Three for the older crowd, and one that I'm reading

The Return of Death Eric by Sam Llewellyn
This tale of two quirky teens who attempt to revive their father's career as a head-banging rocker after his manager runs off with a fortune is, by all accounts, wacky good fun. With the popularity of reality shows based on the lives of former rockers, the subject matter is bound to be popular. And I like the title--it catches the eye.



Runaway by Wendelin Van Draanen
After living on the streets for years, Holly's mother has died of an overdose and left Holly trapped in the foster care system. After running away from her fifth foster home, she decides to travel across the country, writing about her experiences in a journal. Chock full of deliciously gritty details of life on the street, this will appeal to that overly-dramatic and misery-loving part of teen patrons. Considering the fact that it's written in the wildly popular journal format, and contains both poetry and prose, this book should fly off the shelves.


Chance Fortune and the Outlaws by Shane Berryhill
Just in case there was ever any question . . . I'm a big old nerd who gets weirdly excited about books like this. Joshua has always wanted to be a superhero, but unfortunately has no super powers. Thankfully, he does have a superhero ally, who helps him forge documents and enter the superhero academy under false pretenses. I can relate--I still haven't discovered my super power, yet I would love to be a superhero. And the cover on this is great!


Manny Files by Christian Burch
I'm about halfway through this tale of a modern-day Mario Poppins and I'm loving it!!! Yeah, the manny sounds like he would be fun to have around, and the secondary characters are quirky and amusing. But the real treasure in this book is Keats, our young narrator. His voice is spot-on and wicked funny. It's his kid's-eye view of the people and events that make this one of my new favorites.