The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd

Juliet Moreau is now sixteen and has pieced here life back together after her father deserted the family and her mother passed away.  She has been trying to forget the scandal that ruined her life.  Rumors are still just rumors and it was never proven that her father, Dr. Moreau actually did the gruesome experiments that he is rumored to done.

Now through her father's handsome lab assistant,  she learns he is alive and is continuing his work on a remote island.  Juliet must get to the bottom of the the tales regarding the awful experiments.  To do this, she travels with Dr. Moreau's lab assistant to this remote island with the hope of proving that her father is not the dreadful man that he is accused of being.  When Juliet gets to the island, she finds out that everything her father was accused of is true.  He is doing experiments on animals so that they resemble, speak and behave as humans.  Juliet knows she must end her father's madness and get off the island for her own safety.  But, will she be too late for those who inhabit the island and for herself as well.

Texas Tayshas 2014 Reading List for high school

Out of the Easy by Rupa Sepetys

It’s 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer. She devises a plan get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street.
Josie is caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld. New Orleans lures her in her quest for truth, dangling temptation at every turn, and escalating to the ultimate test.

I received this as a pre-pub book and was not disappointed.  I was fascinated by the time period in NOLA and love this author.  This book has it all:  murder, gangsters, love, intriguing and believable characters.   It will not disappoint. 

The Night She Disappeared by April Henry

Gabie drives a Mini Cooper.  She also delivers pizzas part-time.  One night, Kayla, another delivery girl at Pete's Pizza, goes out with an order and never comes back.  To Gabie's horror, she learned that the man who called in the fake pizza order had asked if the girl in the Mini Cooper was working that night.  Was Kayla's fate really meant for Gabie?  Obsessed with finding Kayla, Gabie teams up with Drew, who also works at Pete's.  Together they set out to prove Kayla isn't dead, and to find her before she is.

Another fantastic thriller by April Henry.  Fast paced and intense read!

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The Raft by S.A. Bodeen

 Robie lives on a remote island just off the mainland of Hawaii, but far enough to make life uninteresting.  To socialize and get a taste of culture, Robie often goes there by supply plane to visit her aunt.  Her current visit is cut short when her aunt needs to suddenly leave town.  Robie begs to stay alone, and for once, her aunt agrees.  It's only for a week and even though Robie has never stayed alone overnight, she is has been responsible in the past.  Robie heads out one day from her aunt's apartment and has a freaky encounter with someone that leaves her totally shaken. This leads Robie to head back to the supply plane and home.  But she never makes it home, as the supply plane crashes in the ocean and only she and the co-pilot survive.  Her biggest challenges are yet to come.  No one knows where Robie is, and time is running out.
If you are a fan of survival books, you will love The Raft.  It is a quick read, with some predictable moments, but one that you won't put down until you find out what happens to Robie. 

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

In 1943, a British fighter plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France and the survivor tells a tale of friendship, war, espionage, and great courage as she relates what she must to survive while keeping secret all that she can. Fantastic book that is one of the top ten books on the Tayshas High School Reading List.

Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

Burn for Burn is all about girls getting revenge.  Kat, Lillia, and Mary have all been wronged and this time they won't let it go. 

Kat is the mastermind of the three.  She has been treated horribly by most of the students at her school and she isn't going to take it any more.   Lillia would put up being treated badly, but she won't allow her sister to be treated that way.  Mary left the island and is back to seek revenge.  She was treated unfairly by one person and is not OK with just letting this person slide.  She will get back at him and Kat and Lillia are more than happy to help.

Kat is the loner of the three and has been jilted
more than once, because she just falls for the wrong guy.  Her reason seems the most petty, but she is also the most driven of the three.  Lillia is really a sweetheart, and even though she has been wronged along the way, she is out to protect her younger sister.  Out of the three, Mary is the most wronged and probably has a right to seek revenge, but she is also confused and easily influenced and desperate for friends. 

The revenge methods would probably be typical of teens, but some of the planning methods seem to border on illegal, crazy and just funny. 

Worth the read for the dynamics among Kat, Lillia and Mary as well as those they want to revenge.   This is a departure for Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian, but I thoroughly enjoyed Burn for Burn.  Could their be a sequel?