Recent Titles
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February 2012
THE DISENCHANTMENTS by Nina LaCour
*PW, STARRED REVIEW
"LaCour skillfully draws connections between art and life as she delves into the heart of her characters, revealing their fears and celebrating the creative forces that inspire them to reach for the stars."
*KIRKUS, STARRED REVIEW
Each member of the band chronicles their trip in a unique way: journaling, taking photographs, drawing, even with a tattoo. Colby's continued devotion to the self-centered and dishonest Bev is at times irritating, but it is also completely real. Long-held secrets strain friendships and forge new bonds. The old friends quickly realize that dreams are a combination of holding on and letting go. Quirky characters, each with his or her own story, are woven into the narrative, creating a rich tapestry that will make readers confident that they are in the hands of a master storyteller. Hauntingly beautiful.
*SLJ, STARRED REVIEW
"Enchanting in its depiction of the cusp of young disenchantment, this realistic novel will hit home with many thoughtful YAs... Characters and scenes are created with the same care and attention to detail that Bev spends on her tiny sculptures that allow the people and places of Colby's road trip of passage to pop to life. Profundities will be found or echoed for many readers: we all feel pain, need love, overcome fear, crave beauty - and lose ourselves and gain strength in the elemental force of music."
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January 2012
THE WHOLE STORY OF HALF A GIRL by Veera Hiranandani
*KIRKUS, STARRED REVIEW
Four decades separate Sonia Nadhamuni and Judy Blume's Margaret Simon, but these feisty, funny offspring of Jewish interfaith marriages are sisters under the skin.
Perched on the uncertain cusp of adulthood, each grapples with perplexing cultural identity issues, but in very different worlds. While Margaret's grandparents pressure her to label herself as they wish, it's Sonia's peers who expect her to define herself racially and culturally. Having a nominally Hindu, Indian-immigrant dad and Jewish-American mom wasn't a big deal until her father lost his job. Now Sonia must leave her comfortably small private school behind and - with Dad sinking into clinical depression and Mom taking on more work - chart her own course at Maplewood Middle School...
Like Blume, Hiranandani resists simplistic, tidy solutions. Each excels in charting the fluctuating discomfort zones of adolescent identity with affectionate humor. (Fiction. 9-13)
*PW, STARRED REVIEW
In Hiranandani's debut novel, Sonia's struggles are painfully realistic, as she wrestles with how to identify herself, how to cope with her family's problems, and how to fit in without losing herself. True to life, her problems do not wrap up neatly, but Sonia's growth is deeply rewarding in this thoughtful and beautifully wrought novel.
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October 2011
VARIANT by Robison Wells
* PW BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR 2011
* PW, STARRED REVIEW
In a chilling, masterful debut, Wells gives the classic YA boarding school setting a Maze Runner twist, creating an academy of imprisoned teenagers who must fight to survive when the rules change daily, and the punishment for breaking those rules is death. Seventeen-year-old Benson Fisher, tired of foster homes, applies for a scholarship to Maxfield Academy in New Mexico, hoping for a fresh start. Instead, he is trapped with roughly 70 other teens divided into three factions, with no teachers, no real classes, and no chance of escape at a school overseen by the mysterious and sinister "Iceman," who doles out punishments and award points. Though Wells doesn't provide much detail about Benson's past, his honesty and determination to escape make him a compelling protagonist, and it's easy to get drawn into his fellow students' plights as well. There are plenty of "didn't see that coming" moments and no shortage of action or violence. With its clever premise, quick pace, and easy-to-champion characters, Wells' story is a fast, gripping read with a cliffhanger that will leave readers wanting more.
KIRKUS
"Benson's account unfolds in a speedy, unadorned first person. Hard to put down from the very first page, this fast-paced novel answers only some of the questions it poses, holding some of the most tantalizing open for the next installment in a series that is anything but ordinary."
"Variant is a compelling story on so many levels. I loved it! The twist behind it all is my favorite since Ender's Game." - James Dashner, New York Times bestselling author of THE MAZE RUNNER
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DEAD OF NIGHT by Jonathan Maberry
"Jonathan Maberry is the top gun when it comes to zombies, and with DEAD OF NIGHT, he's at the top of his game. Frankly, I'm shocked by how effortlessly he moves between the lofty intellectual heights of T.S. Eliot's poetry and the savage carnality of the kill. DEAD OF NIGHT develops with the fevered pace of a manhunt, and yet still manages to hit all the right notes. Strap in, because Maberry's latest is one hell of a wild ride. I loved it." - Joe McKinney, author of DEAD CITY and APOCALYPSE OF THE DEAD
"Jonathan Maberry has created an homage to death itself and an homage to the undead that is as poetic as it is terrifying. It's a brand new and intriguingly fresh slant on the zombie genre that we all love!" - John A. Russo, co-screenwriter of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD
"Maberry is a master at writing scenes that surge and hum with tension. The pacing is relentless. He presses the accelerator to the floor and never lets up, taking you on a ride that leaves your heart pounding. It's almost impossible to put this book down. DEAD OF NIGHT is an excellent read." - S.G. Browne, author of BREATHERS
"DEAD OF NIGHT stands drooped-head and lurching-shoulders above most zombie novels. The nightmare increases exponentially - from minor outbreak to major crisis with unstoppable speed, building to a heart-stopping climax you won't be able to put down."
- David Moody, author of the HATER and AUTUMN books
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September 2011
FROST by Marianna Baer
"Marianna Baer's novel, FROST, puts a unique, 21st Century spin on the usual Gothic ghost story." - Lois Duncan, author of DOWN A DARK HALL and STRANGER WITH MY FACE
"Providing chills and romance at an unflagging pace, Frost is a mysterious, suspenseful thrill ride that refuses to let the reader go even after the last word is read." - Carrie Jones, NYT bestselling author of the NEED series
KIRKUS
Baer has a knack for dialogue and creating creepy situations that will intrigue teens.
BOOKLIST
A lot is going on in this multilayered first novel, much of it beneath the surface, which leaves the reader appropriately on edge... this nuanced blend of psychological suspense and and boarding-school drama will tingle the spines of plenty of readers.
Leena Thomas's senior year at boarding school starts with a cruel shock: Frost House, the cozy Victorian dorm where she and her best friends chose to live, has been assigned an unexpected roommate - confrontational, eccentric Celeste Lazar.
What Celeste lacks in social grace, however, her brother, David, a recent transfer student, makes up for in good looks and charm. But while he and Leena hit it off immediately, Leena finds herself struggling to balance her growing attraction with her fear of getting hurt.
As classes get under way, strange happenings begin to bedevil Frost House - frames mysteriously falling off walls, doors locking by themselves, furniture toppling over. Celeste blames the housemates, convinced they want to scare her into leaving. And while Leena tries to play peacekeeper between her best friends and new roommate, soon the mysterious happenings in the dorm, an intense triangle between Leena, Celeste, and David, and the reawakening of childhood fears all push Leena to take increasingly desperate measures to feel safe. But does the threat lie with her new roommate, within Leena's own mind . . . or in Frost House itself?
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THE ELEVENTH PLAGUE by Jeff Hirsch
"THE ELEVENTH PLAGUE hits disturbingly close to home... An excellent, taut debut novel." - Suzanne Collins, author of THE HUNGER GAMES
Dad turned all around, sheets of water coursing off his head and shoulders. I wanted to scream that it was pointless, that we needed to keep running, but then there was another crack and a flash of lightning, and for a second it seemed like there might be a ridge of some kind out ahead of us. Dad grabbed my elbow and pulled us toward it.
"Come on! Maybe there's shelter!"
By then, the ground had turned to a slurry of mud and rocks and wrecked grass. Every few steps my feet would sink deep into it and I'd have to pull myself out one foot at a time, terrified that I'd lose sight of Dad and be lost out in that gray nothing, alone forever.
As we ran, the ridge ahead of us became more and more solid, a great looming black wall. I prayed for a cave, but even a good notch in the rock wall would have been enough to get us out of the rain and hide until morning. We were only fifty feet or so from it when Dad came to an abrupt halt.
"Why are we stopping?!"
Dad didn't say anything, he simply pointed.
Between us and the ridge there was an immense gash in the earth, a gorge some thirty feet across and another thirty deep, with steep, muddy walls on our side and the ridge on the opposite. A boiling mess of muddy water, tree stumps, and trash raged at the bottom.
Dad searched left and right for a crossing, but there wasn't any. His shoulders slumped. Even through the curtain of rain I could see the sunken hollow of his eyes, deep red-lined pits that sat in skin as gray as the air around us.
"I'm sorry, Stephen. I swear to God, I'm so sorry."
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August 2011
DUST & DECAY by Jonathan Maberry
KIRKUS
The zombie attacks are bigger, better - and gorier - in this nearly non-stop action sequel to ROT & RUIN.
BOOKLIST
Maberry knows this world well; when the zombie apocalypse comes down, I want him on my team.
* PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
STARRED REVIEW of ROT & RUIN
"The delineation between man and monster, survivor and victim is fiercely debated in Maberry's (Patient Zero) thoughtful, postapocalyptic coming-of-age tale. In Mountainside, an oasis of civilization in a world ravaged by zombies, residents must find work at age 15 or have their rations halved. With every other option exhausted, Benny Imura reluctantly apprentices with his older brother, Tom, as a zombie killer, despite blaming Tom for their parents' deaths. As Benny accompanies Tom into the hostile wilderness, he learns how wrong he was about many things, from the supposed "coolness" of larger-than-life bounty hunter Charlie Matthias to the inhuman nature of "zoms" and the true purpose of Tom's work. The eye-opening experiences continue when Charlie kidnaps Benny's potential girlfriend, Nix, as part of his efforts to track down the fabled Lost Girl, who holds the key to a deadly secret. In turns mythic and down-to-earth, this intense novel
combines adventure and philosophy to tell a truly memorable zombie story, one that forces readers to consider them not just as flesh-eating monsters or things to be splattered, but as people."
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June 2011
SHARKS & BOYS by Kristen Tracy
* KIRKUS STARRED REVIEW
Thoughtless teen behavior leads four sets of twins on a deadly adventure in a horribly realistic but often very funny survival tale.
These eight teens have been part of a research study and know each other all too well. Enid, the only girl (she is a fraternal twin), is on a break from dating Wick, whose brother conspired to diss her in a zine co-authored by Burr and Skate, twins whose parents have just died in an accident. Narrator Enid isn't funny on purpose, but her angst and stalker behavior are hilarious, as she abandons her responsibilities and drives five hours to eavesdrop on the guys, who are partying. The boys head to the Gretchen, a boat owned by Burr and Skate, for a slightly tipsy outing on the high seas, and Enid follows, sure that Gretchen is female and possibly a stripper. She ends up hiding on board in the head. When the boat goes down and they are left with only a plastic raft, the reality turns increasingly deadly as the often-fortunate coincidences of survival tales don't help these kids out. As Enid names a few of the circling sharks, their increasingly dire situation reveals more about all eight twins, with twins Munny and Sov, who've seemed vulnerable, exhibiting unsuspected strength.
William Golding updated with humor.
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Available at Amazon and IndieBound |
May 2011
YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME by Brian Meehl
* PUBLISHERS WEEKLY STARRED REVIEW
Meehl (Suck It Up) draws inspiration from an American classic in this thought-provoking, often philosophical coming-of-age tale. Almost 16, Billy has spent his entire life traveling with his mother and fighting the good fight as "ninja warriors for the Lord." While Billy is secure in his faith and a willing crusader, he's ready to give up homeschooling for high school and lead a normal, nonnomadic life. The arrival of a message from his (supposedly dead) father gives Billy the impetus to break free and go on a wild road trip. Led by clues hidden in a copy of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, he travels cross-country, finding an unlikely traveling companion in Ruah Branch, a closeted gay black, professional baseball player. Billy and Ruah's friendship is tested by religious and personal beliefs, forcing Billy to rethink everything he's ever known. Throw in a trip to Burning Man, a pair of con artists, and the legendary sequel to Huckleberry Finn, and you have a recipe for a story both strange and wonderful. Meehl doesn't pull any punches as his characters undergo their own journeys to freedom in this powerful, intelligent tale.
Sixteen-year-old Billy Albright is about to bust out of the sheltered cocoon his mother has created for him and go on a gonzo road trip. He just doesn't know it yet. His ticket to freedom? A mysterious Bible containing two resurrection stories. The second story is about a man Billy has never met, and who is supposedly dead: his father.
But the road to a risen-from-the-grave dad, and the unusual inheritance he promises, is far from straight. Billy zigzags across the American West in a geocaching treasure hunt. After encountering a runaway baseball star, nudists who perform wild sun dances, a girl with neon green beauty parts, and con artists who blackmail him into their “anitaction movie,” Billy quickly realizes that the path to self-discovery is mega off road.
Brian Meehl's contemporary reimagining of Mark Twain's ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN is a probing and comic exploration of the enslaving chains that still rattle in America today.
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Available at Amazon and IndieBound |
April 2011
THE DRAGON OF CRIPPLE CREEK by Troy Howell
"I hate it when really wonderful illustrators turn out to be even more wonderful at writing novels. Somehow it's not fair. Yet how could I hate Troy Howell whose sassy, self-aware (and hurting) heroine Kit has one of the freshest voices in children's novels today. Whose dragon Ye has a marvelous world-weary insouciance. Whose landscapes and cave-scapes are as visualized in words as in his paintings. You guessed it. I love this book." - Jane Yolen, author of the Pit Dragon Chronicles, The Dragon's Boy, The Young Merlin Trilogy, and The Devil's Arithmetic
"Troy Howell's heroine, Kat, is as luminous as the gold in her pocket. Readers better hang on to their hats as she tells her funny, sad, lyrical and finally- breathtaking tale. I absolutely loved this book." - Mary Pope Osborne, author of the Magic Treehouse series
When Kat and her father and brother visit the Mollie Kathleen, an old gold mine now open for tours by the busload, Kat gets lost from the group and falls down a shaft, where she discovers an awe-inspiring world of fantasy. She meets an ancient dragon--the last of his kind--and discovers a secret about the god that litters the creature's den and why dragons throughout time have hoarded the sparkling treasure.
The dragon helps Kat escape the endless caverns, but not before Kat greedily takes a piece of gold for herself. Feeling guilty, Kat decides to return it, but before she can do this she drops it in front of a group of visitors, and media frenzy ensues. Soon the mining town is filled with gold seekers. In order to save the dragon and his gold Kat and her brother must venture back into the mine to warn him. But will they get there in time? This fast-paced, beautifully told modern fantasy tale is children's book illustrator Troy Howell's writing debut.
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Available at Amazon and IndieBound
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March 2011
I DON'T WANT TO KILL YOU by Dan Wells
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Wells's smart and sassy third supernatural featuring likable teenage sociopath John Wayne Cleaver (after Mr. Monster), The Handyman, a serial killer who removes the tongues and hands of his victims, is targeting the town fathers of Clayton, N. Dak. John, who sometimes assists his mother in the local mortuary business, believes the killer is demon possessed, and consults with a local priest, who's horrified to discover that empathy-empty John is a potential murderer himself. Then a rash of teen suicides breaks out, threatening John's girlfriend, Marci, and forcing him to revise his deductions about the killer's identity. Wells lards his fanciful narrative with enough mortuary pathology to give it a grisly edge. His true achievement, though, is his compelling depiction of John, who nurtures a darkness within that makes him seem much older than his actual years.
Praise for I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER:
* KIRKUS STARRED REVIEW
Wells's debut, the first in a projected trilogy starring a character who seems the love child of Showtime's Dexter and F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack, is an unabashedly gory gem. While certainly not for all audiences, this deft mix of several genres features a completely believable teenage sociopath (with a heart of gold), dark humor, a riveting mystery and enough description of embalming to make any teen squeamish even if they won't admit it.
"This dazzling unputdownable debut novel proves beyond a doubt that Dan Wells has the gift. His teenage protagonist is as chilling as he is endearing. More John Wayne Cleaver, please." - F. Paul Wilson, New York Times Bestselling author
"The beauty of the prose, mixed with the depth of characterization, gives the haunting, first-person narrative a human touch. Regardless of your age or genre preferences, you will find this story both profound and enthralling." - Brandon Sanderson, New York Times Bestselling author
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Available at Amazon and IndieBound
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February 2011
THE KING OF PLAGUES by Jonathan Maberry
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Maberry's audacious third novel featuring Department of Military Science agent Joe Ledger (after The Dragon Factory), Joe must stop a cult bent on over-throwing the world order. Though Ledger is unofficially retired, a terrorist attack that levels the Royal London Hospital killing thousands compels him to return to action. The London tragedy proves to be just the opening move in a meticulously planned plot. When a viral research facility in Scotland is compromised, the Bombay Stock exchange is bombed, and Ledger himself is almost killed by assassins, he and his DMS cohorts quickly realize that they are up against a terrorist group with virtually unlimited resources--about which they know little except its name, the Seven Kings. Powered by a cast of over-the-top characters, breakneck, pacing, nonstop action, and a subtle sense of humor, this is an utterly readable blend of adventure fiction, suspense thriller, and horror.
Praise for the first Joe Ledger novel, PATIENT ZERO:
"When you have to kill the same terrorist twice in one week there's either something wrong with your world or something wrong with your skills...and there's nothing wrong with Joe Ledger's skills. And that's both a good, and a bad thing. It's good because he's a Baltimore detective that has just been secretly recruited by the government to lead a new taskforce created to deal with the problems that Homeland Security can't handle. This rapid response group is called the Department of Military Sciences or the DMS for short. It's bad because his first mission is to help stop a group of terrorists from releasing a dreadful bio-weapon that can turn ordinary people into zombies. The fate of the world hangs in the balance..."
* PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"Plenty of man-to-zombie combat, a team traitor and a doomsday scenario add up to a fast and furious read."
* KIRKUS STARRED REVIEW
"The book is as fun and funny as it is chilling and thrill-packed. Joe is a fantastic character, full of compassion, real vulnerabilities and a deliciously dark sense of humor. An immensely entertaining package."
"The action is heated, violent, and furious, the writing remains cool, steady, and low-key, framing all the wildness and exuberance in a calm rationality (given an almost comic edge) that renders it as palatable as your favorite flavor of ice cream. This is a lovely treat and Maberry has written a memorable book." - Peter Straub
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Available at Amazon and IndieBound |
February 2011
TRAPPED by Michael Northrop
The day the Blizzard started, no one knew it was going to keep snowing for a week. That for those in its path, it would become not just a matter of keeping warm, but of staying alive.
Scotty and his friends Pete and Jason are among the last seven kids to get picked up that day, and they soon realize that no one is coming for them. Still, it doesn't seem so bad to spend the night at school, especially when distractingly hot Krista and Julie are sleeping just down the hall. But then the power goes out, then the heat. The pipes freeze, and the roof shudders. As the days add up, the snow piles higher, and the empty halls grow colder and darker, the mounting pressure forces a devastating decision...
BOOKLIST
"It's a setup just plausible enough to give you chills. A nor'easter, which will ultimately be known as the worst blizzard in U.S. history, sweeps into a rural New England community, trapping seven kids inside their high school for days. Northrop begins with some dark foreshadowing - "Not all of us made it" - which makes the students' gradual realization of their predicament all the more frightening. First the snow piles up past the windows; then the water pipes freeze; then the roof starts making ominous noises. What begins as a sort of life-or-death The Breakfast Club (there's the delinquent, the pretty girl, the athlete, and so on) quickly turns into a battle for survival... there's no denying that the pages turn like wildfire."
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Northrop (Gentlemen) offers a gripping disaster story that, for its reliance on luck and coincidences to set things up, is no less exciting... The problems are expected--darkness, infighting, jealousy, illness, hunger--but conveyed with a tight sense of realism through Scotty's narrative voice. He tells readers early on that "not all of us made it," so the surprise is less that things keep going wrong than how they do. Northrop's solid storytelling should keep readers rapt.
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Available at Amazon and IndieBound
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January 2011 THE REINVENTION OF BESSICA LEFTER by Kristen Tracy
When you are in middle school, it is dumb to expect good things to happen to you.
After an unfortunate accident at the hair salon, Bessica is not allowed to see her best friend, Sylvie. That means she's going to start middle school alone. Bessica feels like such a loser. She wants friends. She's just not sure how to make them.
It doesn't help that her beloved grandma is off on some crazy road trip and has zero time to listen to Bessica. Or that Bessica has a ton of homework. Or that the gorgeous Noll Beck thinks she's just a kid. Or that there are psycho-bullies in her classes.
Bessica doesn't care about being popular. She just wants to survive -- and look cute. Is that too much to ask when you're eleven?
* THE BULLETIN OF THE CENTER FOR CHILDREN'S BOOKS
STARRED REVIEW
"Readers negotiating their own middle-school minefields or soaking up all the preparatory information they can find will breathlessly follow Bessica's escapades."
KIRKUS
The first-person narration reveals the inconsistencies of preteendom, the magnified problems and rapid emotional swings. Both family and school are believable, but, appropriately, this is all about Bessica, a character whose newfound bear persona schoolmates and readers alike can applaud.
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