All Books
Synopsis: The story takes place in early 2008. It is a time of great political unrest; people are living in constant fear of terrorist attack and are looking to the world leaders to take action. Suspicion of local government runs high and conspiracy rumours abound. Mitchell Webb, CEO of IDSys, and his long-term friend Simon Rockwell are on the brink of securing a contract from Her Majesty's Government for the design, manufacture and supply of Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFIDs) for the protection of the British Public against terrorist attack. It would be the biggest deal in their company's relatively short history. Shortly after being awarded the contract, there is a horrendous terrorist attack on one of England's most famous landmarks and the Government passes legislation for the compulsory introduction of RFIDs, bringing about a series of events that draw Mitch and his colleagues into the biggest conspiracy in history. Little by little, they uncover some unsettling information that makes them question the real motives behind the introduction of RFIDs. The friends soon find themselves in a deadly race against time, facing a powerful and ruthless enemy, culminating in an astonishing discovery about the very origins of life on Earth.
Publication Date: 07/24/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis:
When Kori Kitlzer, the "dark angel" of the 8th grade, tells Serena Moore that they are more alike than she thinks, Serena is instantly intrigued. As their friendship solidifies and their lives entwine, Serena tries to become more like the fearless, outspoken, and ambitious Kori. Soon Serena doesn't know where she begins and Kori ends. But when a twist of fate yanks Kori away from Serena, she will need to find a way to complete her best friend's life left undone.
Undone is a striking debut novel about friendship, family, and the secrets we keep from the people to whom we are closest.
Publication Date: 07/22/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: WHEN MILTON AND Marlo Fauster die in a marshmallow bear explosion, they get sent straight to Heck, an otherworldly reform school. Milton can understand why his kleptomaniac sister is here, but Milton is—or was—a model citizen. Has a mistake been made? Not according to Bea “Elsa” Bubb, the Principal of Darkness. She doesn’t make mistakes. She personally sees to it that Heck—whether it be home-ec class with Lizzie Borden, ethics with Richard Nixon, or gym with Blackbeard the Pirate—is especially, well, heckish for the Fausters. Will Milton and Marlo find a way to escape? Or are they stuck here for all eternity, or until they turn 18, whichever comes first?
Publication Date: 07/22/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: CLAIRE VOYANTE HAS been having strange visions ever since she can remember. But the similarity between her name and her talents is purely coincidental. The name is French, and unlike the psychics on TV, she can’t solve crimes or talk to the dead. Whenever Claire follows her hunches, she comes up empty—or ends up in pretty awkward situations.
But that all changes on Claire’s 15th birthday, when her grandmother, Kiki—former socialite, fashion icon, and permanent fixture at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel—gives her something a little more extraordinary than one of her old cocktail dresses: a strange black-and-white onyx cameo on a gold chain. It’s not long before Claire’s world becomes a whole lot clearer. And a whole lot more dangerous.
But that all changes on Claire’s 15th birthday, when her grandmother, Kiki—former socialite, fashion icon, and permanent fixture at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel—gives her something a little more extraordinary than one of her old cocktail dresses: a strange black-and-white onyx cameo on a gold chain. It’s not long before Claire’s world becomes a whole lot clearer. And a whole lot more dangerous.
Publication Date: 07/22/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: For Magic Tree House readers who are ready for something longer, the Dragon Keepers series has the perfect length and reading level, along with the fast-paced writing, adventure, and sense of teamwork that kids love to read.
TEN-YEAR-OLD COUSINS Jesse and Daisy have always wanted something magical to happen to them. So it’s a wish come true when Jesse’s newly found thunder egg hatches, and a helpless, tiny but very loud baby dragon pops out. Soon the two kids are at the dragon’s beck-and-call, trying to figure out what to feed her.
An Internet search leads them to the library, which leads them back to the Internet, where they find a very strange Web site called “foundadragon.org.” It is here that the cousins discover that the dragon’s hatching has designated them “Dragon Keepers” and that not only do they have to feed her, but they have to keep her safe from the villainous Saint George who has kept himself alive over centuries by drinking dragons’ blood.
TEN-YEAR-OLD COUSINS Jesse and Daisy have always wanted something magical to happen to them. So it’s a wish come true when Jesse’s newly found thunder egg hatches, and a helpless, tiny but very loud baby dragon pops out. Soon the two kids are at the dragon’s beck-and-call, trying to figure out what to feed her.
An Internet search leads them to the library, which leads them back to the Internet, where they find a very strange Web site called “foundadragon.org.” It is here that the cousins discover that the dragon’s hatching has designated them “Dragon Keepers” and that not only do they have to feed her, but they have to keep her safe from the villainous Saint George who has kept himself alive over centuries by drinking dragons’ blood.
Publication Date: 07/22/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: THE INVISIBLE GIRL
Kasumi is a special girl–and not just because she’s a super-cute high schooler with a heart of gold. She has a major secret: She can turn invisible when she holds her breath. But when she transfers to an elite private school, it gets harder to keep her superpowers secret, especially when she catches the eye of the handsome student-body president, Ryuuki, and becomes the target of his number one fan, mean girl extraordinaire Reina. Can Kasumi keep hiding who she really is?
Kasumi is a special girl–and not just because she’s a super-cute high schooler with a heart of gold. She has a major secret: She can turn invisible when she holds her breath. But when she transfers to an elite private school, it gets harder to keep her superpowers secret, especially when she catches the eye of the handsome student-body president, Ryuuki, and becomes the target of his number one fan, mean girl extraordinaire Reina. Can Kasumi keep hiding who she really is?
Publication Date: 07/22/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: It’s the vacation of a lifetime, a trip to a remote island filled with geniuses–and murder.
On Wet Crow’s Feather Island, a tiny speck in the Sea of Japan, lives Akagami Iria, the exiled daughter of a powerful family. Born into great wealth, she was a princess of the highest pedigree–until she was cut off by the leader of the Akagami Foundation. For the last five years, she’s lived on Feather Island with her maids. But she hasn’t been alone. She has invited the best minds Japan has to offer to come and stay with her.
And so nineteen-year-old college student Ii-chan and his best friend, computer genius Kunagisa Tomo, find themselves as Iria’s guests at her elaborate mansion. Surrounded by fascinating women–a chef, a fortune-teller, a scholar, and an artist, not to mention his own friend Tomo–Ii-chan is feeling a little overmatched intellectually. But the sudden discovery of a grisly murder sends the island into shock. And Ii-chan discovers that he does possess a bit of genius: the ability to discover what is real and what is fake . . . who is who they claim to be–and who is a killer.
On Wet Crow’s Feather Island, a tiny speck in the Sea of Japan, lives Akagami Iria, the exiled daughter of a powerful family. Born into great wealth, she was a princess of the highest pedigree–until she was cut off by the leader of the Akagami Foundation. For the last five years, she’s lived on Feather Island with her maids. But she hasn’t been alone. She has invited the best minds Japan has to offer to come and stay with her.
And so nineteen-year-old college student Ii-chan and his best friend, computer genius Kunagisa Tomo, find themselves as Iria’s guests at her elaborate mansion. Surrounded by fascinating women–a chef, a fortune-teller, a scholar, and an artist, not to mention his own friend Tomo–Ii-chan is feeling a little overmatched intellectually. But the sudden discovery of a grisly murder sends the island into shock. And Ii-chan discovers that he does possess a bit of genius: the ability to discover what is real and what is fake . . . who is who they claim to be–and who is a killer.
Publication Date: 07/22/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: In this exciting second installment of The Wolfproof Trilogy the perilous worlds of myth and middle school once again collide as Timothy James, his sister Sarah and their friend Jessica race against time and an ancient Evil to save their mother and restore peace and harmony to the Travelers Market.
Publication Date: 07/08/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: Marisol Guzman has deferred college for a year to accomplish two things: She will write a novel and she will fall in love. How hard could that be? She gets her very own apartment (with her high school best friend as roommate) and a waitressing job at a classic Harvard Square coffeehouse. When she enrolls in an adult education class -- "How to Write Your First Novel" -- there are two big surprises waiting for her: John Galardi, aka "Gio," a fellow zine writer who fell head over heels for her last spring (despite the fact that she's a lesbian) and her instructor, Olivia Frost, the most exquisitely beautiful woman she's ever seen.
But as Marisol ventures into what seems to be her storybook romance with Olivia, things start to go off track. Between the ups and downs of her new relationship, her strained friendship with Lee (a newly out lesbian who is crushing big-time on Marisol), and her roommate's new boyfriend (who is equally afraid of Marisol and their cat) moving in, Marisol starts losing sight of her goals. Is she too blinded by love to see the lies?
In this long-anticipated companion novel to the Printz Honor Book Hard Love, which critics called "A bittersweet tale of self-expression and the struggle to achieve self-love," Ellen Wittlinger offers a novel just as emotionally honest and deeply felt.
Publication Date: 07/08/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: JANINE IS PREPARED for a sticky, boring summer on her family’s land in the middle of nowhere. Far from town and with only her ailing brother Ricky for company, Janine spends half her time stuck inside with him, wishing that their mother would let them out to play. But when Mr. Lunas—a mysterious man who saved Janine’s father’s life in the war— arrives through the cornfields, strange things begin happening. Ricky sets his heart on building a go-cart. Mr. Lunas eats them out of house and home, then suddenly stops eating at all. And then Ricky’s health takes a turn for the worse, and it looks like Janine’s world is about to spin out of control. Janine’s overprotective mom locks Ricky in his bedroom with her, and Janine is desperate to find a way to say goodbye. In the end, it’s Mr. Lunas who comes to her rescue, encouraging her to break Ricky free—and then giving them both an enormous gift. Thought-provoking and gracefully written, this short literary novel is a small gem.
Publication Date: 07/08/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: JOEL WILL SOON be 12, and he thinks nothing is going on in the small community where he lives. But he’s wrong. One day, an incident that could easily have been a catastrophe turns into a miracle. Now Joel believes he owes the world a good deed, to prove that he deserved what might have been divine intervention. He thinks up an elaborate scheme, but it doesn’t go as anticipated. Even though his heart is in the right place, feelings are hurt. If he confesses what he’s done and why, will things be put right again?
Readers who met Joel Gustafson, his father, and their friends in A Bridge to the Stars will follow, with appreciation, Henning Mankell’s shrewd depiction, in this companion novel, of the surprising changes in Joel’s existence. Mankell deftly explores Joel’s self-discovery, his realization that lives can be altered in a single moment, and his new understanding that a choice between telling the truth and keeping silent can make all the difference.
Readers who met Joel Gustafson, his father, and their friends in A Bridge to the Stars will follow, with appreciation, Henning Mankell’s shrewd depiction, in this companion novel, of the surprising changes in Joel’s existence. Mankell deftly explores Joel’s self-discovery, his realization that lives can be altered in a single moment, and his new understanding that a choice between telling the truth and keeping silent can make all the difference.
Publication Date: 07/08/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: SAMMI, TQ, CARYN, Letty, and Katsuko are floaters. None of them fits in with any particular group at Covington High School—except each other. One night, to cement their bond, the girls decide to get matching, unique tattoos. But when Sammi backs out at the last minute, everything changes. Faster than you can say “airbrush,” Sammi is an outcast, and soon, her friends are behaving like total strangers. When they attack Sammi for trying to break up a brawl, Sammi spies something horrible on her friends’ backs: the original tattoo has grown tendrils, snaking and curling over the girls’ entire bodies. What has that creepy tattoo artist done to her friends? And what—if anything—can Sammi do to get them back? This deliciously creepy psychological thriller is the perfect summer read.
Publication Date: 07/08/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: Merlin makes a great investigator—and it only looks like magic.
Merlin is no magician, merely a scholar and advisor to King Arthur. But after the supposedly magical Stone of Bran is stolen—along with the legendary sword Excalibur—and one of ArthurÂ's squires is brutally murdered during the theft, Merlin must use the power of reason to conjure up a miracle and catch a murderer.
Merlin is no magician, merely a scholar and advisor to King Arthur. But after the supposedly magical Stone of Bran is stolen—along with the legendary sword Excalibur—and one of ArthurÂ's squires is brutally murdered during the theft, Merlin must use the power of reason to conjure up a miracle and catch a murderer.
Publication Date: 07/01/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: Spring has officially arrived at Manderley Prep??and lust is in the air?
Ethan Andrews is the one guy that Maggie has always wanted but never had the courage to go for. With her shortage of funds and Ugly Betty looks, she?s not even a blip on his radar. That?s all about to change when Maggie gets the makeover of a lifetime?and a little help from her friends. The perfect opportunity to get noticed by Ethan comes on the class trip to Hawaii. Could there be a more ideal setting for a little romance? Now Maggie just has to figure out if she has the guts to make her move?
Ethan Andrews is the one guy that Maggie has always wanted but never had the courage to go for. With her shortage of funds and Ugly Betty looks, she?s not even a blip on his radar. That?s all about to change when Maggie gets the makeover of a lifetime?and a little help from her friends. The perfect opportunity to get noticed by Ethan comes on the class trip to Hawaii. Could there be a more ideal setting for a little romance? Now Maggie just has to figure out if she has the guts to make her move?
Publication Date: 07/01/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: Sherwood Smith is ?a writer who is making her bid to be a major fantasist.?( Orson Scott Card)
Inda, on the verge of adulthood, is at last coming home. At age eleven he?d been exiled from his kingdom, but when he learns that his homeland is about to be invaded, he ends his exile to report the imminent attack. Pressed into service as the king?s ?royal shield arm,? Inda must now defend the kingdom?for his reputation as the captain who defeated the most dangerous pirate fleet in history makes him the only man who stands a chance to defeat his country?s ancient enemy.
Inda, on the verge of adulthood, is at last coming home. At age eleven he?d been exiled from his kingdom, but when he learns that his homeland is about to be invaded, he ends his exile to report the imminent attack. Pressed into service as the king?s ?royal shield arm,? Inda must now defend the kingdom?for his reputation as the captain who defeated the most dangerous pirate fleet in history makes him the only man who stands a chance to defeat his country?s ancient enemy.
Publication Date: 07/01/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: When the woodland surrounding Peter's house goes silent one night, troubled thoughts and dreams take hold. No more chirping. No croaking. No buzzing. Not even a cricket. Can there be anything more upsetting than a misplaced sound? Some say the entire growing season may be brought to an equally sudden end. Peter Phye and his only friend, Dillon Hopper, strike out on a mission for the Queen of the Night. Together they begin a quest to restore the music, across the Sea of Queen Anne's Lace to the Deepest Forest, filled with ogres and bugaboos and all the foulest imaginable things, so that when they're done they might set things right again. And when it is done, Peter finds that adventures, just like seasons of green grass and blue skies, are only fleeting. But what he never imagined was he'd find an eternity within that passing moment . . .
Publication Date: 07/01/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction