Frazier, Angie. (2011). The eternal sea. New York: Scholastic. Camille Rowen, 17, bears a weighty responsibility on her shoulders. Having chosen to use an enchanted stone known as Umandu, to bring back to life Oscar, the man she loves, she is haunted by the knowledge that she chose his life over her father's. All of these events and more were described in the previous book, Everlasting. Readers would be advised to check that one out first in order to prevent disorientation as they read The Eternal Sea. But Oscar is determined to head to Egypt in search of the companion stone--and he plans to do without Camille. Determined to figure out what has prompted the changes in Oscar that seem to have left him cold and distant, Camille manages to follow him. Randall Jackson, the man Camille's father selected as her fiance, also meets up with them, and the two try to outdo one another in claiming her affections. Improbably, Camille finds that she is attracted to both men and is unable to choose between them. As she sleeps each night, she doesn't dream of her suitors, though, but of the Forelands and of an icy region where she is attacked by a female wolf. Determined, earthy, and brave, Camille never stops in her determination to reach those lands and save Oscar's soul. The author has created a decidedly frightening underworld with a sea in which dead folks float about and reach out to grab living humans for their warmth. There are enough puzzles, hieroglyphics, chases, and exotic locales to please lovers of adventure stories. Reader interest is heightened by the difficulty in distinguishing between the good and the bad guys as well as by Camille's romantic vacillation. Give the author plaudits, though, for creating a heroine who doesn't simply pine for love and rely on others to save her, but rather plots her own course.
Favorite Lines:
"The color of the sky wasn't the same the next day. The bleached horizon and the impossibly blue dome had a yellow tinge to it, as if draped with a muslin sheet. Maggie didn't need her napkin and plate hat, and the apples of Camille's cheeks no longer ached from squinting" (p. 265).
Shecter, Vicky Alvear. (2011). Cleopatra's moon. New York: Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic. The story of Queen Cleopatra of Egypt has been told and retold many times, but this story, told from the point of view of her daughter, Cleopatra Selene, offers a unique and interesting perspective on the saga.
Littman, Sarah Darer. (2011). Want to go private? New York: Scholastic. Starting high school is often a frightening experience for anyone, but Abby Johnston knows that at least she can count on the friendship of her BFF, Faith. But the two freshmen have only one class together, and Faith is more interested in expanding her circle of friends and getting involved in school activities than Abby is, which results in an ever-increasing distance between the two. Abby turns inward, and becomes deeply involved in an online relationship with Luke who seems to have so much in common with her and to empathize with her feelings about high school. They spend more and more time in private chat rooms, and the allure of this online relationship is so much more attractive for Abby than real life high school where one of the alpha males never remembers her name even while managing to copy her homework. Even though her science lab partner is obviously interested in her, Abby has become too dependent on Luke to pay much attention to him. When she doesn't hear from him for a period of time, she becomes depressed and obsessed with trying to find out why he has stopped their online chats. Although it isn't obvious to Abby, who is sure that they love each other despite their age difference--Luke says he's 27--Luke knows exactly how to manipulate her into taking pictures of sexually provocative poses. As the days pass, Abby spends hours online, neglecting her homework and going without sleep. When a particular low math test score prompts parental punishment, Abby and Luke decide to meet. Abby runs away from home, leaving her friends, parents, and the police to locate her before it's too late. Naturally, Abby is devastated when she learns the truth about Luke, and she must deal with the ugly gossip when she returns to school. 
Pearson, Joanna. (2011). The rites & wrongs of Janice Wills. New York: Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic. Despite her feelings about the local beauty/talent pageant, Junior Janice Wills decides to enter the contest as part of her anthropological study of adolescents. Janice considers herself unattractive, awkward, and socially inept, and simply doesn't understand the social whirl and pecking order that exists around her. She has friends, but they aren't in the most popular set. In order to understand the behavior of the teens around her--and maybe to find a way to fit in or as a defense mechanism--Janice observes and records her observations about the various groups in her high school, Melva, North Carolina. She creates categories for her classmates such as The Smart Pretty, The Dumb Pretty, The Softball Husky, Hipster Hippie, Formerly Homeschooled, and Beautiful Rich Girl, and describes them in most uncomplimentary ways. I'd have loved to have more development for the members of each of these groups, but she focuses primarily on one group. The book includes Anthropological Observations at the start of each chapter as well as some field notes inside the chapters. Many of those comments are sarcastic and dead-on. 
Hannan, Peter. (2011). My big mouth. New York: Scholastic. Ninth grader Davis Delaware moves to a new school with only a few months left in the academic year. This is a chance for a fresh start. He and his father are still mourning the loss of his mother who died earlier, and in some respects, Davis is relieved to leave behind his old school where he accidentally peed on a girl while heading down the slide, prompting him much teasing and earning him the honor of having a sign posted on his back that reads "Urine Trouble." Maybe he can find a way to blend in and escape notice in his new school. He gains a bit of attention when his lyrics are read aloud in English class, and he becomes known as a budding poet. But when Molly, one of the school's popular ninth graders, catches his eye, he invites her to join a band he is starting with Edwin, a geeky motormouth, things start looking up. Anyone can form a band and play instruments, but not everyone can write song lyrics, after all. The Amazing Dweebs may not make beautiful music together, but they have lots of fun, and Davis and Molly seem to have some chemistry going between them. However, Molly is the girlfriend of the school bully Gerald (the Butcher) Boggs, and Gerald is a jealous boyfriend who is relentless in his torturing of Davis. Everything works out, but there are some surprises along the way, and it turns out that Gerald and Davis have more in common than their affection for Molly. Middle grade readers who enjoyed Diary of a Wimpy Kid in the past will gravitate to this one and enjoy the cartoons of Davis's enemies as well as revenge-fueled and somewhat mean-spirited song lyrics. Just as the first Wimpy Kid had a cheese touch that was to be avoided at all costs, so does this one have a canal filled with all sorts of horrible gunk. 
Skuse, C. J. (2011). Pretty bad things. New York: Chicken House/Scholastic. Paisley and Beau Argent had their first brush with fame when their mother died, and the six-year-olds were found alive after wandering in the woods for three days. The media christened them the "Wonder Twins," and their story touched the hearts and pockets of many viewers. Ten years later, after a series of talk show appearances staged by their grandmother, Beau continues to fend off bullies at his school who see his bookish nature as equating weakness, and Paisley has run through a series of private schools. The story alternates between the voices of Beau and Paisley, which provides insight into their very different personalities. When Beau happens upon letters from their father, who was incarcerated for a crime and supposedly never contacted his children, Paisley manages to get expelled once again, and returns home to get Beau and some cash. Determined to find their father, whose last address was in Las Vegas, they steal their grandmother's car, and check in to a cheap hotel. Although the haunt the casino area, they fail to find more than a glimpse of the man. Paisley decides to conduct a series of robberies of stores that sell doughnuts, ice cream, candy, and popcorn. At each crime site they leave stickers proclaiming their love for their father. Since they are mounting a two-person crime wave, they rightly assume that the story will hit the airwaves, which is exactly what happens. The twins' activities strike a nerve in many other teens and even adults who regard their behavior as appropriately anarchic and puposeful since they're trying to find their dad. Websites devoted to their story spring up, and Internet users proclaim their undying devoting to Beau. Readers will surely ponder the fleetingness of fame and our seemingly relentless obsessions with people who have no claim to fame other than being famous or being related to someone famous. 
Treggiari, Jo. (2011). Ashes, ashes. New York: Scholastic. Sixteen-year-old Lucy is in survival mode on her own in Central Park. It's the end of the world as Lucy knew it, the consequence of floods five years earlier that resulted from changing climate and weather patterns. The floods changed coastlines and submerged many major cities. Then, smallpox and the plague kill off almost the entire population. Lucy's entire family dies, but Lucy is one of the few survivors. Afraid of staying in her New Jersey home alone and wary of the Sweepers and other government agents who seem intent on rounding up the survivors, Lucy has been spending each day looking for food and maintaining her camp. She happens to meet Aidan, another survivor who lives in a commune outside the city, as she is running from a pack of dogs who seem to be tracking her. Their paths don't cross again until a tsunami covers her camp, and she gets out of the area just in the nick of time. Once she arrives at Aidan's camp, she becomes a part of the agrarian society that has been carefully nurtured by an elderly woman, the camp's leader. Each person is expected to work in order to eat, and they plant and harvest tomatoes, beans, and other vegetables, and bake bread. But Lucy is not able to rest for long since the Searchers come to the camp again and again. When she decides to rescue some of the commune's children, she is betrayed, and discovers exactly what it is that makes her so special and the object of all this tracking by men and beasts.