Hey, it's another birthday! (Well, truth be told, every day is somebody's, right?) But today we celebrate an author a lot of us have read a lot of, in many cases. In fact, we just discussed one recently in Book Discussion. IF THE WITNESS LIED was the most recent offering from the very prolific CAROLINE B. COONEY, so wish that lady a happy birthday today, at least in your thoughts.

Read more about her right here:

Teenreads.com -- Author Profile: Caroline B. Cooney

Now, I will hawk some great new books now sitting idly on my New Teen Fiction shelves.

First off, let me highly recommend a new work from the Printz award winning Australian author Melina Marchetta. FINNIKIN OF THE ROCK is an epic fantasy of ancient magic, feudal itnrigue, ropmance, and bloodshed that, according the book flap, will rivet you from the first page. Well-reviewed, this rocking fantasy will definitely meet the needs of a lot of fans of the genre, without doubt.

Second, Catherine Jinks (of EVIL GENIUS fame) has penned another teen fic, LIVING HELL, and this time she's crafted a sci-fi/fantasy/adventure featuring a seventeen year old boy who leads humanity in a fight for survival while machines that had formerly run their world turn upon them, treating all humans as parasites. It is as good as it sounds.

Finally, David Klass, author of YOU DON'T KNOW ME, has written STUCK ON EARTH, a sci-fic novel which offers that intriguing tale of a space alien sent to earth to judge whether the human race should be destroyed, who winds up inhabiting the body of a bullied fourteen-year-old boy. Wry and wickedly amusing as Klass can be, this is a worthy read.

And I would be remiss if I did not mention the next in the ever-so-very-popular CLIQUE series by Lisi Harrison. THESE BOOTS ARE MADE FOR STALKING. For personal reasons, I will not critique this book (as if you need me to anyway!).