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School dramas abound this week, as strained friendships, complicated romances and classroom violence are at the center of the three novels featured in our latest New Releases Roundup. THE PILLOW BOOK OF LOTUS LOWENSTEIN by Libby Schmais humorously tackles love triangles, existentialist angst and after-school French club meetings while Lauren Kate's mystery thriller FALLEN depicts an unrequited romance set in a reform school, and Suzanne Phillips examines the very timely issues of bullying in her seering novel, BURN.

New releases for December 8th

Hardcover

THE PILLOW BOOK OF LOTUS LOWENSTEIN by Libby Schmais (Delacorte Books for Young Readers)
Lotus Lowenstein's life is merde. She dreams of moving to Paris and becoming an existentialist. Yet here she is trapped in Park Slope, Brooklyn, with a New-Agey mom, an out-of-work dad, and a chess champion brother who dreams of being a rock star. Merci à Dieu for Lotus’s best friend, Joni, who loves French culture enough to co-found their high school’s first French Club with Lotus. At the first meeting, the cutest boy in the world walks in. His name is Sean, and he too loves French culture and worships Jean-Paul Sartre.

At first, Lotus thinks Sean is the best thing to happen to her in years. He’s smart, cultured, and adorable. Unfortunately, though, Joni feels the same way. And having an existentialist view of love, Sean sees nothing wrong with enjoying both girls’ affections. Things come to a head when all three depart for Montreal with their teacher, Ms. G, on the French Club’s first official field trip. Will Sean choose Joni over Lotus? And will Lotus and Joni’s friendship ever recover?

FALEN by Lauren Kate (Delacorte Books for Young Readers)
There's something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.

Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price's attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He's the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.

Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce --- and goes out of his way to make that very clear --- she can't let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her.

Dangerously exciting and darkly romantic, FALLEN is a page-turning thriller and the ultimate love story.


Paperback

BURN by Suzanne Phillips (Little Brown)
"Are our schools safe?"

It's hard to turn on the news without hearing this question, and the answer is typically "no." This novel explores what happens when bullying escalates to violence, and it challenges our definition of victimization.

With thought-provoking prose, Suzanne Phillips explores the psyche of Cameron, a bullied freshman who ultimately does the unthinkable: he kills another student. As she did with CHLOE DOE, Suzanne has found a way to make this seemingly dark story ultimately redemptive. But she also dares readers to look at the behavior that provokes violence as having the potential to be as dangerous as the violence itself.

It's Suzanne's hope that BURN will inspire readers to take a precautionary stance against bullying rather than waiting to react to it.