F JAH	Country Girl, City Girl (age 12+) by Lisa Jahn-Clough growing up ... identity ... friendship Publisher comments: Phoebe Sharp has long red braids. She wears old beat-up sneakers and clothes from Goodwill. She lives with her father and brother on a small farm in Maine, where she reads fairy tales to her goats and snaps pictures with her Instamatic camera. Phoebe doesn't have a single friend, never mind a boyfriend—that is, not until she meets Melita. Melita arrives at the Sharps' farm in a see-through T-shirt and strappy platform sandals that show off her drawn-on "tattoo." With her caramel-colored skin, stylish clothes, and urban attitude, Melita seems as different from Phoebe as two teenage girls could be. Through the summer, the girls grow to know each other. As their friendship develops, confusing feelings also begin to emerge. Could their friendship be deepening into something more?
F BRI	The Princess and the Pauper (age 12+) by Kate Brian humor ... identity ... princesses Publisher comments: Shabby...chic? Carina, a real European princess, is dying to hook up with the sexy American rock star she met online. Too bad about all those bodyguards watching her every move. Then Carina spots her down-and-out near-twin, Julia. For a fast ten grand, Julia grabs the gown and the crown, and the girls swap identities for a day. Before long Princess Carina is trapped on a skeevy bus full of roadies, and Pauper Julia is jetting off to...some small foreign country? Only a storybook ending can get these two posers back to where they belong.
F BRA	The Gemma Doyle Trilogy (age 12+) by Libba Bray magic ... identity ... fantasy ... historical Publisher comments: It's 1895, and after the suicide of her mother, 16-year-old Gemma Doyle is shipped off from the life she knows in India to Spence, a proper boarding school in England. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma's reception there is a chilly one. To make things worse, she's been followed by a mysterious young Indian man, a man sent to watch her. But why? What is her destiny? And what will her entanglement with Spence's most powerful girls, and their foray into the spiritual world, lead to? title: A Great and Terrible Beauty title: Rebel Angels title: The Sweet Far Thing
F CHO	Daniel Half Human and the Good Nazi (age 12+) by David Chotjewitz bigotry ... identity ... friendship ... war ... survival ... historical Publisher comments: All his life, Daniel has been hiding. He just doesn't know it. Until the spring of 1933, he's enjoyed a comfortable German boyhood with his well-to-do family, in school, at soccer. Daniel's even enjoyed jail...for one exciting night...with his best friend, Armin, after they've been caught painting a swastika on a wall in the hated Communist section of Hamburg. In their cell, the boys cut their wrists, mingle blood, and swear lasting brotherhood. Then, a thunderclap: Daniel learns to his horror that his mother is Jewish, that he is therefore half-Jewish and, in Aryan eyes, half-human. Daniel keeps the truth a secret. He and Armin still talk of joining the Hitler Youth. But Armin's father, an out-of-work longshoreman and a Socialist, forbids it. Armin joins anyway, with fateful consequences for Daniel's family. Throughout World War II, and until the story's haunting final scene, each friend holds the life of the other in his hands.
F DES	Born Confused (age 12+) by Tannuja Desai-Hidier realistic ... growing up ... identity ... humor Publisher comments: Dimple Lala doesn't know what to think. Her parents are from India, and she's spent her whole life resisting their traditions. Then suddenly she gets to high school and everything Indian is trendy. To make matters worse, her parents arrange for her to meet a "suitable boy." Of course it doesn't go well, until Dimple goes to a club and finds him spinning a magical web. Suddenly the suitable boy is suitable because of his sheer unsuitability. Complications ensue. This is a funny, thoughtful story about finding your heart, finding your culture, and finding your place in America.
F CRE	Children of the River (age 12+) by Linda Crew realistic ... growing up ... family ... identity ... survival Publisher comments: Sundara fled Cambodia with her aunt's family to escape the Khmer Rouge army when she was thirteen, leaving behind her parents, her brother and sister, and the boy she had loved since she was a child. Now, four years later, she struggles to fit in at her Oregon high school and to be "a good Cambodian girl" at home. A good Cambodian girl never dates; she waits for her family to arrange her marriage to a Cambodian boy. Yet Sundara and Jonathan, an extraordinary American boy, are powerfully drawn to each other. Haunted by grief for her lost family and for the life left behind, Sundara longs to be with him. At the same time she wonders, Are her hopes for happiness and new life in America disloyal to her past and her people?
F HOF	Incantation (age 12+) by Alice Hoffman family ... bigotry ... historical ... identity Publisher comments: Estrella is a Marrano: During the time of the Spanish Inquisition, she is one of a community of Spanish Jews living double lives as Catholics. And she is living in a house of secrets, raised by a family who practices underground the ancient and mysterious way of wisdom known as kabbalah. When Estrella discovers her family's true identity--and her family's secrets are made public--she confronts a world she's never imagined, where new love burns and where friendship ends in flame and ash, where trust is all but vanquished and betrayal has tragic and bitter consequences. Infused with the rich context of history and faith, in her most profoundly moving work to date, Alice Hoffman's first historical novel is a transcendent journey of discovery and loss, rebirth and remembrance.
F CRA	Afrika (age 12+) by Colleen Craig identity ... historical Publisher comments: For thirteen-year-old Kim, travel to South Africa with her journalist mother will mark the end of her childhood and the beginning of a remarkable journey. Expecting nothing more than three months in her mother’s homeland, Kim comes to terms with the country's diverse and often shocking history. The Truth and Reconciliation Hearings in post-apartheid South Africa open her eyes to the tragedy and brutality of its segregationist policies. Kim's first meeting with her relatives, her contact with schoolmates and cousins, bring her face-to-face with the realization that she is not as removed from this powerful story as she thought. As her mother struggles with her past, Kim becomes more and more determined to unlock the secret that has always kept her from knowing her father. Helped by the young son of a long-time family servant, whose own father was a casualty of Apartheid history, Kim eventually unlocks her mystery and brings her mother and herself to their own truth and reconciliation. Layered and complex, this is a novel that raises questions and challenges beliefs.
F CAB	Airhead (age 12+) by Meg Cabot growing up ... friendship ... identity Publisher comments: EM Watts is gone. Emerson Watts didn't even want to go to the new SoHo Stark Megastore grand opening. But someone needed to look out for her sister, Frida, whose crush, British heartthrob Gabriel Luna, would be singing and signing autographs there, along with the newly appointed Face of Stark, teen supermodel sensation Nikki Howard. How was Em to know that disaster would strike, changing her, and life as she'd known it, forever? One bizarre accident later, and Em Watts, always the tomboy, never the party princess, is no longer herself. Literally. Now getting her best friend, Christopher, to notice that she's actually a girl is the least of Em's problems. But what Em's pretty sure she'll never be able to accept might just turn out to be the one thing that's going to make her dream come true.
F JIN	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
F JOH	Heaven: A Novel (age 12+) by Angela Johnson family ... growing up ... identity Publisher comments: Marley has lived in Heaven since she was two years old, when her mother found a postcard postmarked HEAVEN, OH on a park bench and decided that was where she wanted to raise her family. And for twelve years, Marley's hometown has lived up to its name. She lives in a house by the river, has loving parents, a funny younger brother, good friends, and receives frequent letters from her mysterious Uncle Jack. Then one day a letter arrives from Alabama, and Marley's life is turned upside down. Marley doesn't even know who she is anymore, but where can she go for answers, when she's been deceived by the very people she should be able to trust the most?
F MUS	The Door of No Return (age 12+) by Sarah Mussi historical ... identity ... mystery ... action ... adventure Publisher comments: Zac Baxter's grandfather has always told him that he's the descendant of African kings, whose treasure was stolen when his ancestors were sold into slavery. Of course, Zac brushes this off as a tall tale, until his grandfather is murdered and their apartment is completely ransacked. Clearly somebody is after something. Heeding his grandfather's dying words, Zac is off to Ghana to track down his family's history. But what did his grandfather mean when he said that Zac had the map to the treasure? Following every clue he can find, Zac begins to suspect that the treasure is real, and hidden in one of Ghana's old slave forts. Too bad the killers always seem to be one step ahead of him. With no one he can trust and with everything to lose, Zac races against time as he tries to uncover the truth about the past, and a fortune in gold.
F ALL	Gotta Get Some Bish Bash Bosh (age 12+) by M. E. Allen friendship ... identity ... growing up Publisher comments: What would you do if you were dumped 'cause you had no bish bash bosh (a.k.a. self-confidence and sex appeal)? Change your image, of course. You could opt for a new French coif, even if overpriced and results resemble a coconut. Or try a new diet. Good-bye sticky buns, hello fresh fruit. You could join the rugby team for requisite male bonding. Or try to get the support of parents, who suffer from PPFS, Premature Parental Fatigue Syndrome, and are otherwise indifferent to nutritional and style needs. Perhaps this improved self will land you a new love interest. Earn you a spot on the A-list. Thwart your embarrassing best friend. Or help you get even with your ex. It just might work. . . . Meet the new "It Guy" in this witty and hilarious account of one teen's search for popularity and self-confidence.
F ALE	The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (age 12+) by Sherman Alexie humor ... growing up ... letters/journal ... identity Publisher comments: Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot. Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the author's own experiences, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live.
F TAN	The Arrival (age 12+) by Shaun Tan family ... identity ... voyages/journeys In a heartbreaking parting, a man gives his wife and daughter a last kiss and boards a steamship to cross the ocean. He's embarking on the most painful yet important journey of his life; he's leaving home to build a better future for his family. Shaun Tan evokes universal aspects of an immigrant's experience through a singular work of the imagination. He does so using brilliantly clear and mesmerizing images.
F STO	Five Ancestors Series (age 12+) by Jeff Stone identity ... adventure ... action ... historical Twelve-year-old Fu and his temple brothers Malao, Seh, Hok, and Long don’t know who their parents were. Raised from infancy by their grandmaster, they think of their temple as their home and their fellow warrior monks as their family. Then one terrible night, the temple is destroyed by an army led by a former monk named Ying, whose heart is bent on revenge. Fu and his brothers are the only survivors. Charged by their grandmaster to uncover the secrets of their past, the five flee into the countryside and go their separate ways. Somehow, Grandmaster has promised, their pasts are connected to Ying’s. Understanding that the past is the key to shaping the future, the first book in the series follows Fu as he struggles to find out more and prove himself in the process. Fu’s name literally means “tiger,” for he is the youngest-ever master of the fierce fighting style modeled after that animal. title: Tiger title: Monkey title: Snake title: Crane title: Eagle title: Mouse title: Dragon
F SHE	Keeping Corner (age 12+) by Kashmira Sheth identity ... historical ... growing up Ba slipped the gold bangles from my wrists. The gold ones were plain so I didn't mind taking them off, but I loved wearing my milk-glass bangles and the lakkh bracelets. A widow can't wear bangles, she said. They are signs of a woman's good fortune. When your husband dies it's over. What if my good fortune comes back? It doesn't. Pretty as a peacock, twelve-year-old Leela had been spoiled all her life. She doesn't care for school and barely marks the growing unrest between the British colonists and her own countrymen. Why should she? Her future has been planned since her engagement at two and marriage at nine. Leela's whole life changes, though, when her husband dies. She's now expected to behave like a proper widow: shaving her head and trading her jewel-toned saris for rough, earth-colored ones. Leela is considered unlucky now, and will have to stay confined to her house for a year ... keep corner ... in preparation for a life of mourning for a boy she barely knew. When her schoolteacher hears of her fate, she offers Leela lessons at home. For the first time, despite her confinement, Leela opens her eyes to the changing world around her. India is suffering from a severe drought, and farmers are unable to pay taxes to the British. She learns about a new leader of the people, a man named Gandhi, who starts a political movement and practices satyagraha-non-violent protest against the colonists as well as the caste system. The quiet strength ofsatyagraha may liberate her country. Could she use the same path to liberate herself?
F LOW	Gathering Blue (age 12+) by Lois Lowry fantasy ... identity ... science fiction Kira, an orphan with a twisted leg, lives in a world where the weak are cast aside. She fears for her future until she is spared by the all-powerful Council of Guardians. Kira is a gifted weaver and is given a task that no other community member can do. While her talent keeps her alive and brings certain privileges, Kira soon realizes she is surrounded by many mysteries and secrets. No one must know of her plans to uncover the truth about her world and see what places exist beyond. Companion to The Giver.
F LOW	Messenger (age 12+) by Lois Lowry fantasy ... identity ... science fiction Strange changes are taking place in Village. Once a utopian community that prided itself on its welcome to new strangers, Village will soon be closed to all outsiders. As one of the few people able to travel through the dangerous Forest, Matty must deliver the message of Village's closing and try to convince Seer's daughter to return with him before it's too late. But Forest has become hostile to Matty as well, and he must risk everything to fight his way through it, armed only with an emerging power he cannot yet explain or understand. The characters from Lowry's The Giver and Gathering Blue meet in this shocking novel of utopia gone wrong.
F JAM	Perfect World (age 12+) by Brian James growing up ... friendship ... identity Lacie's best friend Jenna wants to grow up fast. Even though Lacie isn't so sure, she follows Jenna anyway. At first it isn't that bad. She even meets a boy whose problems are compatible with hers. But then Jenna's friendship turns fierce and their perfect world comes tumbling down.
F HAL	Book of a Thousand Days (age 12+) by Shannon Hale folklore ... identity ... fantasy When Dashti, a maid, and Lady Saren, her mistress, are shut in a tower for seven years for Saren's refusal to marry a man she despises, the two prepare for a very long and dark imprisonment. As food runs low and the days go from broiling hot to freezing cold, it is all Dashti can do to keep them fed and comfortable. But the arrival outside the tower of Saren's two suitors (one welcome, and the other decidedly less so) brings both hope and great danger, and Dashti must make the desperate choices of a girl whose life is worth more than she knows.
F GAL	The Legend of the Wandering King (age 12+) by Laura GallegoGarcia fantasy ... identity ... adventure Walid was a model prince: handsome, intelligent, skilled in the arts of warfare and poetry. But the kingdom boasted one greater poet than he, and out of jealousy Walid cursed the man to create an impossible work of art: a carpet showing the history of the entire human race. The poet died weaving it. Men went mad seeing it. And when it is stolen, Walid discovers his life's quest: to recover the carpet and earn forgiveness for his mistakes. Inspired by the story of a real king of pre-Muslim Arabia, Legend is a magical fantasy, a meditation on destiny, and an utterly thrilling adventure.
F CIS	The House on Mango Street (age 12+) by Sandra Cisneros short stories ... growing up ... identity Sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous, The House on Mango Street tells the story of Esperanza Cordero, whose neighborhood is one of harsh realities and harsh beauty. Esperanza doesn't want to belong ... not to her rundown neighborhood, and not to the low expectations the world has for her. Esperanza's story is that of a young girl coming into her power, and inventing for herself what she will become.
F JOR	The Raging Quiet (age 12+) by Sherryl Jordan friendship ... bigotry ... identity Widowed just two days after her marriage, Marnie finds herself an outsider in the remote seaside village of Torcurra. Spurned by the townsfolk who suspect her involvement in her husband's death, she has only two friends: the local priest and the madman known as Raver, even more of an outcast than Marnie herself. Marnie makes a remarkable discovers about Raver, whom she renames Raven, and the two forge a deep bond that begins to heal her own bruised heart. But the suspicious villagers see Raven's transformation as evidence of witchcraft, and suddenly Marnie finds herself facing an ordeal that threatens not only her future with Raven, but her very life.
F YEP	Child of the Owl (age 12+) by Laurence Yep growing up ... identity ... family In Child of the Owl, a twelve-year-old girl who knows little about her Chinese heritage is sent to live with her grandmother in San Francisco's Chinatown. sequel: Thief of Hearts
F LOW	The Giver (age 12+) by Lois Lowry science fiction ... fantasy ... identity Jonas' world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear of pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the community. When Jonas turns 12 he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back.

Sat Aug 25 11:55:25 2012 Other themes and genres