Starred Review Heaven and earth mix in this arresting story. Freya has always wanted to be an angel. When she is eight, an angel visits her ich becomes the first of several long steps to hospitalization for delusions. Freya fights her way back, enters high school, and even finds a way into one of the cool crowds. Then Stephanie, who believes in angels, comes to the school, and the girls recognize each other. But while Stephanie wants to cleave to Freya, Freya can't quite come to terms with Stephanie, fearful of the reaction of her new, pressuring peer group. There's another reason as well. Freya has made a profound discovery: the angels she sees are real. On one level, this is a British school story, with cliques and bullies, but McNish goes further; his real accomplishment is melding the gritty ordinariness of everyday happenings with the magnificence of angels. For this, he needed the skills of a conductor, knowing when to play up the angelic choir and when to let it be heavenly background music. His descriptions of Freya's two angels e light and one dark zzle, and as the story moves into higher realms, readers are given much to ponder. Vampires and werewolves have been given their due in fiction of late; the mystery of angels takes center stage here.

While Max (who's prophesied to save the world) tends the usual flock of "birdkids," her ex, Fang, is bringing together a new group of disenfranchised supernatural teens--including Max's clone, Maya. Hurt feelings and jealousies are put aside when the cultish Doomsday Group threatens world annihilation. Taut pacing, snappy dialogue, and engaging romantic entanglements extend the series.

Gr 9 Up- BRICELAND, V. The Nascenza Conspiracy . Bk. 3. 344p. (The Cassaforte Chronicles) Flux . Jan. 2011. pap. $9.95. ISBN 978-0-7387-1894-1 . LC number unavailable. Gr 8 Up CAST, P. C. &; Kim Doner . The Fledging Handbook 101 . 157p. (The House of Night Series). St. Martin's / Griffin . Oct. 2010. pap. $12.99. ISBN 978-0-312-59512-8 . LC number unavailable. Gr 9 Up CONRAD, Lauren . Sugar and Spice . 288p. (An L.A. Candy Novel). HarperCollins . Oct. 2010. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-06-176762-3 . LC number unavailable. Gr 9 Up GRANT, Michael . Plague . Bk. 4. 492p. (A Gone Novel). HarperCollins / Katherine Tegen Bks. Apr. 2011. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-06-144912-3 ; PLB $18.89. ISBN 978-0-06-144913-0 . LC number unavailable. Gr 7 Up HOLT, Kimberly Willis . Piper Reed, Campfire Girl . Bk. 4. illus. by Christine Davenier. 160p. Henry Holt . Sept. 2010. Tr $15.99. ISBN 978-0-8050-9006-2 . LC 2009050765. Gr 35 HOLT, Simon . Fearscape . Bk. 3. 314p. (The Devouring Series). Little, Brown . Oct. 2010. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-316-03570-5 . LC 2010006364. Gr 8 Up JENNEWEIN, James &; Tom S. Parker . Ship of the Dead . Bk. 3. 304p. (RuneWarriors Series). HarperCollins . Dec. 2010. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-06-144942-0 ; LC number unavailable. Gr 710 KAYE, Marilyn . Now You See Me . Bk. 5. 214p. (Gifted Series). Kingfisher . Oct. 2010. pap. $7.99. ISBN 978-0-7534-3046-0 . LC number unavailable. Gr 69 KROSOCZKA, Jarrett J. Lunch Lady and the Bake Sale Bandit . illus. by author. unpaged. Knopf . Dec. 2010. PLB $12.99. ISBN 978-0-375-96729-0 ; pap. $6.99. ISBN 978-0-375-86729-3 . LC 2010012781. Gr 35 MCDONALD, Megan . Stink and the Ultimate Thumb-Wrestling Smackdown . illus. by Peter H. Reynolds. 131p. Candlewick . Mar. 2011. Tr $12.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-4346-1 ; ebook $12.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-5457-3 . LC number unavailable. Gr 24 MALLEY, Gemma . The Legacy . Bk. 3. 266p. Bloomsbury . Jan. 2011. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-1-59990-567-9 . LC number unavailable. Gr 7 Up MATSUMOTO, Natsumi. St. Dragon Girl . Vol. 8. illus. by author. unpaged. (Shojo Beat Series). Viz Media . Sept. 2010. pap. $9.99. ISBN 978-1-4215-2017-9 . LC number unavailable. Gr 68 MOULD, Chris . The Treasure Keepers . Bk. 6. 192p. (Something Wickedly Weird Series). Roaring Brook . Oct. 2010. Tr $12.99. ISBN 978-1-59643-389-2 . LC number unavailable. Gr 46 NEFF, Henry H. The Fiend and the Forge . Bk. 3. 560p. (The Tapestry Series). Random . Nov. 2010. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-375-83898-9 ; PLB $20.99. ISBN 978-0-375-93898-6 ; ebook $17.99. ISBN 978-0-375-89295-0 . LC number unavailable. Gr 58 NO&3;L, Alyson . Night Star . Bk. 5. 302p. (The Immortals Series). St. Martin's / Griffin . Nov. 2010. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-312-59098-7 . LC number unavailable. Gr 9 Up PATTERSON, James . Angel . 291p. (Maximum Ride Series). Little, Brown . Feb. 2011. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-316-03620-7 . LC number unavailable. Gr 7 Up PETERSON, Will . The Gathering . Bk. 3. 368p. (Triskellion Series). Candlewick . 2010. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-4847-3 . LC 2009047753. Gr 69 REGER, Rob &; Jessica Gruner . Dark Times . Bk. 3. illus. by Rob Reger. 248p. (Emily the Strange Series). Harper . Dec. 2010. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-06-145235-2 . LC 2009032256. Gr 710 STAUFFACHER, Sue . Show Time . 160p. (Animal Rescue Series). Knopf / Borzoi . Feb. 2011. Tr $12.99. ISBN 978-0-375-85850-5 ; PLB $15.99. ISBN 978-0-375-95850-2 ; spiral $0. ISBN 978-0-375-89794-8 . LC number unavailable. Gr 4–6 TANIGAWA, Nagaru . The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya . tr. by Chris Pai. illus. by author. Bk. 4. 192p. Little, Brown . Nov. 2010. Tr $14.99. ISBN 978-0-316-03890-4 ; pap. $8.99. ISBN 978-0-316-03889-8 . LC 2010009352. Gr 8 Up VAN DRAANEN, Wendelin . Sammy Keyes and the Wedding Crasher . 296p. Knopf / Borzoi . Oct. 2010. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-375-86107-9 ; PLB $19.99. ISBN 978-0-375-96107-6 ; ebook $16.99. ISBN 978-0-375-89734-4 . LC 2010006916. Gr 5–8 WALLACE, Rich . Benched . Bk. 3. illus. by Jimmy Holder. 122p. (Kickers Series). Knopf / Borzoi . Oct. 2010. Tr $12.99. ISBN 978-0-375-85756-0 ; PLB $15.99. ISBN 978-0-375-95756-7 ; ebook $12.99. ISBN 978-0-375-89709-2 . LC 2009034695. Gr 2–4