SMALL STEPS
Louis Sachar
Delacorte Press
ISBN: 0385733143
Ages 10-up
272 pages

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

In Louis Sachar's highly anticipated follow-up to HOLES, we find Theodore "Armpit" Johnson at home in Austin, Texas. He is trying to turn his life around, two years after being released from Camp Green Lake. The only person who believes in him is Ginny, his 10-year-old disabled neighbor; together, they are learning to take small steps. And he seems to be on the right path, until X-Ray, an acquaintance from Camp Green Lake, comes up with a get-rich-quick scheme. This leads to a chance encounter with teen pop sensation Kaira DeLeon, and suddenly his life spins out of control. Only one thing is for certain --- Armpit will never be the same again.

ACCIDENTAL LOVE
Gary Soto
Harcourt Children's Books
ISBN: 0192054979
Ages 12-up
192 pages

• Read a Review
• Buy from Amazon.com

The title of Gary Soto's latest novel for young readers is explained when Marisa Rodriguez picks up the wrong cell phone. When she goes to return it, she feels something she has never felt before. Could it possibly be love?

Marisa and Rene aren't exactly a match made in heaven. For one thing, Marisa has a hot temper and is accustomed to solving problems with her fists. Plus, she has a bit of a weight problem and is not ashamed of it. Skinny Rene, however, is what many would consider a geek: he gangles like a sackful of elbows, has a honking laugh, and wears a calculator on his belt. So why can't Marisa stay away from him?

AVALON HIGH
Meg Cabot
HarperCollins
ISBN: 0060755865
Ages 12-up
272 pages

• Read a Review
• Buy from Amazon.com

Meg Cabot's new stand-alone novel takes place in Avalon High, which seems like a typical high school attended by typical students. There's Lance, the jock; Jennifer, the cheerleader; and Will, senior class president, quarterback and all-around good guy.

But not everybody at Avalon High is who they appear to be --- not even new student Ellie, as she herself is about to discover. What part does she play in the drama that is unfolding? What if the bizarre chain of events and coincidences she has pieced together means --- as with the court of King Arthur --- that tragedy is fast approaching Avalon High? Worst of all, what if there's nothing she can do about it?

BLACKTHORN WINTER
Kathryn Reiss
Harcourt Children's Books
ISBN: 0152054790
Ages 12-up
288 pages

• Read a Review
• Buy from Amazon.com

During her parents' trial separation, fifteen-year-old Juliana is taken halfway around the world by her mother to the tiny village of Blackthorn, England. Juliana misses her father terribly and doesn't understand why her mother needs to travel so far to resurrect her artistic self, which she claims to have lost in the marriage.

Soon after they arrive in Blackthorn, the artists' colony is set on its heels by the murder of one of its own. Juliana feels compelled to solve the crime, but she is shocked and frightened when it seems that the clues are hitting a little too close to home.

COPPER SUN
Sharon M. Draper
Atheneum
ISBN: 0689821816
Ages 14-up
320 pages

• Buy from Amazon.com

When slave traders invade Amari's village, her whole world is destroyed in minutes. Her family is massacred, her village is burned to the ground, and Amari is dragged to a slave ship and sent to the Carolinas. She is sold to Mr. Derby, who gives her to his son Clay as his "birthday present."  Now, survival and escape are all she dreams about. So when an opportunity presents itself, Amari and her friend Polly decide to work together to obtain their freedom.

CRUNCH TIME
Mariah Fredericks
Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books
ISBN: 068986938X
Ages 12-up
336 pages

• Read a Review
• Buy from Amazon.com

Max, Daisy, Leo and Jane become unlikely friends at their New York private school when they tentatively bond after blowing off a Princeton Review class in favor of forming their own small study group. But they are thrown into a flurry of speculation when it comes to light that a student has paid another to take the SATs in his or her place. Was it one of them?

FREAKS: ALIVE ON THE INSIDE!
Annette Curtis Klause
Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 068987037X
Ages 14-up
336 pages

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

Abel Dandy feels like an outsider in Faeryland, where his parents perform with other "human oddities." His extended family includes dwarves, fat ladies and Siamese twins, and his first kiss was with Phoebe the Dog-Faced Girl. Determined to seek adventure and find a girl without a beard to kiss, he runs away from home.

But Abel finds a harsh world outside of Faeryland. After misadventure and mishap, he stumbles upon a shabby traveling freak show run by the sinister Dr. Mink --- and the secrets it holds will break Abel's heart.

THE FRUIT BOWL PROJECT
Sarah Durkee
Delacorte Press
ISBN: 0385732899
Ages 10-13
160 pages

• Buy from Amazon.com

The kids in 8th Grade Writer's Workshop are amazed when their teacher announces that she has invited rock superstar Nick Thompson to their class to talk about writing. Known for his music as well as his lyrics, Nick tells the students his secret: A song is just a bowl of fruit --- one must figure out how to paint it. Words are to a writer what paint is to a painter. How many ways can one arrange the fruit? An infinite number. There's style, voice, genre, and much more to consider. Nick gives the kids two weeks to complete an assignment --- each student must tell an interesting story, reflecting his or her style --- using seven seemingly ordinary elements.

ITHAKA
Adèle Geras
Harcourt Children's Books
ISBN: 0152056033
Ages 14-up
368 pages

• Read a Review
• Buy from Amazon.com

Many years have passed since the end of the Trojan War, and Penelope is still waiting for her husband, Odysseus, to return home. Many suitors from the surrounding islands are vying to win Penelope's hand in marriage, thereby gaining control of the land. When a naked, half-drowned man washes up on the beach, everything changes…

MARLY'S GHOST
David Levithan
Dial Books
ISBN: 0803730632
Ages 12-up
176 pages

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

Ben is devastated when his high school sweetheart, Marly, passes away. Convinced he'll never recover from her death, Ben descends into a deep depression, turning into an angry young man who refuses to have fun or fall in love again.

When Marly and several other ghosts come back to haunt him on Valentine's Day, Ben takes a painful journey through Valentine's Days past, present and future, and is forced to acknowledge that his current state of agony is not only distancing him from his friends but dishonoring the memory of Marly.

PRETTY LITTLE DEVILS
Nancy Holder
Razorbill/Penguin Young Readers Group
ISBN: 1595140301
Ages 12-up
256 pages

• Read a Review
• Buy from Amazon.com

Hazel Stone wants nothing more than to be a part of the hottest clique in school, the Pretty Little Devils. Although she has the style and is cool enough, Hazel resigns herself to life as a nobody.

But then Sylvia, queen bee of the PLDs, invites Hazel to one of the group's famous soirees (held at the site of their babysitting jobs). Suddenly Hazel is in with the in-crowd, and she couldn't be more thrilled. Popularity comes with a price, however. Especially when one of Hazel's classmates becomes jealous of her newfound status --- deadly jealous.

Rx
Tracy Lynn
Simon Pulse
ISBN: 1416911553
Ages 14-up
272 pages

• Read a Review
• Buy from Amazon.com

Thyme Gilcrest is doing everything she can to succeed in her overachieving high school. Convinced that she has ADHD, she borrows some Ritalin from a friend in order to stay on top. One prescription is not enough, though. And soon Thyme is trading with classmates to get the meds she thinks she needs, and she enjoys the feeling of power that comes with the trade. Her friends come to her for advice, for "prescriptions." And Thyme can't help but oblige them all.

Alias

VIGILANCE
Paul Ruditis
Simon Spotlight Entertainment
ISBN: 1416902481
Ages 12-up
352 pages

• Buy from Amazon.com

Sydney's conscience struggles with her job, which too often asks her to work with criminals she'd much rather put away. Someone else though is less conflicted and is assassinating APO's shadier contacts. Only the calling card of a black star with the number 13 in its center hints at the culprit.

When it becomes clear that a highly trained --- and lethal --- vigilante organization is interfering with APO's missions, Sydney must put aside her empathy and help shut down the mysterious "13 Stars." But after Sydney herself is mistaken for a freelance terror agent, she worries that the mistake is not so far from the truth. And now that she's marked, both her cover and her welfare are in immediate jeopardy.