It's going to be an exciting week for book junkies, as we have over a dozen buzzworthy new releases to share with those of you searching for your next reading fix. Some of the titles we personally can't wait to get our hands on are Lurlene McDaniel's guaranteed tearjerker, HEART TO HEART; the quirky SETH BAUMGARTNER'S LOVE MANIFESTO by Eric Luper; Jackson Pearce's modern fairy tale, SISTERS RED; and Todd Mitchell's coming-of-age novel, THE SECRET TO LYING. Add to this list the hilarious nerd-centric compilation GEEKTASTIC; Georgia Nicholson's final misadventure, ARE THESE MY BASOOMAS I SEE BEFORE ME?; THE SOULSICE, Simon Holt's utterly creepy sequel to THE DEVOURING, which are all coming out in paperback.
New Releases for June 7th
Hardcover
SISTERS RED by Jackson Pearce (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
Scarlett March lives to hunt the Fenris --- the werewolves that took her eye when she was defending her sister Rosie from a brutal attack. Armed with a razor-sharp hatchet and blood-red cloak, Scarlett is an expert at luring and slaying the wolves. She's determined to protect other young girls from a grisly death, and her raging heart will not rest until every single wolf is dead.
Rosie March once felt her bond with her sister was unbreakable. Owing Scarlett her life, Rosie hunts ferociously alongside her. But even as more girls' bodies pile up in the city and the Fenris seem to be gaining power, Rosie dreams of a life beyond the wolves. She finds herself drawn to Silas, a young woodsman who is deadly with an ax and Scarlett's only friend--but does loving him mean betraying her sister and all that they've worked for?
Paperback
GEEKTASTIC: Stories from the Nerd Herd edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
Acclaimed authors Holly Black (IRONSIDE) and Cecil Castellucci (BOY PROOF) have united in geekdom to edit short stories from some of the best selling and most promising geeks in young adult literature: M.T. Anderson, Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, John Green, Tracy Lynn, Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Barry Lyga, Wendy Mass, Garth Nix, Scott Westerfield, Lisa Yee, and Sara Zarr.
With illustrated interstitials from comic book artists Hope Larson and Bryan Lee O'Malley, Geektastic covers all things geeky, from Klingons and Jedi Knights to fan fiction, theater geeks, and cosplayers. Whether you're a former, current, or future geek, or if you just want to get in touch with your inner geek, Geektastic will help you get your geek on!
- Click here to read our review of GEEKTASTIC.
SOULSTICE: The Devouring, Book 2 by Simon Holt (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
The terrifying, nail-biting, and grossly intriguing sequel to THE DEVOURING.
It's been six months since Reggie first discovered and fought against the Vours, malicious and demonic beings that inhabit human bodies on the eve of the Winter Solstice.
The Vours still haunt Reggie, but only in her dreams --- until one night, when an unexpected visitor turns her nightmares into reality.
The battle against evil continues in SOULSTICE, the second book in the thrilling The Devouring series, which School Library Journal called, "Comparable to books by R. L. Stine and Stephen King....A must-have for horror fans."
New Releases for June 8th
Hardover
HEART TO HEART by Lurlene McDaniel (Delacorte Books for Young Readers)
From Lurlene McDaniel, the bestselling author of young adult inspirational fiction, comes HEART TO HEART. This emotionally charged novel explores loss, love, renewal, and the ways in which these complex bonds within families and between friends are tested at life's most challenging moments.
Elowyn Eden and Kassey Messechek are best friends. They share every aspect of their lives. But one thing Elowyn has not yet shared with Kassey is that she checked the organ donor box on her newly acquired driver's license. Kassey only learns of this in a startling and devastating way --- when Elowyn's life-giving donor wishes are about to be honored.
Arabeth St. Clair has not had the luck to have a best friend. Due to her diseased heart, she's led a sheltered life. When Arabeth is sixteen, she and her mother receive the call that will change their lives --- but they don't know to whom they should be forever grateful.
When the worlds of these three girls and their families intersect, lives are changed in ways never imagined. Most especially, it is Kassey who sees things differently, for she can keep alive the memory of her dear friend by sharing the renewed life of another teenage girl, while helping to ease the pain of the two families involved and coming to terms with her own.
THE SECRET TO LYING by Todd Mitchell (Candlewick Press)
James was the guy no one noticed --- just another fifteen-year-old in a small town. So when he gets into an academy for gifted students, he decides to leave his boring past behind. In a boarding school full of nerds and geeks, being cool is easy. All it takes is a few harmless pranks to invent a new James: fighter, rebel, punk. Everyone’s impressed, except for the beautiful "Ice Queen" Ellie Frost and the mysterious ghost44, an IM presence who sees through his new identity. But James is riding high, playing pranks and hooking up with luscious Jessica Keen. There’s just one thing awry: he’s starting to have vivid dreams of being a demon-hunting warrior, a thrill that is spilling over into dangerous and self-destructive acts while he’s awake. As he’s drawn deeper into his real-life lies and his dream-world conquests, James begins to wonder: What’s the price for being the coolest guy around?
SETH BAUMGARTNER’S LOVE MANIFESTO by Eric Luper (Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins)
Seth Baumgartner just had the worst day of his life.
His girlfriend dumped him (at Applebee's), he spied his father on a date with a woman who is not his mother (also at Applebee's!), and he lost his fourth job of the year. It's like every relationship he cares about is imploding, and he can't figure out what's going on.
To find answers, Seth decides to start an anonymous podcast called The Love Manifesto, exploring "what love is, why love is, and why we're stupid enough to keep going back for more." Things start looking up when Seth gets a job at a golf club with his hilarious and smut-minded best friend, Dimitri, and Dimitri's sister, Audrey. With their help, Seth tracks down his father's mystery date, hits the most infamous bogey in the history of golf, and discovers that sometimes love means eating the worst chicken-salad sandwich you can ever imagine.
STRANDED by J. T. Dutton (HarperTeen)
My best friend, Katy, says a person with a sparkly two-part name like Kelly Louise should be guaranteed a little glamour and excitement and not be forced to move back to Mom's middle-of-nowhere hometown --- now the center of a media frenzy since a farmer found an infant in his cornfield. (It just slipped from some mystery mother's body without anyone noticing.)
Bizzaro.
But Baby Grace shadows every hair flip, every wink, and is keeping me from losing my virginity, despite my dynamite new boots. Even Katy doesn't have any more good advice. The one boy around who rates anywhere near acceptable on the Maximum Man Scale only has eyes for my cousin, Natalie, who only has eyes for Jesus.
But Natalie has a secret.
Everyone is so busy burying the truth about Baby Grace, they can't see who they're burying alive.
Welcome to Heaven, Iowa.
DECEPTION: A Haunting Emma Novel, by Lee Nichols (Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books)
When Emma Vaile's parents leave on mysterious business trip, it gives her the perfect excuse to be a rebellious teen. Throw some parties, get a tattoo (or maybe just a piercing), and enjoy the first few weeks of her junior year. Then her best friend stops talking to her, the cops crash her party, and Emma finds herself in the hands of a new guardian --- her college-age "knight in J.Crew armor," Bennett Stern --- and on a plane to his museum-like mansion in New England.
After enrolling at Thatcher Academy, Emma settles in by making friends with the popular legacy crowd. But she can't shake the strange visions that are haunting her. She has memories of Thatcher she can't explain, as if she's returning home to a place she's never been. Emma doesn't trust anyone anymore --- except maybe Bennett. But he's about to reveal a ghostly secret to Emma. One that will explain the visions . . . and make Emma fear for her life.
PRETTY LITTLE LIARS #8: WANTED by Sara Shepard (HarperTeen)
In Rosewood, majestic estates sprawl for acres, and Tiffany toggle bracelets dangle from every girl's wrist. But not all that glitters is gold, and the town harbors secrets darker than anyone could imagine --- like the truth about what really happened the night Alison DiLaurentis went missing. . . .
Back in middle school, Ali plucked Emily, Hanna, Aria, and Spencer from obscurity and turned them into the beautiful, popular girls everyone wanted to be. Ali was the best friend they ever had. But she also made them do terrible things and taunted them with their worst secrets. Now, three years later, all their questions about Ali have finally been answered and they can put this awful chapter of their lives behind them. Or so they think.
Not every story has a happy ending, especially when four pretty little liars have done so many wicked things. In the dramatic conclusion of Sara Shepard's bestselling Pretty Little Liars series, Emily, Hanna, Aria, and Spencer could get everything they've ever wanted --- unless A has one more horrifying twist in store.
Paperback
BOG CHILD by Siobhan Dowd (David Fickling Books/Random House)
Digging for peat in the mountain with his Uncle Tally, Fergus finds the body of a child, and it looks like she’s been murdered. As Fergus tries to make sense of the mad world around him --- his brother on hunger-strike in prison, his growing feelings for Cora, his parents arguing over the Troubles, and him in it up to the neck, blackmailed into acting as courier to God knows what --- a little voice comes to him in his dreams, and the mystery of the bog child unfurls.
BOG CHILD is an astonishing novel exploring the sacrifices made in the name of peace, and the unflinching strength of the human spirit.
- Click here to read our review of BOG CHILD.
ARE THESE MY BASOOMAS I SEE BEFORE ME?: Final Confessions of Georgia Nicolson by Louise Rennison (HarperTeen)
For Georgia, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Just when she thought she was the official one-and-only girlfriend of Masimo, he's walked off into the night with the full hump, leaving Georgia all aloney on her owney-again. All because Dave the Laugh tried to do fisticuffs at dawn with him! Two boys fighting over Georgia? It's almost as romantic as Romeo and Juliet . . . though perhaps a touch less tragic. It's time for Georgia to get to the bottom (oo-er) of this Dave the Laugh spontaneous puckering business once and for all. It's like they always say: If you snog a mate in the forest of red bottomosity and no one is around to see it, is he still a mate? Or is he something more?
New Releases for June 10th
Hardcover
RUSH by Jonathan Friesen (Speak/Penguin Young Readers Group)
Equal parts romance and heart-pounding action, this novel will leave you absolutely breathless. Join teen Jake King, an adrenaline junkie turned hotshot firefighter, as he struggles with the one risk he cannot take: losing his best friend and secret love, the beautiful Salome Lee. But to Jake, firefighting is like breathing pure adrenaline. And if he doesn't stop soon, they could all get burned. . . .
Paperback
THE DISAPPEARED by Gloria Whelan (Speak/Penguin Young Readers Group)
Silvia’s brother, Eduardo, has Disappeared, and she won’t stop fighting until she finds him. Norberto, the general’s son, is just foolish enough to help. He’ll fall in love with her, and then he’ll ask his father to set Eduardo free. At least that’s the premise on which Silvia bases her scheme. In chapters alternating between Silvia’s and Eduardo’s perspectives, acclaimed author Gloria Whelan gives voice to the families who struggled to survive in 1970s Argentina—and to the many who still, today, remain Disappeared.
PRETTY LITTLE LIARS #7: HEARTLESS by Sara Shepard (HarperTeen)
Four gorgeous girls are telling very ugly stories.
First Emily, Aria, Hanna, and Spencer claimed they found a dead body in the woods behind Spencer's house, only to have it vanish without a trace. Then, when the same woods went up in flames, they swore they saw someone who's supposed to be dead rise from the ashes. And even after all that, the pretty little liars are still playing with fire. Call me heartless, but it's about time someone shut these liars up for good. After all, nobody likes a girl who cries wolf --- least of all me. . . .
- Click here to read our review of HEARTLESS.
