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Diary of a Part-Time Ghost
Synopsis: Fifteen-year old Ash wants nothing more than to be a normal kid and avoid trouble. And then his birthday gift transforms him into a ghost and zaps him back in time to the beginning of the American Revolution. If he thought that was bad, it's about to get a whole lot worse. Armed only with an ancient history book and the quirky advice of an annoying mentor, Ash must rescue his ancestor from one danger after another, including an implacable enemy who controls the very shadows. What starts out as a brief experiment in time travel rapidly changes into a race for his very survival, and Ash is running out of time. Despite his efforts to stay out of trouble, Ash finds plenty of it as he must decide what his role will be in the shifting balance of forces. Humorous and action-packed, Diary of a Part-Time Ghost will hold readers in its grip from the first sentence to the last. Book 2, 'Where Shadows Dance', is out: amazon.com/Where-Shadows-Dance-Ghosts-Volume/dp/1470179857/ref=tmm_pap_title_0
Publication Date: 03/22/11
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
The Secret of Willow Patch
Ms. Tabitha Kristen, Mrs. Becky Ayers
Synopsis: After moving to Middleton Heights and meeting Tina Brooks, a sweet girl that lived down the street, David, Sherry and Cody become entangled in an adventure that most children could only imagine. When people start vanishing, they must solve the mystery with a little help from their reclusive neighbors, which is not an easy task. As they race against the clock to find their family and friends, they meet more than a few obstacles and unusual characters along the way. Will they finally reveal The Secret of Willow Patch?
Publication Date: 03/21/11
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Scared To Death
Norah McClintock
Synopsis: Book by McClintock, Norah
Publication Date: 03/01/11
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Lost in the River of Grass
Synopsis: "I don't realize I'm crying until he glances at me. For a moment, I see the look of anguish in his eyes, then he blinks it away and slips off into the water. I immediately think of the gator. It's still down there somewhere. . . ."

A science-class field trip to the Everglades is supposed to be fun, but Sarah's new at Glades Academy, and her fellow freshmen aren't exactly making her feel welcome. When an opportunity for an unauthorized side trip on an airboat presents itself, it seems like a perfect escape--an afternoon without feeling like a sore thumb. But one simple oversight turns a joyride into a race for survival across the river of grass. Sarah will have to count on her instincts--and a guy she barely knows--if they have any hope of making it back alive.

Publication Date: 03/01/11
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
The Princess of Las Pulgas
C. Lee McKenzie
Synopsis: After her father's slow death from cancer, Carlie thought things couldn't get worse. But now, she is forced to confront the fact that her family in dire financial straits. To stay afloat, her mom has had to sell their cherished oceanfront home and move Carlie and her younger brother Keith to the other side of the tracks to dreaded Las Pulgas, or "the fleas" in Spanish. They must now attend a tough urban high school instead of their former elite school, and on Carlie's first day of school, she runs afoul of edgy K.T., the Latina tattoo girl who's always ready for a fight, even on crutches. Carlie fends off the attention of Latino and African American teen boys, and one, a handsome seventeen-year-old named Juan, nicknames her Princess when he detects her aloof attitude towards her new classmates. What they don't know is that Carlie isn't really aloof; she's just in mourning for her father and almost everything else that mattered to her. Mr. Smith, the revered English teacher who engages all his students, suggests she'll like her new classmates if she just gives them a chance; he cajoles her into taking over the role of Desdemona in the junior class production of Othello, opposite Juan, after K.T. gets sidelined. Keith, who becomes angrier and more sullen by the day, spray paints insults all over the gym as he acts out his anger over the family's situation and reduced circumstances. Even their cat Quicken goes missing, sending Carlie and Keith on a search into the orchard next to their seedy garden apartment complex. They're met by a cowboy toting a rifle who ejects them at gunpoint from his property. But when Carlie finds him amiably having coffee with their mom the next day -- when he's returned her cat -- she begins to realize that nothing is what it seems in Las Pulgas.
Publication Date: 12/15/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
The Fortune of Carmen Navarro
Synopsis: Carmen Navarro rings up customers at the Quikmart, bored to tears. It’s a job, and she needs it. But Carmen’s true love is music: she dropped out of high school to sing with the Gypsy Lovers and land a recording contract, someday.

Just a few miles away, Ryan Sweeney hunches over his books, a studious cadet with his eye on West Point. There’s not a single girl at the Valley Forge Military Academy, and that’s fine by him.

But when Ryan, on a day pass from campus, spots Carmen, with her shining black hair and snake tattoo, his pulse quickens. Carmen, who normally rolls her eyes at the stiff Academy soldados, can tell this one is different. She slips him a note: “Come hear my band.” A romance begins, unlikely, passionate . . . and quickly imbalanced. In an enthralling narrative of obsessive love, the novel builds to a stunning close.

Inspired by the novella and opera Carmen, Jen Bryant creates a strong-minded and alluring heroine in this contemporary tale of tragic love.
Publication Date: 11/09/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Ginger High
Melissa Burmester
Synopsis: Ginger High is no ordinary school. It is a school for students with special powers. Many years ago people came to Earth from the Kingdom of Animist, a parallel universe. Two long time friends, Matthias and Amanta, attended the school and then returned home to Animist. The school has had many unexplained deaths. Daisy Fisher attends the school after her old school burns down. Matthias and Amanta are called back to the school to help solve the mysteries. What are powers? And what is with this crazy school? Welcome to Ginger High.
Publication Date: 10/27/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Pull
B. A. Binns
Synopsis: High school senior David Albacore is dealing with major upheaval after his father murders his mom. In the terrible aftermath, he changes his name and moves to a tough new inner-city Chicago high school with his younger sister Barney, when they and their now silent younger sister, Linda, move in with their aunt. David blames himself for not saving their mom that night; after being injured in a basketball game in which he was the star, David was given strong painkillers, which caused him to sleep through the shooting. Barney, who found their mom's body, is fragile after a hospital stay and is barely able to cope. With their mother gone and their father in jail, David tries to take care of his sisters as they grieve and adjust to a different kind of life. When he's forced to join the basketball team or be expelled after getting in too many fights, it cuts into his after-school construction job that he takes to help his aunt support his family. Then David begins falling for Yolanda, the hottest girl in school and Perry, the school player and bully's girlfriend. They flirt and spar, but going after this fashion loving Mighty Mite spells big trouble for David. And as he ponders trying for a basketball scholarship or keeping the construction job he loves, Aunt Edie's stroke eliminates most of David's options. He can keep his family together by working construction full time, or follow his mom's dream of college, which would probably send Barney into foster care. Teen readers will hold their breath as David weighs his options about the kind of life he wants to live.
Publication Date: 10/27/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Jumpstart The World
Catherine Ryan Hyde
Synopsis: Elle is a loner. She doesn’t need people. Which is a good thing, because she’s on her own: she had to move into her own apartment so her mother’s boyfriend won’t have to deal with her.

Then she meets Frank, the guy who lives next door. He’s older and has a girlfriend, but Elle can’t stop thinking about him. Frank isn’t like anyone Elle has ever met. He listens to her. He’s gentle. And Elle is falling for him, hard.
But Frank is different in a way that Elle was never prepared for: he’s transgender. And when Elle learns the truth, her world is turned upside down.  Now she’ll have to search inside herself to find not only the true meaning of friendship but her own role in jumpstarting the world.

Tender, honest, and compassionate, Jumpstart the World is a stunning story to make you laugh, cry, and honor the power of love.
Publication Date: 10/12/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Museum of Thieves
Lian Tanner
Synopsis: Amazon Best Books of the Month, October 2010: In the city of Jewel, safety and temperance are prized above all other virtues. Goldie, an impetuous girl with a talent for petty thievery, is eagerly awaiting her Separation, in which her silver guardchain connecting her to her parents for safety is finally cut. When tragedy strikes and the city’s sly and deceptive ruler, the Fugleman, cancels all Separations indefinitely, Goldie decides she’s had enough of safety and runs away to the fascinating, mysterious Museum of Dunt. Yet this museum is no dusty educational edifice, as Goldie soon learns: it has moods and feelings like a living being. Its shape-shifting rooms house not historical artifacts, but great and terrible powers that, if unleashed, could destroy the city. In the museum, Goldie meets a quirky cast of misfits, including Toadspit, an Oliver-Twist-like ragamuffin living in the museum; Sinew, a harp-toting spy; and Broo, a talking dog with secret powers of his own. Before long, however, the Fugleman discovers the secret of the museum and tries to use its powers to tighten his control of the city, and it’s up to Goldie, Toadspit, and Broo to stop him. Lian Tanner’s Museum of Thieves is filled with characters who are oddball but meaningful, a dystopia-for-beginners plot that is at once serious and silly, and a pace fast enough to draw in even reluctant readers. The thrilling conclusion teaches that courage and freedom are virtues, too, even if they mean a few scrapes along the way. --Juliet Disparte

Publication Date: 09/28/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Ascendant
Diana Peterfreund
Synopsis:

Forget everything you ever knew about unicorns. The fluffy, sparkly, friendly “horses” so popular the world over don’t exist. Real unicorns are killers. Don't miss book 2 in the thrilling Killer Unicorn series!

Beasts the size of elephants, with cloven hooves that shake the earth, hides impervious to bullets, and horns that contain a deadly poison, unicorns can outrun a sports car and smell a human from a mile away.

And they can only be killed by virgin warriors descended from Alexander the Great.

Astrid Llewelyn is now a fully trained unicorn hunter, but she can't solve all her problems with just a bow and arrow. Her boyfriend, Giovanni, has decided to leave Rome, the Cloisters is in dire financial straits, her best friend's powers are mysteriously disintegrating, and Astrid can't help but feel that school, home, and her hopes of becoming a scientist are impossible dreams.

So when she's given the opportunity to leave the Cloisters and put her skills to use as part of a scientific quest to discover the Remedy, Astrid leaps at the chance. Finally, she can have exactly what she wants—or can she?

At Gordian headquarters in the French countryside, Astrid begins to question everything she thought she believed: her love for Giovanni, her loyalty to the Cloisters, and—most of all—her duty as a hunter.

Should Astrid be saving the world from killer unicorns, or saving the unicorns from the world?

Publication Date: 09/01/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
As You Wish
Jackson Pearce
Synopsis:

Ever since Viola's boyfriend broke up with her, she has spent her days silently wishing—for someone to love her again and, most important, to belong again—until her wishes inadvertently summon a genie named Jinn out of his world and into her own. He will remain until she makes three wishes. But it's only after Viola makes her first wish that she realizes she's in love with Jinn . . . and that if she wishes twice more, he will disappear from her life—and her world—forever.

Jackson Pearce spins a magical tale about star-crossed lovers, what it means to belong . . . and how important it is to be careful what you wish for.

Publication Date: 08/31/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Betti on the High Wire
Lisa Railsback
Synopsis: Ten-year-old Babo and the other ?leftover kids? live on an abandoned circus camp in a war-torn country. Babo believes her circus-star parents will come back for her any day now, so she is not one bit happy when an American couple adopts her. She hates her new name (Betti) and is confused by everything in America. She?s determined to run away. But as Betti slowly begins to trust her new family and even makes a friend, she decides maybe she can stay just one more day. And then maybe another . . .

Betti on the High Wire is both heartbreaking and hilarious?and completely unforgettable. This brave little storyteller of a girl will wiggle her way straight into your heart.

Publication Date: 07/08/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Tales from Gundarland
Hank Quense
Synopsis: Tales From Gundarland, won a medal in a recent Readers Favorite competition in the scifi/fantasy category. Laughter is contagious. Enjoy some by reading this book It's filled with delightful entertainment. Without commercial interruption! Gundarland is populated by humans, dwarfs, elves and other races; it's the backdrop for unique adventures, brilliant heroes and cunning villains. You'll meet some of Shakespeare's most famous characters, a warrior-cook, vigilantes and beautiful, lusty princesses to mention just a few of the memorable characters in the stories. Here is a list of the stories and a brief synopsis of each. Romeo and Juliet: Romeo, a dwarf miner, and Juliet, the elfin daughter of a rich gem merchant, have a rocky courtship because Juliet's brothers are avowed enemies of Romeo's family. Chasing Dreams: This novella tells the story of twin yuk brothers on their journey from strong-armed thugs to highway robbers to bawdy house owners to politicians. The brothers are plagued and harassed by vigilantes. Boggerts Blue: A warrior-cook seeks to rescue a kidnapped princess. She refuses to be rescued by someone who isn't noble-born. The Big Bang: A wizard has to eliminate a dragon and his minions. On the way to complete his mission, he is tested by a shape-changer and a pair of trolls. The Queen's Hero: This novella is about a young tinker-warrior as he struggles to save his Queen from a pirate admiral trying to overthrow her and become king. The Queen's three beautiful daughters have their own plans for the young hero. Merchant of Venison: A dwarf butcher borrows money to help his best friend and soon regrets it. The dwelf money lender has bloody ideas about the default payments. Inter-Racial Musical Playoffs: A few greedy wizards attempt to fix a musical competition. Tactical Surprise: A general develops unusual tactics to defeat a rebel army.
Publication Date: 06/25/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
My Ultimate Sister Disaster
Synopsis:

What happens when your sister becomes your biggest rival?

If there were a way to pick your family, fourteen-year old Franny might not pick her own. Her father is a hipster boutique owner who's constantly "friending" her on Facebook, her mother is off in Kenya jumpstarting her stalled anthropology career, and her sister Zooey, eleven months older and eight inches taller, is a precocious, prima ballerina. Lately, Zooey's so absorbed with her burgeoning ballet career that she barely seems to notice Franny. And since Zooey attends a top ballet conservatory, Franny's on her own navigating the brutal halls of her Manhattan prep school, a first-year trying to get noticed on the school paper (and by its soulful, long-lashed editor-in-chief).

But everything changes when Zooey breaks her leg and her dancing comes to grinding halt. Her ballet dreams shattered, Zooey begins to hone in on Franny's "normal" life and friends. Franny feels terrible for Zooey, but when her encroachment starts to extend to Franny's long-time crush, Franny begins to wonder if her sister might just be her worst competition...

Publication Date: 06/08/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Crash Test Love
Ted Michael
Synopsis: The last thing Henry Arlington wants is a girlfriend. He's just very, very good with girls—reading their body language, knowing what they want to hear, and more importantly: getting them into the backseat of his car. But all that changes when he meets Garrett Lennox at one of the many Sweet Sixteen parties he crashes.
 
Garrett thinks she's done with guys. She was dumped by her ex when she moved from Chicago to Long Island, and now she realizes that she needs to find out who she is by herself, instead of with a boyfriend. What she really needs is some good friends.
 
Fortunately for Garrett, the J Squad—the "it" girls of East Shore High School—want her in their clique. All she has to do is pass one little test: get East Shore god Henry Arlington to take her to one of the biggest Sweet Sixteens of the year, then dump him in front of everyone.
 
Garrett has promised herself not to fall for another guy, so playing with Henry's heart shouldn't be hard. Right?
 
And Henry doesn't fall for girls, so when he and Garrett start to click, it doesn't matter. Does it?
As William Shakespeare once said, "Love is blind," or in this case, the lovers may be, as Henry and Garrett fall in love—and into the trap that awaits them. Because neither of them can even begin to see what the girls of Henry Arlington's past have in store.
 
This hilarious, sharp, and surprisingly thoughtful novel is the teen Wedding Crashers, filled with love, hope, laughs, and surprising insights about the terrifying process of falling in love.
Publication Date: 06/08/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction

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