Julie Braverman is the coolest girl Julie Prodsky has ever met. She has no curfew, a to-die-for wardrobe and her mother is the "It's Better in the Bahammas"ad. During their freshman year at the High Schoolof Performing Arts in New York City, the previ-ously unexplored world of flirting ,freedom,and fashion is revealed to Julie P.througt the eyes of her new best friend .And learning the secret to Julie B.'s collection of Fiorcucci jeans-shoplifting-only makes julie P.ad-mire her.Before long,Julie P.has her own closet-ful of stolen lothing,and a new boyfriend.The julie P.'s conscience catches up with her. If she stops stealing,will her relationship with Julie B.come to and end?

Demons are all around us—most of them are relatively harmless, like the ones that go bump in the night or make you stub your toe. But some are dangerous—some can kill. Since he was orphaned as a boy, Nat has been trained by his aged mentor Daliwahl to be a demonkeeper, controlling a menagerie of demons in their old, rickety house in Seattle. But now Dahliwahl is gone and Nat is on his own. Keeping demons isn’t a very social activity, and when Nat goes on a date with Sandy, a junior librarian’s assistant, it’s a disaster in more ways that one—while Nat’s out, a very scary demon called the Beast escapes. Can Nat get the Beast back to the house and make things right with Sandy—and do it all by himself? With its fast-paced action, slapstick humor, and a winning, unlikely hero, Demonkeeper is a high-spirited romp that will keep readers glued to the page.

When Martine’s home in England burns down, killing her parents, she must go to South Africa to live on a wildlife game preserve, called Sawubona, with the grandmother she didn’t know she had. Almost as soon as she arrives, Martine hears stories about a white giraffe living in the preserve. But her grandmother and others working at Sawubona insist that the giraffe is just a myth. Martine is not so sure, until one stormy night when she looks out her window and locks eyes with Jemmy, a young silvery-white giraffe. Why is everyone keeping Jemmy’s existence a secret? Does it have anything to do with the rash of poaching going on at Sawubona? Martine needs all of the courage and smarts she has, not to mention a little African magic, to find out. First-time children’s author Lauren St. John brings us deep into the African world, where myths become reality and a young girl with a healing gift has the power to save her home and her one true friend.

PreSchool-Grade 1. Froggy wakes from hibernation in the middle of the winter. Despite his mother's urgings to go back to sleep, he is determined to go out and play. He puts on different articles of clothing, each with its own fun sound effect. Each time he ventures out, his mother reminds him that he has forgotten something, prompting him to go back inside, undress, and start again. He becomes so exhausted that he decides it is easier to just stay asleep. This story is just as hilarious in Spanish as it is in English. Storytellers will enjoy making sounds that will encourage young listeners to participate in the telling. The cartoonlike illustrations and funny facial expressions make this a wonderful read-aloud.?Diane Tureski, New York Public Library Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

For Seikei, the adopted son of the famous samurai Judge Ooka with a knack for solving mysteries, a trip home to see his real family isn’t cause to celebrate. His brother has become mixed up with local criminals who use the family’s tea shop as a front for a smuggling operation. His sister, meanwhile, has fallen in love with an apprentice to a puppet master who stands accused of murder. Somehow, Seikei senses the two are connected. His loyalties divided between his new family and his old, Seikei must find the real killer before it is too late. Set against the eerie backdrop of the old Japanese puppet theaters, where life-sized marionettes were controlled by black-cloaked men, Edgar Award-winners Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler render their most satisfying mystery to date.

It’s time to go to bed and Peter Rabbit is tired, but where will he sleep? This beautiful book leads children through all the places where Peter Rabbit may like to sleep and introduces a host of favorite characters. Turn to the final spread and discover where Peter’s favorite place to sleep is. Includes three small night-lights in the front cover that are timed to go off after six minutes.

PreSchool-- A manipulatable concept book with sturdy, fold-out pages that should hold up in circulating collections. Each spread shows a large colored number opposite words that describe it, e.g., ``four'' and ``red'' are across from a red four. When the number page is unfolded, a whimsical picture of a matching number of animals is revealed and named. Whales, lizards, roosters, alligators, swans, worms, bears, cats, squirrels, and the one yellow lion who begins the game are featured. After the number ten, four fold-out panels show the whole crowd in two topsy-turvy beach scenes, and readers are invited to select, count, and name both animals and colors. Action-filled pictures and the different concept challenges offered will appeal to young children. An engaging selection. --Linda Wicher, Highland Park Public Library, IL Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Please is a good word to say. It puts a smile on your words. And that’s not the only advice curly-burly-haired Harriet has for you. Asking, taking, interrupting, eating, answering the phone—if there’s a nice way to do it, Harriet can tell you just how to do it. Jennifer Plecas’ infectious illustrations bring Barbara Joosse’s hilarious heroine to life in this offbeat and adorable approach to manners. Kids will be (very politely) clamoring to hear it over and over again . . . and parents will be pleased to oblige.

Grade 4–6—Benjamin lives in a horrible orphanage where he is punished by having to use a toothbrush to clean out the moldy cooking pots. He can still remember his parents and the life he used to lead before they died. When a social worker stops by with a birthday cake for him, his life is changed with a single wish come true—that he will have unlimited wishes. While this is good news for Benjamin, it's bad for the world as it upsets a natural balance and opens the door for Curseworks to put an evil plan in place that will make curses so strong that they cannot be stopped. The premise of the book is imaginative, but the characters are one-dimensional, leaving the story feeling flat. The de*ions of the Wishworks Factory are vivid and filled with details. Unfortunately, the orphanage itself seems old-fashioned, and readers will be jolted to find that they are actually in the modern world of video games and televisions rather than a world of Victorian orphans in top hats.—Tasha Saecker, Menasha Publ