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The Dark and Hollow Places, by Carrie Ryan
The Dark and Hollow Places is the final book in Carrie Ryan's nihilistic girls-vs.-zombies trilogy, following The Forest of Hands and Teeth and The Dead-Tossed Waves. I enjoyed the first story in...
The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin, by Josh Berk
When I opened the package containing Josh Berk's debut novel The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin, I assumed it was a book aimed at elementary school students. The colorful cover, the goofy nam...
Dark Souls, by Paula Morris
Paula Morris's novel Dark Souls isn't the best YA paranormal romance I have ever read, but it boasts likeable characters, an intriguing premise, and literally dozens of ghosts, running the gamut from benign to horrifying. Fans of the genre are in for a creepy, history-infused treat...
Darkside, by Tom Becker
Tom Becker’s debut novel Darkside opens with a kidnapping: thirteen-year-old Ricky Thomas is abducted from the middle of Trafalgar Square in broad daylight, and, strangely, none of the hundreds of...
Dating da Vinci, by Malena Lott
The heroine of Malena Lott’s novel Dating da Vinci is a 36-year-old linguist named Ramona Elise. The widowed mother of two young boys, Ramona is still mourning her husband, who died two years ear...
Daughter of the Centaurs, by Kate Klimo
Kate Klimo, author of the popular Dragon Keepers series for children, has launched a new trilogy aimed at older teens. The first book in the Centauriad series, Daughter of the Centaurs, introduces Malora, a girl growing up in a hunter-gatherer village in a post-apocalyptic future. Malora dreams of becoming a master horse-trainer like her father, and when her tribe is slaughtered by monsters her affinity with horses is all that allows her to survive...
Dead End Deal, by Allen Wyler
Allen Wyler embraces that dictum about writing what you know: he's a Seattle-based neurosurgeon who writes suspense novels about Seattle-based neurosurgeons. His latest effort, Dead End Deal, is the story of Professor Jon Ritter, a neurosurgeon hovering on the brink of a major advancement in the fight against Alzheimer's...
The Dead Guy Interviews, by Michael A. Stusser
I still have my battered middle school copy of DK Publishing's Chronicle of America. It’s held together with duct tape and prayers, but I’m going to keep it forever. The Chronicle was a massive ...
Dead is the New Black, by Marlene Perez
Marlene Perez’s Dead is the New Black is a supernatural mystery/romance aimed at reluctant teen readers*. Her protagonist is Daisy Giordano, the youngest daughter of one of the strangest families ...
The Dead-Tossed Waves, by Carrie Ryan
The Dead-Tossed Waves is the sequel to Carrie Ryan's 2009 novel The Forest of Hands and Teeth, and it's just as cheery as its predecessor—which is to say, not even remotely. Ryan's second book...
Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein: Prodigal Son, by Chuck Dixon and Brett Booth
Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein: Prodigal Son is Chuck Dixon and Brett Booth’s comic book adaptation of the 2005 novel of the same name by Dean Koontz and Kevin J. Anderson, which is in turn a modern-d...
The Debs, by Susan McBride
Much like Gossip Girl, The A-List, Clique, and countless other titles in the booming subgenre of YA literature about rich, beautiful teens cavorting in the wealthiest communities in America...
The Deception of the Emerald Ring, by Lauren Willig
Apparently, Penguin has a tagline for author Lauren Willig: “Lawyer by day, romance novelist by night”. The press release that they sent out with the latest installment in her swashbuckling...
Deep Secret, by Diana Wynne Jones
Please note: the plot of Diana Wynne Jones's novel Deep Secret is convoluted, the characters are slow to develop, and Jones's conception of magic is not the usual whiz-bang Harry Potter-style acti...
Desperate Duchesses, by Eloisa James
Romance novelist and Shakespeare professor Eloisa James clearly wants her books to push the boundaries of the romance genre. But while originality is a commendable goal, it’s usually a good idea to ...
The Devil's Whisper, by Miyuki Miyabe
Miyuki Miyabe’s deliciously creepy mystery/thriller The Devil’s Whisper opens with three young women dying in quick succession: one throws herself off a building, another falls in front of a train...
Dial Emmy for Murder, by Eileen Davidson
Dial Emmy for Murder might not have the genre-hopping appeal of, say, a Janet Evanovich novel, but it's a perfectly respectable mystery with an amusing hook and an app...
The Diamonds, by Ted Michael
Fans of everything from Mean Girls to The A-List will recognize elements of Ted Michael's debut novel The Diamonds, but Michael's take on this overly-familiar material still feels smart, fun, and ...
Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-To-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages, by Thomas Holtz, Jr.
Professional paleontologist Thomas Holtz, Jr. has just released Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-To-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages, and dinophiles everywhere better start clearing space on their bookshelves, because this is not one of those illustration-heavy, text-light picture books. With contributions from over thirty of his fellow paleontologists, Holtz’s 432 pages...
Dogs and Goddesses, by Jennifer Crusie, Anne Stuart, and Lani Diane Rich
Dogs and Goddesses, the latest collaborative novel from Jennifer Crusie, Anne Stuart, and Lani Diane Rich, has a lot of plot packed into its 388 pages. In addition to the three heroines’ romantic travails (one storyline per author), there’s also magical cookies, talking dogs, and an ancient, ruthless Mesopotamian goddess with plans of world domination...
Don't Expect Magic, by Kathy McCullough
Kathy McCullough's debut novel Don't Expect Magic has a lot going for it: it's suitable for a wide variety of ages, it manages to be inspirational without being cloying, and—best of all—it's a standalone! (You guys know how I love those...
Don't You Wish, by Roxanne St. Claire
To mangle a phrase from Jane Austen, Roxanne St. Claire's novel Don't You Wish is one of the many YA books whose existence inspires no other emotion than surprise at there being sufficient reader demand to publish it. It's not that the novel is straight-up terrible (I'll even give it a solid “reasonably entertaining”), but it's been done before—and done better...
Dragonhaven, by Robin McKinley
Robin McKinley’s Dragonhaven, her first novel in four years, is a celebration of atmosphere and characterization. It’s an intensely absorbing story, but longtime fans take heed: this book has much more in common with her character-driven vampire novel Sunshine than her earlier, more conventional fantasy novels...
Dream Girl, by Lauren Mechling
No sooner had we remarked on the originality of a young adult fantasy novel about a teenage girl with magical dreams... than we received another young adult fantasy novel about a teenage girl...
Dream Life, by Lauren Mechling
Dream Life is Lauren Mechling's follow-up to 2008's Dream Girl, and it's even more enjoyably far-fetched than its predecessor. Both novels feature improbably-named 10th grader Claire Voyante, whos...
Dust Girl, by Sarah Zettel
Sarah Zettel's Dust Girl has been criticized for its cover art, which several reviewers felt failed to convey an important element of the book—that the heroine is biracial. I wasn't hugely bothered by this, as the character is supposed to be able to “pass” as white and the cover model resembles the book's description, but I do have my own objections to the cover: A) it doesn't do much to evoke the book's Dust Bowl-era setting, and B) it's ridiculously boring...