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Candy
Kevin Brooks
Synopsis: Kevin Brooks, one of today's most critically acclaimed YA voices, delivers another thrilling story about a boy, a girl, and a love worth fighting for.

When Joe meets Candy, it seems like a regular boy-meets-girl scenario. They chat over coffee, she gives him her number, and he writes her a song. But then Joe is drawn into Candy's world --- a world of drugs, violence, and desperation. As the dark truth about Candy's life emerges, Joe finds himself facing real danger at every twist and turn. Soon Joe's conflicting emotions begin to mirror Candy's, and he understands that falling in love just might be worth the struggle. This intoxicating tale of heartache, danger, and hope will enthrall teen readers.

Publication Date: 03/01/05
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Fiction
Avril Crump and Her Amazing Clones
Synopsis: In Angela Woolfe's spectacularly funny debut novel, Avril Crump, the bumbling but lovable scientist embarks on a series of unexpected adventures with her newfound friends--who happen to be clones!

Avril Crump, female scientist, is bald, pink, and round, with a weakness for sweets, whose greatest love of all is chemistry, science, the quest for knowledge, and using that chemistry to fix the world's ills. But one day, while Avril is helping herself to a yummy snack, she accidentally stumbles upon a scientific experiment gone awry. When her uncle's old chemistry set collides with a mysterious metal trunk, three clones are created in the accidental explosion. And with this laboratory accident, Avril's adventure begins. She must save her new friends, the clones, from their own creator.
Publication Date: 03/01/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Deliver Us From Normal
Synopsis: A humorous and heartbreaking novel about growing up in a large family by an author who brings a fresh new voice to the Scholastic Press list.

Yes, there really is a Normal, Illinois. Charles Harrisong should know; he was born there. But life is difficult for Charles because his family isn't normal at all. They're poor, for one thing. They stand out, which is the worst thing. After an ugly incident at school, Charles and family leave Normal and begin an adventure that takes them to a houseboat that just might be their new home. And Charles begins a personal journey within his own heart; one that will ultimately deliver him both from and to himself.
Publication Date: 03/01/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Waterless Sea
Kate Constable
Synopsis: The sequel to the critically acclaimed THE SINGER OF ALL SONGS draws readers even deeper into the magical world of Tremaris -- and presents a temptation Calwyn may not be able to overcome. . . .

The second novel in the captivating Chanters of Tremaris trilogy follows Calwyn and her friends to the desolate Merithuran Empire. As they search for a group of kidnapped children who have the gift of chantment, they must negotiate both the unforgiving desert and the even more treacherous Palace of Cobwebs, where they uncover the dreadful secret that holds the Empire together. Meanwhile, Darrow has broken away from the group to form a new alliance of his own. Can he still be trusted? In this book, Calwyn's quest for peace and justice has greater consequences than she ever could have imagined.
Publication Date: 03/01/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Ghost Ship
Dietlof Reiche
Synopsis: A contemporary, wholly original, spine-tingling ghost story born from pirate legend--think Pirates of the Caribbean meets Nancy Drew!


Vicki plans to spend her summer vacation waitressing at her father's seaside restaurant, Ye Olde Seashell Room, a must-see tourist destination with seashell-covered walls and a two-hundred-and-thirty-year old figurehead from a lost ship, the Storm Goddess.

But when the bay goes dry and the Storm Goddess suddenly appears, Vicki and her small community are thrown off course. Now the town's greedy mayor sees dollar signs from potential new tourism, a nosy reporter smells something fishy, and Vicki's haunted by ghosts! Can she, along with her friend Peter, manage to get aboard and (continued)
Publication Date: 03/01/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
South Beach
Aimee Friedman
Synopsis: HOT SAND. HOT CLUBS. HOT GUYS.
What more could two girls want? Try the same guy.



SPRING BREAK. SOUTH BEACH. 'NUFF SAID.

On a trip to a place where anything can happen -- and does -- two ex-best friends discover that a chance encounter can lead to the chance of a lifetime.

HOLLY: Dream date or bad fate? She wants true love--and a break from her strict parents. Perhaps a spring fling will do?

ALEXA: Flirting with destiny or flirting with disaster? The guy of her dreams turns out to be her friend's first love. How far is she willing to go?

This year, Spring Break is going to be scandalous!

Publication Date: 03/01/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The BlackBelt Club
Bernard Chang, Dawn Barnes
Synopsis: A brand-new action/adventure series from talented martial arts instructor Dawn Barnes, founder and sensei of the most popular children's karate school in Los Angeles.

In this high-drama action novel, four members of the elite Black Belt Club set off on a daring adventure to save the world from an evil force that can only be stopped if they use their martial arts skills and karate-spirit powers to work together. Full of high-kicks, blocks, and intelligent problem-solving, here is a new series sure to pack a punch.

This series will be heavily illustrated by comic book artist Bernard Chang, best known for his work for DC and Marvel Comics, including issues of Superman, Spider-Man, X-Men, and Daredevil.
Publication Date: 03/01/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Wizard Test
Hilari Bell
Synopsis:

Dayven has passed the test he wanted most desperately to fail -- he's been proven to have the powers of a wizard.

He had promised never to become one of the deceitful, disloyal sorcerers who believe in nothing and alter people's true destinies -- but now he has no choice. Thrown into an apprenticeship with a roguish wizard, Dayven discovers that loyalty and trust are never simple, and wizards are more deceptive than he could ever imagine.

The path that was once clear -- his friendships, his future, his destiny -- is now shadowed with dangerous twists and turns, and the world he knows must change forever.

Publication Date: 02/15/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Still There, Clare
Yvonne Prinz
Synopsis: Thirteen-year old Clara is making new friends, finding her own way of dressing, and enjoying a closer relationship with her mother as she tries to end her ties to Elsa, an imaginary best friend she has had since she was five.
Publication Date: 02/11/05
Age Level: Any Age
Genre: Fiction
Uglies
Rodrigo Corral, Scott Westerfeld
Synopsis: In Tally's world, everyone gets to be transformed from ugly to gorgeous on their sixteenth birthday, but Tally's friend Shay would rather risk life on the outside than be operated on, and when she runs away, the authorities make Tally find her friend and turn her in. Original.
Publication Date: 02/08/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
24 Girls in 7 Days
Alex Bradley
Synopsis: Jack Grammar, average American senior, has no date to the prom. Or so he thinks. Percy and Natalie, Jack's so-called best friends, posted an ad in the classified section of the online version of the school newspaper. They figured it couldn't hurt-after all, there's not much in this world sadder than Jack's love life. Soon Percy and Natalie have assembled a list of girls eager to go to the prom with Jack, including one mysterious girl known only as FancyPants. He has just seven days to meet and date them before he will ask one special girl to the prom.
Newcomer Alex Bradley shares a fresh and funny boy perspective in a genre dominated by girls. With snappy dialogue and hip, smart writing, this is a hilarious take on the trauma and pageantry that is prom.

Publication Date: 02/03/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Trick of the Mind
Judy Waite
Synopsis: Wanting to make Matt fall for her, Erin teaches him magic to lure him away from his interest in Kirsty, but when Kirsty is found dead and Erin realizes that Matt is to blame, Erin must put aside her feelings and make the right decision in order to see that there is justice for Kirsty.
Publication Date: 02/01/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Dark Hills Divide
Patrick Carman
Synopsis: An extraordinary debut weaving magic and heroism into a classic tale of good and evil, featuring a heroine you'll never forget.

Inquisitive twelve-year-old Alexa Daley is spending another summer in the walled town of Bridewell. This year, she is set on solving the mystery of what lies beyond the walls. Legend says the walls were built to keep out an unnamed evil that lurks in the forests and The Dark Hills. But what exactly is it that the townspeople are so afraid of?
As Alexa begins to unravel the truth, pushing beyond the protective barrier she's lived behind all her life, she discovers a strange and ancient enchantment -- and exposes a danger that could destroy everything she holds dear.
Publication Date: 02/01/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Bone
Jeff Smith
Synopsis: The first book in Jeff Smith's New York Times bestselling, award-winning graphic novel series featuring an unlikely hero who must save an idyllic valley from the forces of evil.

After being run out of Boneville, the three Bone cousins -- Fone Bone, Phoney Bone, and Smiley Bone -- are separated and lost in a vast, uncharted desert. One by one, they find their way into a deep, forested valley filled with wonderful and terrifying creatures. Eventually, the cousins are reunited at a farmstead run by tough Gran'ma Ben and her spirited granddaughter, Thorn. But little do the Bones know, there are dark forces conspiring against them and their adventures are only just beginning!


 
Publication Date: 02/01/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Never Mind The Goldbergs
Synopsis: The greatest Hollywood punk rock Orthodox Jewgirl story EVER TOLD!

Don't think for a second that you know Hava or her place in the world. Yes, she's an Orthodox Jew. But that doesn't mean she can't rock out. And yes, she has opinions about everything around her. But her opinions about herself can be twice as harsh.
Now Hava's just been asked to be the token Jew on a TV show about a Jewish family, trading one insular community for another. As in Tanuja Desai Hidier's BORN CONFUSED, there is soon a collision of both cultures and desires -- with one headstrong heroine caught in the middle.
Publication Date: 02/01/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Outstanding In My Field
Patrick Jennings
Synopsis: A funny, insightful, and poignant story about a Little League loser whose tyrant father is the team coach, by one of Scholastic Press's favorite talents.

Ty has been named for baseball legend Ty Cobb, but the hero of Jennings' wonderful new novel isn't living up to his namesake's reputation when it comes to The Game. He loves baseball; he just isn't great at it, despite all the efforts of his coach and father, who himself once dreamed of playing in the majors. To complicate matters, Ty's younger sister Daisy is a baseball whiz (as well as the school genius). In this sharply witty, deeply poignant all -American novel, Ty has to figure out just who he's trying to please -- his father, his teammates, or himself.
Publication Date: 02/01/05
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction

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