Need by Joelle Charbonneau

Imagine a social media site that gives you what you ask for - for a price, of course. Not money, but a task. Complete the task and get your wish, your want, your need. The teens of Nottawa, Wisconsin are invited to join NEED. Some teens ask for small things like a new cell phone; others concert tickets. But Kaylee just wants one thing...

Nate invites Kaylee to join NEED. She thinks its ridiculous and a scam. How could a website afford to give away things for free? But they both know it works because Nate's brother Jack got the phone he ask for.

Everyone knows that Kaylee has only wanted one thing for the past few years - a kidney for her brother DJ. She has asked everyone she knows to get tested to be a donor. She has tried hunting for her father (who ran out on them when DJ got really ill). Kaylee has been so desperate that she has alienated her classmates, broke school rules and ended up seeing a therapist. Her mom is not happy and does not trust her at all.

With nothing to lose, Kaylee asks NEED for a kidney. And then the bad stuff starts happening - minor crimes at first but it quickly escalates. It is amazing what some people are willing to do just to get something they want. Often their task seems innocuous but it is part of a more sinister plan.

For more info, check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog and the author's site.

Silent Alarm by Jennifer Banash

The gun was pointed right in her face. Just minutes before, someone had come into the school library yelling about the shooter. Alys heard shots fired and found herself facing the gunman, her brother Luke. The gun shots, the screams, the blood - a horrible nightmare and she was right in the middle of it.

In her life before the shooting, Alys had her best friend Delilah and her boyfriend Ben. She had time for little else, practicing her violin for an important audition at the end of the school year - the one she'd been preparing for her whole life. Her parents had sacrificed so much to get her to this point.

In her life after, Alys has lost everything. Her family is blamed for her brother's actions. Her parents are breaking apart. And Alys can't even pick up her violin. The only person who will speak to her is her brother's best friend, Riley and he is as confused as anyone about Luke's actions.

Alys cannot reconcile the brother of her childhood and the one who killed people. She is haunted by him; seeing him and talking to him. Is it real? It doesn't matter since the tragedy will never make sense. Luke will never be able to explain why he killed so many people including ones he knew his whole life, like Ben's younger sister.

Luke spared Alys's life, but she is a victim, too. He killed the life she had before and maybe the one she was going to have. This story gives us just a glimpse into an all too common event in our society.

For more info, check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog.

No One Else Can Have You by Kathleen Hale

Kippy idolizes Diane Sawyer. She likes the way she investigates stories and interviews people to get to the truth. And the truth is what Kippy wants to find after her best friend Ruth is murdered; not just murdered but brutally murdered and hung in cornfield like a scarecrow.

Ruth was Kippy's best friend. They had been best friends since grade school and even as they grew older and changed, they were still there for each other. OK, Kippy was a little clingy at times, and Ruth got annoyed that Kippy didn't have a boyfriend and could dress better if she just tried, but they still hung out together. In fact, Ruth was coming over to Kippy's house the night she was killed.

The murder has caused quite a sensation in the small town of Friendship, Wisconsin where the two girls live. Thankfully, Ruth's boyfriend Colt is quickly arrested by the sheriff who is convinced he has the killer...except Kippy finds out that Colt was somewhere else at the time. So why won't the sheriff listen to her? The only one who does believe her is Ruth's older brother, Davey.

It is up to Kippy and Davey to find the real killer even if it means breaking a few laws themselves. They gather evidence, question suspects (like the sleazy old lawyer Ruth was sleeping with) and stop another murder from happening...oops, make that a third murder from happening.

Kippy is driven, but not perfect. She is very likable and her heart is the right place. Even when no adults will believe her, she presses on. It is complex story with Kippy in the middle. Good stuff.

For more info, check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog.

The Sin-Eaters Confession by Lisa J. Bick

Ben has made some bad decisions. For his whole life, he has done what is expected of him. He gets good grades and volunteers at the local emergency room. Ben's mother hopes that he will go to Yale and medical school. She has been 'guiding' him in that direction for a long time. His dad, a police officer, is more laid back about it.

When a family loses their oldest son in a car accident, Ben's follows his dad's suggestion and helps out on their diary farm. He and the younger son, Jimmy, spend hours milking cows and bailing hay. Ben feels like an older brother to Jimmy and likes hanging out with him. It is during a hot day of work that Jimmy secretly snaps a photo of Ben napping shirtless in the hay. Jimmy enters the photo in a contest and the it is published in a national magazine. The photo has a sensual quality to it that leads people to assume that Ben and Jimmy are gay. Jimmy's ultra-religious father is furious at him. He orders Ben to stay away from Jimmy and never come back to the farm.

Ben is not happy either. He is the subject of rumors and begins to question his own sexuality. He decides to confront Jimmy to ask what he was thinking. At the meeting at the coffee shop connected to his parent's church, Jimmy pleads for Ben's help. He sees photography as his only escape from his parents. A request to meet again leads Ben back to the shop the following evening only to see Jimmy get into a car with strangers and drive off.

At this point, Ben starts making the bad decisions. He witnesses a horrific crime and offers no help, not even calling the police or his dad. Ben is trapped by his own guilt. He fears getting caught by the authorities, but cannot bring himself to come clean about what he knows.

Even though I wanted Ben to do the right thing, I was mesmerized by his continual struggle as events unfolded. There was a situation where I was pleading for Ben to stop what he was doing, but I as unsure as he was at that point and I wasn't totally convinced he was wrong.

This is gut wrenching story of a life changed by one night and a choice to not do the right thing. It's messy and ambiguous at times . Ben's struggle is one I will remember for a long time.

For more info, check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog and the author's website.