Move over Buffy, there's a new hunter in town. In Shattered Mirror, Sarah faces life at a new high school. Unlike a typical teen though, her skin tingles when she gets close to her prey--vampires. The vampires she meets at school, though, are too weak to realize she's a Vida, daughter of a powerful witch family trained to hunt vampires. Worse, she comes to see their human side, which places her in danger, especially when she learns the vampire her family has a personal vendetta against is in the area, and may have a connection with these "friendly" vamps.

Author Amelia Atwater-Rhodes weaves a fast-paced tale that ties the typical teen dilemma in knots as her heroine balances her family legacy against hassles with her mother and older sister, and with Christopher, one of her new vampire "friends" from school. As Sarah unravels his past, what she learns threatens to shatter her future.

After reading Shattered Mirror, you'll want to read Atwater-Rhodes' other books. Midnight Predator doesn't follow the Vidas but it does follow a vampire hunter of a different sort. It delves into the mystery of vampires and other supernatural creatures existing among the "living." You'll also want to read about this amazing author, who wrote her first book at age 15! You can find out more when you Hang with the Authors at Random House.com.

Did you enjoy reading The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares? Then get ready for The Second Summer of the Sisterhood! The Septembers are back and they've been waiting all year to learn how the magic of the pants works when they're together. But that plan is falling apart before school ends. Bee is off to learn about her mother from her grandmother in Alabama and Tibby is excited about a film program she'll participate in at a Vermont college. Could things get worse? Yes! Carmen's mother wears the pants--on a date no less! What will this summer be like and what will the Septembers learn about themselves--and their friendship, not to mention about love?

For a different sort of romance, read Quiver by Stephanie Spinner. This tale is spun from mythology but the ending takes a surprising twist. Atalanta is dedicated to the Artemis, goddess of the hunt, for rescuing her as an infant. Atalanta is rewarded for her devotion with fame as the swiftest mortal and most outstanding archer. But she is now 16 and the father who abandoned her wants a reunion so Atalanta can wed and produce an heir for his thrown. Atalanta consents on one condition -- that she will only marry a man who can outrun her in a footrace, and those who lose must die. She hopes to keep suitors away and thus keep her promise to Artemis. Greed does not keep suitors away and Atalanta soon discovers that true love drives mortals to draw on strength that stretches their limits -- and bends the tolerance of the gods.

Prefer adventure in the present? ALIAS fans are in for a treat. If you've ever wondered how Sydney Bristow landed in the elusive SD-6, the supposedly secret branch of the CIA, you'll find out in the first of a series of prequel novels, ALIAS: Recruited. Unlike other "based-on-the-show" books, these novels provide the "history" behind your favorite female spy and describe her relationship with her father. In Recruited, learn how Sydney was selected and trained for SD-6 while she balances college courses, learns to "lie" to best friend Francie, and goes on her first trial "mission." The action and suspense continue in A Secret Life and Disappeared. Sydney must put her smarts to the test if she wants to get home alive. Talk about on-the-job training!

If you're a die hard fan of the show, you'll also enjoy ALIAS: Declassified. This companion guide to the hit TV show contains behind-the-scenes pics, anecdotes, plus a complete "briefing" on the making of the show. If you're new to the show, mission reports guide you episode-by-episode so you're ready for your next assignment: watching the award-winning weekly drama.

Rather read about real-life heroes? Where the Action Was, by Penny Colman, focuses on female war correspondents from World War II who bent the rules and slipped onto the "front line" to report on the war "where the action was." They dodged bullets in the trenches, lived through chaos with refuges, and witnessed the horrors of war first-hand. Despite rules imposed for their "safety" and discrimination due to their gender, women like Lee Carson, Margaret Bourke-White, Martha Gellhorn, and Virginia Cowles, among others, reported on the war with the same sense of purpose and dedication as male correspondents. You'll be inspired by their stories and intrigued by this era in our nation's history.

If you want to read about today's heroes, Generation Fix by Elizabeth Rusch is sure to inspire! Meet kids 8-18 who are making a difference in their communities--and the world--by taking action. Don't think you can make a difference on issues like hunger, violence against women, or environmental hazards? Think again! Rusch shows how teens like you set up programs to help, fight, or deal with problems and injustices. You'll meet Zachary Ebers, age 14, who created "Breakfast Bonanza" so kids who relied on school breakfast programs would continue having breakfasts during the summer. Joshua Marcus, age 14, created "Sack it to You" to buy backpacks and school supplies for needy students. And three teens, Lacy Jones, Kate Klinkeman, and Barbara Brown, started "Don't Be Crude," an oil-recycling program to keep discarded oil from seeping into groundwater. These are only a few of the ways kids are doing something today for a better tomorrow. Maybe you'll get a few ideas for school service projects or perhaps you'll be inspired to volunteer. The final chapter covers volunteering and provides a list of agencies across the country to help anyone become more involved.

Maybe you've put in your service time at high school and plan to spend the summer researching your dream college or preparing to ace your entrance exams. If so, The Best 345 Colleges and Girls' Guide to the SAT should be on your required reading list. You may wonder why either book is necessary. There are others like them, you might say. But that's before you see them.

The Best 345 Colleges includes the same details as other college guides--academic, admissions, and financial ratings, average test scores of freshman, student demographics, and deadlines for applying--but a majority of each entry focus on what students have to say about each college or university followed by a "From the Admissions Office" section. You get a balanced view of what each school is really like, along with how hard you might have to work once you've made it there. Are all the quotes glowing? No. For example, it's noted that Boston University seems to "suffer in the eyes of its students from a lack of a central, well-maintained campus," write the editors in summarizing responses from the thousands of surveys completed by students. The book concludes with a fun section of quotes from these surveys on everything from roommates and classmates to food and the college's hometown. The book is organized alphabetically, but an index lists colleges by state.

Girls' Guide to the SAT by Alexandra Freer focuses on the fact that girls consistently score lower than boys on this test, though they often get better grades and score higher on the ACT and other standardized tests. In addition to general test-prep for this entrance exam, Girls' Guide to the SAT offers advice on how girls can use their skills and strengths to "make the grade" and score higher. The test strategies are helpful to both genders including questionnaires to discover what maks the test difficult, exercises for working on time, concentration, and nerves during the test, plus four different study plans to use in preparing for the SAT.

Already graduated? Start college this autumn? Your prep isn't overwith yet! Now you need to prepare for freshman year. Getting Ready for College by Polly Berent will help. Not only does this guide include helpful lists of what to bring, it includes info on everything from doing laundry and making a dorm room comfortable to health and safety on campus. Not going away to college? There's still plenty that applies, from how to juggle schedules to study tips, socializing and managing money. The guide is not merely for freshman, either. The final chapters cover career planning and job hunting. Reading the guide is a breeze, with lots of subheads and tip boxes so browsing is easy. Now that you've planned and worked hard to get to this point, give it your all in Getting Ready for College.

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