New Books for April 2016 (part 8)

The Steep and Thorny Way by Cat Winters

Historical Fiction 

1920s Oregon is not a welcoming place for Hanalee Denney, the daughter of a white woman and an African-American man. She has almost no rights by law, and the Ku Klux Klan breeds fear and hatred in even Hanalee's oldest friendships. Plus, her father, Hank Denney, died a year ago, hit by a drunk-driving teenager. Now her father's killer is out of jail and back in town, and he claims that Hanalee's father wasn't killed by the accident at all but, instead, was poisoned by the doctor who looked after him--who happens to be Hanalee's new stepfather. The only way for Hanalee to get the answers she needs is to ask Hank himself, a "haint" wandering the roads at night.

A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro

Mystery 

Jamie Watson has always been intrigued by Charlotte Holmes; after all, their great-great-great-grandfathers are one of the most infamous pairs in history. But the Holmes family has always been odd, and Charlotte is no exception. She's inherited Sherlock's volatility and some of his vices--and when Jamie and Charlotte end up at the same Connecticut boarding school, Charlotte makes it clear she's not looking for friends. But when a student they both have a history with dies under suspicious circumstances, ripped straight from the most terrifying of the Sherlock Holmes stories, Jamie can no longer afford to keep his distance. Danger is mounting and nowhere is safe--and the only people they can trust are each other.

Sure Signs of Crazy by Karen Harrington

Contemporary Fiction 

Love can be a trouble word for some people. Crazy is also a trouble word. I should know. You've never met anyone exactly like twelve-year-old Sarah Nelson. While most of her friends obsess over Harry Potter, she spends her time writing letters to Atticus Finch. She collects trouble words in her diary. Her best friend is a plant. And she's never known her mother, who left when Sarah was two. Since then, Sarah and her dad have moved from one small Texas town to another, and not one has felt like home. Everything changes when Sarah launches an investigation into her family's Big Secret. She makes unexpected new friends and has her first real crush, and instead of a "typical boring Sarah Nelson summer," this one might just turn out to be extraordinary.

Sword and Verse by Kathy McMillan

Fantasy 

Raisa was just a child when she was sold into slavery in the kingdom of Qilara. Before she was taken away, her father had been adamant that she learn to read and write. But where she now lives, literacy is a capital offense for all but the nobility. The written language is closely protected, and only the King, Prince, Tutor, and Tutor-in-training are allowed to learn its very highest form. So when she is plucked from her menial labor and selected to replace the last Tutor-in-training, who was executed, Raisa knows that betraying any hint of her past could mean death. Keeping her secret guarded is hard enough, but the romance that's been blossoming between her and Prince Mati isn't helping matters. Then Raisa is approached by the Resistance--an underground rebel army--to help liberate the city's slaves. She wants to free her people, but that would mean aiding a war against Mati. As Raisa struggles with what to do, she discovers a secret that the Qilarites have been hiding for centuries--one that, if uncovered, could bring the kingdom to its knees.

Thanks for the Trouble by Tommy Wallach

Paranormal 

"Was this story written about me?" I shrugged. "Yes or no?" I shrugged again, finally earning a little scowl, which somehow made the girl even more pretty. "It's very rude not to answer simple questions," she said. I gestured for my journal, but she still wouldn't give it to me. So I took out my pen and wrote on my palm. I can't , I wrote. Then, in tiny letters below it: Now don't you feel like a jerk? Parker Santé hasn't spoken a word in five years. While his classmates plan for bright futures, he skips school to hang out in hotels, killing time by watching the guests. But when he meets a silver-haired girl named Zelda Toth, a girl who claims to be quite a bit older than she looks, he'll discover there just might be a few things left worth living for.

New Books for the New Year - January 2016 New Books part 8

Red Girl, Blue Boy by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Contemporary Fiction 

As Katie's father and Drew's mother vie for the Presidency, the sixteen-year-olds start--and end--a romance, but the press finds out, both candidates' poll numbers rise, and the two are asked to flaunt their former relationship.

Rot & Ruin: Warrior Smart by Jonathan Maberry

Graphic Novel 

Four friends travel through the Sierra Nevada mountains, one step ahead of the zombie hordes and a long way from their destination.

Sasquatch by Andrea Schicke Hirsch

Mystery 

Following his parents' ugly divorce, Jake Oliver chooses to move with his father to a remote corner of Connecticut. It is bad enough that their new home turns out to be a fenced-in dump in the middle of nowhere, but it seems that the previous owner, his dad's late Uncle Horace, had been the local crackpot ridiculed by the community for his belief that a Bigfoot roamed the vast woodland preserve that lay beyond the property. Not everything about Jake's new life is bad, though. His job at the local market is okay, and it doesn't hurt that his coworker is pretty Nell Davis. But when odd things start to happen, like weird calls in the dead of night, stones thrown by an unseen assailant, and lingering foul odors wafting on the breeze, Jake starts to believe that maybe old Horace wasn't so crazy after all. With Nell's help, Jake is determined to make a name for himself by proving to the world that the mythical Sasquatch is alive and well and living in the woods just on the other side of that fence.

The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman

Fantasy 

On the eve of her wedding, a young queen sets out to rescue a princess from an enchantment. She casts aside her fine wedding clothes, takes her chain mail and her sword and follows her brave dwarf retainers into the tunnels under the mountain towards the sleeping kingdom.

The Smart Girl's Guide to Privacy: Practical Tips for Staying Safe Online by Violet Blue

Nonfiction

Everybody's talking about online privacy, personal security and cybersecurity -- and for good reason: we have less privacy than ever before. Social media, online dating, photo sharing, mobile everything… It can make your life a dream -- or a nightmare. The Smart Girl’s Guide to Privacy is the only guide focused on privacy for women. This book helps you hack your way through the jungle of privacy chaos and fight back against sleazy marketers, unethical megacorporations, scammers, stalkers, hacked apps, and thieves. 

First Books of Summer ~ June New Books part 6

This Star Won't Go Out: The Life & Words of Esther Grace Earl by Esther Earl

A memoir told through the journals, letters, and stories of young cancer patient Esther Earl.

Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor

From the streets of Rome to the caves of the Kirin and beyond, humans, chimaera, and seraphim will fight, strive, love, and die in an epic theater that transcends good and evil, right and wrong, friend and enemy.

Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson

Quiet Emily's sociable and daring best friend, Sloane, has disappeared leaving nothing but a random list of bizarre tasks for her to complete, but with unexpected help from popular classmate Frank Porter, Emily gives them a try.

 A Stranger Thing by Martin Leicht & Isla Neal

Pregnancy was pretty rough for sixteen-year-old Elvie Nara, what with the morning sickness, constant food cravings, and the alien race war she found herself in the middle of. But if she thought giving birth to an extraterrestrial’s baby would be the hard part, she was sorely mistaken.  After Elvie somehow has a baby girl, the always-male Almiri completely wig out. Suddenly Elvie’s supposed allies have shipped her—along with her father, her best friend, Ducky, and her maybe-boyfriend, boneheaded Almiri commando Cole Archer—off to a remote “retention facility” (aka alien jail) in Antarctica. Talk about cold. But things really get complicated when a new group of hybrid aliens arrive with information that sends Elvie’s world spinning. Before long, Elvie is trekking across the bottom of the Earth with a band of friends and frenemies to uncover the secrets of her own origin. Will Elvie ever be able to convince the Almiri that a conspiracy to conquer the planet is a greater threat than a sixteen-year-old girl and a newborn who won’t stop crying?