YA FIC WOO Wooding, Chris The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray

YA FIC WOO Wooding, Chris The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray

—"Tall Jake, take me away." Say the words six times, burn the secret ingredients, and you will be whisked into the comic-book world of Malice—or so the rumor goes. Seth and Kady don't believe the stories for one second. The teens who have disappeared must be runaways, and the artist who draws the comic must use the missing persons' photos, right? Then their friend Luke disappears, and only a few days later a character who looks remarkably like him appears in an episode of Malice. Seth decides to go into the comic to stop Tall Jake from taking any more kids. When he arrives, he discovers a world with violent clockwork creatures, monsters that drink time, and other trapped teens. Meanwhile, in the real world, Kady begins searching London for the source of the comic, and in doing so finds herself in more danger than she ever imagined. Complete with erratic comic-book panels in which heavily slashed lines enhance the chaotic violence of the novel, this nail-biter will keep readers glued to the story until the very last page is turned.

Getting into the sinister comic-book world of MALICE is just the beginning. Getting out of it is much, much harder -- as it surviving while you make your attempt.

Poison has always been a willful, contrary girl, prone to being argumentative and stubborn. So when her sister is snatched by the mean-spirited faeries, she seeks out the Faerie Lord to get her back. But finding him isn't easy, and the quest leads Poison into a murderous world of intrigue, danger, and deadly storytelling. With only her wits and her friends to aid her, Poison must survive the attentions of the Faerie Lord, rescue her sister, and thwart a plot that's beyond anything she (or the reader) can imagine. . . .

Toswiah Green struggles toward a new identity as Evie Thomas when her family joins the Witness Protection Program and everything she has known before is lost to her.

Ever since Mabby died while picking beans in their garden — with the pock-a-pock of a helicopter overhead — four-year-old Valley knows what her job is: hide in the underground den with her brother, Bo, while Da is working, because Those People will kill them like coyotes. But now, with Da unexpectedly gone and no home to return to, a teenage Valley (now Valkyrie) and her big brother must bring their message to the outside world — a not-so-smart place where little boys wear their names on their backpacks and young men don’t pat down strangers before offering a lift. Blythe Woolston infuses her white-knuckle narrative, set in a day-after-tomorrow Montana, with a dark, trenchant humor and a keen psychological eye. Alternating past-present vignettes in prose as tightly wound as the springs of a clock and as masterfully plotted as a game of chess, she ratchets up the pacing right to the final, explosive end.

At the age of fifteen, Stephen begins having nightmares like the ones that drove his older brother away from home. Eventually, the dreams lead to a discovery that is shocking but ultimately allows his family to come back together.

With a brutal, despicable father who beats him and an ineffectual mother incapacitated by drugs, Burl, 14, has learned not to expect anything good from life. After a crisis, he runs away into the wilderness near his small Canadian town, eventually stumbling upon an isolated house that is the secret refuge of a famous musician. Burt ingratiates himself, making himself useful while harboring the hope of staying on. But the boy's relationship with his reluctant savior is only the first in a series of encounters with those who want to use him, assist him, control him, or threaten him. Wynne-Jones skillfully presents a complex character who, in order to survive, uses all his resources: knowledge of the woods; an instinctive understanding of the manipulations of adults; strategy; brutality, the legacy of his father; and compassion.

Get swept into the second, even more explosive STORM! Will, Andrew, and Gaia are a trio of teen geniuses, and they're taking Venice by STORM. All over Italy, mysterious burglaries are making headlines-news footage shows a strange, spectral form at the crime scenes. The thefts are dubbed the work of Il Fantasma: the Ghost. Through a series of exhilarating twists, Will, Andrew, and Gaia discover that the Ghost is part of a larger and more sinister plot than they could have imagined, one involving a decrepit Venetian castle, a dangerous cult, microscopic selforganizing robots, and quantum computers with a vile purpose and horrific consequences. Armed with high-speed boats, sonar helmets, and tons of cool gear, STORM must face all manner of obstacles- even cyborg sharks!-to find and stop the mind behind the mayhem. Little do they know, the enemy just might be a dear old friend.

Six of the world's leading scientists were at work on a top-secret assignment—Project FIREball. Now fi ve of them are dead, and one is on the run. He carries with him plans for a world-changing technology—one the CIA, MI6, and a ruthless megalomaniac will stop at nothing to obtain. Will, Andrew, and Gaia, the teen geniuses of STORM, join the high-stakes manhunt, racing to the Swiss Alps and into mortal danger, as they enter the heart of the Black Sphere.

The city of Ludlow is gripped by the hottest July on record.  The asphalt is melting, the birds are dying, petty crime is on the rise, and someone in Hannah Wagnor’s peaceful suburban community is killing girls. For Hannah, the summer is a complicated one.  Her best friend Lillian died six months ago, and Hannah just wants her life to go back to normal. But how can things be normal when Lillian’s ghost is haunting her bedroom, pushing her to investigate the mysterious string of murders?  Hannah’s just trying to understand why her friend self-destructed, and where she fits now that Lillian isn’t there to save her a place among the social elite. And she must stop thinking about Finny Boone, the big, enigmatic delinquent whose main hobbies seem to include petty larceny and surprising acts of kindness. With the entire city in a panic, Hannah soon finds herself drawn into a world of ghost girls and horrifying secrets.  She realizes that only by confronting the Valentine Killer will she be able move on with her life—and it’s up to her to put together the pieces before he strikes again.

Boy Nobody is the perennial new kid in school, the one few notice and nobody thinks much about. He shows up in a new high school in a new town under a new name, makes a few friends, and doesn't stay long. Just long enough for someone in his new friend's family to die-of "natural causes." Mission accomplished, Boy Nobody disappears, moving on to the next target. But when he's assigned to the mayor of New York City, things change. The daughter is unlike anyone he has encountered before; the mayor reminds him of his father. And when memories and questions surface, his handlers at The Program are watching. Because somewhere deep inside, Boy Nobody is somebody: the kid he once was; the teen who wants normal things, like a real home and parents; a young man who wants out. And who just might want those things badly enough to sabotage The Program's mission.

Meet Ed Kennedy—underage cabdriver, pathetic cardplayer, and useless at romance. He lives in a shack with his coffee-addicted dog, the Doorman, and he's hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence, until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery. That's when the first Ace arrives. That's when Ed becomes the messenger. . . .