CHILDREN'S
Released: Jan. 1, 2012
"A superb offering--and therefore a shame that its cover design of a boy and girl in a clinch makes it look like a run-of-the mill romance, which may limit its appeal. (Short stories. 14 & up)"
This conceptually unique collection of short story pairings by a constellation of teen-literature stars explores a variety of relationship types as the respective male and female involved in each one experience them.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Jan. 2, 2012
"Yes, many teens face more compelling problems than those of a smart, attractive daughter of affluent and loving, if estranged, parents; but Smith's acute insights make Hadley's heartache and loss as real as the magical unfurling of new love. (Fiction. 12 & up)"
CHILDREN'S
Released: Jan. 10, 2012
"Green seamlessly bridges the gap between the present and the existential, and readers will need more than one box of tissues to make it through Hazel and Gus' poignant journey. (Fiction. 15 & up)"
He's in remission from the osteosarcoma that took one of his legs. She's fighting the brown fluid in her lungs caused by tumors. Both know that their time is limited.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Jan. 10, 2012
"A classy read that repays reader effort. (historical note) (Thriller. 12 & up)"
Here's something refreshing: a religious-historical thriller with a nifty Mobius strip of a plot—think Nancy Werlin channeling Dan Brown—serving up shivery suspense, sans fangs or fur.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Jan. 10, 2012
"Setting and plot are the heart and soul of this ripping space thriller, and they're unforgettable. (Science fiction. 14 & up)"
Opening soon after the bleak ending of
Across the Universe (2011), this captivating middle volume takes
Godspeed's 2,763 residents through commotion, twists and game-changers.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Jan. 17, 2012
"A dark journey well worth taking—engrossing, disturbing, illuminating. (author's note) (Fiction. 14 & up)"
A tale of two Haitis—one modern, one historic—deftly intertwine in a novel for teens and adults.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Feb. 1, 2012
"A stirring and thought-provoking account of an unsung figure in 20th-century American history. (author's notes, source notes, bibliography, index) (Fictional biography. 12-18)"
Lewis Michaux provided a venue for his fellow African-Americans to have access to their own history and philosophy at a time when the very idea was revolutionary.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Feb. 1, 2012
"Hard to read, impossible to forget. (Fiction. 14 & up)"
Two wayward teens fall under the evil thrall of a third in this disturbing tale by the Printz Honor–winning author of Punkzilla (2009).
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Feb. 1, 2012
"Heartbreakingly honest. (Fiction. 14 & up)"
Eighteen-year-old Polly recounts her road trip with Odd, a fellow survivor of the disease that killed five others from their small town, in D'Elegance, his Gramma's old baby-blue Cadillac.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Feb. 2, 2012
"A moving, honest and hopeful story. (Fiction. 14 & up)"
Fifteen-year-old Laurel attempts to understand and move past a year of her life when addiction to methamphetamine nearly cost her family and her life.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Feb. 7, 2012
"Rich with detail and emotion, a sophisticated read for teens and adults alike. (Fiction. 14 & up)"
Set in rural Montana in the early 1990s, this lesbian coming-of-age story runs the gamut from heart-rending to triumphant, epic to mundane.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Feb. 16, 2012
"Hauntingly beautiful. (Fiction. 14 & up)"
Colby and Bev plan to forgo college in favor of a brief tour with Bev's band, The Disenchantments, followed by a year traveling through Europe. But only hours into the trip, Bev makes an announcement that changes everything.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Feb. 21, 2012
"Readers who like the quick pace of Gail Giles' mysteries and the dark, finely crafted suspense of Kevin Brooks will find the perfect combination here. (Thriller. 12 & up)"
CHILDREN'S
Released: Feb. 21, 2012
"Meticulous pacing and finely nuanced characters underpin the author's gift for affecting prose that illuminates the struggles within relationships. (Fiction. 14 & up)"
A boring summer stretches ahead of Ari, who at 15 feels hemmed in by a life filled with rules and family secrets.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Feb. 28, 2012
"Readers will definitely want to have, know or be Maggie's brothers--but she herself proves to be no slouch when it comes to coping with change and taking on challenges. (Graphic fantasy. 11-13)"
Nervous, home-schooled by her absent and much-missed mom and saddled with three adored older brothers--and a ghost--Maggie starts high school.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: March 1, 2012
"A thorough and absorbing recreation of the ill-fated voyage. (Nonfiction. 8-16)"
In what's sure to be a definitive work commemorating the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS
Titanic, Hopkinson offers a well-researched and fascinating account of the disaster.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: March 1, 2012
"While in the end there are some plotlines left untied in slice-of-life fashion, the bittersweet resolution of the main conflict is deeply satisfying. (Fiction. 13 & up)"
A novel with alternating narrators takes an unusually interesting twist due to one of the character's habitual tendency toward self-delusion.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: March 1, 2012
"Though this novel begs inevitable thematic comparisons to John Green's The Fault in Our Stars (2012), it stands on its own in inventiveness, humor and heart. (Fiction. 14 & up)"
A frequently hysterical confessional from a teen narrator who won't be able to convince readers he's as unlikable as he wants them to believe.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: March 5, 2012
"A story that, like Finley, expresses a lot in relatively few words. (Fiction. 12 & up) "
In a town partially controlled by the Irish mob, a quiet friendship develops between two basketball players.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: March 6, 2012
"From the grief-stricken shell of her former self to a nascent refugee and finally to a full-fledged resistance fighter, Lena's strength and the complexity of her internal struggles will keep readers up at night. (Dystopian romance. 14 & up)"
It's been six months since readers first met 17-year-old Lena Haloway, desperately in love in a world that considers such feelings an infection to be permanently and irrevocably "cured."
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