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Jane Eyre
Charlotte Bronte
Synopsis: Jane Eyre is the story of a small, plain-faced, intelligent, and passionate English orphan. Jane is abused by her aunt and cousin and then attends a harsh charity school. Through it all she remains strong and determinedly refuses to allow a cruel world to crush her independence or her strength of will. A masterful story of a woman's quest for freedom and love. Jane Eyre is partly autobiographical, and Charlotte Brontë filled it with social criticism and sinister Gothic elements. A must read for anyone wishing to celebrate the indomitable strength of will or encourage it in their growing children.
Publication Date: 03/26/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Horse Diaries: Elska
Ruth Sanderson, Catherine Hapka
Synopsis: Iceland, circa AD 1000

Elska is a silver dapple Icelandic filly. She spends summers frisking about the countryside and winters in the farmyard, where the girl human Amma takes special care of her. But when a powerful neighbor notices Elska, her contented life suddenly changes. Here is Elska’s story . . . in her own words.


From the Hardcover edition.
Publication Date: 03/24/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Gakuen Prince 1
Jun Yuzuki
Synopsis: Boy craxy

Joshi High is an elite school that most girls in Japan only dream of attending. Then one day everything changes–the all-girl school goes coed. There’s just one catch: The girls outnumber the boys. So begins a wild, no-holds-barred competition for the boys of the school. Which smart and independent-minded girl will rise above the fray?

Includes special extras after the story!
Publication Date: 03/24/09
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Fiction
Calvin Coconut: Trouble Magnet
Synopsis: Fourth-grader Calvin lives near the beach in Oahu with his mom and little sister. Mom says: “You’re the man of the house.” But Calvin’s not great at being the man of the house, or taking care of his responsibilities. He’s too busy having fun with his pals, and avoiding Tito, the bully.

Trouble Magnet is the first book in a new series for younger readers full of all the fun of growing up in Hawaii. It introduces a wonderful multicultural cast of characters, including Mr. Purdy, who calls his fourth-grade class Boot Camp; Uncle Scoop, who runs the lunch wagon at the beach; Ledward, Mom’s 6'7" boyfriend; and gorgeous, intimidating, 15-year-old Stella-from-Texas, who arrives to be the live-in babysitter—and to step all over Calvin’s turf.
Publication Date: 03/24/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Stepping Up
Mark Fink
Synopsis: Ernie Dolan, 14, is plagued by the curse of the average. Nothing about him stands out-except his stutter. Only best friend Mike Rivers sees him at his best. Then, at a competitive basketball camp, Mike excels while Ernie is-average. When Ernie blunders in a pickup game, Rick Craig, obnoxious camp hotshot, nicknames him "Choke." This sets the tone for Ernie's first week. But he soon finds three new allies: bunkmate Albert Mann, a goofy genius and practical joker; Coach Petrovich, a 6'8" Russian who mangles the English language; and camp director Tim Sanders, the mentor every kid needs. Soon, Ernie and Mike are on the outs, as Mike hangs with Craig and the jocks. But things change dramatically as Ernie morphs from outcast to hero, risking his life to save three campmates from near tragedy. Ernie's funny, heartwarming story unfolds against the backdrop of exciting, authentic basketball action, while touching on typical teen issues of friendship and the near-deadly consequences of peer pressure.
Publication Date: 03/24/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Negima!? Neo 1
Takuya Fujiyama, Ken Akamatsu
Synopsis: Boy Wizard!

Negi Springfield is ten years old . . . and a powerful wizard! This boy wizard is the greatest prodigy ever to graduate from his magic school in England. After graduation, however, Negi’s given an unusual assignment: teach English at an all-girl school in Japan. Now Negi has to find a way to deal with his thirty-one totally gorgeous–and completely overaffectionate–students . . . without using magic! Based on the Negima! anime, this is a fresh take on the beloved Negima! story.

Includes special extras after the story!
Publication Date: 03/24/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Running For My Life
Ann Gonzalez
Synopsis: Running for My Life is the powerful story of Andrea McKane, a fourteenyear- old who struggles to cope with her mother's schizophrenia. She must face the heartbreaking fact that her mother, with whom she once laughed and played, has vanished into her disease, possibly forever. The book accurately portrays the difficulties a teen faces when dealing with the illness, the abuse and absence of a parent with mental illness. Running for My Life shows the effects of mental illness on a family, and a teenager's attempts to manage the changes that have shaken her life.With courage, strength, and the loving support of her friends, her father, and her therapist, Andrea finds salvation through running. Running for My Life represents a heartwarming, encouraging breakthrough effort in portraying the challenges teens confront when they have to protect themselves from a guardian.
Publication Date: 03/24/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Masters
Alicia Alex
Synopsis: Welcome to the world of a whole new race of Vampires, The Master Vampires! Join Amadio, Aura and their Master Seti and many others as they live out their lives together through the passing ages. Fall in love with Amadio and Aura who prove that true love for Vampire kind is more than just a fairytale. Laugh along with the playfulness of these lovable Vampires. Shake in fear as they are forced into circumstances to end their eternal love and sometimes even their lives. It's Vampires as you've never seen them before. Welcome the Master Vampires, Masters of the Vampire race.
Publication Date: 03/21/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Wintergirls
Laurie Halse Anderson
Synopsis: “Dead girl walking,” the boys say in the halls.
“Tell us your secret,” the girls whisper, one toilet to another.
I am that girl.
I am the space between my thighs, daylight shining through.
I am the bones they want, wired on a porcelain frame.

Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the skinniest. But what comes after size zero and size double-zero? When Cassie succumbs to the demons within, Lia feels she is being haunted by her friend’s restless spirit.

In her most emotionally wrenching, lyrically written book since the multiple-award-winning Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson explores Lia’s descent into the powerful vortex of anorexia, and her painful path toward recovery.

Publication Date: 03/19/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The King's Rose
Alisa Libby
Synopsis: Life in the court of King Henry VIII is a complex game. When fifteen-year-old Catherine Howard catches the king?s eye, she quickly transforms from pawn to queen. But even luxury beyond imagination loses its luster as young Catherine finds her life?and her heart?threatened by the needs of an aging king and a family hungry for power. Will their agendas deliver Catherine to the same fate as her infamous cousin, Anne Boleyn?sacrificed at the altar of family ambition?

Engaging historical fiction with a throbbing YA heartbeat, this thrilling novel will draw readers into the intrigues and dangers of the Tudor court.

Publication Date: 03/19/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
L.A. Summer
Sheryl Mallory-Johnson
Synopsis: Summer heats up for three teenaged girls in Los Angeles, a city known for itscrime and glamour.
Publication Date: 03/17/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Going Too Far
Jennifer Echols
Synopsis: All Meg has ever wanted is to get away. Away from high school. Away from her backwater town. Away from her parents who seem determined to keep her imprisoned in their dead-end lives. But one crazy evening involving a dare and forbidden railroad tracks, she goes way too far...and almost doesn't make it back.

John made a choice to stay. To enforce the rules. To serve and protect. He has nothing but contempt for what he sees as childish rebellion, and he wants to teach Meg a lesson she won't soon forget. But Meg pushes him to the limit by questioning everything he learned at the police academy. And when he pushes back, demanding to know why she won't be tied down, they will drive each other to the edge -- and over....

Book Details:Format: PaperbackPublication Date: 3/17/2009Pages: 245Reading Level: Age 12 and Up

Publication Date: 03/17/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Freaked
J. T. Dutton
Synopsis:

At a grateful dead concert you need:

Acid: two windowpanes taped to chest
checked

Tape deck for recording shows
Checked

Wad of cash
Checked

PB&J sandwiches for the munchies
Missing

Tickets to the show
Missing

.45 handgun
What?

Scotty Loveletter is in big trouble. He's about to be expelled from school, but all he cares about is getting to Freedom to see Jerry Garcia—even though he doesn't have tickets. But if dedicating his life to Jerryism has taught him anything, Scotty knows he's got to keep on trucking and smile, smile, smile.

In a stunning debut novel, J. T. Dutton crafts a brilliant story about an unforgettable teen finding himself in the music of one of the world's most beloved bands.

Publication Date: 03/17/09
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Fiction
The Crystal Swan
Suzan Tanner
Synopsis:

No one would suspect that a mysterious adventure could start in a nursing home, but that is precisely what happened to thirteen-year old Leah Ward. Leah wanted to spend time with her friends. The last thing on her mind that fateful day was to go with her mother on a visit to Shady Springs rest home. A reluctant teenager went with her mother and was given an object that would change the way she saw the world forever.

The Crystal Swan is a part mystery and part adventure. It follows the story of a thirteen-year old girl who receives an unusual gift. The gift changes the course of the end of one school year through the beginning of another. Follow along with Leah and discover the mystery of, The Crystal Swan.

Publication Date: 03/15/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Son of the Great River
Hajra Meeks, Elijah Meeks
Synopsis: Saffu is forced to leave his tribe for the land of cities and kings. He befriends an indomitable girl and a boy mercenary serving a cursed emperor in a story of princesses, witchcraft, war, glory, and corruption.
Publication Date: 03/12/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Pearl of Baxter Grove
Mary Kay Abbott
Synopsis: A young girl whose mother dies in a tragic car accident searches for a surrogate mom in Mary Kay Abbott’s luminous novel Pearl of Baxter Grove. Young Casey is only 11-years-old, but she’s crumbling under the weight of losing her mother in a car accident on Christmas Eve. Her workaholic, overstressed dad has no time for her, and so she ventures out into nearby bucolic Baxter Grove to find some support. Prospects look bleak when all Casey can find is a kid-hating shop owner and an African American newcomer who greets Casey with a shotgun! But Casey soon learns that what you see isn’t always what you get. She discovers that one of these unlikely women is just what she needs to heal. Warmly written and filled with richly drawn characters, Pearl of Baxter Grove is an inspiring story that children will treasure for years to come.
Publication Date: 03/12/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction

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