Fisher, Catherine. Incarceron. Dial, $17.99 (978-0-8037-3396-1)

            (gr. 7 and up) “…beautifully imagined science fantasy set in a far future where, many years earlier, civilization was artificially frozen at late-medieval levels in order to save the world from dangerous technologies. Simultaneously, all of the world’s malcontents and madmen were sealed into an unimaginably vast, sentient prison named Icarceron…Claudia, the brilliant daughter of the cold-blooded warden of Incarceron… rasied from birth to marry and eventually control Caspar, the simpleminded heir to the throne…When Claudia and Finn each gain possession of a high-tech ‘key’ to the prison, they exchange messages…Finn asks Claudia to help him attempt an escape…Complex and inventive…numerous and rewarding mysteries…” (PW)

 

Mankell, Henning. Shadow of the Leopard. Annick, $19.95 (978-1-5545-1200 3); paper, $10.95 (978-1-5545-11990)

            (gr. 10-12) “…draws on true events in Mozambique…haunting, contemporary story of violence and courage. In Secrets of the Fire, Sofia, nine, lost both of her legs in a land-mine explosion…Now, 10 years later, she has three children with her husband, Armando…discovers Armando is involved with another woman…he becomes a thief… horrifying, violent climax…without sentimentality…frank, vivid details of Sofia’s struggle…” (BL)

 

Mourlevat, Jean-Claude. Winter’s End. Tr. by Anthea Bell. Candlewick, $17.99 (978-0-7636-44505)

            (gr. 9-12) “…timeless, dystopian…four teenagers seek freedom from an oppressive society…Helen, Milena, Milos, and Bartolomeo…repressive Phalange government…Milena and Bart secretly escape, Helen and Milos set out to find them…underground resistance movement…dangerous…terrifying enemies, unexpected allies, heartbreaking tragedy….blends fantasy, realism, and moments of violence…broad themes of freedom, repression, and redemption. Translator Bell’s visually evocative prose…diverse cast of engaging, sometimes fantastical characters…compelling personal stories…An award winner in France…celebrates the infinite power of love and courage to inspire others…” (BL)

 

Paulsen, Gary. Woods Runner. Random/Lamb, $15.99 (978-0-385-73884-2)

            (gr. 7 and up) “Set during the American Revolution…Sam is a skilled hunter…word of fighting between the British and the colonists…13-year-old realizes that his life will change…brutal…returns from a hunting expedition to find houses in their settlement burned to the ground and the scalped bodies of neighbors…rescue his parents—taken prisoner by the culprits, British soldiers aided by Iroquois…illuminating and gripping…interspersed historical sections that offer details about frontier life and the war…” (PW)

 

Summers, Courney. Some Girls Are. St. Martin’s Griffin, $9.99 paper (978-0-312-57380-5)

            (gr. 7 and up) “…Regina Afton, once a member of the elite Fearsome Fivesome, is dumped after word gets out that she slept with her queen bee best friend’s boyfriend… no one knows—or doesn’t believe—is that it wasn’t consensual…series of pranks… books thrown in a pool…vicious…Web page, a four on one beating……nascent friendship with a loner she bullied back in her heyday…Parents and teachers are suspiciously absent…lack of recourse…very real story all the more frightening and effective…impossible not to feel every punch—physical or emotional—she takes.” (PW)

 

Teller, Janne. Nothing. Trans. by Martin Aitken. Atheneum, $16.99 (978-1-4-169857-92)

            (gr. 7-12) “…has all the marks of a classic. A group of Danish seventh-graders have their insulated suburban world jolted…classmate Pierre Anthon…announces, “Nothing matters.’…takes up residence in a plum tree and creates an existential crisis among the group…kids decide to assemble a pile of objects that will prove Pierre Anthon wrong…With chilling rapidity, the ‘heap of meaning,’…towering with gut-wrenching artifacts of their lost innocence…just enough character detail to make the suffering and cruelty palpable…terse purposefulness of…prose may put off some readers…will endure the test of time…” (BL)