Hand, Elizabeth. Illyria. Viking. 2010. 144p. ISBN 978-0-670-01212-1. $15.99. F
Maddy and Rogan are first cousins-in love with the theater and with each other. They are the only two in their extended family to have been bitten by the theater bug, though it has been in their blood dating back generations; their family's fortune was earned by the most famous stage actress of her day. Cast in a school production of Twelfth Night, Rogan and Maddy grow closer and then further apart when only one of them-the lesser talent-is offered the opportunity to train in London.
Why It Is for Us: Hand won the World Fantasy Award with this lyric tale of illicit love. For this rambling brood of five families (including 26 children), the best days have come and gone. The decaying opulence of their homes and lives lends glamour to a passion that will heat up any rainy summer day.

Hartnett, Sonya. Butterfly. Candlewick. Aug. 2010. 240p. ISBN 978-0-7636-4760-5. $16.99. F
A 14-year-old girl is poised to spring from her cocoon in this elegiac meditation on adolescent growing pains. Nothing fits for Plum Coyle-her clothes, her friends, her family, and her spotty skin are an affront to the powerful person she wishes to be. The only person who seems to understand is her next-door neighbor Maureen (a housewife more desperate than any found on Wisteria Lane), but Maureen's interest is based less on the girl's potential than on her obsession with Plum's brother Justin.
Why It Is for Us: This story of a short-lived and mutually destructive friendship gets terrifyingly close to the truth about teenage girls. In the opening scene, a naked Plum tells her reflection, "There is no God....And even if there was a God...he wouldn't love you. Look at you. Nobody could love you." Rich with metaphors of feminine power and self-loathing, Hartnett's most accessible novel to date could easily be taught in a women's literature course.

Holt, Kimberly Willis. The Water Seeker. Holt. 2010. 305p. ISBN 978-0-8050-8020-9. $16.99. F
Jake Kincaid is a reluctant dowser, that is, a water seeker. This gift, which he sees as both a blessing and a curse, is passed down to his son, Amos. Amos is the thread that weaves together a motley collection of settlers in the Oregon Territory during the first half of the 19th century.
Why It Is for Us: The hardships of living on the edge of civilization are balanced by the connections Amos makes to friends and family throughout his remarkable life. The book takes us from 1833 to 1859, from St. Louis to Oregon City, and demonstrates that mixed families and economic anxieties are not just products of our modern age.

Perkins, Lynne Ray. As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth. Greenwillow. 2010. 352p. ISBN 978-0-06-187090-3. $16.99. F
On his way to summer camp, Ry steps off the train for just a minute and finds himself stranded in the middle of nowhere. At exactly the same time, every member of his family is rendered unreachable by similar twists of fate. Left with only $83, an unreliable cell phone, and a pocketknife, Ry strikes out on a cross-country journey that takes him both far away from and close to the home he seeks.
Why It Is for Us: Is it possible to unplug completely in our cellular age of social networking and GPS? In fact, Ry learns that these technological trappings are less reliable than the kindness of strangers and plain dumb luck. Throughout the text, comic drawings relay the adventures of Peg and Olie, a pair of dogs trying to bring about the reunion of Ry and his family. This old-fashioned adventure will delight summer readers longing for home.

Reeve, Philip. Fever Crumb. Scholastic. 2010. 325p. ISBN 978-0- 545-20719-5. $17.99. F
Fresh off the Scriven genocide, the people of London are twitchy about folks who look a little different. Fever Crumb is as unique as they come-with a shaved head, two different colored eyes, and a face that is both beautiful and ugly. At 14, she leaves the safety of the Order of Engineers, whose members had raised her, and soon learns the truth about her mysterious origins. As an infant, she was implanted with the essence of Auric Godshawk-the loathsome leader of the mutant Scriven-who longed for immortality. Now she must find her own way in a world peopled by those who would destroy her or use her for their own ends.
Why It Is for Us: Fans of Reeve's "Hungry City Chronicles" will devour this first book in a prequel series, which promises to describe the birth of the rolling cities. The uninitiated will delight in being introduced to one of the finest scribes of post-modern science fiction writing today.

Richards, Jame. Three Rivers Rising: A Novel of the Johnstown Flood. Knopf. 2010. 293p. ISBN 978-0-375-85885-7. $16.99. F
Celestia is a daughter of society's upper crust. Peter is a seasonal worker at a resort on Lake Conemaugh-a manmade reservoir perched high above Johnstown, PA-where Celestia's family spends their summers. Their secret love nearly ends in tragedy when the dam holding the reservoir breaks, killing over 2200 people.
Why It Is for Us: Hurricane Katrina and Deep Water Horizon were not the first preventable disasters in our nation's history. At the time of the Johnstown tragedy, Americans were shocked by the hubris of big-money financiers whose vacation oasis became the deadly force behind the worst flood in the 19th century.

Sachar, Louis. The Cardturner: A Novel About a King, a Queen, and a Joker. Delacorte. 2010. 336p. ISBN 978-0-385-73662-6. $17.99. F
The only thing Alton Richards knows about his great-uncle Lester is that he is very old, very rich, and very sick. Uncle Lester's diabetes has robbed him of his sight, and Alton has been offered a summer job by his enterprising parents as Uncle Lester's cardturner at bridge. In that capacity, Alton learns a little about the game, more about his family, and a lot about his uncle, one of the best bridge players in the country, if not the world. Joining Alton and Uncle Lester at the bridge table is Toni Castenada, a young lady Alton once found strange and now finds strangely attractive.
Why It Is for Us: Before the story begins, Sachar warns the reader that to the uninitiated, bridge players may seem like they come from another planet. His enthusiasm for the game knows no restraint. Readers who, like myself, have never played a hand will still root for Alton and Toni as they give Uncle Lester and his one great love, Annabel Finnick, a last chance to win the National Pairs Championship.

Sedgwick, Marcus. Revolver. Roaring Brook. 2010. 204p. ISBN 978-1-59643-592-6. $16.99. F

Sig is the teenaged son of Einar Andersson, who has fallen through the ice of a frozen lake and died. Sig sits with his father's body in their small, cold cabin when along comes a knock at the door. Gunther Wolff claims that Einar owed him half of a fortune in gold. Now, with Einar dead, Sig must find the gold or another way to get this menacing stranger out of his cabin and his life-with or without the use of his father's ancient revolver.
Why It Is for Us: The suspense mounts in this atmospheric story, which pits faith and forgiveness against the cold will to survive. Placed 100 miles north of the Arctic Circle at the turn of the (last) century, this book will keep readers shivering even through triple-digit temperatures.

Yolen, Jane (text) & Mike Cavallaro (illus.). Foiled. First Second. 2010. 160p. ISBN 978-1-59643-279-6. $15.99. F
Aliera, a nationals-bound fencing champion, ignores her instructor's warning to "protect her heart" when she falls for Avery Castle, the handsomest boy in school. On their first and only date, she dons her fencing mask, and Grand Central Station comes to magical life before her eyes. Only then does Aliera learn that Avery is not at all what he seems and that the real object of his affection is the practice foil her mother picked up at a tag sale.
Why It Is for Us: Yolen's fantastical tale makes great use of the graphic format. Aliera's monotone world springs to vibrant life in the story's last half. On learning that she is a Defender of this strange new universe, Aliera's reaction is half befuddlement and half "bring it on"-an excellent reminder that girls just want to have fun...with swords.