BOUND
Donna Jo Napoli
Atheneum
ISBN: 0689861753
Ages 12-up
192 pages

Young Xing Xing is bound. Bound to her father's second wife and daughter after Xing Xing's father passed away. Bound to a life of servitude as a young girl in ancient China, taking care of her half sister Wei Ping. Bound to be alone and unmarried, with no parents to arrange for a suitable husband. Xing Xing dreams of a life unbound by the laws of family and society.

But all of this is about to change with the coming of the village's annual festival, and Stepmother --- who has spent nearly all of the family's money --- is determined to find a husband for Wei Ping. Xing Xing soon realizes that this greed and desperation may threaten not only her memories of the past, but also her dreams for the future.

CRUISE CONTROL
Terry Trueman
HarperTempest
ISBN: 0066239605
Teen Fiction
160 pages

Paul McDaniel has everything going for him: looks, brains, and enough talent on the basketball court to take him just about anywhere. But at the opposite end of the spectrum is Shawn, who is seriously ill and doesn't even have a working brain. How can Paul pursue his own happiness when all his brother will ever experience is pain? Fueled by rage at what has happened to his family, Paul is ready to explode. And he's haunted by something he can never tell anyone --- but he must face these demons if he wants any kind of future at all.

THE DARKEST EVENING
William Durbin
Orchard Books
ISBN: 0439373077
Ages 12-up
208 pages

Jake's life is turned upside down when his father gets caught up in the Socialist fervor that has swept over their Finnish mining community in Minnesota. He decides to move the family to a new, Finnish state inside the Soviet Union, a change that Jake dreads. Where his father dreams of creating a worker's paradise, Jake and his family find disappointment and hardship.

FINDING GRACE
Alyssa Brugman
Delacorte Press
ISBN: 0385731167
Ages 12-up
240 pages

Rachel, who has just graduated from high school, meets the mysterious Mr. Preston, who offers her a live-in job looking after Grace, a brain-injured woman. As she tries to cope with the demands of her employment and the start of college, Rachel is also determined to fit together the pieces of Grace's former life. The more she finds out about the woman in her care, the more Rachel finds herself.

MISSING ABBY
Lee Weatherly
David Fickling Books/Random House
ISBN: 0385750528
Ages 12-up
208 pages

Thirteen-year-old Emma was the last person to see her old friend Abby before her mysterious disappearance. Amidst the media frenzy, and everyone's struggle to acknowledge and come to terms with the possibility of Abby's death, Emma starts a terrifying journey of her own, as she uncovers things that lead to a discovery that even the police haven't thought of.

NORMAN TUTTLE ON THE LAST FRONTIER: A Novel in Stories
Tom Bodett
Knopf
ISBN: 0679890319
Ages 12-up
208 pages

Norman Tuttle is, shall we say, awkward. He falls off his father's fishing boat into icy Alaskan waters, quietly sweats on gorgeous Laura Magruder at the school dance, and gets himself on the bad side of Leonard Kopinski, an overgrown eighth-grader who shaves. As Norman contemplates a long and lonely adolescence on the Last Frontier, he is sure that there's more to life than being the clumsiest kid in Alaska.

Series Books

Fearless

GONE (Fearless #36)
Francine Pascal
Simon Pulse
ISBN: 0689869193
Ages 16-up
320 pages

As her high school years are winding down, Gaia is back to her normal, fearless self. Unfortunately, the world around her is far from normal. An evil business empire is trying to manufacture and sell anti-fear drugs to U.S. Army soldiers. Gaia wants to call in the CIA, but that means playing by a whole new set of rules. With graduation approaching and the possibility of government involvement, Gaia has serious decisions to make. And her choices will surprise even the most devoted Fearless fan.

GONE is the 36th and final installment in this bestselling series. But there's no reason to fear, Fearless fans...because Francine Pascal is developing a brand new series set to debut in the summer of 2005! You can read more about this series in a letter that Pascal has written to her fans, which appears at the end of the book.

Buffy, the Vampire Slayer

TALES OF THE SLAYER
Volume 4
Joss Whedon
Simon Spotlight Entertainment
ISBN: 068986955X
Ages 16-up
272 pages

This fourth volume of short stories chronicles the Cruciamentum, the test each Slayer must undergo when she turns eighteen. From Prohibition Chicago to beatnik New York City, from the sideshows of a traveling carnival to a small Irish farm, from the fifteenth century to the twentieth, the Cruciamentum has tested the prowess of Slayers throughout history. Each of them has had to fight: for her job, for the lives of those she loved, and for her own existence.

Charmed

PIED PIPER
Debbie Viguie
Simon Spotlight Entertainment
ISBN: 0689868537
Ages 12-up
192 pages

Children bearing instruments are following Piper around, desperate for her protection. No one will listen to Piper, or obey her, or even give her a moment alone. Meanwhile, Phoebe finds out that musicians have vanished all over San Francisco, and they were all candidates to conduct a youth symphony. The Charmed Ones know something sinister is going on, but can they find out who --- or what --- is after these kids?

Truth or Dare

TEEN QUEENS AND HAS-BEENS
Cathy Hopkins
Simon Pulse
ISBN: 0689871295
Ages 12-up
192 pages

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After a game of truth or dare, Lia manages to gain the interest of Jonno and alienates "teen queen" Kaylie, who was after the school heartthrob for herself. Kaylie and her friends then start a campaign of bullying against Lia --- the nasty, underhanded kind where rumors are spread, threats are sent, and secrets are exposed. Soon Lia begins to question her entire life --- who she is, why these girls hate her so much, and who her real friends are.