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Book Two in the Mark of the Thief series by Jennifer A. Nielsen, Rise of the Wolf carries forward the story of Nicolas Calva who continues to feel like a pawn.  In this sequel, Nic continues to crave freedom, but he finds adversaries at every turn.  His grandfather General Radulf wants the gods to bow to him, even if that means he has to neutralize his grandson.  Atroxia, a vestalis who continues in her allegiance to the goddess Diana, will torture him unless he relinquishes the Malice of Mars and creates a Jupiter Stone. Decimas Brutus will go to any length to rob Nic ofRead More →

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It’s that time of year again: the PBC Preferred Collections are here! It’s easy to stay current with all the new books you NEED to see, just use the PBC Preferred Collections! 3 Easy Ways to Stay Current 1.) Pick your own titles using our handy order forms. These are the Featured Collections, a.k.a. the FULL lists. 2015 – 2016 Elementary New Releases 2015 – 2016 Middle School New Releases 2015 – 2016 High School New Releases 2.) One form and you’re done for the whole year! Use the three levels of PBC Preferred Collections. We combed through our featured collections (above) for the whole year and picked out all the must-have titles,Read More →

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Nervy but not nuts, Buck Anderson craves adventure.  Most comfortable surrounded by rock and roots and earth, Buck’s passion is caving.  And living in southwest Virginia in the Appalachian foothills, this stubborn, risk-taker has many opportunities for discovering, exploring, and hoping to make history.  When his best friend David Weinstein moves away, thirteen-year-old Buck loses his cautious cave-exploring partner, and “the first rule of caving is never—not ever—do it alone” (2). Although Buck disobeys this rule more than once, his fascination with caves and their potential danger is only one strand of the plot in Going Where It’s Dark by Newbery Award-winning author Phyllis ReynoldsRead More →

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For Maisie Winters, the protagonist in Alyssa Sheinmel’s novel Faceless, three syllables burdened with meaning are those in ac·ci·dent. While Maisie is out running one rainy morning in late April, lighting strikes a tree, setting off a chain of events that end in hospitalization for this junior at Highlands High in San Francisco.  Because “electrical fires burn hotter and faster than regular fires” (24), Maisie is now a girl without a face, but she doesn’t feel like the lucky miracle everyone keeps referring to her as.  Even though she knows the question represents “a shallow and immature concern” (50), Maisie wonders whether she’ll ever beRead More →

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The Diseray, a nearly apocalyptic war between Othersiders and humans, has completely altered life on Earth in Mercedes Lackey’s new novel, Hunter.  After the Diseray, the world was rebuilt, laid out to protect the elite from monsters that began to cross over from the Otherside, invading Earth with frequency and with impunity.  Mythical beasts like Harpies, Furies, and Kraken, and multiple other manifestations of terror—like Knockers, Gazers, Jackals, Drakken, Ketzels, and Redcaps—have made Hunters necessary protection. In this new world, where most meat is vat-grown and eggs and dairy are synthesized from vegetable oils, economic disparity is glaringly obvious.  Real meat, eggs, and dairy areRead More →