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Mousetraps
Bill Hauser, Pat Schmatz
Synopsis: Back in grade school, Maxie and Rick were best friends. Rick would design crazy inventions, and Maxie, the artistic one, would draw them. Then something terrible happened to Rick, and he vanished from her school and her life. Years later, he shows up at Maxie's high school. In some ways he's the same person she once knew. But in other ways - frightening ones - he's very, very different . . .
Publication Date: 08/18/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Lake That Stole Children
Douglas Glenn Clark
Synopsis: The Lake That Stole Children blends the magic of Disney's Pinocchio with the magnificent quest of Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. It begins with a boy's deep yearning and leads to a grown man's startling discovery. The story begins with a town troubled by a big secret. Children have been disappearing and no one knows why. A fisherman, who lives with his family on the outskirts of town, cared nothing about the town's troubles - until he too lost a son. Following a dangerous search on a nearby lake, the fisherman believes he knows where the children may be and vows to save them. When the town refuses to help in his quest, the fisherman realizes that to save his son he must face one seemingly insurmountable obstacle - himself.
Publication Date: 08/15/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Baby Grape and The River Folk
Synopsis: The adventures continue in this story with more of the events that plague the 'crew.' Having returned home to Pittsburgh,after months on the road, Toby learns that his mother and sisters have had to move downriver to stay with his aunt, which (again) leaves Toby homeless, with four mouths to feed! Old problems resurface, as do enemies, and Toby is again on the run to keep him and the others out of harm's way. There is no escaping as events unfold, separating Toby and Jane from the others and they are forced to find ways to survive on their own. Each of the characters face their own problems -- some life threatening, as deathly sicknesses, revenge driven enemies, and unforeseen tragedies fill the pages and lives of your favorite characters. Love and shame, friendship, and the need for others, make this Toby sequel something you won't want to miss. New immigrants -- and pure dumb luck, add to Toby's arsenal of friends, and begin the setting of something big in the future for the 'River Folk.' So why not join the crew?
Publication Date: 08/15/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
Cheech and Chong: The Unauthorized Autobiography
Synopsis: An iconic member of the counter-culture comedy duo traces their story from their introduction at a Vancouver comedy club to their renowned stand-up routines and movies to the drug controversies that marked their careers and their acrimonious separation.
Publication Date: 08/12/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Biography
The Order of Odd Fish
James Kennedy
Synopsis: JO LAROUCHE HAS lived her 13 years in the California desert with her Aunt Lily, ever since she was dropped on Lily’s doorstep with this note: This is Jo. Please take care of her. But beware. This is a dangerous baby. At Lily’s annual Christmas costume party, a variety of strange events take place that lead Jo and Lily out of California forever—and into the mysterious, strange, fantastical world of Eldritch City. There, Jo learns the scandalous truth about who she is, and she and Lily join the Order of Odd-Fish, a collection of knights who research useless information. Glamorous cockroach butlers, pointless quests, obsolete weapons, and bizarre festivals fill their days, but two villains are controlling their fate. Jo is inching closer and closer to the day when her destiny is fulfilled, and no one in Eldritch City will ever be the same.
Publication Date: 08/12/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
Moxy Maxwell
Valorie Fisher, Peggy Gifford
Synopsis: IT ISN€™T AS though Moxy isn€™t grateful for her Christmas presents. She is. She€™s just not thrilled that she has to write a thank-you note for each one by tomorrow . . . or she will not be allowed to fly to Hollywood to attend a starstuddedHollywood bash with the father she hasn€™t seen in three years. And writing thank-you notes is not something that a world-class Creative Type relishes doing. But it is more than writing thank-you notes that finally prevents Moxy from taking her trip. When her father cancels at the last minute, Moxy is forced to deal with the reality of a situation she doesn€™t want to accept, and can€™t change. But, not surprisingly, she rises to the occasion brilliantly.
Publication Date: 08/12/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Series
Mexican Whiteboy
Matt De La Peña
Synopsis: Newbery Award-winning author Matt de la Peña's Mexican Whiteboy is a story of friendship, baseball, acceptance, and the struggle to find your identity in a world of definitions.

Danny's tall and skinny. Even though he’s not built, his arms are long enough to give his pitch a power so fierce any college scout would sign him on the spot. Ninety-five mile an hour fastball, but the boy’s not even on a team. Every time he gets up on the mound he loses it.
   But at his private school, they don’t expect much else from him. Danny’ s brown. Half-Mexican brown. And growing up in San Diego that close to the border means everyone else knows exactly who he is before he even opens his mouth. Before they find out he can’t speak Spanish, and before they realize his mom has blond hair and blue eyes, they’ve got him pegged. But it works the other way too. And Danny’s convinced it’s his whiteness that sent his father back to Mexico.
   That’s why he’s spending the summer with his dad’s family. Only, to find himself, he may just have to face the demons he refuses to see--the demons that are right in front of his face. And open up to a friendship he never saw coming.

"[A] first-rate exploration of self-identity."-School Library Journal

"Unique in its gritty realism and honest portrayal of the complexities of life for inner-city teens...De la Peña poignantly conveys the message that, despite obstacles, you must believe in yourself and shape your own future."-The Horn Book Magazine

"De la Peña does an excellent job...Readers see themselves in Danny, Uno, and Sofia, whether or not they share their backgrounds. In the end, they find themselves wanting the characters to succeed."-VOYA

"The baseball scenes...sizzle like Danny's fastball...Danny's struggle to find his place will speak strongly to all teens, but especially to those of mixed race."-Booklist

"De la Peña blends sports and street together in a satisfying search for personal identity."-Kirkus Reviews

"Deftly explores the subject of interracial mixing."-Multicultural Review

"Matt de la Pena has done the impossible; fired a perfect fastball on the low inside corner and hit a towering home run at the same time. A tough, funny, edgy, hopeful story about friendship under fire and love in its true sense."-Chris Crutcher, author of Deadline and Whale Talk

"Mexican Whiteboy...shows that no matter what obstacles you face, you can still reach your dreams with a positive attitude. This is more than a book about a baseball player--this is a book about life."-Curtis Granderson, New York Mets outfielder

An ALA-YALSA Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults

A Junior Library Guild Selection
Publication Date: 08/12/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Queen of the Masquerade
Amanda M. Jenkins, Tiffany Trent
Synopsis: BBYA author Amanda Jenkins teams up with Tiffany Trent to give voice to the next Hallowmere heroine...

Christina wakes in a new world with no memory of who she is or where she came from. Tasked with solving a riddle that will save the duke and duchess who rescue her and take her in as a changeling, Christina seeks to puzzle out just what she's doing here and why her memory has fled.

But the riddle isn't just a key to saving the duke and duchess--it's Christina's key to something far more dire, a mission she knows she must remember, one that involves the strange young man who keeps appearing in odd places. Is the riddle a prophecy or a warning?

Acclaimed YA author Amanda M. Jenkins, in partnership with Tiffany Trent, takes on Christina's voice to determine just how much Christina's fate depends upon the answer to that question.
Publication Date: 08/12/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Kindling of Greenfyr
Synopsis: The Kindling of GreenFyr is the story of Owen McInish, an awkward fourteen-year-old bullied at school and friendless except for his pet cat, Piper. That is until a snow leopard is chased through the woods behind his house by three huge gray dogs with glowing green eyes. Owen saves the leopard from her pursuers, but the animal escapes him as well, only to return later. The cat’s behavior is peculiar, nothing like a wild animal, making Owen even more curious as to its origin. Eventually, the cat allows Owen to pet her. Owen finds himself experiencing friendships as he has never before. Adventures as he has never imagined. And political intrigue as two worlds, long separated, begin to collide.
Publication Date: 08/11/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
Pirouette: Ballet Stories
Harriet Castor
Synopsis:

Themes such as friendship, rivalry, disappointment, and success run through these tales about dance and dancers. There are autobiographical contributions from famous prima ballerinas such as Margot Fonteyn, as well as stories by popular writers such as Cynthia Voigt, Noel Streatfeild, and Michelle Magorian. This artfully chosen anthology will delight any dancer or fan of the ballet.

Publication Date: 08/05/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Anthology
Violet In Private
Melissa Walker
Synopsis: The return of Violet, the not-so- confident model?

Violet Greenfield knows she?s supposed to be a super-confident nineteen-year-old because she?s done runway shows in New York and internationally. But now that she?s finally headed to college, she?s afraid she?ll turn back into that girl who blended into the walls in high school. Vassar is just two hours away from New York City??her friends in fashion think she?s crazy to stop modeling now. And her old friend Roger is there...but things have been weird ever since they kissed. The real question is if she?s not going to be ?Violet on the Runway? anymore...who is she?

Publication Date: 08/05/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Chick Lit
Harmony
C. F. Bentley
Synopsis: Within a space opera landscape, H armony explores the spirituality of a different human culture bound by a rigid caste system.

Laudae Sissy, the new H igh Priestess of the world called H armony, reaches across all seven castes of her society, seeking a new unity that will protect their isolation from the rest of the galaxy. But other cultures and races are testing their borders, searching for the most valuable commodity in civilized space. Sissy's quest leads her through a quagmire of human motivations in search of a new understanding of life upon H armony's Path.
Publication Date: 08/05/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
Enchantment Place
Denise Little
Synopsis: Seventeen original stories about a mall where anything you can imagine is for sale?but who will pay the price?

The stores in Enchantment Place live up to the title, catering to a rather unique clientele ranging from vampires and werecreatures to wizards and witches, elves and unicorns?in short, anyone with shopping needs not likely to be met in the chain stores. Here are seventeen shopping trips you?ll never forget, from a store that sells the highest quality familiars?to the non-magical daughter of a magic-filled family who is left to mind the family jewelry store though she has no means to defeat an enchanting thief?to a woman running a Wiccan supply store who is suddenly faced with an IRS audit?
Publication Date: 08/05/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Anthology
Wild at Heart
Michael Morpurgo
Synopsis:

The stories in this delightful anthology feature a wide variety of animals--from geese and otters to lions and mules. The impressive list of contributors includes three Nobel laureates. Classics such as Jack London's The Call of the Wild, Rudyard Kipling's The Cat That Walked by Himself, and Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea accompany more recent favorites such as Charlotte's Web and Dick King-Smith's Godhanger. This anthology provides a terrific introduction to animal stories and acclaimed writers, past and present.

Publication Date: 08/05/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Classic
Everwing
MJ Grothoff
Synopsis:

A New Twist on this Years Fantasy Adventures!

EverWing, the next historical adventure, brings us along with a young royal Masu¨ra named Gavee, who discovers his understanding between right and wrong differs from his clans. He finds himself torn between what he was trained to become and what he feels to be right. This first book brings us into the Masu¨ra world and how Gavee answers the question between following his heart over the demands from his family. EverWing is the beginning for Gavee and his travels, as he moves through the struggles of his island and watches one Masu¨ra destroy everything he holds dear.
Publication Date: 08/05/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
The Secret Life of Josephine: Napoleon's Bird of Paradise
Synopsis:

The bestselling author of The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette and The Last Wife of Henry VIII returns with an enchanting novel about the ambitious, amoral, vulnerable woman who became the first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Fashion icon, leader of France's society in the turbulent years of the guillotine and the bloody Napoleonic Wars, the alluring Josephine was a tough survivor―yet she also had a gentle, haunting quality that made her irresistible to her contemporaries, especially to the mysterious, compelling stranger from Martinique who captured her heart.

Publication Date: 08/05/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Romance

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