There’s a fair bit of ghosty historical stuff in this batch, plus some spies and intrigue.

This Full House, Virginia Euwer Wolff (476 pages) – a novel in verse form, and the final book in the Make Lemonade trilogy (which is a great name for a trilogy). In which LaVaughn is in her senior year at high school, with the glimmer of hope of college at the end, but events during the year challenge what she thinks she knows about life and love.

First sentence: I could not have known.

Magic Under Glass, Jaclyn Dolamore (225 pages) – the cover says this is a story for fans of Libba Bray and Charlotte Bronte. Nimira works as a show girl in a music hall. When Hollin Parry, wealthy sorcerer, hires her to perform for him on his estate she thinks life is looking up, but then there are rumours of ghosts and madwomen, and her performing partner, an automaton that plays the piano, seems too real to be mechanical…

First sentence: The audience didn’t understand a word we sang.

The Shadow Project, Herbie Brennan (352 pages) – Danny accidentally attempts to rob the headquarters of The Shadow Project, which uses teen spies to astrally (is that a word?) project on missions around the world. He’s captured and then identified as gifted and soon finds himself caught up in a world of danger and supernatural intrigue.

First sentence: Danny would never have noticed the door that night if it hadn’t opened a crack.

Voices of Dragons, Carrie Vaughn (309 pages) – While rock climbing on the border between the modern and ancient worlds Kay Wyatt falls and is saved by the dragon Artegal, and a friendship develops between them. But human/dragon relations are strained and war is brewing: can their friendship stop the inevitable?

First sentence: Her parents were going to kill her for this.

Woods Runner, Gary Paulsen (164 pages) – Samuel knows how to take care of himself in the wilderness, and when his parents are captured by the British during the American Revolution, Samuel takes off in pursuit, all the way to New York City.

First sentence: He was not sure exactly when he became a child of the forest.

Ruined, Paula Morris (309 pages) – Rebecca moves to an exclusive academy in New Orleans where she is snobbed by her classmates (except for the lovely Anton (but why?)), but then she meets Lisette, who’s keen to be her friend. Trouble is, she’s also a ghost on a mission. Hurricane Katrina also stars.

First sentence: Torrential rain was pouring the afternoon Rebecca Brown arrived in New Orleans.

All Unquiet Things, Anna Jarzab (337 pages) – Audrey and Neily try to find out who killed Carly (friend and ex-girlfriend respectively): it’s got something to do with Brighton Day School’s dark underbelly.

First sentence: It was the end of summer, when the hills were bone dry and brown; the sun beating down and shimmering up off the pavement was enough to give you heatstroke.

The Long Way Home, Andrew Klavan (345 pages) – action and thrills a-plenty. Charlie West wakes up one day to find that terrorists want to kill him, the police want to arrest him (they say he’s killed his friend), and he must return home to find some answers and, hopefully, dig himself out of this big mess. The back cover says, winningly, that this is “like a teenage version of 24“.

First sentence: The man with the knife was a stranger.

Heist Society, Ally Carter (287 pages) – another punny title from the Gallagher Girls creator. Kat has been trying to leave her family business (being one of jewel heists and scams), but when a noted mobster’s art collection is stolen and her father ends up being suspect number 1 Kat must find who is really responsible, and keep one step ahead of Interpol and the mob.

First sentence: No one knew for certain when the trouble started at the Colgan School.

Plus we’ve also got:

Fade Out (Morganville Vampires), Rachel Caine

Falling Hook, Line and Sinker (An Electra Brown book), Helen Bailey

The Den of Shadows Quartet, Amelia Atwater-Rhodes (this is In the Forests of the Night, Demon in My View, Shattered Mirror and Midnight Predator in one volume).