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Today's guest blogger is Carrie Jones, author of the fantasy novel,

J. Adams Oaks's gritty debut novel, WHY I FIGHT, straddles the line between YA and adult fiction, as he tells the story of a 12 year old on the run from his dark, violent, and unstable past.

We have nine exciting and highly anticipated new releases to share with you this week, including Kristina Springer's debut THE ESPRESSOLOGIST, about a match-making barista; Alexander Gordon Smith's jailbreak novel, LOCKDOWN; SPLENDOR, the final chapter in the Luxe series by Anna Godbersen; Lisi Harrison's Clique prequel, CHARMED AND DANGEROUS; and TEMPTED, the latest installment the mother-daught

Erik Raschke's debut novel, THE BOOK OF SAMUEL, follows a teenage boy whose world gets turned upside down the day his father leaves his family. From that moment on, poor Samuel seems to have one trying situation after another thrown in his direction, making him seem more like a tragic biblical figure than an ordinary kid growing up in the '80s, just trying to make sense of the complex world around him.

Erik Raschke is the author of numerous short stories, as well as the debut novel, THE BOOK OF SAMUEL --- a coming-of-age tale about a boy's struggles with family, love, faith, and changing surroundings.

Today's very special guest blogger is Linda W. Braun, the president of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). Below, she shares details about this year's Teen Read Week program, discusses the benefits of reading for pleasure, and even recommends some exciting titles that'll allow us to "read beyond reality."

The 2009 Kirkus Reviews Book Video Awards challenges student filmmakers to produce video trailers for three upcoming YA novels published by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books: FALLEN by Lauren Kate, VERY LeFREAK by Rachel Cohn, and THE MAZE RUNNER by James Dashner. The finalists for the 4th annual Teen Book Video Awards are Benjamin Bliss (FALLEN), Rosie Lambert (VERY LeFREAK), and Brighton Linge (THE MAZE RUNNER).

In today's guest blog, Amber Kizer --- author of ONE BUTT CHEEK AT A TIME and GERT GARIBALDI'S RANTS AND RAVES --- shares a family anecdote passed down from her grandparents that inspired elements of her latest novel, MERIDIAN.

As we shared with you in our New Releases Roundup Blog a few weeks back, Kristin Cashore recently published FIRE, the much-anticipated prequel to her debut novel, GRACELING. Though set in the same fantasy world as Cashore's previous book, FIRE takes place 30 years earlier, and introduces us to a 17-year-old heroine who will just about make you forget everything you thought you knew about "monsters."

In case you didn't already know, October 18-24th is Teen Read Week! And what would be a more perfect way to kick off the festivities than with our latest roundup of new releases, which offers eight rich and thought-provoking titles that tackle some pretty heavy topics, like culture clashes in Katherine Patterson's THE DAY OF THE PELICAN; the difficulties of loss in Valerie O.