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Picking Up Speed (Superhuman)
Synopsis:

Natalie has never been a fast runner. She's only on the track team because her sister, a varsity runner, put in a good word with the coach. So Natalie's shocked when her speed suddenly increases on her sixteenth birthday. Soon she can run faster than humanly possible! But the more races she wins, the more arrogant she becomes. With this new attitude taking a toll on her relationship with her best friend on the team as well as her sister, Natalie must decide if the super speed is really worth it.

Publication Date: 03/01/18
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
The Boggart Fights Back
Synopsis: The Boggart is back for a new adventure of magic and mayhem from Newbery winner Susan Cooper.

Magic is in the air when Allie and Jay Cameron visit their ancestors’ ancient Castle Keep in Scotland, tucked in its unspoiled loch. The twins wake the mischievous shape-shifting Boggart and his infamous cousin Nessie, of Loch Ness fame. But a summer of fun-loving trickery with the Old Things is invaded by a dangerous real estate developer called William Trout.

Trout has big plans for a luxury resort on the loch, and little care for its people or the law. Bulldozers get to work. The future of the loch, its seals, and all its beauty are threatened. The twins and Angus Cameron, their grandfather, mobilize to save his shop and the loch, but it’s soon clear they will need help of a different sort…

In a race against time, the Boggarts recruit help from other Old Things of Scotland: hair-raising creatures of the Wild Magic. But are the Blue Men of the Minch and the Nuckelavee too terrifying for humans to handle? How can they drive out the invader? What’s certain is that Mr. Trout is in for a wild ride in this comical, page-turning adventure from Newbery Medalist Susan Cooper.
Publication Date: 02/27/18
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Science Fiction
Corners
Corrina Austin
Synopsis:

Everyone needs their own special corner...

It's 1969 and ten-year-old Davy is in a predicament. With two weeks remaining of the summer holidays, he's expelled from the public pool for sneaking into the deep end and almost drowning. How will he break the news to his hard-working single mother? She's at the diner all day, Davy has no friends, and he's too young to stay by himself.

The answer lies in his rescuer, mysterious thirteen-year-old Ellis Wynn. Visiting her Grammy for the summer, Ellis offers to babysit Davy. She teaches him about "corners"-forgotten or neglected areas fixed up special. Together, the kids tackle several "corners" and Davy learns what it means to bring joy to others.

Davy begins to wonder, though. Why does Ellis want to be his friend? Why doesn't she ever smile? And is Davy just one of Ellis' "corners?"

Publication Date: 02/26/18
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Crazy Cat Lady
Kitty 'de Chatfou
Synopsis: In 1962 they thought she was dead, all they had to do was burn the old house down with her and those damnable cats in it and everything would be normal again. No more odd antics from the Crazy Cat Lady no more death. But what they didn't realize is there was much more to her relationship with her beloved cats than met the eye. Love, trust, and the bonds of a mother to her children all played a part to the insanity the town people thought raged within the crone's mind. It's now 2018 and the stories have not ceased. Instead it seems the legend of the 'Crazy Cat Lady' have grown more horrifying than ever before prompting the local children to take a visit. Most have only come within a few feet of the old half burned house. They would stand, staring at the place, watching the creepy cats mill about the area, climbing along porch railings meowing plaintively. But three high school boys decide to take it a bit further one night which begins a horrifying look into what happens when nature is misunderstood and an old crone that harmed no one is now out for revenge.
Publication Date: 02/23/18
Age Level: Adult
Genre: Fiction
Sticky Notes
Dianne Touchell
Synopsis: For fans of Counting by 7s and Fish in a Tree, a touching story about the power of love and family in the face of a parent's early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

Foster Sumner is ten years old. He likes toy soldiers, tadpole hunting, going to school, and the beach. Best of all, he likes listening to his dad's stories.

But then Foster's dad starts forgetting things. No one is too worried at first. Foster and Dad giggle about it. Dad goes out for milk and comes back with cat food, when the cat has been dead for five years. But then the forgetting gets worse. And suddenly no one is laughing anymore.

A heartbreaking story about what it means to forget and to be forgotten, as well as the devastating effects of Alzheimer's and the strong families behind those who suffer from it.

"Heartbreakingly realistic." --SLJ

"Touchell presents honest, believable characters in this heart-wrenching account of one family's attempt to cope with an unexpected life-altering event." --Bulletin

"Heartwarming, heartbreaking and honest...a great family read." --The Monitor
Publication Date: 02/20/18
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Fiction
Snow in April (A Story of Concordia)
Synopsis: "To make a friend, you have to be a friend." Princess Olive gives this advice to young Prince Jasper of Thisley when the lonely prince comes to Concordia. He needs all the help he can get, too. Friendless and isolated, Jasper has no idea where he fits into his own kingdom, but when he meets Olive and Toby, the King's page, he finds both friendship and the courage to be himself. While the teens deal with an avalanche and a night in the dungeon, the adults quarrel. It is up to the young people to solve an ancient mystery in order to prevent the unthinkable - the prospect of war between their two kingdoms.
Publication Date: 02/20/18
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Series
What the Night Sings
Vesper Stamper
Synopsis: A Morris Award Finalist
Longlisted for the National Book Award

For fans of The Book Thief and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas comes a lushly illustrated novel about a teen Holocaust survivor who must come to terms with who she is and how to rebuild her life.

"A tour de force. This powerful story of love, loss, and survival is not to be missed." --KRISTIN HANNAH, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale

After losing her family and everything she knew in the Nazi concentration camps, Gerta is finally liberated, only to find herself completely alone. Without her papa, her music, or even her true identity, she must move past the task of surviving and on to living her life. In the displaced persons camp where she is staying, Gerta meets Lev, a fellow teen survivor who she just might be falling for, despite her feelings for someone else. With a newfound Jewish identity she never knew she had, and a return to the life of music she thought she lost forever, Gerta must choose how to build a new future.

"What the Night Sings is a book from the heart, of the heart, and to the heart. Vesper Stamper's Gerta will stay with you long after you turn the last page. Her story is one of hope and redemption and life--a blessing to the world." --Deborah Heiligman, award-winning author of Charles and Emma and Vincent and Theo

A WALL STREET JOURNAL BEST CHILDREN'S BOOK OF 2018
A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOK OF 2018
Publication Date: 02/20/18
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Wolf in Winter (The Valarsard Chronicles: Book Two)
Synopsis: Following the dramatic events that closed Book One, the Valarsards settle back into harmonious co-existence. But tranquility is short-lived, enemies are close at hand, and both the wolf and the eagle are called upon as never before to protect loved ones and avert further tragedy.
Publication Date: 02/19/18
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
The Contender
Robert Lipsyte
Synopsis:

The breakthrough modern sports novel The Contender shows readers the true meaning of being a hero.

This acclaimed novel by celebrated sportswriter Robert Lipsyte, the recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in YA fiction, is the story of a young boxer in Harlem who overcomes hardships and finds hope in the ring on his path to becoming a contender.

Alfred Brooks is scared. He’s a high-school dropout, and his grocery store job is leading nowhere. His best friend is sinking further and further into drug addiction. Some street kids are after him for something he didn’t even do.

So Alfred begins going to Donatelli’s Gym, a boxing club in Harlem that has trained champions. There he learns it’s the effort, not the win, that makes the boxer—that before you can be a champion, you have to be a contender.

ALA Best of the Best Books for Young Adults * ALA Notable Children’s Book * New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age

Publication Date: 02/13/18
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Ravening Heart of the Wolf-The Valarsard Chronicles:Bk 1
Synopsis: from the grave. A young girl is uprooted from the sheltered life that is all she has known and must learn to survive in a violent and pitiless world where man is wolf to man. A valiant young warrior loses his heart to her, but the unforeseen tears them apart. Fate conspires to throw all three into each other’s path with shattering results. A colorful cast of minor characters helps to create a stunning, stained-glass-montage of an adventure that will enthrall readers young, old, and in-between.
Publication Date: 02/12/18
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Pretend Princess (A Story of Concordia)
Synopsis: In the mountain kingdom of Concordia, King Bartholomew has a problem. How can he ease the loneliness of Queen Gabrielle, who longs for a child? Borrow one, of course! A young girl named Olive becomes the Queen's companion, growing up one foot in a palace and the other in a cottage. But what happens to a Pretend Princess when the King and Queen finally have a child of their own? With humor and a vivid cast of characters, "Pretend Princess" turns the usual fairytale on its head in this engaging story. "Pretend Princess" is the captivating first book in the Concordia series for middle-grade readers.
Publication Date: 02/10/18
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Archie Wilson & The Beasts of Loch Ness
Synopsis: Tragedy strikes forcing 10 year-old Archie Wilson to live with a father he doesn’t know in Scotland. Overnight his simple life is shattered and he is thrust into a perilous new world. Archie stumbles upon a secret underground cavern that hides creatures who, for over a thousand years have lived in secret. But when the most treacherous creature of all time; known as the Nuckelavee tries to resurrect itself. Can Archie unite the secret creatures of Loch Ness and defeat the Nuckelavee… KIRKUS REVIEWS. Heartfelt, witty, and wonderfully original. Archie Wilson's world is in ruins. After his mother is killed in a car crash, the London boy is sent to dreary Foyers, Scotland, to live with his father--a man he's never met. In particular, the author beautifully renders Archie's evolving relationships with his father. Overall, this story will connect with kids. Cooper masterfully plays with well-worn myths and folklore to create a new Scottish tale imbued with its own playful magic. “Cooper gives a new twist to an old, enduring myth. An exhilarating, mind-expanding voyage under clam waters that opens the mysterious secrets of Loch Ness”
Publication Date: 02/09/18
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Parents for Sale (Story and Coloring Book)
Sonny Heston, Dr. Nicole Audet
Synopsis: Luke and Lucy's parents threaten to sell their golden retriever, Pistachio, since they don't take care of her as they promised. As soon as their parents' car is out of sight, Luke, Lucy and Pistachio go into the garage. Luke begins painting big white letters on a piece of dark cardboard: Parents for Sale. Three families come to buy, trade, or rent their parents without success. As soon as the twins sell their parents to the fairy orphan, she transforms into a witch who wishes to eat them in a stew. How will the twins save their parents? This is a story and a coloring book. Have fun coloring the 10 illustrations of this book. The AuthorHouse color edition of this book received more than 50 positive reviews and eight book awards. There is also an audiobook and Kindle version available.The
Publication Date: 02/07/18
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza
Shaun David Hutchinson
Synopsis: From the critically acclaimed author of We Are the Ants and At the Edge of the Universe comes a mind-bending, riveting novel about a teen who was born to a virgin mother and realizes she has the power to heal—but that power comes at a huge cost.

Sixteen-year-old Elena Mendoza is the product of a virgin birth.

This can be scientifically explained (it’s called parthenogenesis), but what can’t be explained is how Elena is able to heal Freddie, the girl she’s had a crush on for years, from a gunshot wound in a Starbucks parking lot. Or why the boy who shot Freddie, David Combs, disappeared from the same parking lot minutes later after getting sucked up into the clouds. What also can’t be explained are the talking girl on the front of a tampon box, or the reasons that David Combs shot Freddie in the first place.

As more unbelievable things occur, and Elena continues to perform miracles, the only remaining explanation is the least logical of all—that the world is actually coming to an end, and Elena is possibly the only one who can do something about it.
Publication Date: 02/06/18
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
LAYOVER
Emily Meyer, Amy Andelson
Synopsis: Fans of Julie Buxbaum's Tell Me Three Things and Morgan Matson's Since You've Been Gone will get caught up in the drama of this road trip romance that begins with an unplanned flight layover in L.A. and turns into a wild adventure.

FLYNN: At first we were almost strangers. But ever since I moved to New York, Amos was the one person I could count on. And together we were there for Poppy. (I mean, what kind of parents leave their kid to be raised by a nanny?) I just didn't expect to fall for him--and I never expected him to leave us.

AMOS: I thought I was the only one who felt it. I told myself it was because we were spending so much time together--taking care of Poppy and all. But that night, I could tell she felt it, too. And I freaked out--you're not supposed to fall for your stepsister. So I ran away to boarding school. I should have told her why I was leaving, but every time I tried, it felt like a lie.

One missed flight was about to change their lives forever. . . .

Perfect for fans of Clueless and brought to you by two Hollywood screenwriters, this wild journey of unlikely romance, heartbreak, and adventure--set against the backdrop of a blended family in free fall during a rebellious layover in Los Angeles–reveals the true value of the unbreakable bonds we forge when we dare to let ourselves risk it all.

"A thoughtful, charming journey into the nature of love and family." –Rachel Cohn, New York Times bestselling coauthor of Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

"This road-trip saga from Hollywood screenwriters Andelson and Meyer is being hailed as a must-read for fans of 'Clueless.'" –Brightly
Publication Date: 02/06/18
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Fiction
Tarnished City
Vic James
Synopsis: MAGIC COMPELS. WE BLEED.

The captivating dystopian trilogy that began with Gilded Cage continues. In a modern Britain where magic users control wealth, politics—and you—an uprising has been crushed. In its aftermath, two families will determine the country’s fate. The ruthless Jardines make a play for ultimate power. And the Hadleys, once an ordinary family, must find the extraordinary strength to fight back.

Abi Hadley is a fugitive. Her brother, Luke, a prisoner. Both will discover that in the darkest places, the human spirit shines brightest. Meanwhile, amid his family’s intrigues, Silyen Jardine dreams of forgotten powers from an earlier age. 

As blood runs in the streets of London, all three will discover whether love and courage can ever be stronger than tyranny. 

How do you choose when you can’t save everyone?

Praise for Tarnished City

“Highly recommended . . . There’s an admirable level of world-building . . . with real moments of empathy and compassion [and] a true nail-biter of a cliffhanger ending.”—Fantasy Literature

“Multifaceted complexity . . . lively, determined characters.”—Publishers Weekly
Publication Date: 02/06/18
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Science Fiction

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