Please enable JavaScript
All Books | Page 323 | LitPick Book Reviews
All Books
Cindy Ella
Robin Palmer
Synopsis: The ideal L.A. fairy tale for fans of Once Upon a Time and L.A. Candy, from the author of Geek Charming.

Prom fever has infected LA—especially Cindy’s two annoying stepsisters, and her overly Botoxed stepmother. Cindy seems to be the only one immune to it all. But her anti-prom letter in the school newspaper does more to turn Cindy into Queen of the Freaks than close the gap between the popular kids and the rest of the students. Everyone thinks she’s committed social suicide, except for her two best friends, the yoga goddess India and John Hughes–worshipping Malcolm, and shockingly, the most popular senior at Castle Heights High and Cindy’s crush, Adam Silver. Suddenly Cindy starts to think that maybe her social life could have a happily ever after. But there’s still the rest of the school to deal with. With a little bit of help from an unexpected source and a fabulous pair of heels, Cindy realizes that she still has a chance at a happily ever after.
Publication Date: 02/07/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
A Time To Tell
Maria Savva
Synopsis: Set between the 1950s and the late 1990s, "A Time to Tell" is the poignant story of Cara, from her dramatic attempted suicide to her roles as a smitten eighteen-year-old, unmarried mother, wife, widow and grandmother, and her final, passionate reunion with the man she has always loved. It is also the parallel tale of Cara's prodigal son Benjamin and his daughter Penelope, whose unhappy relationship with her father has led her into marriage with a man whose own dysfunctional family have turned him into a person who at first seems strangely attractive, but turns out to have a dark and terrifying side...Rich in colourful characters and pertinent social themes, "A Time to Tell" is an eventful and often disturbing tale of the pain and pleasures of family relationships.
Publication Date: 02/06/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Off The Trails
Emily Franklin
Synopsis: Melissa and Dove travel to the Caribbean, where Dove is eager to meet up with her boyfriend while Melissa is unsure of what her future holds, but when they get there they are in for some surprises. Original.
Publication Date: 02/05/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Chick Lit
Not Anything
Carmen Rodrigues
Synopsis: A powerful debut novel about a girl living a not-so-glamorous life in a city that's all about glamour.

It always sounds way more glamorous than it is when Susie Shannon tells people that she's from Miami. But Miami's not all sunshine and hotties. It's endless zip codes and mega high schools where, if someone lost anything-including themselves-they just might not find it again...

Not that Susie ever lost herself. No way. Ever since her mom died, she made sure to keep her world safe. With no boyfriend, an increasingly MIA best friend, and a dad who couldn't pick her out of lineup to save his life, she somehow managed to stay okay.

Then she met Danny Diaz. Danny's is the life that she's destined to change. At least that's what Mr. Murphy said when he begged Susie to tutor Danny. She doubts that she could change anyone's life, but what if Mr. Murphy's right? Or better yet, what if Danny is destined to change hers?
Publication Date: 02/05/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Romance
Bratfest At Tiffany's
Lisi Harrison
Synopsis: Massie Block: The Briarwood boys have invaded OCD and are taking over everything. Worse, the soccer boys have become so popular that the Pretty Committee's alpha status is in serious jeopardy. So Massie lays out a New Year-New Pretty Committee rule: Anyone caught crushing on a boy will be thrown out of the NPC-forever. But will she be able to follow her own decree when she sees that Derrington has ditched his shorts-obsession in favor of ah-dorable jeans?

Alicia Rivera: Is the opposite of onboard with the boyfast. Her crush, the Ralph Lauren-luh-ving Josh Hotz, is more irresistible than crème brûlée fro-yo. But is he worth losing her spot in the NPC? And taking on the wrath of Massie?

Dylan Marvil: Is so ready for the boyfast. She's straightened her unruly red hair and permanently pressed boys out of her life. If only she could do the same with curly fries and caramel popcorn.

Kristen Gregory: Has traded her sporty-chic Pumas for Billabong board shorts and a shark tooth necklace. She claims she's sworn off boy-crushes, so what's with her Blue Crush makeover?

Claire Lyons: Spent all summer thinking about Cam's one blue eye and one green eye. But now he's moved on to a new girl faster than you can say cuh-yutest couple. At least Claire finally has a secure spot in the NPC-unless jealousy-flirting breaks the boyfast. . . .


The Clique: The only thing harder than getting in is staying in.
Publication Date: 02/05/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Mozart's Ghost
Julia Cameron
Synopsis:

Meet Anna, a thirtysomething Midwesterner living alone in New York City. A schoolteacher by day, she is a medium by night, covertly helping people reunite with their lost loved ones. Anna leads a double life, guarding her secret as much as she guards her heart—until Edward, a gangly yet quietly handsome concert pianist, moves into her building.
            Edward’s music fills Anna’s apartment with beautiful sounds that disturb her concentration and her lines of communication with ghosts. She and Edward fall for each other fast, but Anna is conflicted: By exposing her true identity, does she risk losing what may be her true love? And is music really his true love?
            Then a ghost begins to interfere—Mozart’s ghost—and while making a pest of himself to Anna, he begins to play matchmaker with unpredictable results....
            An enchanting and irresistible love story in the tradition of Sue Monk Kidd’s The Mermaid Chair, Mozart’s Ghost will win Julia Cameron a whole new galaxy of fiction readers.

Publication Date: 02/05/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Good Enough
Paula Yoo
Synopsis:

How to make your Korean parents happy:

1. Get a perfect score on the SATs.
2. Get into HarvardYalePrinceton.
3. Don't talk to boys.*

Patti's parents expect nothing less than the best from their Korean-American daughter. Everything she does affects her chances of getting into an Ivy League school. So winning assistant concertmaster in her All-State violin competition and earning less than 2300 on her SATs is simply not good enough.

But Patti's discovering that there's more to life than the Ivy League. To start with, there's Cute Trumpet Guy. He's funny, he's talented, and he looks exactly like the lead singer of Patti's favorite band. Then, of course, there's her love of the violin. Not to mention cool rock concerts. And anyway, what if Patti doesn't want to go to HarvardYalePrinceton after all?

Paula Yoo scores big in her hilarious debut novel about an overachiever who longs to fit in and strives to stand out. The pressure is on!

*Boys will distract you from your studies.

Publication Date: 02/05/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Angel
Cliff McNish
Synopsis: Freya's intense passion for angels led her into years of mental illness. Now, just when she's starting to believe she's normal again, a dark angel starts to follow her. Soon she learns a stunning truth: She is an angel herself. And an angel's job is nothing like she imagined it would be...
Publication Date: 02/01/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
Jesse Bowman
Tom McGowen
Synopsis: In this action-packed historical fiction novel, Jesse Bowman joins the Union Army in hopes of finding adventure. However, this teenage soldier learns that victory comes at a great cost. He discovers the hardships of war, the horror of battle, and the loss of friendship on his journey through the Civil War. Join Tom McGowen as he tells the story of one boy s contribution to the Union s triumph over the Confederacy.
Publication Date: 02/01/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Historical Fiction
From Alice to Zen and Everyone in Between
Synopsis: Alice likes playing soccer and working on her go-kart with her dad. But when she moves to the suburbs, she learns from Zen, the boy down the street, that she has no hope of fitting in at her new middle school unless she starts acting more "like a girl." At first, Alice doesn't mind that she isn't just like Haley and Yvette, the school's reigning princesses. Then she realizes that being different can set you apart...and being friends with someone like Zen can set you way apart. Why does being yourself have to be so complicated?
Publication Date: 02/01/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Mia the Melodramatic
Eileen Boggess
Synopsis: Summer has finally arrived, but Mia Fullerton does not have much to celebrate. Her best friend, Lisa, is spending the summer at a Mensa camp, and her boyfriend, Tim, will be at his grandparents house in Maine. So, stuck with a choice of spending the next two months hanging out with her younger brother, Chris who has declared a prank war on her or taking a job on the stage crew at a local children s theater group, Mia chooses the lesser of two evils and begins working at Little Tyke. The moment she meets the other student members of the stage crew, Mia realizes she is not at St. Hilary s anymore. There is Zoë, a Goth punk rock singer with fifteen facial piercings; Henry, a caffeine addict with the self-declared ability to predict people s coffee preferences; and Eric, a former childhood friend who has definitely outgrown his shy ways and geeky appearance. In this sequel to the much-loved Mia the Meek, readers will again enjoy spending time with Mia Fullerton, watching as she navigates the next stage of adolescence, one humorous and memorable fiasco at a time.
Publication Date: 02/01/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Something To Blog About
Synopsis: Boys, bullies, and blogs come together in a book that brings the popular online diary format to print.

For fans of Lauren Myracle’s ttyl, ttfn, and l8r, g8r, this fun, fast-paced book introduces an unforgettable and relatable heroine and features chapter openers designed to look like the pages of an online blog. An innovative debut, Something to Blog About is filled with the memorable missteps and heartfelt emotions of growing up.

Libby Fawcett decides to start a secret blog so that she can have an outlet to vent her feelings and frustrations. When Seth Jacobs (her crush since eighth grade) witnesses her tragic (and comic) run-in with a Bunsen burner in chemistry class, or when she finds out that her mother is dating the father of her arch-nemesis, Angel Rodriguez, she’s able to keep a level head and make it through school each day with each blog posting. But when her entries get posted all over for the whole world to see, will Libby be able to walk the halls—or face Seth—ever again?

Debut author Shana Norris will win over a whole new generation of teens as she hilariously chronicles the pitfalls and triumphs of the life of a high school girl.
Publication Date: 02/01/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Humor
Back Creek
Leslie Goetsch
Synopsis: "It’s the summer of 1975. Eighteen-year-old Grace Barnett knows she should be preparing to leave for college in September. But a strange Memorial Day boating accident on the creek near her Virginia home―she’s the only witness to the apparent suicide―kicks off a series of events that will define her family’s future as well as her emerging view of life.On the very day of the victim’s funeral, Grace’s older sister, Lillian, absent from the family for the past five years, suddenly reappears. Unfortunately, it is also the day Grace’s mother chooses to quietly walk out on her family, leaving Grace to act as the mediator between her prodigal sister and her badly wounded father.As the summer wears on, Grace finds herself thinking less about college and more about how to mend the rifts in her family. She turns to her neighbor, Cal, a recently returned Vietnam vet, to help sort through her problems. After weathering her sister’s unexpected return and pregnancy, her father’s budding alcoholism, and Cal’s war-induced neurosis, Grace decides to set off to rural North Carolina with the intention of bringing her mother back home."
Publication Date: 02/01/08
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Fiction
Gamma Glamma
Kim Flores
Synopsis: With one fateful science project, Luz Santos risks losing her best friend, her crush, and her reputation on national TV. . .

Tres unpopular students plus. . .

My freshman year at Gamma High was totally going perfecto until I was summoned to enter the regional science competition, which is taking place the same weekend as the Homecoming Dance--the same dance where I was going to get Swen, the guy I'm hopelessly in love with, to notice me. This calls for major damage control. My plan? Devise a scientific experiment that will be so outrageous it'll knock me out of the competition and onto the dance floor.

Tres brilliant makeovers. . .

Enter Project Gamma Glamma to the rescue! My experiment will help three unknowns climb up the Gamma High popularity food chain by giving them the ultimate makeovers. But instead of eliminating me from the competition, my teacher actually loves mi loco idea.

Equals one recipe for disaster. . .

Gamma Glamma is a tragic hit, turning my closest amigos overnight into the most popular kids at school but making mi vida a toxic chemical reaction: my best friend is now too cool to talk to me; my biggest enemy is moving in for the social kill; and my reputation stands to be obliterated on TV's hottest reality show. Now I've got to set things right. But can I make the scientifically impossible happen twice?

An award-winning filmmaker and producer, Kim Flores wrote and co-directed the film Vocessitas/Little Voices, which went on to win an ALMA (American Latino Media Arts Award) for best independent film and played in virtually every Latin film festival in the country. She directs commercials and projects for such companies as Nickelodeon, Time Warner, Dr. Pepper, Midway Games, Mountain Dew and develops television shows at her production company. Kim and her lifelong crush Mike spend time between New York City and Dallas shooting photography, creating a line of designer toys, and hanging out with their rescued dogs Pud, Rabbit, and Shortie.
Publication Date: 02/01/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Science
Hell Girl
Miyuki Eto
Synopsis: SHE’S COMING FOR YOU. . . .

When you thirst for revenge, there’s a surefire way to get it: Simply go to the strange website that appears only at midnight, and enter the name of your enemy. The Hell Girl will appear to drag your tormentor to eternal damnation. But you will have to pay a price . . . your soul!
Publication Date: 01/29/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
King Solomon’s Mines
H. Rider Haggard
Synopsis: The first great "Lost World" action-adventure, a precursor to Indiana Jones

H. Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines has entertained generations of readers since its first publication in 1885. Following a mysterious map of dubious reliability, a small group of men trek into southern Africa in search of a lost friend-and a lost treasure, the fabled mines of King Solomon. Led by the English adventurer and fortune hunter Allan Quartermain, they discover a frozen corpse, survive untold dangers in remote mountains and deserts, and encounter the merciless King Twala en route to the legendary hoard of diamonds.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Publication Date: 01/29/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction

Pages



RECENT BOOK REVIEWS