new teen books

For months, Cass has heard her best friend, Julia, whisper about a secret project. When Julia dies in a car accident, her drama friends decide to bring the project—a musical called Totally Sweet Ninja Death Squad—to fruition. But Cass isn't a drama person. She can’t take a summer of painting sets, and she won’t spend long hours with Heather, the girl who made her miserable all through middle school and has somehow landed the leading role. So Cass takes off. In alternating chapters, she spends the first part of summer on a cross-country bike trip and the rest swallowing her pride, making props, and—of all things—falling for Heather.
This is a story of the breadth of love. Of the depth of friendship. And of the most hilarious musical one quiet suburb has ever seen.


From Louis Sachar, New York Times bestselling author and winner of the Newbery Medal for HOLES, comes the young adult novel THE CARDTURNER, an exploration of the human condition. How are we supposed to be partners? He can’t see the cards and I don’t know the rules! The summer after junior year of high school looks bleak for Alton Richards. His girlfriend has dumped him to hook up with his best friend. He has no money and no job. His parents insist that he drive his great-uncle Lester to his bridge club four times a week and be his cardturner—whatever that means. Alton’s uncle is old, blind, very sick, and very rich. But Alton’s parents aren’t the only ones trying to worm their way into Lester Trapp’s good graces. They’re in competition with his longtime housekeeper, his alluring young nurse, and the crazy Castaneda family, who seem to have a mysterious influence over him. Alton soon finds himself intrigued by his uncle, by the game of bridge, and especially by the pretty and shy Toni Castaneda. As the summer goes on, he struggles to figure out what it all means, and ultimately to figure out the meaning of his own life. Through Alton’s wry observations, Louis Sachar explores the disparity between what you know and what you think you know. With his incomparable flair and inventiveness, he examines the elusive differences between perception and reality—and inspires readers to think and think again.






Joshua's life was pretty average until his archaeologist father was reported dead in a plane crash. Josh's dad had been searching for the Mayan Codex, said to contain key information about the 2012 Mayan prophecy foretelling the end of the world. Was the crash simply a tragic accident, or is there more to his father's death than the authorities are willing to tell him?This first novel in the action-packed Joshua Files brings Josh to the depths of the Mexican jungle and into a secret society existing beneath an ancient Mayan Pyramid. Sucked into a vortex of intrigue, Josh becomes a target for danger as he learns that his father, grandfather, and Josh himself are the key to solving the mystery of the prophecy. Can Josh find the missing codex in time to save mankind?
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