Synopsis: The angel Rithrial made it very clear that Sara Starbright was in no way, shape, or form to even think about her father, lest she draw the attentions of the ancient beings and forces that hunt him.  But when you are only thirteen years old, have no home to go back to, and everyone you meet wants to take your gifts for themselves, following the rules is the last thing on your mind.
 
Free for now from the foul attentions of the fish-like Mongrel after shattering his sinister Prison of Light, Sara and the Chimera have yet to find a place amongst creation for themselves.  When an ill-fated attempt at going home again sends them again on the run, this time with Sara's mom in tow, things begin to again spiral out of control.  With their options quickly running out, Sara decides to gamble everything on locating her reclusive father, the mysterious Seventh Star of Twilight.
 
So how does a girl that quite literally knows everything go about finding an enigmatic primordial creature that has erased himself from history?  Even when your best friend is a constantly-evolving monster capable of nearly anything, it's hard to even know where to start.  With only straws to grasp at, Sara feels her best bet is gathering together as many allies as she can--all those who had been close to her father in recent years.  In numbers there is strength, and when that number is seven, there lies a little magic as well.

Synopsis: When you’re caught in a traffic jam, you’ve got nowhere to go… Val Delton’s life is spiraling and there’s nothing she can do to stop it. Her dad lost his job, her mom works fourteen hour days to pay the bills and yet somehow there are high-end shopping bags and an iPod in her older sister’s room. Naturally, Val becomes suspicious but her sister’s lips are sealed. Then by accident, she uncovers a dark, dangerous secret hidden behind her sister’s bright smiles and cool indifference. Val has no idea how far and how deep the repercussions of her sister’s secret will reach but she’ll do whatever it takes to keep her family safe. Will she succeed before her sister’s secret destroys everyone she loves?

Synopsis: It's never too late to change your ways; especially when you're young. Troubled teen Mark Crowe has twenty-five weeks to do just that. At that point, he'll turn eighteen and all his problems will go away (so he thinks). But it will take more than just reaching a date on a calendar. Mark carries around a checkered past, has never known a stable home life, and believes all his problems originate from the neighboring golf course. He feels the odds are stacked against him and nobody is willing to give him a chance. A probation officer provides some routine counseling, but Mark is often leery of him and the process. It is at the least-likeliest of places, on the links, working with a most-improbable ally, a visually-impaired golfer, that Mark finds encouragement and catches glimpses of a better path through life.

Synopsis: The annual Great Quest is about to be announced in Quendel, a task that will determine the future of Marcus and the other boys from the village who are coming of age. The wizard Zyll commands them to find the Rock of Ivanore, but he doesn’t tell them what the Rock is exactly or where it can be found. Marcus must reach deep within himself to develop new powers of magic and find the strength to survive the wild lands and fierce enemies he encounters as he searches for the illusive Rock. If he succeeds, he will live a life of honor; if he fails, he will live a life of menial labor in shame. With more twists and turns than a labyrinth, and a story in which nothing is at it seems, this tale of deception and discovery keeps readers in suspense until the end.


Middle readers will find that The Rock of Ivanore fits nicely among the traditional fantasies they so enjoy. They will also appreciate its fresh and inventive take on the genre.

Synopsis: I'm Adrienne Haus, survivor of a mother-daughter book club. Most of us didn't want to join. My mother signed me up because I was stuck at home all summer, with my knee in a brace. CeeCee's parents forced her to join after cancelling her Paris trip because she bashed up their car. The members of "The Unbearable Book Club," CeeCee, Jill, Wallis, and I, were all going into eleventh grade A.P. English. But we weren't friends. We were literary prisoners, sweating, reading classics, and hanging out at the pool. If you want to find out how membership in a book club can end up with a person being dead, you can probably look us up under mother-daughter literary catastrophe. Or open this book and read my essay, which I'll turn in when I go back to school.

Synopsis: Imagine! Enter a chaotic world where your only true weapon is your imagination! It can be your best friend or your worst enemy... Eleven-year-old Buggy Crenshaw deems herself a writer whose imagination has nodded off lately. But her dull life takes an abrupt turn toward the fantastically unimaginable when her father’s curious invention, his Tremendous Time-Traveling Trailblazer, suddenly explodes, catapulting their family to the very brink of the Underworld: a secret pocket of our planet known as Lloyd’s Hollow where magic runs rampant and dreams are far more than just idle imaginings! Buggy quickly discovers that her family’s arrival in Lloyd’s Hollow was by no means an accident, and that coincidence is truly a myth for the magically uninformed. In a harrowing tale of good versus evil, Buggy learns that she is, and through time has always been, a Warrior for the Greater Good of Mankind. When the Darkest Evil threatens to ensnare us all, Buggy and her friends Sid Piccolo and Veronica Hamburg must find a way to thwart the Demon Electrocucius before he captures our souls and commits them to eternal torture! She learns firsthand, however, that evil is hard to kill… Her message to you is this: The magic is real…if you can only imagine! Dream big!

Synopsis: Winesburg, Ohio By Sherwood Anderson