And More YA New Books

Graphic Novels:

My Milk Toof by Inhae Lee -- follow the antics of two adorable baby teeth.
Nasume’s Book of Friends by Midorikawa Vols. 4, 6 -- Takashi deals with forest spirits who won't tell him the full truth; volume 5 is already at the Library.
Sukura Hime by Tanemura Vol. 9 -- Sakura is the granddaughter of a mysterious moon princess who slew demons with her Blood Cherry Blossom sword. All her life Sakura has been forbidden to look at the full moon without knowing why. Then one night, unhappy over her impending marriage, Sakura gazes up at the moon, only to see a demon attacking her... Princess Sakura has been staying at the estate of Fujimurasaki, the future emperor. Fujimurasaki tells Sakura he loves her and keeps her hidden from Aoba. Sakura yearns to be reunited with Aoba, but he's to marry Princess Yuri...
Blood for Stone by Kenton Daniels -- Lost in the Alps, five Roman soldiers find themselves at the mercy of the mountains. Wandering into a remote village, they agree to help find a missing girl in exchange for safe passage. With a mysterious gypsy serving as guide, the Romans journey to a place called Devil's Finger. There, they descend into a subterranean chaos of blood and horror. Far from home, they're forced to make a stand.
Superman. Grounded. Vol. 2 -- Superman meets the new Wonder Woman for the first time! But, why can't he shake the feeling that he already knows her? Then, Superman visits Boulder, Colorado, where The Flash made a strange discovery that relates to Superman. And in Salt Lake City, Batman arrives to revisit one of his earliest adventures with The Man of Steel!
X-Men. Phoenix Endsong/Warsong -- The epic two-part tale of life, death and rebirth collected in one volume! The Phoenix has come back to life. Seeking to reunite with Jean Grey, it has returned to Earth -- only to find its former host dead and buried. Without Jean Grey to control the Phoenix's limitless power, will the X-Men succeed in stopping this cosmic force of death and destruction once more? Plus: Something's not quite right with the Stepford Cuckoos, and the X-Men better figure out what it is -- and fast! And what does Weapon Plus have to do with all this?
Avengers Vs. X-Men. It’s Coming -- Seven action-packed tales to get you up to speed for the biggest comic event of 2012! Four teams -- Avengers, X-Men, Young Avengers, and X-Factor -- all battle to determine who will hold the Scarlet Witch responsible for her crimes. Cyclops and Wolverine square off in the climax of the SCHISM event. Magneto gets caught on video murdering an anti-mutant group. Cable returns from the future with Hope and later tries to eliminate the Avengers from history!
Maximum Ride (the manga), Vol 6 by James Patterson -- There's a rift in the flock, and everyone is choosing sides! While Max and her team are Europe-bound, fang and his crew head west. No matter which direction the flock heads in, though, there's trouble around every corner.

Fiction:

Torrent by Lisa Bergren -- Gabriella and Evangelia Betarrini are just two normal American teenagers. Normal except for the fact that they time travel to fourteenth-century Italy, where they've lived in castles they've seen as crumbling ruins, become swept up in historic battles, and fallen in love with handsome knights willing to do anything to keep them alive. They've returned to the present to save their father, just short of his tragic death, and now all four return to the place that holds the girls' hearts, medieval Italy. But remaining there means facing great risk as the battle for territory wages on and the coming Black Plague looms. Can they convince their parents to stay and leave behind everything they've worked so hard to accomplish? And will the girls sacrifice their futures in an uncertain past? Or in facing death head-on, will they discover life as it was always meant to be lived?
Lullaby by Amanda Hocking -- Vowing to get her sister Gemma back from the siren sisters no matter what the cost, Harper must face dangers unlike any she's ever experienced. Fortunately, she has Daniel by her side, a gorgeous guy who's devoted to helping her find her sister--and who's immune to the girls' dark powers.
The Chaos; Num8ers #2 by Rachel Ward -- Like his mother, Jem, when fifteen-year-old Adam looks in people's eyes he can see the dates of their deaths and now he sees the same date, six months in the future, in nearly everyone around him in the London of 2026.
The Infinity: Num8ers #3 -- Adam, Sarah, and Mia are living together, struggling with the fame brought about by their knowing the dates when people will die, but ever since Mia swapped her number for another, her new power makes her a target that puts them all in jeopardy.
Souls Screamers, Vol 2 by Rachel Vincent -- Kaylee Cavanaugh's life has gotten better. She's getting to know her dad, doing okay in school and has a hot new boyfriend who understands her in every way. Until the hellion Avari starts tempting everyone with an exotic new drug -- demon's breath. Then, on shaky ground with Nash Hudson, Kaylee is taking their relationship easy. But then Sabine, Nash's ex, storms into their lives. She's determined to get Nash back and there's nothing she won't do to remind him of what they had. And since Sabine has special abilities of her own, Kaylee is headed into a battle she's not sure she can win. Finally, Though Tod Hudson died two years ago, thanks to his job as a Reaper, he's never had to move on or let go of his family -- no matter how much Nash would like him to! But, few people know about how he came to accept the job of claiming souls.
Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes -- In a land where magic has been forgotten but peace has reigned for centuries, a deadly unrest is simmering. Three kingdoms grapple for power--brutally transforming their subjects' lives in the process. Amidst betrayals, bargains, and battles, four young people find their fates forever intertwined. The only outcome that's certain is that kingdoms will fall. Who will emerge triumphant when all they know has collapsed?
Boyfriends with Girlfriends by Alex Sanchez -- When Lance begins to date Sergio, who's bisexual, he's not sure that it'll work out, and when his best friend Allie, who has a boyfriend, meets Sergio's lesbian friend, she has unexpected feelings which she struggles to understand.
Shadow and Bone: Grisha #1 by Leigh Bardugo -- Orphaned by the Border Wars, Alina Starkov is taken from obscurity and her only friend, Mal, to become the protegé of the mysterious Darkling, who trains her to join the magical elite in the belief that she is the Sun Summoner, who can destroy the monsters of the Fold.
Flesh & Bone: Benny Imura #3 by Jonathan Maberry -- Benny, Nix, Lou, and Lilah journey through a fierce wilderness that was once America searching for the jet they saw months ago, while evading fierce animals and a new kind of zombie.
Voyage of the Sea Wolf by Eve Bunting -- After having been marooned on an island for ten days, Catherine and William are finally rescued and brought aboard a pirate ship that is captained by a woman who takes a liking to William and forbids Catherine, his true love, from seeing him.
My Name is Parvana by Deborah Ellis -- Found wandering alone in a bombed-out Afghan school, 15-year-old Parvana mystifies American military forces by remaining silent, while spending her time remembering the past four years of her life, having been reunited with her mother and sisters and living in a village where her mother's finally managed to open a school for girls. As her family settles into the routine of running the school, Parvana, a bit to her surprise, finds herself restless and bored. She even thinks of running away. But when local men threaten the school and her family, she must draw on every ounce of bravery and resilience she possesses to survive the disaster that kills her mother, destroys the school, and puts her own life in jeopardy.
Under My Hat by Jonathan Strahan, ed. -- 18 short stories by well-known fantasy authors that deal with witches and witchcraft.
Fire Season: Star Kingdom #2 by David Weber -- Fourteen-year-old Stephanie Harrington and her fellow Provisional Forest Rangers on the planet Sphinx must prevent disaster from befalling a treecat clan caught in a blaze while preserving the secret that the treecats of Sphinx are highly intelligent and deserving of rights that some would deny them.

New YA Books

Graphic Novels:

Batman. Eye of the Beholder -- A powerful relic, hidden and protected by an ancient order, falls into the hands of one of Batman's deadliest foes! The Dark Knight and his allies are outnumbered and outmatched as they struggle to free themselves from their merciless adversary. With death and destruction imminent, Batman must make a crucial sacrifice.
Marathon by Yakin -- In graphic novel form, tells the story of Eucles, the Athenian messenger who, in 490 B.C., ran twenty-seven miles from Sparta to Athens, preventing the fall of Greece to the Persian Empire.
Gunnerkrigg Court. Vol. 3, Reason by Siddell -- Annie and Kat continue to uncover terrible secrets about their school, Gunnerkrigg Court, while relationships grow and the boundaries of reality are blurred. In the meantime, Coyote begins to show that things in the forest are not quite what they seem! Plus, Annie's second year at the Court comes to a dramatic end!
Naruto Vol. 59 by Kishimoto -- As powerful as they are, Naruto and his friends, including all five village Kage, can't seem to gain ground over Kabuto's army of undead ninja. And now, the biggest surprise resurrection of all raises a question they all thought had already been answered: just who is Madara and what does he really want?!
Saturn Apartments Vol. 6 by Iwaoka -- Living isn't easy in the lower levels of the Ring System, a floating civilization constructed when Earth was abandoned as a nature preserve. Sixteen-year-old Mitsu got a job washing windows for the wealthy residents of the upper levels after his father, also a window washer, fell from his tether. Now, Mitsu's been asked to man an illegal craft that's descending to the surface of the earth. But, it seems everyone in this divided society has a secret agenda. Mitsu alone must decide if he's ready to take the journey of a lifetime...
Fairy Tail Vol. 22 by Mashiba -- A royal double cross! King Faust finally reveals his plan -- and it's even crueler than anyone imagined! Happy, Carla, and Lucy have to hurry if they're going to rescue Natsu and Wendy from the king's torturous magic extraction machine and stop a genocidal scheme that would kill the remaining Fairy Tail members. But first, they'll have to make it through ... an amusement park?!

Fiction:

Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde -- Fifteen-year-old Jennifer Strange runs an agency for underemployed magicians in a world where magic is fading away, but when visions of the death of the world's last dragon begin, all signs point to Jennifer -- and Big Magic.
Endangered by Eliot Schrefer -- Sophie is not happy to be back in the Congo for the summer, but when she rescues an abused baby bonobo, she becomes more involved in her mother's sanctuary -- and when fighting breaks out and the sanctuary is attacked, it is up to Sophie to rescue the apes and somehow survive in the jungle.
Endlessly by Kiersten White -- Paranormalcy book #3 - Sixteen-year-old Evie is forced to face the truth about her supernatural past when a deadly faerie battle threatens the future of the entire paranormal world.
Elemental by Antony John -- In a dystopian colony of the United States where everyone is born with powers of the elements, water, wind, earth, and fire, sixteen-year-old Thomas, the first and only child born without an element, seems powerless, but is he?
If We Survive by Andrew Klavan -- When revolutionaries seize control of a country in Central America where sixteen-year-old Will is serving at a mission, he and the other volunteers find themselves in a desperate race to escape the violence and return home.
Passenger by Andrew Smith -- Marbury Lens #2 - Jack and Conner are drawn back to Marbury to rescue other friends and attempt to destroy the lens that transports them to the alternate world.
Time to Shine by Nikki Carter -- Sunday Tolliver is now the hottest singer-songwriter in the business-but too much personal drama is spinning her crazy-busy life totally out of control. Her boyfriend, Sam, won't discuss the online buzz pulling them apart, and Sunday is past done putting up with him. Her two best friends are way far gone over one irresistible boy and it's messing with their tight-knit group.
Quince Clash by Malin Alegria -- Border Town #2 - Hoping to celebrate her quinceañera abroad instead of having a traditional party, Fabi clashes with a mean-spirited rival and resolves to put the girl and her squad of friends to shame with the biggest quince the town has ever seen.
Falling Too Fast by Malin Alegria -- Border Town #3 - When Alexis, who dreams of becoming a famous singer, develops a crush on the lead singer of a band from another high school, she is willing to do anything to capture his attention.
No Second Chances by Malin Alegria -- Border Town #4 - Santiago might be in over his head this time. Santiago's grades are slipping again, but he's determined to prove to his family that he can be successful at something, even if it's not school. When a fancy new taco chain moves in across the street from the Garza family restaurant, Santiago is inspired -- he'll open a food business of his own!
Scrivener’s Moon by Philip Reeve -- Fever Crumb #3 - When she returns home after two years, Fever finds that her Scriven mother's creation, New London, the city on wheels, is nearly complete and ready to fight the nomad tribes of Britain -- and Fever must journey to the north to find the ancient birthplace of the Scriven mutants and solve the mystery of her own past.
Sapphire Blue by Kiersten Gier -- Gem Trilogy #2 - Sixteen-year-old Gwen, the newest and final member of the secret time-traveling Circle of Twelve, searches through history for the other time-travelers, aided by friend Lesley, James the ghost, Xemerius the gargoyle demon, and Gideon, the Diamond, whose fate seems bound with hers.
My Book of Life by Angel by Martine Leavitt -- 16-year-old Angel struggles to free herself from the trap of prostitution in which she is caught. When her pimp, Call, brings home 11 year old Melli to take Angel's place, she tries her best to protect the girl, even as other prostitutes continue to vanish.
Burned by Sara Shepard -- Pretty Little Liars #12 - It's spring break, and the pretty little liars are trading in Rosewood for a cruise vacation. They want nothing more than to sail into the tropical sunset and leave their troubles behind for one blissful week. But where Emily, Aria, Spencer, and Hanna go, A goes, too. From scuba diving to tanning on the upper deck, A is there, soaking up all their new secrets. Emily is smooching a stowaway. Aria's treasure-hunting partner is a little too interested in her booty. Spencer's going overboard trying to land a new boy. And a blast -- or rather, a crash -- from Hanna's past could mean rough waters ahead for everyone. The liars better tighten their life jackets. A perfect storm is brewing, and if they aren't careful, A will bury them at sea...
Fateful by Claudia Gray -- When seventeen-year-old Tess Davies, a ladies' maid, meets handsome Alec Marlow aboard the RMS Titanic, she quickly becomes entangled in the dark secrets of his past, but her growing love puts her in mortal peril even before fate steps in.
Temptation by Travis Thrasher -- Solitary Tales #3 - As a reluctant student at Harrington High's summer school, Chris meets a fun-loving senior girl who offers a welcome diversion from Chris' past. Soon, Chris no longer searches for the truth about the town of Solitary. He no longer tries to pierce its shadows. He no longer questions his role in its mysteries. He makes a new choice: he runs. What he doesn't realize is that he's running the wrong way -- and is very close to being beyond any choices at all.
Eighth Grade is Making Me Sick by Jennifer Holm -- Eighth grade turns out to be an eventful year for Ginny and her family, as notes, lists, report cards, doctor bills, and other "stuff" reveal that the family moves to a big new house, Brian starts to be more than just a friend, Ginny's mother has a baby, and her stepfather loses his job.

Anime Club

Pikapals of Waco had their Christmas party last night, and wow, did we have fun! We decorated the Christmas trees in Youth Services for Miss Stacy, and made her a Thank You card/sign for letting us use her space for the past year or so.

Remember, we'll have next month's meeting on Jan 8th, since the first Tuesday is New Year's Day and we'll be closed! I have a screener disc coming in of a new Anime show, and I'll be bringing either that, or maybe a movie, if I think it is better!

I'm always willing to take suggestions for what you want to watch, and if I can get permission from the copyright holder, we will watch anything age appropriate!

See you next month!

Maverick list for 2013

You can find this great list right here, with a PDF you can download also. There are also links to the Tayshas and Lonestar lists. These are great recreational reading lists; the best of the best fiction and nonfiction for your pleasure reading!