Every year millions of families visit a magical place Walt Disney World in Orlando. But do they ever stop to think about what life might be like for the people who make that magic happen, for the Snow Whites and Plutos who work there? That’s the premise of Dream Factory, in which Cinderella and Prince Charming or at least the people who play them might not live happily ever after after all.

When Disney’s regular costume characters go on strike, the company hires kids from around the country to fill in. The show must go on! Cinderella is played by Ella, a wistful girl whose family history haunts her, even in the happiest place on earth. Her Prince Charming is a Disney insider named Mark, who has royal good looks but fails to set Ella’s world on fire. Also on the staff is Luke, whose Disney stint is a way to delay his future career in the family business, which seems planned out, down to his wing-tipped shoes. His future is ideal, but is it possible that Luke might want a future that’s less than perfect on paper, but just right for him? Written in alternate chapters in Luke’s and Ella’s voices by Brad Barkley and Heather Hepler, this behind-the-scenes novel is both a touching love story and a commentary on a culture that treasures fairy-tale endings, sometimes at the expense of real life. Dream Factory has plenty of funny, imaginative details about theme park trivia, insufferable guests and characters who go naked under their costumes, but it also has a serious message about creating an authentic life, far away from fairy land.

Best-selling fantasy author Neil Gaiman has become a household name to fans of the genre, with books and graphic novels such as The Sandman, Coraline and Anansi Boys. As a child, Gaiman found that short stories were ideally suited to how he read, offering potent mouthfuls of other worlds, just the right size to be swallowed whole before lights-out. Another benefit of story collections is their diversity if one tale doesn't suit, the reader can always skip ahead to the next. Both of these elements make Gaiman's inventive new collection, M Is for Magic, a particularly good choice for summer reading.

One of my favorite stories is "Chivalry," in which an elderly widow purchases the Holy Grail from her neighborhood thrift shop. An errant knight appears and attempts to win the Grail from her, only to be put to work on delightfully mundane tasks, his offers staunchly refused. A favorite of a different sort, "The Price" leaves readers with an unsettled chill. A devoted rescuer-of-cats learns that a favorite stray is actually rescuing him, fighting a losing battle with the devil, who is stalking the narrator's family. And then there's the dreamy, utterly terrifying "How to Talk to Girls at Parties," where two would-be Romeos crash the wrong party in search of some action and end up angering a universe.

"Horror stays with you hardest," Gaiman says. "Fantasy gets into your bones." Stories can terrify or entrance; in M Is for Magic, they do both at once.

Fifteen-year-old Kendra Bishop is sick and tired. She’s sick of her parents, high-powered Manhattan bankers and exercise junkies who always have time to run another marathon but can’t spare a second to give Kendra a hug. She’s tired of living according to the rules her parents keep in a binder and expect her to follow without question. So when Kendra sees an ad for the reality show The Black Sheep, in which teenagers from wildly different environments switch families, she writes a heartfelt letter of application. When Kendra is actually picked for the show, she has second thoughts about spending time in California, with the crunchy-granola Mulligans, a free-wheeling family with a full house, few rules and a kleptomaniac ferret. She’s especially put off by Judy, the show’s producer, who’s so determined to create a good story that she has entirely lost sight of, well, reality. After a few days with the Mulligans, though (and especially with their hot teenage son Mitch), Kendra’s determined to see her Black Sheep experience as an opportunity: A Black Sheep tosses out her parents’ rule book and invents her own. The sassy, sharp-tongued narrator of The Black Sheep will appeal to teen readers. Kendra’s transformation into a passionate, independent thinker reminds us of the ways in which all young people eventually define themselves as individuals even if it means being the black sheep of the family for a while.

Nat does not have a normal life. He’s an orphan. It’s been years since he stepped inside a school. And he’s a young teenager living alone in a creepy house in Seattle. But if those were the only oddities in Nat’s life, he’d be thankful. Because his house isn’t just creepy it’s alive. African masks insult each other across the hallways. Chairs scamper around the rooms. The clawed feet of the table actually have claws and everywhere you look, if you can see them (as Nat can), there are demons. Big demons, little demons, prankster demons and helpful demons. But the worst demon is the Beast, a big, nasty, people-eating demon locked in the basement that can never, ever, ever be allowed to escape.

Nat is their keeper, charged with preventing these creatures of chaos from wreaking havoc on the normal world. It’s a thankless job and a lonely one, and the one day Nat decides to take a break from the loneliness with Sandy, an equally lonely teenage library volunteer, all chaos breaks loose in particular, the Beast.

Soon Nat and Sandy are racing through the streets of Seattle, trying to catch the Beast, while street children disappear, demons run amok and an eerie, evil stranger pursues them all.

Demonkeeper is a page turner, deftly combining humor and suspense with just a taste of horror. The final solution is a surprising twist, a delightfully clever bit of logic that readers won’t see coming but won’t feel cheated by either.

Don’t be put off by the title of this book; Nat’s creatures are simply embodiments of entropy accidents, pranks and randomness personified as little monsters more like PokŽmon with a mischievous streak. Attorney-turned-author Royce Buckingham makes a conscious effort to state this distinction, and Nat is not an occultist muttering spells, he’s just a zookeeper in over his head.

Demonkeeper is a rollicking good tale with fun, appealing characters, a pleasant dash of innocent young romance and a solid heart and the message that sometimes what a child needs more than anything is a place to call home.

Howard Shirley is a writer in Franklin, Tennessee.

If there ever was a bad seed, it’s Cadel Piggott. At the tender age of seven, he’s been put into counseling for hacking into computers illegally, but the counseling he gets isn’t quite what his foster parents think it is. Thaddeus Roth isn’t your typical psychologist; he encourages Cadel’s forays into the dark side of the online world and applauds and critiques his young charge as the boy manipulates the system to cause massive traffic jams and wide-scale power outages. In order to earn himself a new computer, he comes up with an electronic pen-pal scheme (think Face Book), which will have a bigger impact on his life than he could dream. Finally, as a graduation present to a high-school class with whom he neither identifies nor feels comfortable (being considerably younger than the rest), Cadel surreptitiously arranges for many of them to flunk out. A 14-year-old high school graduate with such an unusual skill set doesn’t belong in a normal university, but Thaddeus Roth has a solution along with some other surprises.

As we soon learn, Cadel is the son of Thaddeus Roth’s employer Dr. Phineas Darkkon, a criminal overlord of astonishing ability, currently serving a life term at one of Australia’s most impregnable maximum security prisons, not that this keeps him from communicating with his son. He establishes a school just for Cadel the Axis Institute for World Domination and Cadel will soon be joining the incoming freshman class, where he’ll learn such useful skills as Advanced Lying, Disguises, Embezzlement and of course, Computer Infiltration. The class is a mixed lot, including twin blonde girls who might be telepathic, a boy who wants to become a vampire, and a boy named Gazo whose body odor is so lethal that he has to wear a protective suit and who wants to be Cadel’s best friend! Friendship is the one thing lacking in Cadel’s life, that is, until he begins corresponding anonymously with a nurse named Kay-Lee, 10 years his senior, on his electronic pen-pal site. She’s funny and interesting, and has an amazing grasp of mathematics, and while he knows it’s wrong to lead her on, he enjoys his Internet chats with her. Then, when things take a darker, troubling turn at the Axis Institute, he finds he needs Kay-Lee’s support just to keep going. Could he actually be developing a conscience? Evil Genius is a kid-sized thriller, a fast-paced, intriguing novel for teens about the nature of good and evil. With surprising plot twists and steady doses of humor, Australian writer Catherine Jinks offers some much-needed escapism just in time for summer.

Sara Ryan’s first novel, 2001’s The Empress of the World, was widely hailed as one of the first teen novels to portray a lesbian relationship as a romance, not an identity crisis. In The Rules for Hearts, Ryan revisits one of her debut novel’s main characters while continuing to develop her themes of maturity, self-discovery, love and loss. Still nursing a broken heart after her first big relationship, Battle Hall Davies has just driven from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to Portland, Oregon, where she will be a freshman at Reed College in the fall. Battle’s the good one in the family, the one her parents are proud of but little do her parents know that Battle is moving cross-country at the urging of her brother Nick, who’s been estranged from the family for more than four years. Battle has always idolized her older brother, and jumps at the chance to reconnect with him by moving into the co-op house where he lives with an eccentric group of friends. Soon enough, Battle herself is drawn into the games and dramas both real and figurative that characterize the house’s inhabitants. Battle even finds herself attracted to Meryl, an elusive young woman who seems to have a history with Nick. Before the summer is over, though, Battle will have discovered some new information about Meryl and Nick and herself that cause her to view all three in a brand-new light.

It’s no accident that the house where Battle finds herself is called Forest House, or that the house’s inhabitants stage a community theater production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Ryan makes the parallels between real life and Shakespeare’s stage explicit, and early on, the house’s matriarch says the play is about how you don’t come out of the forest unchanged. Sure enough, Battle’s summer at Forest House leaves her deeply changed and far more ready to face college and the rest of her life. Offering few easy answers but much opportunity for reflection, Ryan encourages her readers to travel with Battle on the rocky path to transformation and maturity.

Norah Piehl is a writer and editor who lives near Boston.

Todd Anthony is a typical 14-year-old growing up in a small town in the early 1970s. He likes but doesn’t love going to school; he wonders about the things he sees in the news, like Vietnam and the upcoming presidential elections; he goofs around with his pals; and he helps out at his family’s motel. Todd’s notebook is full of his fanciful writings, put down mostly to amuse himself and his friends, but to his surprise, his teacher, Mrs. Hagerwood, actually likes his work so much so that she soon has the entire class writing, first with reluctance, then enthusiasm.

Todd’s hometown of Elmore, New York, sits along the meandering Chemanga River, and soon after a body is found washed up on its banks following a spring rain, Todd explores the levee looking for some literary inspiration. He finds it, but in ways he doesn’t see coming, starting with a heart-wrenching tragedy and his subsequent encounter with a strange young man known as Rat. Todd learns that Rat is a Vietnam vet, despite his youth, and that he’s having trouble dealing with being back in the world, as one of Rat’s veteran friends terms it. Things take a menacing turn when a drunken guest at the family motel has a run-in with Todd’s grandmother, and things get even darker than the rain clouds overhead when Todd realizes that the dead body, the drunken stranger and Rat are somehow interconnected. He’s determined to find out what is going on, and he’s getting close to the truth, but it just won’t stop raining and the river is rising.

In his first book for teens, author-illustrator Tedd Arnold (Hi! Fly Guy) juxtaposes insight and beauty with crudity and violence, and he does it all in a totally plausible context, void of melodrama or pretension. His novel paints vivid word pictures that play out in your mind, from a sunset painting Indian graves in its golden light, to Todd’s moment of incredible heroism. Rat Life is a compelling book not to be missed give it to a teenager or buy a copy for yourself.

There are worse things in the world than being an ethnic sandwich, but right now, 14-year-old Joseph Calderaro can't think of one. Adopted at birth from Korea by two loving, outspoken Italian-Americans, Joseph runs smack dab into the clash of two cultures, the reality of his adoption and his own coming-of-age in this funny, tender tale by new author Rose Kent.

Joseph's 14th birthday starts with a burned Pop-Tart that should have been a sign. His social studies teacher throws a curve ball at the class when she gives her eighth graders a 1,500-word essay assignment called Tracing Your Past: A Heritage Essay. This is a tough task for Joseph, since the whole idea of his heritage is a bit tricky. His father has given him a corno, a goat horn that Italian men wear on a chain to protect against the malocchio, or evil eye. Not only does the gift remind him of the dreaded assignment, it reminds him that he is not really Italian, either. Each time Joseph tries to ask his father about his adoption and Korean heritage, it seems to drive a wedge between father and son.

In searching for his heritage, Joseph turns to the place every red-blooded American would look: the Internet. And there he finds a Korean any boy would be proud to claim as his ancestor, Olympic athlete Sohn Kee Chung. Faced with the approaching deadline and little help from his anxious but well-meaning parents, Joseph makes a most un-Josephlike decision: he writes that Sohn Kee Chung is his grandfather. When Joseph's invented history is exposed, his parents respond with concern for their confused son and come to understand how his search for a heritage makes him feel squished between two worlds.

For adopted children and others who wish to understand them better, look no further. Kent, the mother of two adopted children from Korea and two biological children who are part Korean, allows us a fascinating fictionalized peek at this world.

Quincie Morris is having a hard time of it. Still recovering from her parents’ accidental death, Quincie feels distant from her guardian uncle, whose vampire wannabe girlfriend is seriously creepy. What’s more, Quincie’s best friend (and secret love) Kieren, a werewolf hybrid who has trouble controlling his impulses, is about to leave human society forever, to find a pack of his own. About the only thing keeping Quincie going these days is her mission to reopen her family’s failed Italian eatery as Sanguini’s, a vampire-themed restaurant, complete with costumes, candelabras and a charismatic chef. But when Sanguini’s head chef is brutally murdered in an incident that looks suspiciously like a werewolf attack, Quincie is left with even more questions. Is it possible that Kieren could be responsible? Will Sanguini’s be able to open on schedule? And, most doubtfully, will Quincie be able to turn her uncle’s choice for a chef, the utterly un-goth Henry Johnson, into a convincingly bloodthirsty chef in time for the grand opening? Set in Austin, Texas, in a world that’s both like and unlike our own, Tantalize is a gothic novel that never takes itself too seriously. Instead of weighing the novel down by explaining supernatural mythology, author Cynthia Leitich Smith simply tells her story, letting readers figure out the hierarchies of wereanimals and vampires, as well as the numerous references to gothic classics, as they go along. This matter-of-fact approach, along with Quincie’s sarcastic narration and take-charge attitude, will appeal to fans both teens and adults of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Whether it’s the whirlwind plot, the unresolved ending, the fabulous Italian food or all that blood, readers will certainly be licking their lips at the end of Tantalize, their appetites whetted for Smith’s next enticing adventure.

In Dana Reinhardt’s second young adult novel, Harmless, three young girls tell a few harmless white lies to keep themselves out of trouble with their parents. This interesting premise allows the author to build a story in which the stakes keep getting higher as the girls dig themselves in deeper with each lie.

Fifteen-year-old freshmen Emma, Anna and Mariah attend a private school in Orsonville, New York. Anna and Emma have been friends for years, and when Anna starts hanging out with Mariah, Emma worries about losing her best friend. Everyone knows about Mariah, the girl with the older boyfriend from public high school. Anna and Emma soon realize that Mariah may be their ticket to popularity, and they agree to hang out with older high school boys to impress their new friend.

In a single defining moment, Anna and Emma lie to their parents and join Mariah in sneaking out with three older boys. Telling the first lie proves to be so easy, they do it again a week later. This time the girls get caught when Emma’s mother attends the movie Emma claimed to be seeing. Rather than come clean, the girls concoct an even greater lie to keep themselves out of trouble but this time they go too far. In trying to take the easy way out, the girls threaten their friendship and shock their entire community. Woven into the story are subplots about the relationship each girl has with her parents and a budding romance between Mariah and Emma’s brother, Silas.

Though Reinhardt’s work is fiction, teen readers will find the situations realistic and believable. Lies, like a house of cards, are stacked one upon another until the whole stack comes crashing down to reveal the ugly truth. Original and provocative, Harmless has an honest ending that doesn’t try to wrap all the loose ends into a pretty package. This novel is sure to be passed from teen to teen. Renee Kirchner is a freelance writer and educator in the Dallas area.

Jade has panic attacks. Even though she's AP English/Calculus smart, and pictures the desert or counts syllables on her fingers to calm her heartbeat, sometimes she still can't stop her throat from constricting or get over the terrible feeling that she is in a box she cannot get out of. One of the things that helps to calm her is to watch the elephants on the webcam of her local zoo.

That's where she first sees Sebastian. And his child. He looks around her age 17 so could that really be his kid? The sight of him becomes something she craves, so it's nice that he keeps a regular schedule. But she wonders why he sometimes comes there at night after the zoo is closed, by himself. What worries him so? When she starts volunteering at the zoo, she thinks it will be good for her college applications, and she might even run into Sebastian sometime. It turns out to be the perfect plan, in so many ways. And Sebastian turns out to be the perfect guy except for the nagging doubts that she can't shake. Still, she finds herself loving everything about him, his grandmother Tess and his little boy Bo.

When Jade finds out the truth, it is even more complicated than she could have guessed. Should she tell her mother? As she makes that decision, the fabric of her own family starts to unravel. Suddenly, her decision forces Sebastian out of her reach, just like he was on the webcam. What is really right? What needs to stay the same, and what is OK even if it changes?

Deb Caletti, whose previous books include The Queen of Everything, National Book Award finalist Honey, Baby, Sweetheart, and Wild Roses, has written a touching portrait of one girl's passage into womanhood. This vivid story, with funny, smart Jade who worries about imaginary problems while real ones are much more likely, is sure to please. With real insight into the concerns of teens, The Nature of Jade offers readers a sort of literary webcam for observing one of Caletti's most intriguing characters.

Linda White is a writer in St. Paul, Minnesota.

A note at the beginning of Twisted warns: This is not a book for children. Indeed it isn’t, but it is a riveting book for high school students. In fact, Twisted is so compelling that I read well past midnight as some of the pivotal scenes unfolded.

The heart of this novel is its narrator, high school senior Tyler Miller, who at first glance might seem to be a typical high school loser. Tyler is doing six months of mandatory community service after spray-painting the walls of his high school with crude remarks about the principal. Take a closer look, though. Tyler is a wonderfully funny, moving narrator and, it turns out, an all-around good guy. He has one smart, true friend nicknamed Yoda. Almost everyone else is against him, however, especially his hard-nosed, workaholic father. His mother drowns all of her sorrows in gin and tonics. Things go from bad to worse when Tyler accidentally creates complete chaos during a dinner party hosted by his father’s boss. Tyler leaves the disastrous party with an enemy who wants revenge the boss’ son, Chip. He also leaves with the hots for the boss’ daughter, Bethany. As Tyler’s senior year begins, he is astounded to find that Bethany returns his interest. She invites him to a party, which gets out of hand. Someone takes unflattering pictures of Bethany and puts them on the Internet. The police get involved, and everyone is convinced that Tyler is to blame. Twisted tackles head-on many of the tough issues facing older teens: alcohol, sex, grades, popularity, honesty, parents, college and more. Despite all of this, it is ultimately an uplifting book, mainly because of the freshness of Tyler’s voice and Anderson’s crisp writing and storytelling. Anderson’s acclaimed young adult books include Fever 1793, Prom and Speak, which was a Best Book of the Year selection by School Library Journal and a finalist for the National Book Award. Give her latest novel to a teenager ready to read about the complexities of high school, and that teen probably won’t be able to put the book down. Alice Cary writes from Groton, Massachusetts.