New YA Books

Epic - Conor Kostick
On New Earth, a world based on a video role-playing game, fourteen-year-old Erik pursuades his friends to aid him in some unusual gambits in order to save Erik's father from exile and safeguard the futures of each of their families.

The Entertainer and the Dybbuk - Sid Fleischman
A struggling American ventriloquist in post-World War II Europe is possessed by the mischievous spirit of a young Jewish boy killed in the Holocaust. Author's note details the murder of over one million children by the Nazis during the 1930s and 1940s.

Rat Life - Tedd Arnold
After developing an unusual friendship with a young Vietnam War veteran in 1972, fourteen-year-old Todd discovers his writing talent and solves a murder mystery.

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village - Laura Amy Schlitz
A collection of short one-person plays featuring characters, between ten and fifteen years old, who live in or near a thirteenth-century English manor.

I Am Not Joey Pigza - Jack Gantos
Joey's father returns, calling himself Charles Heinz and apologizing for his past bad behavior, and he swears that once Joey and his mother change their names and help him fix up the old diner he has bought, their lives will change for the better.

I Am Rembrandt's Daughter - Lynn Cullen
In Amsterdam in the mid-1600s, Cornelia's life as the illegitimate child of renowned painter Rembrandt is marked by plague, poverty, and despair at ever earning her father's love, until she sees hope for a better future in the eyes of a wealthy suitor.

The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School - Candace Fleming
An unlikely teacher takes over the disorderly fourth-grade class of Aesop Elementary School with surprising results.

Bringing Ezra Back - Cynthia DeFelice
In the mid-1800s, twelve-year-old Nathan journeys from his farm on the Ohio frontier to Western Pennsylvania to rescue a friend held captive by the owners of a freak show.

When the Wall Came Down: The Berlin Wall and the Fall of Soviet Communism - Serge Schmemann
Recounts the fall of the Berlin Wall.