New YA Books

Hush: An Irish Princess' Tale - Donna Jo Napoli
Fifteen-year-old Melkorka, an Irish princess, is kidnapped by Russian slave traders and not only learns how to survive but to challenge some of the brutality of her captors, who are fascinated by her apparent muteness and the possibility that she is enchanted

Freak - Marcella Pixley
Twelve-year-old Miriam, poetic, smart, and quirky, is considered a freak by the popular girls at her middle school, and she eventually explodes in response to their bullying, revealing an inner strength she did not know she had.

Darkwing - Kenneth Oppel
Dusk, the world's first bat, must lead his colony to safety in a time of changing species.

Bone: Old Man's Cave - Jeff Smith
In book six, the showdown between the Hooded One and the people of the valley begins. Thorn and Phoney Bone see to be at the center of the maelstrom.

Eye of the Crow - Shane Peacock
A woman is found stabbed to death in London. A young boy is drawn to the scene to investigate the murder and becomes a suspect himself.

How to Steal a Dog - Barbara O'Connor
Living in the family car in their small North Carolina town after their father leaves them virtually penniless, Georgina, desperate to improve their situation and unwilling to accept her overworked mother's calls for patience, persuades her younger brother to help her in an elaborate scheme to get money by stealing a dog and then claiming the reward that the owners are bound to offer.

Book of a Thousand Days - Shannon Hale
Fifteen-year-old Dashti, sworn to obey her sixteen-year-old mistress, the Lady Saren, shares Saren's years of punishment locked in a tower, then brings her safely to the lands of her true love, where both must hide who they are as they work as kitchen maids.

Beowulf - retold by Nicky Raven
A modern, illustrated retelling of the Anglo-Saxon epic about the heroic efforts of Beowulf, son of Ecgtheow, to save the people of Heorot Hall from the terrible monster, Grendel.