Brooklyn Bridge by Karen Hesse  ($17.95).  It's summer and all 14-year-old Joseph Michtom wants to do is visit Coney Island.  That, however does not seem likely because Joseph's family invented the stuffed Teddy Bear five months ago.  Now Joseph works, complains, falls in love, falls out of love, and hopes that his life will turn right side up again.  One thing his family has not given up are the trips across the Brooklyn Bridge every Sunday to see his three aunts who live on the lower East Side of New York.  This is where Karen Hesse masterfully entwines Joseph's story with those of the unwanted, forgotten, lost children who gather under the bridge each night.  Hesse, a Newbery Medalist, builds a stunning story of the lucky, the unlucky, and those in between, and reminds us that our lives are all precious and connected.  This is a wonderful read for middle fiction readers.         Ages 10 - 13

Philippa Fisher's Fairy Godsister by Liz Kessler  ($15.99).  The author of the best-selling Emily Windsnap series returns with the first of a trilogy about a girl and her very reluctant fairy guardian. Philippa is just your average 11-and-a-half-year-old girl.  Then one day a new girl named Daisy arrives at school and confesses reluctantly that she is Phllippa's very own godsister.  Unfortunately, Daisy dislikes humans and informs Phillippa that she is only there because Philippa is sad after her best friend moved away. Daisy and Philippa can't seem to get along, and the wishes Philippa keeps making complicate life even more.  The question is, will the two come together to solve the mess they have created before it's too late?   Both of the characters are well crafted. This will definitely appeal to the fans of Emily Windsnap.  A delightful read!            Ages 8 - 12

The Revolution of Sabine by Beth Levine Ain  ($16.99).  It's 1776 in Paris and a feisty teenager defies her mother, her closest friend, and the aristocracy in a compelling novel of social intrigue.  Sabine rekindles a forbidden friendship with an outsider who spirits her away to her first salon, where she meets the revolutionary Ben Franklin, in France looking for support for the American Revolution.  Once Sabine hears the ideas of the intelligent thinkers at the salon, she is changed.  She becomes determined to take control of her life as it spins toward an arranged marriage to a lecherous aristocrat.  But how can she break free of her mother's tight grasp?  Ain, the author, states: "As much as the book is about France and America and the wars they fought for liberty, it is even moe about the revolution most teens feel when they realize their lives are their own.  Finding out who you are is a timeless journey.  It doesn't matter if it's 1776 or 2008."  This is an intriguing read.          Ages 12 and up