BEA Swag Bag

Dodie Ownes -- School Library Journal, 6/3/2009

Bray, Libba. Going Bovine. Random. Sept. 2009. ISBN: 978-0-385-73397-7. Gr 8 and up.

Only Bray can combine a gnome, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Disney World, a place called Putopia, and snow globes in a shaker and come up with this cocktail of a book! Cameron, a 16-year-old that just wants to survive high school, finds out that he has bigger problems—like, he’s soon going to die. But there’s hope if Cam follows the advice of Dulcie, a half-pint angel with a big attitude.

Brindley, John. City of Screams. Carolrhoda. Oct. 2009. ISBN: 978-0-7613-3908-3. Gr 6–12.

Phoenix is an earthbound Agle, one of several variations of genetically altered humans. She believes she’s deformed because she can’t fly. In this sequel to Brindley’s The Rule of the Claw, readers will continue to explore a future world where evolution is managed in a lab and loyalty to one’s own kind becomes a risk.

Bulmahn, Jason. Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Core Rulebook. Paizo. Aug. 2009. ISBN: 978-1-60125-150-3. Gr 7 and up.

If you haven’t heard of Pathfinder yet, just wait. PFRPG, in shorthand, is a role-playing game that extends the Dungeons & Dragons rules from the game’s 3.5 edition. In September, a Pathfinder Bestiary will also be released, allowing players to better understand the monsters they’ll be unleashing during game play.

Chatterton, Martin. The Brain Finds a Leg. Peachtree. Oct. 2009. ISBN: 978-1-56145-503-4. Gr 5–8.

Theophilus Brain is the new kid in Farrago Bay who has some wacky theories on the sudden uptick in the area’s wildlife weirdness. Throw in a missing leg and a crocodile that plays fetch, and you’ve got a quirky mystery that will appeal to fans of Douglas Adams and Neil Gaiman. Chatterton has a sequel, The Brain Full of Holes, coming out next spring.

Coffelt, Nancy. Listen. WestSide. Oct. 2009. ISBN: 978-1-934813-07-2. Gr 8 and up.

Darkness plagues each of Listen’s main characters—and there are plenty of them. Will lives alone following the death of his mother and the incarceration of his 14-year-old brother, Kurt, an addict who’s too young to understand his role in the death of his mother’s abusive boyfriend. And then there’s Carrie, a schizophrenic who compulsively rescues stray and mistreated dogs and cats. The intersection of their lives changes everything.

Danneberg, Julie. Family Reminders. Charlesbridge. July 2009. ISBN: 978-1-58089-320-6. Gr 4–8.

After Mary’s dad loses a leg in a mining accident, everything just seems to go wrong. Set in Cripple Creek, CO, in the 1880s, this tale of overcoming adversity features Mary’s resourcefulness and will remind readers that even a 10-year-old can restore hope and maybe even save the family home.

Doyle, Eugenie. According to Kit. Front Street. Sept. 2009. ISBN: 978-1-59078-474-7. Gr 9–12.

Dance is Kit’s life. But when she’s suddenly pulled out of school by her mother (aka the Lady of Sorrows), Kit can no longer attend ballet lessons because she now must be homeschooled. Just as Kit is about to give up hope, some new teachers arrive and her life appears to be returning to normal and she returns to school. When she takes a trip to Montreal for a dance competition with Luis, one of the new ballet instructors, things get complicated.

Elkeles, Simone. How to Ruin Your Boyfriend’s Reputation. Flux. Nov. 2009. ISBN: 978-0-7387-1879-8. Gr 7–12.

Hurrah! Readers will finally get another dose of Elkeles’s slightly spoiled, smart-mouthed and completely loveable Amy Barak-Nelson as she heads off for two weeks at an Israeli military training camp. Who would have thought that her hot boyfriend Avi would be her team’s commander? And do you know how hard it is to accessorize around camouflage clothing? 

Elliott, Patricia. The Pale Assassin. Holiday House. Oct. 2009. ISBN: 978-0-8234-2250-0. Gr 6–12.

Spoiled, beautiful, 14-year-old Eugénie de Boncoeur maintains a lavish lifestyle as the French Revolution rages around her. Finally, she’s forced to flee, and must dust off her lightly used brain and throw herself into a web of intrigue that includes spies, secret agents, and double-crossing suitors. This is historical fiction at its best.

Fisher, Catherine. Incarceron. Dial. Feb. 2010. ISBN: 978-0-8037-3396-1. Gr 7 and up.

Does anything exist beyond the metal forests of the Incarceron, a seemingly inescapable prison? Seventeen year old Finn believes that something is out there, and when he encounters the warden’s daughter, Claudia, he knows he has found an ally who has escape plans of her own.

Holt, Simon. Soulstice: the Devouring, Book 2. Little, Brown. Sept. 2009. ISBN: 978-0-316-03571-2. Gr 7–11.

Whoa. First, Reggie finds out that there are demonic beings lurking around the edges of the solstice. Then she discovers that her little brother is dabbling in animal mutilation. Scary and full of dark secrets, a good choice for the paranormal crowd.

Huntley, Amy. The Everafter. Balzer + Bray. Sept. 2009. ISBN: 978-0-0617-7679-3. Gr 6–12.

Madison Stanton, dead, now exists in a place she calls ‘Is,’ where it’s possible to retrieve lost parts of her life, such as a trip to Disneyland, and relive and even change the outcome of those moments. Maddy soon learns that the happiest times in her life were often the most insignificant.

Krech, Bob. Rebound. Marshall Cavendish. Oct. 2009. ISBN: 978-0-7614-5543-1. Gr 6–11.

Ray Wisniewski is the only white kid on Franklin High’s basketball team. Why doesn’t he just wrestle? That’s what the white kids do. Even his Polish-American community seems to be down on him. But basketball is his passion, and he learns that it isn’t really just a black-and-white world, both on and off the court.

Norris, Shana. Troy High. Amulet. August 2009. ISBN: 978-0-8109-4647-7. Gr 7 and up.

What if Helen of Troy went to your high school? Well, it would be a lot like life at Troy High. The aptly named and highly competitive teams, the Spartans and the Trojans, go for broke while a little Capulet and Montague action goes on between cheerleaders and football players.

Shannon, Chelsey. Chelsey. Health Communications. August 2009. ISBN: 978-0-7573-1413-1. Gr 7 and up.

Chelsey is one of several new titles in a teen memoir series. She eventually thrives in a performing arts academy, following the murder of her father when Chelsey was just 13. Another in the series, Marni, deals with a hair-pulling stress disorder, and Emily follows a teen stricken by the incurable West Nile virus.

Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Adapted by John McDonald. Various illustrators. Classical Comics. Nov. 2009. ISBN: 978-1-906332-63-1. Gr 6 and up.

This looks like another hit out of the Bard-park for Classical Comics! This gorgeously illustrated graphic novel comes in three versions—original unabridged text, plain text (a modern English “translation”) and quick text, with reduced dialogue to make the content accessible to younger and reluctant readers. Each version carries the same incredible artwork, and extensive background on Shakespeare, period culture, and more.

Shatkin, Laurence. 50 Best College Majors for Secure Future. Jist. Sept. 2009. ISBN: 978-1-59357-726-1. Gr 10 and up.

This eye-opening book pinpoints the best majors for connecting to rewarding jobs with great stability. It includes a list of the top majors that lead to high-paying jobs as well as descriptions of the majors themselves, course sequences, and growth projections through the year 2016. The author is a prominent occupational expert.

Showalter, Gena. Intertwined. Harlequin Teen. Sept. 2009. ISBN: 978-0-373-21002-2. Gr 7–12.

Aden Stone would love to be a normal teen. One that doesn’t have four human souls living inside of him. Having a time traveler, a seer, a possessor, and a messiah messing with your head can be a real drag. Enter sweet Mary, who quiets Aden’s voices. Think it’s over? Just wait until a vampire princess and werewolf shape-shifter get in on the action.

Stark, Richard. The Hunter. Adapted and illustrated by Darwyn Cooke. IDW. July 2009. ISBN: 978-160010-493-0. Gr 11 and up.

The first of four planned adaptations of Don Westlake’s Parker novels (written under the pseudonym Richard Stark), illustrator Cooke will blow fans of hard-boiled thrillers away with this two color graphic novel. Parker’s partner has double-crossed him and his lover has betrayed him, and he’s looking for revenge. Fans of The Spirit, also by Cooke, will quickly scoop this one up.

Taylor, Laini. Lips Touch: Three Times. Illustrated by Jim Di Bartolo. Arthur A. Levine. October 2009. ISBN: 978-0-545-05585-7. Gr 7–12.

This book contains three sizzling tales of love, yearning, and paranormal animal worlds that revolve around the deliciousness of waiting for that moment when lips touch. From the author of Blackbringer and the sequel Silksinger fantasies, this new title cracks genre lines.

Venuti, Kristin Clark. Leaving the Bellweathers. Egmont. Sept. 2009. ISBN: 978-1-60684-006-1. Gr 5–8.