Lizard Music

Sample

Owen King and Mark Jude Poirier

"Stacey, a brilliant, overachieving astrobiology major at Fenton College, had planned on just another lonely spring break on campus. But when a hurricane batters the small college town, downing power lines and knocking out cell phone reception, Stacey and her friends are stranded with no way to communicate with the outside world at the worst possible moment: in the midst of an alien invasion. As space insects begin to burrow into students and staff, transforming them into slobbering, babbling monsters, a conglomeration of misfits must band together to prevent the infestation from spreading. Meanwhile, Stacey's long-stifled romantic feelings for her friend Charlotte begin to surface, while the professor she had admired and respected becomes the students' worst enemy"--

Sample

Sylvia Louise Engdahl

When young Elana unexpectedly joins the team leaving the spaceship to study the planet Andrecia, she becomes an integral part of an adventure involving three very different civilizations, each one centered on the third planet from the star in its own solar system. First published in 1970 and winner of a Newbery Honor the following year. At once a tale of fantasy as well as science fiction, it is as innovative and captivating today as when it was written. This is arguably one of the most sophisticated novels to wear the Newbery Honor seal in terms of its deep philosophy. Yet it is also a fast-paced adventure that marries the romantically moral traditions of dragons and magic with the fantastic and speculative conventions of science fiction.

Sample

Beatrice Gormley

Fifth grader Elise is thrilled when a UFO appears in her friend Nick's backyard but shocked when she discovers why its occupants have come to Earth.

Sample

Tsutomu Nihei

"Get to know a new character who may be this futuristic series' most traditionally virtuous female. Drawing on deep wells of filial piety and perseverance, unfailingly modest, she is Tsumugi. 'I've read one other series produced by Tsutomu Nihei--Biomega-- which turned me into a major fan of his art and imagination and sensibility, but not so much of his story-telling, because I spent parts of that series mildly puzzled about what was going on (admittedly, I'm not the hardest guy in the world to puzzle when it comes to manga). With Knights of Sidonia, he's clearly trying something a bit more accessible... The art is really good, a simplified, clarified version of the style I've seen Tsutomu Nihei use elsewhere'"--Back cover.