New+Books+for+Spring

Alexis thought she led a typically dysfunctional high school existence. Dysfunctional like her parents’ marriage; her doll-crazy twelve-year-old sister, Kasey; and even her own anti-social, anti-cheerleader attitude. When a family fight results in some tearful sisterly bonding, Alexis realizes that her life is creeping from dysfunction into danger. Kasey is acting stranger than ever: her blue eyes go green sometimes; she uses old-fashioned language; and she even loses track of chunks of time, claiming to know nothing about her strange behavior. Their old house is changing, too. Doors open and close by themselves; water boils on the unlit stove; and an unplugged air conditioner turns the house cold enough to see their breath in.
 * [[image:51P-EdXgjsL__BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU15_.jpg width="255" height="244" align="left"]]Good Girls Don't Die **** by Katie Alender **

Alexis wants to think that it’s all in her head, but soon, what she liked to think of as silly parlor tricks are becoming life-threatening--to her, her family, and to her budding relationship with the class president. Alexis knows she’s the only person who can stop Kasey -- but what if that green-eyed girl isn’t even Kasey anymore?

** Envy ** by Gregg Olsen Crime lives--and dies--in the deceptively picture-perfect town of Port Gamble (aka “Empty Coffin”), Washington. Evil lurks and strange things happen--and 15-year-olds Hayley and Taylor Ryan secretly use their wits and their telepathic “twin-sense” to uncover the truth about the town's victims and culprits.

//Envy//, the series debut, involves the mysterious death of the twins' old friend, Katelyn. Was it murder? Suicide? An accident? Hayley and Taylor are determined to find out--and as they investigate, they stumble upon a dark truth that is far more disturbing than they ever could have imagined.

Based on the shocking true crime about cyber-bullying, //Envy// will take you to the edge--and push you right over.

** Zombiekins ** by Kevin Bolger The march of zombies through pop culture is unstoppable. With //Zombiekins//, the new novel from //Sir Fartsalot Hunts the Booger// author Kevin Bolger, the undead shamble their way into a book for children through the unlikely means of a stuffed toy. At a local witch’s yard sale, grade-schooler Stanley Nudelman is drawn to the titular half-bunny, half-teddy with the “macabre, half-dead appearance.” What he doesn’t realize is that the toy has a few hidden features, such as an ability to come to life in moonlight, which results in a stuffed-animal massacre at Stanley’s sister’s tea party. Thing go from bad to worse when he brings Zombiekins to school, and the toy starts biting his classmates, transforming them into the walking dead. Stanley, a scaredy-cat protagonist if there ever was one, must find the courage to overcome not just hordes of zombie-kids, but even more terrifying, school bullies and tyrant teachers.

**I am Number 4** By Pittacus Lore

Nine of us came here. We look like you. We talk like you. We live among you. But we are not you. We can do things you dream of doing. We have powers you dream of having. We are stronger and faster than anything you have ever seen. We are the superheroes you worship in movies and comic books—but we are real.

Our plan was to grow, and train, and become strong, and become one, and fight them. But they found us and started hunting us first. Now all of us are running. Spending our lives in shadows, in places where no one would look, blending in. we have lived among you without you knowing. They caught Number One in Malaysia.Number Two in England.And Number Three in Kenya.They killed them all. But //they// know. I am number four I am next.

**The Power of Six** By Pittacus Lore

n the beginning there were nine. Nine aliens who left their home planet of Lorien when it fell under attack by the evil Mogadorians. Nine aliens who scattered on Earth and went into hiding, who look like ordinary teenagers living ordinary lives but who have extraordinary skills. The Mogadorians caught Number One in Malaysia, Number Two in England, and Number Three in Kenya. They killed them all. John Smith is Number Four, he has just met Number Six, and he knows the survival and the fate of Lorien - and Earth - now rest in their hands. The first book in the Lorien Legacies series, I Am Number Four, debuted on the New York Times bestseller list, earned great reviews, landed on several "best of the year" lists, and has been named an Indie Next Pick. With a major motion picture from Dreamworks based on the first book hitting theaters on February 18, 2011, the second adventure in this epic saga will leave fans hungry for more. Visit: [|www.http://iamnumberfourfans.com/]

By Chris D Lacey
 * The Fire Eternal **

ive years have passed since David Rain, now a bestselling author, disappeared mysteriously in the Artic. Slowly the ice is changing; bears are starving; dragons are rising; and the spirit Gaia, goddess of the Earth, is restless, wanting to act upon these changes. But all living things may suffer if she does. As the weather grows wilder and the ice caps melt, all eyes turn from the north to David's daughter, Alexa. She is the key to stopping the wicked. . . . Can one girl save the world from the forces of evil before she disappears like her father?

By Rodrick Gordon
 * Tunnels **

4-year-old Will Burrows has little in common with his strange, dysfunctional family. In fact, the only bond he shares with his eccentric father is a passion for archaeological excavation. So when his dad mysteriously vanishes, Will is compelled to dig up the truth behind his disappearance. He unearths the unbelievable: a subterranean society that time forgot. "The Colony" has existed unchanged for a century, but it's no benign time capsule of a bygone era. Because the Colony is ruled by a merciless overclass, the Styx. Will must free his father--is he also about to ignite a revolution?

**Deeper** Rodrick Gordon

andering the dark, dry warrens beneath the Colony with his best friend, Chester, and his brother, Cal, boy archeologist Will Burrows stumbles across the Styx's dastardly plan to enslave all Topsoilers by unleashing Dominion--a debilitating viral weapon. But before Will can put a stop to the plot, he's got to evade, not only a couple of killer Rebecca clones but also, a bunch of sharpshooting bounty hunters led by non other than his long-lost biological mother! Where is Will's dad? What's at the bottom of the mysterious Pore? How much lower can they go?!

**Freefall** by Gordon Rodrick //Deeper// ended with Will and Chester head over heels in //Freefall//—tumbling through the subterranean Pore with the evil Rebecca twins in hot pursuit, toting phials of the toxic Dominion virus. When, where, //will//they ever land?! Just when the drop seems infinite, the boys hit bottom, and find themselves in a realm of near-zero gravity atop a giant spongy fungus stuffed with screeching carnivorous creatures. But when it comes to nasty, no weird beast can match the superbadness of the Styx!

**Plutos Ghost:** by Sheree Fitch

hen troubled high-schooler Jake ­Upshore hears rumours that his girlfriend, Skye, is pregnant and has skipped town to get an abortion, he decides to track her down in Halifax. She doesn’t return his text messages, so he steals a car (among other increasingly bad choices) and tries desperately to find a way to reach her. The real heart-wrencher is that Skye left behind a diary for Jake to read, but her handwriting is like code to him: Jake suffers from dyslexia. In this newest novel from prolific children’s author Sheree Fitch, Jake has all of the anger issues and learning difficulties that might make a teenage boy seem hopeless and unapproachable. And yet, Fitch shows that beneath Jake’s frustrations and mistakes lies a boy who is only trying to improve his life and protect the girl he loves. The local police and teachers may see him as a bad seed, but with the help of a core support network – including his dad, his therapist, and Skye – Jake realizes he can finally make something of himself. Jake proves himself to be a narrator with a natural poetic flair – he may have trouble with language, but he clearly loves it nonetheless. Unsurprisingly for Fitch, a longtime literacy advocate, Jake attempts to improve himself through songwriting, vocabulary lessons, and wordplay – without it coming off like a lesson. He is relatable and brutally honest, and his flaws will only endear him more to readers.

**The Possum always Rings Twice** A Chet Gecko Mystery

by Bruce Hale Get ready for muckraking time at Emerson Hicky Elementary. The race is on for student council president, but it's quickly getting fishier than the bottom of a pelican's lunch box. Someone is sending candidates ominous threats and posting signs with messages like FIR IS FIRST! and DOWN WITH FEATHERS. Could someone be trying to rig the election? Good thing Chet and Natalie are around to expose the filthy frauds!

**Sent**

by Margaret Haddix In this New York Times bestseller, Jonah and Katherine have barely adjusted to the discovery that they are actually the missing children of history when a time purist named JB sends them, along with Chip and Alex, hurtling back in time to 1483. JB promises that if they can fix history, they can all return to their present-day lives. Now, Chip and Alex have to reclaim their true identities—as the king and prince of England. But things get complicated when they discover that according to the records, Chip and Alex were murdered. How can Jonah and Katherine fix history if it means letting their friends die?

**Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life** by James Patterson

Rafe Khatchadorian has enough problems at home without throwing his first year of middle school into the mix. Luckily, he's got an ace plan for the best year ever, if only he can pull it off: With his best friend Leonardo the Silent awarding him points, Rafe tries to break every rule in his school's oppressive Code of Conduct. Chewing gum in class-5,000 points! Running in the hallway-10,000 points! Pulling the fire alarm-50,000 points! But when Rafe's game starts to catch up with him, he'll have to decide if winning is all that matters, or if he's finally ready to face the rules, bullies, and truths he's been avoiding.

**Off the Crossbar** by David Skuy Charlie Joyce knows he can play hockey - but can he prove it to his new classmates? Things are not going well for 14-year-old Charlie Joyce. Tragic circumstances have forced his family to move to a new town, and now, as the new kid at Terrence Falls High School, he has a lot to prove. This school and town take their hockey seriously and Charlie wants to be on the team, but the best players in the school have taken a disliking to him and warn him not to bother trying out. Charlie knows he can't back down, and decides to let his game do the talking - no matter how unpopular it will make him.

**The Face on the Milk Carton** by Caroline Cooney

A milk carton portrait causes a 15-year-old girl to question her true identity; citing the novel's "strong characterizations and suspenseful, impeccably paced action," PW added, "The roller-coaster ride Jane experiences with her emotions is both absorbing and convincing." Ages 12-up

//**Liesl & Po**// //by Luren Oliver//

Liesl lives in a tiny attic bedroom, locked away by her cruel stepmother. Her only friends are the shadows and the mice—until one night a ghost appears from the darkness. It is Po, who comes from the Other Side. Both Liesl and Po are lonely, but together they are less alone. That same night, an alchemist's apprentice, Will, bungles an important delivery. He accidentally switches a box containing the most powerful magic in the world with one containing something decidedly less remarkable Will's mistake has tremendous consequences for Liesl and Po, and it draws the three of them together on an extraordinary journey.

**Ten Rules for Living with my Sister** by Ann M. Martin

Pearl’s older sister Lexie is in eighth grade and has a boyfriend. Pearl’s only boyfriend is the family’s crabby cat, Bitey. Lexie is popular. Pearl is not, mostly because of the embarrassing Three Bad Things that happened in school and which no one has forgotten. Everything Pearl does seems to drive Lexie crazy. On top of that, their grandfather is moving into their family’s apartment and taking over Pearl’s room. How will these sisters share without driving one another crazy?

Pearl is good at making lists of rules, but sometimes, life doesn’t play by the rules!