ISLAND STING by Bonnie J. Doerr

• Publication Season/Year: Spring 2010
• Publisher: Leap Books
• Release Date: January 6, 2010
• ISBN (hardcover): TBD
• ISBN (paperback): 978-1-61603-002-5

Island Sting is a contemporary eco-mystery set in the Florida Keys. Though it is fiction, details about the natural environment and endangered species are authentic. It’s a tale of intrepid teens who change the effects of disappointment and heartache by taking positive action.

Kenzie Ryan has been forced to move from New York City to Nana’s cottage on an island in the Florida Keys. Talk about culture shock! She’s been torn away from her circle of lifetime friends at St. Joseph’s Academy for girls, her swim and softball teams, and her rapid-fire city life.

On her first day in the Keys, Kenzie rescues a drowning animal with the help of Angelo, a young Cuban-American local, whose rock-star face and savvy attitude are as exotic to Kenzie as her new environment. She learns the animal is an tiny endangered  Key deer that was chased into the canal by a poacher’s hound. But there’s more trouble on the island than the senseless slaughter of an endangered species: trap thefts threaten fishermen’s livelihoods; boaters destroy sea grass habitats; discarded garbage on land and sea kills wildlife. And Kenzie thought this place would be dull…

Kenzie and Angelo make a pact to expose the vicious deer killer and clean up the environment. They recruit a team, organize Keys Teens Care, plan an environmental cleanup crusade, and wage a dangerous undercover operation to solve the Key-deer-killer mystery. Though they work with a team to tackle their mission, each silently deals with traumatic loss. Throughout the investigation, Angelo and Kenzie experience a confusing magnetic attraction while struggling with cultural differences. But bit by bit they learn how much they have in common, and as Angelo and Kenzie work to protect the fragile tropical environment and its wildlife, both begin the slow process of healing.

Book Trailer

Robbie is convinced his life is over. He is sent to Great Oaks, a school for troubled youth that is run like a prison. To get home, he must follow the rules, face the past, and tell the truth. Otherwise, Great Oaks School will really be the end of the line.

TELL ME A SECRET by Holly Cupala

• Publication Season/Year: Spring 2010
• Publisher: HarperTeen
• Release Date: June 22, 2010
• ISBN (hardcover): 978-0061766664
• ISBN (paperback): TBD

It’s tough, living in the shadow of a dead girl…

In the five years since her bad-girl sister Xanda’s death, Miranda Mathison has wondered about the secret her sister took to the grave, and what really happened the night she died. Now, just as Miranda is on the cusp of her dreams—a best friend to unlock her sister’s world, a ticket to art school, and a boyfriend to fly her away from it all—Miranda has a secret all her own.

Then two lines on a pregnancy test confirm her worst fears. Stripped of her former life, Miranda must make a choice with tremendous consequences and finally face her sister’s demons and her own.

In this powerful debut novel, stunning new talent Holly Cupala illuminates the dark struggle of a girl who must let go of her past to find a way into her own future.

I read and enjoyed paranormal stories while I was growing up, and I still enjoy them.  But my favorite books were those about kids dealing not with supervillains, flying, or shape-shifting, but with the troubles my friends and I were more likely to face in our own lives.  I wanted characters who, like me, had no special powers or magic to rely on.

Fortunately, the tradition of contemporary realism in YA has continued with writers such as John Green, Sarah Dessen, and Laurie Halse Anderson (although her latest, Wintergirls, does contain a ghostly presence).  It’s no wonder.  There’s no shortage of material for writers in the world of contemporary realism: family troubles, friend troubles, bullying, unrequited crushes, mean teachers, illnesses, death, drugs and drinking, sex, pregnancy, peer pressure, talents and ambitions, first loves, breakups.  There’s humor as well as tragedy, mystery as well as raw honesty.

The crop of new 2009 YA books is rich with titles from the school of contemporary realism.  A few samples of books that are out now, or will be out this fall:

This Is What I Want to Tell You, Heather Duffy Stone: Sixteen-year-old twins Nadio and Noelle deal with changing friendships, family secrets, and first loves.

Waiting to Score, J.E. MacLeod: A high-school hockey star encounters problems both on and off the rink.

Twenty Boy Summer, Sarah Ockler: A story of friendship, grieving, and romance set in one unforgettable summer.

Breathing, Cheryl Renee Herbsman: A summer romance turns intense, and Savannah must balance her longing for her boyfriend with her own sense of self.

Willow, Julia Hoban: A girl uses cutting to cope with family tragedy, until she finds a new chance at hope.

Flash Burnout, L.K. Madigan: Sophomore and amateur photographer Blake has a girlfriend as well as a friend who’s a girl; his increasingly divided loyalties lead to trouble.

Hate List, Jennifer Brown: The story of the aftermath of a school shooting, told from the point of view of the shooter’s girlfriend.

Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter

• Publication Season/Year: Spring 2009
• Publisher: HarperCollins Children’s Books
• Release Date: April 28, 2009
• ISBN (hardcover): 978-0061554742
• ISBN (paperback): 978-0061554749

Youngest and boldest of all the faeries of the Oak, Knife fearlessly battles the savage crows and other predators who threaten her dying people. But when she strikes up a forbidden friendship with a human named Paul, she arouses the wrath of the powerful Faery Queen herself. With the help of some unexpected allies, Knife sets out to solve the mystery of the Oakenfolk’s missing magic – but she soon discovers that the truth may cost her everything…

Also available in the UK as KNIFE in January 2009.

MY BIG NOSE AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS

• Publication Season/Year: Spring 2009
• Publisher: Harcourt
• Release Date: April 1, 2009
• ISBN (hardcover): TBD
• ISBN (paperback): 978-0152066437

It’s the end of junior year, and summer is about to begin. The Summer of Passion, to be exact, when Jory Michaels plans to explore all the possibilities of the future–and, with any luck, score a boyfriend in the process. But Jory has a problem. A big problem. A curvy, honking, bumpy, problem in the form of her Super Schnozz, the one thing standing between Jory and happiness. And now, with the Summer of Passion stretched before her like an open road, she’s determined for Super Schnozz to disappear. Jory takes a job delivering wedding cakes to save up for a nose job at the end of the summer; she even keeps a book filled with magazine cutouts of perfect noses to show the doctor. But nothing is ever easy for accident-prone Jory–and before she knows it, her Summer of Passion falls apart faster than the delivery van she crashes. In her hilarious and heartbreaking debut novel, Sydney Salter delivers a story about broadening your horizons, accepting yourself, and finding love right under your nose.

“Complex, likeable, believable characters and a fresh, appealing fictional voice pull together this very agreeable summer romance.” –Kirkus Reviews

EIGHTH GRADE SUPERZERO by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich

• Publication Season/Year: Spring 2010
• Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
• Release Date: January 1, 2010
• ISBN: 0-545-09676-6

Reginald Garvey McKnight created a superhero character in kindergarten; now he dreams of being a real-life leading man: The Guy who’s got game and gets The Girl. Instead, he threw up on the first day of school. In front of everyone. Eighth grade has gone downhill ever since.

In EIGHTH GRADE SUPERZERO, Reggie wonders why things are so bad if God is so good; his faith at all levels is challenged by his friendships, his work at a homeless shelter, and a pair of “Dora The Explorer” shoes. Reggie’s involvement in a school election leads him to the superhero within; he learns that sometimes winning big means living small.

MY INVENTED LIFE by Lauren Bjorkman

• Publication Season, Fall 2009
• Publisher: Henry Holt Books for Young Readers
• Release Date: September 29, 2009
• ISBN 13: 978-0-8050-8950-9

Roz and Eva are sisters, friends, and rivals. Roz fantasizes about snagging the lead in the school play and landing sexy skate god Bryan as her boyfriend. Sadly, a few obstacles stand between her and her dream. For one, Eva is the more talented actress. And Bryan happens to be Eva’s boyfriend. But does Eva have a secret life with her cheerleading partner? Inquiring minds need to know.

Roz, who prides herself on random acts of insanity, hatches a scheme to get Eva to open up. The plan backfires, and Eva is furious. Roz finds herself neck deep in her invented life. When Roz meets a mercurial boy with a big problem, she begins to understand the complex feelings beneath the labels. And she gets a second chance to earn Eva’s trust.

Fan trailer by Fausto Umanzor:

REVIEWS and BLURBS:

Roz’s voice is witty and genuine as she moves through the ups and downs of coming out (and eventually coming clean). Evocative of Boy Meets Boy and Dramarama, this makes for fun, thought-provoking reading. Publisher’s Weekly

This novel is particularly good at evoking teenage confusion about sexual preference and identity, and Bjorkman’s depiction of the drama-club crowd is absolutely spot-on, especially the characters’ trading of Shakespearean insults online and the practical jokes they play on one another. Narrator Roz is funny, well intentioned, and likable despite her cluelessness, and she is surrounded by a realistic cast of adult and teen characters representing a wide variety of viewpoints and sexual preferences. School Library Journal

Interspersing Shakespearian references and themes, Roz’s narrative is humorous and heartfelt as it intimately explores issues from sibling relationships to sexual identity. Booklist

I knew I was going to like this book the second the main character asked a Ouija Board if her sister was a lesbian. My Invented Life does a great job capturing the confusing alternate reality of teenage sexuality, and does it in a refreshingly authentic and honest teen voice. Brent Hartinger, author of Geography Club

Shakespeare would be proud to be included in this smart, funny, cheeky book. Ellen Wittlinger, author of Hard Love

Lauren Bjorkman’s My Invented Life is a hilarious, thoughtful, and engaging novel about the power of perception. My Invented Life … is ultimately an uplifting story that offers insight and hope with a nice dash of humor. Highly recommended. Heather Aimee O’Neill, AfterEllen.com

My Invented Life is a fantastic look at sisterhood, drama geeks, and the far-from-simple subject of sexual identity. Funny with depth = my idea of pure reading delight. Shelf Elf

My Invented Life is a smart, honest novel that is not only refreshing in it’s depiction of teens coming to terms with their true selves, but it’s also really fun! The Book Butterfly