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.

Happy birthday to me! ~ New Books for March (part 8)

Wild by Alex Mallory

Contemporary Fiction

The forest is full of secrets, and no one understands that better than Cade. Foraging, hunting, surviving--that's all he knows. Alone for years, Cade believes he's the sole survivor. At least, until he catches a glimpse of a beautiful stranger. . . . Dara expected to find natural wonders when she set off for a spring break camping trip. Instead, she discovers a primitive boy--he's stealthy and handsome and he might be following her. Intrigued, Dara seeks him out and sets a catastrophe in motion. Thrust back into society, Cade struggles with the realization that the life he knew was a lie. But he's not the only one. Trying to explain life in a normal town leaves Dara questioning it. As the media swarm and the police close in, Dara and Cade risk everything to get closer. But will the truth about Cade's past tear them apart?

Wildlife by Fiona Wood

Contemporary Fiction 

Two sixteen-year-old girls in Australia come together at an outdoor semester of school, before university--one thinking about boys and growing up, the other about death and grief, but somehow they must help each other to find themselves.

Zits: Shredded by Jerry Scott & Jim Borgman

Contemporary Fiction

Zits jumps from the comics page to the bookshelf, and Zits: Shredded is perfect for fans of James Patterson's Homeroom Diaries as well as the Zits comic strip!

Jeremy Duncan and his friends Hector and Pierce are hitting the road! That is, if they can squeeze enough french fries to get their newly veggie oil–powered van to Dog Tired Records in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. It's road trip time!

Zodiac by Romina Russell

Science Fiction 

When a violent blast strikes the moons of Cancer, sending its ocean planet off-kilter and killing thousands of citizens, Rhoma Grace, a sixteen-year-old student from House Cancer, must convince twelve worlds to unite as one Zodiac against Ophiuchus, the exiled thirteenth Guardian of Zodiac legend, who has returned to exact his revenge across the Galaxy.

Zom-B Bride by Darren Shan

Science Fiction 

B Smith has been reunited with the murderous maniac clown, Mr. Dowling. To her shock and consternation, he's desperate to make B his partner in crime. Mr. Dowling disgusts her, but B thinks she can see a way to control him and maybe even save the world. But it will involve a sacrifice far greater and more surreal than any she has contemplated before...

Zomburbia by Adam Gallardo

Action/Adventure 

Displeased with her small-town life in Salem, Oregon, Courtney Hart sells drugs through the drive-thru at her job to earn enough money to run away to New York, while avoiding both the advances of boys in her high school and the town's ever-present zombiehorde.

Happy birthday to me! ~ New Books for March (part 3)

Famous in Love by Rebecca Serle

Contemporary Fiction

When seventeen-year-old Paige is discovered in Portland, Oregon, and brought to Hollywood to star in a major motion picture, she finds all of the fame and adulation she had dreamed of but also gets caught in a romantic whirlwind, both on and off screen. 

Famous Last Words by Katie Alender

High-schooler Willa has just moved to California with her mother and film director stepfather, and she will be attending a private school--but her real problem is that she keeps seeing things that are not really there, like a dead body in the swimming pool, and her visions may be connected to a serial killer that is stalking young girls in Hollywood.

Firebrand by Antony John

Science Fiction

In a dystopian United States, the colonists of Roanoke Island must find safety at the mysterious Fort Sumter, but as they get further from their home, their elemental powers begin to fade.

Friendship Bracelets All Grown Up: Hemp, Floss, and Other Boho Chic Designs to Make by Suzanne McNeill

Nonfiction 

Presents step-by-step, illustrated instructions for crafting bracelets using embroidery floss and hemp in a variety of intricate patterns of knots, including chevrons, stripes, and waves, with embellishments such as beads and buttons.

Heap House by Edward Carey

Science Fiction 

Young Clod is an Iremonger. He lives in at Heap House, his family's mansion at the center of the Heaps, a vast sea of lost and discarded items whose ever-shifting masses have been known to swallow people alive. The Iremongers are an odd old family, each the owner of a Birth Object they must keep with them at all times. Clod is perhaps the oddest of all--his gift and his curse is that he can hear all of the objects of Heap House whispering. Yes, a storm is brewing over Heap House. The Iremongers are growing restless and the house's many objects are showing strange signs of life. Clod is on the cusp of being 'trousered' and married off (unhappily) to his cousin Pinalippy when he meets the plucky orphan servant Lucy Pennant, with whose help he begins to uncover the dark secrets of his family's empire.

Thanks for the New Books! ~ November New Books Part 2

Can't Look Away by Donna Cooner

Sixteen-year-old Torrey Grey's YouTube videos on fashion and beauty for teenagers were famous, but when her younger sister is killed by a drunk driver during a filming her world falls apart--cyber bullies are attacking her, her father moves them to Texas, and she does not know who to trust at her new school or whether her cousin is really a friend.

Chloe by Design: Making the Cut by Margaret Gurevich

In this compilation of four separately published books, sixteen-year-old Chloe Montgomery gets a chance to travel from Santa Cruz to New York City to compete in Teen Design Diva, a competitive game show for aspiring teenage fashion designers.

Clariel by Garth Nix

Clariel is the daughter of one of the most notable families in the Old Kingdom, with blood relations to the Abhorsen and, most important, to the King. She dreams of living a simple life but discovers this is hard to achieve when a dangerous Free Magic creature is loose in the city, her parents want to marry her off to a killer, and there is a plot brewing against the old and withdrawn King Orrikan. When Clariel is drawn into the efforts to find and capture the creature, she finds hidden sorcery within herself, yet it is magic that carries great dangers. Can she rise above the temptation of power, escape the unwanted marriage, and save the King? This epic fantasy adventure is destined to be a classic, and is perfect for fans of Game of Thrones. 

The Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winters

In Portland, Oregon, in 1900, seventeen-year-old Olivia Mead, a suffragist, is hypnotized by the intriguing young Henri Reverie, who is paid by her father to make her more docile and womanly but who, instead, gives her the ability to see people's true natures, while she secretly continues fighting for women's rights. Includes timeline and historical photographs.

The Devil's Intern by Donna Hosie

Seventeen-year-old Mitchell discovers a time-travel device that will allow him to escape his internship in Hell's accounting office and return to Earth, but his plans to alter the circumstances of his own death take an unexpected turn when his three closest friends in Hell insist on accompanying him back to the land of the living.  

MAY I have some New Books Please? (Part 4)

Danny Blackgoat, a sixteen-year-old Navajo, is labeled a troublemaker during the Long Walk of 1864 and sent to a prisoner outpost in Texas, where fellow captive Jim Davis saves him from a bully and starts him on the road to literacy--and freedom.

Wonder Woman must travel to Hell to rescue her friend Zola from Hades, a vengeful god who wants more from Wonder Woman than just her soul.

When 100 juvenile delinquents are sent on a mission to recolonize Earth, they get a second chance at freedom, friendship, and love, as they fight to survive in a dangerous new world.

 Seventeen-year-old Harper Price's charmed life is turned upside down when she discovers she's been given magical powers in order to protect her school nemesis David Stark, who's an Oracle

When the Spanish influenza epidemic reaches Portland, Oregon, in 1918, seventeen-year-old Cleo leaves behind the comfort of her boarding school to work for the Red Cross.