Monday, December 31, 2012

Best Debut Novels of 2012

The Peculiar, by Stefan Bachmann, Greenwillow, $16.99, ages 9 and up, 384 pages. Bartholmew Kettle tries to save his kidnapped sister from a creepy lord who's kidnapping changelings from the slums of Bath in this standout book begun when Bachmann was 16.

The Star Shard, by Frederic S. Durbin, Houghton Mifflin, $16.99, ages 10 and up, 320 pages. Twelve-year-old slave girl Cymbril joins forces with Loric, a kidnapped boy of the fairy race, to plan their escape from the wheeled fortress of Thunder Rake.

The Power of Poppy Pendle, by Natasha Lowe, Simon & Schuster, $15.99, ages 8-12, 276 pages. Ten-year-old Poppy inherits her famous Great Aunt Mabel's magical powers, but she'd rather be a baker, so she sets off to convince her parents she should run a patisserie instead.


Child of the Mountains, by Marilyn Sue Shank, Delacorte $16.99, ages 9 and up, 272 pages. When her brother BJ dies and her widowed mama is unjustly jailed, Lydia is sent away from her Appalachian home in West Virginia to live with her uncle and aunt in a coal camp.

The Dark Unwinding, by Sharon Cameron, Scholastic, $17.99, ages 12 and up, 336 pages. When Katherine is told that her eccentric uncle is squandering her inheritance, she's sent to his estate to have him committed, only to discover he's a genius inventor who's employed 900 people from London workhouses.

Seraphina, by Rachel Hartman, Random House, $17.99, ages 12 and up, 480 pages. In a world where dragons and humans coexist in an uneasy truce, half-dragon Seraphina struggles with her identity amid magical secrets and royal scandals.

Freakling: PSI Chronicles, by Lana Krumwiede, Candlewick, $15.99, ages 10 and up, 320 pages. When 12-year-old Taemon loses his power to control objects with his mind, he's exiled to a "dud farm," where he discovers secrets that would give telekinetic people unchecked power.

Deadweather and Sunrise: The Chronicles of Egg (Book 1), by Geoff Rodkey, G. P. Putnam's Sons, $16.99, ages 10 and up,  Thirteen-year-old "Egg" Masterson runs for his life on an island of cut-throat pirates, villainous businessmen and strange Native legends.

Rootless, by Chris Howard, Scholastic, $17.99, ages 14 and up, 336 pages. In a brutal and barren post-Apocalyptic world, 17-year-old tree builder Banyan meets a woman with a strange tattoo and sets off across a wasteland in search of his missing father and the last living trees.

The Immortal Lycanthropes, by Hal Johnson, illustrated by Teagan White, Clarion, $16.99, ages 12 and up, 304 pages. When a fight with a bully leaves him unconscious, disfigured 13-year-old Myron discovers he's a were-mammal who can transform from human to animal.

Keeper of Lost Cities (Book 1), by Shannon Messenger, Aladdin, $16.99, ages 496 pages. Telepathic 12-year-old Sophie struggles to find a place to belong until she runs into a mysterious boy Fitz, who shows her a hidden world that she's truly a part of.

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