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Evil Genius Series (age 12+)
by Catherine Jinks
fantasy ... science fiction ... mystery ... identity ... adventure ... action ... brilliant protagonist ... school
Publisher comments: Cadel Piggott has a genius IQ and a fascination with systems of all kinds. At seven, he was illegally hacking into computers. Now he's fourteen and studying for his World Domination degree, taking classes like embezzlement, misinformation, forgery, and infiltration at the institute founded by criminal mastermind Dr. Phineas Darkkon. Although Cadel may be advanced beyond his years, at heart he's a lonely kid. When he falls for the mysterious and brilliant Kay-Lee, he begins to question the moral implications of his studies for the first time. But is it too late to stop Dr. Darkkon from carrying out his evil plot? An engrossing thriller with darkness and humor, freaks and geeks, Evil Genius explores the fine line between good and evil in a strange world of manipulations and subterfuge where nothing is as it seems.
title: Evil Genius
title: Genius Squad
title: Genius Wars
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KAI
The Social Experiments of Dorie Dilts (age 12+)
by P. G. Kain
humor ... math/science/technology ... friendship ... school ... brilliant protagonist
Publisher comments: Objective: Be Selected to Present at Academy Day. Process: Scientific Method. Step 1: Formulate a Question. What would it take to get Tiffany to notice Igor? Dorie is in science geek heaven at the National Academy for Gifted Youth's science program until she realizes she has gone from being a big fish in a small pond to a typically sized Amphiprion percula in a hyperacclimated environment of equally skilled Amphiprion percula. More simply, Dorie no longer rules the lab. Igor Ellis, however, does. Unlike popularity, being cool isn't about fitting in - it's about standing out. This eureka discovery leads Dorie to the solution of her latest puzzle. Eager to prove her science skills, Dorie is conducting a new social experiment. With assistance from her fabulous and fashionable best friend, Dixie, she's about to take Igor from geek to chic.
title: The School For Cool
title: Dumped by Popular Demand
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MAR
The Night Tourist (age 12+)
by Katherine Marsh
brilliant protagonist ... fantasy ... action ... adventure
Publisher comments: Jack Perdu, a shy, ninth grade classics prodigy lives with father on the Yale University campus. Smart and introverted, Jack spends most of his time alone, his nose buried in a book. But when Jack suffers a near fatal accident, his life is forever changed. His father sends him to a mysterious doctor in New York City--a place Jack hasn't been since his mother died there eight years ago. While in the city, Jack meets Euri, a young girl who offers to show him the secrets of Grand Central Station. Here, Jack discovers New York's Underworld, a place where those who died in the city reside until they are ready to move on. This, Jack believes, is a chance to see his mother again. But as secrets about Euri's past are revealed, so are the true reasons for Jack's visit to the Underworld. Masterfully told, The Night Tourist weaves together New York City's secret history and its modern-day landscape to create a highly vivid ghost world, full of magical adventure and page-turning action.
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Airman (age 12+)
by Eoin Colfer
historical ... adventure ... action ... brilliant protagonist ... math/science/technology
Airman is set in the 1890's on the sovereign Saltee Islands, off the Irish coast. It is the story of Conor Broekhart, a young Saltee Islander whose father, Declan, is the King's bodyguard. When Conor discovers that the power hungry Marshall Hugo Bonvilain is organizing a military coup, the king is murdered and Conor is blamed for the crime and thrown into prison. In prison, Conor passes the solitary months by scratching designs for flying machines into the walls. This has always been his dream, to win the race for flight. After two years, Conor now sixteen, plans and executes a daring escape to the mainland. Initially he plans to return home, but realizes that this would put his entire family in danger, so instead he builds a glider to fly to the prison island and reclaim the diamonds he buried there from the prison mine. Eight bags of diamonds, means eight trips. Conor' s father is beginning to question Bonvilain's rule, and so the marshall decides to use his son to blackmail him. This is when he realizes that Conor has escaped. He also finds Conor's drawings and realizes that he is the mysterious Airman who has been flying around the prison island. Bonvilain arrests Conor's whole family to trap him. To save them, Conor will have to build the flying machine that he has been dreaming of all these years.

Sat Aug 25 11:55:25 2012
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