Dragon Rider

Written by bestselling author Cornelia Funke, Dragon Rider is a thrilling, exciting story that younger readers will adore! This fantastic fantasy is about a dragon named Firedrake who is embarking on a journey that will take him to the Rim of Heaven: a mystical place in the Himalayas where dragons can rest, free of harm. But first, Firedrake will need a special map with directions to his destination. Along the way, Firedrake will pick up many friends, including Ben, an orphan, and Sorrell, a sassy yet fun Brownie. These three friends will have to band together to fight of Nettlebrand, a big, scary creature that could take them all down...

   Will this adventurous trio make it to the Rim of Heaven in time? Funke's fast pace and exciting storytelling will make it hard for readers (recommended to ages 8-11) to put this fantastic story down!

Cinderella (As If You Didn't Already Know the Story)

You know the story of Cinderella, right? Well you don't know this classic fairytale Barbara Ensor style. This witty and fun author tells the story in a different way. Like, for instance, you probably didn't know that the prince loved Jell-O and his mother made him take dancing lessons, did you? Or that Cinderella was so nice and funny and wrote letters to her mother, now, right? Ensor's beautiful black-and-white paper illustrations illuminate this great book even more. You'll love Cinderella's honest letters that she writes to her mother, and will eagerly keep on reading as her fairy godmother transforms lizards into coachmen! This "quick read for smart girls" is just as the book advertises it to be, plus a whole lot more!

The Luxe

When you open The Luxe, you open the door to Manhattan in 1899, full of jealousy, betrayal, romance, and secrets.

 Elizabeth and Diana Holland are the queens of the New York social scene. They constantly attend fabulous parties, glittering galas, and their names are frequently splattered all over the front page of every gossip magazine and newspaper. However, both girls are the keepers of scandalous secrets: Elizabeth is secretly in love with one of the Holland's staff, although she is engaged to possibly save her family's ritzy reputation. Will she have to choose between true love and family? Meanwhile, Diana loves someone she can't have-Henry Schoonmaker, Elizabeth's fianceé. But what if he loves her back, too? But Di had better watch out, because Elizabeth's so-called friend and backstabbing heiress Penelope Hayes has her eye on Henry, and will stop at nothing to get him...

   And then there's Lina, Elizabeth's maid. Can she free herself from her enslaving job to follow her heart in love--and more? But then a tragedy occurs, possibly changing everything for all five teens...Anna Godbersen's exciting new YA novel is a masterpiece full of history, romance, mystery, and more that girls ages 13 and up won't be able to put down!

Penelope

In this charming movie about the importance of liking who you are, Christina Ricci plays Penelope Wilhern, the daughter of two parents who are constantly in the newspapers' society gossip pages. But little do they know, a curse was cast on the Wilhern clan a long time ago, causing each girl born into the family to possess the face of a pig! So, to avoid a nosy reporter who will stop at nothing to get the truth about what Penelope really looks like, Penelope's mother fakes the death of her child, secretly hiding Penelope away for all of her childhood. But the only way that the curse is able to be undone is by having Penelope marry a blue-blooded gentleman. So Penelope's parents are constantly setting her up with young men that they think could break the curse-but usually just end up breaking the windows, trying to escape from "the monster" that they think Penelope is. Can Penelope find her true love-even if he can't break the curse? Starring other well-known actors such as James McAvoy and Reese Witherspoon, Penelope is a wonderful comedy-fantasy that all viewers will love.

Do the Math: Secrets, Lies, and Algebra

Eighth grade is proving to be very challenging for math whiz Tess, who uses algebra to explain everyday things that happen to her. Especially the following:

- Getting in a fight with her two best friends (2f)

- A stolen test (t)

- Three cheaters who are much > than her (3c)

- And a murder that could be committed by one of her parent's friends! (m) Can Tess work out the equation before she's totally in over her head?

2f + t + 3c + m= one totally exciting, fast paced, and fun book for middle schoolers by Wendy Lichtman!

Girls In Pants

Tibby, Lena, Carmen, and Bridget are back in the third installment of Ann Brashares' The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. But this summer, everything is different. This is the girl's last summer before they all jet off to four different colleges. So they want it to be a summer to remember...Tibby is dreading all of the changes that are coming her way. And her friend, Brian, wants to be her boyfriend, while Tibby wants to just stay friends. Lena wants to go to art school, but her parents don't, and won't support her if she does. She'll have to make a hard decision: she should follow her heart or her parents'? Bridget's heading off to be a coach at a soccer camp in Pennsylvania, but she'll get a rude awakening when she finds out who one of her fellow coaches is! And Carmen's got to face the most challenges: her mom's going to have a baby, and Carmen's afraid that once she heads off to college, she'll be pushed out of the picture. She's also agreed to take care of Lena's cranky Greek grandma, Valia, which is going to be a lot harder than it looks, and she's pretending to be someone who she's not to someone important to her. Can the pants work their magic on these four friends? Ann Brashares' third novel is full of friendship, love, and summer fun that teens will love.

Candyfloss

Life is tough for Flora ("Floss") Barnes. First of all, her parents are divorced-her mum lives with Floss's stepdad Steve and cute baby half-brother Tiger in a beautiful apartment, while Floss's dad lives alone in his beloved greasy little café, a place that Floss adores. But when Floss's mum announces that she, Steve, and Tiger are moving to Australia because of Steve's job promotion, Floss in stuck smack-dab in the middle of an extremely hard situation. Should she stay home in England with her wonderful-but-lonely dad or go to Australia with her loving mum? And that's not Floss's only trouble-she's still deciding if she REALLY wants to be friends with popular but sometimes nasty Rhiannon, although Floss really wants to be friends with the quiet new girl Susan. And on top of all of this, it looks like Floss's dad might lose the café! Jacqueline Wilson's amazing novel will appeal to readers ages 8-11 who want to read a beautiful, funny, and sincere story about a girl that everyone can relate to! A five-star story indeed.