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? 

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

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Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2007. Print. ISBN-13: 9780316013680. Hardcover. Cost: $20.00.

Awards:
-2007 National Book Award Winner
-2007 Publisher's Weekly "Off the Cuff" Awards: Favorite YA Novel
-2007 School Library Journal Best Books of the Year
-2007 Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year
-2007 Horn Book Fanfare Best Books of the Year
-2007 Kirkus Reviews Best YA Books
-NYPL Books for the Teen Age 2008

Annotation:
Being who you are is usually a full-time job, without any time off. But what if you could reduce your own hours, try being someone a little different for a while?

Booktalk:
Junior Spirit is a tough kid. Okay, not tough like his best friend Rowdy who can beat someone up by looking at them real hard. But tough in the way he can keep getting beat up and knocked down and still gets back up in the hope that maybe he can get off of his reservation and not be just another drunk Indian like too many others he knows. Born with “water on the brain” and other issues, like stuttering, that get him picked on, Junior is a smart, witty boy with a love of drawing and learning, leading him to pluck up the courage to transfer to a school with better education. The only drawback is that he is the only Native American student and his rez feels like he abandoned them.  Follow an Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian as Junior navigates life, love, and loss during his freshman year of high school.