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The Unrivalled Spangles
Karen Wallace
Synopsis: Always dreaming of getting out of their father's circus and living normal lives, performers Ellen and Lucy Spangle bide their time and do the work required of them, but when Ellen meets an English gentleman, her hopes for real love is renewed until a disaster strikes and she is forced back into the family business.
Publication Date: 09/05/06
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Queen Geek Social Club
Synopsis: If you're somebody like Shelby Chappelle, a smart, witty, pretty geek army of one, you can't just put a poster up at school and advertise for somebody to be your best friend. But now freakishly tall Becca Gallagher has moved to town, with her dragon tattoo and wild ideas. Suddenly Shelby's madscientist father and their robot, Euphoria, seem normal. They become best friends instantly. But Becca wants to shake things up at school and look for "others of our kind"...and decides to form the Queen Geek Social Club.

The thing is, this guy Fletcher Berkowitz keeps nosing around, asking lots of questions about the Club. He's cute, and interesting, and possibly likes Shelby. Therefore, she must torture him. One good thing about being a loner: no one can break your heart.

Publication Date: 09/05/06
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Going Under
Kathe Koja
Synopsis:

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.

Publication Date: 09/05/06
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Three Clams and an Oyster
Synopsis: A four-man flag-football team in need of an Oyster.

Sixteen-year-old Flint McCallister is the captain of a four-man flag-football team called Three Clams and an Oyster. Flint and the other two Clams, Beaterson and Deshutsis, are going to give this season all they’ve got, but, as usual, they’re having Oyster problems. The first Oyster on the team died a couple of years ago. The current one, Cade Savage, is partying too hard and is unreliable. Flint and the Clams are faced with a dilemma: should they stick with their old friend Cade or dump him and go with a new Oyster? And if they dump Cade, who will they get to replace him? Tim Goon, the unknown quantity with the roadkill hairdo? Thor, the nice-guy stoner? Or the girl, Summerfield, who pushes them out of their comfort zone and doesn’t shave her legs?

In searching for an Oyster, Flint and his buddies are forced to reexamine their hallowed traditions and old habits – and to take a hard look at who they are and where they’re going.
Publication Date: 09/05/06
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Notorious Izzy Fink
Synopsis: Sam Glodsky lives among the rough-and-tumble gangs on the streets of New York's Lower East Side. When 13-year-old Sam falls in with fearsome gangster Monk Eastman, he joins an outrageous scheme to rescue Eastman's prize racing-pigeon from a cholera-ridden steamship quarantined in the harbor. The caper Monk hatches to snatch the bird pairs Sam with his archenemy, the notorious Izzy Fink. Widely acclaimed for his picture book histories, Don Brown's first historical novel is a fast-paced tale of immigrant life at the turn of the twentieth century.
Publication Date: 09/05/06
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Get Real
Betty Hicks
Synopsis: Dez is unusually neat. Her mom and dad are unusually messy. They like Cheez Whiz and swamps. Dez likes elegant food and grand pianos. How can she even be related to them? And how can Dez help her best friend, Jil, who's adopted and who will stop at nothing in order to meet her birth mom? What is it, exactly, that makes a parent "real," anyway? Get Real is about wanting a parent who is very different from the one you have. It's about discovering, "Who am I?"
Publication Date: 09/05/06
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Soccer Chick Rules
Dawn FitzGerald
Synopsis: If the levy doesn't pass, there will be no buses for away-games, no uniforms, no teams. Tess plans to follow her own rules for soccer chicks. Soccer Chick Rule Number 3--Always support your teammates! But when real life doesn't offer a slam-dunk ending, Tess realizes there may be something to learn from Soccer Chick Rule Number 7--Never, ever give up! Action-packed sports scenes and off-the-field drama guarantee success with girls and sports fans.
Publication Date: 09/05/06
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Good Girls
Laura Ruby
Synopsis:

Some people would say this is the story of a photograph. How it was taken, and what happened to me after the whole world saw it.

And it is.

But it's also the story of a lot of other things. A boy so beautiful he's like a punch to the throat. Best friends—the outrageous old ones and the out-of-the-blue new. It's about fishnets and eyebrow rings and a chick named Hamlet. Kick lines at lumberyards and conga lines at the prom. Crying in cars and gazing at stars. Mistakes, misunderstandings, and misconceptions. Good girls, bad boys, and everyone in between.

This is a story about love.

So look at the picture all you want.

I am so much more than what you see.

Publication Date: 09/01/06
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Out of Focus
Margaret Buffie
Synopsis: 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.
Publication Date: 09/01/06
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Hugging the Rock
Susan Taylor Brown
Synopsis: When her mom runs away from home, Rachel is left behind with her emotionally distant father and many questions she cannot answer. Over time, she learns the truth about her mom. But it's only when she learns the truth about her dad, the rock- immoveable and always there for her to lean on-that Rachel can move toward understanding. Every word rings true in this achingly real novel in verse.Reviews"Written in a straightforward language, the text clearly reveals Rachel's emotions, describing moments both painful and reassuring."-School Library Journal"I have delayed writing about this book because I wanted to be sure my librarian friends were back in acquisition mode and ready to add this book to your B & T, Follet, or Mackin book order right now. HTR is a fine and rare treasure. I read it straight through in one sitting because I couldn't bear to stop until I knew what was going to happen. . . the story is so uplifting and positive that it will resonate with readers long after they finish it. I know it has with me."-Book Moot (Blog)
Publication Date: 09/01/06
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Trigger
Susan Vaught
Synopsis:

Jersey Hatch can't remember why he tried to kill himself. Coming out of rehab for the first time in a year, broken in both mind and body, Jersey must piece his life back together, step by painful step-from relearning to tie his own shoelaces, to graduating high school, to repairing old friendships. With a fresh, compelling, and unique literary voice, Susan Vaught thrusts readers directly into the bitterly funny head of Jersey Hatch. An eye-opening story that expertly navigates the triumph of family, the depths of despair, and the humor of the most mundane details of life.
Reviews «"The interior landscape revealed through Jersey's unreliable yet sympathetic narration is dense, rhythmic, repetitious and fragmented, granting the reader credible entrée into a damaged mind. Despite its somber character, the story never descends into heavy-handed message and has nicely placed touches of humor in a story that is both engrossing and excruciating, An original and meaningful work that provokes thought about action, consequence, redemption and renewal."-Booklist, starred review «"The portrayal of brain damage is precise, comprehensible (but never condescending), and seamlessly woven into Jersey's narrative voice, itself a masterful reflection of his internal chaos that conveys both emotional and neurological stumbling blocks by embedding them in the language itself. Poignantly affirming of life and love even in the face of overwhelming loss, this is a haunting tragicomic drama of grief and renewal."-Horn Book, starred review "A worthwhile read."-Kirkus Reviews www.wellgroomedbook.com

In this one-of-a-kind survival guide to "the big day," newlywed Peter Scott candidly reveals all the wedding preparation do's and don'ts. Covering everything from choosing the perfect location to hiring the right photographer to questions that are too stupid to ask, even for a man ("Where do the centerpieces go?), Well Groomed tackles just about any scenario t

Publication Date: 09/01/06
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Last Apprentice: Curse of the Bane
Synopsis:

Now it's the dark's turn to be afraid

The Spook and his apprentice, Thomas Ward, deal with the dark. Together they rid the county of witches, ghosts, and boggarts. But now there's some unfinished business to attend to in Priestown. Deep in the catacombs of the cathedral lurks a creature the Spook has never been able to defeat; a force so evil that the whole county is in danger of being corrupted by its powers. The Bane!

As Thomas and the Spook prepare for the battle of their lives, it becomes clear that the Bane isn't their only enemy. The Quisitor has arrived, searching for those who meddle with the dark so he can imprison them—or worse.

Can Thomas defeat the Bane on his own? Is his friend Alice guilty of witchcraft? And will the Spook be able to escape the Quisitor's clutches?

Publication Date: 08/29/06
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Dial L For Loser
Lisi Harrison
Synopsis: The social minefields most privileged middle-school girls drive the over-the-top drama in this addictive new book, set in suburban New York City's Westchester County. Massie Block: With her glossy brunette bob and Whitestrip smile, Massie is the uncontested ruler of The Clique and the rest of the social scene at Octavian Country Day, an exclusive private school in Westchester, New York. Dylan Marvil: Massie's second in command who divides her time between sucking up to Massie and sucking down Atkins shakes to try to get rid of the extra fifteen pounds that won't seem to leave her hips alone. Alicia Rivera: As sneaky as she is beautiful, Alicia floats easily under adult radar because she seems so 'sweet.' Would love to take Massie's throne one day. Just might do it. Kristen Gregory: She's been dying to fit in ever since her parents went broke. She's smart, hardworking and will insult you to tears faster than you can say 'scholarship kid.' And then there's Claire Lyons, the new girl in two-year old GAP overalls from Florida, who is clearly not Clique material. The only problem is that Claire's family is staying in the guest house on the Blocks' massive estate while they look for a new home! Claire's future looks worse than a bad Prada knockoff. But with a little luck and a lot of scheming, Claire might just come up smelling like Chanel Mademoiselle....
Publication Date: 08/23/06
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Bad Idea
Jedd Hafer, Todd Hafer
Synopsis: Griffin Smith is making a long road trip--but it's not a simple case of getting from point A to point B. Along the way, Griffin learns a lot about life from his unlikely band of travel companions and begins to questions his own attitudes and beliefs.

Publication Date: 08/22/06
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Endymion Spring
Matthew Skelton
Synopsis: "You've stumbled on to something much larger than you can possibly imagine."

In the dead of night, a cloaked figure drags a heavy box through snow-covered streets. The chest, covered in images of mythical beasts, can only be opened when the fangs of its serpent's-head clasp taste blood.

Centuries later, in an Oxford library, a boy touches a strange book and feels something pierce his finger. The volume is blank, wordless, but its paper has fine veins running through it and seems to quiver, as if it's alive. Words begin to appear on the page--words no one but the boy can see.

And so unfolds a timeless secret . . . .
Publication Date: 08/22/06
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Grays
Whitley Strieber
Synopsis: We are not alone. Millions of people are confronting aliens that authorities say do not exist. Whitley Strieber--author of the legendary, #1 bestselling book Communion, which detailed his own close encounters--now returns to the riddle of aliens with The Grays. Drawing from a lifetime of research and his own experiences, Strieber offers up a fictional account of the conspiracy behind the alien presence on Earth while also giving us a startling look inside the alien mind that will astound, frighten, and enthrall readers.
Meet the Three Thieves, a group of Grays assigned to duty in a small Kentucky town. They have been preparing a child for generations. Innocent Conner Callaghan will face the ultimate terror as he struggles to understand who he has been breed to become, and what he must do to save humanity.
Meet Colonel Michael Morax, who strives to keep the secret of the Grays from the public for reasons so sinister, yet believable, that they read like truth . . . and very well may be.
And then there's Lauren Glass, government "empath" to the last surviving captive Gray, known only as B for Bob. Her unique talent to communicate with this captive Gray may be the only way humans can unravel their ultimate plan.
But when B for Bob suddenly escapes the highly secure underground Air Force facility that he's been captive in for years, it triggers a mass undertaking in that small Kentucky town. A frantic race begins, as the government must outmaneuver the Grays to keep the secret of the presence intact.
The Grays is a mind-bending journey behind the curtain of secrecy that surrounds the subject of aliens, written by the field's great master.


Publication Date: 08/22/06
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction

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