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One Came Home
Amy Timberlake
Synopsis: A Newbery Honor Book

An ALA-ALSC Notable Children's Book

Winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Juvenile Novel

“An adventure, a mystery, and a love song to the natural world. . . . Run out and read it. Right now.”—Newbery Medalist Karen Cushman


In the town of Placid, Wisconsin, in 1871, Georgie Burkhardt is known for two things: her uncanny aim with a rifle and her habit of speaking her mind plainly.

But when Georgie blurts out something she shouldn't, her older sister Agatha flees, running off with a pack of "pigeoners" trailing the passenger pigeon migration. And when the sheriff returns to town with an unidentifiable body—wearing Agatha's blue-green ball gown—everyone assumes the worst. Except Georgie. Refusing to believe the facts that are laid down (and coffined) before her, Georgie sets out on a journey to find her sister. She will track every last clue and shred of evidence to bring Agatha home. Yet even with resolute determination and her trusty Springfield single-shot, Georgie is not prepared for what she faces on the western frontier.
Publication Date: 01/08/13
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Red Crucible
Terri Parady
Synopsis: When we first meet 17-year-old farm girl Jessie, it is several days after her high school band concert and her parents have just recently informed her that the world will end as she knows it. It doesn't take long or much effort from her parents to persuade Jessie to stop attending high school and train with her father, a war veteran, in survival. Through constant bad weather, some life-threatening scenarios and many reality-questioning dreams, Jessie is tested in more ways than she could ever imagine. Will the bringer of death consume her or will Jessie find her way through the trials ahead of her?
Publication Date: 07/18/25
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Little Wings #4: The One and Only Willa Bean
Kristi Valiant, Cecilia Galante
Synopsis: Cecilia Galante's sweet series about a lovable curly-haired cupid soars on in book #4.

Every cupid has a one-of-a-kind flying friend, right? Wrong! Willa Bean has Snooze, an owl, but the new girl in school, Lucy, has an owl, too! And Lucy's owl is bigger, and maybe even smarter, than Snooze. What if Mr. Wingston overshadows Snooze at Noble Nimbus Day? Nope, nope, nope-ity nope. Willa Bean has to make sure Snooze is the best owl at Cupid Academy!
Publication Date: 12/26/12
Age Level: 5 - 8
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Storm
Melissa Kline
Synopsis: 2013 NEXT GENERATION INDIE BOOK AWARD FINALIST (Young Adult Category)

2012 FOREWORD BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD FINALIST (Young Adult Category)

Sixteen-year-old Storm enjoys skateboarding, fixing broken electronics, and building things with his hands. They distract him from the tormented thoughts surrounding the circumstances of his mother’s death. But his problems can’t be avoided forever…

Since his mother’s death, tensions are high at home, the girl of Storm’s dreams is dating someone else, and an argument with his father lands him in the school counselors’ office.

Will Storm overcome his fears, let go of the feelings that have been haunting him, and reveal his long-held secrets? Can his dad ever forgive him? Will the girl of his dreams ever see him as more than a friend?

A true-to-life young adult novel teeming with mystery, romance and intrigue.

“Breathtaking. A powerful story of the heart ... Kline has the amazing talent of sharing a tragedy through the viewpoint of a young man.” ~ Elizabeth Mueller, YA Author of Darkspell

"A must read for teens, teachers, parents and anyone who would like to add to their understanding of how young people maneuver through their world.” ~Loyce Crawford, LCSW
Publication Date: 12/21/12
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Magicalamity
Kate Saunders
Synopsis: Tom is in shock. He's just discovered that his dad is an escaped fairy on the run. And that he must trust his life to three dangerous fairy godmothers he's never met. Two of them are hardened criminals, and one falls out of the window when she tries to fly . . .

Will their mad magic be enough to help Tom rescue his dad from the clutches of some killer fairies?
Publication Date: 12/11/12
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
The BuddhaPest
Trudy Chun
Synopsis: Alone. When his mother is deployed to the Middle East with the US Army, Marc Gomez finds himself alone in Central Europe. Abandoned in a "Hungarian hellhole of a boarding school," his only friends are a small assortment of cross-cultural misfits with whom he has nothing in common--except the English language. When things couldn't get any worse, Marc's roommate commits suicide, at least that's what the police say. But Marc's odd group of friends see something else. Can you see what they see? And will their unique ability to pick up on clues prove more costly than anyone imagined?
Publication Date: 11/28/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
The Gatekeeper's Sons (Book Two)
Synopsis: Ten agonizing months have gone by since Therese faced off against her parents’ murderer at Mount Olympus, and she suspects Thanatos's absence is meant to send her a message: go on with your life. She tries to return Pete’s affections, but when Than shows up to take her hamster’s soul, she sees him and becomes infuriated when he says he’s “been busy.” In cahoots with her new friend, Vicki, who's gotten in with the Demon Druggies at school, Therese takes a drug that simulates a near-death experience, planning to tell Than off so she can have closure and move on, but things go very, very wrong. Eventually she learns Than has been busy searching for a way to make her a god, and he’s found it, but it requires her to complete a set of impossible challenges designed by Hades, who hopes to see her fail.
Publication Date: 11/28/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Liberty Frye and the Witches of Hessen (series)
Synopsis: The average ten-year-old girl seldom travels far from home. She doesn't worry about being kidnapped by witches or imprisoned in medieval castles where children meet their unspeakable demise. She rarely gives thought to curses, potions and magic. She certainly isn't concerned about risking life and limb to decipher ancient rites and lost treasures....

But Liberty Frye is about to discover that she is not just an average girl.

When a cryptic note from long-lost relatives arrives, the news it brings flips Libby's small-town existence upside down. Soon, she finds herself lured to a foreign land where retired witches, talking bats and geriatric World War II pilots await. It's up to Libby to unravel the sinister plot that brought her there in the first place, but in so doing, she'll uncover a shocking secret that will change her life forever ... if she survives the challenge.
Publication Date: 11/18/12
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel
Synopsis: Greg Heffley is not willing to be the odd man out.

A dance at Greg's middle school has everyone scrambling to find a partner, and Greg is determined not to be left by the wayside. So he concocts a desperate plan to find someone—anyone!—to go with on the big night.

But Greg's schemes go hilariously awry, and his only option is to attend the dance with his best friend, Rowley Jefferson, and a female classmate as a "group of friends." But the night is long, and anything can happen along the way. Who will arrive at the dance triumphantly, and who will end up being the third wheel?
Publication Date: 11/13/12
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Bartholomew Biddle and the Very Big Wind
Synopsis: A soaring bedsheet carries a young boy on three incredible adventures in this compelling debut by acclaimed film director Gary Ross.

Bartholomew Biddle’s life has always been pretty ordinary, but when a huge wind blows past his window one night, he feels the call of adventure — and he can’t resist the urge to grab his bedsheet and catch a ride. Soon he’s soaring far above his little town, heading wherever the wind takes him! After spending time on an island full of pleasure-seeking pirates and at a prep school that boasts a hundred shades of gray, Bart finds himself in a mysterious cove where the wind doesn’t blow. Stuck, Bart is forced to face the fact that his flying days might be over. Will he ever get home again?
Publication Date: 11/13/12
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Make Magic! Do Good!
Dallas Clayton, Dallas Clayton
Synopsis: From from an exciting new face in children’s literature, Dallas Clayton, comes a book of illustrated poems full of wisdom, wonder, and whimsy.

A boy with a beard tries to stay six forever. A frightful monster lives a million miles away, but is equally scared of you. A magic rope hangs from the sky, next to a sign saying "Give me a try." In this brightly illustrated selection of playful, often provocative poems, ideas run the gamut from stopping your lightning-fast running to help others keep up, imagining a store that sells colors never before made, or admitting you’ll never know all the answers (and sleeping better at night). Following the runaway success of his self-published debut, Dallas Clayton’s quirky, captivating collection makes it clear that this rising talent, whose work has evoked comparisons to Dr. Seuss, Maurice Sendak, and Shel Silverstein, exudes a spirit and style all his own.
Publication Date: 11/13/12
Age Level: Any Age
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Mason Dixon: Fourth-Grade Disasters
Guy Francis, Claudia Mills
Synopsis: Here's the second entry in Claudia Mills's charming middle-grade series, that finds the lovably sardonic title character starting the fourth grade, which he's dreading because everyone in fourth grade is expected to join the school choir. And sing. In front of everyone. Mason can't think of many things he enjoys less than singing--but performing in front of other people might come close. Mason devises a foolproof plan that will keep him out of the spotlight on concert night. Of course, in the world of Mason Dixon, there is no such thing as a foolproof plan. There is only disaster.
Publication Date: 11/13/12
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
The Lazarus Machine
Paul Crilley
Synopsis: Steampunk adventure for fans of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Who

An alternate 1895, A world where Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace perfected the Difference Engine. Where steam and Tesla-powered computers are everywhere. Where automatons powered by human souls venture out into the sprawling London streets. Where the Ministry, a secretive government agency, seeks to control everything in the name of the Queen.

It is in this claustrophobic, paranoid city that seventeen-year old Sebastian Tweed and his conman father struggle to eke out a living. But all is not well. A murderous, masked gang has moved into London, spreading terror through the criminal ranks as they take over the underworld. As the gang carves up more and more of the city, a single name comes to be uttered in fearful whispers, Professor Moriarty.

When Tweed's father is kidnapped by Moriarty, he is forced to team up with information broker, Octavia Nightingale, to track him down. But he soon realizes that his father's disappearance is just a tiny piece of a political conspiracy that could destroy the British Empire and plunge the world into a horrific war.
Publication Date: 11/06/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
The Alien Mind
Virginia Lori Jennings, Virginia Lori Jennings
Synopsis:
Publication Date: 10/18/12
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Behind the Bookcase
Kelly Murphy, Mark Steensland
Synopsis: A girl stumbles into a fantastic world in this tale perfect for fans of Coraline, Alice in Wonderland, and The Twilight Zone.

Spending the summer at her grandmother's house is the last thing Sarah wants to do—especially now that Grandma Winnie has died—but she has no choice. Her parents have to fix the place up before they can sell it, and Sarah and her brother, Billy, have to help. But the tedious work turns into a thrilling mystery when Sarah discovers an unfinished letter her grandmother wrote: Strange things are happening behind the bookcase. . . . 

Sarah's mother dismisses the letter as one of Grandma Winnie's crazy stories, but Sarah does some investigating and makes a remarkable discovery: behind the bookcase is a doorway into Scotopia, the land where shadows come from. With a talking cat named Balthazat as her guide, Sarah begins an unforgettable adventure into a world filled with countless dangers. Who can she trust? And can she face her fears, not only in Scotopia, but also back at Grandma Winnie's house, where more secrets and strange goings-on await her?
Publication Date: 10/09/12
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
On the Run
Clara Bourreau
Synopsis: A young boy discovers the real whereabouts of his absent father--jail!

Anthony hasn't seen his dad in years. The reason: His father is busy traveling the world as a wildlife photographer—at least, according to Anthony's mom and sister. The real reason: His dad has been a fugitive from the law and is now in jail, awaiting trial.

When Anthony finally learns the truth, his life changes overnight. He insists on visiting his dad in prison. And once the trial begins, it's the lead story on the local news. Everyone at school starts to taunt Anthony about having a criminal for a father, even his best friend. Then one day, in a shocking turn of events, his dad escapes from the courtroom. Anthony wants to be with him—and when he gets the change, he grabs it. Now father and son are on the run. But how far will they get?
Publication Date: 10/09/12
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction

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