THE MAZE RUNNER

If you're looking for another exciting YA series to try, check out the Maze Runner by James Dashner.  It's the first in an exciting thriller series and is a finalist for the Iowa Teen Book Award. 

In the Maze Runner, we meet an unnamed character who wakes up in an elevator.  He has no memories of his previous life, and no idea how he got in the elevator.  When the doors open, he finds himself outdoors crowded by a group of men about his same age, which he guesses is 16.  He slowly learns that all of them are in the same predicament.  Some have been there for several months, but no one really knows where they are or why.  Various supplies and food is sent up in the elevator for them.  They were able to build a farm and a small house but they are enclosed by giant walls.  Every day the walls open to reveal a path that leads to a giant maze.  Several of the boys enlist as maze runners to try to map the maze and see where it goes.  If they get stuck out there at night, they are stung by giant mechanical beasts.

Okay, so it sounds kind of weird but it will really pull you in.  The mystery will keep you turning pages.  The book has two sequels and a prequel, so you won't learn all of the secrets in the first one.  Check this out if you enjoyed Hunger Games!

Marsbound

Marsbound by Joe Haldeman

This is the second novel by Joe Haldeman that I have read. The other is The Accidental Time Machine, which I very much enjoyed. This novel was also very good because of it's readability. Haldeman does not get deep into the science behind his fiction, he keeps it simple and interesting so it will appeal to all fiction readers.
This particular novel follows a teen girl named Carmen, who is moving to Mars with her family. Obviously set in the future, they use a space elevator to reach a station above the earth and then board a shuttle for Mars. The entire trip takes about 8 months. For me, this was the most enjoyable part of the story because I liked imagining what it would be like to live in a space elevator and shuttle for so long. It was also interesting to read how the technology worked.
Once on Mars, Carmen finds herself in a heap of trouble and makes a startling discovery. The second half of the book is quite a bit different from the first, but also very entertaining. I highly recommend it to science fiction and adventure fans. Will also appeal to teens.

The Accidental Time Machine

The Accidental Time Machine by Joe Haldeman

Matt Fuller is your average guy, a bit on the lazy side, stuck in a dead end job as a lab assistant at MIT. He is building a calibrator when it suddenly disappears and then reappears a second later. He experiments with the machine and realizes that he has built a time machine. This particular time machine only goes forward in time and the interval it travels into the future increases by 12 each time.

If Matt is touching the time machine, he also travels with it. With nothing going in his life, he decides to travel. The first few times, he only travels a little bit, but he keeps ending up situations where his only escape is to jump forward again. Haldeman offers a unique perspective on the world in each of the futures presented. When he meets and falls for a young woman, he must decide what is best for the two of them and what kind of future world he wants to live in.

This book is a fun and fast sci fi read. It will appeal to sci fi fans as well as your average fiction reader. Nothing is too far "out there" or fantastical for the average readers' taste.