Scholastic Inc.

Scholastic Inc.

557 Broadway, New York NY 10012

www.scholastic.com

Scholastic has produced a heady stream of wonderful young adult fiction titles perfect for leisure reading: captivating covers draw readers to unusual plots and strong characters. Alison Pollett's Nobody Was Here (0439583942, $15.95) comes from a Manhattan author who experience many of the qualities character Penelope demonstrates. Set in 1981, Nobody Was Here tells of a prep school attendee who enters 7th grade facing too many new experiences, from the alienation of a former best friend to a new campus and class structure. Penelope's answer: drift further from a reality which doesn't accept her. Anne Provoost's In The Shadow Of The Ark (0439442346, $17.95) comes from a Dutch author with prior successes to her name: Re Jama's family is forced to flee their home in the marshes, which is being flooded, to a new desert environment--there to find a boat frame abandoned. Romance and Biblical implications blend in a moving, different, entertaining story. Elizabeth Kay's Back To The Divide (0439634105, $15.95) features a classy 'divided cover' front which opens to tell of a new fantasy adventure involving Felix, the return of villain Snakewood, and a threat to Felix's own parents. Swift action in the moving Back To The Divide sequel. Chris Wooding's Haunting Of Alaizabel Cray (0439546567, $16.95) comes from a British author who presents a fine story of early London haunting. A witch hunter tracks down the creates who lurk in old London, until an encounter with the beautiful but possessed Alaizabel changes his life and vocation. Excellent surreal images abound in Haunting Of Alaizabel Cray. Jamison Findlay's The Blue Roan Child (0439627524, $16.95) tells of an orphan girl who lives and works among the horses in the king's stables and is especially connected to a beautiful mare. Her quest to save her beloved horse friend involves a challenge to trust in Blue Roan Child. M.T. Anderson's Game Of Sunken Places (0439416604, $16.95) comes from a notable writer and children's picture book illustrator and tells of Brian and Gregory, whose invitation to stay at a distant relative's strange mansion involves them in a dangerous board game adventure. Trolls and other challenges mark a tongue-in-cheek story filled humor and fun in Game Of Sunken Places. The new Jenny Nimmo Charlie Bone title Charlie Bone And The Invisible Boy (0439545269, $9.95) will be a welcome add to the prior three books, which have claimed a growing audience of fans. Here Charlie encounters a new art teacher, a new student, and more strange powers involving invisibility. Charlie Bone And The Invisible Boy does not disappoint! Dar Williams' Amalee (0439395631, $16.95) is a surprising departure for an accomplished musician and songwriter: Dar Williams presents the story of Amalee, facing an increasingly complicated world of disorder and new changes when her father becomes seriously ill. The first-person narrator brings readers into Amalee's life and concerns. Sally Prue's The Devil's Toenail (0439486343, $16.95) tells of Stevie's chance to impress the new school gang--by setting fire to something. Stevie is afraid of fire, until a strange stone with special powers brings out the worst in him. The Devil's Toenail holds many moving moments and plots centering on good and evil conflicts on many levels. Blue Balliett and Brett Helquist's Chasing Vermeer (0439372941, $16.95) holds an odd cover art which invites kids to investigate further: when they do, they will discover the story of unexplainable occurrences which bring Petra and Calder together; from the vanishing of an invaluable Vermeer painting to a mysterious underground world. An intriguing first novel of investigation and supernatural implications. Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black return The Spiderwick Chronicles to a new chapter with Book 4, The Ironwood Tree (0689859392, $9.95). Riddles, discoveries, and mysteries involve Simon, Jared and others in a plot which holds fantasy and satisfying twists and turns.