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The House of Djinn
Suzanne Fisher Staples
Synopsis:

It has been ten years since Shabanu staged her death to secure the safety of her daughter, Mumtaz, from her husband's murderous brother. Mumtaz has been raised by her father's family with the education and security her mother desired for her, but with little understanding and love. Only her American cousin Jameel, her closest confidant and friend, and the beloved family patriarch, Baba, understand the pain of her loneliness. When Baba unexpectedly dies, Jameel's succession as the Amirzai tribal leader and the arrangement of his marriage to Mumtaz are revealed, causing both to question whether fulfilling their duty to the family is worth giving up their dreams for the future.

A commanding sequel to the novels Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind and Haveli, The House of Djinn stands on its own. Suzanne Fisher Staples returns to modern-day Pakistan to reexamine the juxtaposition of traditional Islamic values with modern ideals of love.
The House of Djinn is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Publication Date: 04/01/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Camel Bookmobile
Masha Hamilton
Synopsis:

Fiona Sweeney wants to do something that matters, and she chooses to make her mark in the arid bush of northeastern Kenya. By helping to start a traveling library, she hopes to bring the words of Homer, Hemingway, and Dr. Seuss to far-flung tiny communities where people live daily with drought, hunger, and disease. Her intentions are honorable, and her rules are firm: due to the limited number of donated books, if any one of them is not returned, the bookmobile will not return.

But, encumbered by her Western values, Fi does not understand the people she seeks to help. And in the impoverished small community of Mididima, she finds herself caught in the middle of a volatile local struggle when the bookmobile's presence sparks a dangerous feud between the proponents of modernization and those who fear the loss of traditional ways.

Publication Date: 04/01/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
Window Boy
Andrea White
Synopsis: Set in 1968, this touching novel tells the story of Sam Davis, a young man with cerebral palsy who peers though his bedroom window every day at the school he longs to attend. With great determination and the help of both his caretaker and his imaginary friend, Winston Churchill, Sam not only succeeds in gaining admittance to the school and the acceptance of his peers, but also fulfills his dream of becoming the school's basketball coach. The narrative, full of poignant insights into attitudes toward people with disabilities, provides a glimpse into the life of Winston Churchill, who is a key inspiration for young Sam.
Publication Date: 04/01/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Secrets of My Hollywood Life on Location
Synopsis: It seems like the summer of dreams come true for Hollywood princess Kaitlin Burke: the media loves her (again), super-cute and funny Austin Meyers is finally her boyfriend, and she's starring in a movie by her all-time favorite director Hutch Adams. What could be sweeter? But life on set is not as perfect as the makeup and costumes. And with an old love and a scheming new publicist on the scene, it's about to get a whole lot messier.

Publication Date: 04/01/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Chick Lit
Beyond the Gap
Harry Turtledove
Synopsis: Count Hamnet Thyssen is a minor noble of the drowsy old Raumsdalian Empire. Its capital city, Nidaros, began as a mammoth hunters? camp at the edge of the great Glacier. But that was centuries ago, and as everyone knows, it?s the nature of the great Glacier to withdraw a few feet every year. Now Nidaros is an old and many-spired city; and though they still feel the breath of the great Glacier in every winter?s winds, the ice cap itself has retreated beyond the horizon.

Trasamund, a clan chief of the mammoth-herding Bizogots, the next tribe north, has come to town with strange news. A narrow gap has opened in what they'd always thought was an endless and impregnable wall of ice. The great Glacier does not go on forever--and on its other side are new lands, new animals, and possibly new people.

Ancient legend says that on the other side is the Golden Shrine, put there by the gods to guard the people of their world. Now, perhaps, the road to the legendary Golden Shrine is open. Who could resist the urge to go see?

For Count Hamnet and his several companions, the glacier has always been the boundary of the world. Now they'll be traveling beyond it into a world that's bigger than anyone knew. Adventures will surely be had...
Publication Date: 04/01/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Series
Misspelled
Julie E. Czerneda
Synopsis: strange magic...in 17 Fascinating tales of spells gone awry

When it comes to magic, skipping the directions, changing the ingredients, or garbling the words of a spell can lead to unusual consequences-sometimes dire, sometimes comical. Included in these stories are just a few of the possible results: a cybermancer has her spell disk corrupted by some unexpected input; two students brewing up spells outside the curriculum forgo a critical ingredient; a young woman orders a fairy-tale life, but forgets to read the fine print. Now they're really spellbound...
Publication Date: 04/01/08
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Fantasy
Indie Girl
Michael Wertz, Karen Macklin, Arne Johnson
Synopsis: Are you a girl who’s tired of waiting for someone to design the perfect skirt? Bored by what adults think makes great "teen literature"? Insulted by the onslaught of fluffy spring break movies? Good - then you’re on the right track. The next step is to take matters into your own hands.
A fun and comprehensive guide for young women, Indie Girl contains all of the information you’ll need to start independent creative ventures, like dance companies, rock bands, art galleries, fashion companies, and more. Inside you’ll find out how to shoot a new TV show, cast and produce a play, pull together a poetry slam, make your own zine, and even build a float for a parade. You’ll also read quotes from teen and professional artists, receive technical and creative advice from pros, and get a better understanding of why and how women should be working together in the arts.
Indie Girl shows you that when girls get come together to be creative, there’s virtually nothing they can’t do!
Publication Date: 04/01/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Nonfiction
Tim, Defender of the Earth!
Synopsis: When two gargantuan, human-made monsters clash over the future of the human race and the planet, fourteen-year-old Anna Mallahide has a hard time convincing her classmate, Chris Pitman, that he must play any role in the outcome of their epic battle.
Publication Date: 03/27/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Science Fiction
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Synopsis: Dorothy thinks she is lost forever when a terrifying tornado crashes through Kansas and whisks her and her dog, Toto, far away to the magical land of Oz. To get home Dorothy must follow the yellow brick road to Emerald City and find the wonderfully mysterious Wizard of Oz. Together with her companions the Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion whom she meets on the way, Dorothy embarks on a strange and enchanting adventure. With a charming introduction by award-winning Cornelia Funke, The Wizard of Oz is one of the twenty wonderful classics being relaunched in Puffin Classics in March 2015.
Publication Date: 03/27/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
How To Raise Your Parents
Bella Pilar, Sarah O'Leary Burningham
Synopsis: Being a teen (or the parent of a teen) doesn't have to be so hard. How to Raise Your Parents will help teens and their parents navigate those years between training bras and keys to the family car. In a voice teens will relate to and parents will appreciate, author Sarah O'Leary Burningham offers smart advice about negotiation and parental hot buttons and a little insight about what the world looks like from a parent's point of view.
Publication Date: 03/26/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Educational
Fairy Tail 2
Hiro Mashima, Hiro Mashima
Synopsis: THE BOOK OF SECRETS

Beautiful celestial wizard Lucy has teamed up with the crazy fire wizard Natsu and his bizarre flying cat, Happy. Their job: to steal a book from the notorious Duke Everlue. But the eccentric Everlue has killed wizards before, and Lucy’s team is walking right into his death trap!
Publication Date: 03/25/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Manga/Graphic Novel
She Said, She Said
Jennifer Norfleet, Celeste O. Norfleet
Synopsis: She Said, She Said by Celeste O. Norfleet\Jennifer Norfleet released on Mar 25, 2008 is available now for purchase.
Publication Date: 03/25/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Seer of Shadows
Synopsis:

Newbery Medalist Avi weaves one of his most suspenseful and scary tales—about a ghost who has to be seen to be believed and must be kept from carrying out a horrifying revenge.

The time is 1872. The place is New York City. Horace Carpetine has been raised to believe in science and rationality. So as apprentice to Enoch Middleditch, a society photographer, he thinks of his trade as a scientific art. But when wealthy society matron Mrs. Frederick Von Macht orders a photographic portrait, strange things begin to happen.

Horace's first real photographs reveal a frightful likeness: it's the image of the Von Machts' dead daughter, Eleanora.

Pegg, the Von Machts' black servant girl, then leads him to the truth about who Eleanora really was and how she actually died. Joined in friendship, Pegg and Horace soon realize that his photographs are evoking both Eleanora's image and her ghost. Eleanora returns, a vengeful wraith intent on punishing those who abused her.

Rich in detail, full of the magic of early photography, here is a story about the shadows, visible and invisible, that are always lurking near.

Publication Date: 03/25/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Paranormal
Perfect You
Elizabeth Scott, Lisa Fyfe
Synopsis: Kate Brown's life has gone downhill fast. Her father has quit his job to sell vitamins at the mall, and Kate is forced to work with him. Her best friend has become popular, and now she acts like Kate's invisible.

And then there's Will. Gorgeous, unattainable Will, whom Kate acts like she can't stand even though she can't stop thinking about him. When Will starts acting interested, Kate hates herself for wanting him when she's sure she's just his latest conquest.

Kate figures that the only way things will ever stop hurting so much is if she keeps to herself and stops caring about anyone or anything. What she doesn't realize is that while life may not always be perfect, good things can happen -- but only if she lets them....
Publication Date: 03/25/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
The Softwire: Betrayal On Orbis 2
Synopsis: Sci-fi fans will tear through this new adventure as Johnny Turnbull — first human softwire — finds more danger and intrigue on the next ring of Orbis.

On Orbis 2, Johnny Turnbull has a new home and a new job, one that pushes his softwire abilities to painful limits. JT is the only one who can communicate with the Samirans, large aquatic aliens who have cooled the crystals on Orbis for nearly two thousand rotations. But as the Samirans’ work rule ostensibly comes to a close, they have grown dangerously agitated, and JT must find out why. What he learns is that the prosperity of Orbis is built on a brutal system of enforced labor — and that everyone seems to have something to hide. Can JT appease the Samirans before their threat is realized? And if he doesn’t, will his friends survive? In this second episode of THE SOFTWIRE, PJ Haarsma takes readers on another lightning-paced, cyber-fueled ride through the amazing universe he introduced in THE SOFTWIRE: VIRUS ON ORBIS 1.
Publication Date: 03/25/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Series
Fairy Tail 1
Hiro Mashima, Hiro Mashima
Synopsis: THE WICKED SIDE OF WIZARDRY

Cute girl wizard Lucy wants to join the Fairy Tail, a club for the most powerful wizards. But instead, her ambitions land her in the clutches of a gang of unsavory pirates led by a devious magician. Her only hope is Natsu, a strange boy she happens to meet on her travels. Natsu’s not your typical hero–he gets motion sickness, eats like a pig, and his best friend is a talking cat. With friends like this, is Lucy better off with her enemies?
Publication Date: 03/25/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Manga/Graphic Novel

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