Grades 5 & Up 05/01/2009
Fiction ABRAHAMS, Peter . Reality Check . 336p. HarperTeen/Laura Geringer Bks. May 2009. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-06-122766-0 ; PLB $17.89. ISBN 978-0-06-122767-7 . LC 2008022593. Gr 9 Up—Set in Little Bend, CO, and North Dover, VT, Abrahams's novel follows Cody, 16, who sustains a serious knee injury that leaves him on the bench during the most important recruiting year in his high school...
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Grades 5 & Up 04/01/2009
Fiction ANDERSON, Jodi Lynn . Love and Peaches . 243p. HarperTeen . 2008. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-06-073311-7 ; PLB $17.89. ISBN 978-0-06-073312-4 . LC number unavailable. Gr 8 Up—In this conclusion to the series that began in Peaches (HarperCollins, 2005), the author delights once again with more friendship, love, and, of course, peaches.
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Grades 5 & Up 03/01/2009
Fiction AKSOMITIS, Linda . Longhorns and Outlaws . 185p. CIP. Coteau . 2008. pap. $8.95. ISBN 978-1-55050-378-4 . LC C2008-904969-1. Gr 4–6—This novel gets off to a bumpy start and barely regains its balance as the story progresses. Orphaned in the Galveston hurricane of 1900, 12-year-old Lucas and his older brother, Gil, go from their Dutch enclave in Texas to Billings, MT, to see...
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Grades 5 & Up 02/01/2009
Fiction ABDEL-FATTAH, Randa . Ten Things I Hate About Me . 297p. CIP. Scholastic/Orchard . 2009. RTE $16.99. ISBN 978-0-545-05055-5 . LC 2008013667. Gr 7 Up—Lebanese-Australian Jamilah has two lives. At school she is blond-haired, blue-eyed (thanks to contact lenses) Jamie. At home she is Jamilah, a rebellious, but dutiful, daughter of a strict, widowed father.
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Reviews: Grades 5 & Up 01/01/2009
Fiction AGELL, Charlotte . Shift . 230p. CIP. Holt/Christy Ottaviano Bks. 2008. Tr $16.95. ISBN 978-0-8050-7810-7 . LC 2007046942. Gr 7–9—Adrian Havoc, 15, lives in an urban hotbox in the partially post-nuclear United Christian States, where the end of the world is nigh. He meets Lenora, a beautiful zookeeper on a mission to deliver a favorite penguin to colder waters.
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Grades 5 & Up 12/01/2008
Fiction AIN, Beth Levine . The Revolution of Sabine . 214p. CIP. Candlewick . 2008. RTE $16.99. ISBN 978-0-7363-3396-7 . LC 2007022121. Gr 6–9—Sabine Durand, 16, knows that she should be preoccupied with balls, attending the opera, and attracting a suitable match. But lately she's had other things on her mind—things like free will, the ability to make choices and determine th...
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Grades 5 & Up 11/01/2008
Fiction ADAMS, John Joseph , ed. Seeds of Change: Nine Science Fiction Writers Envision Moments When Our World Could Be Reborn . 240p. Prime . 2008. Tr $19.95. ISBN 978-0-8095-7310-3 . LC number unavailable. Gr 11 Up—For this collection, each author was asked to write a story about a paradigm shift, a turning point when the world changes.
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Grades 5 & Up 10/01/2008
Fiction AGUIAR, Nadia . The Lost Island of Tamarind . Bk. 1. 448p. (The Book of Tamarind Series). Feiwel & Friends . Oct. 2008. Tr $17.95. ISBN 978-0-312-38029-8 . LC number unavailable. Gr 5–8—Maya, 13; her younger brother, Simon; and baby Penny are left adrift and alone on the ship on which they live after their marine-scientist parents go overboard during a mighty storm.
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Grades 5 & Up 09/01/2008
Fiction AALIYAH . Maid Machinegun . tr. from Japanese by Anastasia Moreno. illus. by Suzuhito Yasuda. 185p. glossary. CIP. Del Rey . 2008. pap. $9.95. ISBN 978-0-345-50253-7 . LC 2008000467. Gr 9 Up—While there are a few illustrations at the beginning of the book and a two-page "comicalized" passage at the end, most of this book is a straightforward novel.
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Grades 5 & Up 08/01/2008
Fiction ALTEBRANDO, Tara . What Happens Here . 242p. MTV . 2008. pap. $9.95. ISBN 978-1-4165-4111-0 . LC number unavailable. Gr 9–11—Living in Vegas, high school juniors Chloe and Lindsay are surrounded by imitations of the world's greatest places. They've always been like sisters and they plan to travel the world when they're older.
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Grades 5 & Up 07/01/2008
Fiction ALEXANDER, Alma . Spellspam . Bk. 2. 437p. (Worldweavers Series). CIP. HarperCollins/Eos . 2008. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-06-083958-1 ; PLB $18.89. ISBN 978-0-06-083959-8 . LC 2007008618. Gr 7 Up—In Gift of the Unmage (Eos, 2007), Thea Winthrop, a double seventh who had shown no supernatural ability, learns how to use computers to weave worlds where she can use her magical power.
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Grades 5 & Up 06/01/2008
Fiction AMATEAU, Gigi . Chancey of the Maury River . 256p. Candlewick . 2008. Tr $15.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-3439-1 . LC 2007027961. Gr 4–8—On the night that Chancey is born, a comet streaks across the sky, a sign that a horse of great beauty and wisdom has been born. However, it seems unlikely that the Appaloosa will fulfill this prophecy.
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Grades 5 & Up 05/01/2008
Fiction ÁBALOS, Rafael . Grimpow: The Invisible Road . tr. from Spanish by Noël Baca Castex. 493p. glossary. CIP. Delacorte . 2007. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-385-73374-8 ; PLB $20.99. ISBN 978-0-385-90389-9 . LC 2006031830. Gr 6–8—When a 14th-century peasant boy stumbles onto a mysterious corpse, his life is inexorably altered.
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Grades 5 & Up By Staff - 04/01/2008
Fiction ABBOTT, Tony . The Postcard . 354p. Little, Brown . Apr. 2008. Tr $15.99. ISBN 978-0-316-01172-3 . LC number unavailable. Gr 5–8—Retirement mecca St. Petersburg provides the perfect backdrop for Abbot's mystery. Jason, 13, flies down to Florida to help his dad settle his grandmother's estate.
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The Evidence-Based Manifesto for School Librarians By Ross Todd - 04/01/2008
Every fall, School Library Journal hosts a national Leadership Summit that brings together a mix of school librarians, administrators, other educators, researchers, and university professors, as well as policy makers and elected officials. While the topics change, the Summit always focuses on an issue of critical importance to school librarians.
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Grades 5 & Up 03/01/2008
Fiction ABRAHAMS, Peter . Into the Dark: An Echo Falls Mystery . 304p. CIP. HarperCollins/Laura Geringer Bks. Mar. 2008. Tr $15.99. ISBN 978-0-06-073708-5 ; PLB $16.89. ISBN 978-0-06-073709-2 . LC 2006103018. Gr 5–8—When an environmental agent is murdered on her grandfather's farm, Ingrid Levin-Hill, 13, is again cast in the role of detective.
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Grades 5 & Up 02/01/2008
Fiction AVI . The Seer of Shadows . 208p. HarperCollins . Mar. 2008. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-06-000015-8 ; PLB $17.89. ISBN 978-0-06-000016-5 . LC number unavailable. Gr 4–6—It's 1872, and 14-year-old Horace Carpetine is not pleased. Apprenticed to a photographer in New York City, he finds out that his boss has decided to cash in on the idea of being a "spirit photographer" who can c...
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G’Day, Young Explorers Lauren Barack - 01/14/2008 Students eager for a walkabout Down Under have a chance to win a 10-day Australian expedition courtesy of National Geographic Kids and its annual Hands-On Explorer Challenge.
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Reviews: Grades 5 & Up By Staff - 01/01/2008
Fiction ANDERSON, John David . Standard Hero Behavior . 273p. CIP. Clarion . 2007. Tr $16. ISBN 978-0-618-75920-0 . LC 2007013059. Gr 6–10—Mason and Cowel live in Highsmith, a town that used to be filled with heroes who chased dragons and battled ogres. But then all but one of them, including Mason's father, packed up and left—gone on a mysterious errand, from which no one re...
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Grades 5 & Up 12/01/2007
Fiction ACKERMANN, Joan . In the Space Left Behind . 400p. CIP. HarperCollins/Laura Geringer Bks. 2007. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-06-072255-5 ; PLB $17.89. ISBN 978-0-06-072256-2 . LC 2006022172. Gr 7–10—The window box that falls and kills Colm's dog on the night that the teen's mother marries for the third time pretty much describes how his life is going.
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