Boy Proof

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Boy Proof

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by Cecil Castellucci

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Virgina "Egg" Jurgen is the smartest girl in her class... at least she thinks so. She's different from everyone else around her... in her opinion. No one could ever understand her. No one knows her. No one is worth knowing.

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She only looks up to one person, and that person is Egg from the new sci-fi movie, Terminal Earth. She changes her name, shaves her head, and wears costumes from the movie. And she doesn't mind the fact that everyone talks about her, but few people talk to her. Boys stay away? That's ok. She's now boy proof.

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But things go awry when she meets Max, who seems to understand her like no one else does. He changes the way she sees the people around her, but will it be too late? Has she already destroyed the few friendships she had? And is being a loner the same as being lonely?

Diary of a Fairy Godmother

Diary of a Fairy Godmother

by Esme Raji Codell

Hunky Dory isn't really hunky dory. After one hundred years perfecting her badness in charm school and being the top of her class, Hunky Dory suddenly begins to feel un-witchy. After seeing some F.G.s (Fairy Godmothers) in action, she even starts to think about granting wishes instead of curses.
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What's a poor, misunderstood, confused witch to do?
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Runaway from home (or get kicked out... it's really the same thing in the end, right?) and try wish-granting (just to see what it's like).
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Will Hunky Dory be an outcast forever? Or will she be able to find a balance between wishing and witching?

I'd Tell You I Love You, but Then I'd Have to Kill You

I'd Tell You I Love You, but Then I'd Have to Kill You
by Ally Carter

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Cameron Morgan, a.k.a. Cammie the Chameleon, could be your average, ordinary, 15-year-old girl at school. She could be... if she wasn't attending the most exclusive school in the world. She could be... if that school's sole purpose wasn't to train future spies. And she could be... if her parents hadn't been the best spies in the business.
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Things really couldn't be better for Cammie. She's got the lineage. She's got the grades. And, most of all, she's got the talent to be the best spy the school has seen in generations.
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What she doesn't have is a working knowledge of the teenage boy's mind.
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So when she meets Josh -- cute, kind, cute, nice, cute, polite, and (did we mention?) cute, Josh -- all of Cammie's plans for the best sophomore year ever go quickly down the drain.
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Complicating matters are her mother, who runs the school, the new Covert Ops teacher, who is gorgeous, but seems to know little too much about Cammie and her mom, and Josh's best friend, who is determined to find out everything he can about Cammie.
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What's a future deep undercover spy to do?

Fever, 1793

Fever, 1793

by Laurie Halse Anderson

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Matilda "Mattie" Cook is living during one of the hottest summers on record in Philadelphia. Instead of being able to lounge around and try to keep cool in the heat, Mattie must help her mother and grandfather run their coffeehouse, which is the only income they have since her father died in a freak accident years before.
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It's hard work, but Mattie hasn't really known hard work until the fever starts. Over the next three months, Mattie watches as everyone around her seems to go crazy with the fear of Yellow Fever. Stores close up shop. Households pack up and run for the countryside. Families dump their sick relatives on the streets to be picked up by the wagon for the dead.

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And though she and her family live just blocks from the residence of President George Washington, even his close proximity cannot protect her and her family.

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With this book, you'll not only see the events that took place surrounding the Yellow Fever outbreak of 1793, you'll live through them and even begin to worry if you'll survive.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

by Sherman Alexie

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Arnold "Junior" Spirit has always had it rough. Born with a nearly fatal brain condition that left him physically deformed, he has seizures, brain damage, and is nearsighted in one eye, while being farsighted in the other. Because he looks a little lopsided, he's also been picked on and beat up nearly every day of his life. His dad's a drunk, his sister hides in the basement, and his best friend, the only person who doesn't beat him up every day, is violent and angry all of the time.

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On top of all of that, Arnold is destined to be a nothing because he lives on a reservation where most of the members of the tribe die early deaths related to booze.

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He's going nowhere fast and he knows it.

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Until one day, after breaking his teacher's nose with the very geometry book his mother had used at least 30 years before, he's convinced that he can be something more.

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So, with his parents' encouragement, he decides to enroll in a white high school 22 miles outside the reservation. Getting there is difficult. Staying there is even more so. And finding acceptance in the tribe, where leaving the rez is tantamount to betraying your ancestry, is going to be the most difficult thing he's ever done.

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What do you do when you're a part-time Indian?

Hunger Games

The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins

It's the ultimate reality show.

You versus 23 others from around the nation.

You get a stylist, coach, sponsors, and everything you could ever want.

Then it begins.

It's you versus them.

You can't trust anyone.

Even the person from your home town is dangerous.

You can't let your guard down.

It's time for... The Hunger Games.

Win and you get food and riches for the rest of your life.

Lose... and you go home in a body bag.

Can you survive?

Pawn of Prophecy

Pawn of Prophecy
by David Eddings

Garion is just your average, ordinary boy growing up on a farm just like any other farm in the world. His Aunt Pol has raised him since he was a baby and cared for him like a mother. The blacksmith, Durnik, has always been patient and answered any questions he had, just like a father. His grandfather even comes by now and again to tell amazing stories and help Garion get into trouble. Just an ordinary life.
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However, his world changes one day when he and his grandfather take a trip that shows Garion how small his farm world really is, and that maybe, just maybe, his grandfather might be more than he knows.
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Could Garion be the one the world has been waiting for?

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This is the first book in the Belgariad series.

Dragonsong

Dragonsong

by Anne McCaffrey

Menolly is gifted. She has the power to write a song that will stick in your head and carry you away. Unfortunately, she lives in a time and place where women are meant to cook, clean, and carry babies. Her parents are embarrassed by her. Her sister seems to hate her. And the only person who ever understood her, her music teacher, has died.
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She's never felt so alone.
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But one day, Menolly discovers something that no one else knows. Fire lizards are real! And these miniature dragons lead her on an adventure unlike any other.

Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature

Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature

by Robin Brande

Mena is just your typical right-wing Conservative-Christian, church-going teenager starting high school. However when she must choose between what she believes is right and what everyone else believes is necessary, she ends up alienating everyone who's ever meant anything to her. Her friends physically attack her and curse her in the halls, her parents won't talk to her, and she's been banned from the church she's attended her entire life.
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Things couldn't get much worse.
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Except...
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When the only teacher who's ever made Mena actually get interested in science becomes the next victim of her (former) pastor's plot to destroy anything he thinks the church disagrees with, can Mena again defy everything she knows to do what she thinks is right? Or will she decide that being a social outcast isn't worth the trouble?
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Oh! And don't forget that cute lab partner who Mena's not supposed to even think about dating for another year and a half (even though all she wants to do is be with him).

Breaking Dawn

Breaking Dawn

by Stephenie Meyer

The fourth and final installment of the Twilight Saga told from Bella's point of view is the largest of them all; however, it's not the best.
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All of the plot points of the first three books get tied into a nice bow in this book that has Bella getting married, having a baby, and turning into a vampire, all before the halfway point of the book. While it's fun to read about all the different vampires out in the world, there are far too many mentioned to make this book easy to understand. It's over-complicated and sometimes confusing with all the different personalities vying for face time.
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Most difficult is that the ability to relate to Bella is lost almost at the start of the book and Edward is basically a side-note. The key to the first three books was the relationship between the two, but after they are married, things shift drastically and the entire dynamic shifts with it. And while the entire idea of vampires really existing isn't realistic, the book takes it beyond vampires living in our world and makes it almost like we're living in their's. Even Bella's human friends serve only as background at the wedding and are never heard from again.
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While the first three books were appropriate for middle school, this final book isn't. There had even been talk by Meyer's own publishing company of putting a warning label on the books for parents of children under 15. It's very graphic and even a little gory. While it's good to read this book to find out the end of the story, it may not be worth the cost of purchase unless you're a die-hard fan.

Impossible

Impossible

by Nancy Werlin

Lucinda Scarborough is your average teen just trying to get ready for Prom. What she doesn't know is that she's also the victim of a curse that has haunted her family for generations. When one of her ancestors rejected the love of the Elvin King, he cursed her and her children. Now, when a Scarborough daughter turns 18, she becomes pregnant and goes insane upon the birth of her daughter. The only way to stop the curse it to perform three seemingly impossible tasks described in the song "Scarborough Fair".
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But unlike her mother, her mother's mother, and all the other Scarborough girls before, Lucy isn't alone. She has her best friend, Zach, and her foster parents, all of whom believe her and will do anything to help her break the curse.
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The story is new and original, but the characters are not well-developed. And though the book is good for a quick read, don't expect the characters to stay with you once you're done reading.

Elsewhere

Elsewhere
by Gabrielle Zevin

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It's the eternal question: what happens when you die?
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For Liz, it's answered far too soon when she's killed by a taxicab as she's riding her bike on her way to help her best friend buy a prom dress. However, she's unwilling to accept the truth, even when she befriends a girl who died after being shot in the head, a man who died from a drug overdose, and even her own grandmother, who died before she was born.
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Elsewhere is a land of impossibilities where people age backwards from the day they died to the day they are ready to be born again. It's both magical and familiar, as is Liz's quest to find out who she is, who she was, who she wanted to be before she died, and who she wants to be now.

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Will Liz be able to accept her life in the afterlife? Or will she be so desperate to get back to what she thought she once knew and loved that she'll abandon the life she's worked so hard to build?

The Host

The Host

by Stephenie Meyer

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Aliens have invaded Earth and the humans lost. Years after the successful invasion, a group of rebel humans who did not succumb to the initial assault are in hiding in the Arizona desert. Wanderer, an alien who was recently implanted in one of those humans (who was captured during a failed raid to find other free humans) becomes involved in the plight of those same humans when her host body's soul refuses to leave.
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Even when captured and invaded by Wanderer, Melanie will not leave her body. She will do almost anything to stay and try to protect both her brother, Jamie, and her soulmate, Jared. These two men dominate her thoughts, which eventually means that they dominate Wanderer's thoughts, as well.
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Together, they search out the humans in hiding, only to find themselves in danger from those same humans who suspect that Wanderer is a spy sent to destroy them all. Melanie and Wanderer must work together to help the very humans who want to kill them, while trying to gain their trust. They must also fight the jealousy that's caused when both Melanie and Wanderer find themselves in love with Jared.
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Can they find a way to save themselves, the humans, and the aliens without sacrificing themselves in the process?
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Fans of the Twilight series, by Stephenie Meyer, will find The Host to be both different and familiar.

Sweet-Blood

Sweet-Blood
by Pete Hautman

Lucy Szabo is your normal teen, or at least she thinks so. Of course, to her, everyone around her is far too concerned with appearances and behaving according to a code to be normal, which makes them abnormal.
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Of course, Lucy has a secret. By her own definition, she's the Undead. To her, anyone who must rely on modern medicine and technology to survive is Undead. And, since she can't survive one day without insulin to treat her diabetes, that makes her one of the walking dead. She even has a theory about people with diabetes: they are the original vampires.
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Recently, Lucy has been letting her vampire theory dominate her life. She's dyed her hair black, taken to wearing only black clothing (but don't you dare call her goth), and begun going to late night parties when she's supposed to be grounded at home.
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Could Lucy's new friends really be vampires? Could she really be getting in a little too deep with them? And could her new outlook on life actually be the thing that leads to her death?

The Plain Janes

The Plain Janes

by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg

Jane was your typical high school student. She was pretty, blond, and popular. But after a bomb goes off next to her, she changes. She begins writing letters to a guy in a coma who was also a victim of the bomb. She cuts her hair and dyes it black. She starts drawing everything that's around her. When her parents move her out of the city and into the heart of boring suburbanville to keep the family safe, Jane realizes that she can't just sit on the sidelines of life anymore.

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In the cafeteria, Jane is invited to sit with the popular girls, but rejects them to go to the Jane table. Jane, Jayne, and Jane are all a little different, but want to belong; and Jane wants to belong with them. Together, they form People Loving Art In Neighborhoods, or P.L.A.I.N. and they begin to create art attacks around town. Unfortunately, instead of acceptance, the town reacts very badly to their art, and Jane must decide between being true to herself or staying safe.

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This is a graphic novel that has the look of manga, but a story that will resound with all girls (and even a few boys).

Jinx

Jinx
by Meg Cabot

Jean Honeychurch has always had bad luck. She seems to be cursed in all she does. When she was born, the hospital was struck by lightning, which led to her being nicknamed "Jinx". And that nickname has followed her in more ways than one. Wherever she walks, she falls. If there's something nearby to crash in to, she does. When shes leaves Iowa to get away from a stalker, she doesn't even get picked up at the airport by her aunt and uncle.
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Of course, the reason for her bad luck could be as simple as her inability to accept who she is: a witch. One hundred fifty years before, Jinx's ancestor predicted that there would be a very powerful witch in the family, and the two top contenders are Jinx and her cousin, Tory. The questions remain, can they both be witches? And, can two witches in the same family, with very different views about HOW to use magic, get along?
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Add to all of that Zach, the boy on whom both cousins have a crush, and you have bad magic in the making.
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This is a typical Meg Cabot book. If you've read any of her other books and enjoyed them, this will be familiar to you. And while Jean and Tory do attempt spells from time to time, the story is more about Jean's need to come to accept herself before she can feel accepted by others. It also has Cabot's signature boy-in-love-with-girl-who- loves-him-but-she-doesn't-realize-he-even-thinks-about-her-that-way story. Essentially, this is a cotton candy book; it's fluffy, light, and sweet, but basically empty. If you're looking for something light and easy to read, without draining your brain, this is for you.

Beastly

Beastly

by Alex Flinn

Kyle Kingsbury has always been a bit of a beast. He's gorgeous and knows it. He has always treated people according to their appearance, no matter what they're like on the inside. Kyle even surrounds himself with people who think the same way he does, which is easy because they're all pretty, too. His dad is much the same way, being a famous television news personality himself. Everything seems to be perfect for Kyle, until the day he meets Kendra.
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Kendra is ugly and doesn't care, and this seems strange to Kyle. Even more strange is how she acts when he's near. She doesn't just fall all over him and idolize him like all the other girls do; she stands up to his beastliness and calls him out. And when he invites her to the spring dance, only to leave her standing while he goes to make out with the prettiest girl in school, he's truly surprised when she doesn't cry. He is even more surprised when he comes home after the dance only to find her in his room. And before she leaves, he finds out how beastly he can be.
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This retelling of the classic "Beauty and the Beast" fairy tale is told from the beast's point of view and proves that fairy tales aren't just for girls anymore.

Silent to the Bone

Silent to the Bone

by E. L. Konigsburg

Have you ever had a secret that was so horrible, so unspeakable, that you literally had to stop talking to protect it and yourself? When 13-year-old Branwell's baby sister, Nikki, is severely injured and taken to the hospital, Branwell suddenly cannot speak. No matter how hard he tries, the words don't come out. And, since he was the last person with the baby before the call to 911, he's the prime suspect of the police and even his own parents. No one knows what happened and Branwell can't tell them, so his best friend, Connor, must seek out the truth and help Branwell find his voice before it's too late.
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WARNING: Contains some mature themes. May be unsuitable for children under 13.