Trickster's Girl-- Hilari Bell

Release Date: January 3rd, 2011
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
Donated by: Author
Goodreads
Summary (jacket flap):

A century after 9/11, in a high-tech, high-security world, magic is the last thing on anyone's mind. Something bad is happening. Trees are dying. People are getting sick. Fifteen-year-old Kelsa's father died from cancer--a particularly aggressive case, the doctors said. Science has no answers. Then Kelsa meets a boy. He's the most beautiful boy Kelsa's ever seen, but he's also very strange. He claims to be Raven, the mythological creature. He keeps going on about magic and an impending ecological disaster and that Kelsa must help him save the world. Maybe he'd crazy. Or maybe he's telling her truths people have forgotten. And maybe she should help him, even if doing so means risking her own life.

NOT ENOUGH INTEREST. Tour cancelled

The House of Dead Maids-- Clare B. Dunkle

Release Date: September 14th, 2010
Publisher: Henry Holt
Donated by: Enna Isilee
Summary (goodreads):

Young Tabby Aykroyd has been brought to the dusty mansion of Seldom House to be nursemaid to a foundling boy. He is a savage little creature, but the Yorkshire moors harbor far worse, as Tabby soon discovers. The ghost of the last maid will not leave Tabby in peace, yet this spirit is only one of many. Why do scores of dead maids and masters haunt Seldom House with a jealous devotion that extends beyond the grave?

As Tabby struggles to escape the evil forces rising out of the land, she watches her young charge choose a different path. He is determined to keep Seldom House as his own. Though Tabby tries to befriend the uncouth urchin, her kindness cannot alter his fate. Long before he reaches the old farmhouse of Wuthering Heights, the boy who will become Heathcliff has doomed himself and any who try to befriend him.

NOT ENOUGH INTEREST. Tour cancelled

Deadly-- Julie Chibbaro

Release Date: February 2011
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (an imprint of Simon and Schuster)
Donated by: Author
Series: n/a
Summary (goodreads):

A mysterious outbreak of typhoid fever is sweeping New York.
Could the city’s future rest with its most unlikely scientist?
If Prudence Galewski is ever going to get out of Mrs. Browning’s esteemed School for Girls, she must demonstrate her refinement and charm by securing a job appropriate for a young lady. But Prudence isn’t like the other girls. She is fascinated by how the human body works and why it fails.
With a stroke of luck, she lands a position in a laboratory, where she is swept into an investigation of the fever bound to change medical history. Prudence quickly learns that an inquiry of this proportion is not confined to the lab. From ritzy mansions to shady bars and rundown tenements, she explores every potential cause of the disease. But there’s no answer in sight—until the volatile Mary Mallon emerges. Dubbed “Typhoid Mary” by the press, Mary is an Irish immigrant who has worked as a cook in every home the fever has ravaged. Strangely, though, she hasn’t been sick a day in her life. Is the accusation against her an act of discrimination? Or is she the first clue in a new scientific discovery?
Prudence is determined to find out. In a time when science is for men, she’ll have to prove to the city, and to herself, that she can help solve one of the greatest medical mysteries of the twentieth century.

Sign ups CLOSED.

1. Amy (NY) Mailed 10/18 DC# 0310 0480 0001 7871 2473
2. Tiffany (IL) Rec'd 10/20 Mail by 10/27 NO DC Provided (Warning)
3. Lesa (OR) Rec'd 10/30 Mailed 11/10 (4 days late, 2 warnings) DC# 0309 3220 0001 8085 2650
4. Jessi (TX) Rec'd 11/16 Mail by 11/23

MAILED BACK TO AUTHOR

The author has asked that we hold our reviews until closer to the release date. You will be contacted when you need to post your review.

Ascendant-- Diana Peterfreund

Release Date: September 28th, 2010
Publisher: HarperTeen
Donated by: Jen
Series: Killer Unicorns #2
Summary (goodreads):

Now a fully trained unicorn hunter, Astrid Llewelyn is learning that she can’t solve all her problems with a bow and arrow. Her boyfriend has left Rome, the Cloisters is in dire financial straits, her best friend’s powers are mysteriously disintegrating, and her hope of becoming a scientist seems to be nothing but an impossible dream.

So when she’s given the opportunity to leave the Cloisters and use her skills as part of a scientific quest to discover the Remedy, Astrid leaps at the chance. Finally, she can have exactly what she wants—or can she? At Gordian headquarters deep in France, Astrid begins to question everything she had believed: her love for Giovanni, her loyalty to the Cloisters, and—most of all—her duty as a hunter. Should Astrid be saving the world from killer unicorns or saving unicorns from the world?

TOUR CANCELLED. Not enough interest.

Prisoners in the Palace by Michaela MacColl

London , 1838. Sixteen-year-old Liza's dreams of her society debut are dashed when her parents are killed in an accident. Penniless, she accepts the position of lady's maid to young Princess Victoria and steps unwittingly into the gossipy intrigue of the servant's world below-stairs as well as the trickery above. Is it possible that her changing circumstances may offer Liza the chance to determine her own fate, find true love, and secure the throne for her future queen?

Meticulously based on newly discovered information, this riveting novel is as rich in historical detail as Catherine, Called Birdy, and as sizzling with intrigue as The Luxe.

About the Author:
Michaela MacColl studied multi-disciplinary history at Vassar College and Yale University , which turns out to be the perfect degree for writing historical fiction. She lives with her husband, two daughters, and three extremely large cats in Connecticut . This is her first book.

SIGN UPS CLOSED  

• Amy (NY) Rec'd 9/25 Mailed 9/29 DC # 0309 3220 0001 46666208.
• Julia (MD) Rec'd 10/1 Mail by 10/8
• Lesa (OR) Mailed 11/10 DC# 0309 3220 0001 8085 2643
• Katy (CA) Rec'd 11/15 Mailed 11/19 (3 days early) DC# 0309 2880 0000 8762 0177

TOUR COMPLETED

Extraordinary-- Nancy Werlin

Release Date: September 7th, 2010
Publisher: Dial
Donated by: Meaghan
Summary (goodreads):

Phoebe finds herself drawn to Mallory, the strange and secretive new kid in school, and the two girls become as close as sisters . . . until Mallory's magnetic older brother, Ryland, shows up during their junior year. Ryland has an immediate, exciting hold on Phoebe, but a dangerous hold, for she begins to question her feelings about her best friend and, worse, about herself. Soon she'll discover the shocking truth about Ryland and Mallory: that these two are visitors from the faerie realm who have come to collect on an age-old debt. Generations ago, the faerie queen promised Pheobe's ancestor five extraordinary sons in exchange for the sacrifice of one ordinary female heir. But in hundreds of years there hasn't been a single ordinary girl in the family, and now the faeries are dying. Could Phoebe be the first ordinary one? Could she save the faeries, or is she special enough to save herself?

SIGN UPS CLOSED.

1. Lesa (OR) Rec'd 9/2 Mail by 9/9
2. Ashley (ID) Rec'd 9/17 Mail by 9/24 DC# 0308 1400 0002 3458 6648
3. Looksie (MN) Rec'd 9/25 Mail by 10/2
4. Tina (MI) Rec'd. Mail by 10/21 DC# DC# 03093220000169688737

Returned to donator. Retired tour.

Low Red Moon-- Ivy Devlin

Release Date: September 14th, 2010
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Donated by: Brandi
Summary (goodreads):

Avery Hood is reeling from the loss of her parents--and the fact that she can't remember what happened to them even though she was there.

She's struggling to adjust to life without them, and to living with her grandmother, when she meets Ben, who isn't like any guy she's ever met before.

It turns out there's a reason why, and Ben's secret may hold the key to Avery finding out what happened to her parents...

But what if that secret changes everything she knows about--and feels for--Ben?

Sign ups CLOSED

MAILED 8/16. DC: 0309 2880 0003 0940 5926

1. Damaris (NJ) Rec'd 8/22, Mailed 8/31 (2 days late)
2. Crystal (NC)  Rec'd 9/3 Mailed 9/21 DC# 9102 1480 0860 0181 1150 77
3. Ashley (ID)

Returned to donator. 0310 1230 0000 2268 8774

Losing Faith by Denise Jaden

A terrible secret. A terrible fate.

When Brie's sister, Faith, dies suddenly, Brie's world falls apart. As she goes through the bizarre and devastating process of mourning the sister she never understood and barely even liked, everything in her life seems to spiral farther and farther off course. Her parents are a mess, her friends don’t know how to treat her, and her perfect boyfriend suddenly seems anything but.
As Brie settles into her new normal, she encounters more questions than closure: Certain facts about the way Faith died just don't line up. Brie soon uncovers a dark and twisted secret about Faith’s final night...a secret that puts her own life in danger.

To sign up, leave a comment with your name, e-mail address, and state.

1. Melanie (FL) Rec'd 9/20 Mail by 9/30 (multi-book extension)
2. Guinevere (VA)
3. Ashley (ID) Mailed DC# 0310 1230 0000 2269 1439
4. Elana (UT)
5. Cindy (CA)

Tour completed

Nightshade-- Andrea Cremer

Release Date: October 19th, 2010
Publisher: Philomel
Donated by: Crystal
Summary (goodreads):

While other teenage girls daydream about boys, Calla Tor imagines ripping out her enemies’ throats. And she wouldn’t have it any other way. Calla was born a warrior and on her eighteenth-birthday she’ll become the alpha female of the next generation of Guardian wolves. But Calla’s predestined path veers off course the moment she saves the life of a wayward hiker, a boy her own age. This human boy’s secret will turn the young pack's world upside down and forever alter the outcome of the centuries-old Witches' War that surrounds them all.

SIGN UPS CLOSED.

Sent to Jess 8/31 DC# 9102 1480 0860 0110 3233 44

1. Jess (NC) Rec'd 9/1 mail by 9/8

Returned to Crystal 9/20 DC# 0310 1230 0001 3809 3806

Matched-- Ally Condie

Release Date: November 30th, 2010
Publisher: Penguin
Donated by: Crystal
Summary (goodreads):

In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die.

Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s barely any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one . . . until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow—between perfection and passion.

Matched is a story for right now and storytelling with the resonance of a classic

SIGN UPS CLOSED.

ARC ONE (Crystal) RETIRED

1. Damaris (NJ) Rec'd 8/9 Mail by 8/16 NO DC. Warning
2. Lisa S (NJ) Rec'd 8/17. Mail by 8/24.
3. Brandi K (NC) Rec'd 8/31 Mailed 9/3 (4 days early) DC# 0309 2880 0003 0940 8804
4. Cate (NC) Rec'd 9/4 SENT: DC# 03090330000130000716
5. JP Wickwire (NC) Mailed to Crystal
6. Back to Crystal

ARC #2, Jennifer's Copy

1. Jamie (LA)
2. Tiff (IL) Rec'd 10/14 Mail by 10/21 DC# 03093220000169688737
3. Sophia Lee (TX)
4. Alyssa (CA)
5. Back to Jennifer

Tour finished

Haint Misbehavin-- Maureen Hardegree

Release Date: June 1st, 2010
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books
Donated by: Betty
Summary (goodreads):

The start of a fun middle-grade series, The Ghost Handlers, follows Heather Tildy, an Atlanta teen with a troublesome habit of attracting ghosts. Middle-child Heather has enough to worry about with sisters, boys and school. Now that a trouble-making girl from the 1800's is poking her nose in Heather's business, her life has taken a supernatural turn for the worse! Before her life can get better, she has to figure out how to help the ghost move on. Debut author Hardegree is a veteran short-story author for the well-known MOSSY CREEK HOMETOWN series. She plans multiple titles in this warm and funny YA series

SIGN UPS CLOSED.

1. JL (PA) Rec'd 8/9 Mail by 8/23

Hunger-- Jackie Morse Kessler

Release Date: October 17th, 2010
Series: Horsemen of the Apocolypse #1
Donated by: Meaghan
Summary:

“Thou art the Black Rider. Go thee out unto the world.”

Lisabeth Lewis has a black steed, a set of scales, and a new job: she’s been appointed Famine. How will an anorexic seventeen-year-old girl from the suburbs fare as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

Traveling the world on her steed gives Lisa freedom from her troubles at home: her constant battle with hunger, and her struggle to hide it from the people who care about her. But being Famine forces her to go places where hunger is a painful part of everyday life, and to face the horrifying effects of her phenomenal power. Can Lisa find a way to harness that power — and the courage to battle her own inner demons?

SIGN UPS CLOSED

1. JL (PA) Rec'd 8/11 Mailed 8/20 (1 day late) DC 03080070000102765775
2. Crystal (NC) Rec'd 8/25 Sent 9/2 (1 day late) DC 9102 1480 0860 0123 1980 45
3. Cindy (CA)

TOUR COMPLETED

Passing Strange (Generation Dead #3)-- Daniel Waters

Release Date: Summer 2010
Series: Generation Dead (#3) POSSIBLE SPOILERS IN SUMMARY
Donated by: Publisher
Summary: POSSIBLE SPOILERS!!

Karen DeSonne always passed as a normal (if pale) teenager; with her friends, with her family, and at school. Passing cost her the love of her life. And now that Karen’s dead, she’s still passing—this time, as alive. Karen DeSonne just happens to be an extremely human-like zombie. Meanwhile, Karen’s dead friends have been fingered in a high-profile murder, causing a new round of antizombie regulations that have forced them into hiding. Karen soon learns that the “murder” that destroyed their non-life was a hoax, staged by Pete Martinsburg and his bioist zealots. Obtaining enough evidence to expose the fraud and prove her friends’ innocence means doing the unthinkable: becoming Pete’s girlfriend. Karen’s only hope is that the enemy never realizes who she really is—because the consequences would be worse than death.

NOT ENOUGH INTEREST. Tour cancelled.

This is Me From Now On-- Barbara Dee

NOTE: This was an old tour. The book was located, so now we're making it a new tour. If you were on the old tour and still wish to receive the book, you must sign up again.Release Date: April 27th, 2010

Summary: Sometimes your life just needs a little jolt.

This is what Evie's new friend Francesca tells her, and soon enough, Evie's life has had something more like an earthquake. Francesca thinks life is dull unless you go after everything you want and say everything on your mind all the time--and sometimes that includes giving other people a little behind the scenes help to give them what she thinks they want.

Evie can't always tell if she's horrified or fascinated by everything Francesca convinces her to do, but ultimately, she comes to see friendship--and life--in a whole new light.

TOUR CANCELLED (No interest)

Chasing Brooklyn-- Lisa Schroeder

NOTE: This was an old tour. The book was located, so now we're making it a new tour. If you were on the old tour and still wish to receive the book, you must sign up again.Summary:

Restless souls and empty hearts.

Brooklyn can’t sleep. Her boyfriend, Lucca died a year ago, and now their friend Gabe has died of an overdose. Every time she closes her eyes, Gabe's ghost is there, waiting for her. She has no idea what he wants or why it isn't Lucca chasing her through her dreams.

Nico can’t stop. He’s always running, trying so hard not to feel the pain of missing Lucca. But when he begins receiving messages from his dead brother, telling him to help Brooklyn, emotions come crashing to the surface.

As the nightmares escalate and the messages become relentless, Nico reaches out to Brooklyn. But neither of them can admit that they're being haunted. Until they learn to let each other in, not one soul will be able to rest.

SIGN UPS CLOSED

SENT 7/31 DC # 03092880000125918549

1. Katelyn (MD) RECD 8/3, SENT 8/10. DC# 0309 1830 0000 1614 1498
2. Crystal (NC) Rec'd 8/12 Sent 8/26 (1 week late) DC# 9102 1480 0860 0099 2286 30
3. Tiger (AL) Rec'd 8/30 Mailed 9/2 (5 days early) DC# 03082690000144015878
4. Jamie (LA) Rec'd 9/4 Mailed 9/11
5. Page (ID) Rec'd 9/13 Mailed 9/19 DC # 9102128882300330942429
6. Valorie (CA)  Mailed DC# 0310 0480 0000 9775 6718
7. Cindy (CA)

Tour finished

Random Magic-- Sasha Soren

NOTE: This was an old tour. The book was located, so now we're making it a new tour. If you were on the old tour and still wish to receive the book, you must sign up again.Summary:

When absent-minded Professor Random misplaces the main character from Alice in Wonderland, young Henry Witherspoon must book-jump to fetch Alice before chaos theory kicks in and the world vanishes. Along the way he meets Winnie Flapjack, a wit-cracking doodle witch with nothing to her name but a magic feather and a plan. Such as it is. Henry and Winnie brave the Dark Queen, whatwolves, pirates, Struths, and fluttersmoths, Priscilla and Charybdis, obnoxiously cheerful vampires, Baron Samedi, a nine-dimensional cat, and one perpetually inebriated Muse to rescue Alice and save the world by tea time.

SIGN UPS CLOSED

SENT 8/14. DC 0309 1830 0000 7099 9523

1. Cindy (CA) Rec'd 8/20

A Match Made in High School by Kristin Walker

When the principal announces that every senior must participate in a mandatory year-long Marriage Education program, Fiona Sheehan believes that her life can’t get any worse. Then she marries her “husband”: jerky jock Todd, whose cheerleader girlfriend, Amanda, has had it in for Fiona since day one of second grade. Even worse? Amanda is paired with Fiona’s long-term crush, Gabe. At least Fiona is doing better than her best friend, Marcie, who is paired up with the very quiet, very mysterious Johnny Mercer.

Pranks, fights, misunderstandings, and reconciliations ensue in an almost Shakespearean comedy of errors about mistaken first impressions, convoluted coupling, and hidden crushes.

SIGN UPS CLOSED

1. Tiger (AL) Rec'd 8/6 SENT 8/9 (4 days early) DC# 03091830000035389321
2. Katelyn (MD) Mailed 8/20 DC 0309 1830 0000 1614 1511
3. Melanie (NY) Rec'd 8/24 Mail by 8/31
4. Jen (CT)
5. ReganStar (ME)
6. Valorie (CA) asked to be removed from tour.
7. Cindy (CA)

RETURNED TO DONATOR. Retired Tour.

Forget-Her-Nots by Amy Brecount-White

Something—some power—is blooming inside Laurel. She can use flowers to do things. Like bringing back lost memories. Or helping her friends ace tests. Or making people fall in love.

Laurel suspects her newfound ability has something to do with an ancient family secret, one that her mother meant to share with Laurel when the time was right. But then time ran out.

Clues and signs and secret messages seem to be all around Laurel at Avondale School, where her mother had also boarded as a student. Can Laurel piece everything together quickly enough to control her power, which is growing more potent every day? Or will she set the stage for the most lovestruck, infamous prom in the history of the school?

SIGN UPS CLOSED

1. Jamie (LA)
2. Erika Lynn (NC)
3. Melanie (NY)
4. ReaganStar (ME)
5. Amanda (MN)
6. Valorie (CA)
7. Cindy (CA)

Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken

When Wayland North brings rain to a region that's been dry for over ten years, he's promised anything he'd like as a reward. He chooses the village elder's daughter, sixteen-year-old Sydelle Mirabel, who is a skilled weaver and has an unusual knack for repairing his magical cloaks. Though Sydelle has dreamt of escaping her home, she's hurt that her parents relinquish her so freely and finds herself awed and afraid of the slightly ragtag wizard who is unlike any of the men of magic in the tales she's heard. Still, she is drawn to this mysterious man who is fiercely protective of her and so reluctant to share his own past.

The pair rushes toward the capital, intent to stop an imminent war, pursued by Reuel Dorwan (a dark wizard who has taken a keen interest in Sydelle) and plagued by unusually wild weather. But the sudden earthquakes and freak snowstorms may not be a coincidence. As Sydelle discovers North's dark secret and the reason for his interest in her and learns to master her own mysterious power, it becomes increasingly clear that the fate of the kingdom rests in her fingertips. She will either be a savior, weaving together the frayed bonds between Saldorra and Auster, or the disastrous force that destroys both kingdoms forever.

SIGN UPS CLOSED

To Stephanie DC# 9102 1480 0860 0983 9431 20

1. Stephanie (CA) Rec'd 7/27, MAILED 8/2 DC # 03101230000044429867
2. Valorie rec'd 8/4 SENT 8/6 DC# DC 0310 0480 0000 2618 4667
3. Jamie (LA) Rec'd 8/10 mail by 8/17
4. Tiger (AL) Rec'd 8/23, Mailed 8/26 (mail 4 days early) DC# 03082690000144015137
5. Andrea (FL) Rec'd 8/30 Mailed 9/7 DC# 9102150134711341314500
6. Jess (NC) Rec'd 9/11 SENT 9/20 DC# 0310 1230 0001 3809 3790
7. Michelle (IL)

RETIRED TOUR

The Red Umbrella by Christina Gonzalez

NOTE: This was an old tour.  The book was located, so now we're making it a new tour.  If you were on the old tour and still wish to receive the book, you must sign up again.

The Red Umbrella is the moving tale of a 14-year-old girl's journey from Cuba to America as part of Operation Pedro Pan—an organized exodus of more than 14,000 unaccompanied children, whose parents sent them away to escape Fidel Castro's revolution.

In 1961, two years after the Communist revolution, Lucía Álvarez still leads a carefree life, dreaming of parties and her first crush. But when the soldiers come to her sleepy Cuban town, everything begins to change. Freedoms are stripped away. Neighbors disappear. Her friends feel like strangers. And her family is being watched.

As the revolution's impact becomes more oppressive, Lucía's parents make the heart-wrenching decision to send her and her little brother to the United States—on their own.

Suddenly plunked down in Nebraska with well-meaning strangers, Lucía struggles to adapt to a new country, a new language, a new way of life. But what of her old life? Will she ever see her home or her parents again? And if she does, will she still be the same girl?

The Red Umbrella is a moving story of country, culture, family, and the true meaning of home.

SIGN UPS CLOSED

1. Jen (NC)