Mangaman by Barry Lyga and Colleen Doran

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Lyga, Barry and Colleen Doran. Mangaman. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2011. Print. ISBN-13: 9780547423159. Hardcover. Cost: $19.99.

Awards:
-None

Annotation:
High school is hard enough without having to find your way back home to your own dimension at the same time.

Booktalk:
Living in a comic book sounds like a dream come true, right? Ryoko never knew he had it it so good.

Ryoko is used to spending his days in Japan fighting off random monster attacks with giant robots, but everything changes when he falls into a dimensional rip and finds himself in America being studied by the government. Enrolling in high school while the government tries to get him back home, Ryoko must deal with controlling his "manga" qualities in this world, which seem to have come with him. When he starts falling for the most popular girl in school, who thinks he is most exciting thing she has ever seen, Ryoko must make a choice. Does he really want to go home, or stay and be known as Mangaman for the rest of his life?

Teen Titans Volume 1: It's Our Right to Fight by Scott Lobdell and Brett Booth

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Lobdell, Scott and Brett Booth. Teen Titans Volume 1: It's Our Right to Fight. New York: DC Comics, 2012. Print. ISBN-13: 9781401236984. Hardcover. Cost: $14.99.

Awards:

-None

Annotation:
A mysterious organization has been capturing or killing young people with special abilities. Red Robin wants to stop it, and to do that he needs to find these kids first.

Booktalk:
Despite being a teenager, Red Robin has already had years of crimefighting work under his belt being the partner to Batman, and feels he is ready to operate on his own. When he learns of the shadowy organization N.O.W.H.E.R.E. and its goals of destroying or recruiting teens with superpowers, Red Robin is motivated to get to them before disaster strikes. In doing so, he unintentionally forms a team of young heroes to accomplish his task. But when a boy with powers remarkably similar to Superman shows up to take them to N.O.W.H.E.R.E., the group has to figure out if they can work together or not:

Superboy: I'm... new to this. Who are you supposed to be?

Red Robin: I was thinking something like... Teen Titans!

Bunker: It's sexy. Alliterative. I like it.

It's our right to fight, and the Teen Titans are ready to do whatever is necessary to protect their own.

Blue Exorcist 1 by Kazue Kato

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Kato, Kazue. Blue Exorcist 1. San Francisco: Viz Media, 2011. Print. ISBN-13: 9781421540320. Paperback. Cost: $9.99.

Awards:
-None

Annotation:
Rin has always known that family isn't always about blood, and he is going to prove that for the rest of his life.

Booktalk:
Raised in a boy's monastery by priests, Rin has always done what he wants no matter what his guardian Father Fujimoto tells him. Constantly getting into fights and unable to hold a job, Rin is entering his late teens and ignoring Fujimoto's warnings that he will have to provide for himself soon. The Father finally loses control of his temper after a heated argument, letting Rin learn why his guardian has always watched him closely: Rin is the son of Satan himself and cannot be allowed to access the demonic powers inside him. Fujimoto is the strongest exorcist in the world, but his lapse in control allowed Satan to possess him and attempt entry into the world.

Rin decides to embrace his power to stop his father, and dedicate his life to defying Satan's influence by becoming a demon-hunting exorcist himself. Joined by his brother and new friends, Rin finally has a purpose to work toward.

Young Avengers Volume 1: Style>Substance by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie

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Gillen, Kieron and Jamie McKelvie. Young Avengers Volume 1: Style>Substance. New York: Marvel Comics, 2013. Print. ISBN-13: 9780785167082. Paperback. Cost: $15.99.

Awards:
-None

Annotation:
If you thought you had problems with your parents, try being a teenage superhero.

Booktalk:
Magic! Love! Dimension hopping! Spaceships! Korean barbecue! Join the Young Avengers as they reassemble to fight a dimensional parasite that has turned all of their parents against them. Wiccan's magic caused the problem and he doesn't know how to fix it before being killed. The child-god Loki is helping them, but his motives are only loyal to American fast food and more power. Wiccan, Hulkling, Marvel Boy, Hawkeye, and Miss America don't know who to trust or where to go. However, they do know how to have fun and look good doing it, because for the Young Avengers, Style > Substance.

Seconds by Bryan Lee O'Malley

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O'Malley, Bryan Lee. Seconds. New York: Ballantine, 2014. Print. ISBN-13: 9780345529374. Hardcover. Cost: $25.00.

Awards:
-#1 New York Times  Bestseller

Annotation:
Even pushing 30, some people have a lot of growing up to do, whether they want to or not.

Booktalk:
Katie is an accomplished chef-owner at Seconds, building a another restaurant, and the talk of the city. So she can't understand why she is so miserable. While trying to ignore her terrible mood by basking in the success of Seconds, she accidentally causes a waitress to be injured in the kitchen.

Trying to make sense of her life, Katie goes to bed above Seconds that night wishing she could fix what had happened. She dreams of a package in her dresser that had never been there before, bearing a note reading:

1. Write your mistake

2. Ingest one mushroom

3. Go to sleep

4. Wake anew

Following the instructions in her dream, Katie finds her mistake reversed and life happier with the possibilities of her new power. But changing the past can make the present a lot more confusing, forcing her to realize exactly why she is jumping at second chances, instead of leaving Seconds behind.

The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel by Rick Riordan, Robert Venditti, and Attila Futaki

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Riordan, Rick, Robert Venditti, and Attila Futaki. The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel. New York: Disney/ Hyperion, 2010. Print. ISBN-13: 9781423116967. Hardcover. Cost: $19.99.

Awards:
-None

Annotation:
Six schools in six years, ADHD, dyslexia, and a dead-beat stepdad. Percy thought life couldn't be worse; too bad he was wrong.

Booktalk:
Percy Jackson has never been good at anything. Constantly getting kicked out of school for bad grades and a hot temper, Percy only enjoys having his best friend Grover by his side and spending time with his Mom. However, his life gets shaken up after one of his teachers turns into a monster and tries to kill him! It turns out, everything bad in his life has happened because his real father is the Greek god Poseidon, and now that he knows this he has to live at Camp Half-Blood with other demi-gods, to protect them. That would be fine, except it seems the "King of the Gods," Zeus, thinks Percy stole his master lightning bolt.

Percy Jackson must now journey with his new friends to recover the bolt before his new family kills him for a crime he didn't commit. Like a fish out of water, Percy must learn how to survive new challenges every time he turns around to prove he isn't The Lightning Thief.

Attack on Titan 1 by Hajime Isayama

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Isayama, Hajime. Attack on Titan 1. New York: Kodansha Comics, 2012. Print. ISBN-13: 9781612620244. Paperback. Cost: $10.99.

Awards:
-2011 Kodansha Manga Award (Shonen Category)
-Nominated for the 2012 Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prize

Annotation:
For over one hundred years the walls have kept the Titans out, but humanity stays in. Now, the walls have been breached and the future of the human race is once again at risk.

Booktalk:
When hope seems useless, how do you keep on fighting for life? All their lives, Eren, Armin, and Mikasa have lived behind the three walls protecting the human territory from the the threat of the Titans; giants who eat humans and have only one known weakness, exploitable using unique weaponry. Since losing his mother in the last Titan attack within the walls, Eren has been determined to join the Survey Corps that ventures beyond the walls and experience the most combat against Titans. Eren has persuaded the clever Armin and stoic Mikasa to join his dream of freeing humanity from the Titans. But after finishing their military training, a massive Titan attacks and tests the wills of these trainees. Can Eren survive to realize his dream? Or is this finally humanity's last stand?

Teen Quote:
Jose V, age 15: “I love comics because of the stories; if it’s a good story I’ll read it. An interesting plot, and good art. That’s why I read comics and manga.”

Wandering Son: Volume One by Shimura Takako

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Takako, Shimura. Wandering Son: Volume One. Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2011. Print. ISBN-13: 9781606994160. Hardcover. Cost: $19.99.

Awards:
-2012 Eisner Award Nominee: Best U.S. Edition of International Material
-Named to the 2012, 2013, 2014 ALA Rainbow Lists
-YALSA's Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens 2012

Annotation:
Trusting someone with your best kept secret is a risk when you've only just met them. But what if your secret, is also their own?

Booktalk:
Shuichi Nitori is entering middle school and is struggling to figure out how to express the sense of identity he is discovering inside himself. His first friend at school, Yoshino Takatsuki, quickly recognizes what it is Shuichi has been dealing with; even though he is a boy, he really wants to be girl. As Yoshino encourages him to explore this side of himself, in turn she finds herself being found out by Shuichi; Yoshino is transgendered as well and wants to be a boy. The relationships they both have are tested as Shuichi and Yoshino support and learn about each other. When you can't fit in anywhere, gaining a friend is the only way to no longer feel like a Wandering Son.

Teen Quote:
Rick P, age 13: “Manga brings me to new places. Experiencing a different world and living there in the book is why I read manga. And the different culture too.”

The video below is from the anime adaptation Hourou Musuko, taking place later in the series than Wandering Son: Volume One.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

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Card, Orson Scott. Ender’s Game. New York: Tor, 2014. Print. ISBN-13: 9780765378484. Paperback. Cost: $10.99.

Awards:

-Nebula Award, 1985

-Hugo Award, 1986

-YALSA (ALA) Margaret A. Edwards Award, 2008

Annotation:
The fate of the entire planet rests on the ability of one 12-year-old boy. So how many simulated battles will it take to prepare him for the horror of real war?

Booktalk:
Can Earth ever be safe from the "Buggers"? The First Invasion nearly wiped out humanity, and the International Fleet has been playing catch up to the alien Formics ever since. Humans have adapted means of fighting them, but they need smart minds to lead and fight. Selective breeding across the world brings young geniuses to the IF Battle School to learn how to defeat the Buggers.

Andrew “Ender” Wiggin was born to survive. Brilliant even among other prodigies, Ender must fight for himself among his peers before he can ever hope to face the alien threat.

Is Ender a pawn in the game he finds himself in? Or can he lead and turn Battle School into Ender's Game?

Batman Volume 1: The Court of Owls by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo

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Snyder, Scott and Greg Capullo. Batman Volume 1: The Court of Owls. New York: DC Comics, 2012. Print. ISBN-13: 9781401235413. Hardcover. Cost: $24.99.

Awards:
-None

Annotation:
Gotham is Batman's city to know as only he ever could. But, The Court of Owls is about to teach him that there is something older in Gotham City than the Batman.

Booktalk:
“The Court of Owls has sentenced you to die.”

Spoken of as a nursery rhyme within Gotham City, the Court of Owls is rumored to be a group of powerful figures running the city from the shadows without anyone knowing of their influence. When Bruce Wayne is sentenced to die by the Court, his alter ego the Batman must investigate whether the myth is real and who is scheduled to die next. However, his investigation sets the Court’s assassin The Talon upon the Dark Knight himself, ensnaring him in a trap he may never escape.

See Batman as never before in Batman Volume 1: The Court of Owls, reimagined for the 21^st Century with the whole bat-family. In a battle of bats against owls, masters of shadows both, who really knows Gotham City best; the fearsome protector, or mysterious puppet-masters?