Jude by Kat Morgenroth
Finding Lubchenko by Michael Simmons
"So this is basically a story about a murder"—so begins Simmons' newest novel with yet another engaging narrator. Evan's father, a wealthy business owner who won't spare an extra dime for his son, has been arrested for murdering a man named Emil Belachek and stealing millions of dollars. Evan knows his dad is a cheapskate but definitely not a murderer, and he sets out with his best friends Ruben and Erika to clear his father's name. However, he has to do that without revealing that he has been financing his prep school social life by boosting electronic equipment from his father's company and selling it on eBay. Fortunately for Evan, one of his "appropriated" items just happens to be Emil Belachek's laptop that just happens to have some vital information that could be the key in proving his father's innocence. The critical e-mails are from someone named Lubchenko, and Evan and his friends have to travel to Paris (using his father's credit card, of course) to find Lubchenko and get his father out of jail. This is a fast-paced comic thriller, with plenty of twists, turns, technology and good old adolescent fun, including a trip to Paris and lots of Chinese food.
"Listen, you're young. We don't send kids to jail. If you had something to do with this, it's better to tell us. Then we can help you. Maybe it was a friend of yours come to take care of things for you. You've got a nasty bruise there, and your neighbors told us that you tend to get a lot of bruises. We take those things into account, you know. We understand about things like that."
"You don't understand anything," Jude said.
Jude's world is turned on its head when his drug-dealing father is gunned down at their kitchen table right in front of him. Jude and his dad moved around a lot; the fifteen-year-old teen has never known his mother. Now he finds out that she is the district attorney of a neighboring borough. Jude goes from a ratty old apartment to a large, expensive house. He goes from an inner-city public school to a suburban private school. He has some big adjustments to make. And he has a pretty big problem to deal with: he cannot name the shooter who killed his father, but spared his life. As a result, the cops think he may have had something to do with the murder. Later, when a classmate dies of a drug overdose, the cops again turn their attention to Jude. A kid from the rough neighborhoods whose old friends are now dealing, Jude seems like the natural suspect. His district attorney mother, aspiring to the office of mayor, is urged to prosecute her son. Betrayed, sent to prison, Jude is determined to clear his name. Five years of hard time hardens his resolve to find out the truth behind his conviction, and it changes the course of this young man's life in surprising ways. Jude explores the legacy of violence he has inherited from his father, the desire for a connection with his mother, and his own strength in this dark coming-of-age story. Kate Morgenroth's first young adult novel is an intricately plotted, intelligent thriller.(visit the author website for other books and an excerpt)
"You don't understand anything," Jude said.
Jude's world is turned on its head when his drug-dealing father is gunned down at their kitchen table right in front of him. Jude and his dad moved around a lot; the fifteen-year-old teen has never known his mother. Now he finds out that she is the district attorney of a neighboring borough. Jude goes from a ratty old apartment to a large, expensive house. He goes from an inner-city public school to a suburban private school. He has some big adjustments to make. And he has a pretty big problem to deal with: he cannot name the shooter who killed his father, but spared his life. As a result, the cops think he may have had something to do with the murder. Later, when a classmate dies of a drug overdose, the cops again turn their attention to Jude. A kid from the rough neighborhoods whose old friends are now dealing, Jude seems like the natural suspect. His district attorney mother, aspiring to the office of mayor, is urged to prosecute her son. Betrayed, sent to prison, Jude is determined to clear his name. Five years of hard time hardens his resolve to find out the truth behind his conviction, and it changes the course of this young man's life in surprising ways. Jude explores the legacy of violence he has inherited from his father, the desire for a connection with his mother, and his own strength in this dark coming-of-age story. Kate Morgenroth's first young adult novel is an intricately plotted, intelligent thriller.(visit the author website for other books and an excerpt)
Finding Lubchenko by Michael Simmons
"So this is basically a story about a murder"—so begins Simmons' newest novel with yet another engaging narrator. Evan's father, a wealthy business owner who won't spare an extra dime for his son, has been arrested for murdering a man named Emil Belachek and stealing millions of dollars. Evan knows his dad is a cheapskate but definitely not a murderer, and he sets out with his best friends Ruben and Erika to clear his father's name. However, he has to do that without revealing that he has been financing his prep school social life by boosting electronic equipment from his father's company and selling it on eBay. Fortunately for Evan, one of his "appropriated" items just happens to be Emil Belachek's laptop that just happens to have some vital information that could be the key in proving his father's innocence. The critical e-mails are from someone named Lubchenko, and Evan and his friends have to travel to Paris (using his father's credit card, of course) to find Lubchenko and get his father out of jail. This is a fast-paced comic thriller, with plenty of twists, turns, technology and good old adolescent fun, including a trip to Paris and lots of Chinese food.
Widdershins by Charles de Lint
Jilly Coppercorn and Geordie Riddell. Since they were introduced in the first Newford story, "Timeskip," back in 1989, their friends and readers alike have been waiting for them to realize what everybody else already knows: that they belong together. But they've been more clueless about how they feel for each other than the characters in When Harry Met Sally. Now in Widdershins, a stand-alone novel of fairy courts set in shopping malls and the Bohemian street scene of Newford's Crowsea area, Jilly and Geordie’s story is finally being told. Before it’s over, we’ll find ourselves plunged into the rancorous and sometimes violent conflict between the magical North American “animal people” and the more newly-arrived fairy folk. We’ll watch as Jilly is held captive in a sinister world based on her own worst memories--and Geordie, attempting to help, is sent someplace even worse. And we’ll be captivated by the power of love and determination to redeem ancient hatreds and heal old magics gone sour. To walk “widdershins” is to walk counterclockwise or backwards around something. It’s a classic pathway into the fairy realm. It’s also the way people often back slowly into the relationships that matter, the real ones that make for a life. In Widdershins Charles de Lint has delivered one of his most accessible and moving works of his career.(click here for excerpt)
