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13 To Life
Shannon Delany
Synopsis:

Everything about Jessie Gillmansen's life changed when her mother died. Now even her hometown of Junction is changing. Mysterious dark things are happening. All Jessie wants is to avoid more change. But showing a hot new guy around Junction High, she's about to discover a whole new type of change. Pietr Rusakova is more than good looks and a fascinating accent―he's a guy with a dangerous secret. And his very existence is sure to bring big trouble to Jessie's small town. It seems change is the one thing Jessie can't avoid…

Publication Date: 06/22/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Blood Feud
Alyxandra Harvey
Synopsis: It's been centuries since Isabeau St. Croix barely survived the French Revolution. Now she's made her way back to the living and she must face the ultimate test by confronting the evil British lord who left her for dead the day she turned into a vampire. That's if she can control her affection for Logan Drake, a vampire whose bite is as sweet as the revenge she seeks. The clans are gathering for Helena's royal coronation as the next vampire queen, and new alliances are beginning to form now that the old rifts of Lady Natasha's reign have started to heal. But with a new common enemy, Leander Montmarte€”a vicious leader who hopes to force Solange to marry him and usurp the power of the throne for himself€”the clans must stand together to preserve the peace he threatens to destroy.This second adventure in the Drake Chronicles€”told from both Logan's and Isabeau's perspectives€”has all the same butt-kicking action, heart-pounding romances and snarky humor that
Publication Date: 06/22/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Here Dead We Live
Andrew MacQuarrie
Synopsis: When Stephen Dukes, high school football hero and golden boy of his hometown, defies his reverend father and joins the marines instead of attending seminary, he is thrust into the heart of war in Iraq. Surrounded by the hardships of the war, Stephen who has lost his faith in God must overcome crushing doubts about his decision to reject the life that was planned for him. Along the way, he befriends Ryan Sturgeon, a man struggling to cast aside the shadow of his former criminal life and gain the heart of the woman he loves. Ryan has found solace in the church, and his attempts to help Stephen back onto the path of God are wound through their story as they endeavor to reconcile their places in the war, and ultimately, to survive. Moving, timely, and spiritual, this story of young soldiers will touch the heart and imagination of any reader.
Publication Date: 06/15/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Merchant of Venice
Paul Werstine Ph.D., Dr. Barbara A. Mowat, William Shakespeare
Synopsis: In The Merchant of Venice, the path to marriage is hazardous. To win Portia, Bassanio must pass a test prescribed by her father’s will, choosing correctly among three caskets or chests. If he fails, he may never marry at all.

Bassanio and Portia also face a magnificent villain, the moneylender Shylock. In creating Shylock, Shakespeare seems to have shared in a widespread prejudice against Jews. Shylock would have been regarded as a villain because he was a Jew. Yet he gives such powerful expression to his alienation due to the hatred around him that, in many productions, he emerges as the hero.

Portia is most remembered for her disguise as a lawyer, Balthazar, especially the speech in which she urges Shylock to show mercy that “droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven.”

The authoritative edition of The Merchant of Venice from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers, includes:

-Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play

-Newly revised explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play

-Scene-by-scene plot summaries

-A key to the play’s famous lines and phrases

-An introduction to reading Shakespeare’s language

-An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play

-Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books

-An up-to-date annotated guide to further reading

Essay by Alexander Leggatt

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, is home to the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare’s printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit Folger.edu.
Publication Date: 06/15/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Hurricane Mia: A Caribbean Adventure
Susan Spellman, Donna Marie Seim
Synopsis: Mia's entire summer is ruined! First, she learns that her mom is sick. Then, she and her younger brother Jack are whisked away to their grandparents' home on a remote island in the Caribbean. Mia is furious until she meets Neisha, an island girl, who tells her about "the tea that cures everything." Will Mia be able to find the tea? Will it cure her mom? And will it prove to be her plane ticket back home? Join Mia on an incredible adventure, where she sails the high seas, meets wild donkeys, explores uninhabited islands, and searches for a magical tea.
Publication Date: 06/15/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Color Struck
Joel Tuck, Pamela Tuck
Synopsis: "A deathbed shouldn't be the peacemaker in this family." Fifteen-year-old Renee Steele never understood what PaPa's words meant, until she's caught in the middle of a growing battle between her two older cousins. Their clashing attitudes regarding skin tone, trigger a sensitive nerve in their Grandma Bell.

As tension mounts between the three girls, Grandma Bell detects trouble returning from the grave. She's determined to stop it, and takes the girls on a quest back in time to do it.


Her narrative begins with her secret courtship and eloping with Pa-Pa, "Buck Steele", because their fathers are archenemies. Due to a lack of money, the newlyweds are forced to live with Buck's parents, Silas and Emma. Grandma Bell's newlywed dreams turn into her worst nightmare, as she begins her married life as the despised dark-skinned daughter-in-law. Her presence does more than anger her in-laws...it haunts them!
Publication Date: 06/15/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Soujon's Journey
Marlee Morgan
Synopsis: Set in the mystical village of Sky Mountain and the city of Cyane, SOUJON'S JOURNEY is the tale of a young girl growing up and discovering life. Finding her gifts and the inner strength that allows her to stand up to adversity and overcome obstacles in her life.In the mystical city there are four basic laws--(1) if harm it does none, do as you will, (2) be kind in spirit, (3) be in harmony with your surroundings, (4) be clean in body, mind and spirit. Soujon embraces the new world around her and finds joy in life beyond her wildest dreams. This is a magical growing up, coming of age tale that will grab the reader from the very beginning.
Publication Date: 06/15/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Sea
Heidi R. Kling
Synopsis: Still haunted by nightmares of her mother's death, fifteen-year-old Sienna Jones reluctantly travels to Indonesia with her father's relief team to help tsunami orphans with their post traumatic stress disorder--something Sienna knows a lot about. Since her mother's plane went missing over the Indian Ocean three years before, Sienna doesn't do anything if it involves the ocean or planes, so this trip is a big step forward.

But the last thing she expects is to fall for Deni, a brooding Indonesian boy who lives at the orphanage, and just so happens to be HOT. When Deni hears a rumor that his father may be alive, Sienna doesn't think twice about running away with him to the epicenter of the disaster. Unfortunately, what they find there could break both their hearts.

A compelling summer romance, Sea marks the arrival of a stunning new voice in YA.
 

 

Publication Date: 06/10/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: 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: Fiction
The Secret to Lying
Todd Mitchell
Synopsis: A teenage boy’s self-reinvention gets out of control in a sharp, funny,
poignant, and compulsively readable novel that gives a familiar theme a
surprising twist. (Age 14 and up)

James was the guy no one noticed — just another fifteen-year-old in a small town. So when he gets into an academy for gifted students, he decides to leave his boring past behind. In a boarding school full of nerds and geeks, being cool is easy. All it takes is a few harmless pranks to invent a new James: fighter, rebel, punk. Everyone’s impressed, except for the beautiful "Ice Queen" Ellie Frost and the mysterious ghost44, an IM presence who sees through his new identity. But James is riding high, playing pranks and hooking up with luscious Jessica Keen. There’s just one thing awry: he’s starting to have vivid dreams of being a demon-hunting warrior, a thrill that is spilling over into dangerous and self-destructive acts while he’s awake. As he’s drawn deeper into his real-life lies and his dream-world conquests, James begins to wonder: What’s the price for being the coolest guy around?
Publication Date: 06/08/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Love and Pollywogs from Camp Calamity
Synopsis: Camp Wickitawa, here we come!
Mary Hershey's third book about fourth grader Effie Maloney is a hilarious Texas adventure, complete with a camp ghost, swim lessons, rescued armadillos, campfires, and cowgirl stew.

Effie has been waiting forEVER for St. Dom's special fourth-grade camp. Could there be anything more thrilling than an entire week with her two best friends? But when her big sister Maxey (Bosszilla) ends up working there, Camp Oh-So-Perfect turns into Camp Calamity. And Effie has to figure out how to hide the fact that she's not, um, the greatest swimmer. She can't even float. But she better learn fast, because she just HAS to be named Outstanding Camper of the Week and win back her family's good name! (And she is N-O-T homesick. Completely and totally not even.)
Publication Date: 06/08/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: 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: Fiction
A Little Wanting Song
Cath Crowley
Synopsis: A summer of friendship, romance, and songs in major chords. . . .

CHARLIE DUSKIN loves music, and she knows she's good at it. But she only sings when she's alone, on the moonlit porch or in the back room at Old Gus's Secondhand Record and CD Store. Charlie's mom and grandmother have both died, and this summer she's visiting her grandpa in the country, surrounded by ghosts and grieving family, and serving burgers to the local kids at the milk bar. She's got her iPod, her guitar, and all her recording equipment, but she wants more: A friend. A dad who notices her. The chance to show Dave Robbie that she's not entirely unspectacular.

ROSE BUTLER lives next door to Charlie's grandfather and spends her days watching cars pass on the freeway and hanging out with her troublemaker boyfriend. She loves Luke but can't wait to leave their small country town. And she's figured out a way: she's won a scholarship to a science school in the city, and now she has to convince her parents to let her go. This is where Charlie comes in. Charlie, who lives in the city, and whom Rose has ignored for years. Charlie, who just might be Rose's ticket out.

Told in alternating voices and filled with music, friendship, and romance, Charlie and Rose's "little wanting song" is about the kind of longing that begins as a heavy ache but ultimately makes us feel hopeful and wonderfully alive.
Publication Date: 06/08/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Stranded
J. T. Dutton
Synopsis:

My best friend, Katy, says a person with a sparkly two-part name like Kelly Louise should be guaranteed a little glamour and excitement and not be forced to move back to Mom's middle-of-nowhere hometown—now the center of a media frenzy since a farmer found an infant in his cornfield. (It just slipped from some mystery mother's body without anyone noticing.)

Bizzaro.

But Baby Grace shadows every hair flip, every wink, and is keeping me from losing my virginity, despite my dynamite new boots. Even Katy doesn't have any more good advice. The one boy around who rates anywhere near acceptable on the Maximum Man Scale only has eyes for my cousin, Natalie, who only has eyes for Jesus.

But Natalie has a secret.

Everyone is so busy burying the truth about Baby Grace, they can't see who they're burying alive.

Welcome to Heaven, Iowa.

Publication Date: 06/08/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Rocky Road
Rose Kent
Synopsis: Ice cream warms the heart, no matter what the weather.
That's the Dobson family motto. Whenever things get tough, they break out the special heart-shaped bowls and make sundaes. The road has been especially rocky lately for Tess and her deaf little brother, Jordan. Their plucky Texan mother talks big, but her get-rich-quick business schemes have only landed them in serious financial hot water.
Ma's newest idea is drastic. She abruptly moves the family to snowy Schenectady, New York, where she will use the last of their savings to open her dream business: an ice cream shop. (Too bad the only place she could find an apartment is in a senior citizens' complex.) Tess wants to be excited about this plan, but life in Schenectady is full of new worries. Who will buy ice cream in their shop's run-down neighborhood? What will happen when their money runs out? Worst of all is Ma herself-she's famous for her boundless energy and grandiose ideas, but only Tess and Jordan know about the dark days when she crashes and can't get out of bed. And Tess can't seem to find the right words to talk to Ma about it.
This moving story of family, community, and ice cream proves that with a little help from the people around us, life really can be sweet-and a little nutty-just like Rocky Road.
Publication Date: 06/08/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Poser
Sue Wyshynski
Synopsis: A girl's struggles to fit in land her in rough waters.   Tallulah makes a huge splash at her new school when she scores a coveted invitation to go surfing with the popular It Girl. The only problem? Tallulah can't surf.Not at all.But hey, how hard can it be?Did anyone mention near-death-experience?And who knew a girl's nose was hard enough to break a surfboard in half?Sometimes death is preferable to humiliation--especially when the in-crowd is calling you Poser...The ever buoyant Tallulah carries on, determined to make amends. But with an archenemy clad in to-die-for designer heels--one who shares the hots for the same guy--only a miracle can save her.  One reviewer says ~ "I literally laughed out loud at least once per chapter (but usually more)"  A great book for fans of Soul Surfer and Bethany Hamilton, surfing, surfer girls, water girls, swimmers, body boarders, stand-up paddlers, girls moving to a new school, and anyone who loves a good laugh. Poser also includes fun surfing tips. Dive in for some drama-filled comedy! Grab a copy now. Scroll up and click buy!
Publication Date: 06/08/10
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction

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