New in November

The Ring of Solomon
By Jonathan Stroud

Wise-cracking djinni Bartimaeus finds himself at the court of King Solomon with an unpleasant master, a sinister servant, and King Solomon's magic ring.







The Dark Game: True Spy Stories
By Paul B. Janeczko

Describes the contributions and techniques of American spies over the course of the past two centuries, recounting dramatic missions while profiling such historical figures as anti-slavery spy Elizabeth Van Lew and the "Choctaw code talkers."





Star Crossed
By Elizabeth C. Bunce

In a kingdom dominated by religious intolerance, sixteen-year-old Digger, a street thief, has always avoided attention, but when she learns that her friends are plotting against the throne she must decide whether to join them or turn them in.





The 10 p. m. Question
By Kate De Goldi

Twelve-year-old Frankie Parsons has a quirky family, a wonderful best friend, and a head full of worrying questions that he shares with his mother each night, but when free-spirited Sydney arrives at school with questions of her own, Frankie is forced to face the ultimate ten p.m. question.





The Replacement
By Brenna Yovanoff

When the creatures under the hill want him back, Mackie Doyle must decide where he belongs and what he wants.








Lafayette and the American Revolution
By Russell Freedman

Presents a biography about the French nobleman who assisted the American colonists in their struggle for freedom from England during the Revolutionary War.





Cloaked in Red
By Vivian Vande Velde

Presents eight twists on the traditional tale of Little Red Riding Hood, exploring such issues as why most characters seem dim-witted and what, exactly, is the theme.






Three Black Swans
By Caroline B. Cooney

When sixteen-year-old Missy Vianello decides to try to convince her classmates that her cousin Claire is really her long-lost identical twin, she has no idea that the results of her prank will be so life-changing.






Digital Photo Madness! 50 Weird and Wacky Things to Do With Your Digital Camera
By Thom Gaines

Offers an introduction to digital photography and fifty inventive activities including instructions for creating pop art and a "trapped-in-the-computer" screen saver.






Tell Us We're Home
By Marina Budhos

Three immigrant girls from different parts of the world meet and become close friends in a small New Jersey town where their mothers have found domestic work, but their relationships are tested when one girl's mother is accused of stealing a precious heirloom.

New in October

The House of Dead Maids
By Clare B. Dunkle

Eleven-year-old Tabby Aykroyd, who would later serve as housekeeper for thirty years to the Bronte sisters, is taken from an orphanage to a ghost-filled house, where she and a wild young boy are needed for a pagan ritual.






Payback Time
By Carl Deuker

Overweight, somewhat timid Mitch reluctantly agrees to be the sports reporter for the Lincoln High newspaper because he is determined to be a writer, but he senses a real story in Angel, a talented football player who refuses to stand out on the field-- or to discuss his past.





Teen Cuisine
By Matthew Locricchio

This collection of easy recipes for teen cooks includes basics, comfort foods, and dishes with international flair.







Starlighter
By Bryan Davis

Jason Masters does not believe that dragons take people to another realm as slaves until his own brother is taken, but once through the portal he meets Koren, a slave struggling to destroy a black egg prophesied to doom all mankind.






Annexed
By Sharon Dogar

The story of the boy who loved Anne Frank.









Do Not Open: An Encyclopedia of the World's Best-Kept Secrets
By John Farndon

Covering nearly 100 topics, including the Bermuda Triangle, Air Force One, and haunted houses, Do Not Open explores oddities, mysteries, and the unexplained.






Saving Sky
By Diane Stanley

In an America that has suffered continual terrorist attacks since 9/11, seventh-grader Sky stands up for what is right and helps a classmate of Middle Eastern descent, although doing so places her and her family at great risk.






Heart of a Samurai
By Margi Preus

In 1841, rescued by an American whaler after a terrible shipwreck leaves him and his four companions castaways on a remote island, fourteen-year-old Manjiro, who dreams of becoming a samurai, learns new laws and customs as he becomes the first Japanese person to set foot in the United States.




Frederick Douglass: A Noble Life
By David A. Adler

When, in 1879, a bust in his likeness was placed at the University of Rochester, Frederick Douglass wrote: "Incidents of this character do much amaze me. It is not, however, the height to which I have risen, but the depth from which I have come that amazes me." This biography tells the story of his ascent from slavery.




The Half-Life of Planets
By Emily Franklin and Brendan Halpin

An unlikely romance develops between a science-minded girl who is determined to reclaim her reputation and a boy with Asperger's Syndrome.







Rose Sees Red
By Cecil Castellucci

In the 1980s, two teenaged ballet dancers--one American, one Russian--spend an unforgettable night in New York City, forming a lasting friendship despite their cultural and political differences.

New in September

As Easy As Falling Off the Face of the Earth
By Lynne Rae Perkins

A teenaged boy encounters one comedic calamity after another when his train strands him in the middle of nowhere, and everything comes down to luck.







They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group
By Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Uses personal accounts unearthed from oral histories, congressional documents, and diaries, to unveil the creation of the Ku Klux Klan in Pulaski, Tennessee, and its spread across the American South.





The Keeper's Tattoo
By Gill Arbuthnott

Months before her fifteenth birthday, Nyssa learns that she is a special member of a legendary clan, the Keepers of Knowledge, as she and her uncle try to escape from Alaric, the White Wolf, who wants to use lines tattooed on her to destroy the rest of her people.






The Sorcerer of Sainte Felice
By Ann Finnin

In fifteenth-century France, fifteen-year-old Michael de Lorraine is saved from execution by Abbot Francis and granted refuge at the Benedictine monastery of Sainte Felice, where he tries to use his powers to save his new friends and mentors from the Inquisition.





Candy Bomber: The Story of the Berlin Airlift's "Chocolate Pilot"
By Michael O. Tunnell

Presents the life of the American Air Force pilot responsible for setting up the airlift of candy to the children of Berlin in 1948 and 1949 after the end of World War II and describes the gratitude of the German people for his efforts.





A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend
By Emily Horner

As she tries to sort out her feelings of love, seventeen-year-old Cass, a spunky math genius with an introverted streak, finds a way to memorialize her dead best friend.







The Buccaneer's Apprentice
By V. Briceland

On his first sea voyage, seventeen-year-old Nic Dattore faces vicious pirates then, with a motley crew of castaways, decides to commandeer the pirate ship to return home, racing against time to save the magical city of Cassaforte from a diabolical plot.





The Paper Boomerang Book
By Mark Latno

Presents a guide to making, troubleshooting, and correctly throwing paper boomerangs, as well as information on the history of boomerangs and the principles of how they work.






Freak Magnet
By Andrew Auseon

Two teenagers, both burdened by grief and loss, find each other and gradually develop a strong connection to one another.







No Moon
By Irene N. Watts

Nursemaid Louisa Gardener still blames herself for the drowning of her two-year-old brother almost ten years earlier, and so she dreads having to accompany the family she works for as they travel to New York on the Titanic.

New in August

Bruiser
By Neal Shusterman

Inexplicable events start to occur when sixteen-year-old twins Tennyson and Bronte befriend a troubled and misunderstood outcast, aptly nicknamed Bruiser, and his little brother, Cody.






Royal Murder: The Deadly Intrigue of Ten Sovereigns
By Elizabeth MacLeod

From monarchs murdered at the hands of their subjects to kings killed on the battlefield, the stories of ten royals are told through the blending of dramatic storytelling and historical fact and enhanced with fascinating photographs and artwork.




Ship Breaker
By Paolo Bacigalupi

In a futuristic world, teenaged Nailer scavenges copper wiring from grounded oil tankers for a living, but when he finds a beached clipper ship with a girl in the wreckage, he has to decide if he should strip the ship for its wealth or rescue the girl.





Shakespeare Makes the Playoffs
By Ron Koertge

Fourteen-year-old Kevin Boland, poet and first baseman, is torn between his cute girlfriend Mira and Amy, who is funny, plays Chopin on the piano, and is also a poet.







Trapped--Youth in the Nazi Ghettos
By Ann Byers

Examines the lives of Jewish children and teens in the ghettos during the Holocaust, including the formation of the ghettos, the miserable conditions, hard labor, and the deportations to camps.






Dark Life
By Kat Falls

When fifteen-year-old Ty, who has always lived on the ocean floor, joins Topside girl Gemma in the frontier's underworld to seek and stop outlaws who threaten his home, they learn that the government may pose an even greater threat.






Sisters Red
By Jackson Pearce

After a Fenris, or werewolf, killed their grandmother and almost killed them, sisters Scarlett and Rosie March devote themselves to hunting and killing the beasts that prey on teenaged girls, learning how to lure them with red cloaks and occasionally using the help of their old friend, Silas, the woodsman's son.




Lawn Boy Returns
By Gary Paulsen

Having expanded his summer lawn mowing job into an ever-growing business conglomerate, a twelve-year-old boy gets involved in high finance thanks to his hippie stockbroker, takes on sponsorship of a boxer, and becomes a media sensation.




Bulu: African Wonder Dog
By Dick Houston

When Anna and Steve move from England to Zambia to found a wildlife education center, they adopt a dog named Bulu in spite of the dangers he would face, and come to value his company and his way with the animals at the center.





The Thin Executioner
By Darren Shan

In a nation of warriors where weakness is shunned and all crimes, no matter how minor, are punishable by beheading, young Jebel Rum, along with a slave who is fated to be sacrificed, sets forth on a quest to petition the Fire God for invincibility, but when the long and arduous journey is over, Jebel has learned much about fairness and the value of life.

New in July

The Gardener
By S. A. Bodeen

When high school sophomore Mason finds a beautiful but catatonic girl in the nursing home where his mother works, the discovery leads him to revelations about a series of disturbing human experiments that have a connection to his own life.

The Mitochondrial Curiosities of Marcels 1 to 19
By Jocelyn Brown

Dree can't wait to leave Edmonton for the Renegade Craft Fair in Toronto, but when her father has a fatal heart attack her attention turns to investigating clues about her parents' past, while attempting to pass science class and grieve for her father.

You Can Do a Graphic Novel
By Barbara Slate

Graphic novelist Barbara Slate guides those who want to create graphic novels through the process of developing their own styles, creating engaging stories, and understanding the graphic novel industry.






Payback
By Rosemary Hayes

Halima, a teenaged Muslim girl living in London, discovers her father owes a favor to a distant relative in Pakistan and must repay the debt by forcing Halima into marriage.

The Line
By Teri Hall
Rachel thinks that she and her mother are safe working for Ms. Moore at her estate close to The Line, an invisible border of the Unified States, but when Rachel has an opportunity to Cross into the forbidden zone, she is both frightened and intrigued.

Choppy Socky Blues
By Ed Briant

In the South of England, fourteen-year-old Jay resumes contact with his father, a movie stuntman and karate instructor, after two years of estrangement to impress a girl who turns out to be the girlfriend of Jay's former best friend.

She Thief
By Daniel Finn

When Demi--a master pickpocket working for the gang leader Fay--steals a ring, his partner in crime, Baz, soon finds herself alone and betrayed as police and the Barrio's crime boss close in on Fay and her den of child thieves.

Bro-Jitsu: The Martial Art of Sibling Smackdown
By Daniel H. Wilson

Presents a humorous look into sibling rivalry while examining classic moves such as, noogies, wedgies, and the wet-towel snap.

Thief Eyes
By Janni Lee Simner

Haley's mother disappeared while on a trip to Iceland, and a year later, when her father takes her there to find out what happened, Haley finds herself deeply involved in an ancient saga that began with her Nordic ancestors.

Friend Is Not a Verb
By Daniel Ehrenhaft

While sixteen-year-old Hen's family and friends try to make his supposed dreams of becoming a rock star come true, he deals with the reality of being in a band with an ex-girlfriend, a friendship that may become love, and his older sister's mysterious disappearance and reappearance.

The Plague
By Joanne Dahme

Nell acts as a bodydouble for Princess Joan, but after Joan dies of the plague, her brother, the Black Prince, wants Nell to assume the princess' identity and marry a prince, while Nell tries to escape in order to tell the king the truth about his daughter.