Averbeck, Jim. IN A BLUE ROOM
On an ordinary day, in an ordinary town, an ordinary girl is about to make an extraordinary acquaintance----- She turned. When his hat had come off, his hair had come off, too. In the co
nfusion, all she had seen was a chalk-white scalp, so she turned expecting to see a bald albino, maybe. But, no. With his sunglasses gone and his scarf hanging down, there was no denying the fact that he had no flesh, he had no skin, he had no eyes, and he had no face. All he had was a skull for a head. When Stephanie inherits her eccentric uncle’s estate, little does she know she’s inheriting something along with it: a life-or-death battle between good and evil. Fortunately for Stephanie, she also inherits a friend and ally that just might help her make it out of this alive---Skullduggery Pleasant. With his dashing fashion sense, snappy wit, and fire-throwing abilities, Skullduggery is just the guy to have along in fight---so who cares if underneath the designer clothes, he’s just a skeleton??? (New Hampshire Great Stone Face nominee, 2008-2009)
l…and it has everything to do with Greek mythology and her creepy English teacher, Mr. Metos. Peculiar, yellow- eyed men in tuxedoes have begun to follow her everywhere. And the sudden arrival from London of her cousin Zee, who believes he is the cause of a mysterious sickness affecting his friends in Britain, serves to thicken the plot. Can these odd strangers in tuxedos really be stealing people’s shadows and taking them to the Underworld through an obscure door at the shopping mall? The cousins must get down to into Hades and across the River Styx to get to the bottom of this …they must save the world from THE SHADOW THIEVES (New Hampshire Great Stone Face nominee, 2008-2009)
e for American families. Young Davy spends his time collecting scrap metal that will be used to make ammunition and milkweed pods for stuffing life vests for the sailors. During these searches, Davy meets some of the town’s mysterious and cantankerous characters. He meets old Miss Titus, who later becomes his teacher, because of the teacher shortage. As Davy explains, “We weren’t used to a teacher who looked like a walnut with a mustache.” Davy’s carefree and innocent lifestyle is turned upside down by the war. His father is very sad that another war is happening because when he fought in WWI it was supposed to be the “war to end all wars”. Davy’s brother is a bomber pilot and is flying secret and dangerous missions overseas. Find out how Davy copes with everyday life during a war and how he looks up to his heroes. (New Hampshire Great Stone Face nominee, 2008-2009)
Shafer, Audrey. THE MAILBOX 
other and harsh grandmother. You sew and you dream, dream of the riches of the palace of the King and his family. The Lacemaker and the Princess is the story of such a girl, eleven-year-old Isabelle, living in France in the late 1700s, a third-generation lace maker. One day, she gets to make a delivery to the palace and seizing the opportunity, Isabelle snoops to see all she can outside her own world. She gets caught up in a crowd, trips and is almost trampled but is rescued by the queen Marie Antoinette. The queen decides that Isabelle should meet Princess Marie-Therese, who chooses Isabelle to be her friend. Now, Isabelle gets to live the dream of the palace. She gets to eat like the princess, wear clothes like the princess, learn to ride horses like the princess. It is no wonder it is hard to go home every day and work like she always had. The difference in the world between the working masses and the few elite of France are obvious, and the revolution boils over while Isabelle finds who she is and where she fits in. (New Hampshire Great Stone Face nominee, 2008-2009)
trip, the life support systems failed and killed just the adults. Now orphans, the children are sold into slavery as soon as they arrive on Orbis 1. Johnny Turnbull is one of these orphans who discovers that he has the ability to enter any computer just by using his thoughts. He is known as the “softwire” and he is both feared and misunderstood. He discovers a computer virus and must destroy it before the warring factions on the planet go to war and destroy the planet that is now his home. This is classic sci-fi and a real page-turner with a lot of action, suspense and 2-headed aliens. Or are the children the aliens? 
