New YA Books

Autumn, 2015

Twelve-year-old Peter Lee and his family are baseball lovers, who bond over backlot games and talk of the

Pittsburgh Pirates. But when tragedy strikes, the family flies apart and baseball no longer seems to

matter. Is that true? Peter wonders if just maybe the game they love can pull them together and bring

them back, safe at home.

"Shang (The Great Wall of Lucy Wu) skillfully balances the different aspects of Peter’s life, robustly characterizing his friendships and his time at school and home. Issues of sexism, racism, and struggles with depression are handled deftly in scenarios grounded in reality, including an ending that’s hopeful without being pat." -- Publishers Weekly --

Malik's mother has been missing for days, his home has become unrecognisable, and his grandfather is insisting that they leave on the next and final ship:

The Samaritan. This journey will take them to a country which promises safety and a new life. The

only problem is, they don't have a ticket, and people are stopping at nothing to get a place on board.

Luckily Papa has a secret that could change everything. But who can they trust to help them?

This is very definitely a children's book, and is all the better for that. Walter has created something very special with Close to the Wind. While I look forward to reading what he writes next, I'm also happy to ponder the lives of Malik, Papa and the others because they are now so very real to me.-- theguardian --

This alternative history re-imagines the 1815 Battle of Waterloo as a victory for the French emperor Napoléon

Bonaparte, when he unleashes a terrible secret weapon - giant carnivorous survivors from pre-history - on his

unsuspecting British and Prussian adversaries. In this world, smaller "saurs" are an everyday danger in the

forests of Europe, and the Americas are a forbidden zone roamed by the largest and most deadly animals ever to

walk the earth. But in his quest for power, Napoléon has found a way to turn these giant dinosaurs into nineteenth

century weapons of mass destruction. Only Willem Verheyen, an outsider living in hiding in the tiny village of Gaillemarde, has the power to ruin the tyrant's plans. And

Napoléon will stop at nothing to find him.War is coming, and young Willem is no longer safe, for

Gaillemarde is just a stone's throw from the fields of Waterloo -- fields which will soon run red with blood.

This alternative history asks, what if Napoléon won the battle at Waterloo . . . The novel quickly ramps up to suspense, immersing the reader in the swiftly moving plot. Characters are very well drawn, capturing the reader's sympathy. With an ending wide open for a sequel, complete with a plot-thickening cliff-hanger, one can only hope that Falkner is a swift writer. -- Booklist --

Fourteen-year-old Joan Skraggs, just like the heroines in her beloved novels, yearns for real life

and true love. But what hope is there for adventure, beauty, or art on a hardscrabble farm in Pennsylvania where the work never ends? Over the summer of 1911, Joan pours her heart out into her diary as she seeks a

new, better life for herself—because maybe, just maybe, a hired girl cleaning and cooking for six

dollars a week can become what a farm girl could only dream of—a woman with a future. Newbery Medalist

Laura Amy Schlitz relates Joan’s journey from the muck of the chicken coop to the comforts of a society

household in Baltimore (Electricity! Carpet sweepers! Sending out the laundry!), taking readers on an

exploration of feminism and housework; religion and literature; love and loyalty; cats, hats, and bunions.

Coming-of-age drama and deeper questions of faith, belonging, and womanhood are balanced with just the right blend of humor. A wonderful look into the life of strong girl who learns that she needs the love of others to truly grow up. -- School Library Journal --

Bridge is an accident survivor who’s wondering why she’s still alive. Emily has new curves and an almost-

boyfriend who wants a certain kind of picture. Tabitha sees through everybody’s games—or so she tells the world. The three girls are best friends with

one rule: No fighting. Can it get them through seventh grade?

This year everything is different for Sherm Russo as he gets to know Bridge Barsamian. What does it mean

to fall for a girl—as a friend? On Valentine’s Day, an unnamed high school girl struggles with a betrayal. How long can she hide in

plain sight? Each memorable character navigates the challenges

of love and change in this captivating novel.

“Masterly. . . . Sensitively explores togetherness, aloneness, betrayal and love.” -- The New York Times --

It is the summer of 1892, one year since Sophia Tims and her friend Theo embarked upon the dangerous adventure

that rewrote the map of the world. Since their return home to Boston, she has continued searching for clues to her

parents’ disappearance, combing archives and libraries, grasping at even the most slender leads. Theo has

apprenticed himself to an explorer in order to follow those leads across the country—but one after another proves to

be a dead end. Then Sophia discovers that a crucial piece of the

puzzle exists in a foreign Age. At the same time, Theo discovers that his old life outside the law threatens to

destroy the new one he has built with Sophia and her uncle Shadrack. What he and Sophia do not know is that their

separate discoveries are intertwined, and that one remarkable person is part of both.

There is a city that holds all of the answers—but it cannot be found on any map. Surrounded by plague, it can only be reached by a journey through darkness and chaos,

which is at the same time the plague’s cure: The Golden Specific.

“I am in no doubt about the energy of S.E. Grove as a full-fledged, pathfinding fantasist. I look forward to the next installment to place upon the pile. Intensely.” -- The New York Times --

Everyone says that middle school is awful, but Trent knows nothing could be worse than the year he had in fifth grade, when a freak accident on Cedar Lake left one kid dead, and Trent with a brain full of terrible

thoughts he can't get rid of. Trent’s pretty positive the entire disaster was his fault, so for him middle school feels like a fresh start, a chance to prove to everyone

that he's not the horrible screw-up they seem to think he is.

If only Trent could make that fresh start happen.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 fresh starts aren’t always easy. Even in baseball, when a fly ball gets lost in the sun, you have to remember to

shift your position to find it.

"Weighty matters deftly handled with humor and grace will give this book wide appeal."-- School Library Journal --

Lara Jean didn’t expect to really fall for Peter. She and Peter were just pretending. Except suddenly they weren’t. Now Lara Jean is more confused than ever.When another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean’s feelings for him return too. Can a girl be

in love with two boys at once?

“In this lovely, lighthearted romance...readers will remember the Song sisters and the boys in their lives long after the final page turn.” -- School Library Journal --

Nerd-boy Dan Cereill is not quite coping with a whole heap of problems, including a reversal of family

fortune, moving, new-school hell, a mother with a failing wedding cake business, a just-out gay dad, and a massive crush on Estelle, the girl next door. His life

is a mess, but for now he's narrowed it down to just six impossible things....

"Australian author Wood (Wildlife, 2014) has created a pitch-perfect teen voice in Dan's first-person narrative. He's by turns sorrowful, impulsive, caring, and funny, with occasionally brilliant turns of phrase: "I feel like a lemon rolling down the apple chute." It's refreshing to see a romance from a teen boy's perspective, and Dan is a Romeo to root for." -- Booklist --

Seventeen-year-old Vivian Apple and her best friend, Harpreet, are revolutionaries, determined to expose the Church’s diabolical power grab . . . and to locate

Viv’s missing heartthrob, Peter Ivey. This fast-paced, entertaining sequel to Vivian Apple at the End of the

World challenges readers to consider how to live with integrity in a disintegrating world.

"Nonstop twists and breathless action flirt with crossing the line into absurdity, but that's just part of this sequel's appeal. Fans shouldn't hesitate to continue Viv's quest along with her, and they'll be satisfied with how her mission to save humanity from fear-fueled delusion plays out."-- Horn Book Magazine --

Josie may live in the most haunted town in America, but the only strange thing she ever sees is the parade of oddball customers that comes through her family's

auction house each week. But when she and her brothers discover a Polaroid camera that prints

pictures of the ghost of local recluse John Goodrich, they are drawn into a mystery dating back over a

hundred years. A desperate spirit, cursed jewelry, natural disasters, and the horrible specter of

Mothman all weave in and out of the puzzle that Josie must solve to break the curse and save her own life.

“An ectoplasmic extravaganza...tailor-made for reading beneath the bedcovers.”-- Kirkus --

In Pumpkins County, weird things happen every day, but nobody ever makes a fuss. Nobody, that is, except

the Creeps: Carol, a big-city girl new to Pumpkins County, who finds kindred spirits in Mitchell

(monster expert), Jarvis (military brat with logistics know-how), and Rosario (girly girl on the outside, muscle underneath). The Creeps are on the case to figure out the spooky mysteries and still get to class on time. Last week it was a pudding monster. This week, it’s killer frogs—reanimated from the team’s

biology class dissection experiment. Who’s behind the Frankenfrog attacks? The Creeps will track down the

answers!

"An excellent complement to his prose, Schweizer's cleanly paneled art is bright and busy, ever ready with a gag that helps blend the ghastly with the goofy, making his gang's antics reminiscent of Scooby Doo...Silly fun with a smattering of science."

-- Kirkus Reviews --