New Release Round-Up: March 5-11, 2012

Sorry the new releases are a little late this week - I went out of town and forgot to set it to post on Monday! :/


Young Adult


Illuminate
by Aimee Agresti

Release date: March 6, 2012
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 531
Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, angels



First in the Gilded Wings series. From Goodreads:

"Haven Terra is a brainy, shy high school outcast. But everything begins to change when she turns sixteen. Along with her best friend Dante and their quiet and brilliant classmate Lance, she is awarded a prestigious internship in the big city— Chicago—and is sent to live and work at a swanky and stylish hotel under the watchful eyes of a group of gorgeous and shockingly young-looking strangers: powerful and alluring hotel owner Aurelia Brown; her second-in-command, the dashing Lucian Grove; and their stunning but aloof staff of glamazons called The Outfit.

As Haven begins falling for Lucian, she discovers that these beautiful people are not quite what they seem. With the help of a mysterious book, she uncovers a network of secret passageways from the hotel’s jazz-age past that leads her to the heart of the evil agenda of Aurelia and company: they’re in the business of buying souls. Will they succeed in wooing Haven to join them in their recruitment efforts, or will she be able to thwart this devilish set’s plans to take the souls of her classmates on prom night at the hotel?

Illuminate is an exciting saga of a teen’s first taste of independence, her experience in the lap of luxury, and her discovery she may possess strength greater than she ever knew."



Where It Began
by Ann Redisch Stampler

Release date: March 6, 2012
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 384
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Suggested tags: young adult, realistic fiction, contemporary



From Goodreads:

"Sometimes the end is just the beginning.

Gabby lived under the radar until her makeover. Way under. But when she started her senior year as a blonder, better-dressed version of herself, she struck gold: Billy Nash believed she was a the flawless girl she was pretending to be. The next eight months with Billy were bliss...Until the night Gabby woke up on the ground next to the remains of his BMW without a single memory of how she got there.

And Billy's nowhere to be found.

All Gabby wants is to make everything perfect again. But getting her life back isn't difficult, it's impossible. Because nothing is the same, and Gabby's beginning to realize she's missed more than a few danger signs along the way.

It's time for Gabby to face the truth, even if it means everything changes.

Especially if it means everything changes."


Other YA new releases for this week:

Middle Grade


The Dead of Night
by Peter Lerangis

Release date: March 6, 2012
Available as: hardcover, ebook, audiobook
Pages: 192
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Suggested tags: middle grade, mystery



Third in the Cahills vs. Vespers series, follow-up to the 39 Clues series. From Goodreads:

"The Vespers have crossed a line. Amy and Dan were devastated when the Vespers kidnapped seven Cahills around the world, holding them hostage until Amy and Dan delivered an impossible ransom. But at least the hostages were Cahills - members of the world's most powerful family, trained to face all odds.

Now the Vespers have gone too far. They've kidnapped Atticus, an innocent 11 year old boy and Dan's only friend. Now Dan and Amy are in the struggle of their lives. Because if they can't outwit the Vespers, the unthinkable will happen ... Atticus will die."



The Grave Robber's Apprentice
by Allan Stratton

Release date: March 6, 2012
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 256
Publisher: HarperCollins
Suggested tags: middle grade, fantasy



From Amazon:

"Hans doesn't know who he is or where he came from. When he was a baby, he washed ashore in a wooden box and was adopted by the conniving grave robber, Knobbe the Bent. Now fate has thrown him together with Angela von Schwanenberg, a young countess fleeing for her life from the evil Archduke Arnulf and his dreaded Necromancer. Together, these friends are on a daring quest to discover Hans' true identity and to save Angela's parents from the archduke.

Join Hans and Angela on their grand adventure as they ride through the depths of the great forest, sled down a mountain in a coffin, and sneak along the secret passageways of the archduke's palace. The Grave Robber's Apprentice is a world of highwaymen, hermits, and dancing bears; and of a boy separated from his family by the sea.

In this world anything is possible with luck and imagination—even for a grave robber's apprentice."