New in October

The Wednesday Wars: Gary D. Schmidt: 264 pages

Set during the 1967-1968 school year, Holling Hoodhood finds his seventh-grade year one filled with many challenges as he spends afternoons with Mrs. Baker discussing the plays of Shakespeare, defends his tasty cream puffs from a determined bully, and prepares for his big debut in the school play--all while the issue of Vietnam looms on a daily basis.

Runner: Robert Newton: 209 pages

In Richmond, Australia, in 1919, fifteen-year-old Charlie Feehan becomes an errand boy for a notorious mobster, hoping that his ability to run will help him, his widowed mother, and his baby brother to escape poverty.

The Curse of the Romanovs: Staton Rabin: 273 pages

In order to escape the dangerous hand of Rasputin, Alexei, heir to the Russian throne, travels in time from Russia in 1916 to New York City in 2010, but when she meets a distant cousin who tells her of her family's assassination in 1918, the two friends must risk their own lives and travel back to help save her beloved family.

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy: Ally Carter: 240 pages

When the Gallagher Academy, a secret spy school for girls, hosts male guests from Knowlton-Hale, Cammie is blamed for a series of security breaches that forces her to clear her name while trying to deny her attraction to an incorrigible hottie named Zach. Sequel to I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period: Gennifer Choldenko: 216 pages

Kirsten and Walker, seventh-graders at an elite private school, alternate telling how race, wealth, weight, and other issues shape their relationships as they and other misfits stand up to a mean but influential classmate, even as they are uncovering a long-kept secret about themselves.

Dance with a Vampire: Ellen Schreiber: 179 pages

When eleven-year-old Valentine, younger brother of vampires Jagger and Luna, comes to Dullsville looking for them, he threatens goth-girl Raven's younger brother, Billy Boy, as well as her relationship with her vampire boyfriend, Alexander. Book 4 in the Vampire Kisses series.

High Fashion: Nicole Clarke: 224 pages

Born into London high society, sixteen-year-old Olivia tries to make a name for herself during a summer internship at a New York City fashion magazine while also trying to hide her family connections from her new American boyfriend.

More Horowitz Horror: Anthony Horowitz: 210 pages

A day at the beach ending in murder and a cell phone that dials directly to hell are just a few of the horror tales presented in the second suspenseful collection for middle readers.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian: Sherman Alexie: 229 pages

Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.

Mississippi Jack: A Bloody Jack Adventure: L.A. Meyer: 611 pages

In 1806, the exploits of Jacky Faber continue as she heads west to avoid capture by the British and discovers adventure aboard a keelboat on the mighty Mississippi River.

Powers: Ursula K. Le Guin: 502 pages

When young Gavir's sister is brutally killed, he escapes from slavery and sets out to explore the world and his own psychic abilities, in the third title of the Annals of the Western Shore series.