Second Hand Haul (3)

THE TAKER by JM Steele

Carly Biel’s future is right on track: she’s a great student (mostly A’s and B’s); her boyfriend, Brad, is captain of the lacrosse team; and she’s a shoe-in for Princeton (her dad’s an alum – love that legacy status!). She’s never been great at standardized tests (so nerve-racking!), but she always figured she’d do well enough on the SAT to get by. Guess what? She tanks. Really tanks. Now she only has one more opportunity to take the test, and she’s sure she can’t pull her scores up by much. That’s why, when she gets a mysterious note from “The Taker,” she can’t resist. Now she’s hired someone to take the test for her – but what if she gets caught? And what if she doesn’t?

THE SWAN MAIDEN by Heather Tomlinson

In the quiet hour before dawn, anything can happen. Doucette can dream of being a creature of flight and magic, of wearing a swan skin like her older sisters. But she must run the castle household while her sisters learn to weave spells. Her dream of flying is exactly that . . . until the day she discovers her own hidden birthright. Sudden, soaring freedom—it is a wish come true. Yet, not even magic can protect against every danger, especially when the heart is involved. As she struggles to find her own way in the world, Doucette risks losing the one person she loves most of all.

THE GOODBYE SEASON by Marian Hale

Mercy Kaplan doesn’t want to be like her mother, saddled with crying kids and failing crops for the rest of her life. Mercy longs to be on her own—until her wish comes true in the worst possible way. It is 1918 and a deadly flu epidemic ravages the country, leaving her utterly alone and penniless.

Mercy soon finds a job with Mrs. Wilder. But there’s something unsettling about the woman, whose brother died under mysterious circumstances. And then there’s Daniel, who could sweep a girl off her feet if she isn’t careful.

The Chronicles of Prydain 1: THE BOOK OF THREE by Lloyd Alexander

Taran, The Assistant Pig-Keeper, longs to be a hero.

He begins his journey with a strange assortment of companions on a dangerous mission to save his beloved land, Prydain. Packed with action, humor, romance, and gallantry, Taran's adventures chronicle his beloved Prydain and his battle with the forces of evil.

OH BABY! by Randi Reisfeld and HB Gilmour

Before heading off for college, sixteen-year-old small town girls Abby and Jamie are headed for the big cities! Shy, innocent Abby will be a nanny for a posh New York City family, while smart, no-nonsense Jamie works her nanny gig in sunny, celeb-studded L.A. Talk about culture shock. And, between the eye-popping parties, hot boys, high-maintenance kids, and a heaping of drama, the girls can barely squeeze in time for e-mail catch-ups. But their wild summers on opposite coasts will teach Abby and Jamie things they never knew about love, lust, truth, lies, themselves . . . and each other.

LISTENING TO CRICKETS by David Gifaldi

With ears like a bat and webbed toes, it seems as if ten-yearold Jake could fly right out of reality into the freedom of his dreams. No more worries about asthma, special reading class, or his parents’ fighting—just sky. But Jake can’t simply fly away. There’s his little sister, Cassie, to tell stories to when the night sounds become frightening, amazing facts to learn from his best friend Luke, and a safe place—Dragon’s Nest—to build in the backyard.

This beautifully written middle grade novel tells the courageous story of Jake—a night watchman—a protector in the truest sense of the word who finds hope in crickets, friends, teachers, and dreams.

DRAWING LESSONS by Tracy Mack

Aurora is an artist, like her father. Through years of drawing lessons, he taught her about light and color, perspective and form. The great thing about art, Rory thinks, is you can bring back something you’ve lost and keep it forever. But when her father leaves the family, it’s Rory who is lost. In this exquisitely told story, a young girl must find her own way of creating, her own way of connecting, and her own way of being.

Second Hand Haul (2)

I picked up a lot of great reads recently. TROLL FELL and TROLL MILL by Katherine Langrish are some of my favorite books. And since I have TROLL BLOOD in hardback, I decided to grab these when I found them, so my set would match. I highly recommend this series.

TROLL FELL by Katherine Langrish

An exciting adventure-filled story of Peer Ulfsson and his dog, Loki, Peer's hideous uncles Baldur and Grim Grimsson, and their hideous dog, Grendel, and the trolls of Troll Fell. Peer Ulfsson stood miserably at his father's funeral pyre, watching the sparks whirl up like millions of shining spirits streaking away into the dark. But someone else is also at the funeral. Peer's half-uncle, Baldur Grimsson. Peer watches helplessly as Uncle Baldur sells his father's property and pockets the money. Peer is then forced to move away from the world he knows in Hammerhaven, and live with his two half-uncles at their mill near Troll Fell. Peer hopes his other uncle will be more welcoming and less ferocious than Baldur, but Baldur is an identical twin, and Grim Grimsson is just as mean-spirited and greedy as his brother. Peer lives a life of servitude, with only the company of his faithful dog, Loki, until he meets spirited Hilde, whose family farm on Troll Fell, and Nis, his uncles' house spirit. Between them, they must foil a plot by the Grimsson brothers to sell one boy and one girl to the trolls who live on Troll Fell.

TROLL MILL by Katherine Langrish

Fifteen-year-old Peer Ulfsson is haunted by his past. Forced to live with his evil uncles under the eerie shadows of Troll Fell, he nearly fell prey to their plan to sell children to the trolls. Now Peer lives with his friend Hilde's family, but can he ever truly belong? And will Hilde ever share his deeper feelings?

One rainy night, Peer watches in shock as his neighbor Kersten pushes her baby daughter into his arms and then disappears into the sea. Rumor says that Kersten is a seal woman who has returned to her ocean home, and the millpond witch, Granny Green-teeth, seems intent on taking the "seal baby." Peer also discovers that the mill, abandoned when his uncles joined the troll kingdom, is running again -- all on its own?

With angry trolls, mysterious seal people, a mischievous house spirit, and three unusual babies in the mix, Peer and Hilde have their hands full and more! Katherine Langrish returns to the magical world of her acclaimed debut, troll fell, in this second story set in an extraordinary land by the sea filled with Viking legends and lore.

SIXTEEN by Megan McCafferty

Dating! Drama! Driving!

Remember what it was like to be sixteen? Whether it was the year your teeth were finally free of braces or the year you were discovered by the opposite sex, that magical, mystical age is something you will never forget. A compilation of short stories inspired by all the angst, melodrama, and wonderment of being sixteen.

Sarah Dessen’s “Infinity” is about a girl confronting two major milestones: getting her driver’s license and losing her virginity. The Dead Girls in Jacqueline Woodson’s “Nebraska 99” have already decided to “do it” and must now cope with being teenage mothers. And Carolyn Mackler’s “Mona Lisa, Jesus, Chad, and Me” explores whether friendship can survive when partying and prayer clash. Also included is a new Jessica Darling story by Megan McCafferty about the last fifteen minutes Jessica spends—or rather, doesn’t spend—with her best friend, Hope, who is leaving Pineville.

Featuring stories by Steve Almond, M. T. Anderson, Julianna Baggott, Cat Bauer, Emma Forrest, Tanuja Desai Hidier, David Levithan, Sarah Mlynowski, Sonya Sones, Zoe Trope, Ned Vizzini, and Joseph Weisberg, these hilarious, poignant, and touching tales are perfect for both those who have yet to reach that milestone and those who want to reminisce about their “sweetest” year.

GRL 2 GRL by Julie Anne Peters

In this honest, emotionally captivating short story collection, renowned author and National Book Award finalist Julie Anne Peters offers a stunning portrayal of young women as they navigate the hurdles of relationships and sexual identity. From the young lesbian taking her first steps toward coming out to the two strangers who lock eyes across a crowded train, from the transgender teen longing for a sense of self to the girl whose abusive father has turned her to stone, Peters is the master of creating characters whose own vulnerability resonates with readers and stays with them long after the last page is turned. Grl2grl shows the rawness of teenage emotion as young girls become women and begin to discover the intricacies of love, dating and sexuality.

ART GEEKS AND PROM QUEENS by Alyson Noël

Being the new girl is toughjust ask sixteen-year-old Rio Jones. A New York transplant, Rio has no clue how shes going to fit in at her fancy new private school in Southern California. Plus, being late, overdressed, and named after a Duran Duran song doesnt help make the first day any easier. Then, Rio meets Kristi. Beautiful, rich, and a cheerleader, Kristi is the queen bee of Newport Beach. And, Kristi isnt friends with just anyone, so Rio is thrilled when shes invited to be part of the most exclusive, popular cliquea world of underage drinking, drug dabbling, and hooking-up. At first, Rio is having a great time. But, as she becomes more immersed in this jet set crowd, Rio figures out there is one unspoken rule that her new friends forgot to mention: dont cross Kristi.

THE BERMUDEZ TRIANGLE by Maureen Johnson

Nina, Mel and Avery have been best friends since they were tiny. But one summer can change everything. When Nina goes away for a month, she comes back to find the world has changed. Mel and Avery have their own secret: one Nina can't be part of.

ARTHUR AND THE FORBIDDEN CITY by Luc Besson

Arthur's quest takes him into the heart of the forbidden city ...

Arthur's backyard looks like a peaceful, ordinary garden -- if you are human-sized, that is. But if you're half an inch tall, like the Minimoys, this backyard is a vast world where fierce battles are fought, ferocious monsters are faced, and one evil wizard, Maltazard the Cursed, rules with cruel power from his terrifying stronghold: Necropolis, the forbidden city.

Now ten-year-old Arthur -- magically transformed into a Minimoy -- and his Minimoy companions, brave Princess Selenia and mischievous Prince Betameche, must somehow find a way into this forbidden city. Their mission: to rescue Arthur's grandfather, recover a stolen treasure, and save the land of the Minimoys once and for all, before it's too late.

But once you're inside the forbidden city .... can you ever get out again?

ROBIN’S COUNTRY by Monica Furlong

Dummy, a mute servant boy, flees his cruel master, stumbles upon Robin Hood's secret hideaway, proceeds to unravel the mysteries of his own origins, and finds the opportunity to prove his bravery and worth.

BURIED FIRE by Jonathan Stroud

Deep in the English countryside, the unearthing of an ancient Celtic cross awakens an imprisoned dragon and unleashes a smoldering evil. Less than a mile away, 13-year-old Michael McIntyre falls asleep on a lush green hill, and wakes up with frightening and sinister new abilities. Michael possesses the four gifts of the dragon-and he's not the only one, nor is he the most powerful. The others, whose identities will be slowly revealed, offer Michael powers beyond his wildest dreams if he will keep their secret safe. Now he must choose: give up these astonishing but devastating new abilities and help his family and friends banish the evil that lies beneath their fragile earth, or join the others in their crusade to protect their gifts and set the dragon free - a choice that may well destroy everyone Michael loves. Those with power will stop at nothing to keep its secret, while those without it need Michael's protection to survive. Buried Fire combines elements of fantasy and mythology in a spellbinding tale of good versus evil.

THE LEAP by Jonathan Stroud

After her best friend, Max, drowns, Charlie Fletcher is overwhelmed with shock and grief. When she attempts to explain what happened that day at the Mill Pond, no one believes her. The doctors and her mother think she may be hallucinating, or worse-crazy. Even her sympathetic brother can't understand what is happening to her. Charlie nearly died trying to save Max and as an aftermath to this terrifying experience, Charlie begins to have incredibly vivid dreams, where she sees Max walking far in the distance in a strange land. She tries to catch up, but she can never reach him. Sleep soon becomes her only passion. But one night, after waking up from a dream with cuts and bruises, she realizes that her nighttime excursions are real. She alone has the power to hunt for Max. And she knows he's out there somewhere. To save him, she'll follow his trail wherever it goes-even beyond the limits of this world.

DEEP SECRET by Diana Wynne Jones

Rupert Venables is a Magid.

It's a Magid's job to oversee what goes on in the vast Multiverse. Actually, Rupert is really only a junior Magid. But he's got a king-sized problem. Rupert's territory includes Earth and the Empire of Korfyros. When his mentor dies Rupert must find a replacement. But there are hundreds of candidates. How is he supposed to choose? And interviewing each one could take forever.

Unless...

What if he could round them all up in one place?

Simple!

THE BOY WITH THE THORN IN HIS SIDE by Pete Wentz

Second Hand Haul (1)

One of my favorite things to do is to visit used book stores. I'm very picky about the condition of the book, though. Yesterday I picked up several ones that I'm excited about.

CRUEL SUMMER by Alyson Noël

Having recently discarded her dorky image--and the best friend that went with it--Colby Cavendish is looking forward to a long hot season of parties, beach BBQ’s, and hopefully, more hook-ups with Levi Bonham, the hottest guy in school. But her world comes crashing down when her parents send her away to spend the summer in Greece with her crazy aunt Tally.

Stranded on a boring island with no malls, no cell phone reception, and an aunt who talks to her plants, Colby worries that her new friends have forgotten all about her. But when she meets Yannis, a cute Greek local, everything changes. She experiences something deeper and more intense than a summer fling, and it forces her to see herself, and the life she left behind, in a whole new way.

SPIRIT OF THE SAMURAI by Gary Reed and Rick Hoberg

When her brother David finds a strange book, Kat Anderson is shocked to read its plan for her future as the last guardian against the evil Clan of Black Rings, with David her sworn enemy! Finally she understands why her grandfather insisted she take her martial-arts training so seriously. The years of training have made her a formidable foe, but she’ll need the spirit of Toho, her Samurai warrior ancestor, to help. And what part will the mysterious newcomer who claims to be her father play? Rick Hoberg’s vivid artwork and Gary Reed’s compelling story make Spirit of the Samurai a white-knuckle ride.

GIRL AT SEA by Maureen Johnson

Sometimes you have to get lost . . .

The Girl: Clio Ford, seventeen, wants to spend the summer smooching her art-store crush, not stuck on a boat in the Mediterranean. At least she'll get a killer tan.

The Mission: Survive her father's crazy antics. Oh, and also find some missing underwater treasure that could unlock the secrets of civilization.

The Crew: Dad's wacky best friend Martin, his bizarre research partner Julia, her voluptuous daughter Elsa . . . and then there's Aidan, Julia's incredibly attractive, incredibly arrogant assistant.

What's going on behind Aidan's intellectual, intensely green eyes, anyway?

As Clio sails into uncharted territory she unveils secrets that have the power to change history. But her most surprising discovery is that there's something deeper and more cryptic than the sea—her own heart.

. . . to find what you're looking for

AN ABUNDANCE OF KATHERINES by John Green

When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton’s type is girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact. On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washedup child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy–loving best friend riding shotgun—but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl. Love, friendship, and a dead Austro-Hungarian archduke add up to surprising and heart-changing conclusions in this ingeniously layered comic novel about reinventing oneself.

CELEMENCY POGUE: THE SCRIVENER BEES by JT Petty

There's a renegade changeling on the loose and the future of Make-Believe hangs in the balance -- it's Clemency Pogue to the rescue!

As Inky Mess gains power and amasses goblin followers, he sets his sights on the Forgetting Book. With the book, Inky will become master of every goblin, hobgoblin, and fairy in Make-Believe. Clemency's hobgoblin friends desperately need her help to defeat the power-hungry changeling, but Clem has problems of her own: Her dad has unknowingly angered the Scrivener Bees and they want to exact painful revenge. Will Clem be able to save her father -- and Make-Believe?

THE SHADOW HUNT by Katherine Langrish

Wolf is on the run—from the oppressive monastery where he was raised, from the ghosts and demons that haunt the windswept moors of Devil's Edge, and from the shadows in the landscape that resemble the Devil himself.

When Wolf rescues a strange child on Devil's Edge, he takes her to a grand castle hoping to win the favor of its ruler. There he strikes up an unlikely friendship with a girl named Nest, and he thinks he's finally found a place to call home. Wolf is determined to fit in, but not everything is as it seems at the castle. Dark forces are conspiring against Wolf and Nest, and a sinister enemy is looming closer than they could ever realize.

With lies masquerading as reality, will Wolf and Nest learn who they can trust . . . before it's too late? Critically acclaimed author Katherine Langrish has created a wonderfully spooky and richly imagined world of ghosts and magical creatures, where good may be evil and light may give way to dark.

SONG OF THE SPARROW by Lisa Ann Sandell

Since the days of King Arthur, there have been poems and paintings created in her name. She is Elaine of Ascolat, the Lady of Shalott, and now there is a book all her own. The year is 490 A.D. and 16-year-old Elaine has a temperament to match her fiery red hair. Living on a military base with her father, brothers, and the rest of Arthur's army, Elaine pines for the handsome Lancelot, and longs for a female friend. But when the cruel, beautiful Gwynivere arrives, Elaine is confronted with startling emotions of jealousy and rivalry. Can Elaine find the strength to survive the birth of a kingdom?

ALICE'S ADVENTURES UNDER GROUND by Lewis Carroll

Generations of readers have loved and embraced Lewis Carroll’s tale of the little girl who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatures and absurd croquet matches, but how many can recount the history behind this famous story? It all began one golden July afternoon in Oxford in 1862, when the three Liddell siblings—Lorina, Edith, and young Alice—set out on a boating trip with two close friends of the family, Robinson Duckworth and Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. To keep the children amused, Dodgson spun a tale about an inquisitive young girl and her escapades in a magical underground world, eventually writing it down at his heroine Alice Liddell’s request. The little book he produced, entitledAlice’s Adventures under Ground, was beautifully bound in morocco leather, illustrated with 37 charming pictures, and given to Alice as an early Christmas present in November of 1864. Friends and fellow novelists who saw the volume urged Dodgson to publish the book formally, and literary history was made in 1865 when the first of countless best-selling editions rolled off the press.

In this superb facsimile edition of Dodgson’s original manuscript, modern readers can at last enjoy the expressive script and vibrant illustrations of the original, one of the British Library’s most prized possessions. Perfect for the literary collector, the lover of Alice, or the child at heart, this remarkable volume includes fascinating biographical commentary on Dodgson as well as a recounting of all the stages through which the manuscript passed. This journey produced a new tale itself, as the manuscript was revised, expanded, and illustrated by Punch cartoonist John Tenniel en route to final publication as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, under Dodgson’s celebrated pen name of Lewis Carroll.