1 cheerleader who’s dealing with her parents’ divorce + 1 geek who’s a lot cuter than he should be + 23 magical beings + 1 scary bad guy = what Tim Kring, creator of TV’s “Heroes” and “Touch,” calls a “cool new series.”In this first book of a series about magic, friendship, and adventure, a seemingly mismatched pair of teens crack open the door to another reality.Julia is too busy wrapping her mind around her parents’ divorce to give half a thought to her friend Kellie’s fascination with “otherworldly stuff.” Julia’s dad has taken off to start a new family on the other side of the country, and now her mom’s decided to ruin her summer, too. Instead of cheerleader camp, Julia will be stranded at her grandmother’s in the nowhere town of Cedarwood Ridge. There she finds that her usual ice-queen act won’t cut it with her childhood friend John Freeman, who’s a lot cuter than he should be and not half the geek she thought he was. Definitely a romance in the making if it weren’t for the visitations from her dead grandfather and John’s infuriatingly open response to such phenomena. And that’s not the only strange thing that’s going on, thanks to a consortium of magical beings called The Twenty-Two who are secretly watching over John and Julia and making big summer plans of their own. Including John and Julia’s future role in saving the world from their nemesis to be, a beyond-evil corporate overlord named Niem Vidalgo Oten. Not that Julia would believe any of it. John, however, would find it way cool.

When fifteen year old orphan Jack Hampton pays a final visit to Captain Jones in prison, he doesn't expect to spend the next few months aboard the Firebird with a crew of rugged pirates, the fearsome, mysterious Madame Helena and a manuscript full of puzzling clues. An exciting tale of pirates, treasure, treachery and adventure: all somehow tangled up with the loss of the Curchan Ruby and an unusual board game, the Game of Pirate. Those who loved reading Treasure Island will also love this book.

Calvin and his Mom's boyfriend, Ledward, are good friends. When Ledward wins plane tickets, he invites Calvin to go on a man trip—they'll fly to Hawaii, the Big Island, for a day, and go deep-sea fishing. Wow! Calvin's never been on a plane, or any boat but his skiff. What a day—Calvin catches his first big fish, an ono. But that's nothing compared to what happens when Ledward hooks a huge, and very angry marlin that charges the boat!

A new character joins the ranks of pwerful, kick-ass heroines such as those written by Tamora Pierce, Kristin Cashore, Esther Freisner, and Robin McKinley—Malora Ironbound. A great read also for anyone who loves horses and the Greek myths.Malora knows what she was born to be: a horse wrangler and a hunter, just like her father. But when her people are massacred by batlike monsters called Leatherwings, Malora will need her horse skills just to survive. The last living human, Malora roams the wilderness at the head of a band of magnificent horses, relying only on her own wits, strength, and courage. When she is captured by a group of centaurs and taken to their city, Malora must decide whether the comforts of her new home and family are worth the parts of herself she must sacrifice to keep them.Kate Klimo has masterfully created a new world, which at first seems to be an ancient one or perhaps another world altogether, but is in fact set on earth sometime far in the future.