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Dweeb: Burgers Beasts and Brainwashed Bullies by Aaron Starmer follows the tale of five boys- Denton, Wendell, Eddie, Elijah and Bijay-who are thrown together after Vice Principal Snodgrass frames them for stealing the Bake Sale money. Snodgrass’ punishment is extreme-he locks the boys in a secret room beneath the school and forces them to study for the upcoming Idaho tests- if the boys ace them, their crime will be forgiven. But there is something more going on at the school and the 5 misfits, now collectively called DWEEB, must use all of their skills to unravel the mysterious happenings at Ho-Ho-Kus Junior High. This isRead More →

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Rooted firmed in the steampunk genre,  Scott Westerfeld’s new series opens with gusto in Leviathan, released last week from Simon Pulse. In this alternate reality where the Central Powers (Clankers) have invented amazing mechanikal war machines, 15 year old Prince Aleksander Ferdinand’s parents, the heir to the throne of the Austria-Hungarian Empire Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Sophie Chotek, have been assassinated and he is whisked away in the dead of night by just a few loyal men in a giant walking war machine, a Stormwalker.  Naive to the intricacies of politics and international intrigue, Alek slowly realizes this assassination has been the spark to set off the greatest warRead More →

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The Doom Machine is award-winning children’s book author and illustrator Mark Teague’s foray into children’s novels.  Set in 1950’s at the height of the Cold War and the beginning of the Space Race, The Doom Machine is full of action, adventure, and amazing creatures and places.  It all starts with an alien invasion:  Jack Creedle can’t keep himself out of trouble and he doesn’t mind breaking a rule or two.  One pre-dawn morning while delivering his newspapers, Jack sees a flying saucer land in the forest outside his small town of Vern Hollow.  Isadora Shumway is a smart, logical girl who loves science and followingRead More →

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Who: Liza Ketchum, Author.  12-year-old Amelia Forrester, spunky, smart and adventurous protagonist – a true newshound.  Amelia’s mother, Sophie, and her best friend, Estelle – enterprising women seeking new opportunities and freedoms.  A variety of authentic, interesting charaters all working to find their fortunes. Where & When: A richly detailed San Francisco (also known as Phoenix City), Spring & Summer 1851 What:  Newsgirl, a vivid, entertaining and enjoyable novel for middle grade readers that captures both the essence and the excitement of the California gold rush.  When they arrive in San Francisco after the months-long sea crossing through Panama from Boston, Amelia, her mother and Estelle areRead More →

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If you like big special effects, non-stop action, and massive deadly creatures, you will love Steve Cole’s new series for young readers, Z. Rex, Book 1: The Hunting! Taking cues from great films like Jurassic Park, King Kong and Alex Rider: Stormbreaker, with a villainous company bent on controlling the world (Alien, Aliens), Z. Rex blends cutting edge sci-fi technology with fully interactive virtual reality gaming, throwing plenty of mayhem, destruction and adventure into the mix.  Life as the son of a genius virtual reality developer is pretty cool for 14 year old Adam Adlar.  But when his dad mysteriously vanishes and some scary thugsRead More →

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Action, adventure, mythology and high-tech crime are packed into Stephen Cole’s Thieves Like Us.  The first book in an explosive series, Thieves Like Us, introduces us to a crew of brilliant teens whose skill and ambition are harnessed by a criminal mastermind, Coldheart, making them an almost unstoppable band of high-end thieves.  First we meet Jonah Wish, an ultra-talented computer programmer as he’s serving the second month of a year-long incarceration for illegal computer hacking and multi-million dollar theft.  Jonah’s as surprised as the reader when a commotion breaks out in the jail and he’s spirited away by some well-trained, technologically savvy teens to aRead More →

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When Thomas wakes up in a dark lift, headed upwards to who knows where, all he can remember is his first name. He has no idea where he came from, who he is, or how he got where he is. When the door above him opens, he discovers he’s “welcomed” by other teen boys, in a large expanse, called The Glade, surrounded by tall stone walls.  The Gladers also have no memories of their lives before – they only know they’ve been virtual prisoners in the maze for about 2 years.  They know that every morning, the large stone doors open and runners head out into the mazeRead More →

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Chris Woodingcontinues his exploration of deep, dark, scary otherworlds in his latest book for young adults, Malice, due from Scholastic in October 2009. Like all good urban legends, it’s the thrill of the unknown that draws kids in: gather some odds & ends, chant a phrase 6 times, and then wait to see if Tall Jake comes for you.  And then there’s a creepy, hard-to-find comic called Malice that details erratically horrifying snipets of kids trapped in a dangerous underworld, most of whom meet gruesome ends. When one of their friends goes missing and then appears to die in the pages of Malice, Seth andRead More →