How I Live Now
by Meg Rosoff
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To get away from her pregnant stepmother in New York City, fifteen-year-old Daisy goes to England to stay with her aunt and cousins, with whom she instantly bonds, but soon war breaks out and rips apart the family while devastating the land.
"My name is Elizabeth but no one's ever called me that. My father took one look at me when I was born and must have thought I had the face of someone dignified and sad like an old fashioned queen or a dead person, but what I turned out like is plain, not much there to notice. Even my life so far has been plain. More Daisy than Elizabeth from the word go.
But the summer I went to England to stay with my cousins everything changed. Part of that was because of the war, which supposedly changed lots of things, but I can't remember much about life before the war anyway so it doesn't count in my book, which this is.
Mostly everything changed because of Edmond.
And so here's what happened." Check out the rest of this excerpt here.
COMING SOON!
Vampire Academy
by Richelle Mead
Lissa Dragomir is a Moroi princess: a mortal vampire with an unbreakable bond to the earth's magic. She must be protected at all times from Strigoi; the fiercest and most dangerous vampires--the ones who never die.The powerful blend of human and vampire blood that flows through Rose Hathaway, Lissa's best friend, makes her a Dhampir; she is dedicated to a dangerous life of protecting Lissa from the Strigoi, who are hell-bent on making her one of them.After two years of illicit freedom, Rose and Lissa are caught and dragged back to St. Vladimir's Academy, hidden in the deep forests of Montana. Rose will continue her Dhampir education. Lissa will go back to being Queen of the elite Moroi social scene. And both girls will resume breaking hearts.Fear made Lissa and Rose run away from St. Vladimir's--but their world is fraught with danger both inside and out of the Academy's iron gates. Here, the cutthroat ranks of the Moroi perform unspeakable rituals and their secretive nature and love of the night creates an enigmatic world full of social complexities. Rose and Lissa must navigate through this dangerous world, confront the temptation of forbidden romance, and never once let their guard down, lest the Strigoi make Lissa one of them forever...( read an excerpt here.)- Visit the author's website!
A Certain Slant of Light
by Laura Whitcomb
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In the class of the high school English teacher she has been haunting, Helen feels them: For the first time in 130 years, human eyes are looking at her. They belong to a boy, a boy who has not seemed remarkable until now. And Helen--terrified, but intrigued--is drawn to him. The fact that he is in a body and she is not presents this unlikely couple with their first challenge. But as the lovers struggle to find a way to be together, they begin to discover the secrets of their former lives and of the young people they come to possess.
"Jenny’s eyes closed and her hands folded. I decided I couldn’t wait forever. I stepped over the sleeping child and sat where Jenny was sitting. The ringing sound of crystal vibrating was all around me. I felt like I had pressed myself into cold marble. I stayed in her, and in a moment I started shaking. It was frightening, but I wouldn’t let myself run. I tried to see James in my mind’s eye, smiling at me. The ringing stopped with a popping sound. I felt like an ice sculpture starting to crack into pieces. Then it happened. I felt the shape of her, the shape of myself, inside the fingers and shoulders and knees of her. I even felt the snug shoes and the difference between her warm arms inside her sweater and her cool legs exposed to the breeze. I could feel the tickle of Jenny’s hair brushing my cheek. My hand went to my mouth when I heard myself cry out in amazement. I opened my eyes to see every face in the circle turned to me, and then the ground flew up and I was in the dark.
“Give me that blanket.”
I could hear excited voices. Rose colored flashes appeared as my face was passed over by shadows and then sunshine glowing through my eyelids. My eyelids. I opened my eyes and saw a cluster of heads hovering with concern.
“It was during the prayer,” someone whispered.
“Maybe it was the holy ghost,” came another voice.
“She just didn’t eat enough,” said Jenny’s father. He picked me up under my arms and knees. “Let’s not get too excited.”
I was overwhelmed by having so many people pay attention to me. I couldn’t speak. The feeling of the father’s strong arm around me, the texture of his shirt felt through my own skin. I was still shaking.
“Oh, honey,” I heard Jenny’s mother coo.
The father set me down on a bench by one of the picnic tables. I couldn’t help myself. I began to cry, sobbing into my hands and, to my surprise, making tears, the salt of a forgotten sea.-www.laurawhitcomb.com
COMING SOON
Hairstyles of the Damned
by Joe Meno
HAIRSTYLES OF THE DAMNED is an honest and riveting depiction of growing up punk on Chicago's south side. It is a novel about wanting to belong, but never quite belonging, that follows the riotous exploits of Brian, a high school burnout, and his best friend, Gretchen, a punk rock girl fond of brawling. Based on the actual events surrounding a Chicago high school's segregated prom, this work of fiction unflinchingly pursues the truth in discovering what it means to be your own person.
"The other problem I had was that I was falling in love with my best friend, Gretchen, who I thought the rest of the world considered fat. We were in her crappy car and singing, and at the end of the song "White Riot," the one by the Clash, I realized by the way I was watching her mouth pucker and smile and her eyes blink and wink, we were way more than friends, at least to me. I looked over at Gretchen driving and she was starting to sing the next song, "Should I Stay or Should I Go Now?" by the Clash again, and I said, "I love driving around with you, Gretchen," but because the radio was so loud all she could do was see my mouth move." --from Chapter one punkplanet.com
Read the first 9 chapters here.
Brave New Girl
by Louise Luna
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A fourteen-year-old trying to find her way in the world, Doreen is as much an outcast at school as she is at home. Marginalized by her peers, misunderstood by her parents, and mourning the loss of her older brother who disappeared when she was just a child, Doreen finds solace in her fierce love of music and in her best friend, Ted.
But when her older sister begins dating a bewildering twenty-one-year-old
named Matthew, Doreen must confront feelings she never knew she possessed. Forced into adulthood kicking and screaming (not to mention swearing),
Doreen ultimately impels her troubled family to forge a new understanding of
the world -- and, maybe more surprisingly, of one another.
Art Geeks and Prom Queens
by Alyson Noel
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Seventeen-year-old Alex seriously messes up during her senior year at an Orange County, California high school, skipping classes and staying out all night at Hollywood night clubs with older guys, in an effort to distract herself from some unpleasant realities.
Kiss & Blog
by Alyson Noel
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Having made a pact to help each other not go unnoticed in their sophomore year, Winter, dismayed at how quickly her once, best friend Sloane forgets her promise when she is noticed by the "cool girls," vows to take revenge.
Faking 19
by Alyson Noel
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Seventeen-year-old Alex seriously messes up during her senior year at an Orange County, California high school, skipping classes and staying out all night at Hollywood night clubs with older guys, in an effort to distract herself from some unpleasant realities.
