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WIT
Heart on My Sleeve (age 12+)
by Ellen Wittlinger
family ... letters/journal
Publisher comments: "I'm not picking Cartwright just because I met Julian there. For all I know he'll change his mind and not even go! Although that would be a shame because I want him to be the father of my firstborn child. KIDDING!" While on a college visit, Chloe meets Julian, another prospective freshman, and infatuated, the two high school seniors begin a long-distance relationship. Chloe is thrilled that she'll have a boyfriend at college, although she doesn't know how to break the news to Eli, her best friend whom she's sort of dating. As Chloe and Julian prepare to meet again, they must face the question of whether their relationship is based on who they really are or who they imagine each other to be.
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MOR
The Year of Secret Assignments (age 12+)
by Jaclyn Moriarty
realistic ... friendship ... humor ... school ... letters/journal
Publisher comments: The Ashbury-Brookfield pen pal program is designed to bring together the two rival schools in a spirit of harmony and "the Joy of the Envelope." But when Cassie, Lydia, and Emily send their first letters to Matthew, Charlie, and Sebastian, things don't go quite as planned. What starts out as a simple letter exchange soon leads to secret missions, false alarms, lock picking, mistaken identities, and an all-out war between the schools--not to mention some really excellent kissing.
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MAL
N. Love Letters Series (age 12+)
by Jahnna Malcolm
letters/journal
Catalog: Each book finds love in the air. Madison and Jeremy are bitter enemies and are both running for president of their high school; but as the election gets nastier, Madison gets hooked up with an anonymous pen pal who calls himself Blue. Jade, having had a crush on Zephyr for a long time, decides to take a chance and write him a love letter, but things really begin to get interesting when Adam gets the letter instead. Rachel has her best friend, Hannah, write e-mails for her to Dylan, but the plan backfires when Dylan begins to fall for the writer of the letters.
title: Perfect Strangers
title: Mixed Messages
title: The Write Stuff
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JUB
Miss Smithers (age 12+)
by Susan Juby
realistic ... letters/journal ... humor ... enterprise ... friendship ... growing up
Publisher comments: In Spite of the premature publication of my 'zine and resulting renewed social ostracism, things are happening for me! I've been stood up by the coolest girl in school, I have a Jesus bracelet, I ate dinner at a steak restaurant and lived to tell, I may be a virgin until I marry, I'm a Miss Smithers candidate, and I HAVE LEATHER PANTS! Susan Juby's delightful second novel is about finding the perfect outfit and finding oneself, about winning a pageant and winning at love.
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JUB
Alice, I Think (age 12+)
by Susan Juby
realistic ... school ... letters/journal ... humor ... friendship ... growing up
Publisher comments: "I grew up in one of those loving families that fails to prepare a person for real life..." A few weeks into first grade Alice's parents took her out of school and have taught her at home ever since. Now she's about to enter high school, with the stated goal of boosting the self-esteem of her counselor, Death Lord Bob. Bob is happy now. But what about Alice? Will she be able to interact with people her own age who are not home-based learners? Will she be able to survive some sort of boy-girl interaction? Or is this best left until after high school? Until middle age? What about a unique and innovative career path? A new look? (This must, like career choice, reflect uniqueness.) Alice, I Thinkis the story of a teenager attempting to survive her parents, her hometown, and her reentry into society. Told through keenly observant, satirical journal entries, Susan Juby's first novel is wise, witty, and utterly original.
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LEE
The Claidi Journals (age 12+)
by Tanith Lee
letters/journal ... adventure ... action ... fantasy
Publisher comments: A new teen fantasy series begins with this story that sweeps readers into an epic adventure while probing truths of adolescence. Claidi is a 16-year-old orphan, forced to serve as a handmaiden to a cruel, royal family in the oppressive House. Outspoken and ready for romance, she becomes embroiled in a plot to rescue a handsome, intriguing prisoner.
title: Wolf Tower
title: Wolf Star
title: Wolf Queen
title: Wolf Wing
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CAR
Bloodline: A Novel (age 12+)
by Kate Cary
war ... letters/journal ... fantasy
Publisher comments: Nineteen-year-old John Shaw returns from World War One and is haunted by nightmares of not only the battles but the horrifying discovery that his regimental commander is descended from Count Dracula.
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CAB
The Princess Diaries (age 12+)
by Meg Cabot
princesses ... letters/journal ... growing up ... authorship ... school ... humor
Publisher comments: She's just a New York City girl living with her artist mom... News Flash: Dad is prince of Genovia. (So that's why a limo meets her at the airport!) Downer: Dad can't have any more kids. (So no heir to the throne.) Shock of the Century: Like it or not, Mia Thermopolis is prime princess material. Mia must take princess lessons from her dreaded grandmere, the dowager princess of Genovia, who thinks Mia has a thing or two to learn before she steps up to the throne. Well, her father can lecture her until he's royal-blue in the face about her princessly duty, no way is she moving to Genovia and leaving Manhattan behind. But what's a girl to do when her name is Princess Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo?
title: The Princess Diaries
title: Princess in the Spotlight
title: Princess in Love
title: Princess in Waiting
title: Project Princess
title: Princess in Pink
title: Princess in Training
title: Party Princess
title: Valentine Princess
title: Princess on the Brink
title: Sweet Sixteen Princess
title: Perfect Princess
title: Princess Mia
title: Forever Princess
title: The Princess Present: A Princess Diaries Book
title: Holiday Princess
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PFE
Life As We Knew It (age 12+)
by Susan Beth Pfeffer
letters/journal ... science fiction ... adventure ... nature ... survival
Publisher comments: Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when an asteroid knocks the moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove. In her journal, Miranda records the events of each desperate day, while she and her family struggle to hold on to their most priceless resource--hope.
sequel: The Dead and the Gone
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REN
Confessions of Georgia Nicolson (age 12+)
by Louise Rennison
growing up ... letters/journal ... humor
Publisher comments: Angus: My mixed-breed cat, half domestic tabby, half Scottish wildcat. The size of a small Labrador, only mad. Likes to stalk Mr. and Mrs. Next Door's poodle. I used to drag him around on a lead, but, as I explained to Mrs. Next Door, he ate it. Thongs: Stupid underwear worn by old Swotty Knickers, Lindsay What's the point of them, anyway? They just go up your bum, as far as I can tell. Full-Frontal Snogging: Kissing with the trimmings, lip to lip, open mouth, tongues...everything (apart from dribble, which is never acceptable). As taught to me by a professional snogger. In this wildly funny journal of a year in the life of Georgia Nicolson, British author Louise Rennison has perfectly captured the soaring joys and bottomless angust if being a teenager. This fresh, irreverent, and simply hilarious book will leave you laughing out loud. As Georgia would say, it's "Fabbity fab fab!"
title: Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson
title: Away Laughing on a Fast Camel: Even More Confessions of Georgia Nicolson
title: Dancing in my Nuddypants: Even Further Confessions of Georgia Nicolson
title: Knocked Out By My Nunganungas: Further, Further Confessions of Georgia Nicolson
title: Love is a Many Trousered Thing: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson
title: On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God: Further Confessions of Georgia Nicolson
title: Startled by His Furry Shorts
title: Stop in the Name of Pants: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson
title: Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson
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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.
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CUS
Catherine, Called Birdy (age 12+)
by Karen Cushman
growing up ... letters/journal ... historical
Catherine feels trapped. Her father is determined to marry her off to a rich man--any rich man, no matter how awful. But by wit, trickery, and luck, Catherine manages to send several would-be husbands packing. Then a shaggy-bearded suitor from the north comes to call--by far the oldest, ugliest, most revolting suitor of them all. Unfortunately, he is also the richest. Can a sharp-tongued, high-spirited, clever young maiden with a mind of her own actually lose the battle against an ill-mannered, piglike lord and an unimaginative, greedy toad of a father? Deus! Not if Catherine has anything to say about it!

Sat Aug 25 11:55:25 2012
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