The Salem Witch Tryouts

Prudence Stewart had it all at Beverly Hills High: straight A's, the cutest crush, and a sweet gig as captain of the cheerleading squad. Then poof! Mom and Dad announce they're moving to Salem, Massachusetts. Turns out, Pru comes from a long line of witches and it's time for her to learn the craft. Buh-bye, Beverly Hills High -- hello, Agatha's Day School! But Pru's not about to trade in her spirit stick for a broomstick! She's sure she can keep her kewl at her new school -- until she discovers it's all magic, all the time, and she's failing Witchcraft 101. Worst of all, even the cheerleaders bring a special "spirit" to their routine. As in, triple-back-somersault-with-a-twist kind of spirit. It's time for Pru to cast a spell and prove she's just as enchanting as the next girl -- and somehow make cheering tryouts a flying S-U-C-C-E-S-S!

Prudence Stewart is finally starting to get her witch on. It's been a month since her parents decided to give their magic-deficient daughter a crash course in enchantment by enrolling her in Agatha's Day School for Witches. And sure, Pru's still stuck in Magic for Dummies -- but at least she made the cheerleading squad. Now Prudence has a bigger problem...she walks, talks, and cheers like a mortal. And she's deathly afraid the other witches will catch on. So she vows to give up her old earthly ways: no cell phone, no car, and above all, no dating mortal boys. There's just one hitch to the sitch: Angelo, the megacute mortal-next-door. When he and Prudence meet, sparks fly -- no magic necessary. And breaking Angelo's spell turns out to be the hardest trick of all.

Prudence Stewart is FINALLY getting her witch on at Agatha's Day School. Sadly, her love life isn't quite so charmed. Boy trouble is lurking, big-time: • First, there's Angelo, Pru's adorable crush-next-door. When he shows up at Agatha's, it spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E for Pru. Especially when it comes to... • Samuel, Pru's best bud and tutor in all things magical. For Angelo and Samuel, it was loathe at first sight. • And then there's Daniel, the bad boy with wicked talent -- who also happensto be the great-great-great-great-grandson of Pru's nemesis, Agatha herself. With all this boy drama, it's all Pru can do to prep for the national cheerleading competition -- the one that will bring her broomstick-to- spirit-stick with her former squad AND her boy-stealing ex-BFF. A little magic just might come in handy right now....

Millions of readers adore Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle: its earnest hero, its breathtaking battles and, of course, its awe-inspiring dragon Saphira. But there's so much more to the series than meets the eye—and Secrets of the Dragon Riders, edited by today's second hottest dragon-writer James A. Owen, shows readers what they're missing. Why might Roran be the real hero of the Inheritance Cycle? What does Paolini's writing have in common with role-play games and modern action films? Are teenage writers judged more harshly than their adult counterparts? The YA authors in Secrets of the Dragon Riders—some of them no older than Paolini when he wrote Eragon—each take on a different aspect of the series to engage and entertain Paolini fans.

Jamie Stone has one friend left, Amy Davidson, and she’s not sure she is his friend anymore. After all, he killed her and now her ghost, or spirit, or whatever she is, seems to be stuck visiting him in jail. Amy hadn’t been planning to die that day, but she had been to confession the previous Sunday and knew she should by rights be in Heaven. But if she is, life in Heaven is as confusing as life on Earth because her afterlife hasn’t come with an instruction manual. It’s come with a one-on-one connection with her killer, who used to be her best friend and now is the only person who can see her, hear her, and possibly help her figure out how to get wherever it is she needs to go.

Imagine if James Bond and Harriet the Spy had a love child... ...Molly Harbison would fit the profile, because she has a love of espionage...but on the domestic carpooling, not international jetsetting, side of the scale. After tangling with a shopping mall serial killer (in Shop and Let Die) Molly Harbison promised to give up her mystery shopping for a "real" job. True to her vow, she applies for a job at the university where her husband works, begins the awkward and rocky interview process, and stumbles across a new mystery. Someone on the campus is a master identity thief. While Molly tries to figure out who she is, as a mother, a daughter, a wife, and where her career interests lie, a murder brings in the FBI. Molly finds herself going undercover once again.

Imagine if James Bond and Harriet the Spy had a love child... ...Molly Harbison would fit the profile, because she has a love of espionage...but on the domestic carpooling, not international jetsetting, side of the scale. Molly Harbison hates being asked “What do you do?” more than cleaning the ring around the bathtub or digging Cheerios and raisins out of the car’s back seat. She’s tried on every possibility from a flip Domestic Goddess to a simple declarative Mom. She jumps at the chance to make some extra money as a secret shopper. But when she’s assigned to shop an online dating site…things get tricky. For one, she realizes her husband doesn’t exactly meet her checklist of “must haves” for the perfect man, not at all like her dating site Mr. Perfect. For another, the FBI wants her to actually keep her date with Mr. Perfect, who just may be the perfect serial killer.