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140 pages

English

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This suspenseful debut follows a group of teenage misfits in their delicious quest for revenge on those who have wronged them at their high school. When a mysterious note appears in Charlotte’s mailbox inviting her to join the League of Strays, she’s hopeful it will lead to making friends. What she discovers is a motley crew of loners and an alluring, manipulative ringleader named Kade. Kade convinces the group that they need one another both for friendship and to get back at the classmates and teachers who have betrayed them. But Kade has a bigger agenda. In addition to vandalizing their school and causing fights between other students, Kade’s real intention is a dangerous plot that will threaten lives and force Charlotte to choose between her loyalty to the League and her own conscience.Praise for League of Strays"A group of misfits is drawn together by a charismatic, sinister boy for friendship and revenge."—Kirkus Reviews"Readers may very well be drawn in by the suspense of the pranks, each more cringe worthy than the last."—Booklist"A solid psychological thriller, this novel will find a fan base with readers who enjoy their vigilante justice with a heavy helping of vengeance."—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books"This is a great book about the trials of high school. First loves, friends, enemies, bullying, difficult teachers, pushy parents, deciding your future, it’s all here."—The Tulsa Examiner

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Publié par	ABRAMS BOOKS
Date de parution	01 octobre 2012
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781613123751
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0763€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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WHEN CHARLOTTE, A LONELY STUDENT at a new high school, receives a mysterious note inviting her to join the League of Strays, she s hopeful it will lead to making friends. What she discovers is a group of loners and an alluring, manipulative leader named Kade, who convinces them that they need each other for friendship . . . and for taking revenge on those who have wronged them in the past.
But Kade has an even bigger agenda, and soon Charlotte finds herself tangled in a destructive web of secrets and lies. Vandalizing the school and causing fights between students aren t enough to satisfy the League. Kade masterminds a dangerous plot that will threaten lives and force Charlotte to choose between her loyalty to the League and her own conscience.

PUBLISHER S NOTE: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Schulman, L. B.
League of Strays / by L. B. Schulman.
p. cm.
Summary: An alluring, manipulative student convinces a group of social misfits to come together for friendship and to get back at the classmates and teachers who have wronged them. ISBN 978-1-4197-0403-1 (alk. paper) [1. Friendship-Fiction. 2. Revenge-Fiction. 3. Loyalty-Fiction. 4. High schools-Fiction. 5. Schools-Fiction.] I. Title. PZ7.S38664Le 2012 [E]-dc23 2012008315
Text copyright 2012 L. B. Schulman
Book design by Maria T. Middleton
Published in 2012 by Amulet Books, an imprint of ABRAMS. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. Amulet Books and Amulet Paperbacks are registered trademarks of Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
Amulet Books are available at special discounts when purchased in quantity for premiums and promotions as well as fundraising or educational use. Special editions can also be created to specification. For details, contact specialsales@abramsbooks.com or the address below.
115 West 18th Street New York, NY 10011 www.abramsbooks.com
FOR MY FAMILY
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Acknowledgments
Author s Note
I PEDALED DOWN THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, RELYING ON passing headlights to lead my way. No one knew I was out here. No one. What if a car slammed into me, knocking me into a ditch? If I didn t die from my injuries, I d freeze to death long before anyone spotted my crumpled bike.
A bitter January gust whipped my hair into my eyes. I was shivering so hard, I could barely steer my bike in a straight line. I pulled my hood up with one shaking hand while cars honked and swerved, choking me with their exhaust fumes.
I veered onto the dirt and climbed off my bike, coughing so hard that it brought tears to my eyes. This was the craziest thing I d ever done, and right now it didn t seem worth it. As I waited for a caravan of trucks to rumble by, I dried my sweaty palms on my jeans, crinkling the paper inside my pocket to make sure that the letter I d found in the mailbox-without a stamp or return address-was still there. What kind of meeting required sneaking out of the house at ten on a school night, anyway? But I knew if I didn t show up, I d never find out.
My worst fear was that this was all some kind of joke. If it was, I knew who was behind it. I d been Tiffany Miller s scapegoat since kindergarten, and it had only gotten worse in middle school. She used to stick gum in my hair, and when I wore something new, she left her mark with a pen. Kid stuff, Mom had said. Whatever, it still stung.
Five months ago, right before my senior year, the Law Offices of Posner and Huggins had offered my father a partnership. Moving won t be so bad, I d thought, other than leaving my best friend, Sofie. It was only to a different part of the state. But the laugh was on me when Tiffany s father, a corporal in the Army, transferred his family to the military base a few miles away. How nice , Mom had said, a familiar face at your new school. But then, she d always been out of touch with reality. Mine, at least.
The thing was, the invitation wasn t really Tiffany s style. She wasn t the type to plan ahead. What if someone else wrote the letter, someone who really did want me to join a special club? Yeah, right, I told myself, trying to keep my expectations in check. Since starting school, no one had asked me anything deeper than What s your name? or Where d you come from? But at five foot ten, with a mass of curls that went through a bottle of Frizz-Ease every month, I didn t exactly blend in with the cement-block walls. What if someone had noticed me?
I finally reached Stafford Pond and leaned my bike against a cracked bench dotted with bird crap. My stomach contracted as I turned around in a circle, careful not to leave my back exposed for more than a second. Was someone hiding out there, watching me?
Nothing .
I scanned the opaque curtain of trees, searching for the whites of an eye, the flash of a camera, the sound of hushed laughter. I d prepared myself for many scenarios, but not nothing . My pulse throbbed in my ears, muffling the rattle of the wind through the trees. I checked the time on my cell phone. Eight minutes after ten. What if they d thought I wasn t going to show up and had already left?
I exhaled slowly to calm my heart, which was still thrashing inside me from the stress of sneaking out of my house. The sliding glass door had offered the perfect escape route. Of course, I d only made it halfway up the hilly side yard before I slipped on a patch of ice and went flying into a rusted wheelbarrow that pitched to the side with a dramatic thwack . I d crawled behind the air-conditioner unit and peered around it into the living room.
Mom had been stretched out on the couch, a leg on Dad s lap. She d eyed the window before turning back to her favorite weight-loss show. They probably couldn t imagine that their daughter would be anywhere except in bed. The trust I d earned over the years was proof of my boring life.
Only, tonight wasn t so boring. I was standing in the middle of a desolate park like a bull s-eye. I glanced at the massive mulberry tree that stood guard over the pond. If I climbed it, I could see them before they saw me . I reached for the lowest branch and hauled myself up. I hadn t been in a tree since I was a kid, and this was the second one in a night-the first having been the escape route outside my raised bedroom porch. Very mature, Charlotte, playing in trees. I m sure whoever s watching is real impressed. I tried not to think about the possibility that I d just trapped myself up here.
The full moon beamed a spotlight on the icy surface of the pond. Everything was still. Too still. I worked to free the letter from my pocket, careful not to lose my grip and plummet to the ground.
Ironing the invitation with a fist, I read it for what must ve been the hundredth time:
Dear Charlotte, You have been chosen to join the League of Strays. A secret meeting will be held at Stafford Pond, fourth picnic table on the right at 10:00, Wednesday night. Come alone. Make sure nobody follows you, or you won t hear from us again.
- K .
I squinted at the signature. Was it a K or a cursive T? Even Tiffany wouldn t be stupid enough to sign her own initial. Besides, it definitely looked like a K .
I twisted around at a noise and lost my footing. I managed to hook an arm on a branch, saving myself from a broken bone or two. What the hell was I doing out in the woods at night?
And that s when I saw Nora Walker, genius extraordinaire, emerge from the dark. She walked straight to the picnic table and sat down, head swiveling like a security camera in a bank. My heart plunged to the ground like a kite with a hole in it.
Nora didn t qualify as the secret-admirer type. In fact, I couldn t think of a single reason she would ask me to meet her here. But since I d come all this way, I owed it to myself to find out.
I slid down the tree, the bark cutting into my arm. Nora jumped three inches. Dammit, who s there?
Charlotte Brody. I took a hesitant step forward.
Her arms and legs crossed in perfect synchronization. Why d you send me this note?
I stared at her, bewildered. I didn t, I said, waving my letter at her. I got one, too. I hesitated for a moment, then asked, Do you know a girl named Tiffany Miller?
Who?
Never mind.
Nora gestured for me to take the seat beside her. I walked around the table and sat down on the opposite side.
If no one comes in two minutes, I m leaving. She nudged her silver-rimmed glasses up the bridge of her nose. I have a paper due in AP biology on the caliber of fetal versus adult stem cells in disease management. Whenever Nora opened her mouth, it sounded like she was reciting from the vocabulary section of an SAT prep book.
My favorite theory, the one where I d been selected to join an elite organization, disintegrated like a wet paper towel now that she was here. We were too different to belong to the same club. But Nora wanted to see what this was all about, just like me.
I spun around at the sound of crunching leaves. Zoe Carpenter, dressed in her usual oversized army jacket, tight black jeans, and trashed hiking