All Books
Swimming With The Sharks
Debbie Reed Fischer
Synopsis:

Five-foot eleven. Freckled. Flat as a surfboard. Peyton Grady sees her role on the varsity cheer squad as the only thing keeping her off the social sidelines at wealthy Beachwood Preparatory Academy. It's her umbilical cord to cool―and it's constantly in danger of getting cut.

As a base, it's Peyton's duty to be stepped on―literally―by cheer queen Lexie Court. So when Lexie hatches a fierce hazing campaign against the frumpy new girl, Peyton has no choice but to support her flier. Soon the pranks become sadistically cruel, even criminal. Suddenly, Peyton has more to lose than her new-found Alpha celebrity. Will she gamble her entire future for "the good of the squad"?

"Debbie Reed Fischer's sizzling take on girl hazing and cheer pressure mixes the perfect ration of humor to anger for a compelling, un-put-downable read."
―Alex Flinn, author of Breathing Underwater

Publication Date: 09/08/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Sports
Boost
Kathy Mackel
Synopsis: Thirteen-year-old Savvy is six two and full of raw basketball talent; her three-point shot is deadly. But she’s also skinny and gets pushed around on the court. Her older sister, Callie, is a freshman on varsity cheerleading, but she’s not quite light enough to be a flier—her coveted position. Both girls need to boost their level of competition to get off the bench and into the action. When steroids are found in Savvy’s gym bag, she claims they are not hers. Suddenly, accusations are flying and nobody knows who is telling the truth. When it comes to competitive sports, no one is exempt from being offered a boost.
Publication Date: 09/04/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
Dark Destiny
Melody Lowe, Kym Hackenberger
Synopsis: Scorned by her betrothed; shunned by her family; her true love murdered in a less-than-chivalrous battle... An innocent young princess takes a turn down the twisted path of vengeance to become the Queen of the Dark Realm. "THAT'S NOT FAIR!" we cry, outraged at the latest injustice that life has tossed our way. But life isn't always fair, a fact that no one knows better than Elspeth, Princess of Rookskrieg. What could transform an innocent young princess, full of life and hope and all that's good, into the evil queen of Sleeping Beauty fame, who condemns an innocent child to her death? Dark Destiny is the Sleeping Beauty story that's never been told, the story of a young woman whose dream of blissful life outside her royal destiny is shattered by the twists of fate.
Publication Date: 09/03/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
Fringe Benefits
Valerie Frankel
Synopsis: Instead of the European vacations and sleepaway camps of summers past, Dora finds herself stuck in Brooklyn after her junior year at the Brownstone Collegiate Institute, waitressing at an exclusive tennis and squash club where new responsibilities and exciting relationships abound.
Publication Date: 09/02/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Aurelie
Heather Tomlinson
Synopsis: Once upon a time, three children and a little river dragon were the best of friends—until a promise was broken. Now they are almost grown up and barely speaking to one another.  Of the four, it is Princess Aurelie who feels the loss the most. How can she prevent a war when she can’t even make her friends get along? Heartsick at losing her dearest companions, Aurelie finds comfort in the beauty of fairyland. But a princess can’t hide from her duties forever. Her country needs her, and so do her friends, whether they know it or not. Aurelie is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
Publication Date: 09/02/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Ghost Medicine
Andrew Smith
Synopsis:

The summer before Troy Stotts turns seventeen, his mother dies. Troy and his father barely speak, communicating instead by writing notes on a legal pad by the phone. Troy spends most of his time with his closest friends: Tom Buller, brash and fearless, the son of a drunk; Gabe Benavidez, smart enough to know he’ll never take over the family ranch; and Gabe’s sister, Luz, whose family overprotects her, and who Troy has loved since they were children.

           Troy and his friends don’t want trouble. They want this to be the summer of what Troy calls “ghost medicine,” when time seems to stop, so they won’t have to face the past or the future. But before the summer is over, their paths will cross in dangerous and fateful ways with people who will change their lives: Rose, a damaged derelict who lives with a flock of wild horses and goats; and Chase Rutledge, the arrogant sheriff’s son.

           Troy and his friends want to disappear. Instead, they will become what they least expect —brothers, lovers, heroes, and ghosts.

Publication Date: 09/02/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
Prom Queen Geeks
Laura Preble
Synopsis: The Queen Geeks take on the prom queens in the third of the Queen Geek novels, hailed as "thoroughly enjoyable." (Kliatt)

The Queen Geek Social Club includes a first generation geek, a tattooed misfit, a goth poetess, a mathlete, and an exchange student. And together they're so out, they're almost in

It's prom season, and Green Pines High is split between those who can afford the tickets and those who can't. So the Queen Geeks plan a low-cost Geek Prom. It'll be loads of work, especially when the popular kids do everything they can to stop it.

Friendships will be tested and boyfriends jilted. But when they expand the Geek Prom, hoping to make this the biggest prom on record, the girls will realize they're fighting for geeks everywhere.
Publication Date: 09/02/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Imaginary Friends
John Marco, Martin H. Greenberg
Synopsis: Thirteen original stories about friends conjured in times of need

We?ve all had them. We?ve all needed them. In this fun fantasy anthology, readers are given thirteen variations on what kinds of friends come in handy indeed in times of need. From a toy Canadian Mountie who suddenly comes to life, to a boy and his dragon, to a young woman held captive in a tower and the mysterious being who is her only companion, these highly imaginative tales entertainingly explore the nature of what constitutes a ?real? friendship.
Publication Date: 09/02/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Soldier King
Violette Malan
Synopsis: A new novel of high fantasy and adventure featuring martial arts masters Dhulyn and Parno.

Fulfilling their Mercenary contract, Dhulyn and Parno have accepted the surrender of Prince Edmir, heir to the Tegriani Realm. The Common Rule of the Mercenary Brothers states that prisoners taken by them go free and unharmed. But when the War Commander who hired them refuses to honor this agreement, the duo break their contract and escape with the prince. And thus they take the first step along a path that might lead Dhulyn to the truth about her past?or bring them to a magical trap from which there may be no escape.
Publication Date: 09/02/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
Riders of the Storm
Julie E. Czerneda
Synopsis: The next chapter in the Stratification saga that ?delivers all the right elements.?(Sci Fi Weekly)

On the distant world of Cersi, Om?ray Aryl Sarc and her supporters have been exiled from the rest of their people. Finding refuge in the mountains, they work to rebuild the ruined village of Sona, even as they try to discover what happened to the original Sona Clan. But Sona has a history among all three of Cersi?s races?a history that may soon threaten the future of Aryl?s newly founded clan....
Publication Date: 09/02/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
My Name is Number 4
Ting-xing Ye
Synopsis:

Number Four will have a difficult life. These are the words that were uttered upon Ting-xing Ye's birth. Soon this prophecy would prove only too true. . . .

Here is the real-life story about the fourth child in a family torn apart by China's Cultural Revolution. After the death of both of her parents, Ting-xing and her siblings endured brutal Red Guard attacks on their schools and even in their home. At the age of sixteen, Ting-xing is exiled to a prison farm far from the world she knows.

How she struggled through years of constant terror while keeping her spirit intact is at the heart of My Name Is Number 4. Haunting and inspiring, Ting-xing Ye's personal account of this horri?c period in history is one that no reader will soon forget.

Publication Date: 09/02/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Historical Nonfiction
My Father's Son
Terri Fields
Synopsis:

WHAT IF YOUR FATHER ISN'T WHO YOU THOUGHT HE WAS?

"I turn up the volume as a woman at a news desk announces, 'This just in…the alleged DB25 monster has been arrested.' Good. The camera switches from the anchor to a mug shot…and it is my face--or at least my face as it will look thirty years from now…A new image replaces the full-screen mug shot as I see two cops hustling my handcuffed father into the back of a police car." Kevin has to face the worst imaginable possibility: that his father may be the man responsible for a series of vicious killings. How much does he really know about his father?

Publication Date: 09/02/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Isabelle's Boyfriend
Caroline Hickey
Synopsis:

WHAT DO YOU DO IF THE GUY OF YOUR DREAMS IS SOMEBODY ELSE’S BOYFRIEND?

Taryn has found the perfect guy. Epp is tall, athletic, handsome, and best of all, she is sure he likes her, too. There’s only one problem: He’s dating someone else. But when Taryn becomes friends with Epp’s beautiful girlfriend, Isabelle, her life begins to change. New friends, movie dates, and a first kiss—life couldn’t get any better, could it? Except that Epp is still Isabelle’s boyfriend. Girls will relate to Taryn’s sincerity and humor as she tries to balance family, friendship, and, of course, romance.

 

Publication Date: 09/02/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Chick Lit
Zodiac Girls: Star Child
Cathy Hopkins
Synopsis:

In this newest addition to the astrology-inspired Zodiac Girls series, 13-year-old Thebe Battye is struggling against powers beyond her control. As a Virgo, she is all about order and neatness, but this is a problem when you have parents as disorganized as hers are. To top it all off, her self-centered cousin Yasmin has come to stay―in her room! Tired of being the stable and dependable one, Thebe takes matters into her own hands, but will she be able to change her life? And will she get any help as the newest Zodiac Girl?

Publication Date: 09/02/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Rule of Won
Stefan Petrucha
Synopsis:

The secret of The Rule of Won is simple, yet its power has been suppressed for generations. The universe is one of infinite abundance—ask, and you shall receive.

Umm, yeah right.  Meet Caleb Dunne, slacker extraordinaire. Caleb prefers to glide through life with the minimal amount of effort, so he isn’t too jazzed when his overachieving girlfriend, Vicky, convinces him to join a new school club based on a controversial book, The Rule of Won. Slackers don’t join school clubs, do they?  As The Rule gains popularity, though, the club members start to gain power within the school. From dark posts on the club’s online message board to all-out threats in the hallways, it becomes apparent that the group is getting out of control. For slacker Caleb, though, the only thing worse than doing something is not doing something.

Darkly funny and exceptionally thought-provoking, The Rule of Won, inspired by the ideas behind books like the runaway hit The Secret, shines a light on the dangers of group thinking and the inner desires that can sometimes get the best of us all.

Publication Date: 09/02/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
The Substitute Kid
Joseph K. Smith
Synopsis: The Substitute Kid is a humorous story that follows the wild shenanigans that Michaela Davis and her best friend, Jessica Benson, continuously get themselves into. Michaela is a ten-year-old girl who loves to get into trouble. She devises a grand plot to get out of taking a history exam, but that plot backfires, and she eventually learns a great deal about herself. Did I forget to mention her scientist dad builds a robot that is an exact replica of her, and Michaela uses the robot to plot her biggest scheme of all?
Publication Date: 09/02/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction

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