Tamora Pierce meets George R. R. Martin in this smart, political, medieval fantasy-thriller. There is a new king on the throne of Tildor. Currents of political unrest sweep the country as two warring crime families seek power, angling to exploit the young Crown's inexperience. At the Academy of Tildor, the training ground for elite soldiers, Cadet Renee de Winter struggles to keep up with her male peers. But when her mentor, a notorious commander recalled from active duty to teach at the Academy, is kidnapped to fight in illegal gladiator games, Renee and her best friend Alec find themselves thrust into a world rife with crime, sorting through a maze of political intrigue, and struggling to resolve what they want, what is legal, and what is right.

After the treasure hunt that brought Gabriel together with his friends over the summer, a new adventure lurks on the horizon. When Eddie accidentally stumbles on a group of seniors planning this year’s secret Halloween party, the five friends decide they must discover its location. However, finding the location is only the beginning of more trouble lying in wait. Love infiltrates their little group. While the budding relationship between Liam and Jordan stirs the butterflies that so far had slept in their tummies, it at the same time crushes the heart of another member of their group. Eventually not only Jack but also Eddie confide in Gabriel and share a secret that threaten to break the bonds of friendship. Now it is up to Gabriel to find a way through the maze of feelings that stand between his friends and a happily-ever-after. Bound to secrecy, Gabriel turns to the one person he feels can help him…Hannah. Although Gabriel lost the red-haired girl with the glowing eyes at the end of summer, he still finds himself talking to the little firefly, who was his friend and understood him like no one ever had. And Hannah answers. Offering advice and encouragement, Hannah guides Gabriel through another trying time in his life. Struggling with his friends’ secrets, Gabriel can’t help but wonder what they would think of his own. Would they think him crazy for speaking to a firefly? And even more so, for hearing her answer?

*"I look up now into the oval mirror and see barely a trace of the mud-splattered girl tearing through the woodland on her horse, or the barefoot girl wading at Schonbrunn... I have become what Mama set out for me to be. Majestic. A Dauphine and eventually a Queen." * So writes the headstrong 13-year-old Maria Antonia--future Queen of France--in her diary on October 23, 1769. In this engrossing addition to the Royal Diaries series (Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor, Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile), Kathryn Lasky invents a diary of the young Marie Antoinette in 1769--the year she is to be married off to Dauphin Louis Auguste, eldest grandson of the French king Louis XV. Arranged marriages were common in that day and age--as the Empress Theresa (of the Holy Roman Empire of the Germanic Nations) sought to consolidate power among nations by marrying off her children. Thus, the future of Austria and France falls upon Maria Antonia's young shoulders. To prepare her for this awesome responsibility, she must be trained to write, read, speak French, dress, act... even breathe. Things get even more grim as she is shipped off to the court of Versailles and introduced to her puffy, awkward future husband and confronted with the court's ridiculous customs. Marie--an opinionated and insightful young woman--mocks the court of "impeccable etiquette and manners" that makes up nasty rhymes about those they hate, but panics when her hair is mussed. Lasky has done an excellent job of creating a very human character in the young Marie Antoinette--one whom young readers will want to learn more about. Fortunately, her story is given plenty of context with an epilogue describing the history of the young Queen after 1769, a historical note offering an 18th-century context, a Habsburg-Bourbon family tree, and various portraits of the royal family. (Ages 9 to 13) --Karin Snelson

Theo's always been impulsive. But telling Paige how he feels? He's obsessed over that decision. And it's time. Tonight. At the party on the riverbank, under the old walking bridge, site of so many tales of love and death. Paige has had a crush on Theo since they first met, but she knows her feelings are one-sided. She's trying to move on, to flirt. A party at the river is just what she needs. Except a fight breaks out, and when Paige tries to intervene--Theo's fist lands in her face. All Theo and Paige want to do is forget that fateful night. But strange events keep drawing them back to the bridge. Someone, something is determined to make them remember...and pay for what they each did.

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WHO RUNS THE WORLD? SQUIRRELS! Fourteen-year-old Doreen Green moved from sunny California to the suburbs of New Jersey. She must start at a new school, make new friends, and continue to hide her tail. Yep, Doreen has the powers of . . . a squirrel! After failing at several attempts to find her new BFF, Doreen feels lonely and trapped, liked a caged animal. Then one day Doreen uses her extraordinary powers to stop a group of troublemakers from causing mischief in the neighborhood, and her whole life changes. Everyone at school is talking about it! Doreen contemplates becoming a full-fledged Super Hero. And thus, Squirrel Girl is born! She saves cats from trees, keeps the sidewalks clean, and dissuades vandalism. All is well until a real-life Super Villain steps out of the shadows and declares Squirrel Girl his archenemy. Can Doreen balance being a teenager and a Super Hero? Or will she go . . . NUTS?

Adrian Mole is 39 and a quarter. Unable to afford the mortgage on his riverside apartment, he has been forced to move into a semi-detached converted pigsty next door to his parents, George and Pauline. His ravishing wife Daisy loathes the countryside, longs for Dean Street and has yet to buy a pair of Wellingtons; they are both aware the passion has gone out of their marriage, but neither knows how to reignite the flame. To cap it all off, Adrian is leaving his bed numerous times a night to go to the lavatory and has other alarming symptoms, leading him to suspect prostate trouble. Meanwhile, his mother thinks that an appearance on the Jeremy Kyle show might solve the mystery of her daughter's paternity once and for all. And when George is asked to provide a DNA sample, will the shock kill him? He is already disabled, though still chain smoking and has had an ashtray welded onto the arm of his wheelchair. As Adrian's worries multiply, a phone call to his old flame Dr Pandora Braithwaite, BA, MA, PhD, MP and Junior Minister in the Foreign Office, ignites memories of a shared passion and makes him wonder - is she the only one who can save him now?

BEYOND THE REALM OF DREAMS IS A WORLD SHE NEVER IMAGINED Masayi Sairu was raised to be dainty, delicate, demure . . . and deadly. She is one of the emperor’s Golden Daughters, as much a legend as she is a commodity. One day, Sairu will be contracted in marriage to a patron, whom she will secretly guard for the rest of her life. But when she learns that a sacred Dream Walker of the temple seeks the protection of a Golden Daughter, Sairu forgoes marriage in favor of this role. Her skills are stretched to the limit, for assassins hunt in the shadows, and phantoms haunt in dreams. With only a mysterious Faerie cat and a handsome slave—possessed of his own strange abilities—to help her, can Sairu shield her new mistress from evils she can neither see nor touch? For the Dragon is building an army of fire, and soon the heavens will burn.

Fourteen years ago, four babies were implanted with the Medusa gene - a gene for psychic abilities. Now teenagers, Nico, Ketty, Ed and Dylan have been brought together by government agents to create a secret crime-fighting force - The Medusa Project.But now Ketty's brother Lex has stumbled into a dangerous game involving his boss and a hidden bomb. It's up to Ketty to save him without letting on what she knows to the rest of the team. But can she control her psychic visions, and her feelings for Nico, without getting the team's cover - and herself - blown sky high?

Many have tried to master the slippery slopes of Suicide Hill on their bikes. Marvin's older brother has conquered the hill, but Marvin has steered clear. Until now. The word at school is that Marvin will be taking on the hill with his new mountain bike. But the truth is, he can barely climb on the seat! And the gears--forget about it. How did he suddenly become a daredevil? Does he have to go through with it to prove himself? If Marvin makes it, he'll be a hero. If not, his friends and family may catch the biggest wipeout in history! Book Details: Format: Paperback Publication Date: 5/23/2000 Pages: 79 Reading Level: Age 6 and Up

Three boys, three talismans, one destiny. In this page-turning trilogy, Cinda Williams Chima explores what it means to be different, what's worth fighting for, and what's worth dying for **THE WARRIOR HEIR * Jack lives an unremarkable life in Trinity, Ohio. Only his daily medicine and the thick scar above his heart set him apart from other teenagers at his high school. Until one day, Jack skips his medicine and finds himself stronger, fiercer, and more confident than ever before. He feels incredible until he nearly kills another player on the soccer field. Soon, Jack learns the startling truth: he is Weirlind, part of a magical underground society of wizards, warriors, and enchantors. Weir's mighty, feuding houses of the Red Rose and the White Rose determine power through The Game, a modern-day gladiator battle in which warriors from each house fight to the death. The winning house rules the Weir. But Jack finds out that he's not just another member of Weirlind-he's one of the last warriors-and both houses are scouting for a player. **THE WIZARD HEIR Sixteen-year-old Seph McCauley has spent the past three years getting kicked out of one exclusive private school after another. Unfortunately it's not his attitude that's the problem. It's the trail of magical accidents-lately, disasters-that follow in his wake. Seph is a wizard, orphaned and untrained--and now that the only person who could protect him has died, his powers are escalating out of control. At the Havens, a secluded boys' school in Maine, Seph meets headmaster Gregory Leicester, who promises to initiate him into his order of wizards. But Seph soon learns that training comes at a steep cost, and that Leicester plans to use his students' powers to serve his own malicious agenda. This wizard war is one that Seph may not have the strength to survive. THE DRAGON HEIR The covenant that was meant to keep the wizard wars at bay has been stolen, and Trinity must prepare for attack. Jason Haley finds himself excluded from the action until he finds the Dragonheart. The opal stone seems to sing to his very soul, but Trinity's guardians seize it after they realize its powers. Madison Moss feels the beating heart of the opal, too. The desire for it surges through her, but Maddie also has a secret. Ever since absorbing the magical blow that was meant to kill Seph, she's been leaking dark powers. Trinity's enemies believe they can use her to get to the Dragonheart and they'll use anyone she cares about to make her steal the stone for them. Moral compasses spin out of control as a final battle storms through what was once a sanctuary for the gifted. With so much to lose, what will Jason and Maddie be willing to fight for -- and what will they sacrifice?

The infamous pirate, riverboat seductress, master of disguise, and street-urchin-turned-sailor Jacky Faber has been captured by the French and beheaded in full view of her friends and crew.Inconceivable? Yes! The truth is she’s secretly forced to pose as an American dancer behind enemy lines in Paris, where she entices a French general into revealing military secrets—all to save her dear friends. Then, in intrepid Jacky Faber style, she dons male clothing and worms her way into a post as galloper with the French army, ultimately leading a team of men to fight alongside the great Napoleon.In this sixth installment of the Bloody Jack Adventures series, love and war collide as the irrepressible Jacky Faber sets off on a daring adventure she vowed she’d never take.

*To help her class win the school contest, Dawn Bosco will have to find the person who is trying to ruin their play, Little Red Riding Hood* Ms. Rooney’s second-grade class is determined to win the school contest by putting on a surprise play. Dawn Bosco will play Little Red Riding Hood, and Jason Bazyk will be the Big Bad Wolf. But someone is trying to ruin everything. First, Dawn hears a scary voice backstage. Then, the wolf suit goes missing. Dawn has to get to the bottom of the mystery in order to save the play and win the prize. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Patricia Reilly Giff including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.

Victory in the Circles of Seven came at a great cost to Billy Bannister and Bonnie Silver. A vicious evil was unleashed on the earth that only the dragons can defeat. With Billy’s father, the great Clefspeare, missing, Billy and Bonnie must lead the dragons into war against the Watchers—demonic beings as old as the earth itself. Masters at the art of deception, the Watchers use the deadliest of weapons against mankind. A remnant of wise humans, the friends of the dragons, unite in the struggle against the Watchers. With heart-stopping action, the final battle between dragons and their enemies comes to a climax. But in order to win the war, at least one of the dragons must die.     As the story ends, Billy and Bonnie are faced with the greatest decision of their lives. Will they keep the dragon traits that have cost them so much danger and heartache, or will they turn to normal human life and end the slayers’ lust for their blood forever.