<div><b>How do you share the soundtrack of your life?</b><BR>Just out of grad school, Laney is ready to embark on a new phase of her life. Leaving California to head back east, she&rsquo;s got three thousand miles to reflect on her past before moving ahead to the future. With a box of mixed tapes at the ready, she envisions a trip spent reminiscing about first crushes, high school, family issues, and college loves and losses&mdash;her most precious memories. What she doesn&rsquo;t picture is her mother in the seat beside her&mdash;which is exactly what happens when her mom invites herself along for the ride. Soon, Laney&rsquo;s giving her mother a crash course in retro hits from her formative years&mdash;and a history of her life that her mom never knew about. As they roll through the American landscape, Laney and her mother discover that their lives are no one-hit wonders. <BR></div>

Liner Notes

<div><B>A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age: How do you define <I>family</I>?</B><BR /><BR /> Jenny Fitzgerald is an artist who never fit in with her sports-obsessed parents and siblings. Still, she loves her family&mdash;even if she doesn&rsquo;t relate to them. Even if, unlike her younger siblings, Jenny&rsquo;s father is Donor 142. She&rsquo;s always known the truth, but before now, it hasn&rsquo;t seemed to matter much.<BR /><BR /> But this summer&mdash;her sixteenth&mdash;is different. Where does Jenny really belong? Her parents don&rsquo;t understand her artwork (and her boss at the studio isn&rsquo;t even <a>convinced</a> she has talent), her twin sisters are so close it hurts (and it&rsquo;s good at hurting Jenny), and she&rsquo;s not entirely sure why she has a crush on jock Tate Brodeur (not that he&rsquo;s noticed her . . . yet).<BR /><BR /> To find her true self, Jenny begins to search for the one person who might really understand her&mdash;someone biologically connected. With Tate&rsquo;s help, Jenny consults the Donor Sibling Registry, and before she knows it, she has discovered a half sibling. Alexa is witty, impulsive, and desperate to meet. Jenny&rsquo;s convinced her genetic other half is the key to having a family, but when Alexa shows up unannounced, Jenny&rsquo;s world changes in ways she never could have predicted.</div>

The Other Half of Me

<div><B>&ldquo;A smart and unusual romance just about right for fans of John Green.&rdquo; &mdash;<I>Booklist</I></B><BR /><BR /> Liana&rsquo;s decided to boycott kissing this summer, hoping to lose her reputation and focus on planetary science. Hank has near-encyclopedic knowledge of music and Asperger&rsquo;s syndrome. When they meet by chance in a hospital restroom, neither one realizes that their friendship will change everything.<BR />  <BR /> If Liana&rsquo;s experiment goes as planned, she&rsquo;ll learn to open up, using her mouth for talking instead of kissing. But Hank&rsquo;s never been kissed and thinks Liana might be the one to show him . . . if he can stop spewing music trivia long enough to let her.</div>

The Half-Life of Planets

<div><b>Being yourself should be simple&mdash;as plain as the nose on your face</b><BR>In this modern retelling of the classic <i>Cyrano de Bergerac</i>, seventeen-year-old Cyrie is a brilliant, athletic, and funny girl with a witty retort for each of the endless big-nose jokes she endures. But despite her talents and charm, she is convinced that all anyone sees is her nose. No guy&mdash;especially not Eddie &ldquo;Rox&rdquo; Roxanninoff&mdash;would ever find her appealing.<BR>When Rox shows interest in Cyrie&rsquo;s shy friend Leyla, Cyrie soon finds herself writing Leyla&rsquo;s emails to him, expressing her own true feelings. But watching her crush fall for her best friend may be more than she bargained for. Will Cyrie find the courage to come clean and trust that Rox will accept her for who she is?</div>

At Face Value

<div><b>Fall is in the air and Love is back at Hadley Hall</b><BR>For Love Bukowski, summer&rsquo;s over and school is about to begin. But it seems like Love&rsquo;s going it alone: Her aunt Mable has been acting weird, her dad (who happens to be principal of the school) is preoccupied, her ex is pouting in Europe, and her former friend Cordelia has bonded with the evil Lindsay Parrish. Enter Arabella Piece, the new exchange student from London, who&rsquo;s staying with Love and has some secrets of her own. Love&rsquo;s summer may have called it a wrap, but her fall semester dramas have just begun. <BR></div>

Piece, Love, and Happiness

<div><b>There&rsquo;s a new Love in the Old World</b><BR>Love Bukowski is finally in London! Her term abroad at the London Academy of Drama and Music promises to be anything but average. After leaving Hadley Hall&mdash;as well as her dad, who&rsquo;s got a new girlfriend, and her beloved aunt Mable, who is fighting serious health issues&mdash;Love faces a new set of challenges across the pond: voice lessons, keeping up with Arabella and her new friends, and falling for a Brit who is completely off limits. Will Love turn around and retreat to the world she&rsquo;s left behind? Or choose to dig deeper into all that London, and love, have to offer? <BR></div>

Love from London

<div><b>What do you really know about Love?</b><BR>Love&rsquo;s her name, but it&rsquo;s not her whole story . . .<BR>Love Bukowski is a new sophomore at Hadley Hall, the posh prep school where her father is now principal. Raised by her single dad (with more than a little help from her funky aunt Mable), almost-sixteen-year-old Love is strong willed, with a wry sense of humor&mdash;but will she fit into the world of Hadley Hall? In the made-for-TV version of her life, she&rsquo;s got cool friends and hot guys galore. But being a &ldquo;fac brat&rdquo; makes new friends hard to come by, and the guys&mdash;well, that remains to be seen. Now Love&rsquo;s got to step it up if she&rsquo;s going to overcome her less-than-glamorous reality and get that walk-on role in her own fantasies.</div>

The Principles of Love

<div><b>Springtime blooms, but for Love Bukowski, life at home is chilly</b><BR>After an incredible semester at the London Academy of Drama and Music, Love Bukowski is back at Hadley Hall. Unfortunately, it feels as though her fabulous British life (and boyfriend) are on hold. Love wants only to be at Aunt Mable&rsquo;s side during her fight with breast cancer. But Love&rsquo;s English boyfriend, Asher, suddenly doesn&rsquo;t seem to want to talk to her, and her ex-boyfriend Jacob has popped back into her life. Love&rsquo;s dad is struggling with the way she&rsquo;s changed (i.e., grown up), and Aunt Mable has new information about Love&rsquo;s mysterious mother. Love still longs for security&mdash;but maybe home is not the place to find it. <BR></div>

All You Need Is Love

<div><b>School&rsquo;s out for summer, but Love&rsquo;s romantic education is still in session</b><BR>Senior year of high school looms large for Love Bukowski after a tumultuous junior year of romance and heartbreak. But for now, Love is ready for summer break on Martha&rsquo;s Vineyard. Running her aunt Mable&rsquo;s caf&eacute; with her best friend Arabella may not be glamorous, but it will at least be fun and perhaps just the refresher she needs after the crazy year she&rsquo;s had. Plus, Mable&rsquo;s created a treasure map of clues that will bring her closer to the truth about her family.<BR>Though the past is starting to look clearer, the future is anything but. Love&rsquo;s threemonths of freedom will end with big questions about college (and Jacob). For now, the boys of summer are more appealing than ever, and the summer of Love is about to begin . . .</div>

Summer of Love

<div><b>Love finally connects with her mother&mdash;and finds her whole world turned upside down</b><BR>Big changes are afoot for Love Bukowski. Just when she meets her half-sister for the first time in Los Angeles, she gets a call from her long-lost mother and hops a plane back to Martha&rsquo;s Vineyard. Love is ready to embrace the new and exciting steps toward her senior year&mdash;but in Massachusetts, she finds more than she bargained for. Her mom is still not there, her boyfriend, Charlie, has changed from a down-to-earth guy into someone she&rsquo;s not sure she knows anymore, and her old flame Jacob is wearing his heart on his short-sleeved tee. She could use some advice, but her dad doesn&rsquo;t have all the answers. Arabella&rsquo;s in California, and her best buddy Chris has distractions of his own. Only one woman can clear things up&mdash;one who&rsquo;s never been a part of Love&rsquo;s life before. <BR></div>

Labor of Love

<div><b>It&rsquo;s Love&rsquo;s final year at Hadley Hall&mdash;has she learned all she needs to get by?</b><BR>Who said senior year was simple? No longer a day student at Hadley Hall, Love Bukowski&rsquo;s about to move into the dorms&mdash;with none other than her archenemy, Lindsay Parrish. Love must deal with Lindsay&rsquo;s rules as head monitor; her handsome boyfriend, Charlie, returning to Harvard; and her ex Jacob giving her the cold shoulder. On the bright side, Love has a new look, a new feel, and best of all, she&rsquo;s going to be reunited with her mom and half-sister, Sadie. The boys of summer (or fall) may come and go, but Love&rsquo;s faith in family and her passion for writing stay steady. It may be the end of high school, but there will always be lessons in Love . . . <i><BR></i></div>

Lessons in Love

<div><b>Three girls find romance and friendship while working at the most exclusive ski resort in Europe</b><BR>At Le Trois Alpes, Harley, Melissa, and Lily (a.k.a. Dove) find a place to run away from their pasts. Small-town Colorado girl Harley scored the coveted hostess job&mdash;even though she&rsquo;s got attitude to spare. She hopes to start a new life with rich and famous friends&mdash;and perhaps a cute guy. Melissa just arrived from Australia and is ready to cook. But things heat up fast for her when her ski-pro ex-boyfriend just happens to make his way to the slopes. And Lily is really wiping the slate clean: With a new name and lowly maid status, no one needs to know about her society-girl history. If the Chalet Girls can manage to balance their jobs, crushes, and hidden pasts, they are in for one hot winter! </div>

Balancing Acts

<div><b>Romances are questioned and friendships tested in the second installment of the Chalet Girls series</b><BR>At Europe&rsquo;s hottest ski resort, life is never drama free. This time, the Chalet Girls&mdash;Melissa, Harley, and Lily (a.k.a. Dove)&mdash;find their bond with one another on the line. Melissa&rsquo;s feelings are split between two guys, and Lily&rsquo;s heart is still with her boyfriend on the faraway island of Nevis. When Harley gets a chance to go to that very locale and learns secrets about Lily, the limits of the girls&rsquo; trust are put to the test. As the holiday season approaches, the work gets tougher&mdash;and relationships get chillier&mdash;at Les Trois Alpes.   </div>

Slippery Slopes

<div><b>The Chalet Girls have left the icy mountains for hot beaches and sizzling surfer boys</b><BR>Melissa is ready to escape her job&mdash;and mismanaged love life&mdash;at Les Trois Alpes. On the West Indian island of Nevis, she finds new opportunities to cook things up at a high-end restaurant&mdash;<i>and</i> with a new crush. Harley has been a beach bum since she arrived&mdash;she can&rsquo;t hold a job and recklessly flirts with the one person who could ruin her friendship with Lily. And speaking of Lily . . .  she has finally been reunited with the guy of her dreams. But now that they&rsquo;re together, is he really all she wanted?<BR><BR>With the lure of the sand, surf, and steamy romances, will the girls ever want to go back to the slopes?  </div>

Off the Trails

<div><B>“Funny and poignant” essays by Laura Dave, Jonathan Tropper, Steve Almond, and others on this most merry of Jewish festivals (<I>USA Today</I>).</B><br/><br/>Ring in the holiday with eighteen writers who extol, excoriate, and expand our understanding of Chanukah as they offer up funny, irreverent, and, yes, even nostalgic takes on a holiday that holds a special place in Jewish hearts . . . and stomachs. They address pressing issues: What is the weight gain associated with eating 432 latkes in eight nights? They offer joyous gratitude: “What a holiday! No pestilence, no slavery, no locusts, no cattle disease, or atonement. Thank God.” And they afford tender truths: “You are reminded of your real gifts: a family you get to come home to.”<br/><br/>Whether your family tradition included a Christmas tree or a Chanukah bush, whether the fights among your siblings rivaled the battles of the Maccabees or you haven’t a clue who the Maccabees are, this little book illustrates the joys, frustrations, and small miracles of the season.<br/><br/><B>Contributors include</B>: Elisa Albert * Steve Almond * Karen E. Bender and Robert Anthony Siegel * Joshua Braff * Laura Dave * Jennifer Gilmore * Jill Kargman * Amy Klein * Adam Langer * Mameve Medwed * Tova Mirvis * Joshua Neuman * Eric Orner * Peter Orner * Joanna Smith Rakoff * Ben Schrank * Edward Schwarzschild * Jonathan Tropper</div>

Emily Franklin

Books By Emily Franklin (15 Books)