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The Game of Silence
Louise Erdrich
Synopsis:

Her name is Omakayas, or Little Frog, because her first step was a hop, and she lives on an island in Lake Superior.It is 1850, and the lives of the Ojibwe have returned to a familiar rhythm: they build their birchbark houses in the summer, go to the ricing camps in the fall to harvest and feast, and move to their cozy cedar log cabins near the town of LaPointe before the first snows.

The satisfying routines of Omakayas's days are interrupted by a surprise visit from a group of desperate and mysterious people. From them, she learns that all their lives may drastically change. The chimookomanag, or white people, want Omakayas and her people to leave their island in Lake Superior and move farther west. Omakayas realizes that something so valuable, so important that she never knew she had it in the first place, is in danger: Her home. Her way of life.

In this captivating sequel to National Book Award nominee The Birchbark House, Louise Erdrich continues the story of Omakayas and her family.

Publication Date: 04/26/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Seropia Crystal
Tabitha Olzinski
Synopsis: When twelve year old Riley Benson moves with her family to her Grandmother's country home for the summer, she doesn't know what to expect. She soon discovers some friends that live hidden in the forest and desperately need her help. Her summer takes on a new meaning as she struggles to help her new friends before her family leaves to return to their home in the city.
Publication Date: 04/25/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
My Not-So-Terrible Time at Hippie Hotel
Synopsis: Forced to go with her father to a house on Cape Cod where divorced parents spend "Together Time" with their kids, teenaged Tracy finds the experience bearable after meeting a local boy named Kevin. Reprint.
Publication Date: 04/21/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
We Beat the Street
Rameck Hunt, Sharon M. Draper, George Jenkins, Sampson Davis
Synopsis: Sampson, George, and Rameck could easily have followed their childhood friends into drugdealing, gangs, and prison. Like their peers, they came from poor, single-parent homes in urban neighborhoods where survival, not scholastic success, was the priority. When the three boys met in a magnet high school in Newark, they recognized each other as kindred spirits who wanted to overcome the incredible odds against them and reach for opportunity. They made a friendship pact, deciding together to take on the biggest challenge of their lives: attending college and then medical school. Along the way they made mistakes and faced disappointments, but by working hard, finding the right mentors, separating themselves from negative influences, and supporting each other, they achieved their goals—and more.

In We Beat the Street, award-winning YA author and teacher Sharon Draper brings the doctors' childhood, teenage, and young-adult anecdotes vividly to life. Brief “conversations” with the doctors at the end of each chapter provide context and advice in a friendly, nonintrusive way. Youngsters will be captivated by the men's honest accounts of the street life that threatened to swallow them up, and how they helped each other succeed beyond their wildest expectations.

Publication Date: 04/21/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Supernaturalist
Eoin Colfer
Synopsis: In the future, in a place called Satelite City, fourteen-year-old Cosmo Hill enters the world, unwanted by his parents. He's sent to the Clarissa Frayne Institute for Parentally Challenged Boys, Freight class. At Clarissa Frayne, the boys are put to work by the state, testing highly dangerous products. At the end of most days, they are covered with burns, bruises, and sores. Cosmo realizes that if he doesn't escape, he will die at this so-called orphanage. When the moment finally comes, Cosmo seizes his chance and breaks out with the help of the Supernaturalists, a motley crew of kids who all have the same special ability as Cosmo-they can see supernatural Parasites, creatures that feed on the life force of humans. The Supernaturalists patrol the city at night, hunting the Parasites in hopes of saving what's left of humanity in Satellite City. Or so they think. The Supernaturalist soon find themselves caught in a web far more complicated than they'd imagined, when they discover a horrifying secret that will force them to question everything they believe in. Eoin Colfer has created an eerie and captivating world-part Blade Runner, part futuristic Dickens-replete with non-stop action
Publication Date: 04/20/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
British Born, American Bred
Valorie Beardsley
Synopsis: A witty British girl raised in America. A strong-willed young prince slated to assume the highest office in England. When their worlds collide. . .anything can happen! In this stunning re-imagining of the life of Prince William of Wales, author Valorie Beardsley follows the life of fictional Emily Harrison, a British-born girl who is raised in Los Angeles, and who just happens to have a crush on Prince William of Wales. Emily returns to England as a young adult to attend St. Andrews University, and is amazed when the man of her dreams is sitting in her classroom! Can William and Emily conquer their fears and succeed in love, when the whole world is watching them? Told with dazzling detail and sparkling insight, British Born American Bred is a delightful mingling of fantasy and reality that will have readers wondering not only what happens next, but also what really happens in the lives of the Royal Family. Beardsley combines the depth of historical fiction with the pace of a tabloid, making British Born American Bred one of the most original U.S. exports of the year!
Publication Date: 04/12/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Spy High Mission Five: Blood Relations
Synopsis: Looking for a way to escape problems with school and with his girlfriend Lori, Ben Stanton and his Spy High friends become involved in the investigation of a sinister cult that includes a member of Ben's own family.
Publication Date: 04/06/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Click Here
Denise Vega
Synopsis: When her personal diary--filled with secret crushes, fears, and kissing practice--somehow makes its way to the Internet, for all to see, seventh grader Erin Swift--using humor and ingenuity--must find a way to overcome this latest obstacle. Original.
Publication Date: 04/06/05
Age Level: Any Age
Genre: Fiction
Fresh Off the Boat
Melissa de la Cruz
Synopsis:

Dear Peaches,

America is perfect!

I love it here. I wish you could come visit -- we could go shopping onMarket Street and you could meet all my new friends. And my newboyfriend. He looks exactly like Tobey Maguire (from Spider-Man, not Seabiscuit). We'll be the hottest couple at the Soirée!

I miss you!! xxxooo,
V.

Okay, so Vicenza isn't being totally honest with Peaches, her best friend back in Manila. But what fun is it being the new girl at snooty Grosvernor High? Or rooting through the Salvation Army for unholey cashmere sweaters? Or having culture-shocked, embarrassingly clueless parents? Maybe being Claude Caligari's ignored geometry partner is sort of fun, but Vicenza would rather be his girlfriend ... or at least his date to the annual fancy-schmancy Soirée d'Hiver. Instead, she's stuck going with scrawny family friend Freddie in an outlet-purchased, coupon-reduced dress that is nothing short of disaster!

But Vicenza won't be friendless, fashionless, or "fresh off the boat" for long -- it's only a matter of time before she sees what's right before her eyes, and her luck begins to change.

Publication Date: 04/05/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Down the Rabbit Hole : An Echo Falls Mystery
Synopsis: When the director of her school play suddenly has an accident, her shoes go missing, and things in town start becoming more strange with every passing moment, Ingrid must find a way to get to the bottom of the matter in order to set things right in her small community of Echo Falls once again.
Publication Date: 04/01/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Cry of the Icemark
Synopsis: A brave girl must defy an empire to save her homeland in a sweeping fantasy that combines breathless action with richly-imagined characters.

After the death of her beloved father, headstrong princess Thirrin Freer Strong-In-The-Arm becomes warrior queen of her homeland, Icemark, defending it from a formidable invader. Despite Thirrin's bravery and the support of Oskan, the Witch's son, the task proves more difficult than Thirrin ever dreamed. She must assemble a force to rival her opponent. And, in the chill winter of Icemark, she only has until spring to unite the strange beasts and frightening creatures who live just outside her country. Ultimately, it is Thirrin's vision and determination that will see her through to victory.
Publication Date: 04/01/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Chasing the Falconers
Gordon Korman
Synopsis: Two kids break out of a juvenile detention center and become fugitives in order to clear their convicted parents' names in this heartstopping series from kid-read master Gordon Korman.

Aidan and Meg Falconer are their parents' only hope. The Falconers are facing life in prison -- unless Aidan and Meg can follow a trail of clues to prove their innocence. The problem? Right now they're trapped in a juvenile detention center. Until they escape one night -- and find themselves on the run, both from the authorities and from a sinister attacker t who has his own reason to stop them. The Falconers must use their wits to make it across the country ... with plenty of tests along the way.
Gordon Korman takes readers into FUGITIVE territory -- with thrilling results.
Publication Date: 04/01/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Anacaona
Edwidge Danticat
Synopsis: Edwidge Danticat, the award-winning, best-selling author of THE FARMING OF BONES and KRIK? KRAK! offers a powerful addition to The Royal Diaries series with the story of Haiti's heroic queen Anacaona.

With her signature narrative grace, Edwidge Danticat brings Haiti's beautiful queen Anacaona to life. Queen Anacaona was the wife of one of her island's rulers, and a composer of songs and poems, making her popular among her people. Haiti was relatively quiet until the Spanish conquistadors discovered the island and began to settle there in 1492.
The Spaniards treated the natives very cruelly, and when the natives revolted, the Spanish governor of Haiti ordered the arrests of several native nobles, including Anacaona, who was eventually captured and executed, to the horror of her people.
Publication Date: 04/01/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Montmorency on the Rocks
Eleanor Updale
Synopsis: Montmorency, the man leading a double life, torn between his two identities, returns in this gripping sequel.

Five years after giving up his life of crime in the sewers, Montmorency is back in London. But his evil alter ego, Scarper has returned too, pulling him back into a dark world of crime.

Montmorency's old friend and fellow government agent, Lord George Fox-Selwyn, fights to rescue him from disaster and risks calling in Montmorency's prison doctor, Robert Farcett, to help.

However, when Montmorency turns up on a Scottish Island, he finds himself caught in another web of mystery.
Publication Date: 04/01/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Maia of Thebes
Ann Turner
Synopsis: Leap into the ancient world in renowned author Ann Turner's exciting addition to the Life and Times series. Maia's story is filled with action, adventure, and all the drama of life in ancient Egypt.

The intrigue and mysticism of ancient Egypt comes to life in Ann Turner's spectacular addition to The Life and Times series. In the time of the Pharoah Hatshepsut's rule, the Egyptian days could pass as slowly as the Nile's lazy waters, or as quickly as the Nile's rising floodwaters.

Maia and her brother are orphaned and living with a cold, judgmental aunt and uncle in Thebes. Searching for a way out of their house, Maia pleads with her brother, Sethnet, who is learning to be a scribe, to teach her how to write. He agrees, and this is to be her saving skill.
Publication Date: 04/01/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Kazillion Wish
Nick Place
Synopsis: From a fresh and funny debut author comes a warm-hearted, laugh-out-loud adventure about a brother and sister who must solve a magical riddle in order to get their fondest wish.

Harlan and Ainsley Banana are on a mission. An exciting, dangerous, once-in-a-lifetime quest for the perfect stepmom to cheer up their sad dad. Harlan and Ainsley bump into a wish-granting creature called a frongle (not ever to be confused with a fairy!), & they learn that their wish can come true if they solve a magical riddle. With a rainbow-colored creature named Zucchini Spacestation as their unreliable guide, the brother and sister head off. But help from unexpected allies --- such as a pair of purple martian twins -- might just make Harlan and Ainsley's wish come true after all!
Publication Date: 04/01/05
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Fiction

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