An American Summer -- Frank Deford

It is the summer of 1954 and fourteen year old Christopher "Christy" Bannister has just moved from Indiana to Baltimore, Maryland where his father has just been made president of a porcelain company. While out trying to sell the "lower-class" newspaper on his second day in town (and his first day of the new job his dad got him), Christy happens to meet Kathryn Slade, a beautiful 23-year-old woman who had caught polio 6 years before and was now confined to an iron lung. Kathryn becomes Christy's first friend in Baltimore, and as the Summer progresses, they become the best of friends.

That summer marks a time of many changes in Christy's life. He comes of age quickly as he sees glimpses into the world of adulthood where promises are sometimes broken, where those who may be idolized fall from grace, and where sometimes principles collide. But amidst those hard-earned lessons of life come sweet lessons as well as Christy learns about love and the sacrifice some are willing to make because of it; and he learns just what it means to make another person happy.

Alcatraz vs. The Evil Librarians -- Brian Sanderson

Alcatraz Smedry is a foster child with a knack for breaking things. And he has just turned 13. On his 13th birthday, he received a gift from the father he never knew: a bag of sand. With the bag of sand (though a day late...) comes Alcatraz's grandfather who reveals to Alcatraz that the bag of sand was no ordinary bag of sand, but was rather sands that could be turned into powerful Oculators' lenses. Unfortuneately, but the time this new reaches Alcatraz, the sands have already been stolen from him by the Evil Librarians. Now it is up to Alcatraz, his grandfather, two cousins Alcatraz just met, and a Knight of Crystallia to retrieve the sands and thwart the Librarians' plans to keep everyone from knowing the truth! And through this adventure, Alcatraz will realize that some of the very things he thought were weaknesses are actually strengths.

Thy Gold to Refine -- Gerald Lund

Volume four of The Work and the Glory series finds the Steed family almost completely reunited in Far West, Missouri. The prodigal son, Joshua, has returned with his new family: wife Caroline, son Will, and daughters Olivia and Savannah; and made ammends with his father and his family. Much joy and happiness fills the hearts of all the family members at this reunion, as well as at the family's growth as children marry and begin families of their own; and all seems well with the world. But only for a time.

Meanwhile, the anger of the Missourians toward the Mormons has festered to a point of breaking. Jealousy, fear, miscommunication, and rumors start a horrible ball rolling, and result in mobbings, rapings, and the eventual extermination order by Missouri Governor Boggs: all Mormons are to leave the state or be exterminated. The leaders of the Mormon church are arrested and held prisoner, the people of Far West are brutally attacked -- some losing their lives, and their homesteads are destroyed by mobs and militia alike. With little choice but to leave Far West in the dead of winter and head East to Illinois, many of the Saints find themselves trekking over miles of snow and ice, including the sometimes-frozen Missisippi River, with faith in their hearts that the Lord will see them through and that, when they emerge on the other side of the events, they will be as gold refined.

Dracula -- Bram Stoker

As part of his job, Jonathan Harker finds himself journeying into Transylvania in order to deliver paperwork to Count Dracula, who has recently purchased property in England through Jonathan's employer. As he travels, he notes strange behaviors among the locals who learn of his destination, and he begins to feel on edge himself. He arrives at the castle of Count Dracula and finds himself in the midst of bizarre and horrible things, and he becomes convinced the Count is not a normal human being. He even finds the Count's lair -- a place rank with death and coffins. But before Jonathan, who is by now a prisoner at the castle, can discover more, the Count leaves the castle and Transylvania, leaving Jonathan to fend for himself.

Meanwhile, Mina -- Jonathan's fiancee -- vacations with her friend Lucy at the ocean in England. One strange day, a ship without a crew arrives in the harbor where they are staying, and soon strange events begin occurring there. After a night of sleepwalking, Lucy begins to act strangely -- becoming more and more pale by the day. And on her neck appear two puncture wounds. In spite of multiple blood transfusions to try to save her, Lucy succumbs to death. And by this time, Dr. Seward -- Lucy's friend -- has brought Dr. Van Helsing to see about events surrounding Lucy, her illness, and her death. And together they learn that Lucy had in fact become a vampire!

Jonathan eventually returns home to England and helps the rest of the group, for he too has intimate knowledge of vampires and Count Dracular in particular. Together, they discover the whole story of Count Dracula and set out to destroy him so as not to lose another soul as they had lost their dear Lucy.

Life As We Knew It -- Susan Beth Pfeffer

Life in Howell, PA is pretty normal for 16-year old Miranda. She is close to the end of her sophomore year of high school, she is about to be a sister again (her dad's second wife is pregnant and they've asked her to be the godmother), and she is semi-obsessed with a famous ice-skater from her home town. And the big news around town and around the world is the meteor scheduled to impact the Moon. Everyone expects this even to be a change from the norm -- an opportunity to gaze at the heavens and see something fascinating. But nobody expects the tragic events that ensue. Because when the meteor hits the moon, it is a greater impact than was anticipated, and the moon is knocked out of orbit and into a closer orbit to Earth. At first, nothing changes. Well, nothing except that the moon looms large outside in the night sky. But by the morning after the impact, news is pouring in about tsunamis along all coastlines, chaos, and death. And that is only the beginning.

Within weeks, Miranda's whole life is changed. Electricy is gone, schools are closed, stores are emptied, and people are moving away in hopes to find that things are better somewhere else. Miranda struggles to enjoy a "normal" summer in spite of everything, but finds that her childhood is gone and she must take on the responsibilities of an adult to help herself and her family survive. Only time will tell if it is enough.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader -- C. S. Lewis

While their brother and sister Peter and Susan are away, Edmund and Lucy find themselves back in Narnia with their whiney cousin Eustace. Their adventure starts when they manage to accidentally enter a painting in the house where they are staying, and they find themselves aboard the Dawn Treader with King Caspian and his crew aboard. Caspian and his men have set out to travel as far East as possible in order to find seven of Caspian's father's dearest friends who had been sent out years before to explore the lands, but who never returned. One of the crew on the journey is Reepicheep, a mouse who believes his destiny is to go to the end of the world.

As the Dawn Treader's occupants travel the known lands, they gain experience and knowledge. But before long, they sail off into the unknown and find many curious lands full of dragons, darkness, magic, and greed. They find that they have opportunities to grow and learn individually with the situations with which they are faced on the different lands. And each of them improves personally through the trials they face on their journey.

Sizzling Sixteen -- Janet Evanovich

Book 16 finds Vincent Plum's Bail Bonds in heaps of trouble and Stephanie Plum the one everyone looks to for rescue. Vinny has been kidnapped by some very angry creditors, and they want their money (over a million dollars) or else Vinnie dies and the bonds office gets blown up. Which would mean Lula, Connie, and Stephanie would be without jobs. Thus begins a series of schemes to free Vinnie, which include breaking and entering, stealing, and stink bombs -- lots of stink bombs.

While trying to rescue Vinnie, Stephanie also needs to earn money to pay rent. So she decides it's probably a wise idea to try to capture some outstanding FTAs. These efforts do not prove any easier than rescuing Vinnie, and take her up against a guard-alligator, a stampede of cattle, and a huge man who isn't phased by tasers.

Amidst the chaos of work, Stephanie deals with her romance life -- which is off-again with Joe and just this side of sizzling with Ranger -- and her own personal emotions... Does she even want to be a bounty hunter anymore? With the clock ticking and Vinnie's creditors unhappy about the money he owes them, it may not matter, because Vincent Plum Bail Bonds may not be in existence much longer!