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Mel

   

You might not see Mel as often, she works in the back checking in all of the books, but if you like mysteries and horror and books for 3rd-6th graders, you'll like her reviews...

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The Spindlers (Hardcover)

By Lauren Oliver, Iacopo Bruno
$16.99
ISBN-13: 9780061978081
Availability: Readily available. If this title is not currently in-stock in the store, it is available to ship from the warehouse.
Published: HarperCollins, 10/2012
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When Liza's pesky little brother changes his behavior suddenly, Liza knows exactly what has happened to him. The Spindlers (evil spider-like beings) have stolen his soul. When no one believes Liza's story, she knows she must save him on her own. As Liza ventures into the underworld of the Spindlers, she encounters some strange and wonderful things, like a talking rat who wears clothes and makeup. Soon Liza learns she must hurry to save her brothers soul before the "feast" or it will be too late. 
 
This is a charming little take on sisterly love, packed full of adventure that any youngster will love.

Island of Silence (Hardcover)

By Lisa McMann
$16.99
ISBN-13: 9781442407718
Availability: Readily available. If this title is not currently in-stock in the store, it is available to ship from the warehouse.
Published: Aladdin, 9/2012
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I loved this book because it’s chock-full of magic, adventure, friends, and a story about people who come together to survive.
 
After the war between Quill and Artime is over, the gates have been left open so that people can come and go as they please. Many Quillans flee to Artime to live a more carefree life, but all is not well. Aaron Stowe is forming a rebellion to take down Artime and his twin brother, Alex.  Alex is getting prepped to help run Artime, a job he is determined not to take. While things are coming together, a mysterious raft is found floating off shore with two unconscious people aboard, and things only get stranger from there.
 
If you loved the first book in this series, The Unwanteds: Island of Silence Book 2 will have you begging for more.

Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin (Hardcover)

By Liesl Shurtliff
$16.99
ISBN-13: 9780307977939
Availability: Readily available. If this title is not currently in-stock in the store, it is available to ship from the warehouse.
Published: Knopf Books for Young Readers, 4/2013
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12-year-old Rump is the butt of everyone's jokes because he only has half a name, and you can't have a good destiny with half a name, can you?
 
When Rump discovers he can spin straw into gold, his life becomes nothing but trouble. His best friend Red warns him that doing magic is dangerous. Rump then leaves his small home to find the rest of his name and to escape the trouble he has caused. But poor Rump cannot hide forever, and soon he gets pulled back into, and has to untangle, the mess he has made.
 
This is a cute story that puts a different spin on a classic fairy tale.

Keeper of the Lost Cities (Hardcover)

By Shannon Messenger
$16.99
ISBN-13: 9781442445932
Availability: Readily available. If this title is not currently in-stock in the store, it is available to ship from the warehouse.
Published: Aladdin, 10/2012
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Sophie Foster has always known she was different because she can hear everyone's thoughts. One day, a cute boy named Fitz tells her she is the one they have been searching for, for years. He takes her to a place she only thought was a myth where she learns she is an elf. She is not the Santa kind of elf, but the magic kind. As she learns more about this new place and the people there, she finds out some truths about her life, and is left with more questions than answers. Sophie soon comes to realize that someone has plans for her already and they are not good plans. 
 
This is the first book in a new series. It’s great for young readers who enjoyed Harry Potter or Fablehaven.

Ghost Knight (Hardcover)

By Cornelia Funke
$16.99
ISBN-13: 9780316056144
Availability: Readily available. If this title is not currently in-stock in the store, it is available to ship from the warehouse.
Published: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 5/2012
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11-year-old Jon Whitcroft is sent to a boarding school where on his first night there, he sees four men riding horses staring at him from the courtyard just outside his bedroom window. Now, these are not normal men riding horses, but ghosts. He knows they intend to do him harm. No one seems to believe him except a girl named Ella. She tells Jon to summon the ghost of the knight Longspee to help protect him from these vengeful ghosts. Ella and Jon must work to uncover the truth of the centuries old murder of Longspee to reunite him with his true love in the afterlife.

The Storyteller (Hardcover)

By Antonia Michaelis
$18.95
ISBN-13: 9781419700477
Availability: Readily available. If this title is not currently in-stock in the store, it is available to ship from the warehouse.
Published: Harry N. Abrams, 1/2012
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Anna is drawn to the mysterious boy at her school, Abel. He never talks to anyone and she finds him quite interesting. One day, she follows him and finds he is caring for his 6-year-old sister, Micha. As Anna is eavesdropping on Abel and Micha, Abel tells his sister a story about a little orphan queen. As Abel tells his tale, it’s as if it is all too real. Anna cannot help but fall for this boy and his little sister. When people who are closely connected to Abel and his story start dying, Anna struggles with finding out the truth, all the while hoping that Abel is not the killer.

Janitors (Hardcover)

By Tyler Whitesides
$17.99
ISBN-13: 9781609080563
Availability: Readily available. If this title is not currently in-stock in the store, it is available to ship from the warehouse.
Published: Shadow Mountain, 8/2011
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12-year-old Spencer Zumbro discovers a secret at Welcher Elementary School. He sees creatures no one else can after he accidently washes his face with soap he found in the boy’s bathroom. When no one believes Spencer about these things he is seeing, he stays after school one day to find out the truth. Spencer soon discovers a secret society of Janitors who protect students from the creatures who live off their brain waves and try to make it so they aren’t interested in school. 
 
This book is the first in a new children's series. It’s a quirky story full of strange creatures, funny magical weapons and packed full of adventure. This will definitely have you thinking differently about your school janitors.

Behind the Bookcase (Hardcover)

By Mark Steensland, Kelly Murphy
$16.99
ISBN-13: 9780385740715
Availability: Readily available. If this title is not currently in-stock in the store, it is available to ship from the warehouse.
Published: Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 10/2012
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Sarah and her family are spending their summer at her Grandma Winnie's trying to fix up the old house to sell after she passed away. This is the last place Sarah wants to be until she discovers there is something strange about this place: weird noises, locked doors in the basement and a knocking on the door at 3 in the morning. Sarah finds a secret room behind the bookcase in her own room, but it’s not just a room, it’s a passageway to a different world full of shadows and strange creatures. Before Sarah sees the truth, she is tricked by the King of this strange world into bringing him back with her. Once Sarah learns the truth she must rush to fix what she has mistakenly done before it is too late.

Weird Things Customers Say in Bookstores (Hardcover)

By Jen Campbell
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9781468301281
Availability: Readily available. If this title is not currently in-stock in the store, it is available to ship from the warehouse.
Published: Overlook Press, 9/2012
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Author Jen Campbell started a blog to share some of the hilarious things booksellers around the world hear on a daily basis and  eventually decided to put those stories into book form. Things like "Excuse me, I have forgotten my glasses, could you read me the first chapter of this book?" or "My kids are just climbing your bookshelves. That's ok, isn't it? They won't topple over, will they?" This book is laugh out loud funny! You will be telling your friends about the crazy things people have actually uttered to a bookseller.

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom (Hardcover)

By Christopher Healy, Todd Harris
$16.99
ISBN-13: 9780062117434
Availability: Readily available. If this title is not currently in-stock in the store, it is available to ship from the warehouse.
Published: Walden Pond Press, 5/2012
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You most likely know Prince Liam, Prince Frederic, Prince Duncan and Prince Gustav as just Prince Charming. Rejected by their princesses and cast out of their kingdoms, Liam, Frederic, Duncan, and Gustav stumble upon the evil plan of the Witch to kidnap the bards. Even though the princes have no love for the bards because of their incorrect account of events leading to them meeting their princesses, the princes know saving them is the honorable thing to do.  This is a funny story that will have you wondering what else our fairy tales may have gotten wrong.

Kill You Twice: An Archie Sheridan / Gretchen Lowell Novel (Hardcover)

By Chelsea Cain
$25.99
ISBN-13: 9780312619787
Availability: Readily available. If this title is not currently in-stock in the store, it is available to ship from the warehouse.
Published: Minotaur Books, 8/2012
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This is the continuation of the Archie Sheridan and Gretchen Lowell story. Chelsea Cain never disappoints with a fast-paced mystery I just could not put down. Who could resist such a spine-tingling mystery?

Archie is working on his newest case when Gretchen sends him a message about a new murder that seems to be connected to his current case. Even though Archie knows he should steer clear of Gretchen, he has never been able resist his connection to her and, once again, she is able to pull him into her web. Along the way to catching a killer, Archie learns new things about Gretchen's past that no one knew before and this will help him finally start to understand her.

The Kid in the Crib: A Dr. Seuss Parody (Hardcover)

By Lex Friedman, Felix Jason Schlater
$14.95
ISBN-13: 9780762783045
Availability: Readily available. If this title is not currently in-stock in the store, it is available to ship from the warehouse.
Published: Lyons Press, 9/2012
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This book is a hilarious parody about what it is like to have an infant – the lack of sleep for the parents, the poopy diapers, and the non-stop crying that all comes with the joys of having a newborn. This story will have all parents laughing out loud at the problems they face.

Criminal: A Novel (Hardcover)

By Karin Slaughter
$27.00
ISBN-13: 9780345528506
Availability: Readily available. If this title is not currently in-stock in the store, it is available to ship from the warehouse.
Published: Delacorte Press, 7/2012
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This is another fantastic Karin Slaughter novel with returning characters, like GBI agents Will Trent and Amanda Wagner. Young women are being murdered and their bodies have the same injuries as a past case, long ago closed. Will is forced to face some things from his past he would rather leave there, and we discover how Amanda came to be who she is today. Their pasts are even more intertwined than Will first thought. Will is afraid that once his girlfriend Sara finds out where he really came from, then she won't want to have anything to do with him and he will be forever left alone.

Article 5 (Hardcover)

By Kristen Simmons
$17.99
ISBN-13: 9780765329585
Availability: Readily available. If this title is not currently in-stock in the store, it is available to ship from the warehouse.
Published: Tor Teen, 2/2012
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The world has changed – there is no Bill of Rights, most of the cities have been abandoned, and there is no longer any law enforcement. Instead, there are soldiers, many soldiers. Teenager Ember Mills is at home with her mother and a couple friends when the soldiers show up at her door and one of them is Ember’s next-door neighbor, and the boy she loves, Chase Jennings.

They arrest Ember and her mother for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Code, which means that Ember was born out of wedlock. Ember is separated from her mother and taken to a girl’s rehabilitation center where the girls are forced to obey or suffer the punishments. With the help of Chase, Ember escapes and is on the run and looking for her mother. If she is caught, they will probably kill her, but she is determined to find her mother and reach safety. Along the way, she hopes to find out the reason why Chase stopped loving her…

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (Hardcover)

By William Joyce, William Joyce, Joe Bluhm
$17.99
ISBN-13: 9781442457027
Availability: Readily available. If this title is not currently in-stock in the store, it is available to ship from the warehouse.
Published: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 7/2012
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This is a beautifully written picture book about a man who loves books and finds a place where they "nest" and he can spend his life taking care of them, fixing dog-eared pages and gluing bindings. As he takes care of the books, he is writing his own story to be passed on when he is done. The pictures accompanying the story are wonderfully done.
 
This story inspired the Academy Award winning short film of the same name.