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The Dark Hunters: Volume 2
Claudia Campos, Sherrilyn Kenyon
Synopsis:

In the war against vampires, mankind has only one hope: The Dark-Hunters. Ancient warriors who died of brutal betrayal, the Dark-Hunters have sworn themselves into the service of the goddess Artemis to protect us.

It's a pact with pretty good perks. Immortality, power, psychic abilities, wealth and a cool wardrobe. But it comes with a few drawbacks: fatal sun poisoning and a new, irreparable dental problem. But aside from the fangs and nocturnal lifestyle, it's not so bad.

Kyrian is an immortal Dark-Hunter who just lost his Dark-Hunter powers and along with it, his immortality. Now he is faced with the chance to regain not only his humanity, but his very soul. The problem is, it couldn't have happened at a worse time. Desiderius is closing in and if Kyrian and Amanda are going to save humanity then Kyrian must take the war to his enemy or it may be too late.

Publication Date: 03/02/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
Riding Invisible
Nathan Huang, Sandra Alonzo
Synopsis: Fifteen-year-old Yancy runs away from home on the night his brother viciously attacks his horse, Shy. With just a backpack, a flashlight, his horse, and a journal, Yancy takes to the California desert on a journey of self-discovery. There he will learn the hardships of being homeless, experience his first kiss, and meet a Mexican laborer, Tavo, who has a thing or two to teach him about life and love.

Debut novelist Sandra Alonzo creates an honest portrait of a family dealing with mental disease. Illustrator Nathan Huang captures the humor and angst of a teenager who needs more than words to make his point.
Publication Date: 03/02/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Shadow of the Dragon
Kate O'Hearn
Synopsis: On the run for their repeated violations of the unjust First Law, Kira and Elspeth resolve to fight alongside the male defenders of their kingdom, a vow that is complicated by the oppressive Lord Dorcon and a feared prophecy about a girl and a twin-tailed dragon.
Publication Date: 03/01/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Only One Year
Nicole Wong, Andrea Cheng
Synopsis: Nine-year-old Sharon has conflicted feelings towards her copycat little sister and rambunctious toddler brother, who is sent to China for a year to live with relatives.
Publication Date: 03/01/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Biography
Conspiracy 365 March
Gabrielle Lord
Synopsis: On New Year's Eve, Cal is chased down the street by a staggering, sick man with a deadly warning, "They killed your father, they'll kill you--you must survive the next 365 days"; hurled into a life on the run, the 15-year-old fugitive must somehow uncover the truth about his father's mysterious death and a history-changing secret. A new series of 12 books, one publishing each month for 12 months.
Publication Date: 03/01/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Noodle Pie
Ruth Starke
Synopsis: Experiencing culture shock during a family visit to Vietnam, Andy struggles to respond to a Vietnamese name he does not recognize and is surprised by a family restaurant that is nothing like what he expected.
Publication Date: 03/01/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Center Field
Robert Lipsyte
Synopsis:

Mike has his junior year well under control. He's got a solid group of friends. He's dating Lori, one of the hottest girls in school. And Coach Cody has all but given him the starting spot as the Ridgedale Rangers' varsity center fielder. And then Oscar Ramirez shows up. Oscar is an amazing ballplayer, as talented at the plate as he is in center field, and it's not long before Mike loses control. He's on the bench, he's getting into fights, and he finds himself in weekend detention with Katherine Herold, the most mysterious, abrasive, alluring girl in school. Mike is lost, confused, and looking to Coach Cody to help him get back on track. But the coach has his own set of rules for Mike to play by, and the decisions Mike makes are going to impact more than just the starting lineup.

Robert Lipsyte, one of the most celebrated writers in young adult literature, has crafted a subtly intense tale of adolescent struggle, a sports story about much more than sports—one that shows us how the moves one makes off the field matter even more than the moves one has on it.

Publication Date: 03/01/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Sports
Virginia
Susan Hughes
Synopsis: I took hold of her hands, their bones tiny and birdlike, squeezed them gently. I felt like shaking them, shaking her into the panic I was feeling." Virginia, I don't understand." Fourteen-year-old Ivy is flabbergasted when her childhood friend Virginia claims that she has been visited by an angel who has asked her to bear the child of God. As Ivy struggles to understand and help her friend, she uncovers more secrets, including an apocalyptic plot being devised by Virginia's weird brother, Paul. Ivy suspects Paul's activities must connect in some way to Virginia's claim but she's uncertain how. Soon Ivy finds herself caught up in a chain of events she has no control over.
Publication Date: 03/01/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
A Cousin's Challenge
Wanda E. Brunstetter
Synopsis:

Kumme back to Amish country, where sign language tutor Jolene Yoder finds herself attracted to her newest student—a brokenhearted Lonnie Hershberger. Love-shy Lonnie sees no future in becoming emotionally tied to Jolene. For how could he hope to protect her, if he can’t even hear? Besides, Jake Beechy seems to be taking up most of her free time. Meanwhile, Ella Miller is worried Jake will end up breaking her cousin Jolene’s heart. Little does Ella know that Jake is interested in her—not Jolene. What drastic measures will God use to bring these couples together?

Publication Date: 03/01/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Meanwhile
Jason Shiga
Synopsis: Chocolate or Vanilla? This simple choice is all it takes to get started with Meanwhile, the wildly inventive creation of comics mastermind Jason Shiga, of whom Scott McCloud said “Crazy + Genius = Shiga.” Jimmy, whose every move is under your control, finds himself in a mad scientist’s lab, where he’s given a choice between three amazing objects: a mind-reading device, a time-travel machine, or the Killitron 3000 (which is as ominous as it sounds). Down each of these paths there are puzzles, mysterious clues, and shocking revelations. It’s up to the reader to lead Jimmy to success or disaster.
Meanwhile is a wholly original story of invention, discovery, and saving the world, told through a system of tabs that take you forward, backward, upside down, and right side up again. Each read creates a new adventure!
 Awards and praise for Jason Shiga
 
2004 Eisner Award
2003 Ignatz Award
2007 Stumpton Trophy Award
1999 Xeric Grant Recipient
 
“Crazy + Genius = Shiga” ―Scott McCloud, author of Understanding Comics
 
“If humankind ever finds itself at the brink of its own destruction and I am given the task to fill a small, space-bound time capsule with a collection of ten graphic novels that would present to alien eyes the best that the cartoonists of Earth had to offer the universe, Jason Shiga's Meanwhile would surely be among my picks.” ―Gene Luen Yang, author of American Born Chinese
 
“A creator of comix that can be at once funny, disturbing, thoughtful, deconstructed, and cleverly put together.” ―Time online
 
“Meanwhile is a wallop of a book/graphic novel! It delivers action, choices, problem solving, and engagement. And it reminds me of my own efforts in writing Choose Your Own Adventure, which I take as a great compliment coming from Jason Shiga. I wish I had written this book! Run, don’t walk, to your favorite bookseller and pick up a copy!” ―R. A. Montgomery, Choose Your Own Adventure author
 
“Ingenious” ―Edward Packard, Choose Your Own Adventure author
Publication Date: 03/01/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
The Fizzy Whiz Kid
Maiya Williams
Synopsis: Readers will laugh along with all the misadventures—and sneak a peek behind the Hollywood curtain—in this sweet and funny novel.
When Mitchell Mathis moves to Hollywood with his academic parents, he soon realizes he’s the only ordinary kid in a school of the powerful and famous. There’s Skywalker Wong, whose parents are special effects gurus. And Julia Jodie Schwartz, named after her agent father’s two highest-earning clients. And Dash Silverman, whose parents write the movies that everyone else seems to have memorized. In an attempt to feel like less of an outsider, Mitch goes to an open casting call, where he ends up being cast in a soda commercial that launches a popular catchphrase. Suddenly he’s on TV, signing autographs, and riding in limos. But when the ad starts getting negative attention and he doesn’t have time for his old friends and interests, fame doesn’t seem like so much fun anymore. He’ll need all his “acting” skills—and the help of his Hollywood-savvy classmates—to figure out how to go back to being a normal kid again.   Praise for the work of Maiya Williams
 
BookSense Pick
International Reading Association Intermediate Fiction Award
Southern California Booksellers’ Association Children’s Book Prize
 
“The fast-paced plot and smooth transition from everyday life to fantasy adventure make this a good choice for reluctant readers.” —School Library Journal
 
“Fast-paced historical hi-jinks . . .” —VOYA
 
“Vivid . . . deftly combines fantasy and historical fiction . . . It’s a trip well worth the time.” —New York Times Book Review
 
“Action-packed and laden with good-natured humor, Williams’s tale is a journey worth taking.” —Publishers Weekly


Praise for The Fizzy Whiz Kid

"Seriously committed film industry wannabes as well as erstwhile daydreamers will find a lot of good information here about how <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Hollywood magic gets made.” <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

“Williams’ breezy tale is as addictive and bubbly as a Fizzy Whiz itself, and her experience in the entertainment industry packs real value into her descriptions of auditions, movie sets, and agent negotiations.”

—Booklist
Publication Date: 03/01/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Ortega
Maureen Fergus
Synopsis: With a thick finger he slowly traced the path of a stray raindrop that had landed near the corner of his eye and trickled down his cheek. And he thought to himself that it was probably a very good thing that gorillas didn't know how to cry. Raised in a laboratory, Ortega might seem nearly human to his scientist-caregivers, but to the children at his new school, a talking gorilla is nothing but a freak. Unless he wants to spend the rest of his life locked in a cage, however, Ortega is going to have to change people's minds. More than a comic-adventure novel, Ortega asks the reader to reflect upon the limits of science, imagine how it feels to be profoundly different from those around you and, most of all, consider what it really means to be human.
Publication Date: 03/01/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Midnight Curse
L.M. Falcone
Synopsis: A deep, raspy voice whispered, ?The midnight curse has been passed on to you!?

Thus begins a frightfully wacky adventure that will have young readers turning every page in spine-tingling anticipation. Lacey and her twin brother, Charlie, are visiting England to find out if they inherited anything from their reclusive uncle Jonathan, but before long, Charlie realizes he might not have inherited anything but the family curse. It's a bad one --- he'll shrivel up and die unless someone ventures to the attic to face a malevolent spirit.

Curse removal is a complicated game involving a gothic cast of shifty characters. The twins sure have stirred things up, and the clock is ticking on Charlie's curse. Can they finish what they started?
Publication Date: 03/01/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
Think  Again
Julie Morstad, JonArno Lawson
Synopsis: Make sure that your heart Isn't too well-defended. Your heart is designed To be broken and mended. -- "The Heart" These quietly beautiful and surprisingly humorous four-line poems reveal the many aspects of first love -- the longing, the frustration and the joy. The poet writes not from a single point of view but instead embraces the duality of first love, alternating between the perspectives of a boy and a girl. The poems and revealing illustrations by Julie Morstad combine to inspire young readers to think ? and think again.
Publication Date: 03/01/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Poetry
Anastasia's Secret
Susanne Dunlap
Synopsis:

When Princess Anastasia Romanov's life is torn apart by revolution, she and her family are exiled to Siberia. As their captivity stretches out, the threat of death by firing squad grows stronger. But despite the menacing circumstances, a secret romance blossoms between Anastasia and a young guard named Sasha. Will their love prove strong enough to help Anastasia and her family? Inspired by the mysteries surrounding the Romanovs, this is a compelling and romantic vision of what might have been.

"[This] magnetic reimagining of Anastasia's story has the potential to reach a broad audience." -Publishers Weekly

Publication Date: 03/01/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Historical Fiction
The Returners
Gemma Malley
Synopsis:

London teenager Will Hodge is miserable. His mother is dead, his father's political leanings have grown radical, and his friends barely talk to him. To top it off, he's having nightmares about things like concentration camps. Then Will notices he's being followed by a group of people who claim to know him from another time in history. It turns out they are Returners, reincarnated people who carry with them the memory of atrocities they have witnessed in the past. Will realizes that he, too, is a Returner. But something about his memories is different, and with dawning horror, Will suspects that he wasn't just a witness to the events, he was instrumental in making them happen. Set in the near future, with the world on the verge of a new wave of ethnic cleansing, Will must choose to confront the cruelty he's known in his past lives, or be doomed to repeat it...

Publication Date: 03/01/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction

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