Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon and Dean Hale

Everyone's trying their hand at graphic novels these days. Shannon Hale, writer of great girl power novels, and her husband have teamed up illustrator Nathan Hale (no relation) to create this reimagining of the story of Rapunzel. Rapunzel grows up with Mother Gothel in great luxury but when she starts to ask too many questions, Gothel exiles her to a giant tree from which their is seemingly no escape. While she's there, Rapunzel's hair grows and grows and she learns to use it as a lasso. By using it as a rope, she gets out of the tree and finds herself working with a mysterious outlaw in a wild west setting to right the many wrongs that Gothel has perpetrated. Fabulous girl power, an appealingly klutzy heroine and true love's kiss at the end. Highly recommended. Available August 19.

The Tomorrow Code

The Tomorrow Code, by Brian Falkner
Tane and Rebecca are all that stand in the way of the end of the world, but they don't know it yet. All they know is that they seem to be getting cryptic messages from the future. They start out trying to decode strings of 0's and 1's using Tane's computer and before they know it, they're buying a winning lottery ticket, sneaking into a highly secure genetics laboratory and researching buying a submarine. The New Zealand setting is at once exotic and familiar and the details about Maori culture are woven seamlessly. Science fiction and adventure--a great combo. Coming in October.