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2010 starts out with a bang! We have seventeen new releases for you to choose from to bring in the New Year. This week’s exciting books have it all, including stories ranging from murder, to love, to death, to drama on the High School social ladder. To highlight just a few of the fantastic titles, make sure to check out SWEET, HEREAFTER, Angela Johnson’s long-awaited conclusion to The Heaven Trilogy, and FADE, Lisa McMann’s sequel to WAKE, starring a girl with the power to be sucked into other people’s dreams.

New Releases for January 4th

Paperback

THE JUVIE THREE by Gordon Korman (Disney Hyperion)
Gecko Fosse drove the getaway car.

Terence Florian ran with the worst gang in Chicago.

Arjay Moran killed someone.

All three boys are serving time in juvenile detention centers until they get a second chance at life in the form of Douglas Healy. A former juvenile delinquent himself, Healy is running an experimental halfway house in New York City where he wants to make a difference in the lives of kids like Gecko, Terence, and Arjay.

Things are going well, until one night Healy is accidentally knocked unconscious while trying to break up a scuffle among the boys. Terrified of the consequences, they drop him off at a hospital and run away. But when Healy awakes, he has no memory of them or the halfway house. Afraid of being sent back to Juvie, the guys hatch a crazy scheme to continue on as if the group leader never left. They will go to school, do their community service, attend therapy, and act like model citizens until Healy's memory returns and he can resume his place with them.

But life keeps getting in the way...like Gecko finding romance. Or Arjay getting famous. Or Terence reverting to his old ways. And the woman from social services is determined to catch them at something. If the boys are discovered, their second chance will be their last.
- Click here to read our review of THE JUVIE THREE.

THE MUSICIAN’S DAUGHTER by Susanne Dunlap (Bloomsbury USA)
Murder and love --- from the halls of Vienna’s imperial family to a perilous gypsy camp

Amid the glamour of Prince Nicholas Esterhazy’s court in 18th-century Vienna, murder is afoot. Or so fifteen-year-old Theresa Maria is convinced when her musician father turns up dead on Christmas Eve, his valuable violin missing, and the only clue to his death a strange gold pendant around his neck. Then her father’s mentor, the acclaimed composer Franz Joseph Haydn, helps her through a difficult time by making her his copyist and giving her insight in to her father’s secret life. It’s there that Theresa begins to uncover a trail of blackmail and extortion, even as she discovers honor --- and the possibility of a first, tentative love. Thrumming with the weeping strains of violins, as well as danger and deception, this is an engrossing tale of murder, romance, and music that readers will find hard to forget.

ZEN AND THE ART OF FAKING IT by Jordan Sonnenblick (Scholastic Paperbacks)
When eighth-grader San Lee moves to a new town and a new school for the umpteenth time, he doesn't try to make new friends or be a loner or play cool. Instead he sits back and devises a plan to be totally different. When he accidentally answers too many questions in World History on Zen (only because he just had Ancient Religions two schools ago) all heads turn and San has his answer: he's a Zen Master. And just when he thinks everyone (including the cute girl he can't stop thinking about) is on to him, everyone believes him . . . in a major Zen way.
- Click here to read our review of ZEN AND THE ART OF FAKING IT.

New Releases for January 5th

Hardcover

BY THE TIME YOU READ THIS, I’LL BE DEAD by Julie Anne Peters (Disney-Hyperion)
Daelyn Rice is broken beyond repair, and after a string of botched suicide attempts, she's determined to get her death right. She starts visiting a website for "completers"- www.through-the-light .com.

While she's on the site, Daelyn blogs about her life, uncovering a history of bullying that goes back to kindergarten. When she's not on the Web, Daelyn's at her private school, where she's known as the freak who doesn't talk.

Then, a boy named Santana begins to sit with her after school while she's waiting to for her parents to pick her up. Even though she's made it clear that she wants to be left alone, Santana won't give up. And it's too late for Daelyn to be letting people into her life. Isn't it?

National Book Award finalist Julie Anne Peters shines a light on how bullying can push young people to the very edge.

THE GIRL WITH THE MERMAID HAIR by Delia Ephron (HarperTeen)
Click. Sukie Jamieson takes a selfie after her tennis lesson. Click. She takes one before she has to give a presentation in class. Click. She takes one to be sure there's nothing in her teeth after eating pizza at Clementi's. And if she can't take a selfie, she checks her reflection in windows, spoons, car chrome—anything available, really.

So when her mother gives her an exquisite full-length mirror that once belonged to her grandmother, Sukie is thrilled. So thrilled that she doesn't listen to her mother's warning: “This mirror will be your best friend and worst enemy.” Because mirrors, as Sukie discovers, show not only the faraway truth but the truth close up. And finding out that close-up truth changes people. Often forever.

Acclaimed novelist and screenwriter Delia Ephron crafts a powerful novel of truth, beauty, and the secrets about family and friends that lie beneath perfection.

GOOD FORTUNE by Noni Carter (Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing)
Brutally kidnapped from her African village and shipped to America, Ayanna Bahati struggles to come to terms with her new life as a slave. Rising from the cotton fields to her master's house, Anna is threatened by the increasingly dangerous world of the plantation. Risking everything, she escapes and makes her way north to freedom and an education, but can she shed the chains of her harrowing past to live the life she has longed for?

A stirring debut novel from a young talent, Good Fortune traces one girl's journey from slavery to liberation --- and how she finds her true self along the way.

SOME GIRLS ARE by Courtney Summers (St. Martin’s Griffin)
Climbing to the top of the social ladder is hard --- falling from it is even harder. Regina Afton used to be a member of the Fearsome Fivesome, an all-girl clique both feared and revered by the students at Hallowell High... until vicious rumors about her and her best friend's boyfriend start going around. Now Regina's been "frozen out" and her ex-best friends are out for revenge.

If Regina was guilty, it would be one thing, but the rumors are far from the terrifying truth and the bullying is getting more intense by the day. She takes solace in the company of Michael Hayden, a misfit with a tragic past who she herself used to bully. Friendship doesn't come easily for these onetime enemies, and as Regina works hard to make amends for her past, she realizes Michael could be more than just a friend... if threats from the Fearsome Foursome don't break them both first.

Tensions grow and the abuse worsens as the final days of senior year march toward an explosive conclusion in this dark new tale from the author of Cracked Up To Be.

SWEET, HEREAFTER by Angela Johnson (Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing)
Coretta Scott King Award-winner Angela Johnson concludes her Heaven trilogy with a poignant tale of discovering where --- and with whom --- you belong.

CAPTIVATE by Carrie Jones (Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books)
Zara and her friends knew they hadn't solved the pixie problem for good. Far from it. The king's needs grow deeper every day he's stuck in captivity, while his control over his people gets weaker. It's made him vulnerable. And now there's a new king in town.

A turf war is imminent, since the new pixie king, Astley, is moving in quickly. Nick nearly killed him in the woods on day one, but Zara came to his rescue. Astley swears that he and Zara are destined to be together, that he's one of the good guys. Nick isn't buying it, though Zara isn't as sure --- despite herself, she wants to trust the new king. But it's a lot more than her relationship with Nick that is at stake. It's her life --- and his.

BLEEDING VIOLET by Dia Reeves
Love can be a dangerous thing....

Hanna simply wants to be loved. With a head plagued by hallucinations, a medicine cabinet full of pills, and a closet stuffed with frilly, violet dresses, Hanna's tired of being the outcast, the weird girl, the freak. So she runs away to Portero, Texas in search of a new home.

But Portero is a stranger town than Hanna expects. As she tries to make a place for herself, she discovers dark secrets that would terrify any normal soul. Good thing for Hanna, she's far from normal. As this crazy girl meets an even crazier town, only two things are certain: Anything can happen and no one is safe.


Paperback

BAD BLOOD by Mari Mancusi
Sunny McDonald is in the ultimate forbidden relationship. Her boyfriend Magnus is a vampire, and the leader of the Blood Coven. And when the Coven decides that Magnus needs a mate to be his co-ruler, Sunny's humanity puts her out of the running. The Coven's chosen candidate is Jane Johnson, a magna cum laude graduate of Oxford University who just happens to look like a vampiric supermodel.

Sunny is suspicious of a Rhodes Scholar who can't answer the most basic poli-sci questions, but Magnus brushes it off as petty jealousy. Still, when the Blood Coven goes to Las Vegas for a vampire convention, Sunny and her twin sister Rayne secretly tag along. And Sunny's not going home before she learns the truth about Jane. Because not everything stays in Vegas-especially bad blood.

FAR FROM YOU by Lisa Schroeder (Simon Pulse)
Do you believe in angels?

FAR FROM YOU is a story of love and loss, and reminds us what's really important in life. Fans of I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME are sure to enjoy this novel-in-verse featuring 16-year-old Alice, a singer/songwriter who's had her share of hard times, and unfortunately, has more to come. What will pull her through? Her music? The love of her boyfriend, Blaze? Or perhaps, an angel, here on earth?

L.A. CANDY by Lauren Conrad (HarperCollins)
Los Angeles is all about the sweet life: hot clubs, cute guys, designer . . . everything. Nineteen-year-old Jane Roberts can't wait to start living it up. She may be in L.A. for an internship, but Jane plans to play as hard as she works, and has enlisted her BFF Scarlett to join in the fun.

When Jane and Scarlett are approached by a producer who wants them to be on his new series, a "reality version of Sex and the City," they can hardly believe their luck. Their own show? Yes, please!

Soon Jane is TV's hottest star. Fame brings more than she ever imagined possible for a girl from Santa Barbara --- free designer clothes, the choicest tables at the most exclusive clubs, invites to Hollywood premieres --- and she's lapping up the VIP treatment with her eclectic entourage of new pals. But those same friends who are always up for a wild night are also out for a piece of Jane's spotlight.

In a city filled with people chasing after their dreams, it's not long before Jane wakes up to the reality that everyone wants something from her, and nothing is what it seems to be.

L.A. Candy is a deliciously entertaining novel about what it's like to come of age in Hollywood while starring in a reality TV show, written by a girl who has experienced it all firsthand: Lauren Conrad.
- Click here to read our review of L.A. CANDY.

FADE by Lisa McMann (Simon Pulse)
The sequel to Wake, the bestselling YA series about a girl who gets sucked into other people's dreams.

New Releases for January 7th

Hardcover

THE SECRET YEAR by Jennifer R. Hubbard (Viking Juvenile)
Take Romeo and Juliet. Add The Outsiders. Mix thoroughly.

Colt and Julia were secretly together for an entire year, and no one --- not even Julia’s boyfriend --- knew. They had nothing in common, with Julia in her country club world on Black Mountain and Colt from down on the flats, but it never mattered. Until Julia dies in a car accident, and Colt learns the price of secrecy. He can’t mourn Julia openly, and he’s tormented that he might have played a part in her death.

When Julia’s journal ends up in his hands, Colt relives their year together at the same time that he’s desperately trying to forget her. But how do you get over someone who was never yours in the first place?

FROZEN FIRE by Tim Bowler (Speak)
Dusty’s life has fallen apart. Her mother left after Dusty’s brother mysteriously disappeared, and her father is devastated. Then Dusty gets a seemingly random phone call: a boy’s voice saying, “I’m dying.” At first Dusty doesn’t care, but then the boy says things that only Dusty knows. Things that lead her to believe he knows where her brother is. And after a few more calls, Dusty wants to find this boy, but he doesn’t want to be found. He claims he is too dangerous, and there are many people who agree. Can Dusty avoid getting hurt and still protect this mysterious boy who may not be of this world?


Paperback

AFTER TUPAC AND D FOSTER by Jacqueline Woodson (Puffin Books)
The day D Foster enters Neeka and her best friend’s lives, the world opens up for them. Suddenly they’re keenly aware of things beyond their block in Queens, things that are happening in the world --- like the shooting of Tupac Shakur --- and in search of their Big Purpose in life. When --- all too soon --- D’s mom swoops in to reclaim her, and Tupac dies, they are left with a sense of how quickly things can change and how even all-too-brief connections can touch deeply.
- Click here to read our interview of AFTER TUPAC AND D FOSTER