40. Voss: How I Come to America and Am Hero, Mostly

By: David Ives
Level: YA

Voss has many outrageous adventures as a Slobovian illegal immigrant in America. He finds friends and validates his way of living against all odds. Voss must deal with a crazy uncle who thinks he owns everything in the world and a sick father who went to a hospital and disappeared. Voss also has to deal with Aleena Aleenska, who is adamant that they are fated to be married. Don’t expect perfect English, or Eenglish as Voss would say. As the novel comes to a conclusion there is also an unveiled political statement about illegal aliens. For all that, the author creates some hilarious circumstances that are a delight to see resolved.

39. The Amaranth Enchantment

By: Julie Berry
Level: YA

Lucinda Chapdelaine wishes for the life she lost when she was five. Especially when her life gets interesting when the crown prince enters her uncle’s jewelry shop on the same day that the Amaranth witch does. Overnight, Lucinda has an unexpected visitor, Peter, who steals a precious gemstone that belonged to the Amaranth witch, Beryl. The next morning Lucinda’s uncle is found dead, her aunt turns her out of the house, and Lucinda is caught up in the race to find Beryl’s gemstone. Along the way Peter and the prince continue to impact Lucinda’s story.

38. Red Spikes

By: Margo Lanagan
Level: YA

A collection of ten short stories that explore humanity. Each story has a touch of the strange or mystic that temporizes and emphasizes the human reaction to stimuli. Some stories are disturbing and some have a hopeful, happy ending. The author leaves a note at the end attributing where her story ideas came from, which gives another interesting point of view by which to evaluate the meaning of the stories.

37. Geek Chic

By: Margie Palatini
Level: J
Series: The Zoey Zone

Zoey want to by popular by sixth grade, as that is the defining time where you will be classified as cool or not cool. So, Zoey embarks upon the task of wishing for a fairy godmother and doing everything she can to up her coolability factor. Unfortunately, school life conspires against her. Most do not find interest in frogs and United States presidents as very cool hobbies. That is until U GrL magazine has a photo shoot at Zoey’s school and everything changes.

36. Tantalize

By: Cynthia Letitch Smith
Level: YA

Quincie Morris loves her restaurant. It was her mother’s passion and it has become hers also. One night Vaggio, the chef, is brutally murdered while she sits in the other room watching tv. Quincie has one other love, her hybrid human-werewolf friend Kieren. But, after the murder suspicion has been put upon a werewolf and the restaurant needs a new chef. Henry Johnson seems be just the chef the restaurant needs but is he influencing Quincie too much? All her life seems to be falling apart and Quincie is not sure what to do as the vampires begin to show their faces.

35. Shift

By: Jennifer Bradbury
Level: YA

How does one find out what one is truly made of? When is your personality truly forged? Chris and Win decided to bike across America from West Virginia to Seattle after their senior year. Everything went fine until they had a fight and broke away from each other on the road. Now Chris is starting college classes and Win is missing. Win’s father is threatening Chris and Win is still missing. The question is, what really happened out there this summer?

34. Keeper of the Grail

By: Michael P. Spradlin
Level: YA
Series: The Youngest Templar, Book 1

Tristan has grown up in a monastery when Templar Sir Thomas asks him to be his squire. Tristan jumps at the chance to see more of the world and have adventure. Unfortunately, treacherous Sir Hugh is also in the Templar regimento and has a grudge against Tristan. While in Outremer Tristan is entrusted with a sacred task for Sir Thomas that will take him back to England, but what forces will he have to overcome to make it home? A solid first installment to the series, it whets your appetite for the next book.

33.Mouse

By: Jeff Stone
Level: YA
Series: The Five Ancestors, Book 6

ShoaShu, or Mouse, has hidden away on Tonglong’s ship that has just picked up a famous Chinese treasure. Then, he is discovered and pressed into Tonglong’s service. Unfortunately, ShaoShu makes enemies with Tonglong’s second in command, Lei. Lei is plotting against Tonglong and there is nothing that ShaoShu can do. Tonglong is taking the place of the Southern Warlord HaiZhe by force and then moving on the Emperor. Meanwhile, Hok, Charles, Malao, Ying, and Fu rescue Ying’s mother and travel with Charles to the fights in the north at Shanghai. The plot is thickening in this installment of the Five Ancestors series. Each animal character has great abilities and it will be interesting how all of them will come together to save an empire.

32. Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side

By: Beth Fantaskey
Level: YA

Jessica, a typical American senior in high school, is being haunted by her Romanian past. A mysterious man calls to her at her bus stop. Then Jessica finds out that she is was betrothed at birth and her fiancé has just shown up to claim her so that they may keep the peace between their two clans. Oh, also, vampires exist and she is a vampire princess. Jessica does not take any of this well and begins with loathing towards her fiancé, Lucius, which then turns into something else. However, are the two of them just pawns in a larger game?

31. The Midnight Twins

By: Jacquelyn Mitchard
Level: YA

Merry and Mally are mirror twins. When they look at themselves, they see their reflection. All their lives they have been able to communicate more than most twins and felt as close as a single person. Then, on their thirteenth birthday their lives change during a fire. Both twins survive, but now Merry can see the past and Mally can see the future. Both girls are upset that their lives are changing and they are no longer the single person that they were before. Through their visions, they find that they have to stop a killer. Both girls go through harrowing circumstances just to find each other again.