Stand-Alone Titles

7 DAYS AT THE HOT CORNER
Terry Trueman
HarperTeen
ISBN-10: 0060574941
ISBN-13: 9780060574949
Ages 12-up
160 pages

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This should be the best year of Scott's life: It's his last season of varsity baseball, his team is about to go to the city championship, and a professional career is on the line. Instead, everything he always counted on comes crashing down at the same time, and his whole life is like one blazing hot corner --- full of deadly line drives and crazy "bad hops." Scott can't believe the awful stuff coming his way, but it's time to find out whether he has what it takes to play the hot corner --- on the baseball diamond and off it.

DEAD HIGH YEARBOOK
edited by Ivan Velez, Jr.
Dutton Children's Books
ISBN-10: 0525477837
ISBN-13: 9780525477839
Ages 12-up
80 pages

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This full-color graphic novel tells eight intertwined stories of teens from one high school. The characters represent a typical assortment of students: popular, unpopular, rich, poor, fat and skinny, in love and not. But while they might seem like regular kids at first, they don't stay that way. Because they all end up dead --- or more specifically undead --- in this creepy, ironic graphic novel written and illustrated by some of the top comic-book talent in the United States.

HARLEM SUMMER
Walter Dean Myers
Scholastic Press
ISBN-10: 043936843X
ISBN-13: 9780439368438
Ages 12-up
176 pages

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In the summer of 1925, Mark Purvis is a 16-year-old who would like to jam with his jazz band (they need the practice), but his parents urge him to get a job. As an assistant at The Crisis, a magazine for the "new Negro," Mark rubs shoulders with the likes of Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen. When piano player Fats Waller entices him and his friends to make some fast money, Mark finds himself crossing the gangster Dutch Schultz.

LEMONADE MOUTH
Mark Peter Hughes
Delacorte Press
ISBN-10: 0385733925
ISBN-13: 9780385733922
Ages 12-up
352 pages

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Until now, nobody has known the inside story of how the legendary band Lemonade Mouth came to be. How did five outcasts in Opoquonsett High School's freshman class find each other and go on to change both rock-and-roll and high school as we know it? Wen, Stella, Charlie, Olivia and Mo take readers back to that fateful detention where a dentist's jingle, a teacher's coughing fit and a beat-up ukulele helped give birth to Rhode Island's most influential band.

THE NATURE OF JADE
Deb Caletti
Simon & Schuster
ISBN-10: 1416910050
ISBN-13: 9781416910053
Ages 12-up
304 pages

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Since being diagnosed with panic disorder, 17-year-old Jade DeLuna is trying her best to stay calm. Visiting the elephants at the nearby zoo seems to help. That's why she keeps the live zoo webcam on in her room, and that's where she first sees Sebastian, the boy in the red jacket. Sebastian's high school sweetheart died in childbirth, leaving Sebastian to raise their son by himself. Jade knows that getting involved with him would be beyond complicated, but she hasn't felt this safe in a long time. Until she learns Sebastian's secret, which will force Jade to decide between what is right and what feels right.

TWISTED
Laurie Halse Anderson
Viking Children's Books
ISBN-10: 0670061018
ISBN-13: 9780670061013
Ages 12-up
256 pages

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High school senior Tyler Miller used to be the kind of guy who faded into the background --- an average student with so-so looks and a typical dysfunctional family. But since getting in trouble for spray painting graffiti on the school and spending the summer doing outdoor work to pay for it, he stands out so much more than he ever did before this unfortunate incident. His new physique attracts the attention of queen bee Bethany Milbury, who just so happens to be his father's boss's daughter, the sister of his biggest enemy --- and Tyler's secret crush. And this sets off a string of events and changes that have Tyler questioning his place in the school, in his family and in the world.

THE WHOLE SKY FULL OF STARS
Rene Saldana, Jr.
Wendy Lamb Books/Random House
ISBN-10: 0385730535
ISBN-13: 9780385730532
Ages 12-16
144 pages

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Barry can punch anyone hard enough to make them see a whole sky full of stars, though that's not really his style. Barry and Alby have been friends since the first grade, and they've always protected one another. When Barry's father dies, times are tough and the only thing Barry has of value is his dad's 1964 Ford Galaxie. Meanwhile, Alby has gotten himself into big trouble with a card shark. So he devises a plan to make money --- as a way of helping both himself and Barry. The problem is, Barry could get hurt and it just might cost Alby their friendship.

THE YEAR OF MY MIRACULOUS REAPPEARANCE
Catherine Ryan Hyde
Alfred A. Knopf
ISBN-10: 0375832572
ISBN-13: 9780375832574
Ages 12-up
240 pages

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While it's unfortunate that her mother seems to be drunk all the time, Cynnie believes she has her life under control. Not only does she take care of herself, she also tends to the needs of her little brother, Bill. Cynnie is the real mother in the house, and Bill loves her more than anyone. She's confident that she'll never, ever sink as low as her mother. But when things start to fall apart, Cynnie needs a way to dull the pain.

Nonfiction Books

DEAR AUTHOR: LETTERS OF HOPE: Top Young Adult Authors Respond to Kids' Toughest Issues
edited by Joan F. Kaywell
Philomel Books
ISBN-10: 0399237054
ISBN-13: 9780399237058
Ages 12-up
272 pages

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There are so many books out there whose stories young people can relate to and whose creators they consider to be mentors, confidants and friends. Often there is an unspoken, unseen bond between an author and his or her readers. DEAR AUTHOR brings this bond to light for the whole world to see and to celebrate. Laurie Halse Anderson, Chris Crutcher, Jerry Spinelli, Christopher Paul Curtis, and many other bestselling YA authors respond to this intimate mix of heartbreaking and heartwarming letters, giving a glimpse into the hearts and souls of children today and the writers who have changed their lives.

GRIEF GIRL: My True Story
Erin Vincent
Delacorte Press
ISBN-10: 0385733534
ISBN-13: 9780385733533
Ages 14-up
320 pages

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Imagine that you're going through one of the most difficult parts of your life --- being a teenager --- when your parents are killed in a horrific car crash. Now you, your 17-year-old sister and your three-year-old brother are all on your own.

Imagine what that would be like. Then read this book and find out.

Series Books

Angels on Sunset Boulevard

Angels on Sunset Boulevard
Melissa de la Cruz
Simon & Schuster
ISBN-10: 1416927670
ISBN-13: 9781416927679
Ages 14-up
240 pages

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Johnny Silver is the world's soon-to-be biggest rock star, but on the eve of his debut concert in Los Angeles, he mysteriously vanishes. His friend Taj tries to discover the truth about his disappearance, which leads her to TAP.com and its shadowy founder, Sutton Werner, who throws the wildest parties in Bel-Air. One night Taj meets Nick, a Westside preppie whose younger sister never came home from attending one of TAP's blow-out bashes. Slowly the two of them are drawn to TAP and to each other. But Taj just might know more than she's letting on….

The Clique

IT'S NOT EASY BEING MEAN: The Clique #7
Lisi Harrison
Little, Brown for Young Readers
ISBN-10: 0316115053
ISBN-13: 9780316115056
Ages 12-up
224 pages

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Massie Block is determined to find the key that unlocks an amazing legendary secret room at Octavian Country Day. Alpha eighth grader Skye Hamilton and her clique have stashed the key in the bedroom of a mystery Briarwood boy --- but which one?

Kristen Gregory has always been a star on the soccer field, but her style gets significantly cramped when her friends are forced to join the team, too.

Dylan Marvil has heard that depression makes people lose weight. She's hoping for some sad news soon because she's inhaling donut holes at an alarming rate.

Claire Lyons isn't enjoying fame as much as she thought she would, as her days are filled with constant meetings with lawyers and movie execs, and her agent forces her to do some very bad things to make her more "edgy."

Sequel to THE DREAMWALKER'S CHILD

THE WEB OF FIRE
Steve Voake
Bloomsbury USA Children's Books
ISBN-10: 1582347379
ISBN-13: 9781582347370
Ages 12-up
336 pages

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After he thwarted the Vermian ruler Odoursin's plans to wipe out humans on earth, Sam Palmer thought he could relax. But four years later, Sam and Skipper are called upon once again to help their friends in Aurobon fight Odoursin and what might be the fiercest insect army imaginable, including robber flies so vicious they all but annihilate the Rebellion's squadron of fighter wasps. Their mission becomes heart-stoppingly urgent when they discover that Odoursin is plotting to destroy humankind, this time by using the President of the United States as a pawn.