Bad Taste in Boys is about Kate Grable. Kate is a very intelligent girl who wants to be a doctor one day. In the meantime, she has been volunteering as the athletic trainer for her schools football team. One day, the coach asks Kate to inject some players with these syringes that he claims are filled with a vitamin. Of course, she refuses and suspects the vials actually contain steroids.
Later, she is at a party with a bunch of the players. One of them passes out and stops breathing. She starts to administer CPR and suddenly, he snaps up and smacks her on the butt. She still can't seem to find his pulse and he still looks very white and, well, dead. Having seen an injection site on him, she starts to worry that the coach injected him and this maybe some strange side effect. When she sees him again, he lunges at her and bites a big chunk out her lip. Very strange.
Soon, Kate starts noticing the crazy behavior from the coach and from other players. It seems that this shot has been turning people into zombies. And they are hungry.

This is a fun book that will appeal to both guy and girl readers and fans of zombie books. It is well written and not filled with a bunch of silly slang talk like some teen books. This is a clean read- parts of it are slightly gruesome, but nothing too graphic. There's also no cursing or mention of sex.

The Water Wars

The Water Wars is set in a future in which water is now more valuable than oil or gold. The author does not give much background on how this happened, just that most of United States is now like a desert, and millions have died from starvation or dehydration. Water is only used for drinking, and even then, only a small amount is rationed to each family. Of course, the water companies have become more powerful and corrupt than ever, and they often fight against each other, the government, and pirates for untapped springs.

The story follows two siblings, Will and Vera. This water deprived life is the only one they have ever known. As they are waiting for the school bus one day, they meet a boy named Kai. Kai is not worried about water in the least. He eventually tells them that he is a diviner, a person who can sense water. His father is a driller. Together they are very valuable for their talents. Kai is driven everywhere in a limo and is often accompanied by an armed bodyguard.

When Will and Vera don't hear from Kai, they get worried and stop by his house. They find it ransacked, and his bodyguard dead. Together, they decide that they need to rescue Kai and his father from whoever may have taken him. This leads them on a grand adventure across North America, involving pirates and evil terrorists, eventually leading to a showdown at a water plant off the east coast.

I thought this was a great book, filled with lots of action and adventure. The characters were likeable and well developed. It did remind me a bit of the Hunger Games because of the survival strategies and violence. Fans of that trilogy will enjoy The Water Wars as well.