The Carrie Diaries

by Candace Bushnell

Meet Carrie Bradshaw before "Sex and The City." A senior in high school, Carrie is surrounded by friends, boys, and all the changes that come along with trying to figure out 'what to do with the rest of your life?' As she struggles to discover her own sense of style, she fights to break free of her small conservative town and make it big in "The City" as a famous writer. But with deliriously cute bad-boys and back-stabbing friends standing in her way, Carrie will have to discover what it means to be a true independent woman.

--Hollie Hawkins, Faculty

Blood: The Last Vampire

by Mamoru Oshii

In this manga-style novel, set in the days right before the start of the Vietnam War, Saya is a girl with a mysterious past who is sent to deal with mysterious attacks that keep occurring on an American Army base. A fierce and beautiful warrior, she do what she can to save the humans she has been sent to protect. But will her skills and cunning be enough to defeat a chillingly dead enemy? The first book in a highly successful series of novels in Japan, Blood: The Last Vampire is a fast-paced thriller full of action and chilling surprises.

--Philip S., Student

Love Hina vol. 1

by Ken Akamatsu

Keitrao Urashima is a second year Ronin (a student who has failed his college entrance exams), who has been kicked out of the house by his parents. With nowhere else to turn, he agrees to become the landlord of his grandma's inn "Hinata Lodge" while she takes a vacation. Little does he know the lodge is actually an all-girls dorm. Most guys would kill for this job, but if he's not careful, this job will kill him.

--Philip, S., Student

Mister Monday (Keys to the Kingdom, book 1)

by Garth Nix

Seven keys. Seven Days. A mysterious Will. And one boy. Arthur Penhaligon is about to embark on a fantastical adventure of magic and mystery. Strange things begin to happen after Arthur recovers from an asthma attack on the first day of school. He wakes up to find a mysterious key in his hand. Suddenly a weird new house appears in his neighborhood that no one else seems to be able to see. Upon entering the house, Arthur gets lost in a world of magical creatures and must find his way out before the terrible Mister Monday can steal the key away from Arthur. In this first of a seven-books series, Nix's imagination once again takes readers on a journey of excitement and suspense.

-- Tyberius, E., Student