problem.

We all have secrets we don't want others to know. Things we are ashamed of and cover up by lying. Ten-year-old Lilja's mother causes worry and shame. Mom is a drunkard. Not even Lilja's best friend Nina or the class supervisor know this secret. Time and time again, Lilja has to explain why Nina can't come to Lilja after school or why her mother never came to her parents' house. "Mother has a stomach bug" is Lilja's standard answer. In reality, the mother has passed out in the yard. Lilja and her mother are taken care of by her 14-year-old older sister Tanja and older brother Tintin, who already lives elsewhere. Everyday goes like this until something terrible happens: Lilja is chosen as the school's Lucia girl. This great tribute is a nightmare for Lilja: what if her mother arrives at the school's Lucia party in a hurry? How will Lilja ever get over that shame?

 

Marja-Leena Tiainen: Tatu, Iris and Skull Man, 2016 – also as a cd audiobook

Marja-Leena Tiainen is a great writer and succeeds in this, a non-fiction book aimed at young people. The book is also a perfect example of the fact that a thin and easy-to-read book does not mean the same as easy and fast! The story of the book is so difficult that it is not a children's book at all.

It all starts at the summer beach, when sixteen-year-old Tatu sees the most beautiful girl in the world, Iris, and falls in love! Iiris is in her twenties, i.e. four years older than Tatua. Despite her young age, Iiris has already experienced many things in her life and she is also dating. Still, Tatu repeatedly joins Iiris and they become friends.

Many others also want Iris's company, and not all of them have good intentions. Tatu happens to see a situation where a male friend treats Iiri badly. A couple of other men also seem to be stalking Iiri. Why? The end of the book is really shocking!

 

Marja-Leena Tiainen: Messages from Coma, 2016

Silva is about to start the ninth grade, but things happen in the summer that change Silva's life and thoughts about life completely differently. Silva spends the summer with her best friend Jemina. Jemina thinks that Silva is nice, but does things that Silva would not want to do, such as stealing, picking and bullying. However, Silva drifts off to steal various clothes and goods. Mother finds them, of course, and says that Silva must return them.

Even worse happens with Jemina. In a nice group, they drink cider and stronger substances and as a result, Silva jumps from the bridge into the water. Silva wakes up in a completely foreign place; in a place where strangers wander, of all ages and speaking different languages. Silva also hears Finnish and finds out that the place is beyond, an intermediate state before death. Some people die, young people too, and some apparently come back to life. Silva doesn't want to die and luckily he receives messages from dead people, which must be delivered to the relatives of the dead. Fortunately, because messengers don't die.

Silva returns with messages from the gates of death and feels like his whole life has changed. Messages also change the lives of message recipients. However, it is difficult for Silva to live without telling anyone about Koma, and he confides in Jemina. Believing is a mistake and suddenly Silva is one of those being bullied.

A compellingly written and exciting book.

 

Mika Wickström: Zlatan of our gang, 2016

Fourteen-year-old Karri is a top-talented soccer player. As a striker, he is a real goal-scorer and controls the ball in his dreams.

He still doesn't manage everything like a model. Karri has problems with her emotions. The boy is quite stubborn and easily loses his temper. This is why he often has problems with the coach. The real Zlatan, then. So the boy has spent a lot of time on the bench lately. It frustrates the talented boy even more when he doesn't get much playing time. Karri also has troubles at home.

The balancing factor in the book is Arsa, Karri's best friend since school. Arsa plays the position of defender. Now, however, the entire team's activities are beginning to wane. Will the boys' promising football career continue? A nice, easy-to-read book on a much-needed topic.

2015

John Green: A riddle called Margo, 2015 – also as a movie

Quetin Jacobsen, a smart, but slightly goofy high school boy, believes that a miracle happens to everyone. It can be a lightning strike or a Nobel prize, everything is possible in the world. Quentin's miracle is the girl next door, Margo. Margo is no ordinary girl next door, she is an enigma. In particular, she is an enigma to Quentin, the boy thinks he knows Margo, but realizes he doesn't know her at all. Quentin has always admired, maybe even loved, Margo. In childhood they were friends, but gradually drifted apart. Both have their own circle of friends, Quentin's best friends are the chubby Ben and the smart Radar, and Margo has all the best and most popular guys in high school. One night, Margo knocks on Quentin's window and asks to come with her. Quentin leaves and this night changes Quentin's life. However, Margo disappears after a night, no one knows where she is or if she is even alive. Quentin finds small signs that prove Margo is alive and also wants to be found. Finding Margo becomes Quentin's obsession. The book has been turned into a movie, Paper Towns, starring Cara Delevingne and Nat Wolff.

 

Jacob Grey: Crow sword, 2015

Adventure fantasy that happens. And people die. And rattles spiders, cockroaches, snakes, deadly birds. The events of the book take place in Blackstone, which was a flourishing town before the so-called Black summer. At that time eight years ago, a lot of bad things happened in the city. A thirteen-year-old boy named Kraa has been living with the crows since that summer. Kraa moves at night, looks for its food in garbage and speaks the language of crows. Later, Kraa learns that there are other people who understand the language of animals and they are called lymy. The boy's memories of early childhood are precarious; he can't even remember his real name. Kraa often has a nightmare where her parents push her out of the window. Why? It will work out in time. Kraa often observes the family of the nearby prison warden from the window. One day, he saves the family's daughter Lydia and her father from the pens of dangerous criminals. The most dangerous of them is Seittimies. To save Blackstone from destruction, Kraa and Lydia get into a fierce battle that takes them all the way to the Land of the Dead.

 

Mervi Heikkilä & Jussi Matikainen: The hot summer of Kummajainte village, 2015

The book tells the story of the summer vacation of Sara, Sampo, Niko, Aino and Ompu, all of Korpikylä's weaving and sewing classes. One strange thing happens in Korpikylä, there are ghosts, dragons and the hideous Näkki of the secret pond. A young woman also arrives to mix things up, who later turns out to be the village school's new teacher. There is something peculiar about a teacher, and this is what young people need to find out. How do young people cope with all these strange things along with their own everyday worries?

The book is captivating and it is easy to relate to its characters, the book is also easy to read and there are only 132 pages. The story is enhanced by the wonderful illustrations drawn by Miranda Koskinen.

 

Anu Holopainen: Under the skin, 2015

A harsh and brutal book about the near future. We live in a society where plastic surgery and body modification are commonplace. They are a guarantee of success and acceptance in all age groups. And how easy it is to change your appearance: all you need is money and adulthood. The city also has machines that inject botox into the face, which work with fingerprint tags. The book has many narrators. The first to speak is the 17-year-old boy Jara, whose parents force him to be organic until he comes of age. Only a couple of small piercings are allowed for him. But under these conditions and environmental pressures, organic is equal to a loser. So Jara comes up with a way to earn money for surgeries. He goes to work at a strip club. However, the most touching fate of the characters in the book is that of the girl who keeps a blog under the name Plastic Princess. I hope the world of the book never comes true! An impressive reading experience, but not for the too young.

 

Jørn Lier Horst: The Riddle of the Salamander, 2015

"Cecilia Gaathe had never seen a dead person. Not until now"

This is how the first part of the new Norwegian youth detective series begins. Life in a quiet Norwegian coastal village takes a surprising turn when twelve-year-old Cecilia finds the body of an unknown man on the beach. There is something dark about death. Leo, who is a year older, also arrives. He manages to take a photo of the dead man's arm with his iPhone before the police arrive. I have a lizard tattooed on my arm and the number 2 next to it. What does that mean?

Cecilia, Leo as well as the Une girl with their dog Egon start investigating the man's death. There is a hotel on the beach that Cecilia's father owns and where Leo's mother works. The young people think that a few of the hotel's residents are behaving strangely. By grabbing the hotel's master key, they can explore the guests' rooms. But does it make sense? At least it's not harmless. When you get through this adventure, the first chapter of the next book will be at the end of the book.

 

Sophie Kinsella: Missing: Audrey, 2015

A wonderfully light and addictive, funny and charming book about a difficult subject. Middle schooler Audrey has gone missing. Hiding behind his sunglasses and entrenched in his home. He doesn't go to school or anywhere else. The girl communicates with her family, but she runs away from others.

The reason for Audrey's behavior is severe bullying at school, which she was subjected to and for which she ended up being hospitalized. But others in the family are not doing well either. Mom is messing with big brother Frank because of his gambling addiction. The dispute continues throughout the book and takes on interesting features. Will mom throw Frank out the computer window?

Audrey goes to a therapist and one day she gives the girl an interesting task: Audrey has to keep a video diary about her family. With the camera as her protection, it's easier for Audrey to face the world. Quite interesting observations are captured in the videos. However, the decisive moment in the book is the day when the big brother's friend Linus comes to the village. Will the boy be able to bring Audrey back to life behind the sunglasses?

 

Hanna Kökkö: Island cache, 2015

The story of Manu and Helmi continues again. After the leisure class, the young people go on a canoeing trip to Eastern Finland. The purpose is to search for geocaches in the old wartime Salpalinja fortress area.

Manu's stepfather Make and his friends will come along. However, everything goes wrong from the start; injuries and accidents happen. The cell phone also gets wet and the kayak runs away. In the end, Manu and Helmi are alone on Bunkerisaari. As the name suggests, there is an old bunker for soldiers on the island. Except that the young people don't seem to be there with each other; and bad luck has not left them alone. The series of accidents just continues. And so the topics of the detective story are piled up again.

 

David Lewman: A case of meatless morsels, 2015 (Club CSI)

CSI = Crime scene investigation.
A new easy-to-read detective series for young people. The main characters are three middle school students: one girl and two boys. In this series opener, Hannah, Ben and Corey get a new science teacher. The teacher is a relaxed young woman in a denim jacket. He knows how to illustrate chemistry and physics in a way that is interesting to young people: he assigns students tasks in the form of a technical crime scene investigation. So let's imagine a crime has taken place and different samples are taken from the crime scene. The new teacher is active anyway. In his opinion, too much meat is served in the school canteen. The teacher delivers the meatless shortbread recipe to the kitchen hostess. The hostess prepares it according to the instructions, with the result that the principal and several students of the school get food poisoning. Did someone deliberately try to poison them? Hannah, Ben and Corey, i.e. Club CSI, immediately get to use their new knowledge in a real crime investigation. Two parts of the series have been translated into Finnish and more are expected.

 

WC Mack: Chain change, 2015

Book series full of hockey. Another part of the playing career of sixth-grader Canadian boy Jonathan, aka Nuget. The boy is the size of 'about a four-year-old', but still quite a factor as a player. Also familiar from the first part, the approximately two-meter-tall teammate and classmate Eddie Bosko is still closely involved.

The book starts badly, when the team's coach slips and is injured so badly that he has to take a long sick leave. To everyone's surprise, Nuget's father is replaced by coach. A completely new kind of training system begins, which certainly does not please everyone. The boys are used to the fact that there are always games in practice, but now the games are replaced by jumping rope and running up the stairs. And in all exercises you don't even put on skates! Even when we get to the practice games, Nuget's father mixes up the chains completely. The team revolts against the substitute coach and Nugetti is in a bad middle: should he defend his father or his teammates.

 

Elena Mady: Changeling, 2015

Elena Mady has written the first part of an engaging book series for young adults. The author has lived in the United States for a long time and is a musician by other profession; these also appear in the book. The main character of the book, the young girl Alex, has died and after her death belongs to the so-called Jumpers. One day, he comes back to life in the body of a strange seventeen-year-old girl. Alex learns that this Sara Alexandra, whose life he now has to live, has just lost her parents in a car accident. Alex also learns that Sara's parents owned a successful business that Alex inherited. Alex has to learn to live Sara's life. He is now a downtrodden orphan who lives with his aunt Laura, goes to school and enjoys music. Alex meets a lovely boy, Jesse, and falls in love. But Jesse has a girlfriend. Another son, Lukas, also appears in the pictures. The book turns into an exciting detective story when it is revealed that the parents did not die by chance, but were murdered. The Central Criminal Police begins to investigate the murder. Alex also becomes the target of an attempted murder. Vaihdokka's story is already getting a continuation; The next parts of The Body Jumper thriller trilogy will be The Shadow and The Guardian.

 

Iida Sammalisto: Star mosaic, 2015

The first work of the writer in his twenties is a traditional fantasy and an absolutely stunningly beautiful language. A seventeen-year-old Suna girl lives in a country called Ruska. He is a wanderer like his parents who died a few years ago. Suna travels from place to place accompanied by a fox named Io.

The kingdom is ruled by the terrifying and brutally violent Raven Prince. He hands out death sentences for the slightest reason and keeps his subjects in constant fear. The raven prince wants to conquer the whole world and build a Tower that reaches to the heavens. According to the order given by the raven prince, all wanderers must be killed. So Sunakin catches up with the killer, Ronan Sudenkaipuu. Suna and Io have to run away. From another world, the star boy Lupus is sent to help Suna. Lupus goes with the duo, although Suna has a hard time accepting this at first. Suna also learns that she has been assigned an important task in the prophecy. Can Suna make it happen?

2014

Elisabet Aho: Dancing with Emma, 2014

Fourteen-year-old Emma enjoys competitive dancing. Emma's best friend Inka also dances, paired with her brother Niko. Inka and Niko's family is fully involved in the children's hobbies, but Emma has to survive almost alone. Her divorced parents hardly have time from their work or their new family to support and encourage the girl. In addition, dance costumes are expensive, and competition trips with participation fees don't come cheap either. Emma's dance partner has been Joonas, but when he announces that he is quitting, Emma's world collapses. Young boys who dance are hard to find. Fate throws the handsome, dancing Matias in front of Emma, ​​and the couple's steps match perfectly. Emma also loses her heart to the boy and thinks about him constantly. The important dance competition looms in a couple of weeks and everything seems almost perfect until Emma's dreams are shattered. Sympathetic book about the world of competition dance. Great costumes, tough training and exciting competitions. The reader also gets excited along with Emma. One would hope that this will develop into a dance-themed book series; they would have more demand than supply.

 

Julie Berry: Until I tell the truth, 2014

A thriller with an unnerving, downright hypnotic atmosphere throughout. The story is set somewhere at the end of the 1800th century during the "little house on the prairie" era, but is not a warm children's book at all. The book is skillfully written and translated and the language is wonderful; downright poetic. It's about big things about love, betrayal and revenge. The narrator is the mute girl Judith. Years before, two young girls, Lottie and Judith, have disappeared from the village. Lottie is later found dead when her body drifts with the current near the village. Judith returns after a couple of years, her tongue cut out. He carries a dark secret without being able to tell it to anyone. The community sees him as defiled and brutally rejects him. The reader identifies with Judith and fears for her. An important person in the book is also Judith's secret love, Lucas. Finally, a war breaks out, with which secrets that have been hidden for years begin to be revealed.

 

Michelle Gagnon: Nobody misses you, 2014

The sixteen-year-old girl Noa, dressed in black, who has experienced hardships in her life, wakes up from anesthesia in the hospital with a drip tube in her hand. What has happened to him? The girl doesn't remember that, but the hospital is strange; the staff are more like guards than nurses. Noa does as instinct tells him: he runs away. Meanwhile, elsewhere, Peter, in his twenties, is alone at home when the masked men force their way in and take the laptop. Why? Is it related to the fact that a year ago Peter founded a hacker community /ALLIANCE/ whose goal is: "to punish online bullies, animal torturers, sex offenders, and everyone else who took advantage of the weaker ones" This group of young hackers has also succeeded in solving crimes. Noak also belongs to the same community and has been in contact with Peter through it. But now they also get to know each other live, when Noa asks Peter for help through the hacker community. This is how a dizzying thriller begins, in which young people come across an extremely disgusting crime series. Undoubtedly, there will be a sequel to the book, because the story ends right in the middle. It's about so much wild excitement that it's not really about the early youth series.

 

John Green: All the last words, 2014

The debut work of John Green, who wrote the book A mistake written in the stars, which was a huge success with the movie, has just been translated into Finnish. The narrator of the book is Miles, an American boy on the threshold of adulthood, who leaves his home in Florida far away to attend a boarding school in Alabama. That is, to the school where we also live. Life changes completely when lonely Miles meets new people. As a roommate, he gets a little Chip, who is called Colonel. And above all, Miles meets the weird, the weird, the beautiful, the sexy, the smart; of an absolutely enchanting girl named Alaska. Miles is instantly smitten. But Alaska already has a boyfriend. Together with his new friends, Miles grows towards adulthood; tries forbidden and fascinating things. The book is divided into before and after sections. After reading the book, you'll know why. Recommended for young people aged at least fourteen and who have read a little more.

 

Tuija Lehtinen: The girl is living her summer, 2014

17-year-old Julia is on the run from a youth home. He hitchhikes around summer Finland and appears as different people. Sometimes she's Maila, sometimes Anni, next it's already Lisa. What is the girl running away from and what is she looking for? At the end of the book, perhaps the reader and Julia herself will be at least a little wiser about it. On her way, the girl comes across very different people and groups and gets along amazingly well with everyone. He has to e.g. for a summer wedding to play the girlfriend of a young man who is hiding his gayness. For a fee, of course. From there, Julia drifts off to take care of a grandmother. Mummeli isn't exactly a basic person, but plays poker for money and takes a shot of whiskey whenever the eye can't see it. For a while, Julia also works in a commune that idealizes the organic nature of vegetarians, where it seems that they also cultivate slightly illegal green plants. May the girl also experience falling in love on her way. At least he's having hot sex! A heartily told road trip and growth story of a young girl, spiced up with witty humor, that's guaranteed from Tuija Lehti.

 

Sari Luhtanen: The truth of the story: the art of completely messing up, 2014

The Finnish version of the Nolo leimeni series. The main character is Taru, a middle schooler, boyish, who enjoys shot put. Taru's mother is a super-feminine suit-wearing career woman who tries to make her daughter the same. Taru hates the girlish slobbers brought home from her mother's business trips abroad. At school, Taru's dislike is Angela, the cutest but also meanest girl in the class. Taru has mostly not been interested in boys, but now there is a new boy in the class, Roni, who is so "outrageous" that Taru falls in love. But Angela is also interested in Ron. Taru comes up with any plot to get Angela to leave Ron alone. But the more Taru tries, the worse he messes up. Then the school is organizing a barracks disco, where the best outfit will be awarded. This is Taru's opportunity: "Angela loved disco, I loved revenge. It was possible to combine these two things seamlessly." However, is Taru's tactic the best possible?

 

WC Mack: Hat trick, 2014

A much-needed subject for young people's books, that is, hockey! Eleven-year-old Canadian boy Jonathan McDonald is a hockey player through and through. He is small in size and that is why he has been called Nuget. Despite his small size, Jonathan is lively and muscular and has a great mid-range shot. The boy would do nothing but play hockey and read hockey books all day long. But you also have to go to school, and there, especially mathematics, causes difficulties. Jonathan's life gets even more challenged when a new boy enters the class; Eddie Bosko, who is almost two meters tall and looks to be in his twenties, rarely speaks. To top it all off, Eddie is a genius at math and superior at hockey. So really annoying dude! And that's not all: the parents decide that Jonathan needs tutoring in mathematics and hire Eddie for this task. Is Eddie beating Jonathan on every front?

 

Jukka-Pekka Palviainen: Friday is a good day to leave, 2014

An exhilarating and fresh description of youth, running away and first love. Lotta meets a new boy at school in the playground. These strangers start talking. Dialogue breaks down and mutual understanding emerges from the small. Both have their own reasons for getting away: "Friday is a good day to leave". The rumor turns into reality and on Friday Lotta logs into Wilma with her mother's credentials and says goodbye to the school. He throws a bottle of whiskey and a blanket into his backpack. And so they run away, Lotta and the boy. A fun and sensitive hitchhiking trip to different parts of Southern Finland begins. The short book contains a lot of emotions. And at some point the boy will also get a name...

 

Jyri Paretskoi: Shell's Angles and Kalajoki sands, 2014

Suitable for first graders and up. Rudi, Henri and Samu, who have just completed the ripar, set off on their mopeds from North Karelia towards the sands of Kalajoki. It's quite a journey on the back of a moped! Rudi's crush on Hanna, who lives in Kalajoki, is the catalyst for the departure. The book is full of relaxed summer moods of young men, the funniest bits of which are shared with others as video clips on YouTube. The girls are always on my mind and jokes are made. A funny and light-hearted book, which, however, also reflects on human relationships deeper than the surface. Despite the abundance of pages, it is a surprisingly fast and easy-to-read opus. And the ending will surprise everyone!

 

Salla Simukka: Ebony, 2014 – also as an audiobook ja as a paperback

Riihimäkeläinen, Snow White, who attends expressive arts high school in Tampere, gets involved in strange events again. In this final part of the trilogy, the girl, to her own surprise, has started dating her schoolmate Sampsa. Everything seems to be fine. However, the wonderfully serene love spell is interrupted when Snow White starts receiving anonymous messages, texts from a strange number, at strange times of the day. The messages have a threatening tone. Their sender also seems to know more about Lumiki's past than the girl herself. The stalker claims that Snow White has 'blood on her hands' and threatens a big massacre if the girl does not agree to his demands. Snow White is terrified and for good reason. Who is the obsessive stalker?

2013

Alex Carter: The Case of the Mysterious Top Model (Mystery Girls : 3), 2013

The English girls Lauren, Jas, Mia and Becky are all quite different, but despite that they are best friends with each other. The girls are always introduced at the beginning of the books. In this book, they already solve their third mystery. Lauren's parents own a famous hotel in London, where celebrities often stay. This time, top model Sara is coming to live there for the fashion weeks. The girls are excited to get to know their new celebrity again! But then it starts happening. One day the girls find Sara crying. It turns out that he has been sent disgusting text messages from an unknown number. The girls want to help Sara and find out who is bullying her. But everyone is really surprised when the police come the next day and arrest Sara on suspicion of a crime! The mystery girls have a complicated case to solve.

 

Suzanne Collins: Ylismaan Gregor (Alisma's stories : 1), 2013

Adventure fantasy from the author of the popular Hunger Games, this time for slightly younger readers. The main characters are both a boy and a girl. Eleven-year-old Gregor lives in New York. A few years ago, his family faced a great tragedy when his father suddenly disappeared. Nothing has been heard from him since then. Gregor lives with his mother and two little sisters. One day, when Gregor and his two-year-old sister are in the laundry room, something very strange happens: the little sister crawls into the ventilation opening of the laundry room and disappears there. Gregor follows and, like his sister, falls deep into the void. The children fall into Underland, the city of Regalia, where not only humans live, but also giant cockroaches, bats, spiders and rats. Alisma's humanity is ruled by the young queen Luxa. Now he is in danger of getting into a war against the merciless rats. According to old prophecies, a warrior will arrive from Ylismaa to save Alismaa. Gregor is interpreted as the promised savior. The boy is not enthusiastic about his dangerous mission, but he has many options.

 

John Green: An asterisked error, 2013) – also as a movie

A touching book full of sadness and suffering, which is also humorous and wise philosophical. A rare movie that follows the book very well premiered this year.
16-year-old Hazel suffers from incurable thyroid cancer. The cancer has already spread to the lungs and breathing is difficult. Hazel attends a peer support group for young people with cancer. It doesn't interest him at all. One day, a handsome and strange young man, Augustus, arrives in the group. He has recovered from bone cancer, although he lost one of his legs to it. The young people become interested in each other, but Hazel fights against the feeling of falling in love. Why throw yourself into anything when you know you're going to die? One of the main ideas in the book is the phrase: "The world is not a wish-fulfillment factory." Life is unfair; so indeed in this book too.

 

Hanna Kökkö: Wrong, 2013

Seventh-grader Manu goes to Lapland to visit his father during his fall vacation. It worries the boy, because the relationship with his father has been bad and there have not been meetings very often. After all, the father has spent the last couple of years in prison because of abuse. Alcohol has also been a problem for the father, and that's why the parents once divorced. But now dad is doing better and Manu notices that they are really comfortable in dad's old childhood home with the Tolstoy dog ​​for company. Manu's friend Helmi also joins the group. Both young people are keen geocachers, but now they have to explore other kinds of caches. Terrible things have recently happened in the father's neighboring house: a family death, in which the father of the family has killed the mother, the little daughter and himself. But what creepy things are still happening in the house when a bloody ax is found in the litter box and there are traces of blood all around? An easy-to-read youth detective story, whose main characters Manu and Helmi have previously had adventures in a book called Kätkö.

 

Laura Lähteenmäki: Shocks, 2013

What suddenly comes to mind about the name of the book? Iskelmäradio? However, it is not about any dance music for older people, but about a very hushed up topic: intimate partner violence among young people. An important and difficult subject, which the author handles wonderfully and without gloom. First grader Aino is a kind scout girl who has never even kissed anyone, let alone dated anyone. In the patrol, the little girls under Aino's control absolutely adore him, but at school he is timid and withdrawn. So the girl is really surprised when the charming, good-looking Samuli shows interest in her during the spring class trip. The young people start dating and Aino gets completely crazy. At first they have a wonderful time, but little by little Samul's behavior starts to change. The book describes well how slowly and confusingly everything progresses. Samuli begins to control Aino's dressing and make-up. Soon the boy becomes openly jealous and violent. Aino is confused. Sometimes the boy is the sweetest and apologizes. Sometimes he denies that he did anything and claims that Aino imagined all the beatings. Aino flirts with the relationship; decides to leave Samuli, but soon takes it back. The name of the book, Iskelmiä, therefore refers to the bruises that the relationship with Samuli causes to Aino, both soul and body. Aino is also starting to show symptoms with her own behavior. The worst thing is that Aino has no one to talk to about it: "I would like to ask someone how to date, how to be, how much to tolerate and what is too much, but I can't talk to anyone about this." The book can truly be recommended not only to young people but also to their parents. It's also worth remembering that even though the morbidly jealous party in this book is a boy, the roles in a relationship are often the other way around.

 

Jyri Paretskoi: Shell's Angles, 2013

Three good friends Henri, Rudi and Samu found a moped club. It gets its name Shell's Angles because the boys so often slouch at Shell's angles. Friends make vests familiar from motorcycle clubs as a sign of togetherness. They are mostly laughed at at school, but the boys' gang also arouses envy. Two of the boys already have moped cards and mopeds, Sam has a Derbi and Rud has a Yamaha DT50X. Only Henri is not old enough yet. However, his father has promised him a means of transportation as a present for his fifteenth birthday. Henri is really surprised when the moped turns out to be the family's old Pappa-Tuntur, model year 1962! However, Samu understands that the gift is valuable. Henri should still get a moped license, but despite that, the blood is already drawing to the handlebars. Through the moped hobby, Henri also gets to know his longtime crush Milla, and the young people start dating. The parents cause them some bumps in the road, but still Henri lives the summer of his life. A smoothly written and thought-provoking book about the joys and growing pains of youth.

 

Salla Simukka: Red as blood, 2013 – also as an audiobook ja as a paperback

The first part of the suspense trilogy. The wild book is addictive from the beginning. Lumikki Andersson from Riihimäki lives and attends high school in Tampere. The personable girl has never been one to go along with the crowd and somehow resembles Lisbeth Salander, the hacker genius girl from the Millennium trilogy. Snow's absolute principle is not to get involved in things that don't belong to him. Now he finds something he couldn't: his classmates, e.g. the money stolen by the police girl and the principal's son. A total of 30 euros worth of soaked, old blood-smelling banknotes. Young people are caught in the middle of the international and life-threatening drug business. Involuntarily, Snow White becomes a key figure in a crime ring where the principle should be: see but don't show. The events take place around Tampere, whose winter is colder than anyone remembers...
Salla Simukka has read her fairy tale: the book is full of literary references and the names of the other parts of the series will also be directly from Grimm's fairy tale: White like snow and Black like edenbuu. Simukka has developed as a writer in recent years and has also been noticed internationally: the translation rights of the series have already been sold to numerous countries.

Marja-Leena Tiainen: Hearts of Khao Lak, 2013 – also as an e-book

Another touching book for young people by Marja-Leena Tiaisen. On Boxing Day 2004, a devastating accident happened in Asia. The underwater earthquake caused huge tidal waves, or tsunamis. More than 230 people died in the accident, of which 000 were Finns. The main character of our book, Emma, ​​was 178 years old at the time and was vacationing with her family in Thailand, when the whole family was hit by a tsunami. Emma was saved, but her father, mother, younger brother and also her other grandparents died. Emma was saved by the hotel waiter, who pulled the girl out of the water by pulling her hair. Emma was raised by her other grandparents. Now 6 years old, Emma returns with her grandmother to the scene of the accident in Khao Lak, Thailand. She and Grandma would like to find the man who saved Emma. In Thailand, painful memories flooded the girl's mind almost overwhelmingly. He goes through what happened again. Although the book is full of emotions, it is not all gloom. On her way, Emma meets a Swedish boy, Lukas. He too has survived the tsunami, but lost his family members in it. There is not only a deep understanding but also romance between the mates.

 

Rick Yancey:  5th wave  2013

Space has become something that is not good for humanity. Disasters begin to test the earth. The first wave takes away the electricity, immediately and permanently. Before long it becomes clear that those who came from space are not friendly, but the goal is to destroy people. The first wave lasted seconds, the second wave took a little longer, a day, and the third wave, a virus, killed 97 percent of the remaining people in twelve weeks.
One of the main characters in the book is Cassie. Cassie is a girl who knows how to use an M16 assault rifle. He is forced to learn how to use a gun and he also has to use it.
Cassie's mother dies of a virus, father, Cassie and 5-year-old little brother are spared. The little brother will be taken to a rescue camp, where only children are taken. The father is killed, but Cassie manages to escape. The world is not the same as before, but completely changed and everyone who comes across can be an enemy.
There are many main characters in the book. Besides Cassie, the main characters are Ben Parish, Cassie's school crush and Evan. Cassie is shot and saved by Evan, a boy who is too perfect to be true. The fourth main character is Cassie's 5-year-old little brother Sam. Sam also falls into the same camp as Ben Parish. Life at Camp Haven is a survival of brutal treatment and a desperate attempt to endure brutal training.
The book is very exciting, well written, cruel, but still hopeful. The book is the first part of a future trilogy.

2012

Aleksi Delikouras: Nertti : new game, 2012 – also as an e-book

Nerd aka Dragonslayer666, who has already achieved almost a cult reputation in short films on You Tube, now also has adventures in a book. The character created by the young Aleksi Delikouras would enjoy playing on the computer 24/7, but the dictator-mother cruelly terrorizes her son's life and manages to force him to go to school almost every day. So you have to sit in class with idiots from all over the world and try to stay awake even in Swedish class. But then the world's most beautiful red-haired girl, named Galtsu, Feta salad completely enchants our nerds. But you can't get by in human relationships with just nerd liturgy and clicking the mouse. The opus, full of wild humor and violent moods, makes you laugh, but also makes you gasp at times.

 

Michael Morpurgo: A war horse, 2012 – also as a movie

The narrator of the book is the English horse Joey. It grows on the farm of a drunkard and cruel host. The only one who loves the horse is Albert, the young son of the family. Joey and the boy are inseparable friends until Albert's father, short of money, sells the horse to the army. Joey ends up in the First World War on the French front. It experiences all the horrors of war; sees the battles, piles of corpses, field hospitals and hears the cries of pain of the wounded. Yet it also meets good people. Will it ever make it back home to Albert? The book has also been made into a movie of the same name, directed by Steven Spielberg, and the book has an illustration from the movie.

 

Mal Peet: Keeper, 2012

A special book and not really even a book for young people. The story is a mystical mixture of football goalkeeping technique, life philosophy and even nature conservation. The frame narrative is a magazine interview, during which the famous goalkeeper tells the reporter his life story. He has just achieved his own dream and that of his compatriots: the soccer world championship. The boy grows up in South America in a poor family. In this continent, the dream of all poor boys is to become a good soccer player. It is the only way to success and wealth. But our protagonist son is a terrible ball handler and stops playing. With these prospects, his father's fate awaits him: to spend his whole life in heavy forest work and live in poverty. Right in the forest, however, the boy meets a strange figure, an almost two-meter ghostly Goalkeeper. This begins to systematically train the boy for a career as a soccer goalkeeper. In secret meetings, the boy learns what it takes to develop into a great goalkeeper: not only good fitness, technique and talent, but also psychological skill: instinct and anticipation of people's behavior. At the same time, the boy learns a lot about life. Eventually, he develops into masterly skill; his talent is noticed and he makes it to the national team. He is nicknamed El Gato for his jaguar-like agility. Soon the whole world will know it. The end of the book is surprising or not: life is about pursuing dreams and achieving them.

 

Terhi Rannela: One prom stuff, 2012

"Yes, it's embarrassing when you just sit there." The subject of the book is the more familiar, but even more taboo, alcohol. The narrators of the book are young people, but the drink in the book is either the young people themselves, the young people's parents or, for example, the drunk driver who once destroyed the whole family's life. For some, alcohol turns shy into brave, others become aggressive, some lose their memory and as a result, many other beautiful things in life. Someone is partying until the quick-release screw takes more booze. Well-written, thought-provoking, based on real events and true-to-life short stories about booze and other intoxicants, their consequences and mild effects. Recommended not only for young people but also for adults.

 

Rachel Renee Russell: My embarrassing life : 1 I wish I was popular, 2012

"Sometimes there are days when you have to wonder if mom is possibly BRAIN DEAD". 14 year old Nikki girl! to start at a new, expensive private school where you don't know anyone. Just guess how exciting it is! Anyway, life is not easy when you have a brainless dictator as your mother. The most popular girl in school is Mackenzie. Around him revolves the SS group, cute and popular. Of course, Nikki can't join this group. As a good artist, Nikki would like to participate in the school's art competition, but she doesn't dare and instead ends up working as an assistant in the school's library. Boring! Or is there anyway? At least Nikki gets two friends from the library, but how do library work and tattoos go together? And why will the whole school soon be on Niki's side? Brandon, the cutest boy in school too!
The Nolo leimeni series is anchored in popular diary novels aimed at middle schoolers bursting with hilarious humor and cartoon-like illustrations.

 

Jo Salmson: Tam Beggar Boy (Dragon Rider : 1), 2012

Tam is an orphaned beggar boy who lives in the big city of Demar. The city has five walls and they precisely separate people of unequal status from each other. Tam lives in a small, miserable shack on the outskirts of town and lives on food donated by good people. He often looks at the king's flying dragons and dreams of riding them. One day, Tam arrives as a hitchhiker with a load of hay in the neighborhood of rich people; however, he is immediately captured by the guards. What happens to Tam's dream of entering the king's dragon guard if he has to lie in a dungeon for years? The first part of a new, easy-to-read fantasy series.

 

Salla Simukka: Left, 2012

The book is a dystopia set in the near future, a threatening image of the world to come. Fifteen-year-old Emmi from Tampere runs away from home for one day, and during that time quite strange things happen: when she returns, the whole town is completely deserted. Where have all the people gone? Cell phone and internet connections have also stopped working. What has happened? Emmi is really terrified for a reason. There must be someone else somewhere! At the railway station, Emmi runs into Onerva, who is almost the same age. Together, the girls go looking for others and soon meet an 18-year-old boy. Why are all those left behind young people? As the book progresses, the mystery only deepens. There remains the first part of the exciting trilogy, which will be continued in the fall.

 

Jennifer E. Smith: The statistical probability of encountering the only correct one, 2012

A seventeen-year-old American girl, Hadley, travels to London for her father's wedding. The girl is not at all excited about the trip; he still hasn't forgiven his father for divorcing his mother, moving to another country and finding himself a new wife! As a result of many coincidences, Hadley misses her flight and has to wait for the next one. It turns out to be quite fatal. At the airport, Hadley meets Oliver, a very interesting twenty-something English boy. It soon turns out that Oliver is also on his way to London. It also turns out that fate has booked them adjacent seats on the plane. At their destination in London, Hadley and Oliver say goodbye with a first kiss and at the same time lose each other in the traffic! Hadley realizes that she fell in love at first sight and at the same time wasted her life not even knowing the man's last name let alone his phone number! The probability of finding Oliver in a million city is zero!

 

Mila Teräs: The shadow of a butterfly, 2012

A sensitively lyrical story about almost fourteen-year-old Linnea, who is embarrassed about her life situation. The parents are divorced and each has a new partner. The girl hates her mother's new boyfriend, Kammo-Kimmo, and doesn't feel comfortable at home. And a baby is expected in the father's new family. Linnea feels very alone and abandoned. Growing into a woman also causes fear and confusion. Linnea tries to ease the pain of her soul by transforming it into a physical form and succumbing to anorexia. Linnea would like to be light as a fairy. Watching your eating and weight soon becomes an obsession.
For the summer, Linnea returns to the beloved landscapes of her childhood and travels to her grandmother in the country, to the Usvala manor surrounded by an enchanting garden. Grandma is a special person who collects healing herbs. During the summer, the hidden secrets of the family begin to be revealed to Linnea. Linnea also gets a new friend, the joie de vivre Valeria, and also falls in love with Mikael, who plays the saxophone. Nevertheless, Linnea's eating disorder keeps getting worse…
Mila Teräkse has a personal way of mixing fantasy elements with tough topics in her books for young adults. In this work as well, he creates a beautiful fairy-tale atmosphere with his secret gardens and thus softens the sad subject without trivializing it.

 

Maria Turtschaninoff: Under Helsinki, 2012 – also as a paperback

There is something very strange about the childhood of fifteen-year-old Alva from Helsinki. He senses it, even though he doesn't remember anything about his first years. Classmate Joel, who enjoys parkour, has a crush on Alva. He would like to get to know the girl better, but doesn't dare. Finally, the boy is encouraged and arranges a date at a nearby cafe. But whatever happens; just as Joel is about to enter the door of the cafe, Alva leaves the place with a very strange boy! Joel goes to follow the couple and ends up with them in Alistad, a parallel world under Helsinki. This is exactly where Alva's past is connected. All three young people end up on a dizzying and dangerous adventure. A new smoothly progressing, Finnish-Swedish fantasy.

 

Kalle Veirto: Camp, 2012

"Others than me were also some kind of losers, it was a party entry requirement."
Fifteen young people who have committed crimes of various degrees are sent to a summer camp in the middle of Korpe. It is an initiative of the Youth Association of Critical Thinking, whose goal is to get troubled youth to think about life and their future. Sixteen-year-old protagonist Santu, who has finished primary school, is among his 'accomplishments'. beating up a dark-skinned schoolmate, stopping his hockey hobby and being denied a place to study. He goes to camp reluctantly, forced by his mother. The leader of the camp is a priest who looks like Jouni Hynynen, who also has a dubious reputation created by tabloids and his nickname is Pervo. At the camp, we reflect on actions, causes and consequences and try to move forward in life. Speed ​​and dangerous situations can be included, as well as romance. Will Santtu catch up with his life? Kalle Veirto, known for his Henkka and Kivimutka book series, has written a nice-tasting youth book for a change.

2011

Maria Autio: A mind reader, 2011

Sixteen-year-old Tiuku moves away from home to another town for high school. She is the daughter of an alcoholic mother. There is no information about the father. When drinking, mother and stepfather are often violent towards Tiuku. Becoming independent from home conditions is easier, but also difficult and lonely. Home conditions follow along in her thoughts and even one call from her mother makes the girl's mind black. Tiuku tries to ease his anxiety by cutting himself. At the new school, Tiuku makes a friend, the lively Iida, who doesn't give up even in difficult moments. There is also a strange, withdrawn Lintutyttö in the class, whose home conditions are even worse than Tiuku's. The bird girl's hard fate unexpectedly helps Tiuku to find direction in his life. The book is hard, but not dark, but a beautiful and hopeful story about youth, which no one should have to go through.

 

Michael Grant: Challenge, 2011

Twelve-year-old Mac is not the stuff of heroes at all. He is severely bullied at school, who gets a little break from the big stacks. The parents also neglect the boy. So Mac is truly amazed when he learns that he is challenged to save the world from an insane evil. An old man from the distant past arrives to tell him. After recovering from the initial shock, Mac believes the man and accepts the challenge. As a substitute for Mac, a kind of robot is arranged at home, which seems to cause quite a bit of trouble... According to Mac, his former bully Stefan, whose life Mac saves at the beginning of the book, will become his security guard. The boys are equipped with an iPhone and a credit card and then we go!
The book starts the new Magnificent 12 series.

 

Jenny Jägerfeld: Once there was a mother who disappeared, 2011 (Siskodisko series)

The book begins tragically and bloodyly, when Maja, who is in the first grade of high school, accidentally saws off the end of her second thumb in art class. Maja lives with her father and spends every other weekend with her psychologist mother in another town. The relationship with my mother has never been easy, because my mother has always been very eccentric. Once again, Maja travels to her mother, but her mother has disappeared. Where is he? Maja has no other leads than a strange message from a strange email address. Maja is worried, but doesn't tell anyone about it. By chance, he meets a twenty-something boy who lives next door to his mother, who says his name is Justin Case. Maja falls in love and a relationship develops between them, but it is also quite peculiar. Later, the boy's real name is revealed, but will their relationship become clear? And above all, will she survive her mother's disappearance?

 

Sister Latvus: Far from my own country, 2011

We live in the time of the Second World War, the year 1942 in the Soviet Union. The German Nazi army besieges Leningrad and the siege lasts almost three years in total. The city is completely besieged. There is a severe shortage of food: people eat dogs, cats and eventually even the bark of trees. The leader of the Soviet Union is the tyrannical Stalin, who begins deporting those belonging to minority nations to labor camps far away in Siberia. The family of 13-year-old Paavonk, who lives near Leningrad, has to leave because they are Ingrian and therefore Finnish. They have also spent the whole winter starving, and the family has even eaten the wallpaper off the wall. Now it's time to go far into the unknown ahead. Paavo's school has been left unfinished for a long time, now he has to leave his home as well and life far from his own country is not easy. SpongeBob has to work hard and the boy's family faces grief and loss. However, the light in Paavo's life is brought by the Estonian family who experienced the same fate of deportation, and especially their beautiful daughter Mare. Falling in love with Mare gives hope in the midst of all the suffering. But will life ever get easier and will the boy ever see his home landscapes again? This book, which earned a nomination for the Finlandia Junior award, is worth reading.

 

Andy Mulligan: Rubbish, 2011

Fourteen-year-old Raphael lives in the big dump town of Behala. A lot of people live there and all of them, children and adults, scavenge the landfill for a living. Usually nothing is found. But today, Raphael discovers something that will change both his life and that of his friends Gardo and Rota. Raphael finds the bag, but for some reason the police are also after it, and in this country the police are not very friendly. A nightmarish adventure begins, which leads to e.g. to the infamous prison and finally to the graveyard.

 

Jukka-Pekka Palviainen: Some Guest Star, 2011

The events in the book could be from the youth theater of Riihimäki or another city. Under the exercises is a play from the book Häräntappoase, Atella has the main role in it - she is Alpo Korva, or Allu. In Kertu's part, there is the object of many boys' wishes, the picture-perfect Sini. In training - which includes close contact - Sini tries everything to get Ate interested. However, the book's second main character is a girl named Anni, dressed in a gothic style, whose thoughts the reader can get to know during the chapters about Atte. On page 31, Ate and Ann's life paths intersect for the first time.

 

Markku Pietikäinen: Crooks and summer dunars, 2011

Lauri and Saara get summer jobs at a service center for the elderly, where strange things happen. One of the residents starts receiving nuisance calls late at night and his bank account is emptied. Then other strange things happen: why does the head nurse lie and why does a strange van drive around the yard at night? The book belongs to a new domestic detective series aimed at young people called Musta kaista.

 

Ruta Sepetys: Gray light, 2011

"Have you ever wondered what human life is worth? That morning I bought my little brother's life with a pocket watch." We are living in the war year 1941. The Soviet Union has conquered all three Baltic countries the previous year. 15-year-old Lina from Lithuania dreams of studying art and living the summer of her life with her first date. One night everything changes: the Soviet secret police break into his home. Lina, her mother and brother are captured, deported to a labor camp and taken on a cattle car of a train far away in Siberia. The father of the family has already disappeared before. In the camps, Lina goes hungry, faces misery and death. Fighting not only to stay alive but also to stay sane, he begins documenting his inhuman life by drawing on any piece of paper with a random piece of charcoal. He wants to live to tell his story to the world one more time. The tough book is based on true events and tells about the fate of the author's relatives. He is an American whose grandfather escaped from Lithuania to the United States during World War II. In this book, Ruta Sepetys tells the story of her relatives who stayed in Lithuania.

 

Marja-Leena Tiainen: A girl of two worlds, 2011

Marja-Leena Tiainen has never shied away from difficult topics in her books for young adults. The girl of two worlds is also an exciting and shocking, thought-provoking reading experience. Seventeen-year-old Kurdish girl Tara lives in fear. He fears for his life especially for his father and older brother, but also for any male member of his family or family acquaintance. Tara has lived in Finland for a long time. He wants to live the life of an ordinary Finnish youth; to be free, study, go out and socialize with whoever you want. But Kurdish culture does not allow that. The honor of the girl represents the honor of the family, and the parents watch the girls carefully and also choose marriage partners for them. Father and brother try to keep the girl under control with their abuse, but eventually Tara runs away to a secret shelter. Will he still be saved there too? The book's descriptions of violence are quite naturalistic, so it should not be recommended for too young readers.

 

Aino-Kuutamo Uusitorppa: You don't know how black feels, 2011 Information book

Everyone feels bad sometimes in their youth. There will be loneliness, heartaches, there will be drunken fooling around. It feels like no one understands and can't tell anyone. In this book, twelve celebrities, e.g. Negative's Jonne Aaron tells his own story of survival from the pain points of his youth. Someone has a difficult divorce from their parents, another has experienced online bullying, a third has been bullied. The book is a comforting survival guide and a reminder that even today's successful people haven't always done well. You can survive anything in life, including youth.

2010

Riitta Jacobsson: Aphrodite and betrayal, 2010

The book begins with a strange fire, which the eighth grader Afrodite has to witness. He happens to be there and saves a human life, but is accused of starting the fire. Other strange things are happening and Afrodite starts to investigate them. He finds out that a gang of ninth graders blackmails and threatens their younger ones. The gang members are really not Sunday school boys, but violent criminal beginnings. Victims of blackmail live in fear and none of them dare to speak. One even attempts suicide. Unexpectedly, the blame turns on the necks of the scheming Aphrodite: soon the girl is already accused of theft and assault. Afrodite ja petos is the second part of the chillingly exciting book series for young adults by Ritta Jacobsson, who lives in Sweden and was originally born in Finland. The series started in 2009 with Aphrodite and Death.

 

Marilyn Kaye: Out of sight, out of mind (Selected; 1), 2010

Eighth grader Amanda is the most popular girl in school. He is good looking and dresses expensively. Everyone seeks Amanda's company because they don't want to be the target of her nastiness. Amanda is especially annoyed by the miserable Tracey: a shy girl who doesn't wear make-up and whose clothes should be put to shame. Tracey is shunned by everyone. So Amanda is shocked when she looks in the mirror one morning and discovers that she is Tracey! What exactly has happened? Amanda now has to live Tracey's life and as a result ends up in a strange class no. 209 at school. It soon becomes clear that the class is meant for the so-called For the chosen ones. What are the Chosen? And where is the real Tracey? And will Amanda have to live Tracey's life for the rest of her life? Marilyn Kaye is remembered for her exciting Replica series, where the clone girl Amy had adventures. Out of sight, out of mind now starts a new Valitut series about supernatural abilities.

 

Mary E. Pearson: Who is Jenna Fox?, 2010

17-year-old Jenna Fox has been in a bad car accident and has been in a coma for over a year afterwards. Jenna doesn't remember anything about the accident. And don't tell him much about it. He also doesn't remember anything about his life before the accident; doesn't even recognize his mother, but instead he knows specific things, e.g. of the French Revolution. Why? Jenna has to learn everything again, even how to smile. He learns about his own life by watching the family's old home videos. With their help, he tries to find out who is Jenna Fox? Why are the parents hiding things from him and not wanting to let him go to school? Why can't he eat anything but nutrient solution? Why can't you access the internet everywhere from your home computers? Little by little, Jenna starts to remember and understand more than she should. It turns out that Jenna shouldn't even exist. So who exactly is he? Set in the near future, the book evokes thoughts about the possibilities and impossibilities of biotechnology. But at the same time, it is also a story about a young woman's search for identity and perhaps also about falling in love.

 

Kate Thompson: A creature of the night, 2010

Fourteen year old Bobby is a bad boy. He and his friends have committed numerous thefts and assaults. To get her son out of bad company, the mother decides that the family will move to the country, far away from Dublin. Mother, Bobby and his four-year-old little half-brother Dennis settle as tenants of a farming family in an old house. The house was last inhabited by a Swedish lawyer who suddenly disappeared from the village with only his passport and driver's license. The man's other belongings have remained in the house. Bobby wants to go back to his old life and escapes back to Dublin once in a while. But little by little, the new place of residence also begins to attract him. There are strange gossips about their house and the unpleasant things that happened there years ago. Little Dennis also starts behaving strangely. Why does he exercise outside at night and who does this four-year-old cooperate with? A mysteriously fascinating and thought-provoking book for young people about Ireland.

 

Marja-Leena Tiainen: Towards the pine tree, 2010

Miro, a 16-year-old snowboarder from Espoo, has just finished elementary school and doesn't know what to do with his life. The father is a famous high-paid plastic surgeon who would like the boy to continue in high school. Miro rebels against his father and drifts into bad company. The summer is spent burning clouds and drinking pussies. When autumn comes, Miro gets away from everything and escapes to a forest school in Northern Karelia. In the new group, the boy from the south is mocked and Miro has to seriously claim his place. My schoolmates are the same kind of young men as everywhere in Finland: rambunctious and drunken car-huggers. In which group does Miro end up and will he find a direction for his life? There is also a girl, Aava, for whom Miro's heart beats, but will the boy reciprocate? Marja-Leena Tiainen is a great writer who can make any topic captivate her. The young people in the book, with their career choice and interpersonal problems, are once again portrayed in a genuinely touching way.

 

Mimmu Tihinen: A crochet and a hundred hearts, 2010

Marjut Virkkunen 13 vee and 7 B treats again. The series started a year ago with the book Virkkunen's Fifteen Lies. In it, Marjut made the reader laugh by becoming entangled in a web of only worse lies. There will be fun, but also disappointments and embarrassing situations again. Now Marjut finds the man of her life. The first encounter takes place fatefully in the garbage shed of the townhouse company. Lovely, it's love at first sight! Namely from Marjut's side. The object of love, that enchanting Tuomo, does not notice the girl in any way. An important but difficult phase in falling in love begins: "How would I impress Tuomo? How could I make him give me that fatal look? Above all: how would I even get Tuomo to notice me?"

2009

Bernard Beckett: genesis, 2009

The novel has attracted a lot of international attention. The author is an award-winning multi-scientist from New Zealand who has worked as a teacher of playwriting, mathematics and English. While writing Genesis, he worked on a genetics research project that investigated DNA mutations. The novel is set at the end of the 2000st century. Wars, natural disasters and travel diseases have destroyed the world as we know it. The lonely island nation lives in isolation. The citizens live under strict control and outsiders are not allowed on the island. The state is governed by the Academy. Young Anax wants to become a member of the Academy and has to face an extremely demanding interrogation board for several hours. The book is a philosophical reflection on humanity, the future, social structure, the possibilities and impossibilities of artificial intelligence. And the ending is more than startling.

 

Antti Halme: Metal brothers, 2009

Finlandia Junior candidate from 2009 and no excuse! The book is full of humor and plenty of pace. Harri from Espoo, who likes Metallica, is going to spend the summer with a family he knows in cod country, Norway. Another option would be even more repulsive: to visit relatives in Finland. Another son from Espoo, Ville, of the same age, is spending the summer in Norway. At first, it seems that the boys have nothing in common other than their hometown. Harri is a short, stocky nerd. Ville is a handsome young man who is mostly interested in music and pictures at school. "What a joke, what a mongoloid mummy", Ville thinks when he sees Harri. "Call the rock police and take this hombre into custody. The charge is a complete lack of coolness and the punishment is life". Little by little, however, a common note is found: both boys are heavy metal fans and have the same sense of humor. Both are also interested in beautiful Norwegian women. A bit by accident, the boys get to know Hasse, whose father owns a music store. How is the boys' summer in Oslo going? It includes summer jobs, my own band Unholy Viper and a few girls, but surprisingly also life-threatening fights against an anti-immigrant gang. A fresh, sympathetic book about young men and at the same time also about tolerance.

 

Anu Holopainen: September 4: Valley of the Night, 2009

The fourth independent part of the Syysmaa fantasy series. Lorana is a young woman from Sysmaa who has been forced by her father to marry a man she does not love. The husband is an incompetent whiner, the mother-in-law is a mean old man and the father-in-law is a merciless drunkard. Lorana's life is very difficult. So she falls in love with another man, Larka. A secret relationship is revealed and the punishment may be the death sentence. Lorana and Larka run away, but lose each other. Lorana finds herself in the dreaded Living Mountains. As if by a miracle, he survives beyond the mountains to Night Valley; to a land where the sun never shines. There in the dark lives a strange people who seem to have no feelings at all. Lorana is the first outsider in Night Valley. He is saved by the old man Kolmisointu, who is the only one who speaks Lorana's language. How is Loran doing? Will he stay in the dark Valley of Night forever?

 

Riitta Jacobsson: Aphrodite and death, 2009

An exciting and shocking detective story for young people. The author is from Tampere, Finland, but has been living and writing in Sweden for a long time.
It's a black October night. Rain. Fourteen-year-old Mikaela was going to have a DVD night with her friends, but suddenly left in a fit of rage. He misses the bus and doesn't really know where to go. Mikaela starts to walk the remote shortcut home. The journey is not very long, but in an instant the too thinly dressed girl is already completely soaked. Then a car slows down near the girl and offers a ride. Since the driver is half gone, Mikaela, shivering from the cold, climbs into the car. He's never coming back. Mikaela is found murdered in the forest a few days later. How can this happen in a quiet, prestigious residential area? The whole town is in shock and fear. Afrodite, Mikaela's classmate, gets involved in the events more than she would like. Mikaela's death is connected to a light, station wagon-style car. Aphrodite's father also has such a car...

 

Ingrid Law: Gift, 2009

The story of a special American family. The narrator is Mississippi, or Mibs, the middle daughter of a family of five children, who will soon turn thirteen. The other children in the family have received some supernatural ability on their 13th birthday. One of Mibs' big brothers is able to cause electrical discharges; the other knows how to develop rains and hurricanes. The family is considered strange and Mibs doesn't have friends either, instead his classmates make fun of him as Missi-Pissi. Mibs birthday is coming up. The girl waits with terror and excitement to see what her gift will be. But the party is ruined when the father of the family gets into an accident far from home. He is badly injured and falls into a coma. Mother and eldest brother travel to father. Mibs is certain that his gift is the ability to bring his father back to life. So the girl runs away in the middle of her birthday party to the bus, which is on its way to the father's hospital. Mibs' two brothers and the neighbor's youngsters also rush in. Where will the bus take them, who will they meet on the way and above all: what is Mibs' gift?

 

Terry Pratchett: State, 2009

The author, known for his fantasy literature, is now able to surprise you: Valtio is indeed a multi-layered, contemplative social adventure novel. The reader would easily place the book in history, on an island in the Pacific Ocean in the 1700th century. But according to the author himself, the work takes place in a parallel universe.

Mau, the jungle boy, has been on the Island of Boys to perform his coming-of-age rite. When he returns to his State, it no longer exists. A big wave, a tsunami has wiped out everything; the former is in ruins and the dead are lying around. Mau soon discovers that he is not the only survivor. An English ship has been wrecked on the coast in a storm and only the noble girl Daphne has survived. The first meeting of two young people who speak different languages ​​and are from completely different worlds is downright tragic: the sophisticated girl Dapne invites Mau to the wreck of the ship for a tea party! Understandably, both first try to apply the behaviors they learned in the old world in a new situation. But it doesn't work now. A common language and new common rules must be found; a completely new social order must be created. Soon, more survivors start drifting to the island. Some are in bad shape, you have to help them. Children are born, old people die, everything has to be sorted out. How will Mau and Daphne cope?