Exciting New Audiobooks:
Hoot by Carl Hiaasen (Newbery Honor Book)
Unfortunately, Roy’s
first acquaintance in Florida is Dana Matherson, a well-known bully.
Then again, if Dana hadn’t been sinking his thumbs into Roy’s temples
and mashing his face against the school-bus window, Roy might never have
spotted the running boy. And the running boy is intriguing: he was
running away from the school bus, carried no books, and–here’s the odd
part–wore no shoes.
Sensing a mystery, Roy sets himself on the boy’s
trail. The chase introduces him to potty-trained alligators, a fake-fart
champion, some burrowing owls, a renegade eco-avenger, and several
extremely poisonous snakes with unnaturally sparkling tails.
Roy has most definitely arrived in Carl Hiaasen’s Florida.
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
According to Ponyboy,
there are two kinds of people in the world: greasers and socs. A soc
(short for "social") has money, can get away with just about anything,
and has an attitude longer than a limousine. A greaser, on the other
hand, always lives on the outside and needs to watch his back.
Ponyboy
is a greaser, and he's always been proud of it, even willing to rumble
against a gang of socs for the sake of his fellow greasers--until one
terrible night when his friend Johnny kills a soc. The murder gets under
Ponyboy's skin, causing his bifurcated world to crumble and teaching
him that pain feels the same whether a soc or a greaser.
This classic,
written by S. E. Hinton when she was 16 years old, is as profound today
as it was when it was first published in 1967.
Thrilling New YA Fiction:
13 to Life by Shannon Delany (13 to Life Series #1)
Everything about Jessie
Gillmansen’s life changed when her mother died. Now even her hometown
of Junction is changing. Mysterious dark things are happening. All
Jessie wants is to avoid more change. But showing a hot new guy around
Junction High, she’s about to discover a whole new type of change.
Pietr
Rusakova is more than good looks and a fascinating accent—he’s a guy
with a dangerous secret. And his very existence is sure to bring big
trouble to Jessie’s small town.
It seems change is the one thing Jessie can’t avoid.
Bargains and Betrayals by Shannon Delany
Locked away at Pecan
Place, Jessie finds her situation to be even more dangerous than she
feared. While she struggles to maintain her sanity and discover answers
about the group that seems less and less like any legitimate government
agency, Pietr fights to keep their relationship alive.
But very aware
that his mother’s time is running out, Pietr makes a deal he doesn’t
dare tell Jessie about. Because the deal Pietr’s made could mean the
death of far more than his tenuous relationship with the girl he loves
The Butterfly Clues by Kate Ellison
Penelope (Lo) Marin has
always loved to collect beautiful things. Her dad's consulting job means
she's grown up moving from one rundown city to the next, and she's
learned to cope by collecting (sometimes even stealing) quirky trinkets
and souvenirs in each new place—possessions that allow her to feel at
least some semblance of home.
But in the year since her brother Oren's death, Lo's hoarding has blossomed into a full-blown, potentially dangerous obsession. She discovers a beautiful, antique butterfly pendant during a routine scour at a weekend flea market, and recognizes it as having been stolen from the home of a recently murdered girl known only as "Sapphire"—a girl just a few years older than Lo. As usual when Lo begins to obsess over something, she can't get the murder out of her mind.
As she attempts to piece together the mysterious "butterfly clues," with the unlikely help of a street artist named Flynt, Lo quickly finds herself caught up in a seedy, violent underworld much closer to home than she ever imagined—a world, she'll ultimately discover, that could hold the key to her brother's tragic death.
But in the year since her brother Oren's death, Lo's hoarding has blossomed into a full-blown, potentially dangerous obsession. She discovers a beautiful, antique butterfly pendant during a routine scour at a weekend flea market, and recognizes it as having been stolen from the home of a recently murdered girl known only as "Sapphire"—a girl just a few years older than Lo. As usual when Lo begins to obsess over something, she can't get the murder out of her mind.
As she attempts to piece together the mysterious "butterfly clues," with the unlikely help of a street artist named Flynt, Lo quickly finds herself caught up in a seedy, violent underworld much closer to home than she ever imagined—a world, she'll ultimately discover, that could hold the key to her brother's tragic death.
Destiny and Deception by Shannon Delany (13 to Life Series #4)
With the threat of the
mafia seemingly gone and the company's headquarters in Junction
destroyed, Pietr Rusakova is adjusting to being a normal teen and Jess
is realizing normalcy may not be what she wanted after all. But both
Jess and Cat know the truth--that normal can't be taken for granted.
Their precious cure isn't permanent--and when a new danger stalks into
their small town, Alexi decides he must overcome his issues with the
mother who abandoned him to be raised by wolves and make a brand new
deal to save his adopted family.
Secrets and Shadows by Shannon Delany (13 to Life Series #2)
Nothing's simple when
you run with werewolves. Jess Gillmansen thinks she's seen it all but
her eyes are about to be opened to even more danger and a reality far
more paranormal than she's suspected. With Jess's realization that the
Rusakovas' mother is still alive and imprisoned, the group's choices
become harder and trust more important.
Lines are drawn and
relationships change as the broken Rusakova family struggles to reunite
long enough to free their mother and people who Jess always just took to
be normal people show themselves to be much, much more.
Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey (A Resurrection of Magic Series #1)
Sadima lives in a world
where magic has been banned, leaving poor villagers prey to fakes and
charlatans. A "magician" stole her family's few valuables and left
Sadima's mother to die on the day Sadima was born. But vestiges of magic
are hidden in old rhymes and hearth tales and in people like Sadima,
who conceals her silent communication with animals for fear of rejection
and ridicule. When rumors of her gift reach Somiss, a young nobleman
obsessed with restoring magic, he sends Franklin, his lifelong servant,
to find her. Sadima's joy at sharing her secret becomes love for the man
she shares it with. But Franklin's irrevocable bond to the brilliant
and dangerous Somiss traps her, too, and she faces a heartbreaking
decision.
Centuries later magic has been restored, but it is available only to the wealthy and is strictly controlled by wizards within a sequestered academy of magic. Hahp, the expendable second son of a rich merchant, is forced into the academy and finds himself paired with Gerrard, a peasant boy inexplicably admitted with nine sons of privilege and wealth. Only one of the ten students will graduate -- and the first academic requirement is survival.
Sadima's and Hahp's worlds are separated by generations, but their lives are connected in surprising and powerful ways in this brilliant first book of Kathleen Duey's dark, complex, and completely compelling trilogy.
The Splendor Falls by Rosemary Clement-Moore
Can love last beyond the grave?Sylvie Davis is a ballerina who can’t dance. A broken leg ended her career, but Sylvie’s pain runs deeper. What broke her heart was her father’s death, and what’s breaking her spirit is her mother’s remarriage—a union that’s only driven an even deeper wedge into their already tenuous relationship.
Uprooting her from her Manhattan apartment and shipping her to Alabama is her mother’s solution for Sylvie’s unhappiness. Her father’s cousin is restoring a family home in a town rich with her family’s history. And that’s where things start to get shady. As it turns out, her family has a lot more history than Sylvie ever knew. More unnerving, though, are the two guys that she can’t stop thinking about. Shawn Maddox, the resident golden boy, seems to be perfect in every way. But Rhys—a handsome, mysterious foreign guest of her cousin’s—has a hold on her that she doesn’t quite understand.
Then she starts seeing things. Sylvie’s lost nearly everything—is she starting to lose her mind as well?
The Recruit by Robert Muchamore (Cherub Series #1)
CHERUB agents are all seventeen and under. They wear skate tees and hemp, and look like regular kids. But they're not. They are trained professionals who are sent out on missions to spy on terrorists and international drug dealers. CHERUB agents hack into computers, bug entire houses, and download crucial documents. It is a highly dangerous job. For their safety, these agents DO NOT EXIST.
James is the latest CHERUB recruit. He and his sister were recently orphaned, and James has been in a lot of trouble. But he is brilliant in math. And CHERUB needs him. After one hundred days, the grueling training period is over. But the adventure has just begun.
The Dealer by Robert Muchamore (Cherub Series #2)
CHERUB is an elite intelligence organization that employs agents under the age of seventeen. Because of their age, CHERUB agents have an unparalleled advantage in the realm of espionage: No one would ever suspect teenagers to be agents. Rigorously trained and exceptionally talented, CHERUB agents will stop at nothing to accomplish their missions.
James is on his most daring mission yet: to smack down the world’s most powerful drug lord. It means hitting the streets, where the dealers work, and it’s a vicious business. But James is going to take it down...from the top.
Graphic Novels:
100 Girls by Adam Gallard
Adopted, supersmart,
and bumped up two grades -- it's no wonder Sylvia's always felt
different. But recently she's been going through some major physical
changes, and they're not of the typical teenager kind.
Sylvia has
no idea why she can move like a gymnast and punch like a heavyweight,
and the strange nightmares she's been having are completely freaking her
out.But there are people who have the answers she's looking for, and Sylvia's determined to find them.
Trouble is, they've already found her....
Chosen: the Lost Books Volume One by Ted Dekker (Lost Books Series Volume #1)
The land of the Forest Dwellers has been decimated by the Horde under the watchful eye of the vilest of all creatures, Teeleh. Thomas Hunter, supreme commander of the Forest Guard, is forced to lower the recruitment age of his army from 18 to 16. From among thousands, four new recruits are chosen to lead--and perhaps die--for the greater good.
The
chosen four are sent on a quest to prove their character, but their
mission takes a dramatic turn when they are intercepted, sworn to
secrecy, and redirected to a different endgame. Now they must find the
seven lost Books of History. Books that have power over the past,
present, and future. Books whose words are alive. Books sought by the
Dark One that control not only the destiny of their world...but that of
ours as well.