YA BOOK GIVEAWAYS THIS WEEK
Words and Their Meanings
by Kate Bassett
Paperback Giveaway (5 Copies)
Flux
Released 9/8/2014
Anna O’Mally doesn’t believe in the five stages of grief. Her way of dealing with death equates to daily bouts of coffin yoga and fake-tattooing Patti Smith quotes onto her arms. Once a talented writer, Anna no longer believes words matter, until shocking discoveries– in the form of origami cranes– force her to redefine family and love.
As Anna goes in search of the truth, she discovers that while every story, every human being, has a last line, it might still be possible to find the words for a new beginning.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Words and Their Meanings?
Origami– the idea of folded paper and secrets within secrets– is pretty fitting when it comes to describing what I love most about this book. When I started writing WORDS AND THEIR MEANINGS, I thought it was about one thing…and three drafts later was sure it was about this other thing…and two drafts after that, I think I started to unfold the heart of the story. So for me, my favorite thing will always be the journey I took while writing it.
Other favorite things: coffin yoga, Patti Smith, good cooking, graffiti alley. And quirky little sisters who like to hide in not-on ovens. And Mateo.
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All Those Broken Angels
by Peter Adam Salomon
Signed Hardcover Giveaway
Flux
Released 9/8/2014
Comforted by a shadow. Haunted by the truth.
Richard Anderson was the last person to see his friend Melanie alive. She vanished when they were six and while the police never found Melanie, a part of her remained—a living shadow that is now Richard’s closest friend.
For ten years, Richard has never questioned the shadow that keeps him company . . . until a new girl moves to town, claiming to be Melanie. Desperate to prove the girl is a fake, the shadow leads Richard to the place where her killer buried her bones. But Richard finds skeletons from several different children . . . and evidence suggesting that perhaps the shadow isn’t who she says she is.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about All Those Broken Angels?
When I first started writing the story, I quickly realized that it was in a very strong, particular ‘voice.’ For the most part, I tossed aside a number of the ‘rules’ of fiction writing: ‘no run on sentences’ and ‘no repetition’ and ‘no sentence fragments’ for example. In their place, I used a number of the ‘rules’ of poetry. So, while the book is prose, it reads much more fluidly than my first novel, HENRY FRANKS. A good example is the final paragraph of chapter three:
In the corner of the room the shadow screamed, burning the air around me until I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move, couldn’t think, and everything went black and everything changed and everything disappeared and all I knew was pain. Unending, unceasing pain.
Run on sentence? Check. Two different words repeated three separate times? Check. Sentence fragment? Check.
The voice I wrote ATBA in was insanely difficult to sustain. Every day I’d worry that I wouldn’t be able to sustain that voice and every day, after writing only 1,500 words or so, I’d be so exhausted from writing that I’d need a very long nap. And then, every night I’d worry that the next day I wouldn’t be able to continue in that voice. It was a tremendous relief to finish that first draft.
Because of how much I struggled with the voice of ALL THOSE BROKEN ANGELS, I have been incredibly gratified and relieved to have critics respond so well to it. VOYA described the writing as having ‘a literary feel’ and Publishers Weekly said that I managed to create ‘the sensation of slipping between the worlds of the living and the dead.’ And, of course, the Starred review from Booklist that highlighted the ‘pervading sense of shuddery doom.’
What I think I was able to create, by sustaining that voice, is a ghost story where the words themselves have the haunting quality of dreams or poetry. Or, at least, I hope they do.
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Winterkill
by Kate A. Boorman
Hardcover Giveaway
Amulet Books
Released 9/9/2014
Emmeline knows she’s not supposed to explore the woods outside her settlement. The enemy that wiped out half her people lurks there, attacking at night and keeping them isolated in an unfamiliar land with merciless winters. Living with the shame of her grandmother’s insubordination, Emmeline has learned to keep her head down and her quick tongue silent.
When the settlement leader asks for her hand in marriage, it’s an opportunity for Emmeline to wash the family slate clean—even if she has eyes for another. But before she’s forced into an impossible decision, her dreams urge her into the woods, where she uncovers a path she can’t help but follow. The trail leads to a secret that someone in the village will kill to protect. Her grandmother followed the same path and paid the price. If Emmeline isn’t careful, she will be next.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Winterkill?
My favourite thing about WINTERKILL is the setting. It takes place on a reimagined frontier- a fantastical river valley on the prairies, inspired by a place I know and love. I’ve always been drawn to wild places; as a child I could spend full days with little more than a pinecone and a creek for entertainment. Being out in the woods unlocked my imagination like nothing else could, and it still does. Natural settings possess a kind of magic, I think, because even the most plugged-in of us can feel restored/changed after sitting out under a starry sky somewhere or breathing fresh mountain air. Being out in the wild resonates with us, somewhere deep down. Perhaps it’s because the possibility of discovering new things about yourself or your world is right at your fingertips. Or perhaps because our subconscious tells us we should be connected to the land that sustains us. Whatever the case, I am a fan of trees. I think that’s pretty evident in the book-even if they are a bit creepy.
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Rites of Passage
by Joy N. Hensley
Swag Only Giveaway
HarperTeen
Released 9/9/2014
Sam McKenna’s never turned down a dare. And she’s not going to start with the last one her brother gave her before he died.
So Sam joins the first-ever class of girls at the prestigious Denmark Military Academy. She’s expecting push-ups and long runs, rope climbing and mud-crawling. As a military brat, she can handle an obstacle course just as well as the boys. She’s even expecting the hostility she gets from some of the cadets who don’t think girls belong there. What she’s not expecting is her fiery attraction to her drill sergeant. But dating is strictly forbidden and Sam won’t risk her future, or the dare, on something so petty…no matter how much she wants him.
As Sam struggles to prove herself, she discovers that some of the boys don’t just want her gone—they will stop at nothing to drive her out. When their petty threats turn to brutal hazing, bleeding into every corner of her life, she realizes they are not acting alone. A decades-old secret society is alive and active… and determined to force her out.
At any cost.
Now time’s running short. Sam must decide who she can trust…and choosing the wrong person could have deadly consequences.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Rites of Passage?
My favorite part of Rites is the military setting, I think. It’s not done a lot in YA and it was so fun to explore that from a young adult standpoint. The intricacies of showing a world foreign to many readers while making it accessible was a lot of fun. I also loved putting a female in the midst of all these boys who didn’t want her there. High school is a tough place to be on a good day, but add to it the fact that you aren’t “supposed” to be there makes it even more daunting.
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YA BOOK GIVEAWAYS LAST WEEK: WINNERS
Always a Catch
by Peter Richmond
Hardcover
Philomel
Released 9/4/2014
Winner – Victoria Turvey
A ripped-from-the-headlines story about teens and steroids.
From a New York Times bestselling sports writer comes the story of one boy’s quest to stay true to himself without letting down his team. Jack and his father have never seen eye to eye…until Jack’s dad gives him the chance to transfer to Oakhurst his junior year. His dad sees it as a way for Jack to get into a good college; Jack sees it as refuge from his dad.
Oakhurst is more than an escape—it’s a chance for Jack to do something new, to try out for the football team. Once Jack makes the team, he’s thrust into a foreign world—one of intense hazing, vitamin supplements, monkey hormones and steroids. Jack has to decide how far he’s willing to go to fit in—and how much he’s willing to compromise himself to be the man his team wants him to be.
Perfect for fans of Mike Lupica and Tim Green.
Praise for ALWAYS A CATCH:
“Richmond has written an above-average story that will appeal to fans of the genre and authors, such as Mike Lupica and Tim Green.”–School Library Journal
“A dynamic but thoughtful novel of self-discovery.”–Kirkus Reviews
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Always a Catch?
My favorite thing about Always a Catch? That I seem to have captured what it is to be a 16-year-old boy who is “coming of age” — and being pulled in lots of directions with some accuracy — judging from various responses, including a freshman college class in my YA Lit course. I knew from the start that I could have chosen a more plot-driven tale (and I’m pretty proud of the plot, which took more twists and turns over the last few years than a kite in a tornado). But I decided to take on a story where I was inside the head of an “average” adolescent: not a star, not a loser; just an average guy. And re-reading, I think that I managed to pull it off. I think I conjured up what it is to be in the midst of the turmoil of teenland…and grow up by making the right choices.
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Don’t Touch
by Rachel M. Wilson
Hardcover
HarperTeen
Released 9/2/2014
Winner – Marie Oliva
Step on a crack, break your mother’s back,
Touch another person’s skin, and Dad’s gone for good . . .
Caddie has a history of magical thinking—of playing games in her head to cope with her surroundings—but it’s never been this bad before.
When her parents split up, Don’t touch becomes Caddie’s mantra. Maybe if she keeps from touching another person’s skin, Dad will come home. She knows it doesn’t make sense, but her games have never been logical. Soon, despite Alabama’s humidity, she’s covering every inch of her skin and wearing evening gloves to school.
And that’s where things get tricky. Even though Caddie’s the new girl, it’s hard to pass off her compulsions as artistic quirks. Friends notice things. Her drama class is all about interacting with her scene partners, especially Peter, who’s auditioning for the role of Hamlet. Caddie desperately wants to play Ophelia, but if she does, she’ll have to touch Peter . . . and kiss him. Part of Caddie would love nothing more than to kiss Peter—but the other part isn’t sure she’s brave enough to let herself fall.
From rising star Rachel M. Wilson comes a powerful, moving debut novel of the friendship and love that are there for us, if only we’ll let them in.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Don’t Touch?
The friendships. Mandy and Peter and their entire group of friends were so much fun to write, and I have such a feeling of kinship with all of them. They aren’t based on individual people I’ve known, but as a group, they have the spirit of the circles of friends I’ve been blessed to belong to over the years. When I was writing the group scenes, they all kept asserting themselves, saying funny things, and I felt less like a writer and more like a spy scribbling everything down. As a teen, I always connected with individuals more easily than with groups—I can divide my young life into sections by who my “person” was at any given time. But over time, I found my tribe—tribes, really. Theater always helps to create a sense of community, so that’s been the source of many of my most amazing friend groups—but I’ve also lived in a co-op, traveled with friends, and enjoyed to the summer-camp-feeling community at Vermont College of Fine Arts. For Caddie at the beginning of the book, truly belonging to a tribe like Mandy and Peter’s seems impossible, so for me that journey toward belonging is at the heart of the book.
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The Dolls
by Kiki Sullivan
Paperback
Balzer + Bray; Original edition
Released 9/2/2014
Winner – Tayte Hunter
Eveny Cheval just moved back to Louisiana after spending her childhood in New York with her aunt Bea. Eveny hasn’t seen her hometown since her mother’s suicide fourteen years ago, and her memories couldn’t have prepared her for what she encounters. Because pristine, perfectly manicured Carrefour has a dark side full of intrigue, betrayal, and lies—and Eveny quickly finds herself at the center of it all.
Enter Peregrine Marceau, Chloe St. Pierre, and their group of rich, sexy friends known as the Dolls. From sipping champagne at lunch to hooking up with the hottest boys, Peregrine and Chloe have everything—including an explanation for what’s going on in Carrefour. And Eveny doesn’t trust them one bit.
But after murder strikes and Eveny discovers that everything she believes about herself, her family, and her life is a lie, she must turn to the Dolls for answers. Something’s wrong in paradise, and it’s up to Eveny, Chloe, and Peregrine to save Carrefour and make it right.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about The Dolls?
I first began writing THE DOLLS in early 2012, and of course I’m working on the sequel now, so basically, I’ve been living with Eveny (my main character) and her sister queens Peregrine and Chloe for quite a while. In fact, I’ve been so busy over the last month or so with the revision of the sequel that my real-life friends would probably tell you I’ve been a better friend to Eveny, Peregrine and Chloe than I’ve been to them!
As a writer, it can be tough to choose a favorite thing about your book, because over the course of writing and editing it, you fall in love (and sometimes in hate!) with so many elements. And now that I’ve written the second book, one of the things I love most is how the main characters are growing and becoming more comfortable in their own skin. Isn’t that a part of growing up for all of us (even those of us who don’t have magical powers)?
If I had to choose a few things I especially love about the first book in the series, I’d probably say:
1. Carrefour, the magical, mysterious walled town where most of the book takes place: It was fun to lay the town out and create its rules!
2. Peregrine’s wardrobe: Part of being a Doll is dressing the part. Let’s just say that I would expect to find Peregrine wearing the shoes on the cover (which I’ll get to in a moment) as well as lots of other items I could never dream of affording. She, Chloe and their mothers are basically lifted from the pages of the latest issue of Vogue. I love clothes and shoes, and although I realize this is a little weird, I’m super-jealous of my characters because they get to wear the things I’m lusting after!
3. Eveny: I love a good fish-out-of-water story, and that’s exactly how THE DOLLS begins. Eveny returns to the town she left when she was just three, and immediately, she realizes she’s completely out of step with all of the weirdness taking place there. Over the course of the book, she begins to understand what’s happening – and what her role in everything is – and I truly loved following her through this journey. She has a wonderful heart and the best of intentions.
4. Caleb: Is it weird that I have a crush on a fictional character I created? Don’t tell my husband (who is very crush-worthy too). Honestly, I wish I’d had more time in THE DOLLS to introduce you to Caleb, because seriously, I loooooove him. Some of his character development was cut out in the editing process, which makes me think I need to write a novella or short story focusing on him at some point. Or maybe that’s just my crush speaking. I was so inspired by Caleb, in fact, that I even co-wrote a song from his perspective. You can hear the first 90 seconds by going to KikiSullivan.com. The song automatically plays on everything but mobile devices.
Oh, and finally, I’m absolutely in love with the cover. From the font to the amazing, gorgeous shoes, I adore every inch of it. I even found shoes that essentially match! (See photo.)
It’s also important to note that THE DOLLS developed in a really interesting way. Nick Harris from The Story Foundation, a books-to-film company, was very involved in the genesis of the idea, and now he’s working with some heavy hitters to hopefully make it into a television show. So I look forward to seeing what they’re able to do with it. I would love to see Eveny, Peregrine, Chloe, Caleb, Drew and the whole gang on the small screen!
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The Jewel
by Amy Ewing
Hardcover
HarperTeen
Released 9/2/2014
Winner – Rosi Hollinbeck
The Jewel means wealth. The Jewel means beauty. The Jewel means royalty. But for girls like Violet, the Jewel means servitude. Not just any kind of servitude. Violet, born and raised in the Marsh, has been trained as a surrogate for the royalty—because in the Jewel the only thing more important than opulence is offspring.
Purchased at the surrogacy auction by the Duchess of the Lake and greeted with a slap to the face, Violet (now known only as #197) quickly learns of the brutal truths that lie beneath the Jewel’s glittering facade: the cruelty, backstabbing, and hidden violence that have become the royal way of life.
Violet must accept the ugly realities of her existence… and try to stay alive. But then a forbidden romance erupts between Violet and a handsome gentleman hired as a companion to the Duchess’s petulant niece. Though his presence makes life in the Jewel a bit brighter, the consequences of their illicit relationship will cost them both more than they bargained for.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about The Jewel?
Wow, what a tough question! I really love that THE JEWEL features a female dominated society. That was one of the most fun things to explore. The concept of women buying other women is just so intriguing. The ability to bear children is one of the fundamental differences between women and men. And I wanted to explore the concept of women controlling other women in that area because it just seems so wrong—shouldn’t we be kinder to our own gender? Shouldn’t we understand each other, be compassionate?
I wrote a female dominated society to show the dark sides of humanity too, the dangers of power and fear and oppression. These qualities are not gender specific. Choice is such an important theme in THE JEWEL because I think the idea that someone could legislate what I can and cannot do with my body has always been a fear. I was fortunate to grow up in a family where I know I would have been supported in any decision I made regarding my body—even such trivial things as piercings or tattoos. But that isn’t the case for many women and it sickens me to see the government and society revert back to archaic views on women’s issues. Terms like “legitimate rape” and mandatory ultrasounds before getting an abortion are society’s way of saying, “We know better than you.” Everyone should have the freedom to choose, especially when it comes to their own bodies.
But on a completely frivolous side note, I love the glamour and luxury of THE JEWEL. I had so much fun researching palaces and ball gowns, and creating sumptuous menus. What can I say, I’m a sucker for lavish party scenes!
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The Social Media Experiment
by Cole Gibsen
Paperback
Entangled: Teen
Released 9/24/2014
Winner – Alicia Guerrero
On the surface, seventeen-year-old Reagan Fray appears to have everything. She’s popular, Ivy League–bound, and her parents are rich enough to buy her whatever she wants. Behind the scenes, Reagan is a girl with an anxiety disorder struggling to hold the fraying threads of her life together. It takes work to stay on top, and when that fails, Reagan’s learned from her politician mother that a little social espionage never hurts. That is, until the day Reagan finds all of her texts and private messages printed out and taped to every locker in her high school.
Finding herself ostracized from her friends and on the receiving end of the bullying she used to dish out, Reagan won’t settle into her new role as social pariah without a fight. Determined to get back in with her friends and reclaim her social status before her mother finds out and sends her to boarding school, Reagan has no choice but to team up with outcast Nolan Letner.
But the closer Reagan gets to Nolan, the more she realizes all of her actions have consequences, and her future might be the biggest casualty of all.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about The Social Media Experiment?
Honestly, that’s a really hard question for me to answer. In order to write
TSME I had to delve into my own past with anxiety and bullying. As a result
of having painful memories resurface, my anxiety levels increased resulting
in panic attacks and a trip to the emergency room. I’ve never had a book put
me in the hospital, but again, I’ve never had to dig so deep inside myself
before. I guess my favorite thing about this book was coming to terms with
my own demons while laying them out on the page.
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The Winter People
by Rebekah L Purdy
Hardcover
Entangled: Teen
Released 9/2/2014
Winner – Kate Foley
An engrossing, complex, romantic fantasy perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore or Maggie Stiefvater, set in a wholly unique world.
Salome Montgomery fears winter—the cold, the snow, the ice, but most of all, the frozen pond she fell through as a child. Haunted by the voices and images of the strange beings that pulled her to safety, she hasn’t forgotten their warning to “stay away.” For eleven years, she has avoided the winter woods, the pond, and the darkness that lurks nearby. But when failing health takes her grandparents to Arizona, she is left in charge of maintaining their estate. This includes the “special gifts” that must be left at the back of the property.? ?
Salome discovers she’s a key player in a world she’s tried for years to avoid. At the center of this world is the strange and beautiful Nevin, who she finds trespassing on her family’s property. Cursed with dark secrets and knowledge of the creatures in the woods, his interactions with Salome take her life in a new direction. A direction where she’ll have to decide between her longtime crush Colton, who could cure her fear of winter. Or Nevin who, along with an appointed bodyguard, Gareth, protects her from the darkness that swirls in the snowy backdrop. An evil that, given the chance, will kill her.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about The Winter People?
My favorite thing about The Winter People is the magical backdrop as well as the fact that my main character is far from normal. She has a debilitating fear of snow/winter. So much so that she can’t always function the way a normal person would. I like that she’s imperfect and has to work through facing winter every time it rolls around. Because of this quirk, she doesn’t have a lot of friends (due to mini-freak outs etc) so she’s got only a few people she trusts, most of which are family and her BFF (the only ones to survive her winter related freak outs).
Toss into the mix the strange beings and creatures in the woods that only she can see, she believes she’s crazy—especially when she hears voices that no one else can. Some of them kind, some more sinister.
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MORE YOUNG ADULT FICTION IN STORES NEXT WEEK WITH AUTHOR INTERVIEWS
Kiss of Broken Glass
by Madeleine Kuderick
Hardcover
HarperTeen
Released 9/9/2014
Madeleine Kuderick’s gripping debut is a darkly beautiful and lyrical novel in verse, perfect for fans of Sonya Sones and Laurie Halse Anderson. Kiss of Broken Glass pulses with emotion and lingers long after the last page.
In the next seventy-two hours, Kenna may lose everything—her friends, her freedom, and maybe even herself. One kiss of the blade was all it took to get her sent to the psych ward for seventy-two hours. There she will face her addiction to cutting, though the outcome is far from certain.
When fifteen-year-old Kenna is found cutting herself in the school bathroom, she is sent to a facility for mandatory psychiatric watch. There, Kenna meets other kids like her—her roommate, Donya, who’s there for her fifth time; the birdlike Skylar; and Jag, a boy cute enough to make her forget her problems . . . for a moment.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Kiss of Broken Glass?
My favorite thing about KISS OF BROKEN GLASS is that it’s my debut novel. So every bit of the experience has been brand new for me – from signing with my agent, the legendary George Nicholsen, to meeting Toni Markiet, my genius editor, during a fantastic week in New York. And later seeing the cover reveal, and hearing audio clips, and looking at promo art. It’s been an amazing, goosebumps ride full of excitement and anticipation. Just like any first KISS should be.
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Of Monsters and Madness
by Jessica Verday
Hardcover
EgmontUSA
Released 9/9/2014
A romantic, historical retelling of classic Gothic horror featuring Edgar Allan Poe and his character Annabel Lee, from a New York Times best-selling author.
Summoned to her father’s home in 1820’s Philadelphia, a girl finds herself in the midst of a rash of gruesome murders in which he might be implicated. She is torn romantically between her father’s assistants-one kind and proper, one mysterious and brooding-who share a dark secret and may have more to do with the violent events than they’re letting on.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Of Monsters and Madness?
I really enjoyed writing the medical scenes that took place in Father’s basement laboratory. I was a bit nervous when I started writing this book because to have a heroine be interested in medicine is something that was WAY outside my comfort zone. I get squeamish just at the sight of blood, so to have a character who can not only handle it with ease but who has an active interest in studying medicine was something I didn’t know if I could pull off. In the end, the medical scenes were so interesting they ended up being my favorite scenes to write!
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The Lonely
by Ainslie Hogarth
Paperback
Flux
Released 9/8/2014
A darkly humorous and imaginative story
After she discovers The Terrible Thing, Easter Deetz goes looking for her sister, Julia, but ends up pinned under a giant boulder with her legs crushed into tomato paste. Bored, disappointed, and thoroughly dismembered, Easter slowly bleeds to death in The Woods with only sinister squirrels to keep her company. As The Something Coming draws closer, memories of Easter’s family surface like hallucinations: a mumbling father who lives alone in the basement; a terrifying grandmother who sits in her enclosed porch all day; an overly loving mother who plays dead in the bathtub on Sunday nights.
As the story of her life unspools, Easter realizes she’s being stalked, making it very difficult for her to bleed to death in peace. Will The Something Coming save her? Or will it do her in entirely?
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about The Lonely?
My favorite thing about The Lonely is that it’s gross. Easter’s pretty gross. Julia’s pretty gross. They talk about gross stuff and think about gross stuff. I liked being able to show people a gross girl because girls are gross and they don’t always get the chance to be seen that way.
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MORE YOUNG ADULT NOVELS NEW IN STORES NEXT WEEK
Blood of My Blood
by Barry Lyga
Hardcover
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Released 9/9/2014
Jazz Dent has been shot and left to die in New York City. His girlfriend Connie is in the clutches of Jazz’s serial killer father, Billy. And his best friend Howie is bleeding to death on the floor of Jazz’s own home in tiny Lobo’s Nod. Somehow, these three must rise above the horrors their lives have become and find a way to come together in pursuit of Billy. But then Jazz crosses a line he’s never crossed before, and soon the entire country is wondering: “Like father, like son?” Who is the true monster?
The chase is on, and beyond Billy there lurks something much, much worse. Prepare to meet…the Crow King.
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Egg and Spoon
by Gregory Maguire
Hardcover
Candlewick
Released 9/9/2014
A fantasy set in Tsarist Russia.
Elena Rudina lives in the impoverished Russian countryside. Her father has been dead for years. One of her brothers has been conscripted into the Tsar’s army, the other taken as a servant in the house of the local landowner. Her mother is dying, slowly, in their tiny cabin. And there is no food. But then a train arrives in the village, a train carrying untold wealth, a cornucopia of food, and a noble family destined to visit the Tsar in Saint Petersburg — a family that includes Ekaterina, a girl of Elena’s age. When the two girls’ lives collide, an adventure is set in motion, an escapade that includes mistaken identity, a monk locked in a tower, a prince traveling incognito, and — in a starring role only Gregory Maguire could have conjured — Baba Yaga, witch of Russian folklore, in her ambulatory house perched on chicken legs
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Evil Librarian
by Michelle Knudsen
Hardcover
Candlewick
Released 9/9/2014
#EvilLibrarian He’s young. He’s hot. He’s also evil. He’s . . . the librarian.
When Cynthia Rothschild’s best friend, Annie, falls head over heels for the new high-school librarian, Cyn can totally see why. He’s really young and super cute and thinks Annie would make an excellent library monitor. But after meeting Mr. Gabriel, Cyn realizes something isn’t quite right. Maybe it’s the creepy look in the librarian’s eyes, or the weird feeling Cyn gets whenever she’s around him. Before long Cyn realizes that Mr. Gabriel is, in fact . . . a demon. Now, in addition to saving the school musical from technical disaster and trying not to make a fool of herself with her own hopeless crush, Cyn has to save her best friend from the clutches of the evil librarian, who also seems to be slowly sucking the life force out of the entire student body! From best-selling author Michelle Knudsen, here is the perfect novel for teens who like their horror served up with a bit of romance, plenty of humor, and some pretty hot guys (of both the good and evil variety).
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Falling into Place
by Mary Amato
Hardcover
Greenwillow Books
Released 9/9/2014
On the day Liz Emerson tries to die, they had reviewed Newton’s laws of motion in physics class. Then, after school, she put them into practice by running her Mercedes off the road.
Why? Why did Liz Emerson decide that the world would be better off without her? Why did she give up? Vividly told by an unexpected and surprising narrator, this heartbreaking and nonlinear novel pieces together the short and devastating life of Meridian High’s most popular junior girl. Mass, acceleration, momentum, force—Liz didn’t understand it in physics, and even as her Mercedes hurtles toward the tree, she doesn’t understand it now. How do we impact one another? How do our actions reverberate? What does it mean to be a friend? To love someone? To be a daughter? Or a mother? Is life truly more than cause and effect? Amy Zhang’s haunting and universal story will appeal to fans of Lauren Oliver, Gayle Forman, and Jay Asher.
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Hunt for the Bamboo Rat
by Graham Salisbury
Hardcover
Wendy Lamb Books
Released 9/9/2014
Based on a true story, this World War II novel by Scott O’Dell Award winner Graham Salisbury tells how Zenji, 17, is sent from Hawaii to the Philippines to spy on the Japanese.
Zenji Watanabe graduates from high school in Hawaii and is recruited into the army as a translator because he speaks perfect Japanese. He is sent to Manila undercover as a civilian to gather information on the Japanese in the Philippines. If they discover his identity, he’ll be executed as a traitor. When captured, he maintains that he is an American civilian despite unthinkable torture. He also survives being lost in the jungle for months. Zenji’s time behind enemy lines is grueling, and his survival is a testament to the strength of the human spirit.
This is the fourth book in Graham Salisbury’s highly acclaimed Prisoners of the Empire series, which began with the award-winning Under the Blood-Red Sun.
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Illusions of Fate
by Kiersten White
Hardcover
HarperTeen
Released 9/9/2014
Downton Abbey meets Cassandra Clare in this lush, romantic fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White.
“I did my best to keep you from crossing paths with this world. And I shall do my best to protect you now that you have.”
Jessamin has been an outcast since she moved from her island home of Melei to the dreary country of Albion. Everything changes when she meets Finn, a gorgeous, enigmatic young lord who introduces her to the secret world of Albion’s nobility, a world that has everything Jessamin doesn’t—power, money, status…and magic. But Finn has secrets of his own, dangerous secrets that the vicious Lord Downpike will do anything to possess. Unless Jessamin, armed only with her wits and her determination, can stop him.
Kiersten White captured readers’ hearts with her New York Times bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy and its effortless mix of magic and real-world teenage humor. She returns to that winning combination of wit, charm, and enchantment in Illusions of Fate, a sparkling and romantic new novel perfect for fans of Cassandra Clare, The Madman’s Daughter, and Libba Bray.
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No One Needs to Know
by Amanda Grace
Paperback
Flux
Released 9/8/2014
Sometimes, the cost of love is too steep
Olivia’s twin brother, Liam, has been her best friend her whole life. But when he starts dating, Olivia is left feeling alone, so she tries to drive away Liam’s girlfriends in an effort to get her best friend back.
But she meets her match in Zoey, Liam’s latest fling. A call-it-like-she-sees-it kind of girl, Zoey sees right through Olivia’s tricks. What starts as verbal sparring between the two changes into something different, however, as they share their deepest insecurities and learn they have a lot in common. Olivia falls for Zoey, believing her brother could never get serious with her. But when Liam confesses that he’s in love with Zoey, Olivia has to decide who deserves happiness more: her brother or herself?
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Paper Airplanes
by Dawn O’Porter
Hardcover
Amulet Books
Released 9/9/2014
It’s the mid-1990s, and fifteen year-old Guernsey schoolgirls, Renée and Flo, are not really meant to be friends. Thoughtful, introspective and studious Flo couldn’t be more different to ambitious, extroverted and sexually curious Renée. But Renée and Flo are united by loneliness and their dysfunctional families, and an intense bond is formed. Although there are obstacles to their friendship (namely Flo’s jealous ex-best friend and Renée’s growing infatuation with Flo’s brother), fifteen is an age where anything can happen, where life stretches out before you, and when every betrayal feels like the end of the world. For Renée and Flo it is the time of their lives.
With graphic content and some scenes of a sexual nature, PAPER AEROPLANES is a gritty, poignant, often laugh-out-loud funny and powerful novel. It is an unforgettable snapshot of small-town adolescence and the heart-stopping power of female friendship.
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The Caller
by Juliet Marillier
Hardcover
Knopf Books for Young Readers
Released 9/9/2014
Neryn has made a long journey to perfect her skills as a Caller. She has learned the wisdom of water and of earth; she has journeyed to the remote isles of the west and the forbidding mountains of the north. Now, Neryn must travel in Alban’s freezing winter to seek the mysterious White Lady, Guardian of Air. For only when Neryn has been trained by all four Guardians will she be ready to play her role in toppling the tyrannical King Keldec.
But the White Lady is not what she seems. Trapped with Whisper, her fey protector, Neryn is unable to send word to her beloved Flint, who is in danger of being exposed as a double agent. When a new threat looms and the rebellion is in jeopardy, Neryn must enter Keldec’s court, where one false move could see her culled. She must stand up against forces more powerful than any she has confronted before, and face losses that could break her heart.
The Caller is the thrilling conclusion to the Shadowfell trilogy.
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The Twyning
by Terence Blacker
Hardcover
Candlewick
Released 9/9/2014
In a harsh and dangerous world, a rat and a boy must each choose their way as their fates become inextricably linked.
Efren is a young rat, unnoticed and timid among the kingdom of rats living in the London sewers. When the king dies, leaving the kingdom in upheaval, only Efren dares to journey into the human world, where he discovers a human doctor’s plan to destroy London’s entire rat population. Meanwhile, Peter, otherwise known as Dogboy, does odd jobs for both the scheming doctor and the town ratcatcher. But his gift for understanding animals — even rats — forces him to decide where his allegiances truly lie. Dogboy and Efren, along with the waifish girl Caz and her pet rat, Malaika, set out to test the strengths of friendship and loyalty against the gut-wrenching cruelties of the world.
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