September fiction, and Teens' Top Ten vote

YALSA Teens' Top Ten & Teen Read Week

The Young Adult Library Services Association will announce its Teens' Top Ten list soon. Teens can vote online through September 18 at www.ala.org/teenstopten for their favorite books of the past year. The winners of the 2009 Teens' Top Ten will be announced in a webcast featuring WWE Superstars and Divas during Teen Read Week, Oct. 18-24. Tell your book group, youth organizations you work with, and any other teen groups you know to visit www.ala.org/teenstopten through September 18 and vote. The more teens who participate, the more accurately the winning list will reflect the reading tastes of teens all over the country!

This year's nominating committee is made up of members of teen book groups in fifteen schools and public libraries around the country. Nominations are posted on Support Teen Literature Day during National Library Week, and teens across the country vote on their favorite titles each year. Readers ages twelve to eighteen can vote online anytime between Aug. 24 and Sept. 18; the winners will be announced in a webcast featuring WWE Superstars and Divas during Teen Read Week.

New September fiction

Pop, by Gordon Korman (Balzer & Bray) Fiction. Lonely after a midsummer move to a new town, sixteen-year-old high-school quarterback Marcus Jordan becomes friends with a retired professional linebacker who is great at training him, but whose childish behavior keeps Marcus in hot water.

Diary of a Witness, by Catherine Ryan Hyde (Alfred A. Knopf) Fiction. Ernie, an overweight high school student and long-time target of bullies, relies on his best friend Will to watch his back until Will, overwhelmed by problems at home and guilt over his brother's death, seeks a final solution.

Viola in Reel Life, by Adriana Trigiani (HarperTeen) Fiction. When fourteen-year-old Viola is sent from her beloved Brooklyn to boarding school in Indiana for ninth grade, she overcomes her initial reservations as she makes friends with her roommates, goes on a real date, and uses the unsettling ghost she keeps seeing as the subject of a short film--her first.

Recipe for Disaster, by Maureen Fergus (KCP) Fiction. Francie's life is almost perfect before new girl Darlene shows up. She has her own business as a weekend baker, a best friend named Holly, and a crush on Tate Jarvis. But Darlene thinks Francie's obsession with baking is weird, she acts like Holly is her best friend, and she's somehow managed to steal Tate's attention away. Just as Francie's pastry-filled dreams are starting to slide, she gets a chance to meet celebrity baker Lorenzo LaRue. Francie is sure that if Lorenzo could only see how passionate she is about baking, he would help launch her career and possibly marry her.

Another Faust, by Daniel Nayeri (Candlewick Press) Fiction "On a single night, five children suddenly vanish from their homes in Paris, Glasgow, Rome, and London. Years later, five enigmatic teenagers make an impressive entrance at an exclusive New York holiday party with their strange but beautiful governess, Madam Vileroy. Rumor and intrigue follow the Faust children to the elite Manhattan Marlowe School, where their very presence brings unexplainable misfortune..."--dust cover flap.

The Vast Fields of Ordinary, by Nick Burd (Dial Books) Realistic Fiction. Stifled and stuck in an Iowa suburb until he leaves for college in the fall, Dade is weary of his bickering parents, his lame job at Food World, and most especially of pining after Pablo, his "friend" and (even though Pablo has a girlfriend) regular hook-up. Then Dade meets handsome, enigmatic, and somewhat dangerous Alex Kincaid--and falls in love. Fans of Brian Sloan's Tale of Two Summers, Peter Cameron's Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You, and other novels with true-to-life, well-drawn characters won't want to miss this one.

The Stolen One, by Suzanne Carlisle Crowley (Greenwillow Books) Historical Fiction. Sixteen-year-old Katherine ("Kat") Bab lives with her kind but secretive foster mother, Grace. Kat is restless in their peaceful valley home and dreams of leaving it for London to discover the truth of her parentage. When Grace dies, Kat does go to London and is surprisingly invited into the court of Queen Elizabeth, where two devastatingly handsome men vie for her attention. Soon, Kat's fiery red hair and her favor in the court cause rumors to fly: is she the secret daughter of the Virgin Queen? Those fascinated with the customs and fashions of Tudor England--as well as fans of romance, scandal, and palace intrigue--will be entranced by The Stolen One.

Vamped, by Lucianne Diver (Flux) Urban Fantasy. One of fledgling vampire Gina Covello's first thoughts when she realizes that she has been "turned" is that--since she can no longer see her own reflection--she needs to make her personal stylist into a vampire in order to "stop the downward spiral from chic to eek." But while maintaining her status as a fashion plate may be Gina's biggest priority, it's far from her biggest problem. Not only is vampire vixen Mellisande after Gina's new boyfriend Bobby, she's also building an army of teenage vampires in order to dominate the world of the undead. This saucy vampire novel is a quick, fun read that's heavy on the witty banter and action and light on brooding and gore.

Either You're In or You're In the Way: Two Brothers, Twelve Months, and One Filmmaking Hell-Ride to Keep a Promise to Their Father, by Logan and Noah Miller (Harper Collins) Nonfiction. "Our father died penniless in jail, and a movie star has resurrected him" (author and filmmaker Noah Miller, quoted in The San Francisco Chronicle). Noah and his identical twin Logan shared a fierce, conflicted love of their father, a homeless alcoholic, and vowed upon his death to tell his story in the movie they planned to make. But the brothers had no money, no experience, and virtually no Hollywood contacts. Here, they share the story of their bumpy ride to success against incredible odds--including how they convinced award-winning actor Ed Harris to sign onto a project led by complete novices and play the role of their dad. Anyone with a seemingly impossible dream can get a boost from reading Either You're In or You're In the Way.

No Such Thing as the Real World: Growing Up and Getting a Life, various authors (Harper Teen) Short Stories. A driver's license. High school graduation. Your 18th birthday. The first apartment you pay for all on your own. These are all tangible steps from childhood into the "real" adult world--but what truly marks the transition between being a kid and having your own life? And what if it's nothing like what you expected? Six popular authors ponder these questions in No Such Thing as the Real World, a thought-provoking, revelatory collection of stories that don't pull any punches.

The Uninvited, by Tim Wynne-Jones (Candlewick) Fiction. Fleeing NYU after her affair with a professor ends badly, Mimi Shapiro heads for her artist father's isolated cottage in Canada. But when she arrives, she discovers that the cabin isn't empty--and that Jay, the young musician living there, is her half-brother. At first, Jay believes that Mimi is responsible for a recent rash of break-ins at the cottage. However, after the two of them reach a truce and agree to share the house, the break-ins escalate in both frequency and creepiness. Mimi and Jay are sure that they're being watched. But by whom? And why? The tension builds slowly to a "truly heart-pounding" (Kirkus Reviews) climax in this literary thriller that fans of family dramas and well-wrought settings are sure to enjoy.