Party Girl (11 page)

Lynne Ewing writes extensively for magazines, television, and film. Her first book for young adults,
Drive-By,
was an American Library Association Quick Pick and a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age.

Ms. Ewing graduated from high school in Lima, Peru, and attended the University of California at Santa Barbara. She spent several years working for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services as a bilingual employee before turning to writing as a full-time career.

SHABANU
by Suzanne Fisher Staples

Life is both sweet and cruel to strong-willed young Shabanu, whose home is the windswept Cholistan Desert of Pakistan. The second daughter in a family with no sons, she’s been allowed freedoms forbidden to most Muslim girls. Yet her parents soon grow justifiably concerned that her independence and disinterest in “women’s work” will lead to trouble.

As tradition dictates, Shabanu’s father has arranged for her to be married in the coming year. Though this will mean an end to her liberty, Shabanu accepts it as her duty to her family. Then a tragic encounter with a wealthy and powerful landowner ruins the marriage plans of her older sister, and it is Shabanu who is called upon to sacrifice everything she’s dreamed of. Should she do what is necessary to uphold her family’s honor—or should she listen to the stirrings of her own heart?

A Newbery Honor Book
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
A New York Times
Notable Book of the Year
An IRA-CBC Young Adults’ Choice

WISE CHILD
by Monica Furlong

In a remote Scottish village, a girl called Wise Child is abandoned by her parents and taken in by Juniper, a sorceress. Under Juniper’s kind but stern tutelage, Wise Child thrives. She learns reading, herbal lore, and even the beginnings of magic. Then Wise Child’s natural mother—the “black” witch Maeve—reappears, offering the girl a life of ease and luxury. Forced to choose between Maeve and Juniper, Wise Child comes to discover both her true loyalties and her growing supernatural powers. By this time, though, Maeve’s evil magic, a mysterious plague, and the fears of superstitious villagers have combined to place Wise Child and Juniper in what may be inescapable danger….

“Mesmerizing and suspenseful.”—
New York Newsday

“Rich in detail, high in excitement, and filled with unforgettable characters.”—
Booklist

An ALA Notable Book
An IRA-CBC Young Adults’ Choice

SONGS OF FAITH
by Angela Johnson

Some people stay and some people go. That’s just the way it is. The year 1976 is just a few months away, and everyone in town is gearing up for the Bicentennial. But Doreen doesn’t feel much like celebrating. It just doesn’t seem right, so soon after the Vietnam War. So soon after Mama Dot and Daddy’s divorce. So soon after her little brother, Bobo, suddenly stopped talking. Doreen knows for sure this will be a sad summer, an everybody-leaving-me summer.

But under the falling maple leaves, in her mother’s embrace, Doreen begins to learn the knowledge of the heart: you’re never alone if you have love—and your own song of faith.

“An eloquent and life-affirming novel.”
—
Kirkus Reviews
(pointer review)

“Heart-wrenching lyricism and fascinating
characters…. Another tender, eloquent book from
a gifted writer.”—
Booklist
(starred review)

AVAILABLE FROM DELL LAUREL-LEAF BOOKS

GONE FROM HOME
by Angela Johnson

Meet Sweetness, who has saved an abandoned baby and held up a convenience store, both on the same day. And Starr, who arrives on her Day-Glo orange bicycle to baby-sit for a summer—and changes a family forever. And Victor, who cannot hear, but sees clearly that his brother and sister will soon learn to fly.

In twelve taut, emotional stories, Angela Johnson explores the hardship, hope, and surprising acts of compassion in the lives of young people gone from home.

“A remarkable collection.”
—
The Horn Book Magazine,
Starred

“A beautiful collection of twelve ‘short takes’ in spare but sparkling prose.”
—
School Library Journal,
Starred

“In these brief, emotion-packed dramas … the characters, whatever their personal hardships, find shelter in their connection to others, grace in their appreciation of life’s uplifting moments.”
—
Publishers Weekly,
Starred

WRESTLING STURBRIDGE
by Rich Wallace

Here’s the deal. I’m stuck in Sturbridge, Pennsylvania, where civic pride revolves around the high school wrestling team, and the future is as bright as the inside of the cinder block factory where our dads work. And where their dads worked. And where I won’t ever work. Not if I can help it.

I’m the second-best 135-pound wrestler in school, behind Al—the first-best 135-pound wrestler in the state. But I want to be state champion as badly as he does, maybe even more. I just haven’t figured out how to do it.

I tell myself that I will find the way. I think my whole life depends on it.

“A real winner.”—
Publishers Weekly
(starred review)