Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

Marcus Yallow is a 17-year-old at Cesar Chavez High School in San Francisco. But he's not a typical senior. He's a hacker known as M1k3y. He's not a criminal, just someone who loves solving puzzles...especially puzzles like unbreachable security systems.

Then Marcus's life changes. Terrorists bomb San Francisco and Marcus and his closest friends are among those taken in for questioning by the Department of Homeland Security. They break him down for no other reason than they can. Then they let him go home. Home to a San Francisco that's been turned into a police state in the name of national security. A place where DHS is watching everything and everyone and civil liberties are a thing of the past. The injustice of it all turns mild-mannered Marcus into M1k3y, a hacker with a mission to bring down DHS.

This was an amazing and exciting thriller. Though full of techno talk regarding hacking and the way computers work, it was still extremely readable for those, like me, who can barely manage Windows Vista. I suppose it would be classified as science fiction, but it felt very plausible. Working on the premise that the United States government is fighting terrorists by restricting the lives of all it's citizens, it reads like a warning. Marcus/M1k3y is a brilliant hero and underdog. Hopefully there are thousands like him watching our backs.

Streams of Babel by Carol Plum-Ucci

Half a world away a 16-year-old boy sits in an Internet cafe near Karachi, Pakistan. A brilliant computer programmer, Shahzad works as a v-spy for the United States government. He's picked up some Internet chatter about a substance called Red Vinegar: "Waters will run red in Colony One...Waters will run red three hours from Home Base in December...They will drink in December and die like mangy dogs in April."

It's March in Trinity Falls, New Jersey. On the same day, on the same street, two women die of brain aneurysms. One a lawyer who gives more than she takes. The other a morphine-addicted ex-photojournalist. Both leave behind teenagers who are exhibiting flu-like symptoms. Coincidence? Or could this be Colony One?

Paramedic Scott Eberman just lost his mother. His brother, Owen, and Owen's classmates and neighbors, Rain and Cora, are all exhibiting flu-like symptoms similar to those of Mrs. Eberman before she died of an aneurysm. Scott is frantically searching for answers, but can he find them before it's too late? Meanwhile, the U.S. Intelligence Coalition (USIC) is also involved, trying to discover if these are the first cases of Red Vinegar. And in Pakistan, Shahzad desperately tries to obtain the recipe and plans for Red Vinegar by v-spying on the bioterrorists.

This plot is ripped from our nightmares. What if bioterrorists concentrated their efforts on poisoning our water supply with something our doctors, scientists and government had never encountered? Who would be targeted? How long would it take to identify? How many would die before a cure was found? This complex novel delves deep into our fears and tells the story from five points of view, each with a unique perspective. Surprisingly, this doesn't get confusing, but instead adds to the overall tension and intrigue of the plot. If you enjoy thrillers, this book is for you.

Icecore by Matt Whyman

17-year-old Carl Hobbes has just pulled off the impossible: He's hacked into Fort Knox and opened the vault doors from his home computer. Unfortunately, the government has tracked him down. They make him a deal: if he tells them how he did it, and swears to secrecy, he'll get off the hook. Otherwise, he's looking at a public trial and a very, very long prison sentence. Carl agrees to tell the United States government everything. For his debriefing, they fly him to an undisclosed, sub-zero facility known as the Guantanmo of the North. The freezing barren wasteland doesn't bode well, and Carl gets even more nervous when he's manhandled into a cage alongside some of the world's worst terrorists. Carl tries to keep calm, knowing that he's only there till he can be debriefed. By the end of the weekend he'll be back home and it will all over. That is, if he lives that long.

Despite the author's efforts, it's hard to feel much sympathy for Carl, despite his youth and relative innocence. The majority of the time he's either being arrogant, too naive, or downright whiney. It's only toward the middle of the book that the real story begins to come out - explaining the disdain the guards feel toward Carl and the reason he's been flown to the Arctic Circle containment camp. At that point, both Carl and the plot start to get more interesting. And once it gets going...it REALLY gets going. Gunfights, explosions, mercenary plots and double identites keep the adrenaline rushing till the fiery, freezing finale!

Steel Trapp: The Challenge by Ridley Pearson

Revenge of the Nerds meets Indiana Jones? No, that's not quite right. Hmmm...McGuyver meets Bill Gates? Whatever comparison is made, it still won't adequately describe this action-packed novel full of science geeks and terrorist plots. Steven "Steel" Trapp (so nicknamed for his photographic memory) is an out and out science geek, and he totally owns it. He's on his way by Amtrak train to Washington D.C. with his mother and his dog, Cairo, to compete in the National Science Challenge. At the station he notices a young woman disembarking without her briefcase, so Steel runs after her to return it. She vehemently denies ownership, and Steel turns the bag over to the conductor instead. But the thing is, Steel knows it was her briefcase. And now he's curious. The case is strangely light, with the sound of a few sheets of paper wisping around. Steel wants to know what's in that case, and he wants to know so badly that he can't think of anything else. So he cons his way into the baggage car, finds the briefcase and tries to figure out how to get into the case without damaging it. What he glimpses inside turns his blood cold and makes his mind spin. He can't forget it. He has to do something about it. And with the help of a U.S. Marshall, his science project, Cairo, and a new friend, he just might live through the experience. This book is a mystery, and adventure, and an all-around fun read for teens.