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Fiction
Behind the Eyes
Behind the Eyes
Francisco Stork
Sixteen-year-old Hector is the hope of his family, but when he seeks revenge after his brother's gang-related death and is sent to a San Antonio reform school, it takes an odd assortment of characters to help him see that hope is still alive.

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Crispin: At the Edge of the World
Crispin- At the Edge of the World
Avi
The more I came to know of the world, the more I knew I knew it not.He was a nameless orphan, marked for death by his masters for an unknown crime. Discovering his name— Crispin—only intensified the mystery.  Then Crispin met Bear, who helped him learn the secret of his full identity. And in Bear—the enormous, red-bearded juggler, sometime spy, and everyday philosopher—Crispin also found a new father and a new world.Now Crispin and Bear have set off to live their lives as free men. But they don’t get far before their past catches up with them: Bear is being pursued by members of the secret brotherhood who believe he is an informer. When Bear is badly wounded, it is up to Crispin to make decisions about their future—where to go, whom to trust. Along the way they become entangled with an extraordinary range of people, each of whom affects Crispin and Bear’s journey in unexpected ways.  To find freedom and safety, they may have to travel to the edge of the world—even if it means confronting death itself.In this riveting sequel to the Newbery-Award winning Crispin: The Cross of Lead—the second book in a planned trilogy—Avi explores themes of war, religion, and family as he continues the adventures of Crispin and Bear.

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The Beast of Noor
The Beast of Noor
Janet Lee Carey
Do not wander in the deeps where the Shriker's shadow creeps. When he rises from beneath. Beware the sharpness of his teeth. For over 300 years, a monster known as the Shriker has roamed Shalem Wood, terrorizing the villagers who live on its edges and slaughtering those unfortunate enough to wander on to his path. The people of Noor have lived in fear for so long that most of them have forgotten that once upon a time the Shriker was just a loyal dog, until the day when he was cruelly betrayed by his master and cursed to live a bloodthirsty life, always seeking revenge for the fate his owner dealt him. But Miles and Hanna Ferrell have not forgotten where the Shriker came from--how could they? It was their ancestor who betrayed the dog... A tale of terror and magic that channels Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Beast of Noor tells the story of two siblings determined to set their family free and break the curse of the Shriker or die trying.

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Alabama Moon
Alabama Moon
Watt Key
I could trap my own food and make my own clothes. I could find my way by the stars and make fire in the rain. Pap said he even figured I could whip somebody three times my size. He wasn't worried about me.For as long as ten-year-old Moon can remember, he has lived out in the forest in a shelter with his father. They keep to themselves, their only contact with other human beings an occasional trip to the nearest general store. When Moon's father dies, Moon follows his father's last instructions: to travel to Alaska to find others like themselves. But Moon is soon caught and entangled in a world he doesn't know or understand, apparent property of the government he has been avoiding all his life. As the spirited and resourceful Moon encounters constables, jails, institutions, lawyers, true friends, and true enemies, he adapts his wilderness survival skills and learns to survive in the outside world, and even, perhaps, make his home there. In this compelling, action-packed book, Watt Key gives us the thrilling coming-of-age story of the unique and extremely appealing Moon.Alabama Moon is a 2007 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

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Out of Focus
Out of Focus
Margaret Buffie
In this novel by Margaret Buffie, 16-year-old Bernice Dodd feels lucky. Her mother's inheriting Black Spruce Lodge means no more roach-infested apartments or bullies in the hallways. No more avoiding the landlord or sneaking away in the middle of the night because the rent is overdue. But some things will probably never change. Bernie will still have to take care of her younger siblings. Her mother will keep disappearing on drinking binges and find yet another creep of a boyfriend. And Bernie's anger toward her mother will continue to grow. Could Black Spruce Lodge be the family's last chance to get their lives in focus? Will Bernie find some perspective -- on her emotions, on Jack, the boy next door, and on Tony, the goodlooking novelist across the lake? One thing is very clear, though: rage doesn't let go without a fight.

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Before I Go: A Novel
Before I Go
Riley Weston
Sixteen-year-old Madison Henry has been skating as long as sheÕs been walking.ÊÊ Coached by her mother, Annie, she is on her way to the Olympics. When tragedy strikes unexpectedly, Madison is forced to look at her life differently. Before I GoÊspotlightsÊthe unbreakableÊbond a mother and daughterÊshare and the loveÊeveryone hopes to experience in their lifetime.

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Going Under
Going Under
Kathe Koja
Because all my life had been a chrysalis, with you, Ada and Marshall and our house; even though we did other things and saw other people, the summers at the lake, and all those homeschoolers' parties, it was still always just – us.Hilly and her brother, Ivan, have been homeschooled by their parents. All their lives it has been just the two of them – Ivan and Hilly, brother and sister, pilot and copilot. Until Hilly breaks out of their cozy cocoon to work on the local high school literary magazine as an extracurricular activity. Ivan feels betrayed: it's no longer just the two of them. And when Hilly goes into a depression after the suicide of a friend she has made at the magazine, she drifts even further away from Ivan. Hilly's parents insist that she see a psychotherapist. Ivan steps in to help manage Hilly's recovery by taking her to and from her appointments but compounds the betrayal by establishing his own relationship with the manipulative therapist.Through the alternating voices of Hilly and Ivan, and drawing on the myths of Persephone and Narcissus, Kathe Koja explores the souls of two teenagers caught in a world where love takes you deeper than you ever dreamed you'd go.

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Specials (Uglies Trilogy, Book 3)
Specials
Rodrigo Corral, Scott Westerfeld
When she is turned into a super-modelesque super-fighting machine, Tally, a former ugly, is ordered to keep the uglies down and the pretties stupid in a carefully engineered world of perfection where she refuses to play by the rules.

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Alice in the Know
Alice in the Know
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
It's the summer before junior year, and Alice is looking forward to three months of excitement, passion, and drama. But what does she find? A summer working in a local department store, trying to stop shoplifters, and more "real life" problems than she could have ever imagined: A good friend becomes seriously ill, Lester has more romance problems than even Alice knows what to do with, and the gang from Mark Stedmeister's pool is starting to grow up a bit faster than Alice is comfortable with.... Fortunately for Alice her family and friends are with her through it all, and by the end of the summer, Alice finds she knows a whole lot more than she had in June.Funny, touching, and always provocative, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor does it again, proving with this twenty-first book in the beloved Alice series that she understands what real girls think and feel.

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Curse of Arastold (The Silverskin Legacy Series)
The Silverskin Legacy - Curse of Arastold
Jo Whittemore
Megan and Ainsley are ready to say goodbye to the magic-infused land of Arylon and journey back to Earth, but their trip is postponed when Ainsley comes down with a serious illness linked to cursed dragon's blood. Hoping for a cure, his friends take him to Raklund where he receives special care from Lady Maudred, who has experience with the magical disease. But her potion fails to cure him and Ainsley is running out of precious time. As he slowly descends into madness, his body is undergoing a hideous metamorphosis. The only hope for a cure lies with Arastold-an ancient and powerful dragon who's imprisoned in a mountain cave. Can Megan convince Arastold, who originated the foul infection, to lift the treacherous curse that is transforming Ainsley into a deadly dragon?

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