Maximum Ride: the Angel Experiment by James Patterson After the mutant Erasers abduct the youngest member of their group, the "birdkids" who are the result of genetic experimentation (98% human and 2% bird), take off in pursuit and find themselves struggling to understand their own origins and purpose Maximum Ride: the Angel Experiment is the first of six books in the Maximum Ride series.
	Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne Bored and lonely after his family moves from Berlin to a place called "Out-With" in 1942, Bruno, the son of a Nazi officer, befriends a boy in striped pyjamas who lives behind a wire fence. Made into a film, Boy in the Striped Pyjamas has won two Irish book awards, as well as Bistro Book of the Year.
	The Transformation of Minna Hargreaves by Fleur Beale Minna is a typical fourteen-year-old, who is urban, technologically savvy, and has the right boyfriend and peer group. But her life is turned upside down when her father announces that the family is going to live on an off-shore island for a year, and the venture will be made into a reality TV series. Minna finds herself on the island with only her family for company, and no contact with the outside world. She has to cope with new family dynamics, including the fact that her parents' marriage is failing. Fleur Beale, a New Zealand author, has been short listed for several of her books in the New Zealand Post Book Awards.
	The Escape by Robert Muchamore It’s summer 1940. Hitler's army is advancing towards Paris, and millions of French civilians are on the run. Amidst the chaos, two British children are being hunted by German agents. British spy Charles Henderson tries to reach them first, but he can only do it with the help of a twelve-year-old French orphan. The Escape is the first book of the new Henderson Boys series, the 'prequel series' to the Cherub series. Will there be more?

Our picks:

	Coraline by Neil Gaiman Looking for excitement, Coraline ventures through a mysterious door into a world that is similar, yet disturbingly different from her own. Behind the locked door, she finds a corridor that takes her into a house very similar to her own, but with counterfeit parents and a terrible quest on which her survival, and more, depends. She must challenge a gruesome entity in order to save herself, her parents, and the souls of three others. Recently made into a movie, Coraline was the winner of the Hugo award for best Novella in 2003.
	I'd tell you I love you, but then I'd have to kill you by Ally Carter As a senior at a secret spy school and the daughter of a former CIA operative, Cammie is sheltered from "normal teenage life" until she meets a local boy while on a class surveillance mission. One of four books so far in the Gallagher Girls series. Read the first one, then read the rest.
	Ant Colony by Jenny Valentine Number 33 Georgiana Street houses many people and yet seems home to none. To runaway Sam it is a place to disappear. To Bohemia, it's just another blip between crises. Old Isobel acts like she owns the place, even though it actually belongs to Steve in the basement. Life there is a kind of ordered chaos. Like ants, they scurry about their business, crossing paths, following their own tracks, no questions asked. But it doesn't take much to upset the balance. Dig deep enough and you'll find that everyone has something to hide. Jenny Valentine was short-listed for the Carnegie Medal, and has won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize for a previous book.
	Hatchet by Gary Paulsen When 13 year old Brian survives a plane crash in the Canadian wilderness he has only a hatchet to help him get through 54 days alone. Hatchet is our retro book this year, having been published back in the 1980s – a great story that never gets old. It is the first of five books in the Brian saga.
	Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capital and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games." The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When Kat's sister is chosen by lottery, Kat steps up to go in her place. Hunger Games is the first book in the Hunger Games trilogy.
	Oathbreaker 1: Assassin’s Apprentice by S.R. Vaught and J.B. Redmond Follows the intertwining adventures of Leyr Mab, high prince and heir to the throne, Aron Brailing, a farm boy with a destiny greater than he can imagine, and Dari Ross, a mysterious halfling with ties to a powerful race of shapeshifters long believed to be extinct. Assassin’s Apprentice is the first half of the Oathbreaker epic. The concluding half, A Prince Among Killers has just recently been released, and will no doubt be on library shelves shortly.

Graphic Novels:

	Good Neighbors: Book 1: Kin by Holly Black and Ted Naifeh Sixteen-year-old Rue Silver, whose mother disappeared weeks ago, believes she is going crazy until she learns that the strange things she has been seeing are real, and that she is one of the faerie creatures, or Good Neighbors, that mortals cannot see. Holly Black, creator of the Spiderwick Chronicles is the author of the Good Neighbors series. Kin is the first of four.
	Amulet: Book 1: Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi After the tragic death of their father, Emily and Navin move with their mother to the home of her deceased great-grandfather. A sinister creature lures their mother through a door in the basement. Emily and Navin follow her into a strange underground world. They enlist the help of a small mechanical rabbit named Miskit. Currently three graphic novels in the Amulet series written and illustrated by Kazu Kibuishi, Stonekeeper is the first.
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