New YA Books

The Falconer's Knot - Mary Hoffman
Silvano and Chiara, teens sent to live in a friary and a nunnery in Renaissance Italy, are drawn to one another and dream of a future together, but when murders are committed in the friary, they must discover who is behind the crimes before they can realize their love.

Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson
A traumatic event near the end of the summer has a devastating effect on Melinda's freshman year in high school. Michael L. Printz Honor Book

Teenage Pregnancy and Poverty: The Economic Realities - Barbara Miller
Discusses the problem of teen pregnancy and how it affects the economic future of the persons involved.

Lord of the Silent Kingdom - Glen Cook
Piper Hecht, born Else Tage, survived a battle with the Instrumentalities. Now he's captain-general of the armies fighting a crusade for Patriarch Sublime V. Intrigues swirl around the throne of the Grail Empire, as the imperial family's enemy Anne of Menand raises money to help the perpetually indebted Patriarch finance his crusades. Now Piper Hecht learns that the legendary sorcerer Cloven Februaren, referred to as the Ninth Unknown, is still alive, more than one hundred years old, and on Piper's side. As the dynastic politics of the Empire become even more convoluted, it's clear that while the old gods may be fading, they're determined to do everything they can to bend the doings of men to their own advantage. Sieges, explosions, betrayals, Anti-Patriarchs, and suspicious deaths will ensue as the great chess game plays itself out, with Piper Hecht at the center of it all.

Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer
When a twelve-year-old evil genius tries to restore his family fortune by capturing a fairy and demanding a ransom in gold, the fairies fight back with magic, technology, and a particularly nasty troll.

Forging the Sword (Book 3 of The Farsala Trilogy) - Hilari Bell
Farsalans, including Lady Soraya and her half-brother, Jiaan, Kavi, and others, work relentlessly and often secretly in their shared strategies regarding the ultimate defeat of the Hrum.

Rise of a Hero (Book 2 of The Farsala Trilogy) - Hilari Bell
Although the Hrum believe their war against Farsala is nearly over, Soraya has strategic information that will help if she can reach Jiaan and Kavi and their separate resistance movements, but discord and Time's Wheel seem destined to keep them apart.

Charlie Bone and the Hidden King - Jenny Nimmo
When an ancient enchanter is released from the grounds of Bloor's Academy, threatening both of Charlie Bone's parents, the only way Charlie and his friends can defeat him is by finding the red king himself.