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Casa Azul: An Encounter With Frida Kahlo
Synopsis: Frida Kahlo's work comes to life—literally—in this magical realist novel, the latest addition to Watson-Guptill's acclaimed Art Encounters series. The story alternates between Kahlo's home in Mexico City, Casa Azul, and the journey of a teenage girl and her young brother, lost in the city. At the mystical Casa Azul, everything with a face talks—including Kahlo's pet monkey, her cat, portraits on the wall. Over the course of the book, the cover painting, Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird, transforms from a nightmarish vision of death into a life-affirming masterpiece. This dramatic story offers a vivid reimagining of the life and work of a woman as well known for her amazing life as for her amazing art.




• Laban Hill is a National Book Award Finalist and recipient of the Parents Choice Gold Award


• Frida Kahlo is one of the most popular artists among young people today-her art and her blazingly flamboyant style make her eternally up-to-date


• Ties in to school curriculum in art and social studies
Publication Date: 07/01/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Finding Lubchenko
Michael Simmons
Synopsis: Having secretly sold his father’s office equipment on the Internet for quick cash, Evan finds himself in a bad situation when his father is accused of a murder due to one of the sales, thus causing Evan to track down the real culprit via cryptic e-mails in order to clear his father’s name while keeping his own thievery a secret to all.
Publication Date: 06/16/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Nobodies
Peter Ferguson, N. E. Bode
Synopsis:

THE NOBODIES

Fern Drudger's quirky adventures continue in this delightful sequel to The Anybodies. She goes to Camp Happy Sunshine Good Times and is bombarded by desperate messages from people who call themselves the Nobodies. But who are the Nobodies, and what do they want from Fern?

Publication Date: 06/14/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Cubanita
Gaby Triana
Synopsis:

Summer just started, and already I can't wait to get out of here to begin my mother-free life at the University of Michigan in August. But until that happens, I'll be teaching art at Camp Anhinga, same as last year. I start tomorrow, and Mom is anything but thrilled. Surprise, surprise. If it weren't for my father, I'd never get to experience college away from home. I'd be stuck, taking classes locally, learning to cook and sew the holes in my brother's underwear on the side, cultivating my domestic skills as a back-up career. Because that's what a good cubanita does, you know, thinks of nothing but home. Yeah. Okay.

This is the story of Isabel Díaz, a Cuban-American who would rather just be an American, period. A funny and romantic summer read, as well as a touching story about discovering your roots, cubanita proves we all have room in us to become more than who we think we are.

Publication Date: 06/14/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Penderwicks
Jeanne Birdsall
Synopsis: With over one million copies sold, this series of modern classics about the charming Penderwick family from National Book Award winner and New York Times bestseller Jeanne Birdsall is perfect for fans of Noel Streatfeild and Edward Eager.

This summer the Penderwick sisters have a wonderful surprise: a holiday on the grounds of a beautiful estate called Arundel. Soon they are busy discovering the summertime magic of Arundel’s sprawling gardens, treasure-filled attic, tame rabbits, and the cook who makes the best gingerbread in Massachusetts. But the best discovery of all is Jeffrey Tifton, son of Arundel’s owner, who quickly proves to be the perfect companion for their adventures.

The icy-hearted Mrs. Tifton is not as pleased with the Penderwicks as Jeffrey is, though, and warns the new friends to stay out of trouble. Which, of course, they will—won’t they? One thing’s for sure: it will be a summer the Penderwicks will never forget.

Deliciously nostalgic and quaintly witty, this is a story as breezy and carefree as a summer day.
Publication Date: 06/14/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Peaches
Jodi Lynn Anderson
Synopsis:

The New York Times bestselling debut novel from critically acclaimed author Jodi Lynn Anderson follows three very different girls as they discover the secret to finding the right boy, making the truest of friends, and picking the perfect Georgia peach.

Murphy McGowen has bright green eyes, a reputation as the wildest girl in Bridgewater, and a way of getting out of all the trouble she gets into. But when she's caught stealing from the Darlington Orchard, she's forced to repay her debt picking peaches in the hot Georgia sun.

Leeda Cawley-Smith has professionally whitened teeth and the softest skin her boyfriend has ever touched. Unfortunately, Leeda's parents aren't too keen on her being touched anymore. Now Leeda's country-club summer is out the window—she'll be getting a serious sock tan working at her uncle's peach orchard instead.

Birdie Darlington used to dance around her family's orchard picking peaches for fun. But now that her parents are getting divorced, Birdie would rather spend the summer in the A/C eating Thin Mints than pick another peach—too bad she doesn't have a choice.

Thrown together at Darlington Orchard, Murphy, Leeda, and Birdie discover what it means to find a real soul mate, and that sometimes cute boys know a lot about peach cider. And, of course, they learn the trick to picking a perfect peach. One thing's for sure—it's going to be a juicy summer.

Publication Date: 06/07/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Soul Stealer
Martin Booth
Synopsis: When an enemy of Sebastian’s father reappears in order to find the ancient book of spells in the hopes of stealing millions of souls, it is up to Pip and Tim to help their friend find the disguised evil-doer and botch his plans before it's too late.
Publication Date: 06/01/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Worlds of the Golden Queen
Synopsis: Originally published as two books, Worlds of the Golden Queen is a stellar tale of love, adventure, sacrifice, and war set in a fantastic future.

In the first novel, The Golden Queen, the insectoid Dronons have slain the human queen Semarritte, thowing into chaos the ten thousand worlds over which she reigned. Desperate to save mankind, Lord Veriasse, her near-immortal consort, has created a new queen: Everynne, cloned from the dead original. Hotly pursued, Everynne falls in with cocky bodyguard Gallen O'Day; the pious Orick, an intelligent black bear; and the beautiful orphan Maggie Flynn.
With Gallen and the others newly sworn to her service, the young queen begins the great struggle against the aliens. Leaping from world to world via an ancient system of instantaneous transport gates, the heroes face terrible dangers and great wonders as they seek the heart of the dronon worlds, carrying the battle straight to the enemy.
In the second novel, Beyond the Gate, Maggie Flynn has become, by test of combat, the new Golden Queen. Gallen, Maggie, and Orick face an attack by Dronons on a planet where humans have achieved the pinnacle of genetic engineering. They must stop them while guarding the secret of Maggie's whereabouts, for she is only the Golden Queen until her champion, Gallen, is defeated by a Dronon challenger. In the midst of a slam-bang story, Farland raises and examines deep questions of humanity's definition and identity.
Publication Date: 06/01/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
I Am Alive and You Are Dead
Timothy Bent, Emmanuel Carrère
Synopsis: For his many devoted readers, Philip K. Dick is not only one of the "one of the most valiant psychological explorers of the 20th century" (The New York Times) but a source of divine revelation. In the riveting style that won accolades for The Adversary, Emmanuel Carrère's I Am Alive and You Are Dead, follows Dick's strange odyssey from his traumatic beginnings in 1928, when his twin sister died in infancy, to his lonely end in 1982, beset by mystical visions of swirling pink light, three-eyed invaders, and messages from the Roman Empire. Drawing on interviews as well as unpublished sources, he vividly conjures the spirit of this restless observer of American postwar malaise who subverted the materials of science fiction--parallel universes, intricate time loops, collective delusions--to create classic works of contemporary anxiety.
Publication Date: 06/01/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
A Room on Lorelai Street
Mary E. Pearson
Synopsis: Zoe's arms prickle. She turns, trying to take it all in. The ache inside returns. It is not for her. It is too much. A real room with real floors and walls. A room for sleeping, and reading and dancing and . . . in her imagination she has pictured the room, but she has never pictured herself in it.

Can seventeen-year-old Zoe make it on her own?

A room is not much. It is not arms holding you. Not a kiss on the forehead. Not a packed lunch or a remembered birthday. Just a room. But for seventeen-year-old Zoe, struggling to shed the suffocating responsibility of her alcoholic mother and the controlling guilt of her grandmother, a rented room on Lorelei Street is a fierce grab for control of her own future.

Zoe rents a small room from Opal Keats, an eccentric old lady who has a difficult past of her own, but who chooses to live in the possibility of the future. Zoe tries to find that same possibility in her own future, promising that she will never go crawling back. But with all odds against her, can a seventeen-year-old who only slings hash to make ends meet make it on her own? Zoe struggles with this worry and the guilt of abandoning her mother as she goes to lengths that even she never dreamed she would in order to keep the room on Lorelei Street.
Publication Date: 06/01/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Raven's Gate
Anthony Horowitz
Synopsis: The internationally bestselling author of STORMBREAKER and EAGLE STRIKE plunges strikingly into Stephen King territory in this chilling first installment in a powerful new series.

Matt is being punished for a crime he saw, but didn't commit. Instead of being locked up, he is being sent to the middle of nowhere to live with a new foster mom, as part of a government scheme called The Leaf Project. But Matt's new home provides anything but peace and quiet. His new guardian is involved in very sinister things . . . and the whole town seems to be on her side. Everybody who tries to help Matt winds up disappearing . . . or dead. The truth is much bigger than Matt or the town -- but Matt is the only person who can stop the ultimate evil from being unleashed.
Publication Date: 06/01/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Cloud Chamber
Joyce Maynard
Synopsis: When his father shoots himself and ends up blind, Nate Chance’s world is thrown into a tailspin as the members of his family retreat from reality, but not wanting to become the tragedy’s next victim, Nate sets his sights on winning the science fair by building the cloud chamber that he and his father had planned to do before everything went wrong.
Publication Date: 05/31/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Far from Burden Dell
Chris Coppel
Synopsis: Amy, a pampered young Golden Retriever, is stolen by ruthless smugglers from her home in rural England and taken to a grim London prison. A bold escape with her fellow prisoners--a weepy but learned Spaniel, two stalwart Dobermans, a vain Afghan, and an ingenious Yorkshire Terrier, takes the friends through the perils of London, from crossing busy streets, escaping a vicious pack of rats in the pitch-black London Underground, rushing from Harrod's Food Court, running over London Bridge, hiding out in Hyde Park, to racing from the guards at Buckingham Palace, always pursued by their criminal captors. But can the courageous, often terrified, friends escape recapture and their grim prison, as well as capture by the police--and possibly the dog pound--to find their way home? Ages 10 and up.
Publication Date: 05/30/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Sugar Rush
Julie Burchill
Synopsis:

"Oh, I,m not your friend." My savior looked surprised. "It's just that this is MY school. I'm Maria Sweet -- Sugar. If you get bullied, it'll be when I say so."

When Kim has to transfer from her posh school to Ravendene Comprehensive, the notoriously violent local school, she's scared -- but then she meets Maria Sweet, better known as Sugar. Sugar is beautiful and wild, the queen bee of Ravendene, and Kim falls under her spell.

They're gorgeous party girls, envied and admired by everyone. But as Kim leaves her good-girl past far behind, she realizes she's falling in love -- with her best friend.

Funny, sexy, and provocative, this is a compulsively readable first novel for young adults by Britain's most famous and controversial journalist.

Publication Date: 05/24/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Girls Dinner Club
Jessie Elliot
Synopsis:

The love of Junie's life for the past year is suddenly acting like a crazed puppy.

Celia's dad has found the most ridiculous woman in all of Manhattan—and decided, after fifteen years of being single, to date her.

Danielle's hot-guy-in-a-band ex-boyfriend is trying to convince her that he's "changed."

Sometimes living life is a recipe for disaster.

Sometimes, girls just have to make their own recipes.

Publication Date: 05/24/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Horseman
Ford Lytle Gilmore, Christopher Golden
Synopsis:

New to Sleepy Hollow, teens Aimee and Shane Lancaster find that upon theirarrival an ancient curse has been unleashed upon the town, tracing back to the town's famous legend, which just might be more truth than myth. Now an array of evil demons is after them, with the infamous Headless Horseman leading the pack.

Publication Date: 05/19/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction

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