This week, we’re showcasing 20 titles that range from nail-biting mysteries (THE PICKLE KING) and tales of the supernatural (HEX HALL), to teenage dramas (CITY OF ANGELS) and everything in between! You’ll be sure to find something to love!New Releases for February 28th
Paperback
HOW TO (UN)CAGE A GIRL by Francesca Lia Block (HarperTeen)
A celebration of girls and women in a three-part poetry collection that is powerful, hopeful, authentic, and universal.
New Releases for March 1st
Hardcover
GREEN WITCH by Alice Hoffman (Scholastic Press)
In this powerful, lovely sequel to GREEN ANGEL, Green must learn the stories of a number of “witches” and free her true soul mate from a prison as she grapples with life, love, and loss in a post-disaster world.
HAPPYFACE by Stephen Emond (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
Just put on a happy face!
Enter Happyface’s journal and get a peek into the life of a shy, artistic boy who decides to reinvent himself as a happy-go-lucky guy after he moves to a new town. See the world through his hilariously self-deprecating eyes as he learns to shed his comic-book-loving, computer-game- playing ways. Join him as he makes new friends, tries to hide from his past, and ultimately learns to face the world with a genuine smile. With a fresh and funny combination of text and fully integrated art, HAPPYFACE is an original storytelling experience.
THE LAST SUMMER OF THE DEATH WARRIORS by Francisco X. Stork (Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic)
When Pancho arrives at St. Anthony’s Home, he knows his time there will be short: if his plans succeed, he’ll soon be arrested for the murder of his sister’s killer. But then he’s assigned to help D.Q., whose brain cancer has slowed neither his spirit nor his mouth. D.Q. tells Pancho all about his “Death Warrior’s Manifesto,” which will help him to live out his last days fully --- ideally, he says, with the love of the beautiful Marisol. As Pancho tracks down his sister’s murderer, he finds himself falling under the influence of D.Q. and Marisol, who is everything D.Q. said she would be, and he is inexorably drawn to a decision: to honor his sister and her death, or embrace the way of the Death Warrior and choose life.
Nuanced in its characters and surprising in its plot developments --- both soulful and funny --- Pancho & D.Q. is a “buddy novel” of the highest kind: the story of a friendship that helps two young men become all they can be.
THE PICKLE KING by Rebecca Promitzer (The Chicken House/Scholastic)
Bea lives in the nowhere town of Elbow, where it rains so much the residents have green mold growing between their toes. Nothing ever happens in Elbow. Its closest claim to fame is a giant pickle factory, owned by Herman, the Pickle King. Herman’s a small-time big shot, a local celebrity...until he turns up dead. And when Bea and Sam stumble across the body --- minus one eyeball --- in the water-logged basement of a creepy old house, suddenly THEY’RE ones in a pickle! With a mystery to solve, maybe this summer won’t be such a bore after all....
Paperback
THE A-LIST HOLLYWOOD ROYALTY: CITY OF ANGLES by Zoey Dean (Poppy)
After a rocky first week in L.A., Jojo Milford is quickly getting used to her status as Hollywood Royalty. She and stepsister Myla have a tenuous truce, at least at home --- but with Jojo becoming more and more popular at Beverly Hills High, how long can the ceasefire last? And is Myla’s long-term relationship with BHH’s resident rocker Ash Gilmour really over? Meanwhile, uber-starlet Amelie Adams is just like any other teenage girl: totally in love. Too bad her crush barely knows she exists. And too bad for Jake Porter-Goldsmith, Amelie’s math tutor, who’s hopelessly in love with Amelie.
EVERYTHING IS FINE. by Ann Dee Ellis (Little, Brown and Company)
Stuck at home caring for her severely depressed mother and abandoned by her father, Mazzy has only the day-to-day dramas of her neighborhood to keep her busy. But between flirting with the boy next door and worrying about the fact that she’s flat-chested, Mazzy has to face the fact that her mom is emotionally paralyzed by a family tragedy. As readers delve into the story, they’ll eventually discover what it was that tore Mazzy’s family apart, and they’ll see what it takes to put it back together. Despite its serious subject matter, Mazzy brings humor to the trying age of adolescence and gives readers just the kind of awkward, troubled, and endearing character they will gladly embrace.
HERE LIES ARTHUR by Philip Reeve (Scholastic Paperbacks)
Gwynna is just a girl who is forced to run when her village is attacked and burns to the ground. To her horror, she is discovered in the wood. But it is Myrddin the bard who has found her, a traveler and spinner of tales. He agrees to protect Gwynna if she will agree to be bound in service to him. Gwynna is frightened but intrigued --- and says yes --- for this Myrddin serves the young, rough, and powerful Arthur. In the course of their travels, Myrddin transforms Gwynna into the mysterious Lady of the Lake, a boy warrior, and a spy. It is part of a plot to transform Arthur from the leader of a ragtag war band into King Arthur, the greatest hero of all time. If Gwynna and Myrrdin’s trickery is discovered, what will become of Gwynna? Worse, what will become of Arthur? Only the endless battling, the mighty belief of men, and the sheer cunning of one remarkable girl will tell.
SAME DIFFERENCE by Siobhan Vivian (Push)
Emily needs a change of scenery. She’s been pegged as the “arty girl” by the kids in school --- even her own friends. There’s some truth to that, but there’s more to how she sees the world than painting or drawing, and no one seems to understand that. So when Emily gets the chance to go to an art program in Philadelphia for the summer, she jumps at it. A new cast of characters enters her life...and suddenly she has to figure out who she wants to be. She’s gone from the suburbs where everyone’s trying to be the same to a school where everyone’s trying to be unique. The rules may have changed, but the pressures haven’t. With wit and empathy, Siobhan Vivian goes straight to the heart of a teen girl’s search for identity --- including the pain and heartache we have to go through to figure out who we are.
New Releases for March 2nd
Hardcover
ANASTASIA’S SECRET by Susanne Dunlap (Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books)
“Will I never see you again either?” I asked, feeling as though I was about to jump off a high mountain peak and hope to land without hurting myself. That’s how impossible everything seemed at that moment, no matter what I did.
“Perhaps we will meet again,” Sasha said, softening his voice. “But you must see that it does not matter. You have so much ahead of you. It’s your choice now. Choose the future! Choose life!”
For Anastasia Romanov, life as the privileged daughter of Russia’s last tsar is about to be torn apart by the bloodshed of revolution. Ousted from the imperial palace when the Bolsheviks seize control of the government, Anastasia and her family are exiled to Siberia. But even while the rebels debate the family’s future with agonizing slowness and the threat to their lives grows more menacing, romance quietly blooms between Anastasia and Sasha, a sympathetic young guard she has known since childhood. But will the strength of their love be enough to save Anastasia from a violent death?
Inspired by the mysteries that have long surrounded the last days of the Romanov family, Susanne Dunlap’s new novel is a haunting vision of the life and love story of Russia’s last princess.
BEFORE I FALL by Lauren Oliver (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
What if you had only one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?
Samantha Kingston has it all: the world’s most crush-worthy boyfriend, three amazing best friends, and first pick of everything at Thomas Jefferson High --- from the best table in the cafeteria to the choicest parking spot. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life.
Instead, it turns out to be her last.
Then she gets a second chance. Seven chances, in fact. Reliving her last day during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death --- and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing.
FORGET-HER-NOTS by Amy Brecount White (Greenwillow Books)
Something --- some power --- is blooming inside Laurel. She can use flowers to do things. Like bringing back lost memories. Or helping her friends ace tests. Or making people fall in love.
Laurel suspects her newfound ability has something to do with an ancient family secret, one that her mother meant to share with Laurel when the time was right. But then time ran out.
Clues and signs and secret messages seem to be all around Laurel at Avondale School, where her mother had also boarded as a student. Can Laurel piece everything together quickly enough to control her power, which is growing more potent every day? Or will she set the stage for the most lovestruck, infamous prom in the history of the school?
HEX HALL by Rachel Hawkins (Disney-Hyperion)
Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It’s gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie’s estranged father --- an elusive European warlock --- only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it’s her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.
By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.
As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.
THE RETURNERS by Gemma Malley (Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books)
London teenager Will Hodge is miserable. His mother is dead, his father’s political leanings have grown radical, and his friends barely talk to him. To top it off, he’s having nightmares about things like concentration camps. Then Will notices he’s being followed by a group of people who claim to know him from another time in history. It turns out they are Returners, reincarnated people who carry with them the memory of atrocities they have witnessed in the past. Will realizes that he, too, is a Returner. But something about his memories is different, and with dawning horror, Will suspects that he wasn’t just a witness to the events, he was instrumental in making them happen. Set in the near future, with the world on the verge of a new wave of ethnic cleansing, Will must choose to confront the cruelty he’s known in his past lives, or be doomed to repeat it…
Paperback
EXPOSED by Susan Vaught (Bloomsbury USA)
Chan Shealy is an all-American girl, a baton-twirler, straight-A student. But when she looks for a boyfriend online, sure that she’s following the rules and staying safe, she finds herself the victim of a pedophile whose interests are worse than she ever imagines... it is almost too late when she realizes what she must do to stop him.
SIX INNINGS by James Preller (Square Fish)
It’s the biggest game of the season, and 23 boys are ready to play. They’re checking each other out, plotting their strategies, and psyching themselves up. But one kid isn’t on the field. Sam Reiser, the announcer, is sitting it out this season. He can’t play, but he’s not about to miss a game. And watching over it all is exciting --- the acrobatic catches, the incredible hits, the devastating errors --- it’s just not the same. Sam’s friend Mike knows how he feels. Mike’s out in right field, wishing Sam could join him. Because this isn’t just a big game. It’s the championship --- the biggest game of their lives.
STOP ME IF YOU’VE HEARD THIS ONE BEFORE by David Yoo (Disney Hyperion)
Before he met Mia, resigned loser Albert Kim was too busy dodging high school sociopaths to imagine having a girlfriend. Much less the adorable ex-girlfriend of alpha jerk Ryan Stackhouse. Yet somehow, by the end of a summer working at an inn together, Al and Mia are “something.”
Then September arrives with a thud: Ryan has been diagnosed with cancer and needs Mia at his side. As the school year turns into one giant tribute to Ryan, Al can’t help but notice that Ryan may not be quite who everyone --- particularly Mia --- thinks he is. Before his heart shatters completely, Al has just a few more things to point out...
New Releases for March 3rd
Hardcover
BROADWAY LIGHTS by Jen Calonita (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
Her star power in demand on a hit Broadway play, Hollywood teen starlet Kaitlin Burke packs up her entourage (ok, her showbiz family, friends, assistant, and publicist, but not the dreamy boyfriend) and moves to the Big Apple for the summer. Kaitlin is the toast of the town and she hits the most exclusive New York nightspots, enjoys the best food (Hello, Magnolia Bakery), and even guests as a celebrity host on Saturday Night Live! But New York isn’t all cupcakes and virgin daiquiris. Long distance and a handsome new costar put a huge strain on her relationship with Austin, and it turns out Broadway divas are a whole different breed of neuroses and competition from Hollywood starlets.
New Releases for March 4th
Hardcover
THE LINE by Teri Hall (Dial Books for Young Readers)
An invisible, uncrossable physical barrier encloses the Unified States. The Line is the part of the border that lopped off part of the country, dooming the inhabitants to an unknown fate when the enemy used a banned weapon. It’s said that bizarre creatures and superhumans live on the other side, in Away. Nobody except tough old Ms. Moore would ever live next to the Line.
Nobody but Rachel and her mother, who went to live there after Rachel’s dad died in the last war. It’s a safe, quiet life. Until Rachel finds a mysterious recorded message that can only have come from Away. The voice is asking for help.
Who sent the message? Why is her mother so protective? And to what lengths is Rachel willing to go in order to do what she thinks is right?
SING ME TO SLEEP by Angela Morrison (Razorbill)
THE TRANSFORMATION
Beth has always been “The Beast” --- that’s what everyone at school calls her because of her awkward height, facial scars, and thick glasses. Beth’s only friend is geeky, golden-haired Scott. That is, until she’s selected to be her choir’s soprano soloist, and receives the makeover that will change her life forever.
THE LOVE AFFAIR
When Beth’s choir travels to Switzerland, she meets Derek: pale, brooding, totally dreamy. Derek’s untethered passion --- for music, and for Beth --- leaves her breathless. Because in Derek’s eyes? She’s not The Beast, she’s The Beauty.
THE IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE
When Beth comes home, Scott, her best friend in the world, makes a confession that leaves her completely torn. Should she stand by sweet, steady Scott or follow the dangerous, intense new feelings she has for Derek?
THE HEARTBREAK
The closer Beth gets to Derek, the further away he seems. Then Beth discovers that Derek’s been hiding a dark secret from her …one that could shatter everything.
