New Books for High School Students
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Dead Girls Don't Dream
There are rules for Voynich Woods: Always carry a whistle. Never go alone. Always come home before dark. And if anyone calls your name, don't answer. Because everyone who wanders from the path is never seen again.
Except for Riley Walcott.
Riley knows better than to stray from the trail in the woods behind her uncle Toby's house. But her little sister Sam breaks the rules in pursuit of a local legend, so Riley chases after her and discovers a knife-wielding figure and a waiting grave.
Madelyn lives deep in the forest. Subject to her mother's strict rules, she's forbidden from leaving home or using her magic—but one night, she risks everything to help a stranger who's lost in the woods.
Riley is murdered in a strange ritual, Madelyn uses her magic to resurrect her, and their lives are immediately entwined in the gnarled history of Voynich Woods. Riley, who feels trapped in her small town but too afraid to leave, was never a believer, but now the evidence is taking root under her skin. Madelyn has the scars to prove how terrible magic can be, and longs for a life beyond her mother's grasp. As the legends become all too real, Riley and Madelyn must confront their deepest fears to uncover the truth about Voynich Woods.
At once tender, violent, and thrilling, Dead Girls Don't Dream is a novel of recovery, healing, and finding your power. -
In Want of a Suspect
A USA Today bestseller! The first book in a thrilling mystery duology that follows Lizzie Bennet and Mr. Darcy from the acclaimed Jane Austen Murder Mystery series!
It is a truth universally acknowledged that London's first female solicitor in possession of the details of a deadly crime must be in want of a suspect.
The tenacious Lizzie Bennet has earned her place at Longbourn, her father's law firm. Her work keeps her busy, but luckily it gives her plenty of reasons to consult (and steal occasional kisses) with Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, a stern but secretly softhearted solicitor at Pemberley.
Lizzie is hired to investigate a deadly warehouse fire and to find the mysterious woman who was spotted at the scene moments before the flames took hold. But when the case leads to the sitting room of a woman Darcy once proposed marriage to, the delicate balance between personal and professional in their relationship is threatened.
Questions of the future are cast aside when the prime suspect is murdered and Lizzie's own life is threatened. As the body count rises and their suspicions about what was really going on in the warehouse grow, the pressure is on for Lizzie and Darcy to uncover the truth.
Classic characters with an enthralling twist--Lizzie and Darcy, as introduced in the hit novel Pride and Premeditation, are back for more suspense, danger, and romance!
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The Debutantes
Most Anticipated by SheReads * The Nerd Daily * Paste Magazine
Jessica Goodman meets The Agathas in this taut, twisty YA thriller set in the glittering world of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, where secrets--and bodies--never stay buried.
For the New Orleans elite, the Les Masques Ball is sure to be the social event of the season—if they can avoid another dead Queen. When debutante Margot Landry was found dead the morning after her reign at last year’s ball, it was a tragedy, but not a shocking one. Margot was a wild child with a self-destructive streak, nothing like this year’s Queen, Lily LeBlanc. With a perfectly poised debutante on the throne, everything is going according to plan...until the ball is hijacked by a mysterious figure in a Jester costume. That night, Lily sends a text to three of the Maids on her royal court—her best friend, Vivian; her boyfriend's sister, Piper; and April, her former frenemy—asking them all to meet the next morning. But Lily never shows up.
On the surface, these three debutantes don’t have anything in common except their exclusive private school and their ties to Les Masques. But soon, they realize why Lily brought them together: something dark is lurking beneath the glamorous surface of the debutante world, and it might be the reason she disappeared. And the further the girls dig, the more they begin to suspect that Margot's death may not have been an accident—and that Lily may be next. When the Jester starts threatening to expose their own secrets, this unlikely trio must team up to uncover the monsters behind the Mardi Gras masks—before they’re left with another dead debutante. -
Love & Lattes
From the author of the bestselling phenomenon, the Kissing Booth, comes another sizzling story about an overachieving girl who unknowingly kisses the one guy she shouldn’t the night before her new internship begins.
One summer internship. Two complete opposites. And a connection neither expected...
Annalise Sherwood has worked herself to the bone to get a place on a prestigious internship program and nothing is going to stop her now. Work hard, play later, that's her motto. She figures one night letting her guard down won't hurt, though - especially when it ends with the best kiss of her life.
But to Anna's horror, she discovers that the mystery guy she kissed that night is none other than Lloyd, the company CEO's son. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he's everyone's favorite guy and a total charmer, swanning around like he owns the place. And from the moment they meet again, he rubs Anna up the wrong way.
As the summer and the internship wane on, Lloyd seems to be finding any excuse to annoy Anna, and she's not afraid to give it right back to him. But when a lot of late night working brings them unexpectedly closer, she begins to wonder if there's more to him than she originally thought.. -
The Dividing Sky
A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY AND KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • “[A] high-stakes story packed with slow-burn pining and plentiful tension.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
A cunning teen memory merchant falls for the handsome rookie officer on her tail in this swoony dystopian romance that's “one to watch” (Amie Kaufman, New York Times bestselling author of The Isles of the Gods)
In 2364, eighteen-year-old Liv Newman dreams of a future beyond her lower-class life in the Metro. As a Proxy, she uses the neurochip in her brain to sell memories to wealthy clients. Maybe a few illegally, but money equals freedom. So when a customer offers her a ludicrous sum to go on an assignment in no-man’s-land, Liv accepts. Now she just has to survive.
Rookie Forceman Adrian Rao believes in order over all. After discovering that a renegade Proxy’s shady dealings are messing with citizens’ brain chemistry, he vows to extinguish the threat. But when he tracks Liv down, there’s one problem: her memories are gone. Can Adrian bring himself to condemn her for crimes she doesn’t remember?
As Liv and Adrian navigate the world beyond the Metro and their growing feelings for one another, they grapple with who they are, who they could be, and whether another way of living is possible. -
Shadowed
Beloved, award-winning author Carl Deuker serves up another fast-paced sports novel--this one about basketball and friendship.
Nate plays soccer, but he doesn't love it. He plays because it's what his family expects.
Then Lucas Cawley moves in across the street. Lucas isn't like any of Nate's sports friends--he's poor, his parents are mostly absent, and he's devoted to his sister, Megan, who has a learning disability. Lucas may be an outcast at school, but he and Nate find common ground in their fierce games of one-on-one basketball.
It's not long before Nate realizes that basketball is his sport. But Nate has an ax to grind with star players Colin and Bo, who have disrespected him for years. Nate believes that outplaying those two is the most important thing . . . until he learns that life is about more than getting ready for the next game.
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Midnights with You
Fans of Susan Lee and Dustin Thao will be enchanted by this soulful YA romance about how we love, how we heal, and how we find the strength to go on
"Where were you thinking of going?"
"Nowhere."
"Great," he says lightly, putting the car in gear. "Then we'll go there."
Seventeen-year-old Deedee's life is full of family ghosts and questions she can't ask. She longs to escape her stifling home, but guilt holds her back--that, and the fact that her strict Filipino single mom won't let her learn to drive.
But one sleepless night leads Deedee down a road she never thought possible: secret driving lessons with the new boy next door, Jay, whose turbulent family life also keeps him up until sunrise.
As midnights stretch into days, Jay helps Deedee begin to unravel her past, and as shared secrets blossom into love, Deedee starts to imagine a life where happiness is possible. But the deeper she digs into the trauma that has shaped her, the more that trauma threatens to tear Deedee and Jay apart. Together, these two must decide if the pain they've both inherited has the power to choose their fate, or if they have the power to choose for themselves. -
For She Is Wrath
An Instant Indie Bestseller!
A sweeping, Pakistani romantic fantasy reimagining of The Count of Monte Cristo, where one girl seeks revenge against those who betrayed her—including the boy she used to love.
Three hundred and sixty-four days.
Framed for a crime she didn't commit, Dania counts down her days in prison until she can exact revenge on Mazin, the boy responsible for her downfall, the boy she once loved—and still can't forget. When she discovers a fellow prisoner may have the key to exacting that vengeance--a stolen djinn treasure--they execute a daring escape together and search for the hidden treasure.
Armed with dark magic and a new identity, Dania enacts a plan to bring down those who betrayed her and her family, even though Mazin stands in her way. But seeking revenge becomes a complicated game of cat and mouse, especially when an undeniable fire still burns between them, and the power to destroy her enemies has a price. As Dania falls deeper into her web of traps and lies, she risks losing her humanity to her fight for vengeance--and her heart to the only boy she's ever loved. -
Casters and Crowns
Cursed by magic, bound by mistakes, Princess Aria finds her destiny hinges on the mysterious Baron Reeves. Will love be enough to break the curse, or will war bring her kingdom to ruin? A new romantasy by Elizabeth Lowham.
When Crown Princess Aria sees her kingdom on the brink of war with the magic-wielding Casters, she takes it upon herself to speak with Widow Morton, the most dangerous Caster in the realm. If successful, Aria will not only ensure peace but also prove to her father that she is a worthy heir. But when her negotiations fail, Aria is dealt a terrible curse: Over the course of one hundred days, she will be unable to sleep, her body and mind doomed to waste away. And then the curse will pass to her sister, until every member of the king's line is dead.
Aria's best hope for breaking her curse is to seek help from another Caster--the handsome and charming Baron Reeves. He may be entitled to a place at the court, but as a magic user, can he truly be trusted? She vows to not be fooled by his dimpled smiles or his devotion to his brothers, but as she spends more time with him, she discovers that her heart has other ideas.
Baron has no desire to see the princess suffer--especially since she might be the key to changing the king's opinion on Casters--but he has secrets to protect and ghosts of his own. The last person he tried to save using his magic died, and he's not willing to risk harming someone he loves again.
As the curse continues its deadly countdown, both Aria and Baron must risk their lives and their hearts to save each other and unite a kingdom.
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The Bitter End
When a winter storm traps eight teens in a remote ski cabin, they find themselves stranded with a killer—who may be one of their own. From the acclaimed author of The Ivies and Pretty Dead Queens comes a YA thriller that will make your blood run cold.
The trip of a lifetime might be the death of them all.
The students of LA’s elite Warner Prep can’t wait for their Senior Excursion—five days of Instagrammable adventure in one of the world’s most exclusive locations. This is not your average field trip.
Which is why eight students can’t believe their bad luck when they end up on a digital detox in an isolated Colorado ski chalet. Their epic trip is panning out to be an epic bore . . . until their classmates start dropping in a series of disturbing deaths. The message is clear: this trip is no accident.
And when a blizzard strikes, secrets are revealed, betrayals are exposed, and survival is at stake in a race to the bitter end.
"Will leave you gasping for air." -Katy Hays, New York Times bestselling author of The Cloisters
"Readers will be kept guessing until the end." -Kirkus Reviews
New Books for Middle School Students
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A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall
From the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of A Rover's Story and Other Words for Home comes an extraordinary story about two friends, a ghost, a missing painting, and a turtle named Agatha. The perfect next read for fans of The Swifts, Kate DiCamillo, and Erin Entrada Kelly.
A painting has been stolen...!
When Rami sees a floating girl in the museum, he knows he has seen her somewhere before. Then he realizes: She looks just like the girl in the painting that has gone missing. But how does her appearance connect to the theft
Agatha the turtle knows--she has been watching from the garden. But she can't exactly tell anyone...can she
Will Rami, with the help of his classmate, Veda, be able to solve the mystery The clues are all around them, but they'll have to be brave enough to really look.
This is a whimsical, moving story about the universal desire to be seen and understood and how art can help us find connection, even when we are at our loneliest.
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Book of Screams
Tanya is a huge fan of horror author Joel Southland...AND he's coming to visit her school!
Even though she is his biggest fan, she barely gets a chance to say hello. But he does give her a signed bookmark: For Tanya. Stay Scared! Reading later that night, she figures it's just her eyes playing tricks on her when she sees the ink on the bookmark move a little. But when the ink slithers toward her, it's too late...
As Tanya tries to get to the bottom of Southland's nefarious schemes, the book is broken up by nine other creepy tales, including one about middle-school horror movie fans who track down the scariest horror movie of all time, another about a kid whose "baby eye" is beginning to fall out, and yet another about a vampire suffering due to a virus that is keeping people indoors. A mix of squirmy, funny and downright terrifying, these tales will leave readers thinking twice about the things that go bump in the night.
The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.
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Take It from the Top
Set at a camp over the course of six summers, this novel dives into the falling-out of two girls from different backgrounds who thought they'd be friends forever...until a production of Wicked brings all their buried issues to the surface. Claire Swinarski, Edgar Award nominee of the ALA Notable What Happened to Rachel Riley?, tackles privilege, perspective, and the power of friendship in this page-turning puzzle that readers will devour.
Eowyn Becker has waited all year to attend her sixth summer at Lamplighter Lake Summer Camp. Here, the pain of her mom's death can't reach her, and she gets to reunite with her best friend, Jules Marrigan--the only person in the world who understands her. This year will be their year--Wicked, the girls' favorite musical, has been chosen for the camp's end-of-year production. If anyone can be Glinda to Eowyn's Elphaba, it's Jules!
But when Eowyn arrives at camp, everything seems wrong. The best-friend reunion Eowyn had been dreaming of doesn't go as planned. Jules will barely even look at Eowyn, let alone talk to her, and Eowyn has no idea why.
Well, maybe she does...
There are two sides to every story, and if you want to understand this one, you'll need to hear both. Told in a series of alternating chapters that dip back to past summers, the girls' story will soon reveal how Eowyn and Jules went from being best friends to fierce foils. Can they mend ways before the curtains close on what was supposed to be the best summer of their lives?
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Unico: Awakening (Volume 1): An Original Manga
An adventure across space and time awaits!
"A spellbinding masterpiece." -- Dav Pilkey, #1 bestselling creator of Dog Man
UNICO tells the incredible story of a young unicorn who, after enraging the evil goddess Venus, is banished from the heavens and forgets all he once was. Saved from oblivion by the kindhearted West Wind, Unico continues to help others, before having to escape Venus again and begin a new adventure.
In this first manga, Unico awakes in a mysterious land and is befriended by a resourceful watch cat, Chloe, who feels protective of the young unicorn. When they find themselves near a small village in the forest, they take refuge with a kindly, but helpless, old woman. To take care of her, Chloe begs Unico to turn her into a human girl, but that act of kindness has unforeseen consequences: Unico's love has awakened Venus and her minion, Byron, who want to destroy them both!
Conceived anew by Eisner-nominated author Samuel Sattin and Eisner-winning artist team Gurihiru, and developed in collaboration with Tezuka Productions, UNICO: Awakening is a groundbreaking reboot of a beloved story by Astro Boy creator Osamu Tezuka, the "God of Manga." With striking full-color artwork and reading left to right in the Western comics style to match the original manga, UNICO is a brilliant manga series featuring storytelling at its best. Join Unico on an unforgettable journey!
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The Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents
A middle grade magic school fantasy perfect for fans of The School for Good and Evil and Witchlings, in which a girl with unparalleled power must work with her misfit classmates to save her new school.
Lavinia “Vin” Lucas is out of control and out of options. Stranded by parents who would rather use their average magical abilities to study dung beetles than raise her, Vin's been on her own for years. But she’s never been able to corral her own powerful, unpredictable magic. After years of detention, suspension, and expulsion from magic schools far and wide, she’s now being sent to the Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents. If she gets expelled, it’s the end of the line.
Now, Vin is determined to behave. Except no one at Last Hope seems to want her to. Her new teachers—particularly the school’s kind headmistress—push her to explore her magic, and her mischievous classmates delight in every accident. And all the while, a mysterious fire sprite, a suspicious instructor, and her overwhelming abilities might just sabotage Vin. But for the first time, she is not alone.
So when a former student begins attacking the school, Vin must question just how much she knows about the headmistress and her new home. Is this place worth saving? And are her budding abilities—and every trick, trap, and deception in her friends’ delinquent arsenal—enough to protect Last Hope? -
Izzy Wong's Nose for News
Izzy Wong's got a new podcast--and this time she's going to uncover the whole story.
A sixth-grade student with a purpose, Izzy wants to start her own hit investigative podcast. When the girls' washroom at her school mysteriously floods, she's finally got the perfect subject. It doesn't take long to figure out that a student did it on purpose--but who? Izzy sets out on an investigation to find the culprit and interviews anyone who might know anything, including teachers, students and even the principal. But when she runs into difficulty finding the truth and is presented with a juicy lead that may or may not be gossip--but brings in lots of new listeners--Izzy finds herself in hot water. Will her podcast get shut down before she has a chance to find the perpetrator?
The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.
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Star Wars: The High Republic: Beware the Nameless
The High Republic continues in this fast-paced adventure that picks up from Escape from Valo, perfect for fans of sci-fi action. Think Sailor Moon meets Babysitter's Guide to Monster Hunting by way of Star Wars . . . with a dash of Last Kids on Earth!
The fearsome Nihil continue to spread chaos inside the Occlusion Zone, aided by the mysterious creatures called the Nameless that feed on the Force itself. When the people of an embattled world plead for help with the Nihil threat, a team of both Republic Defense Coalition members and Jedi--including Ram Jomaram--is sent to their aid.
The team soon discovers that their ship contains four stowaways--Jedi younglings Kildo, TepTep, and Jamil, and Zenny Greylark, a senator's daughter determined to find her sister. When a distress call comes in from a nearby planet, Jedi Master Adi-Li Carro agrees to take the stowaways to investigate. There, they will encounter a young Hutt on a mission, a stranger with mysterious motives, and the creatures they fear the most. . . .
This next installment in the New York Times best-selling series is written by award-winning author Zoraida Córdova and features six full-color pages of art!
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The Beautiful Game
A powerful story about family, fútbol, and playing like a girl, perfect for fans of Front Desk, The Academy, and, Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret from the award-winning author of Furia.
At thirteen years old, Valeria "Magic" Salomón is already the best soccer player her town has ever seen. She has talent in spades and an abuelo whose tough-love coaching and lessons about "strength and honor" have made her the star of the Overlords, the top boys' team in the state.But everything changes at the State Cup semi-final when Valeria gets her first period while Wearing. White. Shorts. After her team is unexpectedly eliminated, she goes from their secret weapon to their scapegoat. Soon, she doesn't have a team at all anymore. She's not sure she has a relationship with her grandfather either.
Valeria's a fighter, however. And with the help of her grandmother and support of her cheerleader BFF, she finds herself on a girls' team for the first time. But the Amazons aren't exactly excited to have her there. After all, Valeria's spent years ignoring their existence. With the next tournament looming on the horizon, Valeria has a month to figure out her place on her new team and learn how to play like a girl.
The award-winning author of Furia returns to the world of "the beautiful game" in this uplifting, heartfelt novel about family, self-confidence, and the power of second chances.
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The Legend of the Last Library
What if you lived in a world without books?
After a devastating Blight killed off all the trees, paper is worth more than just about anything. Juni's parents died when she was young, so now it's just her and Grandpa Edgar. When she's not in school, Juni and her friends Doler and Quaze turn to plifting--scavenging for any paper they can find. If Juni can find enough paper, she can pay for the health care Grandpa needs.
So when Juni discovers a book--the first one she's ever seen--hidden in a box in her grandpa's closet, she's both surprised and elated thinking of the money she could get for it. That all changes when she decides to read the book. Beyond opening her imagination, the book contains clues that point to what could be the last library on Earth.
The library's location has been hidden for more than a hundred years, but Juni and her friends are not the only ones looking for it. Ullred O'Donnell, head of R&D for Novexus, a megacorporation that replaced the government and now controls all information, is desperate to find the library as well. With an army of vicious robot dogs at his command, Ullred warns Juni to abandon her quest--or else.
Juni and her friends must find the library and share it with the world before Novexus claims it as their own. If reading one book could change Juni's life, what would access to thousands--or millions--of books do? -
The Shape of Lost Things
From the award-winning author of The Probability of Everything, which has been called "one of the best books I have read this year (maybe ever)" (Colby Sharp, Nerdy Book Club) and "Powerful" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), comes a heartfelt exploration of family and change as twelve-year-old Skye reunites with her older brother, Finn, after he spent four years on the run with their father.
Skye Nickson's world changed forever when her dad went on the run with her brother, Finn. It's been four years without Finn's jokes, four years without her father's old soul music, and four years of Skye filling in as Rent-a-Finn on his MIA birthdays for their mom. Finn's birthday is always difficult, but at least Skye has her best friends, Reece and Jax, to lean on, even if Reece has started acting too cool for them.
But this year is different because after Finn's birthday, they get a call that he's finally been found. Tall, quiet, and secretive, this Finn is nothing like the brother she grew up with. He keeps taking late-night phone calls and losing his new expensive gifts, and he doesn't seem to remember any of their inside jokes or secrets.
As Skye tries to make sense of it all through the lens of her old Polaroid camera, she starts to wonder: Could this Finn be someone else entirely? And if everyone else has changed, does it mean that Skye has to change too?