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Reading Rocks! Booklists Thrillers and Chillers • Laugh Out Loud • Other Places, Times, and People • Aliens, Etc. Mystery and Suspense Tales that will send shivers down your spine or make you wonder whodunnit. Summer of Fear - Lois Duncan When Rachel's cousin Julia comes to town, everyone is enchanted by her. Everyone but Rachel, that is. Rachel senses evil around Julia, and tries to prove that Julia is a witch.   The Ghosts of Now - Joan Lowry Nixon With her brother in a coma following a hit-and-run accident, a high school senior investigates the incident, stirring up animosity in the small, tight west Texas community where her family has recently moved.   Close to a Killer - Marsha Qualey Barrie's ex-con mother, Daria, owns a hair salon called Killer Looks where all the stylists are released convicted murderers. When two murders occur, Barrie becomes a sleuth to clear her mother's name.   The Killer's Cousin - Nancy Werlin David has been acquitted of his girlfriend's murder, and moves to his aunt's house to get away from all of the attention. However, his new surroundings don't seem too safe: he thinks his room is haunted, and his 11-year-old cousin becomes increasingly hostile and threatening. Has David really come to a safe place?   Locked Inside - Nancy Werlin After she is kidnapped from her exclusive boarding school, heiress Marnie Skyedottir must use the skills she has honed becoming champion of the Internet adventure game Palipolis to save herself. Locked in a windowless basement, all she has is a blanket, a bottle of seltzer, a sand bucket, and a would-be rescuer with a gun-shot wound.   For Mike - Shelley Sykes When Jeff's best friend, Mike, disappears in the fall of their senior year in high school, Jeff has disturbing dreams in which Mike urges him to come get him, and a secret begins to unfold.   Among the Hidden - Margarest Peterson Haddix In a future where the Population Police enforce the law limiting a family to only two children, Luke has lived all his twelve years in isolation and fear on his family's farm, until another "third" convinces him that the government is wrong.   Cutting Loose - Michael Lewin Jackie, who dresses like a boy in order to play professional baseball during the late nineteenth century, tracks the murderer of her best friend to London where she encounters the killer of her father.   Tightrope - Gillian Cross When she begins receiving bizarre threatening messages from someone who seems to know her every move, Ashley, after seeking help from the neighborhood gang leader, comes to realize that she alone can end the stalker's reign of terror.   Princes - Sonya Hartnett Living in a dilapidated, secluded mansion, Indigo and Ravel are twins that are so connected no one can tell them apart. When Ravel tries to loosen the ties, Indigo reacts with rage and their world turn to madness and a fight for self. A dark thriller. Back to menu Laugh Out Loud In need of a chuckle to two? Try these titles! Backwater - Joan Bauer While compiling a genealogy of her family of successful attorneys, sixteen-year-old history buff Ivy Breedlove treks into the mountain wilderness to interview a reclusive aunt with whom she identifies and who in turn helps her to truly know herself and her family.   Burger Wuss - M.T. Anderson Hoping to lose his loser image, Anthony plans revenge on a bully which results in a war between two competing fast food restaurants, Burger Queen and O'Dermott's. A hilarious look at high school romance and revenge.   Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen - Dyan Sheldon In her first year at a suburban New Jersey high school, Mary Elizabeth Cep, who now calls herself "Lola," sets her sights on the lead in the annual drama production, and finds herself in conflict with the most popular girl in school.   Extreme Elvin - Chris Lynch As he enters high school, fourteen-year-old Elvin continues to deal with his weight problem as he tries to find his place among his peers.   Love Among the Walnuts - Jean Ferris Sandy, a young and rich man, teams up with his butler and a nurse from the insane asylum next door in order to foil his uncles plans to steal the family fortune.   Rules of the Road - Joan Bauer Sixteen-year-old Jenna gets a job driving the elderly owner of a chain of successful shoe stores from Chicago to Texas to confront the son who is trying to force her to retire, and along the way Jenna hones her talents as a saleswoman and finds the strength to face her alcoholic father.   Sunshine Rider - Ric Hardman Set in the Wild West of 1881, this story follows 17-year-old Wylie's crazy adventures. Abandoning a cattle drive and his assistant cook position, Wylie sets off with his pet cattalo (a buffalo and cow mix) that can count on command and come when called. Wylie's adventures while traveling show why the West was "wild."   Back to menu Other Places, Times, and Peoples Get out of Mt. Lebanon and experience a variety of times, places, and cultures. Asphalt Angels - Ineke Holtwijk A brutally honest look at the life of street kids in Rio de Janeiro through the eyes of 13-year-old Alex, who joins the Asphalt Angels after being kicked out of his home.   The Baboon King - Anton Quintana Son of a Kikuyu mother and a Masai herdsman father, Morengáru the hunter lives on the edges of tribal society until an actual banishment forces him to make a life for himself among a troop of baboons   The Book of the Lion - Michael Cadnum In twelfth-century England, after his master, a maker of coins for the king, is brutally punished for alleged cheating, seventeen-year-old Edmund finds himself traveling to the Holy Land as squire to a knight crusader on his way to join the forces of Richard Lionheart.   The Dark Light - Mette Newth While enduring a bleak existence in a hospital for lepers in Norway during the early 1800s, thirteen-year-old Tora tries to find meaning in a life surrounded by death.   Chinese Cinderella: the True Story of an Unwanted Daughter - Adeline Yen Mah A true-life tale: Wu Mei is blamed for her mother's death and so is rejected and neglected by her new stepmother. Supported by an aunt and grandfather, Wu Mei escapes her family and dreams of an college education in England.   I Had Seen Castles - Cynthia Rylant John Dante is so patriotic that he can't wait until he's 18 so he can enlist in World War II. Despite falling in love with Ginny, a passionate pacifist, John goes to war, and his life and his soul are changed forever.   Pharaoh's Daughter - Julius Lester A fictionalized account of the Biblical story of Moses in which an Egyptian princess rescues a Hebrew infant who becomes a prophet of his people while his sister finds her true self as a priestess to the Egyptian gods.   The Sacrifice - Diane Matcheck When her father's death leaves her orphaned and an outcast among her Apsaalooka (Crow) people, a fifteen-year-old girl sets out to avenge his death and prove that she, not her dead twin brother, is destined to be the Great One.   Shiva's Fire - Suzanne Fisher Staples Born during a horrible storm, Parvati is blessed (and cursed) with mysterious powers. Villagers and family fear Parvati and her powers, but a famous Indian dance guru believes she is fated to dance for the gods. Parvati must choose between her desire and fate, and giving up all that she knows to do so.   Waiting for Odysseus - Clemence McLaren Presents the story of Odysseus's epic journey through the eyes of his faithful wife Penelope, the sorceress Circe, the goddess Athena, and his old nanny Eurycleia.   Back to menu Aliens, Etc. Great reads featuring aliens, ghosts, and other non-human characters. Blood and Chocolate - Annette Curtis Klause Having fallen for a human boy, a beautiful teenage werewolf must battle both her packmates and the fear of the townspeople to decide where she belongs and with whom.   Companions of the Night - Vivian Vande Velde When sixteen-year-old Kerry Nowicki helps a young man escape from a group of men who claim he is a vampire, she finds herself faced with some bizarre and dangerous choices.   Dark Lord of Derkholm - Diana Wynne Jones Derk, an unconventional wizard, and his magical family become involved in a plan to put a stop to the devastating tours of their world arranged by the tyrannical Mr. Chesney.   The Dark Side of Nowhere - Neal Shusterman 14-year-old Jason faces an identity crisis after discovering that he is a son of aliens who stayed on Earth following a botched invasion mission.   The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams Saved from Earth just seconds before it is destroyed in order to build an intergalactic freeway, Arthur Dent joins his friend Ford Prefect in traveling the galaxy so they can revise the Hitchhiker's Guide. A very funny science fiction tale.   Oddly Enough - Bruce Coville A collection of nine short stories featuring an angel, unicorn, vampire, werewolf, and other unusual creatures   The Silver Kiss - Annette Curtis Klause Zoe is grieving for her dying mother when she meets Simon, a vampire looking for revenge for the murder of his brother. The two meet, and discover they can help each other in ways they never thought possible.   Tamsin - Peter Beagle Forced to go to England with her mother and step-father, Jenny discovers a secret chamber that is haunted by a ghost. Jenny befriends and takes comfort in Tamsin Willoughby, and decides to help her ghost friend fight the demons that surround her in order to find eternal rest.   Back to menu