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Cool New Books for September
September’s roundup of Cool New Books includes HERO, a moving and funny novel from Perry Moore (the executive producer of the Chronicles of Narnia films) about a high school basketball star who keeps two major secrets from his father; POWERS, the third book in Ursula K. Le Guin’s Annals of the Western Shore series; DEADLINE by Chris Crutcher, the powerful and emotional story of a teenager who learns he has just one year to live and decides to tell no one; Shannon Hale’s BOOK OF A THOUSAND DAYS, which is based on a little-known classic fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm; and BULLYVILLE by Francine Prose, a gripping work of fiction about grief, frustration and healing following 9/11.
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Stand-Alone Titles
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THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN
Sherman Alexie
Little, Brown for Young Readers
ISBN-10: 0316013684
ISBN-13: 9780316013680
Ages 12-up
240 pages
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In his first book for young adults, bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, an aspiring cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the reservation to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot. |
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BOOK OF A THOUSAND DAYS
Shannon Hale
Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books
ISBN-10: 1599900513
ISBN-13: 9781599900513
Ages 12-up
320 pages
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When Dashti, a maid, and Lady Saren, her mistress, are shut in a tower for seven years for Saren’s refusal to marry a man she despises, the two prepare for a very long and dark imprisonment. As food runs low and the days go from broiling hot to freezing cold, it is all Dashti can do to keep them fed and comfortable. But the arrival outside the tower of Saren’s two suitors --- one welcome, and the other decidedly less so --- brings both hope and great danger, and Dashti must make the desperate choices of a girl whose life is worth more than she knows. |
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BOUNCE
Natasha Friend
Scholastic Press
ISBN-10: 0439853508
ISBN-13: 9780439853507
Ages 12-up
192 pages
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Evyn has had enough problems in her life, starting with her mother's death when she was young. But now her father has thrown a whole new batch her way. Not only is he marrying a woman Evyn hardly knows, but he's uprooting Evyn and her brother to go live with this woman...and her children. It's a lot of adjustment to make at once. And, quite frankly, Evyn has no desire to adjust. She wants her old life, her old friends and her old house. She knows she's supposed to bounce along with the changes...but what happens if she doesn't? |
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BULLYVILLE
Francine Prose
HarperTeen
ISBN-10: 0060574976
ISBN-13: 9780060574970
Ages 12-up
272 pages
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Bestselling author Francine Prose delivers a highly charged and provocative novel about grief, frustration and healing following 9/11. When eighth grader Bart Rangely is granted a "mercy" scholarship to an elite private school after his father is killed in the North Tower, doors should have opened. Instead, he is terrorized and bullied by his own mentor. So begins the worst year of his life. |
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DEADLINE
Chris Crutcher
Greenwillow Books
ISBN-10: 0060850892
ISBN-13: 9780060850890
Ages 14-up
320 pages
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Ben Wolf had big things planned for his senior year. But now all he has is some very bad news and only one year left to make his mark on the world. First, Ben makes sure that no one else knows what is going on. Next, he decides to become the best 127-pound football player Trout High has ever seen; to give his close-minded civics teacher a daily migraine; and to help the local drunk clean up his act. And then there's the amazingly perfect and fascinating Dallas Suzuki. However, living with a secret isn't easy, and Ben's resolve begins to crumble…especially when he realizes that he isn't the only person in Trout with secrets. |
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DRAGONHAVEN
Robin McKinley
G. P. Putnam’s Sons
ISBN-10: 0399246754
ISBN-13: 9780399246753
Ages 12-up
272 pages
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Jake Mendoza lives at the Makepeace Institute of Integrated Dragon Studies in Smokehill National Park. Smokehill is home to about 200 of the few remaining draco australiensis, which is extinct in the wild. On his first overnight solo trek, Jake finds a dragon dying next to the human she killed. Jake realizes this news could destroy Smokehill --- even though the dead man is clearly a poacher who had attacked the dragon first, that fact will be lost in the outcry against dragons. But then Jake is struck by something more urgent --- he sees that the dragon has just given birth, and one of the babies is still alive. What he decides to do will determine not only their futures, but the future of Smokehill itself. |
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FIRST SHOT
Walter Sorrells
Dutton Children’s Books
ISBN-10: 0525478019
ISBN-13: 9780525478010
Ages 12-up
192 pages
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Two years ago, David Crandall’s mother was murdered --- and with little evidence, no witnesses and no motive, the crime was left unsolved. Now a high school senior, David is unable to shake the sense that someone knows more than they’re letting on. His suspicion deepens as he uncovers clues to a scandalous family secret involving embezzlement. But when he spies his father burying an old rifle in a deserted lot during a rainstorm, suspicion turns to fear. Is his own father the killer? |
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HEAVEN LOOKS A LOT LIKE THE MALL
Wendy Mass
Little, Brown for Young Readers
ISBN-10: 0316058513
ISBN-13: 9780316058513
Ages 12-up
256 pages
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When 16-year-old Tessa suffers a shocking accident in gym class, she finds herself in heaven (or what she thinks is heaven), which happens to bear a striking resemblance to her hometown mall. In the tradition of It's a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol, Tessa starts reliving her life up until that moment. She sees some things she'd rather forget, learns some things about herself she'd rather not know, and ultimately must find the answer to one burning question --- if only she knew what the question was. |
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HERO
Perry Moore
Hyperion Books for Children
ISBN-10: 1423101952
ISBN-13: 9781423101956
Ages 13-up
432 pages
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Thom Creed is used to being on his own. Even as a high school basketball star, he has to keep his distance because of his father. Hal Creed had once been one of the greatest and most beloved superheroes of The League --- until the Wilson Towers incident. After that Thom's mother disappeared and his proud father became an outcast. The last thing in the world Thom would ever want is to disappoint his father. So Thom keeps two secrets from him: that he is gay, and that he has the power to heal people. |
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RIGHT BEHIND YOU
Gail Giles
Little, Brown for Young Readers
ISBN-10: 0316166367
ISBN-13: 9780316166362
Ages 15-up
304 pages
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When he was nine, Kip set another child on fire. Now, after years in a juvenile ward, he is ready for a fresh start. But the ghosts of his past soon demand justice, and he must reveal his painful secret. How can Kip tell anyone that he really is --- or was --- a murderer? |
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THE SPELL BOOK OF LISTEN TAYLOR
Jaclyn Moriarty
Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic
ISBN-10: 0439846781
ISBN-13: 9780439846783
Ages 12-up
496 pages
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The Zing family lives in a world of misguided spell books, singular poetry and state-of-the-art surveillance equipment. They use these things to protect the Zing Family Secret --- one so huge it draws the family to the garden shed for meetings every Friday night. Into their world comes socially isolated middle grader Listen Taylor, whose father is dating a Zing. Enter Cath Murphy, a young teacher at the elementary school that Cassie Zing attends, suffering from a broken heart. How will the worlds of these two young woman connect? Only the reader can know! |
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UPRISING
Margaret Peterson Haddix
Simon & Schuster
ISBN-10: 1416911715
ISBN-13: 9781416911715
Ages 12-up
352 pages
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Bella, who has just arrived in New York from Italy, gets a job at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. There, along with hundreds of other immigrants, she works long hours at a grueling job under terrible conditions. Yetta, a co-worker from Russia, has been crusading for a union, and when factory conditions worsen, she helps workers rise up in a strike. Wealthy Jane learns of the plight of the workers and becomes involved with their cause. Bella and Yetta are at work --- and Jane is visiting the factory --- on March 25, 1911, when a spark ignites some cloth and the building is engulfed in fire, leading to one of the worst workplace disasters ever. |
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Series Books
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A-List
BEAUTIFUL STRANGER: A-List #9
Zoey Dean
Little, Brown for Young Readers
ISBN-10: 0316113522
ISBN-13: 9780316113526
Ages 15-up
304 pages
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Anna decides to get away from her drama-filled LA life for a little while and heads to the Big Apple with her close friend Sam. Between trips to the Met and shopping at Bendel's, the girls are living the A-List life on Anna's home turf. But their trip isn't exactly a vacation. Sam is here to spy on Eduardo and decode his recent strange behavior. Will what she discovers send her hopping on the next private jet back to Beverly Hills? And who is the beautiful stranger who appears on Anna's Upper East Side doorstep? |
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Annals of the Western Shore
POWERS
Ursula K. Le Guin
Harcourt Children’s Books
ISBN-10: 0152057706
ISBN-13: 9780152057701
Ages 12-up
512 pages
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Young Gav can remember the page of a book after seeing it once, and, inexplicably, he sometimes “remembers” things that are going to happen in the future. As a loyal slave, he must keep these powers secret, but when a terrible tragedy occurs, Gav, blinded by grief, flees the only world he has ever known. And in what becomes a treacherous journey for freedom, Gav’s greatest test of all is facing his powers so that he can come to understand himself and finally find a true home. |
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The Kiesha’ra
WYVERNHAIL: The Kiesha’ra, Volume Five
Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Delacorte Press
ISBN-10: 0385734360
ISBN-13: 9780385734363
Ages 12-up
192 pages
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With a falcon mother and a deceased cobra father, Hai has always been an outsider. Her broken falcon wings are a painful reminder of the life she once led on the island of Ahnmik. And here in Wyvern's Court, the avian and serpiente royal family keep their distance, refusing to acknowledge her cobra bloodline. They know that Hai's magic is so volatile, she can barely control it, and images of the past and future threaten to overwhelm her. When Hai's cousin, Oliza Shardae Cobriana, abdicates the throne of Wyvern's Court, Hai has visions only of destruction. Now Hai will do anything to protect her new home --- even if it means betraying the very people who need her most. |
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--- Compiled and Written by Tom Donadio
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