Catching Fire, and other New Releases of Science Fiction and Fantasy for Children and Young Adults--the beginning of Sept. edition

Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins, is of course the big release news of today, but there are lots of other books coming out this week (this list goes to Sept. 4). So many, in fact, that it is overwhelming. But picking up on the fire theme, Laurence Yep's new book, City of Fire, looks awfully good, and Ash, by Malinda Lo, is delightful. As usual, my information comes from Teens Read Too, with help from Amazon. I'm happy to add anything I left out, so do let me know!

THE ALCHEMASTER'S APPRENTICE by Walter Moers. "Fourth book in the Zamonia series. "When Echo the Crat’s mistress dies, he is compelled to sign a contract with Ghoolion the Alchemaster. This fateful document gives Ghoolion the right to kill Echo at the next full moon and render his fat, which he hopes to brew into an immortality potion. But Ghoolion has not reckoned with Echo’s talent for survival and his vast ability to make new friends."


CAT BURGLAR BLACK by Richard Sala. Perhaps not fantasy, per se, but it sounds close. "When K. Westree arrivse at Bellsong Academy, she thinks she's left her cat-burgling past behind her. But K. soon discovers the school has a mystery of its own, a hidden treasure left behind by its founder, and she's the only one who has a hope of finding it. As she resumes her cat-burgling in an attempt to discover the school's secrets, K. begins to question if a normal life is really what she wants."


CITY OF FIRE by Laurence Yep. "...this action-packed tale takes readers on an unforgettable journey through an alternate version of our world in 1941—a world filled with magical beings such as dragons in human form, tiny “lap griffins,” reincarnations of legendary Chinese warriors, Japanese folk creatures, and goddesses in disguise. When her older sister dies trying to prevent the theft of one of her people’s great treasures, twelve-year-old Scirye sets out to avenge her and recover the precious item. Helping her are Bayang, a dragon disguised as a Pinkerton agent; Leech, a boy with powers he has not yet discovered; and Leech’s loyal companion Koko, who has a secret of his own. All have a grudge against the thieves who stole the treasure: the evil dragon Badik and the mysterious Mr. Roland. Scirye and her companions pursue the thieves to Houlani, a new Hawaiian island being created by magic. There, they befriend Pele, the volatile and mercurial goddess of volcanoes. But even with Pele on their side, they may not be able to stop Mr. Roland from gaining what he seeks: the Five Lost Treasures of Emperor Yu. Together, the treasures will give him the power to alter the very fabric of the universe."

THE DRAGON PLAYERS: KNIGHTS OF THE LUNCH TABLEby Frank Cammuso
Artie King, the uncrowned good guy of Camelot Middle School, is back with his pals Percy and Wayne in tow as he tries to evade evil Principal Dagger, avoid the school bully Joe and his Horde, and unravel the secret of a pack of mysterious magic cards he finds in his locker.


DRAGON KISS: TALES OF THE FROG PRINCESS by E.D. Baker. "Audun is a teenage ice dragon in love...with a human princess. Can he become human and win Millie's heart? Audun is on a quest to find Princess Millie, and to become human in order to win her heart. But The Dragon King has set out a number of tasks Audun must perform before he is permitted to even try to woo Millie...and each one is filled with E. D. Baker's signature adventure and hilarity as this dragon-turned-human-turned dragon and back again battles sea witches and warlocks both familiar to readers of the series, and altogether new."


THE GHOST ROAD: THE HAUNTING OF DEREK STONE by Tony Abbott. Book Four of the series. "Derek can't claim to be a normal fourteen-year-old anymore. Not after what he discovered at the Red House. His role in the war against the dead is more pivotal --- and more terrifying --- than he could have imagined...The Rift between the worlds of the living and the dead has to be closed . . . forever. It seems like an impossible task. And it rests squarely on the shoulders of a slightly overweight, not especially brave kid named Derek Stone."

HEART OF AVALON: AVALON, WEB OF MAGIC by Rachel Roberts. "The seadragons of Aldenmor are afflicted by a mysterious illness. Searching for a cure, Emily and Ozzie the ferret discover that the seadragons are being affected by twisted elemental magic. To save them, Emily must befriend mermaids and pirates and recover two missing power crystals."



THE LOST CASTLE: THE CHRONICLES OF KRANGOR by Michael Pryor. "When Queen Tayesha threatens to conquer all seven kingdoms of Krangor and break the ancient bond between the saur and the land, a young noble named Adalon vows to stop her. He and his loyal friends Targesh and Simangee must find a safe haven, far from the queen's bloodthirsty soldiers. Beyond a river of fire, a lost castle beckons them. Mysteries and magical wonders await the three friends at the castle, but awakening ancient magic brings its own dangers."

LETTERS TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE by Toon Tellegen. "...an enchanting collection of short stories, all centered on a series of poetic letters written by his animal protagonists. These fantastic, dreamlike, and even philosophical tales conjure up a world where the creatures of the earth can send mail to the sun (and get an answer); where you can actually write a letter to a letter; and where just writing something down can make it come true."

THE LOST CONSPIRACY by Frances Hardinge. "On an island of sandy beaches, dense jungles, and slumbering volcanoes, colonists seek to apply archaic laws to a new land, bounty hunters stalk the living for the ashes of their funerary pyres, and a smiling tribe is despised by all as traitorous murderers. It is here, in the midst of ancient tensions and new calamity, that two sisters are caught in a deadly web of deceits. Arilou is proclaimed a beautiful prophetess—one of the island's precious oracles: a Lost. Hathin, her junior, is her nearly invisible attendant. But neither Arilou nor Hathin is exactly what she seems, and they live a lie that is carefully constructed and jealously guarded. When the sisters are unknowingly drawn into a sinister, island-wide conspiracy, quiet, unobtrusive Hathin must journey beyond all she has ever known of her world—and of herself—in a desperate attempt to save them both. As the stakes mount and falsehoods unravel, she discovers that the only thing more dangerous than the secret she hides is the truth she must uncover."

THE MIDNIGHT CHARTER by David Whitley. "In a society based on trade, where everything can be bought and sold, the future rests on the secrets of a single document-and the lives of two children whose destiny it is to discover its secrets. In this spellbinding novel, newcomer David Whitley has imagined a nation at a crossroads: misshaped by materialism and facing a choice about its future. He has brought to life two children who will test the nation's values-and crafted a spellbinding adventure story that will keep readers turning the pages until the very end."

MURDER AT MIDNIGHT by Avi. " A plot to overthrow King Claudio is brewing in the Kingdom of Pergamontio. Scholarly Mangus the magician -- along with his street-smart and faithful new servant boy, Fabrizio -- have been marked as easy scapegoats for the traitor lurking within the king's court. Together, these two unlikely partners must gather clues to solve the mystery and prove their innocence before the stroke of midnight. . . or face death!"


NERDS: NATIONAL ESPIONAGE, RESCUE, AND DEFENSE SOCIETY by Michael Buckley. "Combining all the excitement of international espionage and all the awkwardness of elementary school, NERDS, featuring a group of unpopular students who run a spy network from inside their school, hits the mark. With the help of cutting-edge science, their nerdy qualities are enhanced and transformed into incredible abilities! They battle the Hyena, a former junior beauty pageant contestant turned assassin, and an array of James Bond–style villains, each with an evil plan more diabolical and more ridiculous than the last."

PRINCESS HANNAH AND THE LITTLE BLACK KITTEN: THE TIARA CLUB by Vivian French. "Princess Hannah is so pleased to be at Pearl Palace with her friends from Lily Room! But when she finds a little black kitten the nasty twins are determined to get her into trouble."




PRINCESS ISABELLA AND THE SNOW-WHITE UNICORN: THE TIARA CLUB by Vivian French. "A trip to Lord Henry’s castle in the Magical Mountains sounds so exciting! Princess Isabella hopes she will be lucky enough to see a unicorn. Will her wish come true?"




SCHOOL OF FEAR by Gitty Daneshvari. "Everyone is afraid of something...Madeleine Masterson is deathly afraid of bugs, especially spiders. Theodore Bartholomew is petrified of dying. Lulu Punchalower is scared of confined spaces. Garrison Feldman is terrified of deep water. With very few options left, the parents of these four twelve year-olds send them to the highly elusive and exclusive School of Fear to help them overcome their phobias. But when their peculiar teacher, Mrs. Wellington, and her unconventional teaching methods turn out to be more frightening than even their fears, the foursome realize that this just may be the scariest summer of their lives."

THE SECRET OF ZOOM by Lynne Jonell. "Christina lives in an old stone mansion on the edge of a forest surrounded by barbed wire and signs that read TRESPASSERS WILL BE BOILED. Deep within the forest is the laboratory where her father works—and where her mother was blown to bits years ago. Christina is not supposed to talk to the orphans down the road. But when an orphan boy named Taft tells her of a secret tunnel, she finds it and helps him escape. Soon she and Taft discover there is far more to the orphanage and the mystery of her mother’s supposed death than they ever suspected."

THE SECRET SCIENCE ALLIANCE AND THE COPYCAT CROOK by Eleanor Davis
"Super-smart Julian Calendar thinks starting junior high at a new school will mean he can shed his nerdy image–but then he meets Ben and Greta, two secret scientists like himself! The three form a secret club, complete with a high-tech lair. There, they can work to their hearts content on projects like the Stink-O-Meter, the Kablovsky Copter, and the Nightsneak Goggles. All that tinkering comes in handy when the trio discovers an evil scientist's dastardly plan to rob a museum. Can three inventors, armed with their wacky creations, hope to defeat this criminal mastermind?"

THE STONEKEEPER'S CURSE: AMULET by Kazu Kibuishi. "Emily and Navin's mother is still in a coma from the arachnopod's poison, and there's only one place to find help: Kanalis, the bustling, beautiful city of waterfalls. But when Em, her brother, and Miskit and the rest of the robotic crew aboard the walking house reach the city, they quickly realize that seeking help is looking for trouble, dangerous trouble. The Elf King's son, Trellis, is still after them, but this time he's accompanied by a mysterious and dangerous guard, Luger. Then an equally mysterious fox, Leon Redbeard, steps in to help. This new fox friend offers to take Em on the perilous trip up Demon's Head Mountain to find the antidote she needs. Miskit is suspicious, Navin is worried about being left behind, and Emily is in the toughest spot of all. She's got to let loose the power of the amulet—without losing herself!"

SIGNAL by Cynthia DeFelice. "One day while running on the trail near his house in upstate New York, Owen McGuire meets a girl with startling green eyes and bloody cuts all over her body who seems to be utterly alone. Her name is Campion, after the wildflower that is an alien species in the area—alien meaning “from someplace else”—and Campion claims to come from someplace else entirely, a planet called Home. She plans to signal her parents to come pick her up in their spaceship. Owen agrees to help, and as he does, he feels happier than he has in a long time: his mother died a year and a half ago, and now he and his workaholic father live together like two planets on separate orbits, in a new house far from his friends. What will he do when Campion asks him to come with her into outer space, away from his lonely life on Earth?"

THIS BOOK IS NOT GOOD FOR YOU by Pseudonymous Bosch. "In this tooth-rotting adventure, Cass's mom has been kidnapped by the evil dessert chef and chocolatier, Señor Hugo! The ransom...the legendary tuning fork. Can Cass and Max-Ernest find the magical instrument before it's too late? Will they discover the evil secret ingredient to Señor Hugo's chocolate success?"

FREEZE FRAMED: TIME RUNNERSby Justin Richards. "At first, Jamie Grant thinks people are just ignoring him. His teacher, his classmates, even his own mother! Everyone—apart from his little sister, Ellie—is suddenly acting as if he's not around. He's fallen off the register at school, people don't reply to his questions, and he's not even showing up in old family photos. Creepy or what? Eventually, with the help of the friendly but mysterious Anna, he comes to realize that he doesn't exist—and he never has. He's fallen through a time break and is living in a parallel world in which he was never born. What's more, Jamie discovers that although he is outside time, he has the power to control it—and so he and Anna are employed as Time Runners to fix the rips in time. But they must work against the sinister Darkling Midnight, who is intent on causing chaos throughout history, to prevent time from falling apart."

TORRIE AND THE DRAGONSLAYERS by K.V. Johansen. "Once there was a prince who set off on a quest for a magic sword. He ran into a bit of trouble with a sorcerer -- who didn't like trespassers -- and the sorcerer's wolf-headed guards.... Once there was a young woman who decided to run away from home.... Luckily for the prince, who was in her father's dungeon by then, she decided to rescue him first. Luckily for both of them, Torrie came along as well. Cossypha's father, a reclusive sorcerer, seems to have gone mad. He's done something truly horrible to the servants and, since becoming obsessed with a mysterious Great Spell, hardly even notices Cossy's existence. She's had enough of being treated like a child and forbidden to study sorcery, so when she discovers Prince Rufik in the dungeon, she decides to steal him. Rufik, though he doesn't like being forced to believe in magic, is on a quest for a legendary, dragon-slaying sword. His father's kingdom is being laid waste by a dragon and the Sword Wormbane may be their last hope."

V IS FOR...VAMPIRE: A VAMPIRE ISLAND STORY by Adele Griffin. "Lexie might be the first vampire ever to run for ninth-grade class president, but sheÂ’s determined to make dreamy Dylan notice her, even if it means running against perfect, popular Mina. And things would be going pretty well, if it werenÂ’t for those annoying pixie houseguests! Blix and Mitzi are wreaking backwards-speaking, house-pinkifying havoc, and now they want Lexie to run a smear campaign against Mina. But how will all this dirty campaigning affect Lexie, when sheÂ’s trying to shed her evil vampire nature and become human?"


YOUNG ADULT

ASH by Malinda Lo. "In the wake of her father's death, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother. Consumed with grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, rereading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, someday the fairies will steal her away, as they are said to do. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she believes that her wish may be granted. The day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King's Huntress, her heart begins to change. Instead of chasing fairies, Ash learns to hunt with Kaisa. Though their friendship is as delicate as a new bloom, it reawakens Ash's capacity for love-and her desire to live. But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own, and she must make a choice between fairy tale dreams and true love."

BEYOND THE STATION LIES THE SEA by Jutta Richter. "Cosmos and Niner have adapted to their life on the street, but they decide to set out on a journey to the beach where they can enjoy the summer weather year-round. Their plan has one hitch: they need money to make the trip. When a potential patron asks what the pair might be willing to sell, Niner and Cosmos offer their only item of value — Niner’s guardian angel. Once they’ve set out, Niner takes a turn for the worse, and Cosmos realizes he needs that guardian angel back to save his friend."


BLACK IS FOR BEGINNINGS by Laurie Faria Stolarz. "Prophetic dreams. Near-brushes with death. Killers pursuing her and her friends. Stacey Brown knows that being a hereditary witch isn't all it's cracked up to be. Stacey's nightmares are back. And all she wants to do is go to Colorado and work things out with Jacob. But before Stacey and Jacob can have a future, they must face their pasts—and the secrets they've kept from each other."

CATCHING FIRE: THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins . "Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge."

THE CIRCLE OF GOLD: THE BOOK OF TIME by Guillaume Prevost. "Sam rescued his father from Dracula's castle, but that doesn't mean their troubles are over. Now Allan Faulkner lies in a coma in the Sainte-Mary hospital, tossing about and muttering aloud about saving Sam's late mother. Sam has no choice but to go back in Time to see her. His inability to control his destination, however, means he journeys to ancient China, Renaissance Rome, and even 2025 -- where he sees his own grave! Can Sam prevent this grisly ending and save his mother once and for all?"

DEVIL'S KISS by Sarwat Chadda. "As the youngest and only female member of the Knights Templar, Bilquis SanGreal grew up knowing she wasn't normal. Instead of hanging out at the mall or going on dates, she spends her time training as a soldier in her order's ancient battle against the Unholy. Billi's cloistered life is blasted apart when her childhood friend, Kay, returns from Jerusalem, gorgeous and with a dangerous chip on his shoulder. He's ready to reclaim his place in Billi's life, but she's met someone new: amber-eyed Michael, who seems to understand her like no one else, effortlessly claiming a stake in her heart. But the Templars are called to duty before Billi can enjoy the pleasant new twist to her life. One of the order's ancient enemies has resurfaced, searching for a treasure that the Templars have protected for hundreds of years -- a cursed mirror powerful enough to kill all of London's firstborn. To save her city from catastrophe, Billi will have to put her heart aside and make sacrifices greater than any of the Templars could have imagined."


DREAMING ANASTASIA: A NOVEL OF LOVE, MAGIC, AND THE POWER OF DREAMS by Joy Preble. "Anastasia Romanov thought she would never feel more alone than when the gunfire started and her family began to fall around her. Surely the bullets would come for her next. But they didn't. Instead, two gnarled old hands reached for her. When she wakes up she discovers that she is in the ancient hut of the witch Baba Yaga, and that some things are worse than being dead. In modern-day Chicago, Anne doesn't know much about Russian history. She is more concerned about getting into a good college—until the dreams start. She is somewhere else. She is someone else. And she is sharing a small room with a very old woman. The vivid dreams startle her, but not until a handsome stranger offers to explain them does she realize her life is going to change forever. She is the only one who can save Anastasia. But, Anastasia is having her own dreams…"

THE EYEBALL COLLECTOR by F.E.Higgins. "Although Hector Fitzbaudly has always lived a plush life on the posh side of the River Foedus, he’s yearned to slip away from his comfortable home and see the seedy side of Urbs Umida. Unfortunately, he gets his chance when a blackmail artist confronts his father with a terrible secret from his past, and Hector finds himself penniless and on the streets. He is determined to get his revenge against the man responsible, who has been a pauper, a gentleman, and an Eyeball Collector—stealing jewels from the wealthy to make false eyes to replace his missing one. He is a master of disguise, and a swindler who moves from place to place. Hector trails the Eyeball Collector to the small village of Pagus Parvus and the foreboding Withypitts Hall, run by the eccentric Lady Mandible who has a strange taste for the macabre. He takes a job incubating butterflies for Lady Mandible, and places himself in the perfect position to take revenge. Hector is so close to the Eyeball Collector, but will he be able to go through with his plan?"

FALLING by Sharon Dogar. "Neesha is haunted by violent visions of the past; of another Southeast Asian girl, far away and forever ago. Just when the echoes in her head threaten to overwhelm her, to rob her of her fragile sanity, rescue comes in the form of Sam--a white boy she's known since childhood. Neesha finds herself falling--falling in love. Can Sam catch her? Can the two of them find a way to live their own story? Or are they fated to replay the tragedy of a centuries-old love affair?" NB: Amazon has this as nine to twelve, but I don't believe it.


HANNAH: DAUGHTERS OF THE SEA by Kathryn Lasky. "Daughters of the Sea tells the story of 3 mermaid sisters who are separated at birth by a storm and go on to lead three very different lives. Book 1 is about Hannah, who spent her early days in an orphanage and is now a scullery maid in the house of rich, powerful family. She is irresistibly drawn to the sea and through a series of accidents and encounters discovers her true identity. Hannah relizes that she must keep the truth a secret but she also knows that soon she will have to make the choice - to be a creature of the land or the sea."

THE HOLLOW by Jessica Verday. "When Abbey's best friend, Kristen, vanishes at the bridge near Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, everyone else is all too quick to accept that Kristen is dead?and rumors fly that her death was no accident. Abbey goes through the motions of mourning her best friend, but privately, she refuses to believe that Kristen is really gone. Then she meets Caspian, the gorgeous and mysterious boy who shows up out of nowhere at Kristen's funeral, and keeps reappearing in Abbey's life. Caspian clearly has secrets of his own, but he's the only person who makes Abbey feel normal again...but also special. Just when Abbey starts to feel that she might survive all this, she learns a secret that makes her question everything she thought she knew about her best friend."

HUNTER'S MOON: AVALON HIGH CORONATION by Meg Cabot. "Ellie has only one day left to get her boyfriend Will to truly believe he's the reincarnation of King Arthur, or the world will plunge into eternal darkness. But Will refuses to believe her! Meanwhile, the upcoming Homecoming game and dance have everyone distracted, especially Ellie. Some people aren't too happy about her Homecoming Queen nomination and are determined to cause trouble. Ellie's got to save her reputation and the world before the new moon on the night of Homecoming brings them all to a dangerous crossroad. If Ellie can't convince Will of his destiny, the world may never recover. . . ."

INTERTWINED by Gena Showalter. "Most sixteen-year-olds have friends. Aden Stone has four human souls living inside him: One can time-travel. One can raise the dead One can tell the future. And one can possess another human. With no other family and a life spent in and out of institutions, Aden and the souls have become friends. But now they're causing him all kinds of trouble. Like, he'll blink and suddenly he's a younger Aden, reliving the past. One wrong move, and he'll change the future. Or he'll walk past a total stranger and know how and when she's going to die."

NEVER CRY WEREWOLF by Heather Davis. "Okay, so maybe Shelby has made a few mistakes with boys lately (how was she supposed to know Wes had "borrowed" that Porsche?). But her stepmother totally overreacts when she catches Shelby in a post-curfew kiss with a hot senior: Suddenly Shelby's summer plans are on the shelf, and she's being packed off to brat camp. It's good-bye, prom dress; hello, hiking boots. Things start looking up, though, when Shelby meets fellow camper (and son of a rock star) Austin Bridges III. But soon she realizes there's more to Austin than crush material—his family has a dark secret, and he wants Shelby's help guarding it. Shelby knows that she really shouldn't be getting tangled up with another bad boy . . . but who is she to turn her back on a guy in need, especially such a good-looking one? One thing's for sure: That pesky full moon is about to get her into trouble all over again."

NIGHT RUNNER by Max Turner. "For Zack Thomson, living in the Nicholls Ward isn't so bad. After his parents died, he developed strange and severe allergies, and the mental institution was the only place where he could be properly looked after. As strange as it was, it was home. He could watch as much television as he wanted; his best friend Charlie visited him often enough; and Nurse Ophelia--the prettiest no-nonsense nurse ever--sometimes took him bowling. Of course, that didn't mean he had it easy. His allergies restricted his diet to strawberry smoothies, and being the only kid at the hospital could get lonely. But it never once crossed Zack's mind to leave...until the night someone crashed through the front doors and told him to run. Now he's on a race for answers--about his past, his parents, and his strange sickness--even as every step takes him closer to the darkest of truths."

POSSESSIONS by Nancy Holder. "New-girl Lindsay discovers all is not right at the prestigious Marlwood Academy for Girls. Ethereal, popular Mandy and her clique are plotting something dangerous. Lindsay overhears them performing strange rituals, and sees their eyes turn black. It doesn’t help that the school itself is totally eerie, with ancient, dilapidated buildings tucked into the Northern California woods, a thick white fog swirling through campus. There are hidden passageways, odd reflections in the windows at night, and scariest of all is the vast lake rumored to have captured the ghost of a girl who drowned many years ago. What Lindsay doesn’t yet realize is that Mandy and her cohorts are becoming possessed by spirits who have haunted the school for two hundred years. Spirits who want someone dead... And that someone is Lindsay."

SOMETHING WICCAN THIS WAY COMES: A RHIANNON GODFREY STORY by Traci Hall. "What's a girl to do when trouble finds her at every turn? Being different is nothing new for Rhiannon Godfrey. Neither is hiding who she really is to all but a select few. So far shes managed to walk that line, but now someone is spreading rumors that the Godfreys New Age store is really a front for witchcraft, complete with cauldrons and eyes of newt. The whole town is turning against them even Rhees boyfriend is suspicious. Then theres her ex-crush Matthew, who just showed up uninvited on her doorstep carrying a single suitcase and a heavy secret. Rhiannon tries to be good, she really does. But it's hard when trouble pounces at every turn, and her unsuccessful spells seem to prove that science is the only path to enlightenment. Hiding her gifts and running from confrontation is easier than standing up for what she believes in. But this time, there's more at stake."

SOULSTICE: THE DEVOURING by Simon Holt. "It's been six months since Reggie first discovered and fought against the Vours, malicious and demonic beings that inhabit human bodies on the eve of the Winter Solstice. The Vours still haunt Reggie, but only in her dreams-until one night, when an unexpected visitor turns her nightmares into reality. The battle against evil continues in Soulstice, the second book in the thrilling The Devouring series..."



THE TEAR COLLECTOR by Patrick Jones. "...a new kind of vampire–one that feeds off of tears instead of blood. Descended from an ancient line of creatures that gain their energy from human tears, Cassandra Gray depends on human sorrow to live. Only Cass has grown tired of living this life and wants to live like a human, especially now that she's met someone worth fighting for."


TENTACLES by Roland Smith. "Marty and Grace O'Hara's globe-trotting parents disappeared while on assignment for a nature magazine, and now they're living with their Uncle Wolfe, a scientist fascinated by cryptids--creatures that appear in myths but haven't been proven to exist, such as the Loch Ness Monster. Wolfe is planning an expedition to New Zealand to track a giant squid, and he's rented a huge (and possibly haunted) freighter for the trip. But someone on board is determined to sabotage their mission--and if Marty and Grace keeping poking their noses into things, they might end up the saboteur's next victims!"