Waiting On Wednesday: Simon & Schuster Summer 2013 Catalog

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill of Breaking The Spine in which upcoming, eagerly anticipated releases are highlighted on the blog.

This week, I've chosen to feature a few picks from the Simon & Schuster Summer 2013 Catalog:

Starglass by Phoebe North
Date: July 23, 2013

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Terra has never known anything but life aboard the Asherah, a city-within-a-spaceship that left Earth five hundred years ago in search of refuge. At sixteen, working a job that doesn't interest her, and living with a grieving father who only notices her when he's yelling, Terra is sure that there has to be more to life than what she's got.
But when she inadvertently witnesses the captain's guard murdering an innocent man, Terra is suddenly thrust into the dark world beneath her ship's idyllic surface. As she's drawn into a secret rebellion determined to restore power to the people, Terra discovers that her choices may determine life or death for the people she cares most about. With mere months to go before landing on the long-promised planet, Terra has to make the decision of a lifetime--one that will determine the fate of her people.

Starglass reminds me a lot of Across the Universe - a city-within-a-spaceship, a murder on ship, a protagonist responsible for protecting the entire populace on the ship. I hope it's just as good as Across the Universe and yet still manages to bring some originality to the table!

The Year of Shadows by Claire Legrand
Date: August 27, 2013

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Olivia Stellatella is having a rough year.
Her mother left, her neglectful father -- the maestro of a failing orchestra -- has moved her and her grandmother into his dark, broken-down concert hall to save money, and her only friend is Igor, an ornery stray cat.
Just when she thinks life couldn’t get any weirder, she meets four ghosts who haunt the hall. They need Olivia’s help -- if the hall is torn down, they’ll be stuck as ghosts forever, never able to move on.
Olivia has to do the impossible for her shadowy new friends: Save the concert hall. But helping the dead has powerful consequences for the living . . . and soon it’s not just the concert hall that needs saving.

I've heard very good things about Claire Legrand's The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls, though I haven't read it yet myself. The Year of Shadows is another MG paranormal/fantasy offering from Claire Legrand and I hope it does just as well in reviews!

Thin Space by Jody Casella
Date: September 10, 2013

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Ever since the car accident that killed his twin brother, Marshall Windsor has been consumed with guilt and crippled by secrets of that fateful night. He has only one chance to make amends, to right his wrongs and set things right. He must find a Thin Space—a mythical point where the barrier between this world and the next is thin enough for a person to step through to the other side.
But, when a new girl moves into the house next door, the same house Marsh is sure holds a thin space, she may be the key—or the unraveling of all his secrets.
As they get closer to finding a thin space—and closer to each other—Marsh must decide once and for all how far he’s willing to go to right the wrongs of the living…and the dead.

I am very much intrigued by the concept of a Thin Space - a barrier between worlds that is thin enough to get through to the other side. And concepts involving parallel/alternate worlds are a favourite of mine so suffice it to say that I am very curious about Thin Space!

Final Descent by Rick Yancey
Date: September 10, 2013

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Will Henry and Dr. Warthrop have encountered many horrors together—but can Will endure a monstrumological terror without his mentor?
Will Henry has been through more that seems possible for a boy of fourteen. He’s been on the brink of death on more than one occasion, he has gazed into hell—and hell has stared back at him, and known his face. But through it all, Dr. Warthrop has been at his side.
When Dr. Warthrop fears that Will’s loyalties may be shifting, he turns on Will with a fury, determined to reclaim his young apprentice’s devotion. And so Will must face one of the most horrific creatures of his monstrumology career—and he must face it alone.
Over the course of one day, Will’s life—and Pellinor Warthrop’s destiny—will lie in balance. In the terrifying depths of the Monstrumarium, they will face a monster more terrible than any they could have imagined—and their fates will be decided.

Final Descent is the final book in the four book series, The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey (of The 5th Wave fame), and I absolutely CANNOT wait to read it as this series is one of my all-time favourites. This fourth and final book almost didn't happen due to poor sales of the series until us fans got together to try to reverse Simon & Schuster's decision with a letter writing campaign organized by Stephanie Reads. Imagine my surprise and pleasure when, in a completely UNPRECEDENTED move, S&S decided to go back on their decision to cancel the series. It was unprecedented because publishers almost never reverse their decisions once they've discontinued a series. So it was a pretty big deal! And I am just pleased as punch that I get one more book set in The Monstrumologist world! And it's a good thing, too, because Will Henry's story clearly could NOT end the way it did in the third book, The Isle of Blood.


How about you? Are you waiting on any of these Simon & Schuster Summer 2013 reads? Are there any upcoming books from the Simon & Schuster Summer 2013 Catalog that I didn't include here that you feel I should add to my list?