Fantasy Books Available at the Warren Township Library

Visit new and amazing worlds with these fantasy novels available at the Warren Township Library and other branches of the Somerset County Library System.

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard - When her supernatural powers manifest, Mare, a thief in a world divided between commoners and superhuman, is forced to assume the role of lost princess before risking everything to help a growing rebellion. (High School Readers; also available as an e-book)

White Cat by Holly Black - When Cassel Sharpe discovers that his older brothers have used him to carry out their criminal schemes and then stole his memories, he figures out a way to turn their evil machinations against them. (High School Readers)

School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainini - Best friends Sophie (princess wannabe) and Agatha (witchy loner) are headed to the School for Good and Evil, but their assumed destinies are reversed. (Middle School Readers; also available as an e-book)

The Dark City by Catherine Fisher - In a devastated world where ancient relics possess advanced powers, Master Galen and his 16-ear-old apprentice, Raffia, enter the ruined city of Tasceron seeking a relic that could save the world while evading the Watch. (Middle School Readers; also available as an e-book)

The Ruins of Gorian by John Flanagan - When 15-year-old Will is rejected by battle school, he becomes the reluctant apprentice to the mysterious Ranger Halt, and winds up protecting the kingdom from danger. (Middle School Readers; also available as an e-book)

The Glass Sentence by S.E. Grove - In 1891, in a world transformed by 1799's Great Disruption, 13-year-old Sophia Tims and her friend Theo go in search of Sophia's uncle, Shadrack Elli, Boston's foremost cartologer, who has been kidnapped. (Middle School Readers; also available as an e-book)

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman - In a world where dragons and humans coexist in an uneasy truce and dragons can assume human form, Seraphina, whose mother died giving birth to her, grapples with her own identity amid magical secrets and royal scandals. (High School Readers; also available as an e-book)

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas - After she served a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier  for her crimes, Crown Prince Dorian offers 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien her freedom on the condition that she acts as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. (High School Readers; also available as an e-book)

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen - In the country of Cathy, a devious nobleman engages four orphans in a brutal competition to be selected to impersonate the king's long-missing son in an effort to avoid a civil war. (Middle School Readers; also available as an e-book)

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs - A horrific family tragedy sends 16-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of an old orphanage that was home to children who were more than just peculiar, but possibly dangerous - and who may still be alive. (High School Readers; also available as an e-book)

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir - When her brother is arrested for treason, Laia goes undercover as a slave at the empire's greatest military academy in exchange for the assistance of rebel Scholars in saving him from execution. (High School Readers; also available as an e-book)

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor - 17-year-old Karou carries a sketchbook of hideous, frightening monsters - the chimaerae who form the only family she has ever known. (High School Readers; also available as an e-book)

Other recommended authors:
Leigh Bardugo
Kristin Cashore
Cinda Williams Chima
Cassandra Clare
Neil Gaiman
Robin McKinley
Garth Nix
Tamora Pierce
Terry Pratchett
Patricia C. Wrede

For more book suggestions, check out Middle School Reader books and High School Reader books. 

GLBT Books Available at the Library

Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender books are available at the Warren Township Library and at other branches of the Somerset County Library System.

I Am J by Cris Beam - J, who feels like a boy mistakenly born as a girl, runs away from his best friend who has rejected him and the parents he thinks do not understand him when he finally decides that it is time to be who he really is. (High School Reader)

Fat Angie by e.E. Charlton-Trujillo - Angie overeats to cope wth the taunts of the ultra-mean girls, her attempted suicide in front of a packed gym, and the status of her captured war-hero sister, until KC Romance comes to town and sees Angie for who she really is. (High School Reader; also available as an e-book)

This Book is Gay by James Dawson - Offers basic information about the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience. (High School Reader; also available as an e-book)

Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan - Having never developed romantic feelings before her junior year in high school, Persian-American Leila forges deeper bonds with supportive classmates after confiding in them her newfound attachment to a girl. (High School Reader)

Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle - An eighth-grader who dreams of performing in Broadway musical concocts a plan to run away to New York and audition for the role of Elliot in the musical version of "E.T." (Middle School Reader; also available as an e-book)

Totally Joe by James Howe - As a school assignment, a 13-year-old boy writes an alphabiography - life from A to Z - and explores issues of friendship, family, school and the challenges of being a gay teenager. (Middle School Reader)

Ask the Passengers by A.S. King - Imagining that she is sending love to passengers in airplanes flying overhead, Astrid Jones, a teen from a small town torn by gossip and narrow-mindedness, struggles with her family's dysfunction and hides her love for another girl. (High School Reader)

Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin - An honest look at the lives, loves and struggles of transgender teens. (High School Reader; also available as an e-book)

Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan - A chorus of men who died of AIDS observes and yearns to help a cross-section of today's gay teens who navigate new love, long-term relationships, coming out, self-acceptance, and more in a society that has changed in many ways. (High School Reader; also available as an e-book)

Marco Impossible by Hannah Moskowitz - Two best friends attempt to break into the high school prom so that one of them can confess his love for the adorable bass player of the prom band. (Middle School Reader)

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson - A story of first love and family loss follows the estrangement between daredevil Jude and her loner twin brother, Noah, as a result of a mysterious event that is brought to light by a beautiful, broken boy and a new mentor. (High School Reader; also available as an e-book)

Lies My Girlfriend Told Me by Julie Anne Peters - When her girlfriend dies suddenly at age 17, Colorado teenager Alix struggles with grief as painful secrets are revealed. (High School Reader)

Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky - Hiding the truth about her awareness that she is a girl trapped inside a male body, Grayson finds new strength to embrace her true identity from an unexpected friendship and a supportive teacher.(Middle School Reader)

Tomboy by Liz Prince - Eschewing female stereotypes throughout her early years and failing to gain acceptance on the boys' baseball team, Liz learns to embrace her own views on gender as she comes of age, in an anecdotal graphic novel memoir. (High School Reader)

Boyfriends with Girlfriends by Alex Sanchez - When Lance begins to date Sergio, who's bisexual, he's not sure that it'll work out, and when his best friend Allie, who has a boyfriend, meets Sergio's lesbian friend, she has unexpected feelings which she struggles to understand. (High School Reader)

For more book recommendations, please visit here.

Halloween Books for Readers of All Ages

Get into the "spirit" of Halloween with some great books with this list from the Warren Township Library. These books are available in the Somerset County Library System.

For Younger Kids(Perfect for little ones; elementary school kids also will enjoy these)
Skeleton for Dinner by Margery Cuyler
Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson
Bone Soup by Cambria Evans
Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds
Fright Club by Ethan Long

Frankenstein a Monstrous Parody by Rick Walton
Peanut Butter and Brains by Joe McGeeHalloween Hustle by Charlotte Gunnufson
Welcome to Monster Town (Christy Ottaviano Books) by Ryan Heshka
Monsters Don't Eat Broccoli by Barbara Jean Hicks

Ghosts in the House! by Kazuno Kohara
AlphaOops: H is for Halloween by Alethea Kontis
Porkenstein by Kathryn LaskyThe Monstore by Tara Lazar
Runaway Pumpkin by Kevin Lewis
Fright Night Flight by Laura Krauss Melmed
Goodnight Goon and Runaway Mummy by Michael Rex
Vunce Upon a Time by J. Otto Seibold & Siobhan Vivian

Sheep Trick or Treat by Nancy E. Shaw
One Hallooween Night by Mark Teague
Can You Make a Scary Face? by Jan Thomas
Whooo's Haunting the Teeny Tiny Ghost? by Kay Winters
Two Little Witches: A Halloween Counting Story by Harriet Ziefert

School-Age Kids
Ghosthunters and The Totally Moldy Baroness! by Cornelia Funke (Ages 6-9) (part of a series)

Bunnicula the Vampire Bunny by James Howe

Bed, Bats, & Beyond (Darby Creek Exceptional Titles) by Joan Holub
Magic Tree House #42: A Good Night for Ghosts (A Stepping Stone Book) by Mary Pope Osborne (ages 6-9) (part of a series)
This Book Is Haunted (An I Can Read Book, Level 1) by Joanne Rocklin
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving, retold by Jane Mason
Cinderella Skeleton by San Souci (Gr 3-7)

Young AdultThe World's Most Haunted Places: From The Secret Files of Ghostvillage.com by Jeff Belanger
The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney (Book One of the Last Apprentice series)
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Wait Till Helen Comes: A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn
The Enemy Charlie Higson (Book One of the Enemy series)
The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

The Collected Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan PoeThe Intruders by E.E. Richardson
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark Alvin Schwartz
More scary stories for Stormy Nights by Scott Ingram (Gr 4-6)

Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Nightwood by Patricia Windsor
The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror (Graphic Novels, various titles)
Get into the crafty spirit of Halloween with these books:
Spooky Things (Making Pictures) by Penny King
Crafts to Make in the Fall by Kathy Ross
Halloween Fun for Everyone by Ferida Wolff and Dolores Kozielski
Ralph Masiello's Halloween Drawing Book by Ralph Masiello

Adults can get their Halloween fix with truly spooky stories and haunting fiction. For Day of the Dead books, please go here.

Science Fiction Books for Teens

Here are some Science Fiction books for middle school and high school readers available at the Warren Township Library in the Somerset County Library system. Visit the Warren Township Library or other Somerset County Library (SCLS) branches, or visit the online catalog, to reserve a book.

Looking for other Suggested Reads? Check out our Tween Reads and Teen Books with Books for Gamers and Steam Punk books.

Across the Universe by Beth Revis - Teenage Amy, a cryogenically frozen passenger on the spaceship Godspeed, wakes up to discover that someone may have tried to murder her. (for High School readers; also available on CD)

Beta by Rachel Cohn - On a futuristic island paradise where humans are served by enslaved clones, a 16-year-old clone named Elysia seeks her own freedom. (for High School readers)

BZRK by Michael Grant - In the near future, the conjoined Armstrong twins, under the guise of the Armstrong Fancy Gifts Corporation, plot to create their own version of utopia using nanobots, while a guerrilla group known as BZRK develops a DNA-based "biot" that can stop bots, but at risk of the host's brain. (for High School readers)

The Reluctant Assassin by Eoin Colfer - In Victorian London, Albert Garrick, an assassin-for-hire,

and his reluctant teenage apprentice, Riley, are transported via wormhole to modern London, where Riley teams up with a young FBI agent to stop Garrick from returning to his own time and using newly acquired scientific knowledge and power to change the world forever.  (for Middle School readers; also available on CD)

Feed by M.T. Anderson - In a future where most people have computer implants in their heads to control their environment, a boy meets an unusual girl in serious trouble. (for High School readers; also available in ebook format)

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey - Cassie Sullivan, the survivor of an alien invasion, must rescue her young brother from the enemy with help from a boy who may be one of them. (for High School readers; also available in ebook format)

iBoy by Kevin Brooks - 16-year-old Tom Harvey was an ordinary Londoner until an attack caused fragments of an iPhone to be embedded in his brain, giving him incredible knowledge and power. But using that power could have deadly consequences. (for High School readers)

Insignia by S.J. Kincaid - Tom, a 14-year-old genius at virtual reality games, is recruited by the United States Military to begin training at the Pentagon Spire as a Combatant in World War III, controlling the mechanized drones that do the actual fighting off planet. (for Middle School and High School readers)

Life As We Knew It by Beth Pfeffer - Through journal entries, 16-year-old Miranda describes her

family's struggle to survive after a meteor hits the moon, causing worldwide tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. (for Middle School and High School readers; also available in ebook format)

The Obsidian Blade by Pete Hautman - After 13-year-old Tucker Feye's parents disappear, he suspects that the strange disks of shimmering air that he keeps seeing are somehow involved. When he steps inside one, he is whisked on a time-twisting journey trailed by a shadowy sect of priests and haunted by ghostlike figures. (for Middle School and High School readers; also available in ebook format)

Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card - 13-year-old Rigg has a secret ability to see the paths of others' pasts, but revelations after his father's death set him on a dangerous quest that brings new threats from those who would either control his destiny or kill him. (for Middle School and High School readers)

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson - At age 8, David watched as his father was killed by an Epic, a human with superhuman powers, and now, 10 years later, he joins the Reckoners -- the only people who are trying to kill the Epics and end their tyranny. (for Middle School and High School readers; also available in ebook format)

Try some of these Sci Fi books from these classic authors:
Douglas Adams
Isaac Asimov
Ray Bradbury
Arthur C. Clarke
Michael Crighton
Philip K. Dick
Robert A. Heinlein
Frank Herbert

Recommended Nonfiction Books for Fourth and Fifth Graders

Here are some Nonfiction books for 4th and 5th grade readers, available at the Warren Township Library and in the Somerset County Library system.

Stop by one of the libraries or reserve a copy online.

Other recommended books for 4th and 5th graders include Chapter books and Graphic Novels. Visit the Friends of Warren Township Library Facebook page or our Suggested Reading lists on our blog for more book suggestions.

Five Epic Disasters by Lauren Tarshis - Five harrowing true stories of survival that feature real kids in the midst of epic disasters. (also available in ebook)

Space Exploration: It is Rocket Science! by Dan Green (series: Basher Basics) - Uses cartoon-style characters to introduce readers to topics related to space exploration and the spacecraft that have been used for it.

We Are the Ship: the Story of Negro League Baseball by Nadir Nelson - The history of Negro League baseball from its beginnings in the 1920s through its decline after Jackie Robinson crossed over to the majors in 1947.

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson - Jacqueline Woodson shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. (also available in ebook)

Looking for some good books for the Tween in your life? Check out these recommended Tween Reads for July by the Somerset County Library System (SCLS). These books are available at Warren Township Library and other branches in the system.

Check out more book suggestions on our blog, at the Friends of Warren Library Facebook page or sign up for a newsletter.

Recent Releases

School of the Dead by Avi Horror. Tony's Uncle Charlie has always been odd -- it's one of the things he has in common with seventh-grader Tony, who shares his offbeat interest in the supernatural. After Uncle Charlie dies suddenly, Tony is so heartbroken that he's actually comforted when he starts seeing Uncle Charlie's ghost. Less comforting is Tony's new school, where students go missing, spirits haunt secret passageways, and no one is what they seem. Pairing a suspenseful plot with otherworldly chills, School of the Dead is just creepy enough to please fans of mystery and horror alike. The Underdogs by Sara Hammel Mystery. A murder at a fancy tennis club shakes up an otherwise boring summer for 12-year-old Evie and her best friend Chelsea. Both of them could use some distraction from their own troubles: Evie is bullied and treated like an outcast because of her weight, while Chelsea is still dealing with the abuse in her past. Shadowing the police detectives assigned to the case, the two girls search for hidden clues and uncover disturbing secrets, revealing a multi-layered puzzle that will keep even the most savvy mystery readers guessing all the way to the end.  Mayday by Karen Harrington Fiction. Before the crash, Wayne couldn't shut up. He'd fill in any awkward moments (and he has plenty) with bits of memorized trivia. But after surviving a plane crash on the way home from his uncle's funeral, Wayne temporarily loses his voice. This newfound silence spurs changes in his relationships with his disappointing dad, his sorta-kinda-girlfriend, and his drill sergeant grandpa (who may turn out to be an unexpected ally). Even when he can't speak, Wayne's funny, sarcastic voice comes through loud and clear in this story about "survival, heroism, and the search for strength" (School Library Journal). This Is All Your Fault, Cassie Parker by Terra Elan McVoy Fiction. It only takes one cringe-inducing incident to bring Fiona's social life to a crashing halt. When a group of mean girls read her diary out loud on the bus, Fiona is mortified, but the real sting comes later, when her best friend Cassie gives her the cold shoulder. Now, Fiona is facing a summer full of drama -- dealing with her family, her crush, and her attempts at making new friends -- without the one person she can confide in. Relatable, diverse characters add authenticity to this heartfelt companion book to Drive Me Crazy. For another earnest look at middle school friendships, try Rebecca Stead's Goodbye Stranger.

Thrillers The Rig by Joe Ducie Thriller. Located in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, the Rig is an international high-security prison for dangerous juvenile offenders. It's also the new home of 15-year-old Will Drake, who's already managed to break out of three prisons…soon to be four, if he has his way. While figuring out how to get past the armed guards and tracking devices, Will begins to suspect that the Rig may be more than just a prison. How else can he explain the missing inmates or his new friend Irene's strange powers (not to mention the mutated sharks)? Action-movie pacing and intriguing characters make this science fiction thriller a standout. Thirteen by Tom Hoyle Thriller. Although he doesn't know it at first, ordinary British 13-year-old Adam is the only thing stopping a crazed cult's rise to power. "The People" believe that they'll be rewarded if they kill 13 boys born on New Year's Day, 2000. They've already murdered 12 boys, and Adam is meant to be the 13th -- a fact he discovers only after the cult starts gunning for him. With his parents, friends, and all of London in the line of fire, Adam frantically fights to stay alive and take down The People. Older readers who crave violent, plot-driven action won't want to miss Thirteen (and may also enjoy Pittacus Lore's I Am Number Four).  I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest Thriller. Princess X, the sword-swinging, sneaker-clad comic book superheroine created by fifth-grade friends May and Libby, died on the day that Libby was killed in a car crash. So why is May, now 16, suddenly seeing stickers and graffiti featuring Princess X? It all leads back to a recent underground webcomic about the princess – a webcomic full of cryptic details which indicate that Libby might be alive, in danger, and purposefully leaving clues for May to find. Alternating between Princess X's illustrated exploits and May's investigation (both on the internet and in real-life Seattle), this techno-thriller is short, smart, and satisfying.   The One Safe Place by Tania Unsworth Dystopian Thriller. In a bleak, dusty future ravaged by climate change, Devin is lucky to grow up on one of the world's few remaining farms. But after his grandfather's death, Devin is unable to survive on his own. He winds up in the Gabriel H. Penn Home for Childhood, a luxurious orphanage where everything seems perfect...too perfect. Richly descriptive writing and steady pacing ramp up the tension as Devin uncovers the home's chilling secrets. This dark, gripping read is a solid choice for dystopian fiction fans and mystery readers alike. Older readers looking for a more horrific twist on a similar tale should try Clive Barker's The Thief of Always.