Wednesday, November 25, 2015

The Truth About Twinkie Pie

Yeh, Kat. The Truth About Twinkie Pie. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2015.

Take two sisters making it on their own: brainy twelve-year-old GiGi (short for Galileo Galilei, a name she never says out loud) and junior-high-dropout-turned-hairstylist DiDi (short for Delta Dawn). Add a million dollars in prize money from a national cooking contest and a move from the trailer parks of South Carolina to the Gold Coast of New York. Mix in a fancy new school, new friends and enemies, a first crush, and a generous sprinkling of family secrets.

Make Twinkie Pie with Kat Yeh!




The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B

Toten, Teresa. The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B. Delacorte Press, 2015.

When Adam meets Robyn at a support group for kids coping with obsessive-compulsive disorder, he is drawn to her almost before he can take a breath. He's determined to protect and defend her--to play Batman to her Robyn--whatever the cost. But when you're fourteen and the everyday problems of dealing with divorced parents and step-siblings are supplemented by the challenges of OCD, it's hard to imagine yourself falling in love. How can you have a "normal" relationship when your life is so fraught with problems? And that's not even to mention the small matter of those threatening letters Adam's mother has started to receive . . .

Listen to Chapter 1


Rebel Mechanics: All Is Fair in Love and Revolution


Swendson, Shanna. Rebel Mechanics: All is Fair in Love and Revolution. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015.

What if British magic kept the American Revolution from ever occurring?

It’s 1888, and British magisters have always ruled the colonies of the new world, but now an underground society of mechanics, scientists, and engineers are developing non-magical sources of power via steam engines and electric dynamos that they hope will help them gain freedom from British rule.

When seventeen-year-old Verity Newton arrives in New York and lands a job as a governess for a leading magister family, she quickly learns that the family has some big secrets. Why does it seem like the young guardian uncle is sympathetic to the rebel cause? And why does he come home battered and bloody so often? As Verity falls for a charming young rebel inventor and agrees to become a spy, she also becomes more and more enmeshed in the magister family’s life. She soon realizes she’s uniquely positioned to advance the cause—but to do so, she’ll have to reveal her own dangerous secret.

Read An Excerpt

http://www.shannaswendson.com/rebelmechanicsex.html



I Become Shadow



Shine, Joe. I Become Shadow. Soho Teen, 2014

When Ren Sharpe was fourteen, she was kidnapped by a shadowy organization called FATE and trained to be a human weapon.
Now, four years later, she receives her assignment: protect Gareth Young at all costs. Currently a student at Texas A&M, Gareth will someday change the world. FATE calls people like Gareth “FIPs”—future important people—and they’re everywhere, each with a FATE-trained shadow.
But when disaster strikes, Ren will have to turn on her maker. Together with Junie, a fellow abductee and the one person she trusts, Ren takes Gareth on the run.
Because whatever else happens, failure is not an option.


Con Academy


Schreiber, Joe. Con Academy. Harcourt Brace and Company, 2015.

Will, a teen con artist, bluffs his way into one of the country’s most exclusive private schools. But classmate Andrea is a grifter too, and she gives him a run for his (well, other people’s) money.

Check Out Joe's Site!


The Boy in the Black Suit


Reynolds, Jason. The Boy in the Black Suit. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2015.

Matt wears a black suit every day. No, not because his mom died—although she did, and it sucks. But he wears the suit for his gig at the local funeral home, which pays way better than the Cluck Bucket, and he needs the income since his dad can’t handle the bills (or anything, really) on his own. So while Dad’s snagging bottles of whiskey, Matt’s snagging fifteen bucks an hour. Not bad. But everything else? Not good. Then Matt meets Lovey. Crazy name, and she’s been through more crazy stuff than he can imagine. Yet Lovey never cries. She’s tough. Really tough. Tough in the way Matt wishes he could be. Which is maybe why he’s drawn to her, and definitely why he can’t seem to shake her. Because there’s nothing more hopeful than finding a person who understands your loneliness—and who can maybe even help take it away. 

Learn More About Jason Reynolds

I Am Princess X


Priest, Cherie. I Am Princess X. Arthur A. Levine Books, 2015.

ONCE UPON A TIME…two best friends created a princess together. Libby drew the pictures, May wrote the tales, and their heroine, Princess X, slayed all the dragons and scaled all the mountains their imaginations could conjure.

ONCE UPON A FEW YEARS LATER…Libby was in the car with her mom, driving across the Ballard Bridge on a rainy night. When the car went over the side, Libby passed away, and Princess X died with her.

ONCE UPON A NOW…May is sixteen and lonely, wandering the streets of Seattle, when she sees a sticker slapped in a corner window.

PRINCESS X?
When May looks around, she sees the Princess everywhere: Stickers. Patches. Graffiti. There’s an entire underground culture, focused around a webcomic at IAmPrincessX.com. The more May explores the webcomic, the more she sees disturbing similarities between Libby’s story and Princess X online. And that means that only one person could have started this phenomenon—her best friend, Libby, who lives.

Book Trailer




We Are All Made of Molecules


Nielsen, Susin. We Are All Made of Molecules. Wendy Lamb Books, 2015.

Thirteen-year-old Stewart is academically brilliant, but socially clueless.
Fourteen-year-old Ashley is the undisputed “It” girl in her grade, but her marks stink.
Their worlds are about to collide when Stewart and his dad move in with Ashley and her mom. “The Brady Bunch” it isn’t. Stewart is trying to be 89.9% happy about it, but Ashley is 110% horrified. She already has to hide the real reason her dad moved out; “Spewart” could further threaten her position at the top of the social ladder.
They are complete opposites. And yet, no matter their differences, they share one thing in common: They – like the rest of us – are all made of molecules.

Check Out the Foreign Covers of We Are Made of Molecules

http://susinnielsen.com/extras/foreign-book-covers/

A Night Divided


Nielsen, Jennifer A. A Night Divided. Scholastic Press, 2015.

With the rise of the Berlin Wall, twelve-year-old Gerta finds her family divided overnight. She, her mother, and her brother Fritz live on the eastern side, controlled by the Soviets. Her father and middle brother, who had gone west in search of work, cannot return home. Gerta knows it is dangerous to watch the wall, to think forbidden thoughts of freedom, yet she can’t help herself. She sees the East German soldiers with their guns trained on their own citizens; she, her family, her neighbors and friends are prisoners in their own city.

But one day, while on her way to school, Gerta spots her father on a viewing platform on the western side, pantomiming a peculiar dance. Then, when she receives a mysterious drawing, Gerta puts two and two together and concludes that her father wants Gerta and Fritz to tunnel beneath the wall, out of East Berlin. However, if they are caught, the consequences will be deadly. No one can be trusted. Will Gerta and her family find their way to freedom?

Nielsen's Hints for Writers

http://www.jennielsen.com/for-writers




Ink and Ashes


Maetani, Valynne E. Ink and Ashes. Tu Books, 2015.

Claire's parents are keeping secrets that could kill her. 

Sixteen-year-old Claire Takata is a spirited, inquisitive amateur locksmith and sleuth. Claire and her brothers have always believed their father died of a heart attack 10 years ago and that their mother met their stepdad after he died. But when Claire finds an old letter in her father's journal and pictures locked away in her stepdad's desk that reveal otherwise, she is determined to find out the truth. Why have her mom and stepdad lied to her? Why does her mom never want to talk about her father? And what really happened to him? Through letters Claire has written to him over the decade since his death, Claire's father has served as her confidant, an outlet for her grief, frustrations, and longings. 

Sweet


Laybourne, Emmy. Sweet. Feiwel & Friends, 2015.

In order to launch a new diet sweetener called Solu, the drug’s manufacturers have decided to host a week-long juggernaut on a luxury cruise ship. 

Tom and Laurel, two teens who for very different reasons decide not to take Solu, watch as the people around them are overjoyed at first - the product works! They’re losing weight! But the drug is highly addictive, and when the people in charge try to ration out the Solu, Tom and Laurel watch in growing horror as the passengers go from miffed, to mutinous, to murderous.

Will Tom and Laurel make it off the ship alive? And how will they warn the main-land about Solu’s deadly side effects?

Read an Excerpt (click "start reading")

http://www.macteenbooks.com/sweet/?utm_source=authors&utm_medium=-na&utm_term=EmmyLaybourneFans&utm_content=-na_signup_Excerpt-Online&utm_campaign=9781250055194

When


Laurie, Victoria. When. Disney-Hyperion, 2015.


Maddie Fynn is a shy high school junior, cursed with an eerie intuitive ability: she sees a series of unique digits hovering above the foreheads of each person she encounters. Her earliest memories are marked by these numbers, but it takes her father's premature death for Maddie and her family to realize that these mysterious digits are actually death dates, and just like birthdays, everyone has one.


Forced by her alcoholic mother to use her ability to make extra money, Maddie identifies the quickly approaching death date of one client's young son, but because her ability only allows her to see the when and not the how, she's unable to offer any more insight. When the boy goes missing on that exact date, law enforcement turns to Maddie.

Soon, Maddie is entangled in a homicide investigation, and more young people disappear and are later found murdered. A suspect for the investigation, a target for the murderer, and attracting the attentions of a mysterious young admirer who may be connected to it all, Maddie's whole existence is about to be turned upside down. Can she right things before it's too late?

Pennyroyal Academy


Larson, M.A. Pennyroyal Academy. Putnam Publishing Group, 2014. 

A girl from the forest arrives in a bustling kingdom with no name and no idea why she is there, only to find herself at the center of a world at war. She enlists at Pennyroyal Academy, where princesses and knights are trained to battle the two great menaces of the day: witches and dragons. There, given the name “Evie,” she must endure a harsh training regimen under the steel glare of her Fairy Drillsergeant, while also navigating an entirely new world of friends and enemies. As Evie learns what it truly means to be a princess, she realizes surprising things about herself and her family, about human compassion and inhuman cruelty. And with the witch forces moving nearer, she discovers that the war between princesses and witches is much more personal than she could ever have imagined.

Book Trailer 


The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Pedersen and the Churchill Club



Hoose, Phillip. The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Pedersen and the Churchill Club. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015.

At the outset of World War II, Denmark did not resist German occupation. Deeply ashamed of his nation's leaders, fifteen-year-old Knud Pedersen resolved with his brother and a handful of schoolmates to take action against the Nazis if the adults would not. Naming their secret club after the fiery British leader, the young patriots in the Churchill Club committed countless acts of sabotage, infuriating the Germans, who eventually had the boys tracked down and arrested. But their efforts were not in vain: the boys' exploits and eventual imprisonment helped spark a full-blown Danish resistance. Interweaving his own narrative with the recollections of Knud himself, here is Phillip Hoose's inspiring story of these young war heroes.

Book Trailer 


Lost in the Sun



Graff, Lisa. Lost in the Sun. Philomel Books, 2015.

Seven months ago, a freak accident on Cedar Lake left one kid dead, and Trent Zimmerman with a brain full of thoughts he can’t shake. Even playing baseball doesn't make him happy anymore. It isn't until Trent gets caught up in the whirlwind that is Fallon Little—the girl with the mysterious scar across her face—that things begin to change. Because sometimes, like when a fly ball gets lost in the sun, you have to find a way to shift your position to get what you want.

Moving Target


Gonzalez, Christina Diaz. Moving Target. Scholastic Press, 2015.

In this exciting and action-packed adventure by an award-winning author, a young girl discovers her secret ancient bloodline. The fate of her family, and the world, may rest in her hands . . .
Cassie Arroyo, an American studying in Rome, has her world ripped apart when someone from the Hastati tries to kill her father, an art history professor at an Italian university. Is she their next target?
Cassie sets out to uncover what is happening, only to learn that she is a member of an ancient bloodline that enables her to use the Spear of Destiny — a legendary object that can alter the future. Now running from a secret organization intent on killing those from her bloodline, Cassie must — with the help of some friends — decipher the clues that will lead her to the Spear.

Ink and Bone


Caine, Rachel. Ink and Bone. New American Library, 2015

Ruthless and supremely powerful, the Great Library is now a presence in every major city, governing the flow of knowledge to the masses. Alchemy allows the Library to deliver the content of the greatest works of history instantly—but the personal ownership of books is expressly forbidden.


Jess Brightwell believes in the value of the Library, but the majority of his knowledge comes from illegal books obtained by his family, who are involved in the thriving black market. Jess has been sent to be his family’s spy, but his loyalties are tested in the final months of his training to enter the Library’s service.


When he inadvertently commits heresy by creating a device that could change the world, Jess discovers that those who control the Great Library believe that knowledge is more valuable than any human life—and soon both heretics and books will burn.…

Book Trailer 



The Battle of Darcy Lane


Altebrando, Tara. The Battle of Darcy Lane. Running Press Kids, 2014.

It is summertime, and twelve-year-old Julia Richards cannot stand the anticipation. Everyone on Darcy Lane seems to be holding their breath waiting for the cicadas to emerge, but what Julia and her best friend, Taylor, want is some real excitement. Which arrives in the form of a new neighbor named Alyssa, who introduces a ball game called Russia . . . and an unwelcome level of BFF rivalry.

Suddenly nothing stands unchallenged—not Julia's friendships, her crush, or her independence. But while Julia realizes that she cannot control all the changes in her life, she hangs onto the hope that everything will go in her favor if she can just win one magnificent showdown.

Book Trailer 


How Lunchbox Jones Saved Me from Robots, Traitors, and Missy the Cruel


Brown, Jennifer. How Lunchbox Jones Saved Me from Robots, Traitors, and Missy the Cruel. Bloomsbury U.S.A. Children's Books, 2015.

Luke Abbott's school is the losing-est school in the history of losing. And that's just fine for him. He'd rather be at home playing video games and avoiding his older brother Rob and the Greatest Betrayal of All Time. 

But now he's bing forced to join the robotics team, where surely he'll uphold the school's losing streak. He'll also meet a colorful cast of characters, including: Mikayla, the girl who does everything with her toes; Jacob and Jacob, who aren't twins but might as well be; the sunflower seed-obsessed Stuart; and Missy the Cruel, Luke's innocent-looking bully since they were six-years-old. But it's an unlikely connection with a mysterious boy known only as "Lunchbox Jones" that will change Luke's life. Turns out, Luke and Lunchbox Jones have a lot more in common than just robots...

Undertow



Buckley, Michael. Undertow. Harcourt Brace and Company, 2015.

Sixteen-year-old Lyric Walker's life is forever changed when she witnesses the arrival of 30,000 Alpha, a race of ocean-dwelling warriors, on her beach in Coney Island. The world's initial wonder and awe quikly turns ugly, paranoid... and violent.

When Lyric is recruited to help the Alpha crown prince assimilate, she begins to fall for him. But their love is a dangerous one, with forces on both sides working to keep them apart. Tensions will rise. Loyalties will be questioned. And the real enemy has yet to surface . . .

Read an Excerpt