The Night my Sister Went Missing by Carol Plum-Ucci

Casey Carmody and all her friends party at the abandoned peer at Mystic Dunes. This time, just like every other time, there is beer, smoking and fun, but someone also brought a gun. A shot rings out, and to everyone's horror, Casey falls off the pier and does not resurface. As the police search for her body (nobody can survive a fall off the pier - undertows and barnacles), secrets start to spill and everyone seems to have a motive.

Boy Kills Man by Matt Whyman

Alberto and Shorty think that guns speak louder than words and drug dealers have all the power, but in Medellin, Colombia where life is difficult and children are disposable being a hit man isn't what they imagined it would be.

The Nature of Jade by Deb Caletti

Jade DeLuna has Panic Disorder. Her anxiety attacks can be set off by the slightest change in routine, life can become quite hard to handle. Her sanctuary is her room, where she burns saint candles to ward off misfortune and watches the elephants at the zoo via live web cam. All is Ok until she sees the boy in the red jacket who comes to see the elephants almost everyday with a baby. Jade becomes fascinated with the boy, and decides to meet him. In the process she ends up working at the zoo with the elephants and both Jade and the reader learn about these amazing animals. Sebastian, the boy in the red jacket, a single teen father who lives on a houseboat with his activist grandmother, complicates Jade's life with mystery and unanswered questions... but with him she feels safer than ever. And then she learns his secret. Will she do the right thing, or what feels like the right thing?

Bounce by Natasha Friend

Evyn and her brother have lived with their father for many years, since her mother's death. Suddenly, her father announces not only that he is getting married, but that the whole family is moving in with the new wife and her five children. Change is never easy, and you have to "bounce" along with what life life hands you, but sometimes that is easier said thatn done/ Leaving your best friend behind, getting a crush on your new step brother to be, and finding out you are a teenage flower girl in the wedding are not great, but knowing that your brother is OK with all the changes and your father is happier than you've ever seen him, makes your impossible new life even harder. Easy and quick read.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

What a fantastic book. Can't stop thinking about it even a couple of weeks after I read it. The book alternates between Jacob Jankowski's present day, to old memories. The 90+ year old protagonist spent a large portion of his youth as a circus hand. He worked with all the animals, but particularly with Rosie, an elephant. The author gives a great description of what times must have been like travelling with a third -rate circus during the Great Depression. Events start with a murder, and continue with an emotional roller coaster ride of a read to the surprising but satisfying end. Read it if you're a history buff, or an elephant buff, or a circus buff or if you just want a good book, but I'll warn you that you'll never look at elderly people the same way again.