Fiction

Radium Baby
St John Karp
The Pepperpots are dead — the world's most famous scientists have been poisoned by a radioactive duck. But even though Sam Ticky is little more than a tumbleweed from Oklahoma, he is convinced he is the Pepperpots' long-lost son.The Sun Star Radio Corporation starts a nationwide search for the missing "Radium Baby," but Sam runs into trouble when two other teenagers also claim the title. The Radio Corporation drags the three teens into a race around the world, in which Sam must fend off hornets the size of cats, a cannibal bishop obsessed with playing hide and seek, and an insane Texan robot manufacturer.But who is the real Radium Baby? And how many people will Sam hurt to find out?RADIUM BABY is a strange and exciting adventure about ambition, failure, and radioactive bath-water.
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Winner of:PubWest Book Design Award Trailing Tennessee is a novel about a teen’s journey on the Appalachian Trail. Eli Sutton isn’t your typical runaway. When tragedy befalls his family, he sets out on the Appalachian Trail, determined to follow in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps. With forest rangers close on his heels and his supplies running low, Eli soon discovers hiking through the Appalachian Mountains isn’t nearly as forgiving as trekking through the woods behind his home. He fights blisters, hunger, rain, and pain. But worst of all, he faces his own self-doubt and fear. The ghosts of his father and grandfather, and the spirits of the woods lurk in his mind. When Eli joins up with a group of young hikers in Virginia, his goal begins to slip further away. With his obstacles surmounting, there may not be enough trail magic to save him.
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CURSED:THE RING
Mantissa Creed
Alexandra is determined to know her true nature. However, with the truth, comes love, intertwined with lust, infatuation and unfulfilled desires. Knowing her inescapable past, Alexandra realizes that her existence is not only uncertain, but is also bound by a curse that threatens her immortality. To survive she must destroy the Vangel, but first she needs the Ring. One lifeline. One true love. And a Curse.
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Sister Mischief
Laura Goode
A gay suburban hip-hopper freaks out her Christian high school - and falls in love - in this righteously funny and totally tender YA debut, for real.(Age 14 and up)Listen up: You’re about to get rocked by the fiercest, baddest all-girl hip-hop crew in the Twin Cities - or at least in the wealthy, white, Bible-thumping suburb of Holyhill, Minnesota. Our heroine, Esme Rockett (aka MC Ferocious) is a Jewish lesbian lyricist. In her crew, Esme’s got her BFFs Marcy (aka DJ SheStorm, the butchest straight girl in town) and Tess (aka The ConTessa, the pretty, popular powerhouse of a vocalist). But Esme’s feelings for her co-MC, Rowie (MC Rohini), a beautiful, brilliant, beguiling desi chick, are bound to get complicated. And before they know it, the queer hip-hop revolution Esme and her girls have exploded in Holyhill is on the line. Exciting new talent Laura Goode lays down a snappy, provocative, and heartfelt novel about discovering the rhythm of your own truth.
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More Than This
Patrick Ness

From two-time Carnegie Medal winner Patrick Ness comes an enthralling and provocative new novel chronicling the life — or perhaps afterlife — of a teen trapped in a crumbling, abandoned world.A boy named Seth drowns, desperate and alone in his final moments, losing his life as the pounding sea claims him. But then he wakes. He is naked, thirsty, starving. But alive. How is that possible? He remembers dying, his bones breaking, his skull dashed upon the rocks. So how is he here? And where is this place? It looks like the suburban English town where he lived as a child, before an unthinkable tragedy happened and his family moved to America. But the neighborhood around his old house is overgrown, covered in dust, and completely abandoned. What’s going on? And why is it that whenever he closes his eyes, he falls prey to vivid, agonizing memories that seem more real than the world around him? Seth begins a search for answers, hoping that he might not be alone, that this might not be the hell he fears it to be, that there might be more than just this. . . .
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Homicidal Aliens and Other Disappointments
Brian Yansky
The reluctant hero from Alien Invasion and Other Inconveniences is back in all his droll glory — and this time the fate of humankind is on the line.Jesse has had the worst year of his life. First a race of homicidal (but very polite) aliens invaded Earth, killing pretty much everyone and enslaving the few people left behind, including Jesse; his best friend, Michael; his sort-of girlfriend, Lauren; and the girl of his dreams, Catlin. Now Jesse is revered as some sort of Chosen One all because he managed to kill one of the alien lords and escape — even though he’s not really sure how he did it. But it’s hard to argue with the multitude of new talents he is developing, including (somehow) killing aliens with his mind and grasping glimpses of alternate futures. With thousands of aliens already on Earth and thirty million more about to arrive, Jesse has to decide whether to embrace his maybe-destiny before the world is completely destroyed. No pressure.
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Coaltown Jesus
Ron Koertge

When Jesus shows up in Walker’s life, healing triumphs over heartbreak in Koertge’s finest and funniest novel yet.Walker shouldn’t have been so surprised to find Jesus standing in the middle of his bedroom. After all, he’d prayed for whoever was up there to help him, and to help his mom, who hadn’t stopped crying since Noah died two months ago. But since when have prayers actually been answered? And since when has Jesus been so . . . irreverent? But as astounding as Jesus’ sudden appearance is, it’s going to take more than divine intervention for Walker to come to terms with his brother’s sudden death. Why would God take seventeen-year-old Noah when half of the residents in his mom’s nursing home were waiting to die? And why would he send Jesus to Coaltown, Illinois, to pick up the pieces? In a spare and often humorous text, renowned poet Ron Koertge tackles some of life’s biggest questions — and humanizes the divine savior in a way that highlights the divinity in all of us.
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An unusual psychological thriller asks: Is it possible to fix a tragic future by changing the past -- while experiencing life backwards? At the moment Dan's life ends, the Rider's begins. Unwillingly tied to Dan, the Rider finds himself moving backwards in time, each day revealing more of the series of events that led to Dan's suicide. As the Rider struggles to figure out what he's meant to do, he revels in the life Dan ignores. Beyond the simple pleasures of a hot shower and the sun on his face, the Rider also notices the people around Dan: his little sister, always disappointed by her big brother's rejection, his overwhelmed mom, who can never rely on Dan for help, and Cat --with her purple hair, artistic talent, and misfit beauty. But Cat doesn't want anything to do with Dan. While the days move in reverse and Halloween looms, it's up to the Rider to find out why Cat is so angry, and what he must do to make things right. In his second novel for teens, Todd Mitchell turns time around as the Rider attempts to fix the future by changing the past and experiences the joys and heartbreak of living backwards.
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Songs from the Phenomenal Nothing
Steven Luna
Seventeen year-old guitar prodigy Tyler Mills has become lost in the aftermath of his mother's death. Disconnected more and more from his father, he takes refuge from it all in two things: his music and his girlfriend. Everything changes with the chance discovery of his mother's journal-and the long-held family secret within that could alter his life forever. Driving a stolen car with little money and only a GPS for company, Tyler embarks on a road trip in search of the truth and some answers...but the truth looks different from the worn out couch of a had-been rock star's living room. Written with heart and keen observation about the challenges of youth and family dynamics, Steven Luna's Songs from the Phenomenal Nothing is a can't miss read.
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Frozen
Melissa de la Cruz, Michael Johnston
“As fearless as a futuristic Game of Thrones.”— MARGARET STOHL, New York Times bestselling co-author of the Beautiful Creatures trilogyFrom Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston, the New York Times bestselling authors of the Blue Bloods and Witches of East End series.Welcome to New Vegas, a city once covered in bling, now blanketed in ice. Like much of the destroyed planet, the place knows only one temperature—freezing. But some things never change. The diamond in the ice desert is still a 24-hour hedonistic playground and nothing keeps the crowds away from the casino floors, never mind the rumors about sinister sorcery in its shadows. At the heart of this city is Natasha Kestal, a young blackjack dealer looking for a way out. Like many, she's heard of a mythical land simply called “the Blue.” They say it’s a paradise, where the sun still shines and the waters are turquoise. More importantly, it’s a place where Nat won’t be persecuted, even if her darkest secret comes to light. But passage to the Blue is treacherous, if not impossible, and her only shot is to bet on a ragtag crew of mercenaries led by a cocky runner named Ryan Wesson there. Danger and deceit await on every corner, even as Nat and Wes find themselves inexorably drawn to each other. But can true love survive the lies? Fiery hearts collide in this fantastic tale of the evil men do and the awesome power within us all. This is a remarkable first book in a spellbinding new series about the dawn of a new kind of magic.