Juvenile/Young Adult

February 3, 2012

Cochran, Molly. LEGACY. Simon & Schuster. January '12. $17.99. Trade pbo. Reading level: teens. "When her widowed father dumps 16-year-old Katy Jessevar in a boarding school in Whitfield, Massachusetts, she has no idea that fate has just opened the door to both her future and her past. Nearly everyone in Whitfield is a witch, as is Katy herself, although she has struggled all her life to hide her unusual talents. Stuck at a boarding school where her fellow students seem to despise her, Katy soon discovers that Whitfield is the place where her mother commited suicide under mysterious circumstances when Katy was just a small child. With dark forces converging on Whitfield, it's up to Katy to unravel her family's many secrets to save the boy she loves and the town itself from destruction."

Fuller, Kathleen. HIDE AND SECRET. Thomas Nelson. October '11. $9.99. The Mysteries of Middlefield Series. Reading level: Young Adult. "Anna Mae Shetler is a tomboy who loves nothing more than exploring the woods with her two best friends, Amos and Jeremiah. During a game of hide and seek they stumble upon a mystery that will threaten to tear apart their friendship, and - as they soon discover - it's a mystery that caused a rift in their families decades earlier. Anna Mae and her friends are playing in the old tree house in the woods when a floor board suddenly breaks. No one is seriously hurt, but when they take a second look, they see that a metal box of money and a diary are hidden under the floor in the crook of the tree branches. Upon further inspection, they discover that it is a lot of money. As the three set out to solve the mystery, they learn that Jeremiah and Anna Mae's grandmothers were once great friends, something they would have never guessed since the two women have only been distantly civil to each other in their lifetimes. As they search further, Jeremiah and Anna Mae realize there is a missing third party who must certainly hold the answers to this puzzle. Before they can find out, the money disappears again and threatens the trust of the three friends. Can Anna Mae solve this mystery before it tears apart more relationships? And can God heal decades-old pain and distrust?"

Roy, Ron. A TO Z MYSTERIES SUPER EDITION #5: The New Year Dragon Dilemma. Illustrated by John Steven Gurney. Random House Books for Young Readers. December '11. $5.99. Reading level: Ages 9-12. A Stepping Stone Book. "Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose are in San Francisco, home of the biggest Chinatown outside of Asia! Their tour guide, Holden, is going to take them to the famous Chinese New Year parade. Best of all, Holden's girlfriend, Lily, is Miss Chinatown. She gets to ride a giant float and wear a crown! But during the parade, Lily goes missing, and so does the crown. The police think Holden did it. Can Dink, Josh and Ruth Rose clear their friend's name by finding the real crook? The alphabet is over, but the mysteries continue in this fourth A to Z Mysteries Super Edition, featuring a secret message hidden in the illustrations."

Staub, Wendy Corsi. LILY DALE: DISCOVERING. Walker Books for Young Readers. December '11. $7.99. Reading level: Young Adult. "After finally learning who was behind her mother's death, Calla still doesn't understand why it happened. Somewhere out there, someone seems to share the powerful psychic abilities that allow Calla to see not only into the past, but to the Other Side - someone who apparently doesn't want to be found. Will Calla's journey lead to the closure she's been searching for, or will it force her to accept yet another loss and forever wonder what might have been? As new mysteries unfold and old ones are solved, this spine-tingling series continues. With an eye-catching new look, Wendy Corsi Staub's fans will not be disappointed."

Van Allsburg, Chris. THE CHRONICLES OF HARRIS BURDICK: Fourteen Amazing Authors Tell the Tales. Harcourt. November '11. $24.99. Reading level: Young Adult. Introduction by Lemony Snicket. "An inspired collection of short stories by an all-star cast of best-selling storytellers based on the thought-provoking illustrations in Chris Van Allsburg's The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. For more than twenty-five years, the illustrations in the extraordinary Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg have intrigued and entertained readers of all ages. Thousands of children have been inspired to weave their own stories to go with these enigmatic pictures. Now we've asked some of our very best storytellers to spin the tales. Enter THE CHRONICLES OF HARRIS BURDICK to gather this incredible compendium of stories: mysterious, funny, creepy, poignant, these are tales you won't soon forget. This inspired collection of short stories features many remarkable, best-selling authors in the worlds of both adult and children's literature: Sherman Alexie, M.T. Anderson, Kate DiCamillo, Cory Doctorow, Jules Feiffer, Stephen King, Tabitha King, Lois Lowry, Gregory Maguire, Walter Dean Myers, Linda Sue Park, Louis Sachar, Jon Scieszka, Lemony Snicket, and Chris Van Allsburg himself. Van Allsburg's Harris Burdick illustrations have evoked such wonderment and imagination since Harris Burdick's original publication in 1984; many have speculated or have woven their own stories to go with his images. More than ever, the illustrations send off their eerie call for text and continue to compel and pick at the reader's brain for a backstory - a threaded tale behind the image. In this book, we've collected some of the best storytellers to spin them."

Wenzel, Angela. 13 ART MYSTERIES CHILDREN SHOULD KNOW. Prestel USA. June '11. $14.95. Reading level: Ages 4-8. "In this intriguing book, young readers will be introduced to the unsolved mysteries behind some of the world s greatest art and artists. For as long as people have been viewing the masterpieces in this book, they've been asking the same questions: Why is the Mona Lisa smiling? Who was that girl with the pearl earring? What made Magritte's reading woman so frightened? These and other great mysteries of the art world are explored in this colourful, fun, and informative children's book. Each masterpiece is presented in a double page spread with stunning reproductions, biographical information about the artist, historical context and the pressing questions themselves. From Bosch to Banksy, the mysterious life of Caravaggio to the strange room in Velazques' Las Meninas, Surrealism to stolen art - young readers' interests in some of the world's great masterpieces will be piqued by the puzzles they offer and that remain unsolved to this day."

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