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The Red Umbrella
Christina Gonzalez
Synopsis:

The Red Umbrella is the moving tale of a 14-year-old girl's journey from Cuba to America as part of Operation Pedro Pan—an organized exodus of more than 14,000 unaccompanied children, whose parents sent them away to escape Fidel Castro's revolution.

 

In 1961, two years after the Communist revolution, Lucía Álvarez still leads a carefree life, dreaming of parties and her first crush. But when the soldiers come to her sleepy Cuban town, everything begins to change. Freedoms are stripped away. Neighbors disappear. Her friends feel like strangers. And her family is being watched.

 

As the revolution's impact becomes more oppressive, Lucía's parents make the heart-wrenching decision to send her and her little brother to the United States—on their own.

 

Suddenly plunked down in Nebraska with well-meaning strangers, Lucía struggles to adapt to a new country, a new language, a new way of life. But what of her old life? Will she ever see her home or her parents again? And if she does, will she still be the same girl?

 

The Red Umbrella is a moving story of country, culture, family, and the true meaning of home.

Publication Date: 05/11/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Vampyre Kisses
Elizabeth J. Kolodziej
Synopsis: Vampyre Kisses is an enthralling story about a young woman named Faith, who seems content with her life, but deep down craves more excitement. Then a mysterious man named Trent enters her world and everything changes. Surprising to Faith, Trent is a green-eyed vampire from Ireland. She is even more amazed to find out that she is a witch, and the last of her kind. Faith learns that she is destined to restore her witch line and becomes more powerful as she gains confidence and knowledge, but danger lurks everywhere -- especially when unknown assailants steal the most important gems from the vampire master and werewolf royalty. Now surrounded by a world filled with mystifying vampires and werewolves, can Faith gain enough power to help her friends and rescue the stolen gems? "A welcome addition to the vampire/werewolf corpus. Building on traditional legends, Kolodziej creates a world both vast in its sweep and compelling in its details." Stephen Delaney -- Writer, Teacher & Editor Elizabeth J Kolodziej, a young fiction writer originally from Torrance California, is a smart and original thinker who has researched the origins of vampires, werewolves, and witches for many years. She writes her books from the knowledge she has gained while trying to be as original and inspiring as possible. Her books encompass both true folklore facts along with innovative ideas motivated by the great writers around her. This book is her first, but not her last, in a new series entitled Vampyre Kisses.
Publication Date: 05/11/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
Noah's Castle
John Rowe Townsend
Synopsis: WHAT IS MONEY BECAME WORTHLESS?

The classic novel about hyperinflation is back

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT NOAH'S CASTLE

Brad Thor, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Foreign Influence

The ultimate 'what if' for right now. Terrifyingly realistic and powerfully thought provoking. John Rowe Townsend's apocalyptic masterpiece is back and not a moment too soon. An absolute must read!

Gregory Maguire, New York Times bestselling author of WICKED

By turns gripping and ominous, the masterful Noah's Castle lures and locks the reader into a future world due to start any moment. I find it one of the most harrowing and humane tales of survival yet, stronger and more significant with each rereading. Pull up the gangplank and shutter the windows: in a time of want, you'll want Noah's Castle to steer you safe.

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Nobody foresaw our country's collapse except for one man.

But why did that man have to be my father?

Mobs are looting and rioting in the streets.

My friends and neighbors are starving.

The store shelves are empty.

Money is worthless.

There are no jobs.

There is no food.

There is no hope.

And I'm tired of keeping secrets.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

TERRIFYING BECAUSE IT COULD HAPPEN TOMORROW...

The coming winter was going to be a bad one and not because of the weather.

Sixteen-year-old Barry Mortimer's life turns upside down when his father suddenly moves the family from their comfortable modern home in the city to a decaying mansion on the outskirts of town. Strange and mysterious events follow.

Why isn't anyone allowed to visit their new home? What is Father doing in the basement and why is he keeping it a secret?

As rumors of skyrocketing prices and food shortages become a hyperinflationary economic meltdown, Barry's world crumbles. Can his family hold together as a nation collapses around them?

WHAT IF MONEY BECAME WORTHLESS? A STORY OF HYPERINFLATION.

Based on the devastating hyperinflation in 1920s Germany, Noah's Castle depicts how a similar economic catastrophe might look in contemporary society.

Written by award-winning author John Rowe Townsend, Noah's Castle tells the story of a family trying to survive the total collapse of the British economy. Money becomes worthless, unemployment skyrockets, and food and other goods become scarce.

As conditions worsen and the population begins to starve, how do people react? When does law-and-order break down and civilized behavior end?

Noah's Castle examines these questions but doesn't provide easy answers, resulting in a thrilling and thought-provoking story of survival.

Publication Date: 05/10/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Historical Fiction
The Dragon and the Stars
Tess Gerritsen, Eric Choi, Derwin Mak
Synopsis: An all-new anthology of Chinese culture-inspired science fiction

This unique collection of science fiction tales demonstrates the diversity of the Chinese experience around the world, merging China's rich heritage with new traditions, offering North American readers an opportunity to discover these exciting writers.
Publication Date: 05/04/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Science Fiction
Darkborn
Alison Sinclair
Synopsis: For the Darkborn, sunlight kills. For the Lightborn, darkness is fatal. Living under a centuries-old curse, the Darkborn and the Lightborn share the city of Minhorne, coexisting in an uneasy equilibrium but never interacting-until a Darkborn physician finds a pregnant fugitive on his doorstep...
Publication Date: 05/04/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
Shade
Jeri Smith-Ready
Synopsis: Love ties them together. Death can't tear them apart.

Best. Birthday. Ever. At least, it was supposed to be. With Logan's band playing a critical gig and Aura's plans for an intimate after-party, Aura knows it will be the most memorable night of her boyfriend's life. She never thought it would be his last.

Logan's sudden death leaves Aura devastated. He's gone.

Well, sort of.

Like everyone born after the Shift, Aura can see and hear ghosts. This mysterious ability has always been annoying, and Aura had wanted nothing more than to figure out why the Shift happened so she can undo it. But not with Logan’s violet-hued spirit still hanging around. Because dead Logan is almost as real as ever. Almost.

It doesn't help that Aura’s new friend Zachary is so understanding—and so very alive. His support means more to Aura than she cares to admit.

As Aura's relationships with the dead and the living grow ever complicated, so do her feelings for Logan and Zachary. Each holds a piece of Aura's heart…and clues to the secret of the Shift.
Publication Date: 05/04/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Mystery
Summer of the Geek
Piper Banks
Synopsis: The third compulsively readable book in the smart and witty series about a high school for gifted students.

Miranda Bloom has scored an adorable, lacrosse-playing boyfriend, Dex McConnell, and an awesomely easy summer job looking after a ten year old mini-genius, Amelia. This summer is going to be sweet...

Then reality puts the brakes on everything. Though Dex and Miranda are official, she feels like he's keeping secrets-secrets that may have to do with his fashion model ex-girlfriend. Meanwhile, Amelia is harder to figure out than advanced trigonometry. How can they bond if all she does is practice the piano? Plus Miranda's mom just invited her to live in London with her. Living across the pond would be great, but can she really leave Geek High and Dex?

Looks like Miranda has a secret of her own...
Publication Date: 05/04/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
A Legacy of Daemons
Camille Bacon-Smith
Synopsis: Third in the paranormal detective series

Evan Davis and his partners, Brad and Lily, attract the jobs no other detective can handle-cases with a dangerous, otherworldly slant. But no one is better equipped for this because Lily and Brad are powerful daemon lords, and Evan is Brad's half-daemon son. Now, however, the trio face a real challenge---involving armies of daemons, and wealthy mortals who have delved far too deeply into the dark arts...
Publication Date: 05/04/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
Something Like Fate
Susane Colasanti
Synopsis: Best friends Lani and Erin couldn’'t be more different. Lani’'s reserved and thoughtful; Erin’'s bubbly and outgoing. Lani likes to do her own thing; Erin prefers an entourage. There’'s no possible way they could be interested in the same guy.
So when Erin starts dating Jason, Lani can'’t believe she feels such a deep connection with him—...and it may be mutual. The more Lani fights it, the more certain she feels that it’'s her fate to be with Jason. What do you do when your soul mate is the one person you can'’t have?
Publication Date: 05/04/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Romance
Arson
Estevan Vega
Synopsis: Arson Gable feels like a freak. He can create fire. He never asked for it. He never wanted it. But he can't shut it off. Before now, three things were true: he both loved and despised his grandmother; his life was going nowhere; and he was alone. But when a strange girl--who feels more normal behind a mask than inside her own skin--moves in next door, Arson hopes to find something he's never had: purpose. Using what he fears most about himself, Arson must face his consuming past and confront the nightmare that is his present as he walks the fine line between boy and monster. Dark, moody, and breathtakingly relevant, Arson, the chilling chronicle of an isolated boy with unimaginable ability, is sure to ignite the hearts and minds of a new generation.
Publication Date: 05/04/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
Jekel Loves Hyde
Beth Fantaskey
Synopsis:

Jill Jekel has always obeyed her parents’ rules—especially the one about never opening the mysterious, old box in her father’s office. But when her dad is murdered, and her college savings disappear, she’s tempted to peek inside, as the contents might be the key to a lucrative chemistry scholarship.

To improve her odds, Jill enlists the help of gorgeous, brooding Tristen Hyde, who has his own dark secrets locked away. As the team of Jekel and Hyde, they recreate experiments based on the classic novel, hoping not only to win a prize, but to save Tristen’s sanity. Maybe his life. But Jill’s accidental taste of a formula unleashes her darkest nature and compels her to risk everything—even Tristen’s love—just for the thrill of being . . . bad.

Publication Date: 05/03/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Romance
Fire Will Fall
Carol Plum-Ucci
Synopsis: ShadowStrike poisoned the water of Trinity Falls two months ago. Now the Trinity Four, the teens most affected by the poison, have been isolated in a remote mansion under twenty-four-hour medical care while scientists on four continents rush to discover a cure. Meanwhile, U.S. operatives scour the world for the bioterrorists responsible for this heinous crime, as two teen virtual spies, also infected, hunt for the criminals on the Internet. The danger remains real—for ShadowStrike has every reason to pursue the Trinity Four, and their evil plan will unleash a new designer virus that’s even deadlier than the first.
Publication Date: 05/03/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
After The Moment
Garret Freymann-Weyr
Synopsis:

A novel by the Printz Honor author Garret Freymann-Weyr, about a boy who discovers what happens when love fails us—or we fail love.

Maia Morland is pretty, only not pretty-pretty. She’s smart. She’s brave. She’s also a self-proclaimed train wreck.

Leigh Hunter is smart, popular, and extremely polite. He’s also completely and forever in love with Maia Morland.

Their young love starts off like a romance novel—full of hope, strength, and passion. But life is not a romance novel and theirs will never become a true romance. For when Maia needs him the most, Leigh betrays both her trust and her love.

Told with compassion and true understanding, After the Moment is about what happens when a young man discovers that sometimes love fails us, and that, quite often, we fail love.

Publication Date: 05/03/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
King of the Screwups
K. L. Going
Synopsis: Liam Geller is Mr. Popularity. Everybody loves him. He excels at sports; he knows exactly what clothes to wear; he always ends up with the most beautiful girls in school. But he's got an uncanny ability to screw up in the very ways that tick off his father the most.
When Liam finally kicked out of the house, his father's brother takes him in. What could a teenage chick magnet possibly have in common with his gay, glam rocker, DJ uncle who lives in a trailer in upstate New York? A lot more than you'd think. And when Liam attempts to make himself over as a nerd in a desperate attempt to impress his father, it's his "aunt" Pete and the guys in his band who convince Liam there's much more to him than his father will ever see.
Publication Date: 05/03/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Zen and Xander Undone
Amy Kathleen Ryan
Synopsis: Zen and Xander are sisters—truly, madly, deeply sisters, and this is their last summer together.

Zen is the "good" girl with a black belt in karate and a newfound penchant for kicking heads. Xander is a wild scientific genius with a self-destructive streak a light-year long. They have three things in common: they’re brown-eyed blondes, they’ve noticed the boy next door has turned into a hottie, and they miss their mom, who died almost a year ago. These sisters are surviving just fine—except Zen keeps getting into fights that are harder and harder to finish, while Xander spirals into a vortex of late-night parties, scary men, and drugs. What’s worse, Xander has scholarships to the most coveted universities in the country, but she’s about to ruin everything. Should Zen keep trying to protect Xander, or finally let her go?
Publication Date: 05/03/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Ghost Huntress: The Reason
Synopsis: It’s not everyday you have a premonition of your own demise. But two months after Kendall had a vision of her own death, all is well in her world. Maybe some cosmic wires got crossed. Then Kendall gets a request by the mayor of Radisson to investigate the mayoral manor. Emily and Loreen warn her against it: This spirit is dangerous. But not even they can see just how dangerous. But during the aftermath of her run-in with the spirit Kendall learns a life-shattering secret. Now Kendall has an even bigger problem. Somehow, she’s got to pull her life together if she wants to cleanse the mayor’s mansion and bring peace to the home—and herself.
Publication Date: 05/03/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction

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