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Penny Hike
Bobby S. Richardson
Synopsis: Fin O'Connell was repeatedly abused by his mother's brother, Uncle Steve.  He made the decision to finally end the abuse at the beginning of his seventh grade year.  While sitting anxiously at home waiting for his mother to return, Fin conjured up the courage to finally reveal the abuse he suffered at the hands of his uncle.  Fin's mother arrived home and before he could explain to her about the abuse, his mother revealed to him devastating news about her life--she had terminal cancer.

But Fin wasn't about to give up on himself.   With Fin's two best friends, Joey and Penny, by his side, they took penny hikes through the streets of Somerville, Massachusetts. Fin pushed doggedly ahead into the unknown as life kept throwing him challenges, from facing down a bully to coping with the devastating effects of his mother's terminal cancer.  Can Fin find redemption during a troubled and confusing time in his life?

Penny Hike is a story of hope, resolve, and digging deeper than you thought possible.  It's a story about finding strength, and ultimately persevering in life, even when your soul has been murdered.  Penny Hike delves into the unpredictable world of adolescence and the traumatic effects of abuse.
Publication Date: 01/31/14
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
The Castle Crime: A to Z Mysteries
Ron Roy, John Steven Gurney
Synopsis: Z was just the beginning! With A to Z Mysteries® Super Editions, chapter book readers keep on collecting clues and solving mysteries with Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose. Now with over 8 million copies in print, this classic kid-favorite series is back with a bright new look!
 
Look out, London! Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose are thrilled to see Big Ben, ride the London Eye, and tour Madame Tussauds wax museum. Then big news hits—someone has stolen Queen Elizabeth’s jewels right outside Windsor Castle! The friends head to the castle to check for clues. But can three kids from Green Lawn find evidence that Scotland Yard has missed?
 
Look for hidden messages inside A to Z Mysteries® Super Editions!
Publication Date: 01/28/14
Age Level: 5 - 8
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Lunch Lady and the Schoolwide Scuffle
Synopsis: From the author of National Book Award finalist Hey, Kiddo.

Lunch Lady and Betty have been unceremoniously cut from the school budget, and the timing couldn't be worse—the villains from all nine of her previous adventures are worming their way back into Thompson Brook with a masterfully devious plan. Will the Breakfast Bunch still be able to count on Lunch Lady's superhero gadgets and abilities to save the school, or are they on their own? Don't miss Lunch Lady's swashbuckling finale!
Publication Date: 01/28/14
Age Level: 5 - 8
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
The Rise of Renegade X
Chelsea M Campbell
Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Damien Locke has a plan: major in messing with people at the local supervillain university and become a professional evil genius, just like his supervillain mom. But when he discovers the shameful secret she's been hiding all these years, that the one-night stand that spawned him was actually with a superhero, everything gets messed up. His father's too moral for his own good, so when he finds out Damien exists, he actually wants him to come live with him and his goody-goody superhero family. Damien gets shipped off to stay with them in their suburban hellhole, and he has only six weeks to prove he's not a hero in any way, or else he's stuck living with them for the rest of his life, or until he turns eighteen, whichever comes first. To get out of this mess, Damien has to survive his dad's "flying lessons" that involve throwing him off the tallest building in the city--despite his nearly debilitating fear of heights--thwarting the eccentric teen scientist who insists she's his sidekick, and keeping his supervillain girlfriend from finding out the truth. But when Damien uncovers a dastardly plot to turn all the superheroes into mindless zombie slaves, a plan hatched by his own mom, he discovers he cares about his new family more than he thought. Now he has to choose: go back to his life of villainy and let his family become zombies, or stand up to his mom and become a real hero.
Publication Date: 01/10/14
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Road Trip
Jim Paulsen, Gary Paulsen
Synopsis: A summer adventure you'll never forget, from a beloved Newbery Honor winning author!

Dad and Ben haven't been getting along lately, and Dad hopes a road trip to rescue a border collie will help them reconnect. But Ben is on to Dad's scheme, and he's got ideas of his own. Like inviting his buddy, Theo, who's sure to get into fun (and trouble) along the way. And if Dad wants a family road trip, then the family dog, Atticus, should get to come, too. What could go wrong?

But when their truck breaks down, the family trip takes plenty of unexpected turns. Before they know it, they've commandeered an old school bus and joined forces with its cranky mechanic, Gus. Next, they pick up Mia, a waitress escaping a tense situation. Only sharp-eyed Atticus realizes that Theo is on the run from something bad—and someone is following them. 

With alternating chapters from both Ben and his dog, Atticus, this fast-paced book takes readers on an unpredictable ride that's all about family, friendship, and surprises.
Publication Date: 01/07/14
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Busy Dizzy (Inspirational bedtime story for kids ages 4-8)
Synopsis: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Daisy S- HALL OF FAME - TOP 10 REVIEW - ERVINE VOICE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"This is one of the BEST children's book I have ever read. It teaches quite the lesson in how to get rid of the DIZZY'S (negative thoughts). The pictures are colorful, easy to see even in a smaller Kindle! Parents this book is one that you will enjoy reading to your children and even enjoy it yourself. For me, it touched my heart and I really loved reading this book!
Highly recommend this book! "

A motivational bedtime picture story for children ages 4-8

"...Then suddenly David thinks he can hear, 
A strange little voice whisper into his ear: 
"It's me Bizzzzzzzy Dizzzzzzy!" that voice says to him 
"Don't run the race. There's no way you'll win!" 
So David decides that today he won't run, 
He watches his friends. 
And he misses the fun..." 


This motivational bedtime rhyming picture book for kids ages 4-8, tells the tale of Miss Young's class and their unexpected visitors: Busy Dizzies. Or, in other words, the strange little negative voice that sometimes comes near and whispers into your ear... 
A fun to read children's rhyming picture book that is suitable as a read aloud book for kindergarten and preschoolers or as a self-read book for beginning and early readers. 

"A must for all children and parents, preschool teachers, therapists and coaches ..."

Don't forget to scroll back up and grab your own copy of this beautiful picture book while the price is still low.
Publication Date: 12/21/13
Age Level: 5 - 8
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
The Purgatorium (Book One)
Synopsis: Seventeen year-old Daphne Janus is surprised when her parents agree to let her accompany her friend to a getaway resort on an island off the coast of California. They haven't let her out of their sight since last New Year's Eve, when she could no longer stand the way they looked at her. Her sister would still be alive if it weren't for Daphne. Her friend, Cam, takes her to a mostly uninhabited island with a wildlife preserve on one side and Chumash Indian ruins on the “haunted” side. Daphne decides she will have one last "hurrah" before she finishes what she started last New Year's Eve. However, things seldom go as planned... The resort is beautiful, the beach pristine, and the views from the headland amazing. The only thing missing is the boyfriend who left her when she could no longer love anyone. Then strange things begin to happen on the island that soon have Daphne running for her life. She eventually learns that her parents have sent her for experimental "suicide therapy," but when her horse bucks her off during a trail ride and she becomes lost on the haunted side of the island, she wonders if her parents have sent her there to help her or to punish her.
Publication Date: 12/16/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck, Book 8
Synopsis: Greg Heffley's on a losing streak. His best friend, Rowley Jefferson, has ditched him, and finding new friends in middle school is proving to be a tough task. To change his fortunes, Greg decides to take a leap of faith and turn his decisions over to chance. Will a roll of the dice turn things around, or is Greg's life destined to be just another hard-luck story?  
Publication Date: 11/05/13
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Contagion
Tim Lebbon
Synopsis: Jack and his friends are in a race against time to save the remaining inhabitants of a postapocalyptic London from a nuclear bomb.
 
Two years after London is struck by a devastating terrorist attack, it is cut off from the rest of the world, protected by a large force of soldiers (known as Choppers) while the rest of Britain believe that their ex-capital is a toxic, uninhabited wasteland. But that's not true. Jack and his friends know that the truth is very different--and incredible: the few remaining survivors in London are changing; developing strange, fantastic powers; evolving. And the Chopper force guarding London is treating the ruined city as its own experimental ground.

Now, Jack's powers are growing. His friend Lucy-Anne's powers are developing too, and Nomad--that mysterious woman who started it all--is close by. But the Choppers have initiated their final safeguard--a huge nuclear bomb that will wipe out London, and everyone still within its boundaries. Jack and his friends must spread the news of the bomb and save everyone they can. Before that can happen, Jack must face his father, the deadly Reaper, in their final showdown.
Publication Date: 11/05/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
The Creature Department
Framestore, Robert Paul Weston
Synopsis: “Stunning…a bit like if you took Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Monsters Inc. and shoved them in a TARDIS.” --Buzzfeed
 It’s a tentacled, inventive, gooey, world in there. . . .

Elliot Von Doppler and his friend Leslie think nothing ever happens in Bickleburgh, except inside the gleaming headquarters of DENKi-3000—the world’s eighth-largest electronics factory.
 
Beneath the glass towers and glittering skywalks, there's a rambling old mansion from which all the company’s amazing inventions spring forth. And no one except Uncle Archie knows what’s behind the second-to-last door at the end of the hall.

Until Elliot and Leslie are invited to take a glimpse inside.

They find stooped, troll-like creatures with jutting jaws and broken teeth. Tiny winged things that sparkle as they fly. And huge, hulking, hairy nonhumans (with horns). It is unlike anything they’ve ever seen.

But when Chuck Brickweather threatens to shut down the DENKi-3000 factory if a new product isn’t presented soon, the creatures know they are in danger. And when Uncle Archie vanishes, it’s up to Elliot, Leslie, and every one of the unusual, er, “employees” to create an invention so astonishing it will save the Creature Department.
Publication Date: 11/05/13
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
The Osiris Curse
Paul Crilley
Synopsis: Steampunk Sherlock Holmes meets The X-Files with a dash of romantic tension and a large dose of adventure.
 
     When Nikola Tesla is murdered and blueprints for his super weapons are stolen, Tweed and Nightingale are drawn into a global cat and mouse chase with his killers. What's more, it seems that the people who shot Nikola Tesla are the same people responsible for Octavia's mother's disappearance. As the two cases intertwine, Tweed and Nightingale's investigations lead them to a murdered archeologist and a secret society called The Hermetic Order of Osiris. Fleeing the cult's wrath, they go undercover on the luxury airship, The Albion, setting out on her maiden voyage to Tutankhamen's View, a five star hotel built in the hollowed-out and refurbished Great Pyramid of Giza.

     In Egypt, the duo begin to unravel the terrible truth behind Tesla's death, a secret so earth-shattering that if revealed it would mean rewriting the entire history of the world. But if the cult's plans aren't stopped, Britain may lose the future.
Publication Date: 10/15/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Mom Made Us Write This In The Summer
Joanna Robinson, Ali Maier
Synopsis:

A sister and brother, forced to write in the summer, and share ONE journal?

This is exactly what happens to 10-year-old twins Maggie and Max Pruitt.

When Mom comes up with a plan for them to keep a summer journal, Maggie and Max can t believe it. Worse yet, they have to share!

Through their writing, Maggie and Max find out they have very different (and hilarious) views about growing up, family and life a conclusion they only discovered because, as Max and Maggie say, Mom Made Us Write This.

Publication Date: 10/15/13
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Alec Kerley and the Wrath of the Vampire
Synopsis: Adventure, mystery, and monsters converge in this fast-paced middle grade series perfect for fans of Goosebumps, Cirque du Freak, the Cooper Kids, and the Hardy Boys.

"A MODERN DAY DRACULA FOR MIDDLE SCHOOLERS..."-- Electively Paige

First Bigfoot, now a vampire.

It's been four months since Alec Kerley and his friends had their run-in with Bigfoot in the Ozark Mountains. During a field trip to southeast Kansas, they are confronted by a vampire.

This vampire knows them. He has been stalking them -- watching, observing, tracking. He knows Alec's father works for a secret government agency that investigates monsters.

And now the monsters want revenge.

Still dealing with the loss of his mother, Alec will have to gather all the courage he can muster, because the monster hunters have become the hunted.

Hold on tight for the scariest Monster Hunters story yet!

****

Alec Kerley and the Wrath of the Vampire is a middle grade inspirational monster novel filled with adventure. It is a legitimately scary story with some gruesome elements, and a great read for all ages -- middle graders, teens, and adults. Parental guidance is suggested. 52,000 words, 24 chapters.

Alec Kerley and the Wrath of the Vampire is the second book in a series, including Alec Kerley and the Terror of Bigfoot (Book One) and Alec Kerley and the Roar of the Dinosaur (Book Three).
Publication Date: 10/13/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Archon
Lana Krumwiede
Synopsis: As the powerless and the powerful clash, allies and enemies are not always who they seem to be in this dynamic sequel to the dystopian novel Freakling.

Having used his unique connection with the Heart of the Earth to terminate the use of psi, or telekinesis, in the secluded city of Deliverance, twelve-year-old Taemon bears the burden of responsibility for the fate of its people. With society in disarray, his family missing, and tensions looming with the mysterious Republik, Taemon confronts the startling discovery that he alone can still use psi — and that it comes with a price. In an attempt to find his father and prevent war, Taemon and his friend Amma set out on a dangerous journey to the Republik. But what they find there is far from what they expected, and Taemon’s understanding of the world is challenged. Will his psi and his courage be enough to conquer the obstacles standing in the way of peace?
Publication Date: 10/08/13
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
All That's Missing
Sarah Sullivan
Synopsis: When his grandfather’s dementia raises the specter of foster care, Arlo flees to find his only other family member in this genuine, heartening novel.

Arlo’s grandfather travels in time. Not literally — he just mixes up the past with the present. Arlo holds on as best he can, fixing himself cornflakes for dinner and paying back the owner of the corner store for the sausages Poppo eats without remembering to pay. But how long before someone finds out that Arlo is taking care of the grandfather he lives with instead of the other way around? When Poppo lands in the hospital and a social worker comes to take charge, Arlo’s fear of foster care sends him alone across three hundred miles. Armed with a name and a town, Arlo finds his only other family member — the grandmother he doesn’t remember ever meeting. But just finding her isn’t enough to make them a family. Unfailingly honest and touched with a dash of magical realism, Sarah Sullivan’s evocative debut novel delves into a family mystery and unearths universal truths about home, trust, friendship, and strength — all the things a boy needs.
Publication Date: 10/08/13
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Numbed!
David Lubar
Synopsis: When a robot at the math museum zaps their math skills, sixth-grader Logan and his mischievous friend, Benedict, must pass a series of math challenges to retrieve their knowledge.
Publication Date: 10/01/13
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction

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