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Synopsis: - Reader's Favorite 5-Stars Award
A Harrowing True Story of an Eight-Year-Old Girl Human Sex Trafficking andOrganized Crime Survivor
Have you ever experienced total despair? Yuna was just an eight-year-old girlwhen she experienced total devastation. Growing up in the Mongolian countryside,she wasn't ready to face the darker side of the world. And yet she had to.
After she was kidnapped by an organized crime gang, Yuna had to overcome herfears at an early age and start taking care of herself. She tried to escapefrom slavery, but everybody that she encountered wanted to take advantage ofher.
Yuna and other girls just like her were constantlyabused, beaten, raped and sold as sex slaves. Human trafficking is the worstkind of humiliation, especially for a young woman. She tried to escape and findfreedom, but it wasn't easy.
In this emotional and heart-shattering true story, author Luke G. Dahl will letyou behind the curtains of sex trafficking gangs and into the soul of abusedwomen, who try to glue the broken pieces of their soul together, to survive. Byunderstanding what they have had to endure, you can find a new perspective andrespect for life.
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A Harrowing True Story of an Eight-Year-Old Girl Human Sex Trafficking andOrganized Crime Survivor
Have you ever experienced total despair? Yuna was just an eight-year-old girlwhen she experienced total devastation. Growing up in the Mongolian countryside,she wasn't ready to face the darker side of the world. And yet she had to.
After she was kidnapped by an organized crime gang, Yuna had to overcome herfears at an early age and start taking care of herself. She tried to escapefrom slavery, but everybody that she encountered wanted to take advantage ofher.
Yuna and other girls just like her were constantlyabused, beaten, raped and sold as sex slaves. Human trafficking is the worstkind of humiliation, especially for a young woman. She tried to escape and findfreedom, but it wasn't easy.
In this emotional and heart-shattering true story, author Luke G. Dahl will letyou behind the curtains of sex trafficking gangs and into the soul of abusedwomen, who try to glue the broken pieces of their soul together, to survive. Byunderstanding what they have had to endure, you can find a new perspective andrespect for life.
Page Up and Order Now.
Publication Date: 12/12/17
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: A multimillion-copy bestseller in China—now available in English! In this heart-pounding adventure, a group of individuals who have come together for an expedition, each with a specific interest, soon find themselves motivated by one common goal: the sheer will to survive.
THE QUEST: To find the lost city of Jingjue, a once-glorious kingdom, along with the burial chamber of its mysterious queen. Both lie buried under the golden dunes of the desert, where fierce sandstorms and blazing heat show no mercy.
THE TEAM: Teenagers Tianyi, who has the ability read the earth and sky through feng shui, and Kai, Tianyi’s best friend and confidant; Julie, a wealthy American whose father vanished on the same trek a year ago; Professor Chen, who wants to fulfill a lifelong dream; and Asat Amat, a local guide gifted in desert survival.
THE OBSTACLES: Lethal creatures of the desert and an evil force that wants to entomb the explorers under the unforgiving sands of China’s Taklimakan Desert forever.
Translated from the Chinese by Jeremy Tiang, whose recent work includes NEVER GROW UP, the translation from Chinese of the autobiography from action movie superstar Jackie Chan.
THE QUEST: To find the lost city of Jingjue, a once-glorious kingdom, along with the burial chamber of its mysterious queen. Both lie buried under the golden dunes of the desert, where fierce sandstorms and blazing heat show no mercy.
THE TEAM: Teenagers Tianyi, who has the ability read the earth and sky through feng shui, and Kai, Tianyi’s best friend and confidant; Julie, a wealthy American whose father vanished on the same trek a year ago; Professor Chen, who wants to fulfill a lifelong dream; and Asat Amat, a local guide gifted in desert survival.
THE OBSTACLES: Lethal creatures of the desert and an evil force that wants to entomb the explorers under the unforgiving sands of China’s Taklimakan Desert forever.
Translated from the Chinese by Jeremy Tiang, whose recent work includes NEVER GROW UP, the translation from Chinese of the autobiography from action movie superstar Jackie Chan.
Publication Date: 11/21/17
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: “A delicate and heartbreaking mystery story...Thorpe’s book is a reminder that in an era of nativism, some Americans are still breaking down walls and nurturing newcomers, the seeds of the great American experiment.” —The New York Times Book Review
“The teens we meet have endured things none of us can imagine…and [this book has] never been more crucial than at this moment.” —USA TODAY
“Helen Thorpe has taken policy and turned it into literature.” —Malcolm Gladwell
From the award-winning, “meticulously observant” author of Soldier Girls and Just Like Us comes a powerful and moving account of how refugee teenagers at a public high school learn English and become Americans, in the care of a compassionate teacher.
The Newcomers follows the lives of twenty-two immigrant teenagers throughout the course of the 2015-2016 school year as they land at South High School in Denver, Colorado. These newcomers, from fourteen to nineteen years old, come from nations convulsed by drought or famine or war. Many come directly from refugee camps, after experiencing dire forms of cataclysm. Some arrive alone, having left or lost every other member of their original family.
At the center of their story is Mr. Williams, their dedicated and endlessly resourceful teacher of English Language Acquisition. If Mr. Williams does his job right, the newcomers will leave his class at the end of the school year with basic English skills and new confidence, their foundation for becoming Americans and finding a place in their new home. Ultimately, “The Newcomers reads more like an anthropologist’s notebook than a work of reportage: Helen Thorpe not only observes, she chips in her two cents and participates. Like her, we’re moved and agitated by this story of refugee teenagers…Donald Trump’s gross slander of refugees and immigrants is countered on every page by the evidence of these students’ lives and characters” (Los Angeles Review of Books).
With the US at a political crossroads around questions of immigration, multiculturalism, and America’s role on the global stage, Thorpe presents a fresh and nuanced perspective. The Newcomers is “not only an intimate look at lives immigrant teens live, but it is a primer on the art and science of new language acquisition and a portrait of ongoing and emerging global horrors and the human fallout that arrives on our shores” (USA TODAY).
“The teens we meet have endured things none of us can imagine…and [this book has] never been more crucial than at this moment.” —USA TODAY
“Helen Thorpe has taken policy and turned it into literature.” —Malcolm Gladwell
From the award-winning, “meticulously observant” author of Soldier Girls and Just Like Us comes a powerful and moving account of how refugee teenagers at a public high school learn English and become Americans, in the care of a compassionate teacher.
The Newcomers follows the lives of twenty-two immigrant teenagers throughout the course of the 2015-2016 school year as they land at South High School in Denver, Colorado. These newcomers, from fourteen to nineteen years old, come from nations convulsed by drought or famine or war. Many come directly from refugee camps, after experiencing dire forms of cataclysm. Some arrive alone, having left or lost every other member of their original family.
At the center of their story is Mr. Williams, their dedicated and endlessly resourceful teacher of English Language Acquisition. If Mr. Williams does his job right, the newcomers will leave his class at the end of the school year with basic English skills and new confidence, their foundation for becoming Americans and finding a place in their new home. Ultimately, “The Newcomers reads more like an anthropologist’s notebook than a work of reportage: Helen Thorpe not only observes, she chips in her two cents and participates. Like her, we’re moved and agitated by this story of refugee teenagers…Donald Trump’s gross slander of refugees and immigrants is countered on every page by the evidence of these students’ lives and characters” (Los Angeles Review of Books).
With the US at a political crossroads around questions of immigration, multiculturalism, and America’s role on the global stage, Thorpe presents a fresh and nuanced perspective. The Newcomers is “not only an intimate look at lives immigrant teens live, but it is a primer on the art and science of new language acquisition and a portrait of ongoing and emerging global horrors and the human fallout that arrives on our shores” (USA TODAY).
Publication Date: 11/14/17
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis:
In Book Two of The Stones of Bothynus trilogy, Minimize, the Greene sisters' escapades continue. This time it's Annie, Red's younger sister, whose life is changed by new experiences made possible by the Stones of Bothynus.
Fifteen-year-old Annie is bold, curious, and possibly in over her head when she ''borrows'' a device that Uncle Alistair brilliantly crafted from ancient and powerful artifact dust from the Stones of Bothynus. Using the device, she shrinks herself to explore a hidden cave behind a waterfall on her grandmother's Smoky Mountain farm. After glimpsing an angelic being in the cave she works feverishly to decipher ancient writings copied from the cave wall. Intrigued and awed she discovers that the writings reveal a half-angel's world of pain and longing and strives to learn more.
Minimize continues the sci-fi/fantasy adventures of the Greene family as they become more deeply enmeshed in adventure, this time in the angel realm.
Publication Date: 11/14/17
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: SKIPPING STONES 2018 HONOR AWARD WINNER FOR MULTICULTURAL TEEN BOOKS As the Civil War rages, fifteen-year-old Thomas Beck longs to fight for his country. He's underage, but his brother, Robert, claims there's another reason he can't fight: there's no such thing as a Chinese Yankee. Assumed a slave because of his odd appearance--including his traditional Chinese queue (long braid)--Thomas soon discovers that giving battle with his regiment isn't enough to shed the Chinese label from his Yankee status. It's not until Thomas befriends a runaway slave and the war moves toward a pivotal moment in Gettysburg that he begins to understand the true meaning of freedom in America. Freedom for Me is a historical novel based on the life of a real Chinese Yankee. For ages 10 and up.
Publication Date: 11/09/17
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: When babies don't get their way, they have a tantrum.
Do big kids have tantrums? No! Big Kids use their words!
Every child's life is filled with milestones. Some happen easily; others need a little extra support. Artist and mom Maria van Lieshout has been there! Drawing upon her own experiences, she has created an engaging series of books just right for children on the brink of major changes and the caregivers who encourage them.
Do big kids have tantrums? No! Big Kids use their words!
Every child's life is filled with milestones. Some happen easily; others need a little extra support. Artist and mom Maria van Lieshout has been there! Drawing upon her own experiences, she has created an engaging series of books just right for children on the brink of major changes and the caregivers who encourage them.
Publication Date: 11/07/17
Age Level: 5 - 8
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: In this gripping debut novel, seventeen-year-old Cat must use her gene-hacking skills to decode her late father’s message concealing a vaccine to a horrifying plague.
Catarina Agatta is a hacker. She can cripple mainframes and crash through firewalls, but that’s not what makes her special. In Cat’s world, people are implanted with technology to recode their DNA, allowing them to change their bodies in any way they want. And Cat happens to be a gene-hacking genius.
That’s no surprise, since Cat’s father is Dr. Lachlan Agatta, a legendary geneticist who may be the last hope for defeating a plague that has brought humanity to the brink of extinction. But during the outbreak, Lachlan was kidnapped by a shadowy organization called Cartaxus, leaving Cat to survive the last two years on her own.
When a Cartaxus soldier, Cole, arrives with news that her father has been killed, Cat’s instincts tell her it’s just another Cartaxus lie. But Cole also brings a message: before Lachlan died, he managed to create a vaccine, and Cole needs Cat’s help to release it and save the human race.
Now Cat must decide who she can trust: The soldier with secrets of his own? The father who made her promise to hide from Cartaxus at all costs? In a world where nature itself can be rewritten, how much can she even trust herself?
Catarina Agatta is a hacker. She can cripple mainframes and crash through firewalls, but that’s not what makes her special. In Cat’s world, people are implanted with technology to recode their DNA, allowing them to change their bodies in any way they want. And Cat happens to be a gene-hacking genius.
That’s no surprise, since Cat’s father is Dr. Lachlan Agatta, a legendary geneticist who may be the last hope for defeating a plague that has brought humanity to the brink of extinction. But during the outbreak, Lachlan was kidnapped by a shadowy organization called Cartaxus, leaving Cat to survive the last two years on her own.
When a Cartaxus soldier, Cole, arrives with news that her father has been killed, Cat’s instincts tell her it’s just another Cartaxus lie. But Cole also brings a message: before Lachlan died, he managed to create a vaccine, and Cole needs Cat’s help to release it and save the human race.
Now Cat must decide who she can trust: The soldier with secrets of his own? The father who made her promise to hide from Cartaxus at all costs? In a world where nature itself can be rewritten, how much can she even trust herself?
Publication Date: 11/07/17
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: From Dance Moms star and So You Think You Can Dance: The Next Generation judge Maddie Ziegler comes the first novel in a brand-new middle grade trilogy about friendship, dance, and going after your dreams.
Twelve-year-old Harper has been dancing practically since she learned to walk. She loves her dance studio and team, and just won her first ever top junior solo in a regional competition. But right before the school year starts, Harper’s parents drop a bombshell—the family has to relocate from their cozy town in Connecticut to sunny Florida for their jobs. That means saying goodbye to her friends, dance team, trips to see shows in NYC—and did she mentioned dance team?
While her parents reassure her that they will find her a new studio as soon as they move, Harper is not happy. When she arrives, she realizes that the competition in Florida will be fierce and it doesn’t matter how talented she is—she is the new girl and will have to prove herself. During her very first class, Harper finds it harder than she thought it would be. Even though they are all the same age and have been dancing for roughly the same amount of time, it feels like everyone has better feet, quicker turns, and faster taps than Harper. And it doesn’t help that a group of girls, who nicknamed themselves The Bunheads, wonder how she made the team if she can’t even do a simple turn sequence in front of the class.
Thankfully, Harper befriends Lily, a fellow newbie in the studio who is just as eager to make her mark and find a friendly face. With a big competition coming up for the dance team, Harper is determined to show everyone—especially those Bunheads—what she’s made of! And when a very badly timed sprained ankle threatens all of the work they have done, the Bunheads, Lily, and Harper must learn to truly work together to give them their best shot at the top spot!
Twelve-year-old Harper has been dancing practically since she learned to walk. She loves her dance studio and team, and just won her first ever top junior solo in a regional competition. But right before the school year starts, Harper’s parents drop a bombshell—the family has to relocate from their cozy town in Connecticut to sunny Florida for their jobs. That means saying goodbye to her friends, dance team, trips to see shows in NYC—and did she mentioned dance team?
While her parents reassure her that they will find her a new studio as soon as they move, Harper is not happy. When she arrives, she realizes that the competition in Florida will be fierce and it doesn’t matter how talented she is—she is the new girl and will have to prove herself. During her very first class, Harper finds it harder than she thought it would be. Even though they are all the same age and have been dancing for roughly the same amount of time, it feels like everyone has better feet, quicker turns, and faster taps than Harper. And it doesn’t help that a group of girls, who nicknamed themselves The Bunheads, wonder how she made the team if she can’t even do a simple turn sequence in front of the class.
Thankfully, Harper befriends Lily, a fellow newbie in the studio who is just as eager to make her mark and find a friendly face. With a big competition coming up for the dance team, Harper is determined to show everyone—especially those Bunheads—what she’s made of! And when a very badly timed sprained ankle threatens all of the work they have done, the Bunheads, Lily, and Harper must learn to truly work together to give them their best shot at the top spot!
Publication Date: 10/31/17
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: The must-have guide for any fan of #1 New York Times bestselling fantasy author TAMORA PIERCE! Enter the world of Tortall in this full-color, behind-the-scenes collectible guide, brought to you by the author who Sarah J. Maas says “shaped [her] not only as a young writer but also as a young woman” and whom Leigh Bardugo calls “the real lioness.”
The secrets of Tortall are revealed. . . .
As Tortall’s spymaster, George Cooper has sensitive documents from all corners of the realm. When Alanna sends him a surprising letter, he cleans out his office and discovers letters from when King Jonathan and Queen Thayet first ascended the throne, notes on creating the Shadow Service of spies, threat-level profiles on favorite characters, Daine’s notes on immortals, as well as family papers, such as Aly’s first report as a young spy and Neal’s lessons with the Lioness. This rich guide also includes the first official timeline of Tortallan events from when it became a sovereign nation to the year Aly gives birth to triplets. Part history, part spy training manual, and entirely fascinating, this beautiful guide makes a perfect gift and is ideal for anyone who loves Alanna, King Jonathan, Queen Thayet, Kel, Neal, Aly, Thom, Daine, Numair, and the unforgettable world of Tortall!
“Tamora Pierce creates epic worlds populated by girls and women of bravery, heart, and strength. Her work inspired a generation of writers and continues to inspire us.” —HOLLY BLACK, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“Few authors can slay so effectively with a single sentence—I mean fist-in-the-air, shouting-at-my-book slay—as Tamora Pierce. All these years later, I still draw strength from her words.” —MARIE LU, #1 New York Times bestselling author
The secrets of Tortall are revealed. . . .
As Tortall’s spymaster, George Cooper has sensitive documents from all corners of the realm. When Alanna sends him a surprising letter, he cleans out his office and discovers letters from when King Jonathan and Queen Thayet first ascended the throne, notes on creating the Shadow Service of spies, threat-level profiles on favorite characters, Daine’s notes on immortals, as well as family papers, such as Aly’s first report as a young spy and Neal’s lessons with the Lioness. This rich guide also includes the first official timeline of Tortallan events from when it became a sovereign nation to the year Aly gives birth to triplets. Part history, part spy training manual, and entirely fascinating, this beautiful guide makes a perfect gift and is ideal for anyone who loves Alanna, King Jonathan, Queen Thayet, Kel, Neal, Aly, Thom, Daine, Numair, and the unforgettable world of Tortall!
“Tamora Pierce creates epic worlds populated by girls and women of bravery, heart, and strength. Her work inspired a generation of writers and continues to inspire us.” —HOLLY BLACK, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“Few authors can slay so effectively with a single sentence—I mean fist-in-the-air, shouting-at-my-book slay—as Tamora Pierce. All these years later, I still draw strength from her words.” —MARIE LU, #1 New York Times bestselling author
Publication Date: 10/31/17
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: Gianna Saldaña is a curious young lady who has had to search on her own to find out information about her family. She joins an after-school Genealogy Club run by Mr. Williams, one of the teachers at her school. Through online research, she can find pictures of her relatives and more conclusive information than she ever dreamed possible. In Gianna the Treasure Hunter, Gianna helps her friend Stephanie find out about her family as well by delving into the Ellis Island Records and recording her grandmother's story.
Publication Date: 10/29/17
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: It’s 1911 in Pennsylvania coal country, and Corey must work at the mines to help support his family in this exciting historical novel.
Corey is just eleven years old, but his family needs him to chip in. He’s dropped out of school and works as a breaker boy picking out coal impurities from bins in the coalmines of Pennsylvania.
But after skating accident nearly kills Corey, he begins having panic attacks and nightmares. Corey turns to Mrs. Chudzik, a strange and mysterious local recluse, for help. She’s a trained doctor and Corey’s overwhelming fear of tight spaces means he is jeopardizing his family’s future.
When there is a disaster at the mine, trapping his father and other miners, Corey knows it’s time to face his fear. He and Mrs. Chudzik’s hound, Hovi, must find the trapped miners and bring help. But how can he when the thought of being in the dark and enclosed space might be more than Corey can handle?
Corey is just eleven years old, but his family needs him to chip in. He’s dropped out of school and works as a breaker boy picking out coal impurities from bins in the coalmines of Pennsylvania.
But after skating accident nearly kills Corey, he begins having panic attacks and nightmares. Corey turns to Mrs. Chudzik, a strange and mysterious local recluse, for help. She’s a trained doctor and Corey’s overwhelming fear of tight spaces means he is jeopardizing his family’s future.
When there is a disaster at the mine, trapping his father and other miners, Corey knows it’s time to face his fear. He and Mrs. Chudzik’s hound, Hovi, must find the trapped miners and bring help. But how can he when the thought of being in the dark and enclosed space might be more than Corey can handle?
Publication Date: 10/24/17
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: A Newbery Honor Book
A Coretta Scott King Honor Book
A Printz Honor Book
A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner for Young Adult Literature
Longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature
Winner of the Walter Dean Myers Award
An Edgar Award Winner for Best Young Adult Fiction
Parents’ Choice Gold Award Winner
An Entertainment Weekly Best YA Book of 2017
A Vulture Best YA Book of 2017
A Buzzfeed Best YA Book of 2017
An ode to Put the Damn Guns Down, this is National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestseller Jason Reynolds’s fiercely stunning novel that takes place in sixty potent seconds—the time it takes a kid to decide whether or not he’s going to murder the guy who killed his brother.
A cannon. A strap.
A piece. A biscuit.
A burner. A heater.
A chopper. A gat.
A hammer
A tool
for RULE
Or, you can call it a gun. That’s what fifteen-year-old Will has shoved in the back waistband of his jeans. See, his brother Shawn was just murdered. And Will knows the rules. No crying. No snitching. Revenge. That’s where Will’s now heading, with that gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, the gun that was his brother’s gun. He gets on the elevator, seventh floor, stoked. He knows who he’s after. Or does he? As the elevator stops on the sixth floor, on comes Buck. Buck, Will finds out, is who gave Shawn the gun before Will took the gun. Buck tells Will to check that the gun is even loaded. And that’s when Will sees that one bullet is missing. And the only one who could have fired Shawn’s gun was Shawn. Huh. Will didn’t know that Shawn had ever actually USED his gun. Bigger huh. BUCK IS DEAD. But Buck’s in the elevator? Just as Will’s trying to think this through, the door to the next floor opens. A teenage girl gets on, waves away the smoke from Dead Buck’s cigarette. Will doesn’t know her, but she knew him. Knew. When they were eight. And stray bullets had cut through the playground, and Will had tried to cover her, but she was hit anyway, and so what she wants to know, on that fifth floor elevator stop, is, what if Will, Will with the gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, MISSES.
And so it goes, the whole long way down, as the elevator stops on each floor, and at each stop someone connected to his brother gets on to give Will a piece to a bigger story than the one he thinks he knows. A story that might never know an END…if WILL gets off that elevator.
Told in short, fierce staccato narrative verse, Long Way Down is a fast and furious, dazzlingly brilliant look at teenage gun violence, as could only be told by Jason Reynolds.
A Coretta Scott King Honor Book
A Printz Honor Book
A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner for Young Adult Literature
Longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature
Winner of the Walter Dean Myers Award
An Edgar Award Winner for Best Young Adult Fiction
Parents’ Choice Gold Award Winner
An Entertainment Weekly Best YA Book of 2017
A Vulture Best YA Book of 2017
A Buzzfeed Best YA Book of 2017
An ode to Put the Damn Guns Down, this is National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestseller Jason Reynolds’s fiercely stunning novel that takes place in sixty potent seconds—the time it takes a kid to decide whether or not he’s going to murder the guy who killed his brother.
A cannon. A strap.
A piece. A biscuit.
A burner. A heater.
A chopper. A gat.
A hammer
A tool
for RULE
Or, you can call it a gun. That’s what fifteen-year-old Will has shoved in the back waistband of his jeans. See, his brother Shawn was just murdered. And Will knows the rules. No crying. No snitching. Revenge. That’s where Will’s now heading, with that gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, the gun that was his brother’s gun. He gets on the elevator, seventh floor, stoked. He knows who he’s after. Or does he? As the elevator stops on the sixth floor, on comes Buck. Buck, Will finds out, is who gave Shawn the gun before Will took the gun. Buck tells Will to check that the gun is even loaded. And that’s when Will sees that one bullet is missing. And the only one who could have fired Shawn’s gun was Shawn. Huh. Will didn’t know that Shawn had ever actually USED his gun. Bigger huh. BUCK IS DEAD. But Buck’s in the elevator? Just as Will’s trying to think this through, the door to the next floor opens. A teenage girl gets on, waves away the smoke from Dead Buck’s cigarette. Will doesn’t know her, but she knew him. Knew. When they were eight. And stray bullets had cut through the playground, and Will had tried to cover her, but she was hit anyway, and so what she wants to know, on that fifth floor elevator stop, is, what if Will, Will with the gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, MISSES.
And so it goes, the whole long way down, as the elevator stops on each floor, and at each stop someone connected to his brother gets on to give Will a piece to a bigger story than the one he thinks he knows. A story that might never know an END…if WILL gets off that elevator.
Told in short, fierce staccato narrative verse, Long Way Down is a fast and furious, dazzlingly brilliant look at teenage gun violence, as could only be told by Jason Reynolds.
Publication Date: 10/24/17
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: The most popular gamer on YouTube, Ali-A, presents his very own action-packed graphic novel!
It’s launch time for the hotly anticipated video game Alien Liberator 2, and who better to invite along than top gamer Ali-A? Ali is promised the biggest game launch ever—but what he doesn’t count on is just how real the action is about to get!
When a merciless band of aliens turns up to spoil the party, it’s up to Ali to transform from gaming icon to real-life hero. Can he defeat the end-of-game boss and save the day? With a little help from his fans and his very special dog, Eevee, he’s going to give it his best shot!
It’s launch time for the hotly anticipated video game Alien Liberator 2, and who better to invite along than top gamer Ali-A? Ali is promised the biggest game launch ever—but what he doesn’t count on is just how real the action is about to get!
When a merciless band of aliens turns up to spoil the party, it’s up to Ali to transform from gaming icon to real-life hero. Can he defeat the end-of-game boss and save the day? With a little help from his fans and his very special dog, Eevee, he’s going to give it his best shot!
Publication Date: 10/24/17
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis:
They were all stars in their hometowns. Then they were drafted to play minor league ball, thinking it would be an easy ride to playing in the big time. Little did they know that they’d be vying for a spot with every other talented kid who aspired to play professional baseball. Young, inexperienced, immature, and without the support of their families and friends, they’re often faced with split-second decisions. Not always on the baseball diamond.
Publication Date: 10/23/17
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: “Swiftly moving and utterly engrossing.” —Shelf Awareness
Parents’ Choice Recommended
From Newbery Award–winning author Avi comes the gripping and amazingly true tale of a boy plucked from the gutter to become the King of England.
England, 1486. King Henry VII has recently snatched the English Crown and now sits on the throne, while young Prince Edward, who has a truer claim, has apparently disappeared. Meanwhile, a penniless kitchen boy named Lambert Simnel is slaving away at a tavern in Oxford—until a mysterious friar, Brother Simonds, buys Lambert from the tavern keeper and whisks him away in the dead of night. But this is nothing compared to the secret that the friar reveals: You, Lambert, are actually Prince Edward, the true King of England!
With the aid of the deceitful Earl of Lincoln, Brother Simonds sets out to teach the boy how to become the rightful English king. Lambert has everything to gain and nothing to lose, or so he thinks. Yet in this dangerous battle for the throne, Lambert is not prepared for what’s to come—or for what it really means to play at being a king.
Parents’ Choice Recommended
From Newbery Award–winning author Avi comes the gripping and amazingly true tale of a boy plucked from the gutter to become the King of England.
England, 1486. King Henry VII has recently snatched the English Crown and now sits on the throne, while young Prince Edward, who has a truer claim, has apparently disappeared. Meanwhile, a penniless kitchen boy named Lambert Simnel is slaving away at a tavern in Oxford—until a mysterious friar, Brother Simonds, buys Lambert from the tavern keeper and whisks him away in the dead of night. But this is nothing compared to the secret that the friar reveals: You, Lambert, are actually Prince Edward, the true King of England!
With the aid of the deceitful Earl of Lincoln, Brother Simonds sets out to teach the boy how to become the rightful English king. Lambert has everything to gain and nothing to lose, or so he thinks. Yet in this dangerous battle for the throne, Lambert is not prepared for what’s to come—or for what it really means to play at being a king.
Publication Date: 10/17/17
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: Named to the 2018 Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens list (Young Adult Library Services Association) and the New York Public Library's list of Best Books for Teens.
Alfonso Jones can't wait to play the role of Hamlet in his school's hip-hop rendition of the classic Shakespearean play. He also wants to let his best friend, Danetta, know how he really feels about her. But as he is buying his first suit, an off-duty police officer mistakes a clothes hanger for a gun, and he shoots Alfonso.
When Alfonso wakes up in the afterlife, he's on a ghost train guided by well-known victims of police shootings, who teach him what he needs to know about this subterranean spiritual world. Meanwhile, Alfonso's family and friends struggle with their grief and seek justice for Alfonso in the streets. As they confront their new realities, both Alfonso and those he loves realize the work that lies ahead in the fight for justice.
In the first graphic novel for young readers to focus on police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement, as in Hamlet, the dead shall speak--and the living yield even more surprises.
Featuring a foreword by Bryan Stevenson, Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative and author of Just Mercy.Publication Date: 10/12/17
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction