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"If you're going to live, you might as well do painful, brave, and beautiful things." ~ from Jeff Zentner's The Serpent King
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| Seven Black Diamonds by Melissa MarrFantasy. Lily Abernathy has a dangerous secret, and it's not the fact that her father is a crime lord. In a world where the faerie Queen of Blood and Rage seeks to destroy humanity, it's illegal for humans to have fae heritage. But with her father's protection, half-human, half-fae Lily has stayed safely hidden. That safety is shattered, however, when Lily discovers her violent birthright: she's the last of the Black Diamonds, a fae sleeper cell designed to take down the human world from the inside out. With a potent blend of timeless faerie legends and edgy modern issues, Seven Black Diamonds will captivate fans of author Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely series. |
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| Burn Baby Burn by Meg MedinaHistorical Fiction. Summer, New York City, 1977: disco music wafts from radios, arson is on the rise, and a serial killer called Son of Sam is murdering young couples. Amidst it all is 17-year-old Nora López, trying to hold on to both her family and her hopes for the future. Though money is painfully tight and her delinquent brother's abuse is becoming more frightening, Nora's summer still has potential: high school is over, opportunities for women are expanding, and her relationship with "stone-cold Latin fox" Pablo is getting hotter than the sizzling summer air. Loaded with emotion, atmosphere, and pop culture references, Burn Baby Burn is a "uniquely authentic slice-of-life" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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The new guy (and other senior year distractions)
by Amy Spalding
"Juggling the pressures of college applications and friendships, neurotic overachiever Jules's plans for her senior year are thrown off track when she starts dating the new guy at school and finds herself at the center of a rivalry between her high school's newspaper and its just-launched TV news show"
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Sisters of Salt and Iron
by Kady Cross
A young woman determined to acquire an Ivy League education and escape the shortcomings that have held back the other women in her family determinedly avoids relationships before attracting the attention of a famous pop star who introduces her to love and luxury. Simultaneous eBook.
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| Thanks for the Trouble by Tommy WallachFiction. Five years ago, Parker Santé stopped speaking. Since then, he's also stopped caring about most things, except for skipping school and writing in his journal. One day he meets Zelda, a silver-haired girl with a stack of cash, a plan to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge, and an outrageous claim that she's 246 years old. Parker's not sure if he believes Zelda's story, but he agrees to her deal: she'll spend her final days (and her final dollars) with him if he applies to college. What follows is a eccentric and bittersweet tale of firsts and lasts from the author of the popular We All Looked Up. |
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The end of fun
by Sean McGinty
Everyday Reality is a Drag .
FUN -the latest in augmented reality-is fun but it's also frustrating, glitchy, and dangerously addictive . Just when everyone else is getting on, 17-year-old Aaron O'Faolain wants off.
But first he has to complete his Application for Termination, and in order to do that he has to deal with his History-not to mention the present, including his grandfather's suicide and a series of clues that may (or may not) lead to buried treasure. As he attempts to unravel the mystery, Aaron is sidetracked again . . . and again. Shadowed by his virtual "best friend," Homie, Aaron struggles with love, loss, dog bites, community theater, wild horses, wildfires, and the fact (deep breath) that actual reality can sometimes surprise you.
Sean McGinty's strikingly profound debut unearths a world that is eerily familiar, yet utterly original. Discover what it means to come to the end of fun.
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Nightstruck
by Jenna Black
The start of a spooky yet romantic dark paranormal horror series from Glimmerglass author Jenna Black. The night is the enemy, and the city of Philadelphia is its deadliest weapon. Becket is an ordinary teenage girl, wrestling with the upheaval of her parents' divorce. A studious high school senior, her biggest problems to date have been choosing which colleges to apply to, living up to her parents' ambitious expectations for her, and fighting her secret crush on her best friend's boyfriend. But that all changes on the night she tries to save an innocent life and everything goes horribly wrong. Unbeknownst to her, Becket has been tricked into opening a door between worlds, allowing a dark magic into the mortal world. As the magic trickles in, the city begins to change at night. Strange creatures roam the streets, and inanimate objects come to life, all of them bloodthirsty and terrifying. The city returns to normal when the sun rises in the morning, and no one can capture the strange changes--such as potholes turning into toothy mouths and wires turning into strangling vines--on film, which prompts the government to declare that the city has been infected with some kind of madness and must be quarantined. Meanwhile, venturing out of one's house at night has become a dangerous proposition, and the moment the sun sets, most of the citizens of the city shut themselves up in their houses and stay there even in the case of dire emergencies. The magic is openly hostile to most mortals, but there are some individuals it seems to covet, trying to lure them out into the night. While Becket struggles to protect her friends and family from predatory creatures of the night, she is constantly tempted to shrug off all her responsibilities and join them. Joining the night world means being free of not just responsibility, but conscience, and it means no longer caring about the fate of others.
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The Haters : a book about being in a band
by Jesse Andrews
From Jesse Andrews, author of the New York Times bestselling Me and Earl and the Dying Girl and screenwriter of the Sundance award–winning motion picture of the same name, comes a groundbreaking young adult novel about music, love, friendship, and freedom as three young musicians follow a quest to escape the law long enough to play the amazing show they hope (but also doubt) they have in them. Inspired by the years he spent playing bass in a band himself, The Haters is Jesse Andrews’s road trip adventure about a trio of jazz-camp escapees who, against every realistic expectation, become a band. For Wes and his best friend, Corey, jazz camp turns out to be lame. It’s pretty much all dudes talking in Jazz Voice. But then they jam with Ash, a charismatic girl with an unusual sound, and the three just click. It’s three and a half hours of pure musical magic, and Ash makes a decision: They need to hit the road. Because the road, not summer camp, is where bands get good. Before Wes and Corey know it, they’re in Ash’s SUV heading south, and The Haters Summer of Hate Tour has begun. In his second novel, Andrews again brings his brilliant and distinctive voice to YA, in the perfect book for music lovers, fans of The Commitments (author Rody Doyle raves "The Haters is terrific. It is shocking and funny, unsettling and charming." ), and High Fidelity, or anyone who has ever loved—and hated—a song or a band. This witty, funny coming-of-age novel is contemporary fiction at its best.
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Dreamers often lie
by Jacqueline West
Jaye wakes up in the hospital, disoriented, and beset by a slippery morphing of reality into something else. She repeatedly sees a boy who she feels like she knows—but that's impossible. Determined to get back to school and back to A Midsummer Night's Dream, in which she's starring, she lies to her sister, her mom, and her doctors—she’s fine, she says. She’s fine, she’s fine, she’s fine. But then on her first day back, she takes a seat in class . . . next to the mysterious boy. Queasy with anxiety ("I can’t see you," she hisses at him, "because you’re not really here"), Jaye realizes this boy is, in fact, real. And he has no idea what she's talking about. Caught between this fascinating, empathetic new kid and her childhood friend turned recent love interest, Jaye begins to notice unnerving similarities between her circumstances and those of some of Shakespeare's most famous plays. Tingling banter and clandestine meet-ups give way to darker, muddier incidents. As things escalate to a frightening pitch, how much of what's happening is real, how much is in Jaye's head, and how much does it matter as she's hurtling toward a fateful end over which she seems to have no control?
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Tell me three things
by Julie Buxbaum
Struggling to acclimate after moving from Chicago to Los Angeles, high school junior Jessie receives an offer of assistance from an anonymous person through email who becomes her confidante and ally and who Jessie wishes she could meet in person. By the author of The Opposite of Love. Simultaneous eBook.
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| Bluescreen by Dan WellsScience Fiction. If you've ever struggled to get a phone or wi-fi signal, "djinni" implants might sound like a dream come true -- djinnis connect the Internet directly to the brain, and they're the norm in 2050 Los Angeles. Seventeen-year-old Marisa lives in L.A.'s Mirador neighborhood, but she spends most of her time gaming with her friends in virtual reality. After Mari's friend Anja has a shocking reaction to Bluescreen, a hot new digital drug, Mari throws herself into a dangerous investigation of Bluescreen's origin. High-stakes action (both online and off) drives this future-noir thriller, the 1st in a series. For a deeper dive into provocative ideas about technology, try M.T. Anderson's Feed or Alex London's Proxy. |
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Fiona
by Meredith Moore
Fiona has a chance to leave her dark past behind. Fee receives an email from a stranger named Lily, a countess who claims to have known her now-deceased mother. Lily invites her to live in her Scottish castle as an au pair for her young daughter, Poppy. But the family secrets she brings with her will either destroy her . . . When Fee starts hearing and seeing strange things around the castle at night, Fee is terrified she’s inherited her mother’s illness. She tells no one. Or set her free. Revealing her true identity might be the only thing that can release Fee from her tragic past. But will anyone believe her? Can Fee even believe herself?
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Railhead
by Philip Reeve
In a world of drones and androids Zen Starling is a human thief, but mostly he just likes to ride the Interstellar Express, the sentient trains that travel through the K gates from planet to planet, something only the Guardians understand--but now the mysterious Raven wants him to steal the Pyxis, an object that could either open up a new gate, challenging the Guardians, or put the entire gate system, and the universe itself in danger
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Flawed
by Cecelia Ahern
A popular and dutiful girl in a society where obedience is paramount and rebellion is harshly punished is compelled to make an instinctive, rule-breaking decision at the risk of life-changing repercussions. By the award-winning author of Love, Rosie. Simultaneous eBook.
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Dig Too Deep
by Amy Allgeyer
It's not just that Liberty Briscoe feels like an outsider in Ebbotsville, Kentucky. She expected it wouldn't be easy to move from the city to her granny's farm during her junior year of high school. Still, Liberty can't shake the feeling that something's not quite right. Everyone says the water's safe, yet nobody drinks it. When Granny becomes sick, like so many others in town, Liberty starts to wonder about the water, the people who tested it, and the coal mining company that took the top off Tanner's Peak.
Now, Liberty must follow her instincts to uncover secrets, despite those who think she's crazy to ask questions, including her own boyfriend. But even as the threats become consequences, she digs deeper. What's more dangerous: the water in the valley or the search for the truth?
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Once upon a Dream
by Liz Braswell
It should be simple--a dragon defeated, a slumbering princess in a castle, a prince poised to wake her. But when the prince falls asleep as his lips touch the fair maiden's, it is clear that this fairy tale is far from over.
With a desperate fairy's last curse controlling her mind, Princess Aurora must escape from a different castle of thorns and navigate a dangerously magical landscape--created from her very own dreams. Aurora isn't alone--a charming prince is eager to join her quest, and old friends offer their help. But as Maleficent's agents follow her every move, Aurora struggles to discover who her true allies are and, moreover, who she truly is. Time is running out. Will the sleeping beauty be able to wake herself up?
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When we collided
by Emery Lord
Seventeen year-old Jonah Daniels has lived in Verona Cove, California, his whole life, and only one thing has ever changed: his father used to be alive, and now he is not. With a mother lost in a deep bout of depression, Jonah and his five siblings struggle to keep up their home and the restaurant their dad left behind. But at the start of summer, a second change rolls in: Vivi Alexander, the new girl in town. Vivi is in love with life. Charming and unfiltered, she refuses to be held down by the medicine she's told should make her feel better. After meeting Jonah, she slides into the Daniels' household seamlessly, winning over each sibling with her imagination and gameness. But it's not long before Vivi's zest for life begins to falter. Soon her adventurousness becomes all-out danger-seeking. Through each high and low, Vivi and Jonah's love is put to the test . . . but what happens when love simply isn't enough?
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Forest of Ruin
by Kelley Armstrong
The empire rests on the edge of a knife, and sisters Ashyn and Moria are the handle and the blade. Desperate to outmaneuver the evil Alvar Kitsune, whose hold on the people grows stronger every day, Emperor Tatsu begs Moria to put aside past grievances and ally with Gavril—at least long enough to make an attempt on Alvar's life. Meanwhile, reunited with her long-lost grandfather, Ashyn discovers that she is the key to a ritual that could reawaken an ancient dragon and turn the tide of the coming battle in their favor. But with lies and betrayal lurking around every corner, Ashyn and Moria will have to decide once and for all where their allegiances lie. And it may not be where their hearts would lead them. . . . In this third and final book in her epic and enchanting trilogy, #1 New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong blends fantasy, action, and romance to give readers the unforgettable ending they've been waiting for.
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Invision : Chronicles of Nick
by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Think you have a lot of pressure on your shoulders? Nick Gautier was born to bring about the end of the world . . . it's not easy being the heir of a demon overlord. But Nick is determined to thwart his destiny and get into a good college. To be more than his genetics and prophecy foretell. No one is ever going to tell this stubborn Cajun who and what he really is. Or how to live his life. Not even the Fates of the Universe. But now that he and his team of ancient gods and demons have claimed the Eye of Ananke and he sees the missteps of the future, he has to battle the demons within that are far deadlier and more treacherous than any he's battled before. All the while his arch nemesis is back and determined to reclaim his place as the harbinger for Armageddon. Even if it means killing Nick and barbecuing everyone he loves to do so.
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| The Serpent King by Jeff ZentnerFiction. Dillard Early Jr. shares a name with his snake-handling preacher father, and with Early Sr. disgraced and in jail, Dill faces bullying and judgment in his rural Tennessee hometown. Thankfully, Dill has his friends: quirky Lydia, whose popular blog might help her get to college, and kind-hearted Travis, who uses fantasy books as an escape from his father's abuse. Graduation looms for all three high school seniors, laden with the tantalizing hope of freedom…but also the heartbreak of separation. If you like this angsty, sensitive portrait of teens surviving rough circumstances, you may also enjoy The Smell of Other People's Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock. |
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| Gabi, a Girl in Pieces by Isabel QuinteroFiction. During her tumultuous senior year, Gabi Hernandez's journal becomes her lifeline. In it, she can experiment with her blossoming poetry skills, as well as spill the details of her complicated home (where her mom nags her about her weight and her dad can't kick meth), her best friends Cindy and Sebastian (who are each dealing with their own challenges), and her confusion about love and dating. Filled with "vulgar humor and raw honesty" (Kirkus Reviews), Gabi's insights into family, culture, sexuality, and identity are messy yet utterly authentic and hopeful. For another memorable Latina character weathering a tough year, try Meg Medina's Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass. |
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| Kissing in America by Margo RabbFiction. You can blame it all on poetry and romance novels. It's from reading those (to help soothe the ache of her beloved father's death) that Eva Roth gets her ideas about love -- ideas that lead to an unchaperoned cross-country road trip. After Eva's passionate relationship with understanding Will is cut short by his sudden move from New York to California, Eva and her friend Annie Kim concoct a scheme to travel across the country for a surprise reunion. The unexpected results of their trip are funny, heart-wrenching, and sprinkled with snippets of poetry -- just right for readers who love Deb Caletti and Sarah Dessen. |
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| Dr. Bird's Advice for Sad Poets by Evan RoskosFiction. There's no denying it: talking to an imaginary pigeon therapist is weird. But James' parents (aka the Banshee and the Brute) won't let him see a real therapist, and they kicked his sister out of the house, and he's got to talk to someone about his consuming anxiety and depression, right? Barely clinging to his mental health, James takes comfort however he can, whether it's from hugging trees or imitating the "barbaric yawp" of his favorite poet, Walt Whitman. Managing to be thoughtful, poignant, and hilarious all at once, Dr. Bird's Advice for Sad Poets will appeal to fans of John Green's Whitman-infused Paper Towns. |
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| Death, Dickinson, and the Demented Life of Frenchie Garcia by Jenny Torres SanchezFiction. Loner artist Frenchie Garcia is confused when her secret crush Andy suddenly takes her on a strange all-night date...and that confusion escalates the following morning, when she learns that Andy has committed suicide. Now, months later, Frenchie still can't understand Andy's actions, and the only person she can confide in is an imaginary version of Emily Dickinson, whose bleak poetry echoes Frenchie's own feelings. Will retracing the events of that fateful night help Frenchie find closure? Find out in this authentic, emotionally charged story. For a darker, more lyrical look at a grieving girl finding solace in Emily Dickinson, try Jenny Hubbard's novel-in-verse And We Stay. |
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| Belzhar by Meg WolitzerMagical Realism. Struggling with the traumatic loss of her boyfriend, Jam Gallahue is in good company at the Wooden Barn, a boarding school for "highly intelligent, emotionally fragile" teens. There, she's selected for "Special Topics in English," a class dedicated to studying poet and novelist Sylvia Plath. Each student is given a journal, and Jam and her classmates soon discover that the journals have highly unusual properties which allow each student to revisit -- and maybe recover from -- their past. Readers who like a touch of fantasy with their psychological dramas will be intrigued by Belzhar. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Prince George's County Memorial Library System 9601 Capital Lane Largo, Maryland 20774 301-699-3500www.pgcmls.info/ |
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