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Peace, Locomotion
Jacqueline Woodson
Synopsis:

 

Jacqueline Woodson is the 2018-2019 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature

Twelve-year-old Lonnie is finally feeling at home with his foster family. But because he’s living apart from his little sister, Lili, he decides it’s his job to be the “rememberer”— and write down everything that happens while they’re growing up. Lonnie’s musings are bittersweet; he’s happy that he and Lili have new families, but though his new family brings him joy, it also brings new worries. With a foster brother in the army, concepts like Peace have new meaning for Lonnie.

Told through letters from Lonnie to Lili, this thought-provoking companion to Jacqueline Woodson’s National Book Award finalist Locomotion tackles important issues in captivating, lyrical language. Lonnie’s reflections on family, loss, love and peace will strike a note with readers of all ages.

Publication Date: 01/22/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Claudette Colvin
Phillip M Hoose
Synopsis:

"When it comes to justice, there is no easy way to get it. You can't sugarcoat it. You have to take a stand and say, ‘This is not right.'" – Claudette Colvin

On March 2, 1955, an impassioned teenager, fed up with the daily injustices of Jim Crow segregation, refused to give her seat to a white woman on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Instead of being celebrated as Rosa Parks would be just nine months later, fifteen-year-old Claudette Colvin found herself shunned by her classmates and dismissed by community leaders. Undaunted, a year later she dared to challenge segregation again as a key plaintiff in Browder v. Gayle, the landmark case that struck down the segregation laws of Montgomery and swept away the legal underpinnings of the Jim Crow South.
Based on extensive interviews with Claudette Colvin and many others, Phillip Hoose presents the first in-depth account of an important yet largely unknown civil rights figure, skillfully weaving her dramatic story into the fabric of the historic Montgomery bus boycott and court case that would change the course of American history.

Claudette Colvin is the 2009 National Book Award Winner for Young People's Literature and a 2010 Newbery Honor Book.

Publication Date: 01/20/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Nonfiction
Doom Lake Holiday
Tom Henighan
Synopsis:

A mysterious white horse, a quirky parrot, a haunted house, an ancient curse, something frightening in the attic... A summer holiday turns into a nightmare when the Mallory family rents a shabby cottage in a remote corner of Ontario's Rideau Lakes. Seventeen-year-old Chip Mallory and his sixteen-year-old sister Lee are persuaded to go along on "one last family vacation" with their parents before they get caught up in their own lives again.

But when a great storm comes up, and the family moves to an island in the lake, all their technology can't save them from an encounter with an ancient curse. Chip and Lee are drawn into a complex web of past and present; they struggle to make sense of these ancient mysteries, aided by a visiting anthropologist, a poor backwoods girl, and a beautiful young woman who lives on an island with her reclusive and powerful grandfather.

Publication Date: 01/19/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Runner
Thomas Perry
Synopsis: Jane WhitefieldNew York Times best-selling writer Thomas Perry’s most popular characterreturns from retirement to the world of the runner, guiding fugitives out of danger.
After a nine-year absence, the fiercely resourceful Native American guide JaneWhitefield is back, in the latest superb thriller by award-winning author Thomas Perry.
For more than a decade, Jane pursued her unusual profession: I’m a guide . . . I show people how to go from places where somebody is trying to kill them to other places where nobody is.”Then she promised her husband she would never work again, and settled in to live a happy, quiet life as Jane McKinnon, the wife of a surgeon in Amherst, New York. But when a bomb goes off in the middle of a hospital fundraiser, Jane finds herself face to face with the cause of the explosion: a young pregnant girl who has been tracked across the country by a team of hired hunters.That night, regardless of what she wants or the vow she’s made to her husband, Jane must come back to transform one more victim into a runner. And her quest for safety sets in motion a mission that will be a rescue operationor a chance for revenge.
Runner is Thomas Perry at the top of his form.
Publication Date: 01/14/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
The Solar Sea
David Lee Summers
Synopsis: Humans settled the Moon and satellites orbiting the Earth were a common sight, but with the abolition of NASA, humans had no desire to go further and space exploration died. Then, a technician from the Very Large Array, a radio telescope in New Mexico, discovers powerful particles orbiting Saturn’s moon, Titan, which could be a new energy source. Strangely enough, following the discovery’s announcement, whales around the Earth changed their songs overnight. As scion of the powerful Quinn Corporation, Thomas Quinn builds a solar sail—a vessel pushed by sunlight itself—to find the source of these particles in Titan’s orbit. He gathers the best and brightest team to pilot his craft: Jonathan Jefferson, an aging astronaut known as the last man on Mars; Natalie Freeman, a distinguished Navy captain; Myra Lee, a biologist, specializing in whale communication; and John O’Connell, the technician who first discovered the particles. All together they make a grand tour of the solar system and discover not only wonders but dangers beyond their imagination. Drawing on his experience as an astronomer, David Lee Summers has created a story that is both exciting and plausible, one that can be enjoyed by both the young and young-at-heart who enjoy looking at the planets on a clear night and dreaming of what could be.
Publication Date: 01/13/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Educational
3 Willows: The Sisterhood Grows
Synopsis: summer is a time to grow

seeds
Polly has an idea that she can't stop thinking about, one that involves changing a few things about herself. She's setting her sights on a more glamorous life, but it's going to take all of her focus. At least that way she won't have to watch her friends moving so far ahead.

roots
Jo is spending the summer at her family's beach house, working as a busgirl and bonding with the older, cooler girls she'll see at high school come September. She didn't count on a brief fling with a cute boy changing her entire summer. Or feeling embarrassed by her middle school friends. And she didn't count on her family at all. . .

leaves
Ama is not an outdoorsy girl. She wanted to be at an academic camp, doing research in an air-conditioned library, earning A's. Instead her summer scholarship lands her on a wilderness trip full of flirting teenagers, blisters, impossible hiking trails, and a sad lack of hair products.
It is a new summer. And a new sisterhood. Come grow with them.
Publication Date: 01/13/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Chick Lit
Return To Sender
Julia Alvarez
Synopsis: After Tyler's father is injured in a tractor accident, his family is forced to hire migrant Mexican workers to help save their Vermont farm from foreclosure. Tyler isn’t sure what to make of these workers. Are they undocumented? And what about the three daughters, particularly Mari, the oldest, who is proud of her Mexican heritage but also increasingly connected her American life. Her family lives in constant fear of being discovered by the authorities and sent back to the poverty they left behind in Mexico. Can Tyler and Mari find a way to be friends despite their differences?

In a novel full of hope, but no easy answers, Julia Alvarez weaves a beautiful and timely story that will stay with readers long after they finish it.
Publication Date: 01/13/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
BC Mambo
Erik Craddock, Erik Craddock
Synopsis: Stone Rabbit is a bored little bunny who lives a humdrum existence in the sleepy town of Happy Glades. But all that changes when he discovers a time portal of doom—right under his bathroom rug! Suddenly, Stone Rabbit finds himself on a Jurassic journey in a prehistoric world, facing off against vicious velociraptors, terrifying T. rexes, and a nefariousNeanderthal bent on world conquest. Will our hero be able to save the past and return to the present—or will he become extinct?BC Mambo is the first book in a full-color series of riotous, rip-roaring graphic novels that chronicles the zany of adventures of a quick-tempered and quick-witted young rabbit.Erik Craddock grew up during the ’80s and ’90s on a steady diet of comics, video games, and pop culture. It was during his time as a student at New York City’s School of Visual Arts that Stone Rabbit was born. He lives in Babylon, New York.
Publication Date: 01/13/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Humor
Kisses and Lies
Lauren Henderson
Synopsis: After discovering that someone saw what looked like Dan’s emergency EpiPen in A-lister Plum’s designer handbag, Scarlett and her tough American sidekick, Taylor, sneak into a posh London nightclub, where Plum has a private table. Scarlett is stunned to discover a piece of evidence that might implicate another girl in Plum’s exclusive circle, Lucy Raleigh. Which means Scarlett must cast a wider net in order to catch the right suspect.

Back at school, groundskeeper Jase is hoping to take Scarlett’s mind off her troubles with some heart-stopping kisses. Scarlett can’t help but feel guilty for indulging in romantic rendezvous when she should be hunting down Dan’s killer. However, once Scarlett finds out how Lucy is connected to Dan, she knows she must drop everything and travel to the McAndrew estate in Scotland to hunt for more clues. But when she arrives, Scarlett becomes the target of a dangerous hunt herself.
Publication Date: 01/13/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Mystery
The ABC'S of Kissing Boys
Synopsis: Parker Stanhope has played soccer practically since she could walk. And now that she’s a high school junior, everything she’s worked for is finally coming together. She’s paid her dues on the field, and as an upperclassman, she’s a shoo-in for the varsity team. But that’s not what happens.

This year, Coach Hartley moved up every JV player but two—and one of those two was Parker. Now, she’s stuck with the freshmen, her friends are cutting her loose, and her love of the game is seriously beginning to fail. But Parker is determined to get her life back. She has to get on the varsity team, and she has the perfect plan. All she needs now is the right kind of coach.

Tina Ferraro lives in southern California. You can visit her online at www.tinaferraro.com.
Publication Date: 01/13/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Sports
The Devil's Paintbox
Victoria McKernan
Synopsis: When orphans Aiden and Maddy Lynch first meet trailrider Jefferson J. Jackson in the spring of 1865, they’re struggling to survive on their family’s drought-ravaged Kansas farm. So when Jackson offers an escape—a 2000-mile journey across the roughest country in the world—Aiden knows it’s their only choice.

They say there are a hundred ways to die on the Oregon Trail, and the long wagon journey is broken only by catastrophe: wolf attacks, rattlesnakes, deadly river crossings, Indians, and the looming threat of smallpox, “the devil’s paint.” Through it all, Aiden and Maddy and a hundred fellow travelers move forward with a growing hope, and the promise of a new life in the Washington Territory. But one question haunts them: who will survive the journey?

In an adventure-filled and historically accurate new novel, Victoria McKernan captures both the peril and the stunning beauty of the frontier West. Shackleton’s Stowaway (“Truly thrilling” according to The Washington Post) was Victoria McKernan’s first novel for young adults. She lives in Washington, D.C..
Publication Date: 01/13/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
Sacrifice of Ericc
Anthony G. Wedgeworth
Synopsis: Thorik Dain takes a vow to save Ericc from being sacrificed to end a prophecy. However, in doing so he finds Ericc has revenge on his mind for the murder of his father. Thorik chases Ericc across Australis to prevent him from attacking his father's killer. The same man who is planning to Sacrifice Ericc once he comes out of hiding.
Publication Date: 01/09/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
Beautiful Americans
Lucy Silag
Synopsis: While studying abroad during their junior year of high school, friends Alex, Zack, and PJ take full advantage of all the glamorous events and parties taking place in their host families' apartments and on the city streets, but when their personal secrets are revealed, the revelers face challenging predicaments as the lies start to fade away.
Publication Date: 01/08/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Chick Lit
The Stepsister Scheme
Jim C. Hines
Synopsis: What would happen if an author went back to the darker themes of the original fairy tales for his plots, and then crossed the Disney princesses with Charlie's Angels? What's delivered is The Stepsister Scheme?a whole new take on what happened to Cinderella and her prince after the wedding. And with Jim C. Hines penning the tale readers can bet it won't be "and they lived happily ever after."
Publication Date: 01/06/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
In Shade And Shadow
J.C. Hendee, Barb Hendee
Synopsis: Returning to the Guild of Sagecraft bearing texts allegedly written by vampires during the time of the Forgotten History and Great War, Wynn Hygeorht is disturbed when the Guild seizes the documents, several pages vanish, and the sages carrying them are murdered and, believing that the Noble Dead are responsible, launches a personal campaign to reveal the truth.
Publication Date: 01/06/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
Regenesis
C. J. Cherryh
Synopsis: In the long-anticipated sequel to the Hugo Award-winning Cyteen, Ariane Emory PR, the genetic clone of scientist Ariane Emory, launches a personal investigation into the murder of her progenitor, searching for a killer against the backdrop of a turbulent interstellar society in which she struggles to avoid the same fate as the original Ariane.
Publication Date: 01/06/09
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Science Fiction

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