Check out these new tween (grades 5-8) books in the Children's Room!

The Swan Maiden by Heather Tomlinson
In the quiet hour before dawn, anything can happen. A third daughter can dream of being a creature of flight and magic, of wearing a swan-skin like her sisters. But Doucette must run the castle household while her older sisters learn to weave spells. Her dream of flying is exactly that--until the day she discovers her own hidden birthright. Sudden, soaring freedom--it is a wish come true. Yet it comes with a price. As Doucette struggles to find her own way in the world, she risks losing the one she loves most of all.

Airman by Eoin Colfer (author of the bestselling Artemis Fowl series)
In the late nineteenth century, when Conor Broekhart discovers a conspiracy to overthrow the king, he is branded a traitor, imprisoned, and forced to mine for diamonds under brutal conditions while he plans a daring escape from Little Saltee prison by way of a flying machine that he must design, build, and, hardest of all, trust to carry him to safety.

Dusssie by Nancy Springer
Dusie always knew puberty was going to be confusing, but she never realized it was going to be catastrophic--until she wakes up one morning to find that her hair has turned into a writhing mass of slithering snakes and discovers the real truth about her family: her mother is a Gorgon--right out of Greek mythology--and she was named after her mother’s younger sister, Medusa. Her mother had hoped that Dusie’s being half-mortal would protect her from inheriting the family curse. Still reeling from this revelation, Dusie tries to keep her snakes under wraps. But after a boy she likes in school almost exposes her, she discovers another family secret--just one look from Dusie’s snakes has the power to send someone right into his own personal Stone Age. Talk about "if looks could kill"!

Keeping Score by Linda Sue Park (author of A Single Shard)
In Brooklyn in 1951, a die-hard Giants fan teaches nine-year-old Maggie, who is a "Bums" (Dodgers) fan, how to use a technique to keep score of a baseball game which creates a special friendship between them.

Ranger's Apprentice Book Four: The Battle for Skandia by John Flanagan
Still far from their homeland after escaping slavery in the icebound land of Skandia, Will and Evanlyn's plans to return to Araluen are spoiled when Evanlyn is taken captive by a Temujai warrior. Though still weakened by the warmweed's toxic effects, Will employs his Ranger training to locate his friend, but an enemy scouting party has him fatally outnumbered. Will is certain death is close at hand, until Halt and Horace make a daring, last-minute rescue. The reunion is cut short, however, when Halt makes a horrifying discovery: Skandia's borders have been breached by the entire Temujai army. And Araluen is next in their sights. If two kingdoms are to be saved, an unlikely union must be made. Will it hold long enough to vanquish a ruthless new enemy? Or will past tensions spell doom for all?

The Sisters Grimm: Books 1-4 by Michael Buckley
(Book One: The Fairy-Tale Detectives, Book Two: The Unusual Suspects, Book Three: The Problem Child, Book Four: Once Upon a Crime)
In the tradition of Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events and The Spiderwick Chronicles comes a new humorous mystery of fantastic circumstances. The Sisters Grimm (Book One): The Fairy Tale Detectives introduces us to two orphaned sisters, Sabrina and Daphne, who are sent to live with their mysterious grandmother, Relda Grimm. Grandmother Grimm lives in a strange town in New York State, known for its extraordinary number of unexplained and unusual crimes. As soon as the sisters arrive, they begin to unravel a mystery that leads to their ancestors' magical beginnings. Sabrina and Daphne learn they are descendants of the Brothers Grimm, who were actually detectives of the magical phenomenon perpetrated by the Everafters, a parallel race of magical beings. They soon discover it is the Grimm family's legacy to keep the Everafters in line and the two sisters are the sole heirs to this challenge!

The Big Field by Mike Lupica
For Hutch, shortstop has always been home. It's where his father once played professionally, before injuries relegated him to watching games on TV instead of playing them. And it's where Hutch himself has always played and starred. Until now. The arrival of Darryl "D-Will" Williams, the top shortstop prospect from Florida since A-Rod, means Hutch is displaced, in more ways than one. Second base feels like second fiddle, and when he sees his father giving fielding tips to D-Will--the same father who can’t be bothered to show up to watch his son play--Hutch feels betrayed. With the summer league championship on the line, just how far is Hutch willing to bend to be a good teammate?