Adventure

Halcyon Blithe: Dragonfrigate Wizard
James M. Ward
His yeoman voyage now behind him, Blithe must now accept new responsibilities as he ascends to the rank of DRAGONFRIGATE WIZARD HALCYON BLITHE.In the latest chapter of the young wizard's nautical education he finds himself second in command of a captured enemy vessel that must engage a demonship in combat before returning to port. Upon his return he is assigned duty on a dwarven dragonship where he and his shipmates encounter the deceit of politics and diplomacy before they can regain the security of their Arcanian dragonship and the company of their trusted crewmates.Combining elements of Hornblower with Harry Potter, and Robert Louis Stevenson with Robin Hobb, the Halcyon Blithe are nautical tales rich in magic and intrigue set against a panorama of fantastic naval battles as we follow the career of a young midshipwizard as he moves up through the ranks of His Majesty's Navy.
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The Telling Pool
David Clement-Davies
A thrilling new fantasy from the author of the cult favorites Fire Bringer and The Sight.From the author known for his popular, "intricately crafted" novels, as praised by The Boston Globe, comes a new tale set against the backdrop of Richard the Lionheart's Crusade to Jerusalem. The Telling Pool's richly atmospheric tale draws on Authurian legend and pagan belief, following the fate of young Rhodri Falcon and his crusader father as they become entangled in the war of a king and the machinations of a seductive sorceress who literally steals men's hearts. Its up to Rhodri to defeat the sorceress and save his father before all is forever lost. As Rhodri discovers the evils of war fought in the name of religion with enemies who will stop at nothing to defeat him, he must dig deep within to discover the hero who will save his father and lead himself toward the man he will become. Expertly told, The Telling Pool transports young readers to the days of the Crusades, magic sorcery and the land where legends were formed. In the best-selling tradition of his previous books, Clement-Davies introduces readers a new character, Rhodri Falcon, who will forge ahead, determined to find good and in a land of evil.
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The Wreath
Chloe Howard, Chris Howard
The Wreath is a story of betrayal and the struggle for control over the forces of magic and scientific knowledge. Kassandra's a bookish teenager with an extreme fear of water. She comes from the sea, but she spends most of her life far from it, an exile sent inland to grow up, betrayed by her own family and fated for slavery. She's caught between a murdering king, a governess who's been trying to kill her since she was four, and river witches who spy on her through the plumbing. She's managed to stay alive so far, but on her thirteenth birthday, Kassandra's world tumbles into the abyss. She cries for the first time in her life, and not just a tear. She discovers that her mother and father didn't abandon her, and there's more to her governess than the tyrannical facade.
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Befiddled
Pedro de Alcantara
Becky Cohen has a rough life. She’s an outsider everywhere she goes: shunned and mocked at school, at her violin lessons, and at home by her disapproving mother. Her only true friend is her brilliant little brother, newspaper-loving Benjy. She dreams of becoming a great violinist, but at the group lessons she’s forced to take at the Y, Becky panics and plays badly. Then Becky meets Mr. Freeman, her building’s handyman. He has a lot to teach her about becoming a musician, and being a friend. Gradually, Becky begins speaking her mind more often, and finds that people are actually listening. Then Mr. Freeman tells Becky about a local performing arts high school’s scholarship contest. With the lessons learned from Mr. Freeman and Benjy, can Becky overcome her fears and play what’s in her heart?
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Stay With Me
Garret Freymann-Weyr
Sixteen-year-old Leila Abranel was born some twenty years after her sisters. Her elegant sisters from her father’s first marriage have lives full of work, love affairs, and travel. Leila doesn’t know either of them very well, but she loves hearing about them—details of Rebecca’s ruined marriage, Clare’s first job, and the strings of unsuitable boyfriends. When Rebecca kills herself, Leila wants to know why. She starts by spending time with Clare and finally comes to know her as a person instead of a story. With Clare’s reluctant help, Leila tracks down Rebecca’s favorite places and tries to find her sister’s friends. Along the way, Leila meets Eamon. Eamon is thirty-one and writes for television. He thinks Leila is beautiful and smart, but he does not, he tells her, date teenagers. And yet, the months go by and Leila turns seventeen and learns that you can love someone you are not dating. Maybe letting Eamon love her back is a mistake. Maybe she’ll never know why Rebecca did what she did. Maybe, Leila, decides, most people have a hard time figuring out which way is left or knowing when to let go and when to stay.
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The Last Universe
William Sleator
Sleator is at his sci-fi best with this quantum thriller, now available in paperbackIn this gothic, sci-fi thriller from a master storyteller, Susan and her wheelchair-bound brother, Gary, discover a mysterious maze in the vast gardens of their isolated home. Planted by a scientist uncle who disappeared long ago, the maze offers seemingly endless routes and choices. The teenagers discover that each turn they take alters their world in some way. Sickly Gary sees a chance to change his fate; Susan sees that they may both be lost forever. Sleator keeps readers guessing right up to the shocking ending. Praise for The Last Universe "Sleator is a master of suspenseful science fiction and that mastery is evident here...entirely shocking." - School Library Journal "Science fiction fans, science nerds, and random readers alike will appreciate this latest offering." - Voya "Sleator has fashioned a perfect 'what if' story." - Kliatt "Will keep readers turning the pages until the very end." - Kirkus
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Sign of the Crescent
Debbie Federici
Teenagers are mysteriously disappearing in Tucson, Arizona, and other cities. One night, seventeen-year-old Taryn nearly becomes one of them when a revolting, unearthly creature attacks her. The touch of a Zumar warrior should render her unconscious, but Taryn has the strength to fight until a young man with a sword comes to her rescue. This is how Taryn, an orphan with Ménière's disease, meets Erick, a Haro Knight from another world. His job is fighting the Zumar who are kidnapping and enslaving oldworlders (Earth people). It is forbidden for Erick to socialize with oldworlders, but he can't ignore the strong attraction between them . . . and Taryn seems different from other Earth people. When she's abducted by the Zumar and taken to their evil sorcerer leader, Taryn is confronted with shocking truths that explain her strange dreams and special powers.
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David Crockett: Hero of the Common Man
William Groneman
Perhaps no other figure in American history is more shrouded in myth and legend than David ("Davy") Crockett, the Tennessee frontiersman whose death at the Alamo in 1836 ensured his place in the Valhalla of American heroes.Crockett himself was responsible for much of the folklore about his life. A gregarious, fun-loving man, he was more than capable of spinning tall tales over a "horn" of liquor. The truth of his life, as William Groneman emphasizes in this book, was far more fascinating than the myth. David Crockett was a true self-made man who left home at the age of twelve. His adventures--hunting and exploring, serving as a soldier under Andrew Jackson in the Creek Indian War of 1813, a political career that took him to the United States Congress, an incessant search for "elbow room" that drew him to Texas-these were the real fabric of a heroic life.In writing of the "historical Crockett," Groneman, a world authority on the Alamo and its defenders, dispels the myths to uncover the genuine hero. He writes at length of the defense of the Alamo, describes how Crockett's reputation and heroism have been tainted by revisionist historians, and presents new evidence that the Tennessean actually left the Alamo during the siege to bring in reinforcements. Although safely outside the walls, he fought his way back in to rejoin his friends for the final, fatal, battle.
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The Skyborn
Paul Collins
After the crash of the ship Colony, 14-year-old Welkin was left for dead on the inhospitable landscape of a ravaged Earth. After being rescued by a gang of Earthborn, Welkin proves his value and becomes a trusted member of the Family. But existence is still hand to mouth. The nuclear ravaged landscape is hardly more than a vast wasteland. Dangers from bands of mutants threaten continually. As does the ominous presence of Colony itself. Inside the grounded starship Skyborn inhabitants feed on their hatred of the Earthborn. When on routine patrol a Colony scout is captured by the Family, he reveals a secret: authorities onboard Colony have regrouped and mean to launch a final assault-to rid the Earth of the "savage" Earthborn for ever. But even Welkin--armed with his knowledge of Skyborn ways and methods--could never have been prepared for what he finds.
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The Misadventures of Maude March
Audrey Couloumbis
Eleven-year-old Sallie March is a whip-smart tomboy and voracious reader of Western adventure novels. When she and her sister, Maude, are orphaned for the second time, they decide to escape their new self-serving guardians for the wilds of the frontier and an adventure the likes of which Sallie has only read about. This time, however, the wanted woman isn’t a villain out of a dime novel–it’s Sallie’s very own sister! Narrated by the irrepressible Sallie, what follows is the rollicking story of what really happened out there on the range. Not the lies the papers printed, but the honest-to-goodness truth of how things went from bad to worse and how two very different sisters went from being orphans to being outlaws–and lived to tell the tale! Bursting with memorable characters, fast-paced action, and laugh-out-loud moments, this is Newbery Honor winner Audrey Couloumbis’s most unforgettable work yet.From the Hardcover Library Binding edition.