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Calligraphy of the Witch
Alicia Gaspar de Alba
Synopsis:

Mexico, 1683. When Concepción Benavidez flees her indenture from the convent of San Jerónimo in Mexico City and sets out to join a band of refugee slaves along with her friend Aléndula, the two are captured by buccaneers in Vera Cruz led by the famed Laurens-Cornille de Graaf, who is running a slave- and provisions ship headed for New England. Aléndula dies on the journey, but Concepción, upon arrival, is renamed Thankful Seagraves and sold to a Boston merchant, Nathaniel Greenwood, who plans to have her care for his crippled father-in-law and manage the Old Man’s chicken farm. Delirious, half-starved, and terrified by her ordeal on board the Neptune, during which the Captain raped her repeatedly, Thankful Seagraves gives birth to a daughter, coveted by Rebecca, Nathaniel's fallow wife, and over the next eight years struggles to adapt herself into English colonial life. With great difficulty she attempts to raise her daughter in the faith and language of New Spain and thus forge a connection between herself and the girl even while Rebecca slowly turns Hanna against her. Like her friend, Tituba Indian, Concepción is a perpetual outsider—her mixed-race looks as well as her accent and her Catholic background set her apart—and before long she gets swept up in the hysteria of the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692, culminating in a shocking accusation by her own daughter, who renounces her mother and declares her a witch.

Publication Date: 10/16/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Teens and The Job Game
Beverly Slomka MS Ed
Synopsis: Every teen has the ability to succeed when they have the right skills and begin developing a positive work image. In the competitive business world we live in today you must stand out from everyone else. With Teens and the Job Game, you will learn what it takes to become a unique, whole person and be a success in the work world.

Taking you to a new level of preparation for entering the workforce, Beverly Slomka will help you meet head-on the challenges you will face when approaching the job market. Learn practical guidelines for how to begin molding your work image, how to approach your studies, how to choose your career, how to search for your first job and approach employers, and how to ultimately succeed in the workplace.

Whether you want a part-time or summer job, or you want to find your ultimate dream job, Teens and the Job Game is an essential, comprehensive guide to prepare your whole person for future work opportunities.

Publication Date: 10/16/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Educational
Young Arcan  and the Garden of Loc
Synopsis: Young Arcan and the Garden of Loc is the story of Arcan, an eleven-year-old boy who befriends a talking tree named Arborgast. When Loc, one of the creators of the world, begins to steal the spirit of life from the lands, Arcan is compelled to save his dying friend and all of Emberthel. Journeying to Loc's Garden, Arcan seeks to free the world's stolen life essence.
Publication Date: 10/15/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
The Third Eye
Mahtab Narsimhan
Synopsis:

For Tara and her brother, Suraj, the year their mother and grandfather fled the village of Morni in the middle of the night has been a nightmare. Their new stepmother is cruel and deceptive, and the village itself is lacking a healer. What's more, men of the village have been disappearing, often returning in a strange, altered form.

When a new healer, Zarku, a mysterious man with a third eye possessing strange power, suddenly appears in Morni, all are mesmerized by his magic -- all except Tara, who sees through his evil disguise.

With nothing but her own courage and wit, Tara tries to find her missing mother and grandfather, the true healer, in time to save her village. But along the way she must enlist the help of the god Ganesh and the lord of death, Yama, or she, like others before her, will fall victim to Zarku's third eye.

Publication Date: 10/15/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
Taken
Edward Bloor
Synopsis: BY 2035 THE RICH have gotten richer, the poor have gotten poorer, and kidnapping has become a major growth industry in the United States. The children of privilege live in secure, gated communities and are escorted to and from school by armed guards.

But the security around Charity Meyers has broken down. On New Year's morning, she wakes and finds herself alone, strapped to a stretcher, in an ambulance that's not moving. She is amazingly calm - kids in her neighborhood have been well trained in kidnapping protocol. If this were a normal kidnapping, Charity would be fine. But as the hours of her imprisonment tick by, Charity realizes there is nothing normal about what's going on here. No training could prepare her for what her kidnappers really want . . . and worse, for who they turn out to be.
Publication Date: 10/09/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
One Butt Cheek at a Time
Synopsis: GERT GARIBALDI ISN'T ONE OF those people who believe high school is the best part of life. She has a whole notebook full of rants about high school, and she's fully aware of how ridiculous the experience is, thank you very much. Gert just wants to survive the next three years, one butt cheek at a time, with her best friend, Adam, by her side - and maybe Luscious Luke attached to her lips. With a stapler. Or something. But muddling through isn't even as easy as it seems - there are geriatric parents to deal with, Homecoming festivities (admit itÑthose words just sent a little chill down your spine), crushes, ed (both sex and driving), and potential new boyfriends - for both Gert and Adam. Frank, funny, and totally unique, Gert's ready to pull on the Pants of Life and start dancing.
Publication Date: 10/09/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Humor
My Swordhand is Singing
Marcus Sedgwick
Synopsis: WHEN TOMAS AND HIS SON, Peter, settle in Chust as woodcutters, Tomas digs a channel of fast-flowing waters around their hut, so they have their own little island kingdom. Peter doesn't understand why his father has done this, nor why his father carries a long, battered box, whose mysterious contents he is forbidden to know.

But Tomas is a man with a past: a past that is tracking him with deadly intent, and when the dead of Chust begin to rise from their graves, both father and son must face a soulless enemy and a terrifying destiny.
Publication Date: 10/09/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Snapshots
Paul W. Buchanan
Synopsis:

Even before Jen disappeared, Jimmy knew his best friend was leaving him behind. While she attracts stares from boys and men, fifteen-year-old Jimmy still passes for a child at the movies. He takes refuge in the past, before their friendship and life became so complicated. She’s his favorite subject―in front of the camera and otherwise―but photos can’t capture what he really wants. Yet Jimmy remains devoted, even lying for her when she runs off with strangers―men―she’s met online.

Jimmy feels that Jen’s disappearance is his fault, just like the twelve-acre blaze he starts in the canyon near their trailer park. And he’s holding on to a secret that no one can drag out of him―not the taunting kids at school, an apathetic psychologist, or his despairing mother.

Revolving between past and present, Paul W. Buchanan’s vivid “snapshot” vignettes evoke a young man’s struggle with oncoming adulthood, heartbreak, and incredible loss.

Publication Date: 10/08/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Last Kiss
Jon Ripslinger
Synopsis:

Billy O’Reilly, a farm boy in rural Iowa, has been secretly dating Lisa Wells, the popular, wealthy daughter of the president of the local college. It’s a complicated relationship: people of HER class don’t associate with people of HIS class. Her controlling father does not approve of the relationship, her “real” boyfriend is growing suspicious, and her troubled stepbrother is adding to the drama by stirring up trouble. Billy’s life is thrown into turmoil when Lisa breaks up with him and then is found murdered the next morning. A series of circumstantial evidence points directly to Billy who, along with his best friend, Windy, launches his own investigation to clear his name and find out what really happened to the girl he loved.

This gritty, fast-paced teen mystery will appeal to both reluctant and dedicated readers.

Publication Date: 10/08/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Romance
Or Not
Brian Mandabach
Synopsis:

When 14 year-old Cassie Sullivan-smart, sensitive, and perceptive-stands up for her beliefs, the flagpole Christian majority decides she's the school Antichrist.  Cassie had no idea defending Darwin and refusing to sing "Proud to be an American" would be such a big deal.  But it's a brave new world of post-9/11 paranoia in her über-conservative Colorado school.  Trying to stay cool while the torments increase, Cassie wonders if anything is really worth it. Taking solace in her journal, she begins to question if simply being is what she really wants. Or Not?

Publication Date: 10/08/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Jaguar Stones: Middleworld
Synopsis: Harry Potter meets Indiana Jones meets Clash of the Titans! Fasten your seat belts for a heart-stopping ride of suspense and terror, set against a background of haunted temples, family secrets, ritual sacrifice, and adolescent angst, as a pampered, pizza-eating Boston teenager fights to survive in the teeming jungle and save the modern world from the Ancient Maya Lords of Death. It transports the reader to a world in which the Maya deities still have power and influence, where time and space are in flux, but where even a fourteen-year-old from the outside can become aware, and find wisdom and love, if he can but open his eyes to the magic around him.
Publication Date: 10/05/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Series
Spud
John van de Ruit
Synopsis: In 1990, thirteen-year-old John "Spud" Milton, a prepubescent choirboy, keeps a diary of his first year at an elite, boys-only boarding school in South Africa, as he deals with bizarre housemates, wild crushes, and embarrassing parents.
Publication Date: 10/04/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Finnish Line
Linda Gerber
Synopsis: When Nordic ski jumper Maureen ?Mo? Clark set foot in Finland, she breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, escape from her famous skier father?s shadow and a chance to jump in the renowned Lahti Ski Games. But Mo quickly realizes that balancing practice and classes is more challenging than she expected. So when a gorgeous bad boy teammate offers coaching assistance?for a little publicity in return?how can she refuse? Surely she can work in a few extra practices somewhere between studying for calculus and sightseeing in Finland? Amid snowmobiling and dog-sledding, ice hotels and Northern lights, Mo begins to discover what strength and perseverance?the Finnish sisu?is all about. Now it?s up to her to take that final jump and cross the finish line in style.
Publication Date: 10/04/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Style  A to Zoe
Rose Apodaca, Rachel Zoe
Synopsis: Have you ever dreamed of having your own red carpet moment? Or wondered how to emulate the effortlessly chic style of the most photographed trendsetters? Or wished you could master the art of all things glamorous?

In STYLE A TO ZOE, Hollywood's hottest celebrity stylist, Rachel Zoe, shares her insider tips in this essential guide to the art of a fashionable, behind-the velvet-rope lifestyle. With an eye toward living the luxe life, even if it's on a dime, Zoe zeroes in on the must-have accessories and wardrobe staples for all occasions, when to splurge and save on handbags and heels, how to decorate, entertain, and travel in style.

From award shows to advertising campaigns, Zoe is the go-to force among A-list actresses, fashion houses, beauty firms, and magazine editors. Now she offers full access to the style secrets that skyrocketed her famous clients to the top of best-dressed lists worldwide. With the help of some of fashion's biggest names-including Michael Kors, Donatella Versace, and Diane von Furstenberg-Zoe shares her invaluable insights on:




Mastering red carpet moments in your own life

Developing a style for work or play that's unstudied and glamorous

Personalizing your own modern look by referencing your favorite style icons and vintage clothes

The importance of the "wow" piece-and how to choose one right for you

Throwing a chic dinner party and creating a luxuriously cozy living space

Packing and traveling like a jet-setter

Enjoying every day, living it up in style.
Publication Date: 10/03/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Nonfiction
Midnight Alley
Rachel Caine
Synopsis: Claire Danvers's college town may be run by vampires but a truce between the living and the dead made things relatively safe. For a while. Now people are turning up dead, a psycho is stalking her, and an ancient bloodsucker has proposed private mentoring. To what end, Claire will find out. And it's giving night school a whole new meaning.

Watch a Windows Media trailer for this book.
Publication Date: 10/02/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Extras
Rodrigo Corral, Scott Westerfeld
Synopsis: Now that the world is in a complete cultural renaissance, fifteen-year-old Aya Fuse, an Extra, just wants to lay low, so when she discovers the secret lives of the Sly Girls, she wants to report their story, but Aya knows that would propel her into celebrity--a status she's not prepared for. 200,000 first printing. $200,000 ad/promo.
Publication Date: 10/02/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Science Fiction

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