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Shadowboxer
Tricia Sullivan
Synopsis: Thai martial arts, international crime, celebrity and mythical creatures combine in this masterful new tale of two people facing incredible dangers, from award-winning author Tricia Sullivan.

Nothing she’s faced in the cage will prepare her...

Jade is a young mixed martial arts fighter. When she’s in the cage she dominates her opponents—but in real life she’s out of control.

After she has a confrontation with a Hollywood martial arts star that threatens her gym’s reputation, Jade’s coach sends her to a training camp in Thailand for an attitude adjustment. Hoping to discover herself, she instead uncovers a shocking conspiracy. In a world just beyond our own, a man is stealing the souls of children to try and live forever.
Publication Date: 10/28/14
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Freshman Fourteen
Beth Rodgers
Synopsis: Navigating the halls of Kipperton High should be easy for someone like Margot Maples. She's smart, sweet, and ready to start fresh. But with her best friend moved away, she's stuck wondering just how to fit in. Making her transition more difficult is Max, who always knows how to push her buttons, Walter, her geeky suitor, Cassie, the girl who seemingly has it all, and Peter, her first true crush. So, life doesn't go just the way she hopes. Join Margot on a journey through the beginning of ninth grade – a time when your reputation is determined by the most trivial of matters, including where you eat, how many friends you have, and – most notably – who you kiss.
Publication Date: 10/28/14
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Born Different
Faye Aitken-Smith
Synopsis: Urban gritty inspirational story of breaking free from the chains that bind us all. Self harm or Love? Addiction or Recovery? Gabe is not a hero, he is damned to be different in a world where everyone seems to want to be the same. His friends are damned too, to lives unpredictable,though a life of crime,sex and drugs is calling. But Gabe has dreams of better things, and a secret that is so shameful it is killing him. Born Different is inspirational for young adults that wouldn't read inspirational books. Facing head on at full speed, depression, addiction, and all other issues that adults, old or young, face; self harm, alcoholism, suicide. Born different questions authority, society, morality and the universe All wrapped up in a modern urban fairytale like love story that takes you to the edge and back again. You might like it, it might just open your mind, it might just help you realise what you have to change.
Publication Date: 10/21/14
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Close
Erika Raskin
Synopsis: Single-mom Kik Marcheson is doing the best she can. But effort doesn't seem to count for much in the parenting department.

Her oldest daughter, Doone, is swimming in the deep end of adolescence. Casey, the middle-child slash good-girl is fraying along the edges and Tess, a quirky kindergartner, has installed an imaginary playmate in the family abode.

When Doone falls in with the wrong crowd, a TV therapist offers to help. And things do start to look up. But only for a while.
Publication Date: 10/16/14
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Fiction
Summer of Hope
Jodie Andrefski
Synopsis: A secret can change everything.

After witnessing her twin brother's death, sixteen-year-old Callie shuts down. Forced to go to her family's summer beach house, she resolves to erase the pain any way she can. Enter the "Perfect's"--the Gold Card group of girls who offer escape in the form of parties, booze and boys.

Things change when she meets Ethan. Callie does her best to convince herself she couldn't care less if Ethan looks like he just stepped out of a magazine and is completely adorkable to boot. Despite trying to keep her distance, Callie is drawn to his sweet ways and sexy smile. She falls hard--but her world comes crashing down when she discovers he's been hiding a secret that could change everything. Ethan came to the beach to escape, to live without the label. Because his label... is the kid with Hodgkin's disease.

Callie is left with the choice of standing by Ethan's side and watching another person she loves die, or running and abandoning the one person who helped her to believe in love again. Callie's decision ends up putting her own life in danger, and changes the lives of everyone around her, forever.
Publication Date: 10/16/14
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Changing Michael
Jeff Schilling
Synopsis: "Don’t Let Them Know Who You AreMatthew knows how things work. He’s pretty much an expert.For example: friends. Friendship requires both give and take, and Matthew strongly prefers taking. The solution is close acquaintances―people who think you’re their friend because you nod and act interested about whatever the hell they’re talking about.School? Perfectly pleasant as long as you don’t pay attention.Mom? Award yourself a point for each hands on hips or young man. Wear her down until you can get what you want.The general rule: The less anyone knows about you, the better.But even someone as clever as Matthew needs practice.That’s where Michael comes in.See, Michael doesn’t get it. He’s the kind of kid who comes up with the answer before the teacher. He’s the kind of kid who asks questions. He’s the kind of kid who still has the ratty old backpack he should have thrown in someone’s dumpster years ago.Consequently, he’s the kind of kid who gets the crap beaten out of him on a regular basis.So one day, Matthew, out of the kindness of his heart, decides to help Michael out. Turn his life around. Teach him how to make his life as great as Matthew’s.Before long, Matthew is helping Michael screw with his NASCAR-loving stepfather. He’s spreading rumors to convince the population of Alexander High School that Michael is a serious badass. He weaves his way into the lives of Michael’s estranged dad, and even Chrissy, the half-sister Michael never even knew he had.But what if Michael isn’t grateful for all of Matthew’s hard work? What if he actually likes who he is? Why the hell would he, and for that matter, why should Matthew even care?Changing Michael is an absorbing exploration into the head of one of the most fascinating high school characters since Holden Caulfield. Jeff Schilling’s remarkably insightful debut presents a story and a narrative voice readers will remember for a very long time to come.
Publication Date: 10/15/14
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Anybody Shining
Frances O'Roark Dowell
Synopsis: Can one mistake destroy the chance of a lifetime? A girl discovers there are many ways of being true in this magnificent ode to handwritten letters and the shining power of friendship from the author of Dovey Coe, set in the Appalachian mountains of 1920s North Carolina.

One true friend. Someone shining. That’s all twelve-year-old Arie Mae wants. But shining true friends are hard to come by deep in the mountains of western North Carolina, so she sets her sights on a cousin unseen, someone who lives all the way away in the big city of Baltimore, Maryland. Three unanswered letters later, Arie Mae learns that a group of kids from Baltimore are coming to spend a summer on the mountain.

Arie Mae loves her smudge of a town—she knows there’s nothing finer than Pa’s fiddling and Mama’s apple cake, but she also knows Big City folk might feel differently. How else to explain the song catcher ladies who have descended upon the village in search of “traditional tunes” and their intention to help “save” the townspeople? But when the group from Baltimore arrives, it seems there just might be a gem among them, one shining boy who doesn’t seem to notice Arie Mae wears the same dress every day and prefers to go barefoot. So what if he has a bit of a limp and a rumored heart problem—he also is keen about everything Arie Mae is keen about, and has all the makings of a true friend.

And so what if the boy’s mother warns him not to exert himself? He and Arie Mae have adventures to go on! In between writing letters to her cousin, Arie Mae leads her one shining friend on ghost hunts and bear chases. But it turns out those warnings were for a reason…
Publication Date: 10/07/14
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Fiction
The Serpent's Curse
Bill Perkins, Tony Abbott
Synopsis:

Bestselling author Tony Abbott returns with the next full-length book in the Copernicus Legacy series, a globe-trotting adventure packed with more riddles, puzzles, and secret histories. The hunt for Copernicus's first relic sent Wade, Darrell, Lily, and Becca to the far reaches of the world and put them in serious danger. But they never imagined Sara Kaplan—Darrell and Wade's mother—would be kidnapped by the conniving Galina Krause. Now they must race the evil Teutonic Order to find the Serpens relic and rescue Sara before it's too late.

Fans of Rick Riordan and Ridley Pearson will love this epic series, which is filled with suspense and action.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts

Publication Date: 10/07/14
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Lark Ascending
Meagan Spooner
Synopsis: The thrilling conclusion to The Skylark Trilogy: Revolution is brewing in the city within the Wall. The city stands divided, and war is imminent. The rebels need a leader. After months beyond the Wall, Lark returns with Owen by her side, prepared to overthrow the Institute once and for all. But Lark's triumphant homecoming is short-lived when another leader emerges to unite the rebels: Eve, a mysterious Renewable. Lark wonders if Eve's powers will bring them strength—or bring humanity's final downfall.
Publication Date: 10/01/14
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Baffling Case of the Battered Brain
Synopsis:

With time travel and mysteries that need solving, the Galactic Academy of Science (G.A.S.) series instructs readers on how to think like scientists. Under the guidance of a Dude or Dudette from the future, the middle school characters are faced with treacherous, present-day crimes that require a historical knowledge of science in order to be solved. From investigating problems to analyzing data and constructing explanations and solutions, this series blends elements of sci-fi with educational methods that distill the key thinking habits of scientists and engineers.

 

Medical science combines with mystery in this G.A.S. adventure about concussions

 

Is the awkward stranger taking bribes to throw games? When Clinton hits his head in the championship soccer game, the stranger gets him benched, and Clinton’s team loses. Determined to nail the bribe-taker, Clinton and Mae take on a new G.A.S. mission—a journey across three continents and 4,000 years to learn about concussion and the brain.

Publication Date: 10/01/14
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Fiction
The Perilous Case of the Zombie Potion
Synopsis:

With time travel and mysteries that need solving, the Galactic Academy of Science (G.A.S.) series instructs readers on how to think like scientists. Under the guidance of a Dude or Dudette from the future, the middle school characters are faced with treacherous, present-day crimes that require a historical knowledge of science in order to be solved. From investigating problems to analyzing data and constructing explanations and solutions, this series blends elements of sci-fi with educational methods that distill the key thinking habits of scientists and engineers.

 

Only the G.A.S. kids can stop an evil scientist who wants to enslave humans of the future

 

When a corrupt Dude from the future threatens to harm Sam’s mother unless he steals a zombie potion from his scientist father, Clinton and Mae know they have to help. This time-traveling journey on the science and history of death takes the G.A.S. crew to China, Italy, Belgium, Haiti, New Guinea, Arizona, and Indonesia. Along the way, Sam faces his greatest fears and grows braver, but when disaster threatens his father’s research camp, can he figure out how to save his father, outwit the evil Dr. G, and turn the tables on the bullies who have been tormenting him?

Publication Date: 10/01/14
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Fiction
The Cryptic Case of the Coded Fair
Pendred Noyce, Robert Tinker, Barbara Tinker
Synopsis:

With time travel and mysteries that need solving, the Galactic Academy of Science (G.A.S.) series instructs readers on how to think like scientists. Under the guidance of a Dude or Dudette from the future, the middle school characters are faced with treacherous, present-day crimes that require a historical knowledge of science in order to be solved. From investigating problems to analyzing data and constructing explanations and solutions, this series blends elements of sci-fi with educational methods that distill the key thinking habits of scientists and engineers.

 

Learn to create and crack codes in this latest G.A.S. installment

 

Dr. G and his companions are using coded messages in a plot to corrupt the International Science Fair. Quarkum Phonon, a Dude from the future, calls on four middle school students for help. Benson and Anita work on their computers while two new G.A.S. recruits, Ella and Shomari, travel through time, facing kidnappers, thieves, and spies in their scramble to learn about codes and ciphers. Across two millennia and five countries, they meet Julius Caesar, Thomas Jefferson, Alan Turing, and others, while learning about substitution ciphers, frequency analysis, wheels, cylinders, book codes, the Verginère Table, the Enigma, and public and private keys. But will they break Dr. G’s code in time to save the science fair? A computer-based online extension that allows readers to create and decode their own secret messages is also included.

Publication Date: 10/01/14
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Fiction
Perfectly Good White Boy
Carrie Mesrobian
Synopsis: "You never know where we'll end up. There's so much possibility in life, you know?" Hallie said. Sean Norwhalt can read between the lines. He knows Hallie's just dumped him. He was a perfectly good summer boyfriend, but now she's off to college, and he's still got another year to go. Her pep talk about futures and "possibilities" isn't exactly comforting. Sean's pretty sure he's seen his future and its "possibilities," and they all look DISPOSABLE. Like the rental his family moved into when his dad left. Like all the unwanted filthy old clothes he stuffs into the rag baler at his thrift-store job. Like everything good he's ever known. The only hopeful possibilities in Sean's life are the Marine Corps, where no one expected he'd go, and Neecie Albertson, whom he never expected to care about. Carrie Mesrobian follows her critically acclaimed debut, Sex & Violence, with another powerful and wrenching portrait of a teenage boy on the precipice of the new American future.
Publication Date: 10/01/14
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Fiction
Gentlemen Prefer Curves
Sugar Jamison
Synopsis:

SOMETIMES SIZE DOES MATTER
Belinda Gordon thought she had it all-a great job, wonderful friends, a home of her own. She's even come to love her voluptuous body. But she still can't shake the feeling that something is missing. And then Carter Lancaster, aka Her Biggest Mistake, shows up in town, as irresistible as ever, and shakes up her entire world.

WHEN IT COMES TO LOVE
Carter never expected to find Belinda in town, looking as delicious as the day he married her five years ago-before she walked out on him after six weeks and a painful misunderstanding that included his baby daughter, Ruby. A quick divorce is the sensible option-but Carter can't let Belinda go now, not when he can see the family they could be. Love may be a curveball, but this time he's going to prove to Belinda that he can hit it out of the park... Gentlemen Prefer Curves is the third book in the Perfect Fit series

Praise for Sugar Jamison's Dangerous Curves Ahead
"Dangerous Curves Ahead is laugh out loud funny and super sexy, with unique characters you can't help but love!"-New York Times bestselling author Lori Foster

Publication Date: 09/30/14
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Fiction
The Keepers
Anoosha Lalani
Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Isra Kalb has grown up starving in the slums of Islamabad. But hunger is only the beginning. When her father is mysteriously murdered and madness corrupts her mother's mind, she's left alone to fend for herself and her sister. Homeless and destitute, the only thing she has to remember her loving family by is a commonplace necklace--an amulet barely worth keeping. Or so she thinks. Swept into a web of lies, deceit and turmoil, Isra struggles to find a place for herself and Zaffirah, wondering if the strange creatures and visions she's seeing are indications of the madness that took her mother. But when Snatchers capture Zaffirah, Isra learns her amulet isn't so useless after all. Transported to Zarcane--the beastly garden where Adam and Eve were born--Isra comes face to face with her destiny. She's a Keeper, charged with protecting the borders of Zarcane and keeping the demon hordes lurking in the shadows from taking realms that are not their own. And she's not the only one; there's a second Keeper, a boy whose identity hasn't been revealed. Now, in order to save her sister and fulfill her family's legacy as Keeper of the Amulet, she has to find the second Keeper and close the borders. Surrounded by betrayal, trapped between warring factions of angels, and desperate to save the only family she has left, Isra must decide: Who can she trust when nothing is what it seems?
Publication Date: 09/30/14
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Bodies We Wear
Jeyn Roberts
Synopsis: A streetwise girl trains to take on a gang of drug dealers and avenge her best friend’s death in this thriller for fans of Scott Westerfeld and Robin Wasserman.
 
Heam: It’s the hottest drug around. Users are able to see Heaven—a place so beautiful, so indescribably serene, many people never want to come back. And some don’t, like Faye’s best friend, Christian. But when Faye was forced to take Heam, she didn’t see Heaven; she saw Hell. And now she spends her nights training to take revenge on the men who destroyed her future and murdered Christian. When a mysterious young man named Chael appears, Faye’s plans suddenly get a lot more complicated.
 
Love and Death. Will Faye overcome her desires, or will her quest for revenge consume her?
Publication Date: 09/23/14
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction

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