Six of Crows

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price--and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone...
A convict with a thirst for revenge.
A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.
A runaway with a privileged past.
A spy known as the Wraith.
A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.
A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.
Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction--if they don't kill each other first.

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Cut Off

Braden Murphy has been a techno-superstar ever since he went to a high-tech computer camp on summer vacation. And now the virtual world has become his entire universe. Braden doesn’t do alcohol or drugs. In spite of living close to a beautiful natural world, Braden doesn’t do outdoors. His world revolves around devices – his smartphone, laptop, iPad, and Xbox are on the go every waking hour. He can’t live without his gadgets.Braden doesn’t think he has an addiction – but his parents and teachers are seeing things much differently. His grades are on a downward spiral; his health is suffering and he has been suspended six times for texting during class. When everything starts getting even more out of control his parents give him no choice but to attend a teen rehab program run by a Dene elder. Project Lifeboat is designed to treat all sorts of addictions through wilderness activities and native culture. Now Braden is learning about white-water paddling, outdoor survival and Dene lore.Then the team is trapped after a severe storm and resulting flood and separated from their group leaders. Braden is now marooned in a completely non-digital world; cut off from everything he clung to for support – the virtual world that defined his identity. He and the other team members will have to connect with a new network of mountains, rivers and eagles and the skills they have managed to pick up to survive the journey back home to their families.

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Taking Aim: Power and Pain, Teens and Guns

Powerful, riveting, and real. Sixteen celebrated authors bring us raw, insightful stories that explore guns and teens in a fiction collection that is thought provoking and emotionally gripping. For fans ofForgive Me, Leonard Peacock and Give a Boy a Gun, and with an array of YA talent like the late great Walter Dean Myers, the poetic Joyce Carol Oates, the prophetic Elizabeth Wein, and the gritty Chris Crutcher, these are evocative voices that each has a different perspective to give. Capturing the hurt and the healing, victims and perpetrators, these stories get to the heart of the matter.
From a boy whose low self-esteem is impacted when a gun comes into his possession to a student recalling a senseless tragedy that befell a favorite teacher, from a realistic look at hunting to a provocative look at a family that defies stereotypes, each emotional story stirs the debate to new levels. The juxtaposition of guns and their consequences offers moving tales, each a reminder of how crucial the question of guns in our society is, and the impact they have on all of us.
Other acclaimed contributors are Marc Aronson, Edward Averett, Francesca Lia Block, Alex Flinn, Gregory Galloway, Jenny Hubbard, Peter Johnson, Ron Koertge, Chris Lynch, Eric Shanower, Will Weaver, and Tim Wynne-Jones.

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Seeing Off the Johns

People in the small town of Greenton mark their lives from that day in late summer when crowds lined the streets to see off high school athletic stars John Robison and John Mijias. That was the day the Johns, as they were known by adoring fans in Greenton, left for state college, and never made it thereor back. The Johns had spent their high school years putting that nowhere losing town on the map with playoff runs in football and state championship bids in baseball. For Concepcion "Chon" Gonzales, the days that the Johns headed out and didn't return was the first day of his new life. He had waited all his growing up years for a shot at Araceli when one of the Johns, John Mejia, stole her away. Now, while Greenton mourns, while the Johns' families become actors in a spectacle of grief, while Johns memorabilia is sold in every gas station and convenience store in town, while Araceli has to endure a senior year in the watchful gaze of the whole town, Chon Gonzales makes his slow methodical move on the only girl he's ever loved, hoping maybe that she won't notice what he wants.
Rene S. Perez II was born in Kingsville, Texas, and raised in Corpus Christi. He received a BA from the University of Texas and an MFA from Texas State University. He is the winner of the Alfredo Cisneros del Moral Foundation Award and lives in Austin. His first book, Along These Highways, was released in 2012.
 

 

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Fathomless

In Anne M. Pillsworth's Fathomless, Sean dips even further into his magical destiny, but will blood prove thicker than the mysteries of Innsmouth's briny depths?
Sean Wyndham has tried to stay away from the lure of magic-the last time he tried to dabble in the dark studies, he inadvertently summoned a blood familiar, wreaking havoc on his town, and calling the attention of the Elder Gods. But now Sean has been offered the chance to study magic with a proper teacher, overseen by Helen Arkwright, a friend of Sean's father and heir to ancient order of much power, who protects New England from that which lurks in the coastline's unseen depths. But will learning theory be enough, when there is a much greater magical secret hidden in Helen's vaulted library?
Accompanied by his best friend, Eddy, and their enigmatic new friend Daniel, Sean wades out deeper into mystical legend and shadow. With hints and secrets buried long in family lore, they turn to the suspicious Reverend Orne once more for assistance. But as Sean deepens his understanding of his power, a darkness is waking...

Anne is a local author.

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Mistletoe and Mr. Right: Two Stories of Holiday Romance

In Mistletoe and Mr. Right, Jessica (not Jessie) takes a flying leap and follows her boyfriend home for the holidays for Christmas break, sure that Ireland will provide the perfect backdrop to the beginning of their happily ever after. But it turns out his family--and his gorgeous ex-girlfriend--don't feel the same way, and the only person making the trip worthwhile is the local farmhand, who has a way of showing up when Jessica needs him most . . . and least.
The holiday hijinks continue in "Sleigh Bells and Second Chances," when Jessica's best friend makes her own way across the pond! Christina Lake doesnot want to be away at Christmas, but it's her duty to babysit one of London's hottest bands at their last-minute concert on Christmas Eve . . . even though she had a fling with Cary, the band's lead singer, that never officially ended. Now forced to reconnect, Christina is starting to think that maybe London is exactly where she's supposed to be to get the perfect New Year's kiss--at least until she finds out that he's been lying the whole time. Can Cary find a way to prove himself before the clock strikes twelve? Or will the New Year ring in a new romance?
Lyla Payne wraps up two perfect holiday novellas, ties them with a ribbon of romance, and tops them with a light dusting of snow. Perfect to curl up with under the tree. Just add hot cocoa!

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Jillian Cade: (Fake) Paranormal Investigator

Ally Carter’s megabestselling Gallagher Girls series meets Veronica Mars with a paranormal twist when Jillian Cade’s (fake!) private eye service unearths far more than she bargained for.
Jillian Cade doesn’t believe in the paranormal, unlike her famous father, a professor and expert on the occult. Ever since he abandoned her to travel the world for “research,” she’s milked his reputation—and all the suckers who believe in the stuff—by taking over his private investigation firm. After all, a high school junior has to take care of herself, especially when she’s on her own.
Ironically, it’s when she takes on a case that might involve a totally non-paranormal missing person that things get strange. Particularly when Sky Ramsey—a new boy at school who insists on becoming her partner—won’t shut up about succubi, of all things.
As they investigate, Jillian is surprised by her feelings for Sky, which threaten to derail the investigation. But that surprise is no match for the shock of learning that there may be something to Sky’s succubi obsession after all.

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