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This week's New Releases Roundup offers a wide range of subjects, settings and genres by both new authors as well as old favorites, giving readers the perfect excuse to do a bit of exploring of their own this Columbus Day. These 14 titles will take you around the world and through time --- from the English countryside in John Harwood's THE SÉANCE and South America in Mal Peet's EXPOSURE, to 1918 Texas in Marian Hale's THE GOODBYE SEASON, not to mention the fictional fantasy city of Fellsmarch in Cinda Williams Chima's THE DEMON KING --- as well as introduce you to some memorable characters, like a descendant of Shakespeare 's infamous Scottish king in LADY MACBETH'S DAUGHTER by Lisa Klein, steampunk alter egos of Lewis Carroll's Wonderland cast in Frank Beddor's ARCHENEMY, and a young girl with psychic powers in the latest installment of Wendy Corsi Staub's Lily Dale series.

New Releases for October 12th

Paperback

THE SÉANCE by John Harwood (Mariner Books)
Wraxford Hall, a decaying mansion in the English countryside, has a sinister reputation. Once, a family disappeared there. And now Constance Langton has inherited this dark place as well as the mysteries surrounding it.

Having grown up in a house marked by the death of her sister, Constance is no stranger to mystery, secrets, and the dark magic around us. Her father was distant. Her mother was in perpetual mourning for her lost child. In a desperate attempt to coax her mother back to health, Constance took her to a séance hoping she would find supernatural comfort. But tragic consequences followed, leaving her alone in the world --- alone with Wraxford Hall. Saddled with this questionable bequest, she must find the truth at the heart of all these disappearances, apparitions, betrayal, blackmail, and villainy, even if it costs her life.

John Harwood's second novel delivers on the great promise proven by his first with this gripping mystery set in the heart of Victorian England.


New Releases for October 13th

Hardcover

ALMOST PERFECT by Brian Katcher (Delacorte Books for Young Readers)
You only hurt the ones you love.

Logan Witherspoon recently discovered that his girlfriend of three years cheated on him. But things start to look up when a new student breezes through the halls of his small-town high school. Sage Hendricks befriends Logan at a time when he no longer trusts or believes in people. Sage has been home-schooled for a number of years and her parents have forbidden her to date anyone, but she won’t tell Logan why. One day, Logan acts on his growing feelings for Sage. Moments later, he wishes he never had. Sage finally discloses her big secret: she’s actually a boy. Enraged, frightened, and feeling betrayed, Logan lashes out at Sage and disowns her. But once Logan comes to terms with what happened, he reaches out to Sage in an attempt to understand her situation. But Logan has no idea how rocky the road back to friendship will be.

EXPOSURE by Mal Peet (Candlewick Press)
When a black South American soccer star signs on to a team in the country’s racist south, headlines blare. And when he falls for the sensual Desmerelda, a stunning white pop singer and daughter of a wealthy politician, their sudden and controversial marriage propels the pair to center stage, where they burn in the media spotlight. But celebrity attracts enemies; some very close to home. And its dazzle reaches into the city’s hidden corners, exposing a life of grit and desperation the glitterati could never imagine. When a girl is found murdered, reporter Paul Faustino is caught between worlds as he witnesses the power of the media in making --- and breaking --- lives. Inspired by Shakespeare’s OTHELLO, this modern tragedy of desire and betrayal, incisively and compassionately told, is a truly enthralling work of crossover fiction.

FAT CAT by Robin Brande (Knopf Books for Young Readers)
You are what you eat. . . .

Cat smart, sassy, and funny --- but thin, she’s not. Until her class science project. That’s when she winds up doing an experiment --- on herself. Before she knows it, Cat is living --- and eating --- like the hominids, our earliest human ancestors. True, no chips or TV is a bummer and no car is a pain, but healthful eating and walking everywhere do have their benefits.

As the pounds drop off, the guys pile on. All this newfound male attention is enough to drive a girl crazy! If only she weren’t too busy hating Matt McKinney to notice. . . .

This funny and thoughtful novel explores how girls feel about their bodies, and the ways they can best take care of their most precious resource: themselves.

GIRL IN THE ARENA by Lise Haines (Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books)
Lyn is a neo-gladiator’s daughter, through and through. Her mother has made a career out of marrying into the high-profile world of televised blood sport, and the rules of the Gladiator Sports Association are second nature to their family. Always lend ineffable confidence to the gladiator. Remind him constantly of his victories. And most importantly: Never leave the stadium when your father is dying. The rules help the family survive, but rules --- and the GSA --- can also turn against you. When a gifted young fighter kills Lyn’s seventh father, he also captures Lyn’s dowry bracelet, which means she must marry him... For fans of The Hunger Games and Fight Club, Lise Haines’s debut novel is a mesmerizing look at a world addicted to violence—a modern world that’s disturbingly easy to imagine.

THE GOODBYE SEASON by Marian Hale (Henry Holt Books for Young Readers)
Mercy Kaplan doesn’t want to be like her mother, saddled with crying kids and failing crops for the rest of her life. Mercy longs to be on her own --- until her wish comes true in the worst possible way. It is 1918 and a deadly flu epidemic ravages the country, leaving her utterly alone and penniless.

Mercy soon finds a job with Mrs. Wilder. But there’s something unsettling about the woman, whose brother died under mysterious circumstances. And then there’s Daniel, who could sweep a girl off her feet if she isn’t careful.

LADY MACBETH’S DAUGHTER by Lisa Klein (Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books)
Albia has grown up with no knowledge of her mother of her father, the powerful Macbeth. Instead she knows the dark lure of the Wychelm Wood and the moors, where she’s been raised by three strange sisters. It’s only when the ambitious Macbeth seeks out the sisters to foretell his fate that Albia’s life becomes tangled with the man who leaves nothing but bloodshed in his wake. She even falls in love with Fleance, Macbeth’s rival for the throne. Yet when Albia learns that she has the second sight, she must decide whether to ignore the terrible future she foresees --- or to change it. Will she be able to save the man she loves from her murderous father? And can she forgive her parents their wrongs, or must she destroy them to save Scotland from tyranny?

In her highly anticipated follow-up to OPHELIA, Lisa Klein delivers a powerful re-imagining of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, featuring a young woman so seamlessly drawn it seems impossible she was not part of the Bard’s original play.

SOLACE OF THE ROAD by Siobhan Dowd (David Fickling Books/Random House)
Memories of mum are the only thing that make Holly Hogan happy. She hates her foster family with their too-nice ways and their false sympathy. And she hates her life, her stupid school, and the way everyone is always on at her. Then she finds the wig, and everything changes. Wearing the long, flowing blond locks she feels transformed. She’s not Holly anymore, she’s Solace: the girl with the slinkster walk and the supersharp talk. She’s older, more confident --- the kind of girl who can walk right out of her humdrum life, hitch to Ireland, and find her mum. The kind of girl who can face the world head-on. So begins a bittersweet and sometimes hilarious journey as Solace swaggers and Holly tiptoes across England and through memory, discovering her true self and unlocking the secrets of her past.


WE WERE HERE by Matt De La Pena (Delacorte Books for Young Readers)
The story of one boy and his journey to find himself.

When it happened, Miguel was sent to Juvi. The judge gave him a year in a group home --- said he had to write in a journal so some counselor could try to figure out how he thinks. The judge had no idea that he actually did Miguel a favor. Ever since it happened, his mom can’t even look at him in the face. Any home besides his would be a better place to live.

But Miguel didn’t bet on meeting Rondell or Mong or on any of what happened after they broke out. He only thought about Mexico and getting to the border to where he could start over. Forget his mom. Forget his brother. Forget himself.

Life usually doesn’t work out how you think it will, though. And most of the time, running away is the quickest path right back to what you’re running from.

LILY DALE: DISCOVERING by Wendy Corsi Staub (Walker Books for Young Readers)
After finally learning who was behind her mother’s death, Calla still doesn’t understand why it happened. Somewhere out there, someone seems to share the powerful psychic abilities that allow Calla to see not only into the past, but to the Other Side --- someone who apparently doesn’t want to be found. Will Calla’s journey lead to the closure she's been searching for, or will it force her to accept yet another loss and forever wonder what might have been?

As new mysteries unfold and old ones are solved, this spine-tingling series continues. With an eye-catching new look, Wendy Corsi Staub’s fans will not be disappointed.

THE DEMON KING: A Seven Realms Novel, by Cinda Williams Chima (Disney-Hyperion)
Times are hard in the mountain city of Fellsmarch. Reformed thief Han Alister will do almost anything to eke out a living for himself, his mother, and his sister Mari. Ironically, the only thing of value he has is something he can't sell. For as long as Han can remember, he's worn thick silver cuffs engraved with runes. They're clearly magicked-as he grows, they grow, and he's never been able to get them off.

While out hunting one day, Han and his Clan friend, Dancer catch three young wizards setting fire to the sacred mountain of Hanalea. After a confrontation, Han takes an amulet from Micah Bayar, son of the High Wizard, to ensure the boy won't use it against them. Han soon learns that the amulet has an evil history-it once belonged to the Demon King, the wizard who nearly destroyed the world a millennium ago. With a magical piece that powerful at stake, Han knows that the Bayars will stop at nothing to get it back.

Meanwhile, Raisa ana'Helena, Princess Heir of the Fells, has her own battles to fight. She's just returned to court after three years of relative freedom with her father's family at Demonai camp --- riding, hunting, and working the famous Clan markets. Although Raisa will become eligible for marriage after her sixteenth name-day, she isn't looking forward to trading in her common sense and new skills for etiquette tutors and stuffy parties.

Raisa wants to be more than an ornament in a glittering cage. She aspires to be like Hanalea-the legendary warrior queen who killed the Demon King and saved the world. But it seems like her mother has other plans for her --- plans that include a suitor who goes against everything the Queendom stands for.

The Seven Realms will tremble when the lives of Han and Raisa collide in this stunning new page-turner from bestselling author Cinda Williams Chima.

WHITE HEAT: Book Two of the Perfect Fire Trilogy by K. M. Grant (Walker Books for Young Readers)
Picking up where BLUE FLAME left readers, Raimon has escaped the pyre and is hiding deep within the mountains of the Occitan. He longs to follow Yolanda to Paris, where she has been forced to marry Sir Hugh. However, he knows he must instead fulfill his duty of protecting the Blue Flame and save their beloved country from the advancing forces set on destroying it. In Paris, Yolanda believes Raimon is dead, she still resists her marriage, and as Sir Hugh’s war train --- backed by the French king --- heads for the Occitan, Yolanda must find new ways to fight. Weaving a satisfying, complex tale, master storyteller K. M. Grant draws readers right back into the dramatic love triangle and the chaos of war. Can Yolanda and Raimon’s love survive the ravages of a siege, her forced betrothal, and the growing divisions within their beloved homeland?


New Releases for October 15th

Hardcover

GATEWAY by Sharon Shinn (Viking Juvenile)
As a Chinese adoptee in St. Louis, teenage Daiyu often feels out of place. When an elderly Asian jewelry seller at a street fair shows her a black jade ring --- and tells her that “black jade” translates to “Daiyu” --- she buys it as a talisman of her heritage. But it’s more than that; it’s magic. It takes Daiyu through a gateway into a version of St. Louis much like 19th-century China. Almost immediately she is recruited as a spy, which means hours of training in manners and niceties and sleight of hand. It also means stealing time to be with handsome Kalen, who is in on the plan. There’s only one problem. Once her task is done, she must go back to St. Louis and leave him behind forever. . . .

THE OMNIVORE’S DILEMMA: The Secrets Behind What You Eat – Young Readers Edition, by Michael Pollan (Dial Books for Young Readers)
“What’s for dinner?” seemed like a simple question --- until journalist and supermarket detective Michael Pollan delved behind the scenes. From fast food and big organic to small farms and old-fashioned hunting and gathering, this young readers’ adaptation of Pollan’s famous food-chain exploration encourages kids to consider the personal and global health implications of their food choices. In a smart, compelling format with updated facts, plenty of photos, graphs, and visuals, as well as a new afterword and backmatter, The Omnivore’s Dilemma serves up a bold message to the generation that needs it most: It’s time to take charge of our national eating habits --- and it starts with you.

ARCHENEMY: The Looking Glass Wars, Book 3 by Frank Beddor (Dial Books for Young Readers)
Discover the fate of Wonderland --- and imagination itself --- in this riveting conclusion to the New York Times bestselling trilogy.

The Heart Crystal’s power has been depleted, and Imagination along with it. The people of Wonderland have all lost their creative drive, and most alarmingly, even Queen Alyss is without her powers. There is some comfort in the fact that the vicious Redd Heart seems to be similarly disabled. Amazingly, she is attempting to team up with her enemy, Alyss, in order to reclaim Wonderland from King Arch. Alyss might have no choice but to accept Redd’s overtures, especially when she begins to receive alarming advice from the caterpillar oracles.

Page-turning and complex, this culmination of the Wonderland saga is intensely satisfying.