WOW: Ruby Red & Shimmer

I always enjoy this meme,hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine, as one of my favourite things after reading a good book is searching the upcoming releases for books that are being released.  For some reason, I've always enjoyed browsing catalogues, even as a young girl, and probably should have been a librarian rather than a teacher.  I've been seriously thinking about going that route though.  Anyways, tangent aside, here are a couple of releases I am looking forward to reading in the next few months.

Ruby Red
by Kerstin Gier
Release Date: May 10, 2011

Sixteen-year-old Gwen lives with her extended - and eccentric - family, in an exclusive London neighbourhood.  In spite of her ancestors' peculiar history, she's had a relatively normal life so far.  The time-traveling gene that runs like a secret thread through the female half of the family is supposed o have skipped over Gwen.  So it comes as an unwelcome surprise when she starts taking sudden leaps into the past.

She's totally unprepared for time travel, not to mention all that comes with it: fancy clothes, archaic manners, a mysterious secret society, and Gideon, her time-traveling counterpart.  He's obnoxious, a know-it-all, and possibly the best-looking boy she's seen in a century.

Shimmer (Riley Bloom, Book 2)
by Alyson Noel
Release Date: March 15, 2011

Having solved the matter of the Radian Boy Riley, Buttercup, and Bodhi are enjoying a little time off.  But their rest is interrupted when Riley encounters a young ghost named Rebecca.  Despite Rebecca's sweet appearance, Riley soon learns she's not at all what she seems.  As the daughter of a former plantation owner, Rebecca is furious about being murdered during the slave revolt of 1733.  Her overwhelming anger is keeping other ghosts who died in the slave revolt trapped in a shimmering bubble.  When Bodhi and Buttercup inadvertently fall into her trap, Riley is the only one who can save them.