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Boxcar Kid
Norma Charles
Synopsis:

Runner-up for the 2009 Chocolate Lily Book Award and commended for the 2009 Best Books for Kids & Teens

In 1909, 13-year-old Luc Godin arrive in British Columbia from Quebec only to discover that the house they thought they’d move into hasn’t been built. So the Godins have to make due with living in a railway boxcar with three other families.

Luc’s father and the many other newcomers to the Fraser Valley have come to work in the lumber industry. Their new home still has vestiges of the wilderness, and Luc and his family find find pioneering life difficult, especially as French speakers in a world of English. Luc’s father, who becomes a teamster in one of the many lumber mills, is old-fashioned. Horses are what he knows, while Luc has an eye for the modern, particularly the new-fangled bicycles and occasional automobiles.

However an accident with a bicycle has profound consequences for Luc and highlights the clash between the old and the new, the settled East and the brash frontier.

Publication Date: 01/02/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
The Year My Sister Got Lucky
Synopsis: In this hilarious, heartrending novel, New York Times bestselling author Aimee Friedman reminds us of the importance of sisters. . . and of not wearing stilettos in the mud.

When Katie and Michaela Wilder are uprooted from NYC and planted in rural Fir Lake, Katie is horrified by their new surroundings: the too-friendly neighbors, the local uniform of sandals paired with socks, the very idea of milking a cow. But while Katie suffers through shopping withdrawal, Michaela transforms into a small-town social firefly, flirting with the hot quarterback and soaking up nature with her new hick-town friends. As in, people who think camping is *fun*. Does Katie even know her sister anymore? And after Michaela hides a jaw-dropping secret from her, does Katie even want to?
Publication Date: 01/01/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
The Kayla Chronicles
Sherri Winston
Synopsis: Kayla Dean, junior feminist and future journalist, is about the break the story of a lifetime. She is auditioning for the Lady Lions dance team to prove they discriminate against the not-so-well endowed. But when she makes the team, her best friend and fellow feminist, Rosalie, is not happy.

Now a Lady Lion, Kayla is transformed from bushy-haired fashion victim to glammed-up dance diva. But does looking good and having fun mean turning her back on the cause? Can you be a strong woman and still wear really cute shoes? Soon Kayla is forced to challenge her views, coming to terms with who she is and what girl power really means.

Narrated with sharp language and just the right amount of attitude, The Kayla Chronicles is the story of a girl's struggle for self-identity despite pressure from family, friends and her own conscience. Kayla's story is snappy, fun and inspiring, sure to appeal to anyone who's every questioned who they really are.
Publication Date: 01/01/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
The Year of the Rat
Synopsis: In this sequel to Year of the Dog, Pacy has another big year in store for her. The Year of the Dog was a very lucky year: she met her best friend Melody and discovered her true talents. However, the Year of the Rat brings big changes: Pacy must deal with Melody moving to California, find the courage to forge on with her dream of becoming a writer and illustrator, and learn to face some of her own flaws. Pacy encounters prejudice, struggles with acceptance, and must find the beauty in change.

Based on the author's childhood adventures, Year of the Rat, features the whimsical black and white illustrations and the hilarious and touching anecdotes that helped Year of the Dog earn rave reviews and satisfied readers.
Publication Date: 01/01/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Poseur
Compai, Rachel Maude
Synopsis: po•seur (noun): a person who pretends to be what he or she is not.

Charlotte Beverwil, Janie Farrish, Melissa Moon, and Petra Greene attend exclusive Winston Prep in the Hollywood Hills. And that's all they have in common. But hang out together? They'd rather be hanged. Borrow one another's clothes? They'd sooner borrow a zit. So when these four sophomores are forced into a class to create their own fashion label, they Clash with a capital C. Janie thinks Melissa and Charlotte are Beverly Hills brats. They dismiss Janie as a Valley rat in sheep's clothing. And Petra, well . . . Petra couldn't care less. Can a cool coquette, a shy punk, a hippie goddess, and a ghettoglam egomaniac make beautiful couture together? At Winston Prep, survival of the fittest comes down to who fits in-and what fits.

Introducing a juicy new series from the publisher of the national bestselling series Gossip Girl, The Clique, The It Girl, and The A-List.

Includes Do-It-Yourself instructions by NYC fashion label Compai and fashion sketches throughout by the author.

Publication Date: 01/01/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Girl Overboard
Justina Chen Headley
Synopsis: Everybody thinks Syrah is the golden girl. After all, her father is Ethan Cheng, billionaire, and she has everything any kid could possibly desire: a waterfront mansion, jet plane, and custom-designed snowboards. But most of what glitters in her life is fool's gold. Her half-siblings hate her, her best friend's girlfriend is ruining their friendship, and her own so-called boyfriend is only after her for her father's name. When her broken heart results in a snowboarding accident that exiles her from the mountains-the one place where she feels free and accepted for who she is, not what she has-can Syrah rehab both her busted-up knee, and her broken heart?


Justina Chen Headley writes with an engaging wit and a powerful, distinct voice. Her first novel, Nothing But the Truth (and a few white lies) was a Border's Original Voices nominee, a Book Sense pick, and received a starred review from Publisher's Weekly: "Headley makes an impressive debut with this witty, intimate novel."
Publication Date: 01/01/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
The Night Children
Synopsis:
Publication Date: 06/17/25
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Steel Drumming at the Apollo
Trish Marx, Ellen B. Senisi
Synopsis: "Photo-essay about a high school steel drum band from upstate New York, that participated in a series of talent competitions for a chance to win Super Top Dog on Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. Includes a CD of the band performing"--Provided by publisher.
Publication Date: 12/31/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Big Fat  Manifesto
Susan Vaught
Synopsis:

Jamie is a senior in high school and, like so many kids in that year, doing too much―including trying to change the world―and fighting for her rights as a very fat girl. And not quietly: she's writing a column every week in the paper with her thoughts and fears and gripes. As her column raises all kinds of questions, so too, must she find her own private way in her world, with love popping up in an unexpected place, and satisfaction in her size losing ground to real frustration. Tapping into her own experience losing weight, her training as a psychotherapist, and the current fascination in the media for teens who are trying drastic weight-loss measures including surgery, Susan Vaught's searing and hilarious prose will grip readers of all sizes, leaving them eager to hear more.

Publication Date: 12/26/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
By Venom's Sweet Sting
Tiffany Trent
Synopsis: Are Corrine and her friends strong enough to take on the Fey?

Following the destruction of Falston, Corrine and her schoolmates embark for Scotland to chase Rory and the stolen rathstone. On the moors of Kenmore, tensions mount between the friends as a new love interest comes into Corrine's life. In the layers of lies and secrets, who can she trust?

In this exciting sequel to In the Serpent's Coils, Tiffany Trent delivers a larger-then-life battle between the Fey that readers will never forget!
Publication Date: 12/26/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
The Law of Three
Caroline Rennie-Pattison
Synopsis:

Sarah Martin isn't the only outsider in her small Muskoka town. But when she's teamed up with Byron Hopper for a geometry project, she discovers that she's had an easier time being accepted in her new town than some long-time residents.

Byron's family has long been the subject of rumours. Some say that they are a mob family, some say they are part of a witness relocation program, some say they are just plain weird. But the most sinister rumour surrounds Byron's sister, Garnet, who many believed committed murder.

Sarah resolves to get closer to Byron to find out more about his family ... and get to the bottom of the alleged murder. In so doing, she learns that the family has another secret: they're Wiccans. As Sarah learns more about the family, she also cuts through popular misconceptions about Wicca and finds out what Wiccans believe, how they worship, and what values they hold dear.

Publication Date: 12/14/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Posh
Lucy Jackson
Synopsis:

Inside Manhattan's private school world of fast-paced over-the-top entitlement and superficial gloss lurk many secrets―the secrets of emotionally charged teenage and adult lives. In this eloquent novel set during one class's senior year at the Griffin School, among the queen bees and the wannabes, Michael Avery and Julianne Coopersmith begin a relationship. Their backgrounds are so different―he's beyond privileged and rich, her mother is a writer who drives a cab―but it's the rich boy who ends up being the needy one, with an emotional hole they both believe only Julianne can fill. Their parents are not immune from internal torture either―Michael's mother finds it easier to love her Chinese Crested Hairless than her own child, and Julianne's mother's protective instincts have unexpected consequences.

Fast-paced, gently satirical, yet deeply felt, Posh is a poignant and knowing novel.

Publication Date: 12/10/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Slippery Slopes
Emily Franklin
Synopsis: Working at an exclusive ski resort, Melissa and Dove plan the Winter Wonderland Ball and try to patch up their love lives, while Harley is off in the islands with Dove's surfer boyfriend, and Dove is not at all sure what they are doing.
Publication Date: 12/04/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Manderley Prep
Carol Culver
Synopsis: Welcome to Manderley Prep, the most exclusive school on the West Coast.

Every girl needs a BFF-more than one, if possible. But for scholarship girl Cindy Ellis, finding new BFFs isn't easy when she leaves shabby Castle High for Manderley Prep-where the rich and famous send their children to learn how to scratch and claw their way to the top.

Cindy's stepsisters, who also go to Manderley, are beautiful, blonde twins, and captains of the cheerleading squad. They're embarrassed to be seen with her and can't believe she's snagged the attention of the school's hot Italian transfer student, Marco. Now Cindy's not only trying to gather up a new gang of BFFs, but wondering if Marco could possibly be a potential BF.

Publication Date: 12/04/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Perilous Passage
B.J. Bayle
Synopsis:

Shortlisted for the 2009 Red Maple Award and commended in Best Books for Kids & Teens

After a shipwreck in 1809, Peter finds himself the victim of amnesia. The sea captain who finds the teenager gives him the only name he knows, while others derisively dub him Peter No-Name. Eventually, Peter finds employment in a Montreal tavern where he meets a French voyageur called Boulard who changes his life irrevocably.

Boulard works for fur trader David Thompson, soon to become one of the world’s most famous explorers and mapmakers. Thompson is impressed with the teenager and enlists him in his obsessive quest to establish an overland "northwest" passage to the Pacific Ocean via the Columbia River.

With Thompson, Peter embarks on an amazing series of adventures that brings him face to face with hostile Natives and exposes him to the hardships and life-threatening challenges of formidable mountains and primeval forests as the intrepid outdoorsmen canoe, ride, and sled across a continent still largely untouched by European civilization.

Publication Date: 12/03/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
The Bower Bird
Ann Kelley
Synopsis: Gussie is not dead yet and she's got something to say. This moving piece of young adult fiction continues the story of a 12-year-old girl fighting for her life while facing the typical trials and tribulations of adolescence. Heartwarming and heartrending, The Bower Bird will have teens and adults alike rooting for Gussie with every turn of the page.
Publication Date: 12/01/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction

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