New Youth Fiction

With Ilfedo's beloved wife buried, the Hemmed Land is destined to change, as is he. The sea serpents have again invaded the land and Ilfedo must discover the power behind the sword of the dragon, even as he accepts his people's call to become their Lord Warrior. His daughter grows into a beautiful young woman whose wisdom and love endears her to the people, and sets her on a journey to find a race of unique and powerful creatures. But far to the north an evil long ago stirred, and Letrias's workings soon threaten everything Ilfedo holds dear.
Pub Date:October 2011

HowlSage, the first of a series, is a fast-paced, exciting, and suspenseful action story about Tyler, a 14-year-old who is part of a secret society whose mission is to destroy the evil sages that walk the earth. As Tyler doggedly vows to solve the mystery of his missing father, does a pretty schoolmate's distraction cause dangerous consequences?
A coffin discovered in Egypt, a jewel heist, and holes that swallow people into the darkness form the crux of the adventures that keeps hearts pounding. They race against the calendar and the wickedness that faces the world during the full moon on October 31. Will the sage hunters defeat them in time?
With the help of his cousin, Jesse, and younger friend Ike, a budding scientist, they tackle the world of the unknown with bravery--armed with the Cross of Jesus and the Sword of the Bible.
Pub Date: August 2011.

Grief brought Finley to Ireland. LOVE WILL LEAD HER HOME.
Finley Sinclair is not your typical eighteen-year-old. She’s witty, tough, and driven. With an upcoming interview at the Manhattan music conservatory, Finley needs to compose her audition piece. But her creativity disappeared with the death of her older brother, Will.
She decides to study abroad in Ireland so she can follow Will’s travel journal. It’s the place he felt closest to God, and she’s hopeful being there will help her make peace over losing him. So she agrees to an exchange program and boards the plane.
Beckett Rush, teen heartthrob and Hollywood bad boy, is flying to Ireland to finish filming his latest vampire movie. On the flight, he meets Finley. She’s the one girl who seems immune to his charm. Undeterred, Beckett convinces her to be his assistant in exchange for his help as a tour guide.
Once in Ireland, Finley starts to break down. The loss of her brother and the pressure of school, her audition, and whatever it is that is happening between her and Beckett, leads her to a new and dangerous vice. When is God going to show up for her in this emerald paradise?
Then she experiences something that radically changes her perspective on life. Could it be God convincing her that everything she’s been looking for has been with her all along?
Pub Date: October 2011.
View more by Jenny B. Jones.

Christy Miller and Sierra Jensen cross paths on their way to summer vacations that reveal what a gift it is to have a true Forever Friend.
    Now Boarding at Gate 10
After her high school graduation, still aching from Todd’s departure, Christy joins her family on a trip to Wisconsin to visit relatives. While there, she reunites with Matthew, an old friend from junior high. When Matthew starts to show a romantic interest in Christy, she realizes this summer vacation could change everything she thought her future would be.
    In the Event of a Water Landing
Fifteen-year-old Sierra Jensen can’t wait to spend her summer vacation with her friend Jana at a pristine lake in Montana. But when they arrive, it becomes clear that Jana’s only interest is acquiring a boyfriend. Sierra just wants to hang out with the guys as friends, but Jana turns every encounter into a possible romantic relationship. As their friendship begins to suffer, Sierra wonders if it’s possible to find a Forever Friend who will listen to you, laugh with you, and keep your confidences.
Pub Date: May 2011.
View more by Robin Jones Gunn.
View more Christy Miller books.
View more Sierra Jensen books.

It has been fifteen years since Billy and Bonnie Bannister helped repel the demonic assault on Heaven. Now they and Ashley Foley sit in a maximum security prison where the authorities conduct experiments on them to learn the secrets of long life. Earlier, the world’s acceptance of dragonkind crumbled, and the Enforcers took the infant twins born to Billy and Bonnie and stole Excalibur, hoping to develop a weapon to battle the dragons that are sure to try to rescue their allies. All the while, a great secret from the past is being revealed to Bonnie through a dream. Joran and Selah, teenaged children of Methuselah, have been trapped in a strange world for centuries, yet still able to manipulate certain events in our world during that time.
Walter Foley finds the Bannisters’ son and hopes to use his dragon traits to help him rescue the prisoners. In the meantime, an ancient demon locates the Bannisters’ daughter and plans to use her to help him discover the hiding place of the most powerful ovulum in the world and squelch its protective song. With that ovulum in his possession, he will be able to conquer and control both Earth and Second Eden.
The fate of two worlds now rests on the Bannisters’ two teenagers who must use their dragon traits and their innate courage to battle demons, a sorceress, and soldiers in a military compound in order to rescue parents they don’t even know.
Pub Date: July 2011

View more by Bryan Davis

The mysteries unfold As a Starlighter, Koren knows her destiny is to save her fellow human slaves from the dragons’ bondage—but by following the orders of the smooth-talking dragon king, Taushin, has she in fact doomed her people and herself? As Koren struggles over her choices, Elyssa discovers a new aspect to her Diviner gifts when her pendant begins to unlock mysteries surrounding the stardrops from the Exodus star. Soon Elyssa, along with Jason and his father, also discover new truths behind the dragons’ prophecy and learn that Randall has teamed with Magnar and Arxad to wage battle against Taushin’s followers. With a major war imminent and talk of a new Starlighter in the air, confusion and uncertainty reign—something Taushin might have planned for all along.
Pub Date: August 2011.
View more by Bryan Davis.
View more in the Dragons of Starlight series.

The stranger’s cloak had fallen back, and with it, a long, white, blood-stained wing.
When Melaia, a young priestess, witnesses the gruesome murder of a stranger in the temple courtyard, age-old legends recited in song suddenly come to life. She discovers wings on the stranger, and the murderer takes the shape of both a hawk and a man.
Angels. Shape-shifters. Myths and stories—until now.
Melaia finds herself in the middle of a blood feud between two immortal brothers who destroyed the stairway to heaven, stranding angels in the earthly realm. When Melaia becomes a target, she finds refuge with a band of angels attempting to restore the stairway. But the restoration is impossible without settling an ancient debt—the “breath of angel, blood of man,” a payment that involves Melaia’s heart, soul, and destiny.
Pub Date: June 2011.

With Nemesia's defeat, the Barlows have helped turn the tide in the Hidden Lands. But the victory is short-lived. An even greater evil stirs in the north with a fierce new army bent on destruction. As the twins, Gabe and Garret, discover their own special powers, a thin thread of hope emerges: long ago, a fabled king was rescued from death on our world and hidden on Karac Tor. Who is he?
Pub Date: July 2011

View more by D. Barley Briggs

With microchips implanted in their skulls at birth, the slaves of Cantral and Cillineese have labored under the tyrannical rule of the Nobles and their computers for decades. Monica, a Noble who avoided the implanting and escaped a death sentence at the age of four, is now sixteen and is in hiding. She lives with the slaves inside the walls of the Cantral palace, pretending to be one of them while the slave council plots a way to use her chip-less state to destroy the all-powerful computers that strike down any hint of rebellion.
The Nobles hear of Monica’s survival and try to exterminate her before she ruins their upper-class utopia. The rebels send her to find a missing paper bearing instructions on how to shut down the computers that control the chips in Cillineese, a major city-state. The Nobles are alerted to the plan and prepare to seal Cillineese in a giant dome to gas the inhabitants, including Monica.
The fate of millions rides on Monica’s shoulders. As the only chip-less person in the world, she must find the paper, destroy the computers, and free Cillineese from the Nobles’ iron fist before they strike with the ultimate punishment—death for everyone inside the city walls.
Pub Date: October 2011.

Sixteen-year-old Haley's life is about to change. With divorced parents, she's allowed to choose who to live with. Tired of Mom’s restrictions (like no dating), she picks laid-back Dad, although that means she'll have to go to a new school. But even that situation starts to look up when hottie Harris Stephens flirts with her. And when he asks her out, Haley ecstatically accepts.
Chalking up a mysterious warning about Harris to jealousy, Haley continues seeing him. But infatuation turns to devastation when Harris does something totally unexpected. Humiliation and peer pressure keep Haley from disclosing what happened, and with no one to talk to, her torturous secret is overwhelming.
Pub Date: October 2011.
View more by Melody Carlson.

“It is not the land that is dangerous, Callen. The danger lies in your heart. Others have lost their lives searching for the bridge. Are you certain you are prepared to pay that price?”
    Jadiel is twelve and things couldn’t get much worse—or could they?  Not long after her mother is killed in a tragic accident, her father, Ka’rel, marries a vile and abusive woman named Huldah, but Jadiel sees how he simmers under Huldah’s intoxicating enchantment. Jadiel’s wicked stepmother means to get rid of Jadiel, and sends her off with a threat and an impossible task: bring back the leaves from the Eternal Tree by the next full moon or her father will die. Heartsick and hopeless, Jadiel sets out alone and afraid.
    Callen, a woodworking apprentice for Jadiel’s uncle in Wolcreek Vale, discovers some weathered drawings of an exquisitely detailed bridge made entirely of wood and embellished with mysterious symbols that appear to be ancient script. Obsessed with finding this bridge, he sets off seeking clues to its possible existence, unknowingly beginning a perilous and mystifying undertaking. On his journey, he rescues Jadiel from brigands and learns their quests are linked—as the elusive bridge Callen seeks is crafted from the rare tree Jadiel must find. The trail of clues leads them to the forbidden Land of Darkness, where they must face the greatest dangers of all—what lies in their hearts.
Pub Date:October 2011

IN THE BITTER NORTH, HOPE AND FEAR COLLIDE.
    The dreadful Goths have invaded Röckval, testing the strength of Bitterland’s beautiful, widowed ruler. Meanwhile, the Barlow brothers are growing stronger and stronger in their powers—all except for Ewan, who traded his gift away to save the life of his friends.
    Soon it becomes clear that the Goths are the least of their worries. A terrible machine is being built high atop Mount Vishgar, above Röckval, where the raging winds never cease. If the machine really does release the Song of Unmaking, what will happen? Can Arthur lay aside his grief and once more become a great leader of men? And what is the mysterious Doorless Tower, Nein Dyrr?
    As Kr’Nunos grows more bold, the Barlow brothers take their stand with the viks of the north. Yet it is Ewan alone who must answer the question: Is any music stronger than the most powerful song of destruction the world has ever known?
Pub Date:October 2011

Have you ever felt bored with God?
Everyone, especially teenagers, struggles with being bored with God from time to time. Sometimes church services and Bible reading don’t seem that exciting, and it’s easy to get busy and not make time to pray . . . but when this happens, we are missing out!
Jenna Lucado Bishop shares her testimony and others' stories to see what a radical, living relationship with God looks like. But this book is not just based on feelings. The Bible gives steps that will help girls hunger and thirst for more of God.
This book will not only offer girls a fresh perspective, but it will also help them do a little soul-searching and discover where they are in their own lives. Plus, it will let them in on the world’s greatest secret—that the Creator of the Universe loves and cherishes them deeply and that a fulfilling relationship with Him is the most exciting they will ever have.
Pub Date: February 2012.

Ask any girl on the street what womanhood is about, and you'll get a blank stare in return. No one knows. Young women are devoid of vision beyond popularity, material wealth, a cute boyfriend or a dream career. Even in Christian circles, significant questions are often left unanswered: What's the point of purity? Modesty? Femininity? What's biblical womanhood?  Most of all, girls wonder at the longing in their souls for something greater.
Uncompromising:  A Heart Claimed By a Radical Love cuts straight to the heart of young womanhood. Rather than setting up rules, it pulls at the desire in every woman's heart to live a life of purpose, fully surrendered to His radical love.  Written in an edgy teen voice, Uncompromising is a collection of "field notes" from the author's own search for answers...and the story of how she stumbled upon the one Cause worth dying for.  Contains study questions for group or individual use.
Pub Date: April 2011.

Feeling the heat.
On the Runway has become a global phenomenon, and when Paige and Erin Forrester take their reality show to London, they get a reception to remember. Bombarded by crazed fans and the flashbulbs and interrogations of the infamous British paparazzi, the sisters know that their lives have changed—big time. Star treatment has its perks, but the girls quickly learn just how scorching life in the limelight can be. Before long, the sisters are stretched close to a breaking point. With zealous paparazzi poised to take advantage of even the slightest whiff of a scandal, the stakes have never been higher.
Pub. Date:  November 2010
More in the On the Runway series.
View more by Melody Carlson.

Charlie is certain that if he could just regain his memory, the chaos around him would make sense. But the truth of the matter is even more incredible than he could imagine.
Charlie West was an ordinary high school kid who went to bed one night and woke up in the clutches of terrorists and wanted by the police for murder. He also woke up with no memory of the events of the past year.
Now Charlie has found the one person who knows what happened . . . and who can help him remember. But remembering is painful--as well as dangerous--and figuring out what to do with this new knowledge may be Charlie's toughest challenge yet.
Pub. Date: November 2010
View more by Andrew Klavan

Tournaments, Cocoa & One Wrong Move, the third book of author Nancy Rue’s Real Life series for teen girls, follows Cassidy Brewster, a driven athlete who will do anything to stay on top. After an injury, and a subsequent mistake that could ruin her athletic career, she finds support in the most unlikely places—including a room filled with juvenile delinquents and the pages of an old book labeled “RL.”
Pub. Date:  October  2010
More in the Real Life series.
View more by Nancy Rue.

Expert swordsman Adrian Masters attempts a dangerous journey to another world to rescue human captives who have been enslaved there by dragons. He is accompanied by Marcelle, a sword maiden of amazing skill whose ideas about how the operation should be carried out conflict with his own. Since the slaves have been in bonds for generations, they have no memory of their origins, making them reluctant to believe the two would-be rescuers, and, of course, the dragons will crush any attempt to emancipate the slaves. Set on two worlds separated by a mystical portal, Masters and Slayers is packed with action, mystery, and emotional turmoil, a tale of heart and life that is sure to inspire.
Pub. Date:  September 2010
View more by Bryan Davis
"There are two things you can count on from a Bryan Davis novel: 1) you'll be flung headfirst into a white-knuckling adventure beyond the limits of imagination. And 2) you're going to be challenged at the deep levels of your heart. It's a rare, satisfying one-two punch that leaves the reader exhilarated, thoughtful, and much better for the experience."   --Wayne Thomas Batson  (Author of The Door Within Trilogy, Isle of Swords, Isle of Fire, and co-author of The Berinfell Prophecies series)

Two Hearts. One Hope.
Rose has been appointed as a healer’s apprentice at Hagenheim Castle, a rare opportunity for a woodcutter’s daughter like her. While she often feels uneasy at the sight of blood, Rose is determined to prove herself capable. Failure will mean returning home to marry the aging bachelor her mother has chosen for her—a bloated, disgusting merchant who makes Rose feel ill.
When Lord Hamlin, the future duke, is injured, it is Rose who must tend to him. As she works to heal his wound, she begins to understand emotions she’s never felt before and wonders if he feels the same. But falling in love is forbidden, as Lord Hamlin is betrothed to a mysterious young woman in hiding. As Rose’s life spins toward confusion, she must take the first steps on a journey to discover her own destiny.
Pub. Date:  September 2010

With absent parents, overdue rent, and no one to turn to, Adele is forced into the hard, cold world of homelessness. While striving to maintain the pretense of a “normal” life, Adele attempts to finish high school, all the while concealing her secret. But is she strong enough to keep up the act?
Forgotten will propel teen readers into a world where promises are broken, life is not fair, and challenges seem unbearable, while still offering assurance that solid faith, loyal friends, and a persistent spirit will prevail.
Pub. Date: August 2010
View more by Melody Carlson.

Emma is angry. She's angry at her siblings, who she always has to baby sit; her parents, who are divorcing and ruining her life in the process; and herself for not measuring up to anyone's standards.
With her simmering feelings ready to spill over at any time, Emma's self-worth plummets and her faith in God in the face of overwhelming hurt threatens to send her over the edge. Can she turn back in time?
Pub. Date: September 2010
View more books by Laura Smith.

Lost in translation?
Having learned some hard lessons about the costs of recklessness and fame, sisters Paige and Erin Forrester feel ready to take their fashion-focused TV show on location to Paris. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long for many of their good intentions to get lost in translation. An unplanned week of filming at runway model Eliza Wilton’s family estate leads to romance, jealousy, and surprises. With cameras rolling, both girls have to be careful or the future of On the Runway could end up as wobbly as Paige’s stiletto heels.
Pub. Date:  August 2010
More in the On the Runway series.
View more by Melody Carlson.