New Books for June...Finally! (Part 8)

The Notorious Pagan Jones by Nina Berry

Historical Fiction 

Pagan Jones went from America's sweetheart to fallen angel in one fateful night in 1960: the night a car accident killed her whole family. Pagan was behind the wheel and driving drunk. Nine months later, she's stuck in the Lighthouse Reformatory for Wayward Girls and tortured by her guilt--not to mention the sadistic Miss Edwards, who takes special delight in humiliating the once-great Pagan Jones. But all of that is about to change. Pagan's old agent shows up with a mysterious studio executive, Devin Black, and an offer. Pagan will be released from juvenile detention if she accepts a juicy role in a comedy directed by award-winning director Bennie Wexler. The shoot starts in West Berlin in just three days. If Pagan's going to do it, she has to decide fast--and she has to agree to a court-appointed 'guardian,' the handsome yet infuriating Devin, who's too young, too smooth and too sophisticated to be some studio flack. The offer's too good to be true, Berlin's in turmoil and Devin Black knows way too much about her--there's definitely something fishy going on. But if anyone can take on a divided city, a scheming guardian and the criticism of a world that once adored her, it's the notorious Pagan Jones. What could go wrong?

The Novice by Taran Matharu 

Fantasy 

When Fletcher, a blacksmith's apprentice, learns he can summon demons, he travels with his demon to an academy for adepts where he is to train as a Battlemage in the Empire's war against the orcs, but he discovers that all is not as it seems.

Nowhere But Here by Katie McGarry

Contemporary Fiction 

When a reluctant visit turns into an extended summer vacation among relatives Emily never knew she had, one thing becomes clear: nothing is what it seems. Not the club, not her secret-keeping father and not Oz, a guy with suck-me-in blue eyes who can help her understand them both.

Off the Page by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer

Paranormal 

When Delilah is united with Oliver, a prince literally taken from the pages of a fairytale, the line between what is on the page and what is possible is blurred, and all must be resolved for the two to live happily ever after.

The Porcupine of Truth by Bill Konigsberg

Contemporary Fiction 

Seventeen-year-old Carson Speier is bored of Billings, Montana, and resentful that he has to help his mother take care of his father, a dying alcoholic whom he has not seen in fourteen years--but then he meets Aisha, a beautiful African American girl who has run away from her own difficult family, and together they embark on a journey of discovery that may help them both come to terms with their lives.

First Books of Summer ~ June New Books part 7

Hidden like Anne Frank: 14 True Stories of Survival by Marcel Prins & Peter Henk Steenhuis

Fourteen unforgettable true stories of children hidden away during World War II. Jaap Sitters was only eight years old when his mother cut the yellow stars off his clothes and sent him, alone, on a fifteen-mile walk to hide with relatives. It was a terrifying night, one he would never forget. Before the end of the war, Jaap would hide in secret rooms and behind walls. He would suffer from hunger, sickness, and the looming threat of Nazi raids. But he would live. This is just one of the incredible stories told in HIDDEN LIKE ANNE FRANK, a collection of eye-opening first-person accounts that share what it was like to go into hiding during World War II.

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

Amy Gumm, the other girl from Kansas, has been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked to stop Dorothy who has found a way to come back to Oz, seizing a power that has gone to her head -- so now no one is safe!

Scan by Walter Jury & Sarah Fine

Tate Archer outruns armed government officials as he tries to keep his now dead father's strange invention out of the wrong hands, alien hands.

Pretending Normal by Mary Campisi

1976 Before-Sara Polokovich wants out of Norwood, Pennsylvania, population 4,582, where the undertaker and the butcher are the same person. All she has to do is earn a scholarship. Just two more years…but until then, she pours over classics to strengthen her comprehension skills, reviews for the SAT, and continues to request college brochures from every school in the northeast.
Sara’s just buried her mother, her father drinks too much, and her kid sister won’t leave her alone. Why can’t her life be normal? Even half-normal? Why does Frank, (she refuses to think of him as her father anymore), spend all of his time in the garage with that damn ‘57 Chevy? And why does he have to hide bottles all over the house; in the red metal cupboard in the garage, behind the faded orange curtain in the kitchen, under the sink in the bathroom? Why can’t anybody talk about what’s happening?
As Sara struggles to free herself from a life of dysfunction and disease, she will learn the true depths of a parent’s love and the ultimate sacrifice given— and taken— in the name of that love. Pretending Normal follows Sara Polokovich’s coming of age as she discovers the truths about family with all of its flaws and weaknesses as the bond that holds one to another, in love, loyalty, even death.

Alcohol Awareness Month

Hey YAs, April is (among other things) Alcohol Awareness Month.  To get you think about the effects alcohol can have on our lives, I'm putting together a booklist of books that deal with the issue of alcohol.  Maybe take some time this month to read at least one of them. :)

  What's the big deal about drinking, anyway? -- I just wanted to be drunk -- Drinking can't be a matter of life and death, right? -- If I don't drink, I might as well stay home -- I think I'm having a problem.

 Describes more than 150 safe, creative, and natural ways to find contentment, pleasure, excitement, insight, or peace without the use of alcohol or drugs.

A group of teens in a Seattle-area rehabilitation center form an unlikely friendship as they begin to focus less on their own problems with drugs and alcohol by reaching out to help a new member, who seems to have even deeper issues to resolve.

Seventeen-year-old Pattyn, the eldest daughter in a large Mormon family, is sent to her aunt's Nevada ranch for the summer, where she temporarily escapes her alcoholic, abusive father and finds love and acceptance, only to lose everything when she returns home.

  Unable to cope with her father's alcoholism, thirteen-year-old Sam corresponds with an older student, sharing her family problems and asking for advice.

Maine high school senior Katie Martin is set to win a field hockey scholarship until her life is derailed by drinking, a car accident, and an angry classmate.