In My Mailbox explores the contents of my mailbox on a weekly basis. Of course I only mention the really cool things, like books! If you would like to participate and have your own “In My Mailbox” post, you can find more information here. (This post was inspired by Alea of Pop Culture Junkie.)

How Do You Get All Those BOOKS!?

Watersmeet by Ellen Jensen Abbott (ARC/April 1, 2009/Marshall Cavendish Children’s Books)

From her birth, Abisina has been an outcast-for the color of her eyes and skin, and for her lack of a father. Only her mother’s status as the village healer has kept her safe. But when a mythic leader arrives, Abisina’s life is ripped apart. She escapes alone to try to find the father and the home she has never known. In a world of extremes, from the deepest prejudice to the greatest bonds of duty and loyalty, Abisina must find her own way and decide where her true hope lies.

Surface Tension: A Novel in Four Summers by Brent Runyon (HB/March 2009/Knopf)

Lucas at 13 is excited about everything—swimming, fishing, skipping rocks, and searching for lucky stones—there’s so much to do in two weeks at the lake.

Lucas at 14 is a little more jaded. And more interested in looking at the hot girl next door than in looking for rocks.

Lucas at 15 is a little more angry. The friend he brings along makes him see his summer haven with new—and less appreciative—eyes.

Lucas at 16 is in love—until he gets a break-up post card from his girlfriend, and then he wants to die.

Highway To Hell by Rosemary Clement-Moore (HB/March 2009/Delacorte Press)

Maggie Quinn was expecting to find plenty of trouble with Lisa over Spring Break. Give a girl a bikini, a beachfront hotel, and an absent boyfriend, and it’s as good as a road map to the dark side. But Maggie doesn’t have to go looking for trouble. Trouble has started looking for her. One dead cow and a punctured gas tank later, she and Lisa are stuck in
Dulcina, Texas—a town so small that it has an owner. And lately life in this small town hasn’t been all that peaceful. An eerie predator is stalking the ranchland.

Everyone in town has a theory, but not even Maggie’s psychic mojo can provide any answers. And the longer the girls are stranded, the more obvious it becomes that something is seriously wrong. Only no one—not even Maggie’s closest ally—wants to admit that they could have been forced on a detour down the highway to hell.

Brutal by Michael Harmon (HB/March 2009/Knopf)

With her martyr-doctor mother gone to save lives in some South American country, Poe Holly suddenly finds herself on the suburban doorstep of the father she never knew, who also happens to be a counselor at her new high school. She misses Los Angeles. She misses the guys in her punk band. Weirdly, she even misses the shouting matches she used to have with her mom.

But Poe manages to find a few friends: Theo, the cute guy in the anarchy Tshirt, and Velveeta, her oddly likeable neighbor—and a born victim who’s the butt of every prank at Benders High. But when the pranks turn deadly at the hands of invincible football star Colby Morris, Poe knows she’s got to fix the system and take down the hero.

Fate by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (PB/March 2009/Delacorte Press)

For the past two years, Bailey Morgan has lived a double life: high school student by day, ancient mystical being by night. As the third Fate, Bailey literally controls the fate of the world, but as Plain Old Bailey, her life is falling apart. She’s got a tattoo that was supposed to be temporary (but isn’t), friendships that were supposed to last forever (but might not), and no idea what her future holds after high school graduation.

Then Bailey meets the rest of the Sidhe, an ancient race defined by their power, beauty, and a sinister habit of getting what they want at any cost. Before Bailey knows it, she’s being drawn into an otherworldly web more complicated than anything she weaves as a mortal Fate.

At Face Value by Emily Franklin (THANKS CAROL!)

You've never seen a nose as big as mine."

In this modern love story, Cyrano de Bergerac is reinvented as a brilliant and funny seventeen-year-old . . . girl. A tennis champion, straight-A student, and editor of the school paper, Cyrie Bergerac has learned to live with her (ahem) peculiar proboscis. And she's got an armory of witty retorts for every schnoz joke that comes her way. But despite her talents and charm, Cyrie is convinced that no guy—hot or otherwise—would deem her crush-worthy. Certainly not Eddie "Rox" Roxanninoff, who's gorgeous, smart, and genuinely nice to boot!

There's someone else smitten with Rox, too. It's Leyla, Cyrie's pretty yet tongue-tied best friend. Helping Leyla seduce Rox through email provides a wonderful way for Cyrie to express her true feelings. But watching her crush hook up with Leyla may be more than she can take. Will Cyrie find the strength to risk it all—nose be damned—and confess her love?

In this funny and poignant spin on a classic, popular YA author Emily Franklin explores the age-old theme of "true beauty" with humor and piercing perception.

Hottie by Jonathon Bernstein (THANKS HOPE!)

Alison Cole's got it all: She's gorgeous, dating a steamy surfer boy, and has just been crowned Beverly Hills High Freshman Class President. Then during a special "symmetry" surgery, a lightning bolt zaps her, and Alison instantly transforms into Hottie-that is, a totally sizzling superhero with the power to shoot fire from her fingers!

Shunned as a Pyro-Freak, Alison must adopt dorky David Eels as her crime-fi ghting sidekick. Worse, she's falling for the one guy who wants to "extinguish" her forever, Junior Class President of Cuteness- and wannabe fi refi ghter-T. Hull. But she doesn't realize that a supervillain's lurking. . . .

Has Hottie met her match?

Okay so now you know what's in mine, what did you get in yours? You can sign the Mr. Linky below, if you would, please link your actual post, so that it is easier to find! Thanks!

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