Supernatural: "hush, hush"

Fitzpatrick, Becca. hush,hush. New York: Simon & Schuster BFYR, 2009.

In the Old Testament a group of angels are thrown down from heaven because they lusted after mortal women. Is one of these fallen angels attending Nora Grey's high school in Coldwater, Maine?

Nora Grey lives on the outskirts of town with a mother who is rarely home. Their centuries old farmhouse is lit from the inside with memories of a father who was killed by a random act of violence. Outside fog swirls and the number of terrifying encounters is on the rise.

As an internal struggle over who trust becomes an external struggle to stay alive, Nora finds herself in the midst of an ancient battle between those who have fallen and one who is immortal. She will need strength. She will need endurance. Most of all she will need to shield her thoughts from those who would take them and use them against her.

As the stakes are raised and the players begin to reveal themselves, will Nora be able to stay one step ahead? Or will she be silenced forever by the one who beckons her with a hush, hush?

Christian Fiction: "New York Debut"

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Carlson, Melody. New York Debut, carter house girls series: Book Six. Carlson, Melody. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2009.

Six teenage girls in a boarding house run by a retired fashion icon get ready for their debut in New York's Fashion Week. As the competition heats up DJ struggles with the attitudes and behaviors of herself and those around her. Can Christianity survive the catwalks of Manhattan?

Mrs. Carter is running a tight ship at her boardinghouse full of future models. Her granddaughter DJ is starting to wonder though if she's more concerned about their looks than their higher selves. She's also worried about her best friend Taylor who's checked herself into rehab and Kriti who's beginning to show signs of an eating disorder. On top of all this she's beginning to question her own motives concerning the ever shallow Eliza.

"You ever get the feeling we're running some kind of clinic here?" joked DJ. "Like maybe my grandmother should switch her focus from fashion to mental health. We could be the Carter House Rehabilitation Center for Young Women."

They all laughed, but DJ actually thought it was sort of pathetic. She also thought her grandmother should bear some of the blame if the girls under her care got any more messed up. Oh, sure, maybe these things would've happened anyway. But maybe not this latest problem with Kriti. It seemed a direct result of the atmosphere in this house. Not that Grandmother would be that concerned to hear about it.

"So how do we intervene?" asked Casey.

As the Carter House Girls prepare for the runway there are lessons to be learned that have nothing to do with posture and posing and everything to do with faith and good works.

Historical: "Crispin: The Cross of Lead"

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Avi. Crispin: The Cross of Lead. New York: Hyperion, 2002.

Stripped of his family, his home and his possessions, thirteen year old Crispin finds himself enslaved and then befriended by a giant juggler called Bear.

Declared a "wolf's head" and on the run for a crime he did not commit, Crispin flees into the woods and into still more trouble. Enslaved by a giant of a man called Bear with ruddy red hair and beard, he is soon taught to play the recorder for his massive masters tricks. As Crispin is pursued by his enemies, he and the Bear head for Great Wexly where wolves are at the door and intrigue lines the streets.

Nearing the gate and a gauntlet of soldiers, Bear put a hand on Crispin's shoulder. "Crispen," he said softly, "try to show less worry. The worst disguise is fear."

"What if they stop me?"

"I don't think they will. But if they do, always remember what I told you; run away. Head into a crowd. Your size will hide you."

In this novel of medieval England, we learn that great friendship carries great responsibility and a cross of lead can be the key to freedom.

ALA Notable Children's Books. Newbery Medal.

Historical: "Dogboy"

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Russell, Christopher. Dogboy. New York : Greenwillow Books, 2006.

Raised with dogs. Thrust into battle. Brind must find the courage to make his way home.

Who is Brind and why does he race over fallen oak and slippery mud with a pack of Sir Edmond Dowe's mastiffs? This novel of aggression and loyalty, revenge and love reads like an adventure movie complete with narrow escapes and twisting plot lines.

Set in medieval times, Brind, the Dogboy, was raised with a litter of mongrel pups and has lived with dogs ever since. When Sir Edmond heads to France to the Battle of Crécy, he takes Brind and the pack of dogs with him. He plans for Brind to control the dogs until the exact right moment when he will unleash them on the French as weapons of mass destruction.

As Brind travels across the French countryside shadows of darkness and mystery stretch far across that foreign land. But Brind is not alone and it is through Glaive, the most powerful dog in the pack, and Aurélie, a girl at war with herself, that Brind will discover just who he is and where he, the Dogboy, finally belongs.

Verse Novel: "one of those hideous books where the mother dies"

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Sones, Sonya. One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2004.

Ruby's mother dies and she is forced to leave Boston for Los Angeles to live with a father who abandoned her before she was born. A father who was too busy being a big Hollywood star to look her up before now.

Ruby was raised on the east coast by a mother that loved her and an Aunt she adores. When her mother dies, she finds herself on a plane to Los Angeles leaving behind her first real boyfriend, Ray, and her best friend in the world, Lizzie. Leaving her "whole entire life" behind to live with a father she's never met. A movie star father. An A-lister. A big star. A "scumbag" who divorced her mother before Ruby was even born.

"A billion flashbulbs are exploding all around us
and people are shouting and pushing and shoving
and sticking cameras in our faces
and crowding so close
that it feels like we're in a mosh pit.
"Whip! Whip!" they're calling
"Is that your long lost daughter?"

Whip may be an Oscar winning actor, but Ruby intends to make this role the most difficult he'll ever play. Will she come to terms with the past and forgive him? Will she fit in at her new school? Will next door neighbor, Cameron Diaz, who keeps breezing in borrow things, be her new stepmother? Read these heartfelt words of a girl whose life turns serious and who doesn't want her life to be just like one of those hideous books where the mother dies.

YALSA Best Books for Young Adults. YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. Rhode Island Teen Book Award. Iowa Teen Award. YALSA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults - What Makes a Family?

Fantasy: "Skellig"

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Almond, David. Skellig. NY: Dell Yearling, 1998.

Lying among the dead bluebottles and dust, Skellig inhabits the garage of Michael's new house. With the help of Mina, Michael will try to help this sorrowful creature recover.

Well: who is Skelling? This story takes us into a crumbling garage where bluebottles and spiders drop unexpectedly, and unknown things scuttle about. Where also a retched creature in a dusty black suit slowly deteriorates...

This story is set in a small town in England where David and his family have moved with the new baby who is very sick. As his parent's tend to his sister, David is full of tension and resentment. Why did they have to move? Why doesn't his sister get well? Why all this change?

David finds Skellig in the garage and sets about trying to help him. Together with Mina, his new friend and neighbor, they embark upon a course of action that they hope will bring about recovery. It is in that healing they will find out who they are and who exactly is Skellig.

Carnegie Medal. Garden State Teen Book Award. New York Times Notable Book. ALA Notable Children's Book. Booklist Editors' Choice. School Library Journal Best Book. Costa Book Award. Michael L. Printz Honor Book. Parents' Choice Award.

Horror: "Vampire Kisses"

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Schreiber, Ellen. Vampire Kisses. NY: Harper Collins, 2003.

Raven Madison dreams of vampire love. Could Alexander Sterling be the one she's been dreaming of?

Raven resides in Dullsville, a modern day town without pity. Rumors fly, like bats in a belfry, circling the new family living in the mysterious mansion on the hill. Although Raven is excited about the prospect of having her first vampire kiss, she also worries about what a town without pity can do...

Raven is the number-one outcast in her highly conformist high school, she finds solace engaging in her number one, two, and three passions- watching vampire movies, dreaming about vampires, and plotting the fall of her nemeses Trevor. Her fantasies of vampire love seem about to come true when she finally meets Alexander Sterling. The boy on the hill.

"I had waited for a moment like this all my life. To see, to meet, to befriend someone who was very different from everyone else, and just like me. Suddenly the reality of the situation hit me. I had been caught."

It's the height of the high school social season and the Snow Ball is approaching. Will Raven be caught in the tangled web of her own deceit or will she be the willing victim of Vampire Kisses?

YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers.

Classic: "Weetzie Bat"

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Block, Francesca Lia. Weetzie Bat. NY: Harper Collins, 1989.

A punk laced fairy tale set in the City of Angels. Weetzie may have the help of the genie of the lamp, but she'll need more than that to live happily ever after.

Tooling around Hollywood with her best friend Dirk in his slinkster-cool car, Weetzie Bat searches for love and dreams about living happily ever after. But ambitions change and ever afters are never guaranteed and just living happily for one moment takes a lot of assembling.

Will it all come together for Weetzie Bat and Dirk and the colorful cast of characters that populate this hipster genie in a bottle type tale? Follow them as they go "duck hunting"; each looking for their one true love. Witness Weetzie Bat as she tries to pull her father back from grey New York to the sunlit boulevards of Hollywood. Try to follow the logic when Dirk and Duck, her two gay friends, convince themselves and Weetzie that if they all sleep together and make a baby, Weetzie's Secret Agent Lover Man (who doesn't want to bring a child into this world) will come around.

This mythological melodrama is like jazz on a page. All syncopated rhythms, ensemble casting, and the spontaneity of Weetzie's improvisations. But for all its' complexity, there is the simple message of love hidden amongst the crazy swings of pitch and timbre.

YALSA 100 Best Books 1950-2000. Parents' Choice Award.