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12 and up | Page 399 | LitPick Book Reviews
12 and up
Deep and Dark and Dangerous: A Ghost Story
Deep and Dark and Dangerous
Mary Downing Hahn
Just before summer begins, 13-year-old Ali finds an odd photograph in the attic. She knows the two children in it are her mother, Claire, and her aunt Dulcie. But who’s the third person, the one who’s been torn out of the picture? Ali figures she’ll find out while she’s vacationing in Maine with Dulcie and her four-year-old daughter, Emma, in the house where Ali’s mother’s family used to spend summers. All hopes for relaxation are quashed shortly after their arrival, though, when the girls meet Sissy, a kid who’s mean and spiteful and a bad influence on Emma. Strangest of all, Sissy keeps talking about a girl named Teresa who drowned under mysterious circumstances back when Claire and Dulcie were kids, and whose body was never found. At first Ali thinks Sissy’s just trying to scare her with a ghost story, but soon she discovers the real reason why Sissy is so angry. . . . Mary Downing Hahn is at her chilling best in this new supernatural tale that’s certain to send shivers down her readers’ spines.

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Not Like You
Not Like You
Deborah Davis
"Starting a new chapter" is how Kayla’s mother, Marilyn, has always referred to their abrupt moves—five in the past two years. But what 15-year-old Kayla hates even more than moving is Marilyn’s drinking. It once landed Kayla in foster care, and she’ll do anything to keep that from happening again, even if it means making sacrifices in her own life to keep her mother from falling apart.Now Marilyn has moved them to New Mexico and promised, yet again, to quit booze for good. Kayla knows better than to believe her, but something about this move does feel different. Kayla is putting down roots, earning money as a dog walker, and spending time with Remy, a 24-year-old musician. And after years of taking care of her mother, Kayla is starting to think of herself and who she wants to be. She knows for sure who she doesn’t want to be. But is she willing to do whatever it takes to create a different life for herself—even if it means leaving her mother behind?Sharply honest and beautifully written, this powerful novel is about loving someone else enough to stay with her through anything—and loving yourself enough to let her go.

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On the Wings of Heroes
On The Wings Of Heroes
Richard Peck
Davy Bowman’s brother and their dad hung the moon. Dad looks forward to Halloween more than a kid, and Davy’s brother, Bill, flies B-17s. Davy adores these two heroes and tries his best to follow their lead, especially now. World War II has invaded Davy’s homefront boyhood. There’s an air raid drill in the classroom, and being a kid is an endless scrap drive. Bill has joined up, breaking their dad’s heart. It’s an intense, confusing time, and one that will invite Davy to grow up in a hurry. Still, Richard Peck is a master of comedy, and even in this novel of wartime uncertainty, he infuses his tale with humor: oddballs and rascals and boyhood misadventures alongside the poignant moments. This is one of Richard Peck’s very finest novels—a tender, unforgettable portrait of the World War II homefront and a family’s love.

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Silent Echoes
Silent Echoes
Carla Jablonski
Focusing on two girls living in two different eras, the reaction to these women hearing voices is vastly different as one is revered by the rich as a talented medium while the other is hospitalized and labeled a schizophrenic.

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Breaking Up(Fashion High Graphic Novel)
Breaking Up
Christine Norrie, Aimee Friedman
BREAKING UP is something different for the Gossip Girls set: all the drama, all the romance, all the style -- illustrated in juicy graphic novel format."There's a fine line between a friend and an enemy. One minute there's all this trust, and laughter, and love. And the next minute . . . there's hurt. And cruelty. And betrayal."Meet Chloe Sacks: Thoughtful, artistic, and a junior at Georgia O'Keeffe School for the Arts, nicknamed "Fashion High" for its trendy student body. Along with her best friends, Erika, Isabel, and MacKenzie, she's looking forward to a sparkling year of parties and romance.And it is an eventful year. But not quite what she expected. Who'd have thought that falling in love would be such a disaster?

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Hollywood Hills
Hollywood Hills
Aimee Friedman
Get your drama on as the girls from New York Times bestseller SOUTH BEACH and its sexy sequel, FRENCH KISS, strut back into the limelight in another sizzling tale of romance, friendship, and crushes.Celebrity sightings. Sizzling nightlife. Endless shopping.Hollywood, here they come...Alexa: She's stopped believing in love at first sight....but can a Hollywood heartbreaker make her look twice? Holly: When a collision with destiny pulls her heart in two directions, which path will she choose? Either way, this trip will change everything.With one week to go before graduation, Alexa and Holly take off on a whirlwind trip to L.A. Can they handle the drama?

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Mistletoe: Four Holiday Stories
Mistletoe
Nina Malkin, Aimee Friedman, Melissa de la Cruz, Hailey Abbott
Snuggle up beside the fire with this juicy collection of four different, but equally sizzling, winter romances.Glittering white snowflakes. The handsome blond ski instructor. The sparkle on a cashmere skirt. Hot cocoa and kisses in front of a crackling fire. The holiday season is the ESSENCE of magic...and romance. Four of today's bestselling teen authors -- Melissa de la Cruz (THE AU PAIRS), Aimee Friedman (SOUTH BEACH), Hailey Abbott (SUMMER BOYS), and Nina Malkin (6X) -- bring us delectable tales of love and lust and holiday cheers (and tears) in this one-of-a-kind collection that teens will devour faster than a plate of Christmas cookies.

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l8r, g8r (Internet Girls)
L8r g8r
Lauren Myracle
The third book in Lauren Myracle’s wildly popular IM series!The winsome threesome say “l8r” to high school in this sequel to the New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestsellers ttyl and ttfnThrough their instant messages, three inseparable friends have shared the ups and downs of high school. They’ve survived a flirtatious teacher, a witchy classmate, a pot-smoking smoocher, a Care Bear–toting stalker, and much, much more. Now it’s their senior year, and Angela, Zoe, and Maddie—otherwise know as the winsome threesome—are feeling invincible. Too bad Jana, the Queen Bee who made their sophomore year a nightmare, is on the warpath again. This time she has it out for good girl Zoe, and it’s up to Maddie and Angela to defend their friend. Not that Zoe, who’s deep in love with Doug, seems to notice. A series of pranks escalates, culminating in a senior prom that no one will forget, even if they want to! And it will be up to Zoe to finally take action and make sure the power of the winsome threesome prevails.

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Chaosbound (The Runelords Saga, Book 8)
Chaosbound
David Farland
The world of the Runelords has been combined by magic with another parallel world to form a new one, the beginning of a process that may unify all worlds into the one true world. This story picks up after the events of The Wyrmling Horde and follows two of Farland’s well-known heroes, Borenson and Myrrima, on a quest to save their devastated land and the people of the new world from certain destruction. But the land is not the only thing that has been altered forever: in the change, Borenson has merged with a mighty and monstrous creature from the other world, Aaath Ulber.He begins to be a different person, a berserker warrior, as well as having a huge new body because of the transformation of worlds. Thousands have died, lands have sunk below the sea and, elsewhere, risen from it. The supernatural rulers of the world are part of a universal evil, yet play a Byzantine game of dark power politics among themselves. And Aaath Ulber is now the most significant pawn in that game.

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Such a Pretty Face: Short Stories About Beauty
Such A Pretty Face
Ann Angel
With stories by acclaimed and exciting new YA writers: Louise HawesJ. James KeelsRon KoertgeChris LynchNorma Fox MazerLauren MyracleJamie PittelAnita RiggioMary Ann RodmanEllen WittlingerJacqueline WoodsonTim Wynne-JonesA stellar line-up of young adult writers examines our relationship with beauty in stories that haunt, amuse, stir, and fascinate.A beauty queen with a chin-hair problem, an aspiring model who would rather take pictures than be in them, a boy in love with the gorgeous nurse he’s never seen, a girl named Beauty who feels like anything but—the teenagers in these dozen stories feel the power of beauty, whether it’s to trap, save, torment, or comfort. In an era when image seems to have triumphed over virtue and reason, this timely, discussion-provoking collection asks young readers to think about what is truly beautiful.

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