THE BOOK THIEF
Markus Zusak
Knopf
ISBN-10: 0375831002
ISBN-13: 9780375831003
Ages 12-up
512 pages

• Read a Review & Excerpt
• Buy from Amazon.com

Set during World War II in Germany, young Liesel Meminger, who lives outside of Munich, scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can't resist --- books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

DARKHENGE
Catherine Fisher
Greenwillow Books
ISBN-10: 0060785829
ISBN-13: 9780060785826
Ages 12-up
352 pages

• Buy from Amazon.com

It's been three months since Rob's younger sister, Chloe, fell into a coma after a riding accident, and his life is in disarray. Rob's parents spend most of their time at his sister's bedside, and his best friend is afraid to talk to Rob about Chloe. To distract himself, Rob takes a job working at a secret archaeological site, where workers have uncovered a mystical ring of black timbers. At its center an ancient tree is buried upside down in the earth --- a tree with the power to transport Rob to the Unworld, where Chloe lives in a forest of enchanting dreams, trapped between life and death.

DREAMHUNTER: Book One of the Dreamhunter Duet
Elizabeth Knox
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 0374318530
Ages 12-up
384 pages

• Buy from Amazon.com

The Place is an unfathomable land that fosters dreams of every kind and is inaccessible to all but a select few, the Dreamhunters. These are individuals with special gifts: the ability to catch larger-than-life dreams and relay them to audiences in the magnificent dream palace, the Rainbow Opera. People travel from all around to experience the benefits of the hunters' unique visions. Now Laura and her cousin Rose, daughters of Dreamhunters, are eligible to test themselves at the Place and find out whether they qualify for the passage. But nothing can prepare them for what they are about to discover.

THE GEOGRAPHY OF GIRLHOOD
Kirsten Smith
Little, Brown and Company
ISBN: 0316160210
Ages 15-up
192 pages

• Buy from Amazon.com

Written in verse, THE GEOGRAPHY OF GIRLHOOD follows a girl from ages 14 to 18, exploring first crushes, first dances, first kisses, and the many other dangers of growing up.

The author, Kirsten Smith, first began writing poetry while attending college but has made a career out of writing screenplays. Her credits include the hit movies Legally Blonde, 10 Things I Hate About You, and Ella Enchanted.

KLEPTO
Jenny Pollack
Viking
ISBN: 0670060615
Ages 12-up
288 pages

• Buy from Amazon.com

Julie Braverman is the coolest person Julie Prodsky has ever met. During their freshman year at the High School of Performing Arts in New York City, Julie P. is able to explore for the first time the world of flirting, freedom, and fashion through the eyes of her new best friend. Learning the secret to Julie B.'s collection of Fiorucci jeans --- shoplifting --- only makes Julie P. admire her more. Eventually, though, Julie P.'s conscience catches up with her. She wants to stop shoplifting, but Julie B. doesn't. Without stealing, can this friendship survive?

NO RIGHT TURN
Terry Trueman
HarperTempest
ISBN-10: 0060574917
ISBN-13: 9780060574918
Ages 14-up
176 pages

• Read a Review
• Buy from Amazon.com

Three years after his father's suicide, Jordan is a self-described zombie. With no friends or interests, Jordan has made sure he is alone because it's easier to get by that way. But then salvation comes, in the most unlikely form. It's gorgeous, it's beautiful, it's sexy --- a 1976 Corvette! Drawn by this automobile and the doors it opens for him, Jordan realizes that maybe he can start living again. But the real question is: Does he want to?

PROM ANONYMOUS
Blake Nelson
Viking
ISBN: 0670059455
Ages 12-up
272 pages

• Read a Review
• Buy from Amazon.com

Chloe Thomas is going to the prom, but only because her two oldest friends asked her to attend. She quickly begins to regret her decision, though --- she doesn't have a date, she needs a dress, and she's the last person anyone expects to see at the dance. Laura and Jace are too busy with their own preparations to help, her "real" friends think she's insane for going, and her parents are just thrilled she's participating. By the time the big night arrives, Chloe barely hopes to survive.

THE QUEEN OF COOL
Cecil Castellucci
Candlewick Press
ISBN: 0763627208
Ages 14-up
176 pages

• Read a Review
• Buy from Amazon.com

On the outside, Libby Brin is the most popular girl in school. She has the coolest friends, the hottest boyfriend, the trendiest clothes, and the hippest parents. But on the inside, Libby is dying --- of boredom. In a moment of desperation, she signs up for an internship at the L.A. Zoo, much to her friends' dismay. At first Libby sees this as something different to do, but what happens when she realizes that she actually enjoys working at the zoo? Will this "Queen of Cool" be forced to give up her crown?

THE ROAD OF THE DEAD
Kevin Brooks
The Chicken House/Scholastic
ISBN: 0439786231
Ages 12-up
368 pages

• Read a Review
• Buy from Amazon.com

On a storm-ravaged night, a 19-year-old girl is kidnapped, raped and killed. Three days later, her two younger brothers set out in search of her murderer. Cole is a dark-eyed devil who doesn't care if he lives or dies, while Ruben is a strange child who sometimes experiences sensations above and beyond his own. This is the story of the boys' journey to the ghostly moors of Devon, where they hope to discover the truth about their sister's death.

Series Books

The Midnighters

MIDNIGHTERS #3: BLUE NOON
Scott Westerfeld
Eos/HarperCollins
ISBN-10: 0060519576
ISBN-13: 9780060519575
Ages 12-up
384 pages

• Buy from Amazon.com

The secret hour, when time freezes and dark things emerge, happens every night at midnight --- until one day it happens in broad daylight. The Midnighters are horrified to discover that the hidden hour is spilling over into real time. Soon all of Bixby might be caught up in a world where fire can't burn, ancient predators are on the hunt, and five teenagers may be the only ones with the power to save humanity.

Confessions of a Teen Nanny

CONFESSIONS OF A TEEN NANNY #2: RICH GIRLS
Victoria Ashton
HarperCollins
ISBN-10: 0060731796
ISBN-13: 0060731796
Ages 14-up
224 pages

• Read a Review
• Buy from Amazon.com

RICH GIRLS continues Victoria Ashton's peek into the outrageous life of the elite and wealthy, as 16-year-old Adrienne Lewis watches eight-year-old Emma at her after-school nanny job and tangles with Emma's beautiful but wicked teenage half sister, Cameron. Adrienne quickly learns that money can buy everything for girls like Cameron --- including Adrienne's boyfriend, Brian. Meanwhile, handsome and wealthy Parker Devlin takes Adrienne's best friend, Liz Braun, out on jaw-dropping dates and buys her expensive gifts. So why is Parker escorting sexy Isabelle Schuyler to balls in Aspen and Manhattan?

Alias

STRATEGIC RESERVE
Christina F. York
created by J. J. Abrams
Simon Spotlight Entertainment
ISBN-10: 141690946X
ISBN-13: 9781416909460
Ages 12-up
272 pages

• Buy from Amazon.com

An oil pipeline leak in the Gulf of Mexico looks like sabotage, and APO is assigned to find the source using any means necessary. Sydney and Dixon visit the drilling platform and discover a likely suspect, but before they can corner him, he flees...in the APO helicopter. It seems the attack was a practice run for something bigger, and Sydney and Dixon must determine the real target before time runs out.