13 Little Blue Envelopes

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13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
When seventeen-year-old Ginny receives a packet
of mysterious envelopes from her favorite aunt,
she leaves New Jersey to criss-cross Europe on a
sort of scavenger hunt that transforms her life.
Inside little blue envelope 1 are 1,000 and ins
tructions to buy a plane ticket. In envelope 2 ar
e directions to a specific London flat. The note
in envelope 3 tells Ginny Find a starving artis
t. Because of envelope 4, Ginny and
a playwright/thief/ blokeabouttown called Keith
go to Scotland together, with somewhat disastrou
sthough utterly romanticresults. But will she
ever see him again? Everything about Ginny will
change this summer, and it's all because of the
13 little blue envelopes.
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145th Street Short Stories by Walter Dean Myers
Myers creates snapshots of a pulsing, vibrant
community with diverse ethnic threads, through
all of its ups and downs." Big Joe's funeral --
The baddest dog in Harlem Fighter Angela's eye
s -- The streak Monkeyman Kitty and Mack a
love story -- A Christmas story A story in thre
e parts -- Block party-145th street
style. Ten stories portray life
on a block in Harlem.
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Harlem Summer by Walter Dean Myers
In 1920s Harlem, sixteen-year-old saxophonist
Mark Purvis struggles to advance his jazz career
while working as a gopher for the new Africa-Am
erican magazine, "The Crisis," meeting
Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen, and becoming
involved with mobster Dutch Schultz.
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The 6 Most Important Decisions
Youll Ever Make A Guide for Teens
by Sean Covey Describes six important decision
s teenagers will face and offers advice on the c
hoices that should be made, discussing school, fr
iends, parents, dating and sex, addictions, and
self-worth.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens The
Ultimate Teenage Success Guide
by Sean Covey Describes seven habits teenagers c
an cultivate to help them improve their self-imag
es, build friendships, resist peer
pressure, achieve goals, get along with parents,
and make other positive changes in their lives.

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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time
Indian - by Sherman Alexie
Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled
school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to atten
d an all-white farm town school where the only ot
her Native American is the school mascot. Heartb
reaking, funny, and beautifully written,
the book is based on the author's own
experiences, coupled with drawings by artist Ell
en Forney, and chronicles the
contemporary adolescence of one Native American
boy as he attempts to break away from the life h
e was destined to live.
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Flight - by Sherman Alexie 7
A powerful, fast and timely story of a troubled
foster teenager a boy who is not a legal Ind
ian because he was never claimed by his father
who learns the true meaning of terror. About to
commit a devastating act, the young man finds hi
mself shot back through time on a shocking
sojourn through moments of violence in American
history The civil rights era, Battle at Little B
ig Horn, Indian tracker in the 19th Century,
an airline pilot. Finally, in his own
contemporary body, he is mightily
transformed by all hes seen. This is Sherman
Alexie at his most brilliant.
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Acceleration - by Graham McNamee
Its a hot, hot summer, and in the depths of the
Toronto Transit Authoritys Lost and Found, 1
7-year-old Duncan is cataloging lost things and
sifting through accumulated junk. And between
Jacob, the cranky old man who runs the place, an
d the endless dusty boxes overflowing with stuff
no one will ever claim, Duncans just about had
enough. Then he finds a little leather book. Its
a diary filled with the dark
and dirty secrets of a twisted mind, a serial
killer stalking his prey in the subway. And Dunc
an cant make himself stop reading. What would y
ou do with a book like that? How far would you g
o to catch a madman? And what if time was running
out. . . .

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American Shaolin Flying Kicks,
Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of
Iron Crotch An Odyssey in the New
China - by Matthew Polly
Bill Bryson meets Bruce Lee in this raucously
funny story of one scrawny Americans quest
to become a kung fu master at Chinas
legendary Shaolin Temple. Matthew Polly
recounts the experiences he had during the two
years he spent living and studying in China,
performing with the Shaolin monks, who taught
Matthew important lessons about life and his
place in the universe. Laced with humor
and illuminated by cultural insight, American
Shaolin is an unforgettable coming-of-age tale
of one young mans journey into the ancient art
of kung fuand a funny and poignant portrait
of a rapidly changing China.
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The Angel Experiment by James Patterson (Maxim
um Ride series) Maximum Ride, better known as M
ax, and all the members of the "Flock"--Fang, Ig
gy, Nudge, Gasman and Angel--are just like ordin
ary kidsonly they have wings and can fly. It ma
y seem like a dream come true to some, but their
lives can morph into a living nightmare at any
time--like when Angel, the youngest member of th
e "Flock," is kidnapped and taken back to the "S
chool" where she and the others were genetically
engineered by sinister scientists. Her friends
brave a journey to Death Valley, CA, to save Ang
el, but soon enough, they find themselves in yet
another nightmare--fighting off the half-human,
half-wolf "Erasers" in New York City. Whether in
the treetops of Central Park or in the bowels of
the Manhattan subway system,
Max and her adopted family take the ride of their
lives.
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Black and White by Paul Volponi Two star h
igh school basketball players, one black
and one white, experience the justice system
differently after committing a crime together
and getting caught. Marcus and Eddie are best
friends who found the strength to break through
the racial barrier. Marcus is black Eddie is wh
ite. Stars of their school basketball team, they
are true leaders who look past
the stereotypes and come out on top. They are
inseparable, watching each other's backs, both on
and off the basketball court. But one night--and
one wrong decision--will change their lives fore
ver. Will their mistake cost them their friendsh
ip . . . and their future?
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The Book Thief - by Markus Zusak
Its just a small story really, about among othe
r things a girl, some words, an accordionist, so
me fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and
quite a lot of thievery. . . .Set during World
War II in Germany, this is the
story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living
outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager
existence for herself by stealing when she
encounters something she cant resistbooks.
She learns to read and shares her stolen
books with her neighbors during bombing raids
as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her
basement before he is marched to Dachau.This is
an unforgettable story about the ability
of books to feed the soul.
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Tweak Growing Up on Methamphetamines
- by Nic Sheff The author describes his
childhood in California, his addiction
to crystal meth and heroin at a young age, his
relapse after eighteen months of sobriety, and h
is path to recovery. In a voice
that is raw and honest, Nic spares no detail in
telling us the compelling, heartbreaking, and tr
ue story of his relapse and the
road to recovery. It's a harrowing portrait --
but not one without hope.
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Beautiful Boy A Fathers Journey Through His
Sons Addiction - by David Sheff
Journalist David Sheff tells the story of his so
n Nic's happy early childhood, the transformation
wrought by Nic's addiction to methamphetamine, a
nd his own obsession with Nic's
well-being. This book is the first that treats
meth and its impact in depth. But it is not just
about meth. His story, and his father's,
are those of any family that contains an
addictand one in three American families does.

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The Canon A Whirligig Tour of the
Beautiful Basics of Science by Natalie Angier
15 The Canon is vital reading for any
one who wants to understand the great issues of o
ur time -- from stem cells and bird flu to evolu
tion and global warming. And it's for every pare
nt who has ever panicked when a child asked how
the earth was formed or what electricity is. Angi
er's sparkling prose and memorable metaphors brin
g the science to life, reigniting our own childho
od delight in discovering how the world works. "
Of course you should know about science," writes
Angier, "for the same reason Dr. Seuss counsels
his readers to sing with a Ying or play Ring th
e Gack These things are fun and fun is good."

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The Color of Water A Black Mans
Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride
James McBride shares the story of his mother's
life and complicated racial identity which he onl
y learned after becoming an adult. He tells of h
er infancy in Poland as the daughter of an Ortho
dox Jewish rabbi, her childhood in small-town Vi
rginia, her move to Harlem at the age of eightee
n, her marriage to an African-American man, her
achievements as a wife and mother to twelve chil
dren, and her refusal to ever admit she is white
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Code Orange by Caroline B. Cooney Mitty was
a carefree guyhe didnt worry about
terrorists or blackouts or grades or anything,
which is why he was late getting started on his
Advanced Bio report. Mitty does feel a little
pressure to hand something inif he doesnt,
hell be switched out of Advanced Bio, which wou
ld be unfortunate since Olivias in Advanced Bio.
So he considers it good luck when he finds some
old medical books in his familys weekend house
that focus on something he could write about.
But when he discovers an old envelope with two
scabs in one of the books, the report is no
longer about the gradeits about life and death.
His own.This edge-of-your-seat thriller will
leave you breathless.
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Crush Love Poems (anthology) Alexander offer
s a cosmopolitan menu of tanka,
haiku, verbal formulas, French phrases, prose
poems, and poems written in Spanglish. It include
s poems by Sherman Alexie, Pablo Neruda, Nikki G
iovanni, and the title poem, "Crush," by Naomi S
hihab Nye. This well-crafted anthology will capt
ure the interest of teens and possibly encourage
them to submit their own "crush" poems to an ap
pended Web site for a contest.
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Enter Three Witches by Caroline B. Cooney Lad
y Mary is a ward of Lord and Lady Macbeth
whose life is forever changed when her father,
Lord Cawdor, betrays the Scottish king and is
hanged as a traitor. In an instant, Mary has
lost both her father and future. Now she's trappe
d in a castle with a power-hungry couple who wil
l do anything to get what they want and are wi
lling to crush anyone in their way. Including Mar
y. As the murderous events of Shakespeare's play
unfold around her, Mary must struggle to survive
-- and do what she can to prevent more deaths. B
ut can a lone girl save lives when a legion of S
cottish lords cannot?
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Uglies Pretties Specials
by Scott Westerfeld
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Uglies - Tally and her friend Shay risk life on
the outside, with members of The Smoke,
rather than submit to the forced operation that
turns sixteen year old girls into Pretties.
Pretties - Tally's perfect life as a Pretty is
disrupted when she reads a letter from herself,
when she was an Ugly, reminding her of her
promise to take the cure for the brain lesions
that keep the Pretties shallow and happy. She
becomes a target of those determined to
control Pretty society. Specials -Tally has been
turned into a Special and is offered a chance to
stamp out the rebels of the New Smoke permanently
.
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Fire from the Rock by Sharon M. Draper Sylvia
Patterson is shocked and confused
when she is asked to be one of the first black
students to attend Central High School, which
is scheduled to be integrated in September 1957,
whether the citizens or governor of Arkansas l
ike it or not. Before Sylvia makes her final
decision, smoldering racial tension in the town
ignites into flame. When the smoke clears, she
sees clearly that nothing is going to stop the
change from coming. It is up to her generation
to make it happen, in as many different ways as
there are colors in the world.
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Warriors Dont Cry by Melba Patillo Beals In
1957, Melba Pattillo, sixteen, was one of nine
teenagers chosen to integrate Little Rock's
Central High School following the landmark 1954
Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Educat
ion. Melba thus became a warrior on the front lin
es in a civil rights firestorm. Throughout her ha
rrowing ordeal, Melba was taunted by her schoolm
ates and their parents, threatened by a lynch mo
b's rope, attacked with lighted sticks of dynamit
e, and injured by acid sprayed in her eyes. But
through it all, she acted with dignity and coura
ge, and refused to back down.
This is her remarkable story.
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How to Ruin a Summer Vacation by Simone Elkeles
Amy Nelson is a stereotypical spoiled teen who
has stereotypical plans for her summer vacation
shopping, friends, boyfriend. Then, out of no
where, her long-absent father calls to inform
her that the grandmother whom she has never met
is ill and that Amy needs to go to Israel to meet
her. Before the teen can say, "But I'm not even
Jewish!" she is on an Israeli moshav sharing a
room with a cousin who hates her for being a
spoiled American, lusting after a brooding older
boy on the verge of his mandatory military ser
vice, and learning more than she ever thought
possible about her faith, her family, their
history, and their present.

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I Am Legend - by Richard Matheson
Robert Neville may well be the last living man
on Earth . . . but he is not alone. An incurable
plague has mutated every other man, woman, and
child into bloodthirsty, nocturnal creatures who
are determined to destroy him. By day, he is a
hunter, stalking the infected monstrosities
through the abandoned ruins of civilization. By n
ight, he barricades himself in his home and prays
for dawn. . . . Richard Mathesons classic nove
l has now been transformed by Warner Bros. into
a major motion picture starring Academy Award
nominee Will Smith. Two film versions of I Am
Legend have already been made, including The Last
Man on Earth, a low-budget Italian picture starr
ing Vincent Price, and The Omega Man, a 1971 War
ner Bros. release that featured Charlton Heston i
n the title role.
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In Their Shoes Extraordinary Women
Describe Their Amazing Careers
by Deborah Reber Follow in the footsteps of am
azing women who have the jobs of your dreams! Fin
d out what you really want to know about your ca
reer choicesWhat will I do every day? Will I
wear Prada or Old Navy? Play with kids on the pl
ayground, or with bigwigs in the boardroom? Powe
r lunch at the Ivy, or bag lunch at my desk? Wha
t kind of education do I need? This book is packe
d full of answers. "Day in the life" profiles wi
ll inspire you, while a ton of sidebars, lists,
and helpful tips will get you started right away
on finding the career that's right for you. Brow
se through the profiles to find the job that's r
ight for you, or use the career
chooser to narrow your search. Packed with
informative and inspirational advice from women
at every stage of their careers, In Their Shoes
is a must-have reference for every aspiring work
ing girl!
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Inside Out Portrait of an Eating
Disorder - by Nadia Shivak "Every day, meal
by meal, millions of people suffer from eating di
sorders. I am one of them." Nadia Shivack was fo
urteen years old when she met Ed, her eating diso
rder. Sometimes like an alien in her body, someti
mes like a lover, Ed was unpredictable and excit
ing, but ultimately always dangerous and destr
uctive. At an inpatient unit unit of a
hospital where she was taken for treatment,
Nadia wrote and drew on napkins after meals
in order to keep the food in and calm the
outrageous voices in her head. These pictures
tell an unflinchingly honest story of a
woman's lifelong battle with anorexia and
bulimia. Raw, brave, and brilliant, Nadia's
journey takes readers to the intimate corners
of these misunderstood diseases. You will never
think about eating disorders in the same way
again.
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Just Listen by Sarah Dessen Last year, Annabe
l was "the girl who has everything".This year, s
hes the girl who has nothing no best friend, n
o peace at home since her older sister became an
orexic, and no one to sit with at lunch. Until s
he meets Owen Armstrong. Tall, dark, and music-
obsessed, Owen is a reformed bad boy with
a commitment to truth-telling.With Owens
help,maybe Annabel can face what happened
the night she and Sophie stopped being
friends. In this multi-layered, impossible-
to-put-down book, Sarah Dessen tells the
story of a year in the life of a family coming
to terms with the imperfections beneath its
perfect facade.
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Lone Survivor The Eyewitness
Account of Operation Redwing and
The Lost Heroes of Seal Team 10
by Marcus Luttrell This is the story of the on
ly survivor of Operation Redwing, fire team leade
r Marcus Luttrell, and the extraordinary firefig
ht that led to the largest loss of life in Ameri
can Navy SEAL history. His teammates fought vali
antly beside him until he was the only one left a
live, blasted by an RPG into a
place where his pursuers could not find him.
Over the next four days, terribly injured and pre
sumed dead, Luttrell crawled for miles through t
he mountains and was taken in by sympathetic vi
llagers who risked their lives to keep him safe
from surrounding Taliban warriors.
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My Sisters Keeper by Jodi Piccoult Anna is n
ot sick, but she might as well be. By
age thirteen, she has undergone countless
surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her
older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the
leukemia that has plagued her since childhood.
The product of preimplantation genetic
diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone
marrow match for Kate -- a life and a role that
she has never challenged...until now. Like most
teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who
she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has
always been defined in terms of her sister a
nd so Anna makes a decision that for most
would be unthinkable, a decision that will tear
her family apart and have perhaps fatal
consequences for the sister she loves.
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November Blues by Sharon M. Draper When Novem
ber Nelson loses her boyfriend,
Josh, to a pledge stunt gone horribly wrong,
she is faced with the biggest decision she could
ever imagine. How in the world will she tell her
mom? And Josh's parents? She's never needed a
friend more. Jericho Prescott lost his
best friend when he lost his cousin, Josh. His w
orld becomes divided into "before" and "after" J
osh's death. The only way he can escape the empti
ness is to take up football, where he hopes the p
hysical pain will suppress the emotional. But wi
ll that really help? And will his it prevent him
from being there for his cousin's girlfriend when
she needs him most? This sequel to Th
e Battle of Jericho is a no-holds-barred look at
what happens when life doesn't go as planned.
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Peeps - by Scott Westerfeld Cal Thompson is a
carrier of a parasite that causes
vampirism, and must hunt down all of the
girlfriends he has unknowingly infected.
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Vampire Kisses by Ellen Schreiber
The mansion on top of Benson Hill has been empty
and boarded up for years. But a new family has mo
ved in. A family that never ventures out during t
he day. Who are these creepy people
especially the handsome, dark, and elusive
Alexander Sterling? Or rather, what are they? Cou
ld the town gossip actually be true?
Are they vampires? Raven, who secretly covets a
vampire kiss, both at the risk of her own mortal
ity and Alexander's trust, is dying to uncover t
he truth. 1 in a series.
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Repossessed - by A.M. Jenkins
A fallen angel, tired of being unappreciated w
hile doing his pointless, demeaning job, leaves
Hell, enters the body of a seventeen-year-old
boy, and tries to experience the full range of
human feelings before being caught and
punished, while the boy's family and friends
puzzle over his changed behavior. He says
Everybody deserves a vacation, right? Especially