to watch for

As a reminder, books listed on a post titled "to watch for" are books that have not yet been published but whose listings sound interesting. Often, these are books that have just signed contracts and are reported in Publishers Lunch.

Torrey Maldonado's SECRET SATURDAYS, a poignant look into one twelve-year-old's struggles with being male and adolescent, poor and fatherless, in one of New York's most dangerous neighborhoods.

Jennifer Lynn Barnes's SCIENCE, THE APOCALYPSE, AND ME, series in which a girl gets a visit from her future self and discovers that the ultimate fate of the world is inexorably tied to her ability to master high school science.

Sports Illustrated Kids editor Michael Northrop's debut GENTLEMEN, in which a group of teens suspect their English teacher is responsible for their friend's disappearance and must navigate a maze of fraying friendships, violence, assorted clues, and Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment to learn the truth.

John Waters' "memoir-in-homage" ROLE MODELS, a self-portrait told through profiles of his favorite personalities, from Miss Esther, owner of the scariest bar in Baltimore to Marguerite Duras, atheist leader Madalyn Murray O'Hair to insane martyr Saint Catherine of Siena, English novelist Denton Welch to singer Johnny Mathis, all of whom helped the author form his own brand of neurotic happiness.

Suzanne Morgan Williams' BULL RIDER, telling the story of one Utah kid who lives in awe of his bull-riding champion brother, but when his brother goes off to Iraq and returns badly maimed, the family bull riding mantel falls to him.

AP sportswriter William D. Konigsberg's SCRAMBLING OUT OF THE POCKET, about a heavily recruited high school quarterback who is forced to come to terms with his sexuality during an eventful senior year.

Donna Jo Napoli's fantasy novel THE WAGER, in which a young man in medieval Italy makes a deal with the devil and suffers the consequences.