Books.

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  Paper Valentine

  January 8, 2013, Razorbill/Penguin Group

  The city of Ludlow is gripped by the hottest July on record. The asphalt is melting, the birds are dying, petty crime is on the rise, and someone in Hannah Wagnor’s peaceful suburban community is killing girls.

  For Hannah, the summer is a complicated one. Her best friend Lillian died six months ago, and Hannah just wants her life to go back to normal. But how can things be normal when Lillian’s ghost is haunting her bedroom, pushing her to investigate the mysterious string of murders? Hannah’s just trying to understand why her friend self-destructed, and where she fits now that Lillian isn’t there to save her a place among the social elite. And she must stop thinking about Finny Boone, the big, enigmatic delinquent whose main hobbies seem to include petty larceny and surprising acts of kindness.

  With the entire city in a panic, Hannah soon finds herself drawn into a world of ghost girls and horrifying secrets. She realizes that only by confronting the Valentine Killer will she be able move on with her life—and it’s up to her to put together the pieces before he strikes again.

  Reviews

  • ★ . . . a painful but satisfying story that shows off the author’s gifts for writing dark contemporary fantasy.— Publishers Weekly, starred review
  • ★ The slow-burn mystery and simmering romance will keep readers turning the pages, but it’s the painfully authentic depiction of the complexities of friendship that will leave them haunted.— BCCB, starred review

  Accolades

  • An Official Junior Library Guild Selection
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  The Space Between

  November 14, 2011, Razorbill/Penguin Group

  Everything burns in Pandemonium, a city in Hell made of chrome and steel, where there is no future and life is an expanse of frozen time. That’s where Daphne lives.

  The daughter of a demon and a fallen angel, she wonders what lies in store for her. Will she become a soulless demon like her sisters? Or follow in the footsteps of her brother Obie, whose life is devoted to saving lost souls on Earth? All she wants is to find a place where she belongs.

  When Obie saves a bleeding, broken boy named Truman from the brink of death and then suddenly goes missing, Daphne runs away to Earth to find him. But on Earth, everything is colder and more terrifying, and Daphne struggles between her demon instincts and her growing—yet achingly unfamiliar—feelings for Truman. As Daphne and Truman search for Obie, they must navigate the jealousies and alliances of the violent archangels who stand in their way. But Daphne also discovers, unexpectedly, what it means to love and be human in a world where human is the hardest thing to be.

  Reviews

  • ★ This powerful and decidedly uncomfortable dark fantasy . . . contains moments of beauty, terror, and significant wisdom.— Publishers Weekly, starred review
  • Largely unsentimental, this is a breath of fresh (or fetid?) air for the genre.— Booklist
  • A dreamy, atmospheric take on Judeo-Christian mythology that prioritizes character.— Kirkus
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  The Replacement

  September 21, 2010, Razorbill/Penguin Group

  Mackie is not one of us. Though he lives in the small town of Gentry, he comes from a world of tunnels and black murky water, a world of living dead girls ruled by a little tattooed princess. He is a Replacement—left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. Now, because of fatal allergies to iron, blood, and consecrated ground, Mackie is slowly dying in the human world.

  Mackie would give anything to live among us, to practice on his bass or spend time with an oddly intriguing girl named Tate. But when Tate’s baby sister goes missing, Mackie is drawn irrevocably into the underworld of Gentry, known as Mayhem. He must face the dark creatures of the Slag Heaps and find his rightful place, in our world, or theirs.

  Reviews

  • ★ Unsettling villains and intriguing moral ambivalence make this effort shockingly original and . . . breathtaking.— Booklist, starred review
  • ★ A devastating look at familial love, sacrifice, and loneliness. Yovanoff’s spare but haunting prose creates an atmosphere shrouded in gloom and secrecy.— BCCB, starred review
  • Well-developed characters, a fascinating Fairy Court, an exciting story line, wicked cover art . . . this book has the makings of a success. — Publishers Weekly
  • A fast-paced, dark delicacy. — Kirkus
  • I loved this eerie and beautiful story of ugly things. It should be read aloud after dark, at a whisper.
    — Maggie Stiefvater, New York Times bestselling author of Shiver and Linger
  • I so loved this book. Mackie Doyle is one of the sweetest, strangest, most magnetic heroes I’ve read in a long time. He charmed me and his story kept me up at night.
    — Lauren Kate, New York Times bestselling author of Fallen