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12 and up | Page 411 | LitPick Book Reviews
12 and up
Alice in the Know
Alice in the Know
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
It's the summer before junior year, and Alice is looking forward to three months of excitement, passion, and drama. But what does she find? A summer working in a local department store, trying to stop shoplifters, and more "real life" problems than she could have ever imagined: A good friend becomes seriously ill, Lester has more romance problems than even Alice knows what to do with, and the gang from Mark Stedmeister's pool is starting to grow up a bit faster than Alice is comfortable with.... Fortunately for Alice her family and friends are with her through it all, and by the end of the summer, Alice finds she knows a whole lot more than she had in June.Funny, touching, and always provocative, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor does it again, proving with this twenty-first book in the beloved Alice series that she understands what real girls think and feel.

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Curse of Arastold (The Silverskin Legacy Series)
The Silverskin Legacy - Curse of Arastold
Jo Whittemore
Megan and Ainsley are ready to say goodbye to the magic-infused land of Arylon and journey back to Earth, but their trip is postponed when Ainsley comes down with a serious illness linked to cursed dragon's blood. Hoping for a cure, his friends take him to Raklund where he receives special care from Lady Maudred, who has experience with the magical disease. But her potion fails to cure him and Ainsley is running out of precious time. As he slowly descends into madness, his body is undergoing a hideous metamorphosis. The only hope for a cure lies with Arastold-an ancient and powerful dragon who's imprisoned in a mountain cave. Can Megan convince Arastold, who originated the foul infection, to lift the treacherous curse that is transforming Ainsley into a deadly dragon?

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Chasing the Jaguar (Martika Galvez Mystery)
Chasing the Jaguar
Michele Dominguez Greene
Girl next door . . . or Mayan sorceress ? Martika Gálvez's "To Do" list: 1. Research final project for art class–on the jaguar 2. Study the arts of telepathy (ESP) and pyrokinesis (starting fires at will) 3. Build an altar and pray to Mayan deities 4. Use psychic powers to recover stolen ancient statue and help rescue abducted teen girl... 5. and convince Mom I'm really studying at the library Introducing Martika Gálvez, the Latina Nancy Drew of the new millennium. Ages 12+

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Golden
Golden
Jennifer Lynn Barnes
When Lissy James moves from California to Oklahoma, she finds herself in the middle of a teenage nightmare: a social scene to rival a Hollywood movie. And if understanding the hierarchy of the Goldens vs. the Nons isn’t hard enough, Lissy’s ever growing Aura Vision is getting harder and harder to hide, and if she’s not careful, she’s going to become a Non faster than you can say “freak.”But it’s becoming clear that Emory High has a few secrets of its own. Around the halls, the term “special powers” goes way beyond one’s ability to attract the opposite sex, and there may be something more evil than the A-crowd lurking in the classrooms. Lissy can see a lot more than the average girl, but she’s about to learn the hard way that things aren’t always as they appear and you can’t always judge a girl by her lip gloss.

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How to Be a Budget Fashionista: The Ultimate Guide to Looking Fabulous for Less
How to Be a Budget Fashionista
Kathryn Finney
Good news: You don’t have to sacrifice style just to pay your electric bill. Kathryn Finney, a.k.a. the Budget Fashionista, is the expert on all things chic and cheap. Now she opens up her Prada bag of shopping and style tips to make you fashionably frugal, with change to spare. It’s as easy as 1-2-3!1. Know your budget: Learn innovative, money-saving ways to increase your clothing funds. 2. Know your style: Get helpful hints from fashion insiders and use them to develop your own mode of self-expression. 3. Know your bargains: Discover the art of scoring exclusive friends-and-family coupons for your favorite department stores Whether you’re a homemaker from Houston, a grandma from Grand Rapids, or an M.D. from Manhattan, you don’t need to break the bank to look your best. With great cost-cutting tips, at-home spa secrets, designer discount websites, and access to exclusive deals, The Budget Fashionista is like having your own personal stylist at your beck and call. So before you go out and commit the eighth deadly sin–buying a fake Louis Vuitton–read this must-have guide and learn to be style-smart and budget-wise!

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The Queen Geek Social Club
The Queen Geek Social Club
If you're somebody like Shelby Chappelle, a smart, witty, pretty geek army of one, you can't just put a poster up at school and advertise for somebody to be your best friend. But now freakishly tall Becca Gallagher has moved to town, with her dragon tattoo and wild ideas. Suddenly Shelby's madscientist father and their robot, Euphoria, seem normal. They become best friends instantly. But Becca wants to shake things up at school and look for "others of our kind"...and decides to form the Queen Geek Social Club.The thing is, this guy Fletcher Berkowitz keeps nosing around, asking lots of questions about the Club. He's cute, and interesting, and possibly likes Shelby. Therefore, she must torture him. One good thing about being a loner: no one can break your heart.

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Conrad's Fate (A Chrestomanci Book)
Conrad's Fate - A Chrestomanci Book
Diana Wynne Jones
Someone at Stallery Mansion is changing the world. At first, only small details, but the changes get bigger and bigger. It's up to Conrad, a twelve-year-old with terrible karma who's just joined the mansion's staff, to find out who is behind it.But he's not the only one snooping around. His fellow servant-in-training, Christopher Chant, is charming, confident, and from another world, with a mission of his own -- rescuing his friend, lost in an alternate Stallery Mansion. Can they save the day before Conrad's awful fate catches up with them?

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The Bad Mother's Handbook: A Novel
The Bad Mother's Handbook
Kate Long
BAD MOTHER RULE #1: NEVER, EVER, DO WHAT I DID!For seventeen-year-old Charlotte Cooper, it’s too late. Despite her best efforts to finish school, tune out her angry, slightly hysterical mother, and cope with her loving but dotty grandmother, she is unexpectedly (now that’s an understatement) pregnant. And don’t even mention the jerk who knocked her up.Charlotte’s mother, Karen, is trying to convince herself that there are worse things than becoming a grandmother at thirty-three. For instance, there’s wanting to kill Charlotte for the mess she’s made of her life. Between struggling to pay the bills and halfheartedly filling out questionnaires on Internet dating sites, Karen uncovers a scandalous family secret involving her own birth, and then falls back into bed with her sexy ex-husband. So much for perfect timing.In the meantime, Karen’s mother, Nan, is having a wee bit of trouble with names (sometimes her own). But that doesn’t keep her from retaining a few things she’d rather forget. Of course, Nan knows that everything will work out fine for Charlotte and the baby–these things usually do. Now, if only she could put the pieces of her own fragmented memory together, she might have an interesting tale or two to share.In this wickedly funny, disarmingly moving novel, three generations of mothers learn that it’s the simplest mistakes that can change your life forever. With wit and wisdom, Kate Long proves that there are as many kinds of mothers as there are daughters, but the love that binds them all is what truly matters.From the Hardcover edition.

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May Bird and the Ever After: Book One
May Bird and the Ever After
Jodi Lynn Anderson, Leonid Gore
Most people aren't very comfortable in the woods, but the woods of Briery Swamp fit May Bird like a fuzzy mitten. There, she is safe from school and the taunts and teases of kids who don't understand her. Hidden in the trees, May is a warrior princess, and her cat, Somber Kitty, is her brave guardian. Then May falls into the lake. When she crawls out, May finds herself in a world that most certainly does not feel like a fuzzy mitten. In fact it is a place few living people have ever seen. Here, towns glow blue beneath zipping stars and the people -- people? -- walk through walls. Here the Book of the Dead holds the answers to everything in the universe. And here, if May is discovered, the horrifyingly evil Bo Cleevil will turn her into nothing. May Bird must get out. Fast. Within these pages, Jodi Lynn Anderson shares with us the beginning of May Bird's daring journey into the Ever After, a haunting place where true friends -- and one terrible foe -- await her on every corner.

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Pretties (Uglies Trilogy, Book 2)
Pretties
Scott Westerfeld
Having been transformed into a pretty girl after making promises while living in her ugly life, Tally is a happy girl with new friends and a positive outlook, but when the past comes calling, Tally doesn't want to live up to her obligations and now must fight to keep the life she loves without making the sacrifices expected by others. By the author of Uglies.

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