Friday Freebies: April 4, 2014

It's a paranormal freebie fest! Click on each title to go to the Amazon Kindle edition listing. Be sure to double-check the price before you download!




Anathema
by K.A. Tucker

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition
Pages: 284 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Papoti Books
Publication date: May 27, 2011
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, vampires



First in the Causal Enchantment series. From Amazon:

"Evangeline has spent her teenage years in obscurity. Her foster parents have the emotional aptitude of robots and her classmates barely acknowledge her existence. About to turn eighteen and feeling like a social pariah, she is desperate to connect with someone. Anyone.

When Evangeline meets Sophie after literally stumbling upon her café, she believes she’s found that connection. Willing to do anything to keep it, she accepts a job as Sofie’s assistant and drops everything to fly to Manhattan, where she is thrust into a luxurious world of Prada, diamonds, and limitless cash.

With such generosity and kindness, it’s easy for Evangeline to dismiss certain oddities . . . like Sofie’s erratic and sometimes violent behavior, and the monstrous guard dogs. She’s even willing to dismiss her vivid dreams of mob-style murders, beautiful homeless people living in caves, and white-eyed demons that haunt her each night as figments of her imagination—especially when one of those figments is the gorgeous Caden. When she wakes up with bite marks on her neck, the fairy tale quickly turns into a nightmare. She slowly unravels the mystery surrounding Sofie and friends, and the reality of the bites and the “dreams.” What she discovers is far more mysterious and terrible than anything she could have imagined.

In a world where everyone has motive to lie for personal gain, Evangeline must decide which deception is least likely to get her killed."

Psyched
by Juli Caldwell

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition
Pages: 225 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Firefly Publishing
Publication date: May 30, 2013
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, ghosts



From Amazon:

"Aisi Turay has it all under control.

At least, she thinks she does. Forget that the most popular girl in school hates her guts and will stop at nothing to embarrass her. Forget that her little brother is tormented by the ghosts and demons she sees all the time. Forget that her mom is a con artist who pretends to be psychic to make some cash. Forget that her dad is hiding a secret than can destroy everything she knows about herself. Nope, she's got this one...until that one awful day when she nearly loses it all.

With ghost-hunting hottie Vance, a guy who stumbled into her life at the worst possible moment, Aisi must search for the messages hidden in visions and memories to protect her family. Maybe, just maybe, they can reclaim what she thought was lost forever."

WANTED: Dead or Undead
by Angela Scott

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition
Pages: 210 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Evolved Publishing LLC
Publication date: March 18, 2012
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, zombies



First in The Zombie West series. From Amazon:

"Trace Monroe doesn't believe in luck. He never has. But when a fiery-headed cowgirl saunters through the saloon doors, wielding shotguns and a know-how for killing the living dead, he believes he just may be the luckiest man alive.

Trace wants to join Red's posse, but she prefers to work alone--less messy that way. In order to become her traveling companion, Trace has to agree to her terms: no names, no questions, and if he gets bit, he can't beg for mercy when she severs his brain stem.

He agrees, knowing only that Red is the sharpest shooter he's ever encountered. The fact she's stunning hasn't escaped his attention either.

What he doesn't know, is that Red has a very good reason to be on top of her game. She not only has the answer for how they can all outlive the plague taking over the wild, wild west, she IS the answer."

Waterborn
by Kimberly James

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition
Pages: 374 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Createspace
Publication date: August 29, 2013
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, mermaids



From Amazon:

"Charms fade... "You don't have to choose. You can be both. The girl with the charm, the girl without. They both suit you."

Caris Harper lives a charmed life. Literally.

When her dad offers to take her to the Emerald coast of Florida for summer vacation, Caris jumps at the chance. The chance to get answers to questions she's always been too afraid to ask. The chance to be normal. Isn't that what her dreams have been telling her, that here in the place of her birth she can be normal? But from the first moment the wind caresses her face and the sun touches her skin, the charm begins to fade, revealing a girl Caris never knew existed, one that is anything but normal. The long-buried Song that awakens is only the beginning of a transformation that will challenge her ideas about loyalty and family.

Noah Jacobs is a waterbreather--a species of human fully adaptable to life in the water. Like his older brother Jamie, Noah wants to prove they can use their abilities and be heroes in service to their country. When a simple mission goes wrong and Jamie goes missing, Noah exiles himself to the Deep in a desperate search. MIA is a classification Noah is not ready to accept. But instinct can't be ignored. Not when he hears her Song. Caris is not what he expects and Noah is determined to get her out of his head. Instead he finds himself acting as her mentor and the more time they spend together, the more Noah realizes he just wants Caris.

When a startling truth threatens their newly formed trust, Noah straddles the line between love and obsession while Caris struggles to find a balance between the girl she thought she was and the young woman she wants to be."

Friday Freebies: February 22, 2013

Click on each title to go to the Amazon Kindle edition listing. Be sure to double-check the price before you download!



Blood Calling
by Joshua Grover-David Patterson

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 271 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Red Iris Books
Publication date: January 2, 2013
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, vampires



First in the Blood Calling series. From Amazon:

"Lucy Leary's eighteen year old life is a wreck. Her parents divorced, she's earned a DUI, and her grandfather has died. He left her a single possession: A vampire slaying kit with a note that says, "They're real. Fight them."

Lucy finds answers in a place she never expected--the homeless shelter where she has to perform her community service. The Sundown Shelter is only open at night, and the man who runs it disappears during the day. But digging into the truth is dangerous. What Lucy learns will force her to abandon her life and confront an ancient vampire out to get her family."

Shadow Bound
by Angel Lawson

Available as: Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 214 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: unknown
Publication date: December 10, 2012
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, ghosts



Second in the Wraith series. (Book 1, Wraith, is also currently free!) From Amazon:
(BEWARE OF POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD if you have not read the first book in the series!)

"After recovering from a horrific fire that took the lives of two people and released her best friend, Evan, to pass from this world to the next, Jane Watts finally has a chance to live a normal life.

If you consider seeing and guiding ghosts normal.

It’s summer and Jane and her friend, Ava, spend the hot, humid days working and hanging at the pool while Jane’s boyfriend, Connor, attends summer school. With the ghosts under control, things are going well until a friend from Connor’s past reconnects with him. Hours later she kills herself. Charlotte’s suicide throws Connor into a tailspin and her ghost latches on to Jane because, as they learned from Evan, ghosts only linger if they need something.

Unfortunately, Charlotte doesn’t need something. She wants something.

In Shadow Bound, Jane struggles with the fact that not every spirit is welcome and not all have good intentions. With Ava’s help, Jane stumbles into a decades-old murder, what her gift really means and how to save Connor from forces intent on destroying them all."

The Sun, the Moon, and Maybe the Trains
by Rodney Jones

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 253 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Red Adept Publishing
Publication date: September 28, 2012
Suggested tags: young adult, time travel, romance



From Amazon:

"John Bartley’s days are filled with working in the mill or the garden, and he can’t wait to see Zella at the next barn dance. But when he stumbles through a hidden portal in the forest, everything he’s ever known falls behind him.

A hundred and thirty-four years behind, to be exact.

Tess can’t quite believe John’s tale of time travel. Does he really not know what a cell phone is? A car? Indoor plumbing? To convince the girl he’s swiftly falling for that he’s not crazy, John must delve into Tess’s history—his future—and solve the mystery of his hometown’s demise.

But when they learn its fate, each faces a wrenching choice. Save their love or save the past?"

Whispers from the Grave
by Leslie Rule

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 216 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Andrews McMeel
Publication date: April 3, 2012
Suggested tags: young adult, science fiction, time travel



From Amazon:

"The similarities between Jenna and Rita were uncanny. They looked and acted exactly alike. Each was experiencing the thrill of first love. Each was empowered with a gift of the supernatural. And each harbored dark secrets. Jenna and Rita could have been sisters. Except for one thing . . . Rita was murdered over a century ago.

Out of the yellowed pages of her diary, Rita's frightening legacy is reborn. But the more Jenna reads of Rita's spellbinding past--of murder, deception, and sinister experiments--the more she fears her own future. Because Rita's history is repeating itself, moment by horrifying moment. And Jenna has to live it."

Read my review of Whispers from the Grave.

Friday Freebies: October 26, 2012

Click on each title to go to the Amazon Kindle edition listing. Be sure to double-check the price before you download!



Artemis Rising
by Cheri Lasota

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 384 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Spirehouse Books
Publication date: July 24, 2011
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, mythology



From Amazon:

"Escape your name. Escape your fate...

On the voy­age home to the Azores Islands, Eva accepts the pagan name of Arethusa but learns too late that her life will mir­ror the Greek nymph's tragic end. Her mother reveals that her des­tiny lies with Diogo, the shipowner's volatile son. But Eva has a vision of another...

When the ship founders in a storm off the coast, Tristan, a local boy, saves her life and steals her heart. Destined to be with Diogo yet aching for Tristan's for­bid­den love, Eva must some­how choose between them, or fate will choose for her."

Last Kiss In Venice
by Martin Chu Shui

Available as: Kindle edition
Pages: 190
Publisher: unknown
Publication date: July 11, 2012
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, retelling



First in the Legend of the White Snake series. From Amazon:

"Beside a bridge over a canal in Venice, Charlie is spellbound not only by Caitlin’s absolute beauty but also by what seems like a mythical bond between them. The more he knows about her, the more mysterious she becomes. As they finally admit their love to each other in Paris, then move to settle down in Australia together, it looks like the start of Happily Ever After. But neither of them realizes that this is just the start of a heart-wrenching journey.

After a lifetime of searching, Caitlin finally finds her true love, settles down in the beautiful rolling countryside of outback Australia, and starts to raise a family, but her enemy is never far away. She loves Charlie deeply and is certain he is her soul mate, but she knows she can never reveal her secret; he must never know who she really is, and that is her downfall. Information in the hands of her enemy brings her life crashing down around her. To save all she has worked for, she must fight for her love and the right to survive.

“Last Kiss in Venice” is a reinterpretation of one of China’s most famous love stories, ‘Legend of the White Snake’. It is a supernatural love epic that encompasses both eastern and western culture to tell a story of love and hate, loyalty and betrayal, revenge and justice. This cocktail of oriental magic, vampires, and sword fights is a legend not easily forgotten."

The Scourge
by A.G. Henley

Available as: Kindle edition
Pages: 242
Publisher: unknown
Publication date: January 30, 2012
Suggested tags: young adult, dystopia



Book 1 in the series. From Amazon:

"Seventeen-year-old Groundling, Fennel, is Sightless. She's never been able to see her lush forest home, but she knows its secrets. She knows how the shadows shift when she passes under a canopy of trees. She knows how to hide in the cool, damp caves when the Scourge comes. She knows how devious and arrogant the Groundlings' tree-dwelling neighbors, the Lofties, can be.

And she's always known this day would come—the day she faces the Scourge alone.

The Sightless, like Fenn, are mysteriously protected from the Scourge, the gruesome creatures roaming the forests, reeking of festering flesh and consuming anything—and anyone—living. A Sightless Groundling must brave the Scourge and bring fresh water to the people of the forest. Today, that task becomes Fenn's.

Fenn will have a Lofty Keeper, Peree, as her companion. Everyone knows the Lofties wouldn’t hesitate to shoot an arrow through the back of an unsuspecting Groundling like Fenn, but Peree seems different. A boy with warm, rough hands who smells like summer, he is surprisingly kind and thoughtful. Although Fenn knows his people are treacherous, she finds herself wanting to trust him.

As their forest community teeters on the brink of war, Fenn and Peree must learn to work together to survive the Scourge and ensure their people’s survival. But when Fenn uncovers a secret that shatters her truths, she’s forced to decide who and what to protect—her people, her growing love for Peree, or the elusive dream of lasting peace in the forest.

A tale of star-crossed lovers, strange creatures, and secretive, feuding factions, THE SCOURGE introduces readers to a rich and exciting new world where nothing is as it seems."

Vamped
by Lucienne Diver

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 240 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Flux
Publication date: May 8, 2009
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, vampires



First in the Vamped series. From Amazon:

"Gina Covello's Perks and Pitfalls of Vamp Life
1. Hello?! Eternal youth and beauty!

2. Free. Designer. Clothes.

3. My hot new boyfriend Bobby went from chess dud to vamp stud.

4. No reflection! First order of business: turn my own stylist to stop the downward spiral from chic to eek.

5. Vampire vixen Mellisande has taken an interest in my boyfriend, and is now transforming the entire high school into her own personal vampire army. If anyone's going to start their own undead entourage it should be me.

I guess I'll just have to save everyone from fashion disasters and other fates worse than death."

New Release Round-Up: July 23-29, 2012

Young Adult


Drain You
by M. Beth Bloom

Release date: July 24, 2012
Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 400
Publisher: HarperTeen
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, vampires



From Goodreads:

"Every night I'd lie there in bed and look out at the hills behind our house, listening. I knew there'd be consequences.

Actions meant reactions. Sunrises meant sunsets. My fear was too permanent, lasting longer than eyeliner, something I wore every day and didn't wash off.

Quinlan Lacey's life is a red carpet of weird fashions, hip bands, random parties, and chilling by the pool with her on-and-off BFF Libby. There's also her boring job (minimum wage), a crushed-out coworker (way too interested), her summer plans (nada), and her parents (totally clueless). Then one night she meets gorgeous James, and Quinn's whole world turns crazy, Technicolor, 3-D, fireworks, whatever.

But with good comes bad and unfortunately, Quinn's new romance brings with it some majorly evil baggage. Now, to make things right, she has to do a lot of things wrong (breaking and entering, kidnapping, lying, you name it).

There's normal, and then there's paranormal, and neither are Quinlan's cup of Diet Coke. Staying sane, cool, in love, and alive isn't so easy breezy."

Something Strange and Deadly
by Susan Dennard

Release date: July 24, 2012
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 400
Publisher: HarperTeen
Suggested tags: young adult, historical fiction, paranormal, zombies



First in the Something Strange and Deadly series. From Goodreads:

"The year is 1876, and there’s something strange and deadly loose in Philadelphia…

Eleanor Fitt has a lot to worry about. Her brother has gone missing, her family has fallen on hard times, and her mother is determined to marry her off to any rich young man who walks by. But this is nothing compared to what she’s just read in the newspaper—

The Dead are rising in Philadelphia.

And then, in a frightening attack, a zombie delivers a letter to Eleanor…from her brother.

Whoever is controlling the Dead army has taken her brother as well. If Eleanor is going to find him, she’ll have to venture into the lab of the notorious Spirit-Hunters, who protect the city from supernatural forces. But as Eleanor spends more time with the Spirit-Hunters, including their maddeningly stubborn yet handsome inventor, Daniel, the situation becomes dire. And now, not only is her reputation on the line, but her very life may hang in the balance."

Other YA new releases for this week:

Middle Grade


Heart of Stone
by M.L. Welsh

Release date: July 24, 2012
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 416
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Suggested tags: middle grade, fantasy



From Goodreads:

"After a wonderful summer of sailing, Verity Gallant just wants life to stay the same forever. But as she should know by now, not everything in life turns out as we would like. The land is shifting beneath the ancient harbour town of Wellow, causing mysterious caves to appear in cliff faces, terrifying rock falls, and dangerous landslides. And the earth isn't the only thing crumbling . . . Verity is thrilled that Jeb has returned, but their feelings for each other threaten her friendship with Henry and Martha.

Verity and her friends are embroiled in a tale of evil, intrigue, and lost love, as a powerful force works its way towards Wellow, hell-bent on putting an end to all happiness. The Heart of Stone is the key, and the race is on to find it."

Of Giants and Ice
by Shelby Bach

Release date: July 24, 2012
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 352
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Suggested tags: middle grade, adventure, fairy tales



First in the Ever Afters series. From Goodreads:

"When Rory realizes fairy tales are the real deal at Ever After School, she embarks on a classic quest to fulfill her destiny.

Rory Landon has spent her whole life being known as the daughter of a famous movie star mom and director dad. So when she begins a new after-school program and no one knows who her family is, Rory realizes something is different. And after she ends up fighting a fire-breathing dragon on her first day, she realizes the situation is more unusual than she could have imagined. It turns out the only fame that matters at Ever After School is the kind of fame earned from stories Rory thought were fictional. But as Rory soon learns, fairy tales are very real—and she is destined to star in one of her own.

This first installment of The Ever Afters series reimagines classic fairy tale characters in a modern context, merging familiar fantasy with the everyday realities of middle-grade existence."

Other Middle Grade new releases for this week:

Friday Freebies: June 29, 2012

Click on each title to go to the Amazon Kindle edition listing. Be sure to double-check the price before you download!



Dark Matter Heart
by Nathan Wrann

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 193 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Dalton Gang Press
Publication date: May 11, 2011
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, vampires



First in the Cor Griffin Bloodsuckers series. From Amazon:

"A new town. A new school. A new beginning. Seventeen year-old Cordell Griffin and his mother move from Los Angeles to the Pacific Northwest to deal with his 'allergies,' and start a healthier new life. Cor has one goal: To blend in and be invisible. Unfortunately for him, no matter how far he goes, he can't run away from his secrets. Secrets about who he is. Secrets about why he's sick. And secrets about why so many people he meets end up dead, drained of blood.

In 'Dark Matter Heart', the origin novel in the 'Cor Griffin Bloodsuckers' Young Adult Paranormal Thriller series from filmmaker and author Nathan Wrann, Cor must uncover the mysteries of his past and conquer the secrets of the present in order to protect the girl of his future, and save himself."

The Fallen Star
by Jessica Sorensen

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 419 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Createspace
Publication date: September 11, 2011
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal



First in the Fallen Star series. From Amazon:

"For eighteen year-old Gemma, life has never been normal. Up until recently, she has been incapable of feeling emotion. And when she’s around Alex, the gorgeous new guy at school, she can feel electricity that makes her skin buzz. Not to mention the monsters that haunt her nightmares have crossed over into real-life.

But with Alex seeming to hate her and secrets popping up everywhere, Gemma’s life is turning into a chaotic mess. Things that shouldn’t be real suddenly seem to exist. And as her world falls apart, figuring out the secrets of her past becomes a matter of life and death."

The Fate of Destiny
by Danielle Bourdon

Available as: Kindle edition
Pages: 225
Publisher: Wildbloom Press
Publication date: March 9, 2012
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal



First in the Fates series. From Amazon:

"Up until three days before her eighteenth birthday, Farris Landry's life fit neatly into three categories: consuming, troublesome and downright tricky.

Consuming because of the unnatural passion (obsession) she had for writing 'stories'.

Troublesome for the mother who descended into the realm of the insane right before her eyes.

Tricky when she found herself on her own, forced to carve out an existence by the skin of her teeth.

Farris quickly discovers that consuming-troubling-tricky is nothing compared to the Chaos that ensues after a visit to her grandmother. Determined to go on with her life, Farris finds out the hard way that sometimes, Fate has other ideas. In the blink of an eye, her life gets turned upside down: a tornado rips through town, her loft catches fire, and an explosion decimates her workplace.

A stranger, Emerson Ferrera, inserts himself into the violence, becoming guardian and protector. Farris begins to suspect her grandmother's warning of impending death might more serious than she thought.

Tragedy and betrayal follow, throwing Farris into a tailspin. Will she be able to trust the stranger she's become close to, or will his deception tear them apart?"

Single-handed
by Veronica Blade

Available as: Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 23
Publisher: Crush Publishing
Publication date: April 9, 2012
Suggested tags: young adult, romance, short stories



Book 1 in the Single Girls series. From Amazon:

"NOTE: THIS IS A VERY SHORT STORY EQUAL TO APPX 23 PRINTED PAGES

Alex single-handedly takes down a bully. A safer school has its perks, but what else did the years of martial arts training get her? Not a prom date, that’s for sure. With only a few weeks left before the big day, can she stop the tough act long enough for the boy of her dreams to see she’s still just a girl?"

New Release Round-Up: May 7-13

Young Adult


Enchanted
by Alethea Kontis

Release date: May 8, 2012
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook, audiobook
Pages: 305
Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books
Suggested tags: young adult, fairy tale, retellings



From Goodreads:

"It isn't easy being the rather overlooked and unhappy youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week. Sunday’s only comfort is writing stories, although what she writes has a terrible tendency to come true.

When Sunday meets an enchanted frog who asks about her stories, the two become friends. Soon that friendship deepens into something magical. One night Sunday kisses her frog goodbye and leaves, not realizing that her love has transformed him back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland—and a man Sunday’s family despises.

The prince returns to his castle, intent on making Sunday fall in love with him as the man he is, not the frog he was. But Sunday is not so easy to woo. How can she feel such a strange, strong attraction for this prince she barely knows? And what twisted secrets lie hidden in his past - and hers?"

Hemlock
by Kathleen Peacock

Release date: May 8, 2012
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 400
Publisher: HarperCollins
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, werewolves



First in the Hemlock series. From Goodreads:

"Mackenzie and Amy were best friends. Until Amy was brutally murdered.

Since then, Mac’s life has been turned upside down. She is being haunted by Amy in her dreams, and an extremist group called the Trackers has come to Mac’s hometown of Hemlock to hunt down Amy’s killer: A white werewolf.

Lupine syndrome—also known as the werewolf virus—is on the rise across the country. Many of the infected try to hide their symptoms, but bloodlust is not easy to control.

Wanting desperately to put an end to her nightmares, Mac decides to investigate Amy’s murder herself. She discovers secrets lurking in the shadows of Hemlock, secrets about Amy’s boyfriend, Jason, her good pal Kyle, and especially her late best friend. Mac is thrown into a maelstrom of violence and betrayal that puts her life at risk."

The Hunt
by Andrew Fukuda

Release date: May 8, 2012
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook, audiobook
Pages: 293
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Suggested tags: young adult, dystopia, paranormal, vampires



First in The Hunt series. From Goodreads:

"Don’t Sweat. Don’t Laugh. Don’t draw attention to yourself. And most of all, whatever you do, do not fall in love with one of them.

Gene is different from everyone else around him. He can’t run with lightning speed, sunlight doesn’t hurt him and he doesn’t have an unquenchable lust for blood. Gene is a human, and he knows the rules. Keep the truth a secret. It’s the only way to stay alive in a world of night—a world where humans are considered a delicacy and hunted for their blood.

When he’s chosen for a once in a lifetime opportunity to hunt the last remaining humans, Gene’s carefully constructed life begins to crumble around him. He’s thrust into the path of a girl who makes him feel things he never thought possible—and into a ruthless pack of hunters whose suspicions about his true nature are growing. Now that Gene has finally found something worth fighting for, his need to survive is stronger than ever—but is it worth the cost of his humanity?"

Other YA new releases for this week:

Middle Grade


Jake and Lily
by Jerry Spinelli

Release date: May 8, 2012
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 352
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Suggested tags: middle grade, realistic fiction



From Goodreads:

"Jake and Lily are twins. Even though they seem pretty different—Jake is the calm one and Lily has a temper; Lily is obsessed with trains and Jake collects cool rocks—they feel exactly the same, almost like two halves of one person. When one of them gets hurt, the other can feel it. They can communicate without words. And mysteriously, every year on their birthday, they sleepwalk to a train station in the middle of the night.

But the year they turn eleven, everything changes. Their parents announce it’s time for separate bedrooms, and Jake starts hanging out with a pack of boys on the block. Lily is devastated—not to mention really, really mad. And as she struggles to make friends and get a life apart from her twin, Jake finds himself dealing with a neighborhood bully and has to decide what kind of person he really is."

Ordinary Magic
by Caitlen Rubino-Bradway

Release date: May 8, 2012
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 288
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Suggested tags: middle grade, fantasy



From Goodreads:

"In Abby’s world, magic isn’t anything special: it’s a part of everyday life. So when Abby learns that she has zero magical abilities, she’s branded an “Ord”—ordinary, bad luck, and quite possibly a danger to society.

The outlook for kids like Abby isn’t bright. Many are cast out by their families, while others are sold to treasure hunters (ordinary kids are impervious to spells and enchantments). Luckily for Abby, her family enrolls her in a school that teaches ordinary kids how to get around in a magical world. But with treasure-hunting kidnappers and carnivorous goblins lurking around every corner, Abby’s biggest problem may not be learning how to be ordinary—it’s whether or not she’s going to survive the school year!"

One for the Murphys
by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Release date: May 10, 2012
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 224
Publisher: Penguin Group for Young Readers
Suggested tags: middle grade, realistic fiction



From Goodreads:

"Carley uses humor and street smarts to keep her emotional walls high and thick. But the day she becomes a foster child, and moves in with the Murphys, she's blindsided. This loving, bustling family shows Carley the stable family life she never thought existed, and she feels like an alien in their cookie-cutter-perfect household. Despite her resistance, the Murphys eventually show her what it feels like to belong--until her mother wants her back and Carley has to decide where and how to live. She's not really a Murphy, but the gifts they've given her have opened up a new future."

Other Middle Grade new releases for this week: