New Books for April 2016 (part 3)

Front Lines by Michael Grant

Action/Adventure 

World War II, 1942. A court decision makes women subject to the draft and eligible for service. The unproven American army is going up against the greatest fighting force ever assembled, the armed forces of Nazi Germany.

Three girls sign up to fight. Rio Richlin, Frangie Marr, and Rainy Schulterman are average girls, girls with dreams and aspirations, at the start of their lives, at the start of their loves. Each has her own reasons for volunteering: Rio fights to honor her sister; Frangie needs money for her family; Rainy wants to kill Germans. For the first time they leave behind their homes and families—to go to war.

These three daring young women will play their parts in the war to defeat evil and save the human race. As the fate of the world hangs in the balance, they will discover the roles that define them on the front lines. They will fight the greatest war the world has ever known.

Firstlife by Gena Showalter

Science Fiction

Tenley (Ten) Lockwood is an average seventeen-year-old girl who has spent the past thirteen months locked inside the Prynne Asylum. The reason? Not her obsession with numbers, but her refusal to let her parents choose where she'll live after she dies. There is an eternal truth most of the world has come to accept: Firstlife is merely a dress rehearsal, and real life begins after death. In the Everlife, two realms are in power: Troika and Myriad, longtime enemies and deadly rivals. Both will do anything to recruit Ten, including sending their top Laborers to lure her to their side. Soon, Ten finds herself on the run, caught in a wild tug-of-war between the two realms who will do anything to win the right to her soul.

The Gender Quest Workbook: A Guide for Teens & Young Adults Exploring Gender Identity by Rylan Jay Testa, Deborah Coolhart, & Jayme Peta

Nonfiction 

This one-of-a-kind, comprehensive workbook will help you navigate your gender identity and expression at home, in school, and with peers. If you are a transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) teen, you may experience unique challenges with identity and interpersonal relationships. In addition to experiencing common teen challenges such as body changes and peer pressure, you may be wondering how to express your unique identity to others. The Gender Quest Workbook incorporates skills, exercises, and activities from evidence-based therapies--such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)--to help you address the broad range of struggles you may encounter related to gender identity, such as anxiety, isolation, fear, and even depression. Despite outdated beliefs, gender no longer implies being simply male or female, but rather a whole spectrum of possibilities. This fun, engaging workbook is designed specifically for teens like you who want to explore the concept of gender and gender identity and expression--whether you already identify as TGNC or are simply questioning your gender identity. 

The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

Science Fiction 

Sixteen-year-old Nix has sailed across the globe and through centuries aboard her time-traveling father's ship. But when he gambles with her very existence, it all may be about to end.  Nix's life began in Honolulu in 1868. Since then she has traveled to mythic Scandinavia, a land from the tales of One Thousand and One Nights, modern-day New York City, and many more places both real and imagined. As long as he has a map, Nix's father can sail his ship, The Temptation, to any place, any time. But now he's uncovered the one map he's always sought--1868 Honolulu, before Nix's mother died in childbirth. Nix's life--her entire existence--is at stake. No one knows what will happen if her father changes the past. It could erase Nix's future, her dreams, her adventures. her connection with the charming Persian thief, Kash, who's been part of their crew for two years. If Nix helps her father reunite with the love of his life, it will cost her her own.

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard

Fantasy 

Mare Barrow's blood is red--the color of common folk--but her Silver ability, the power to control lightning, has turned her into a weapon that the royal court tries to control. The crown calls her an impossibility, a fake, but as she makes her escape from Maven, the prince--the friend--who betrayed her, Mare uncovers something startling: she is not the only one of her kind. Pursued by Maven, now a vindictive king, Mare sets out to find and recruit other Red-and-Silver fighters to join in the struggle against her oppressors. But Mare finds herself on a deadly path, at risk of becoming exactly the kind of monster she is trying to defeat.Will she shatter under the weight of the lives that are the cost of rebellion? Or have treachery and betrayal hardened her forever?

New Books for April 2016 (part 2)

Burning Midnight by Will McIntosh

Science Fiction 

Sully is a sphere dealer at a flea market. It doesn't pay much--Alex Holliday's stores have muscled out most of the independent sellers--but it helps him and his mom make the rent. No one knows where the brilliant-colored spheres came from. One day they were just there, hidden all over the earth like huge gemstones. Burn a pair and they make you a little better: an inch taller, skilled at math, better-looking. The rarer the sphere, the greater the improvement--and the more expensive the sphere. When Sully meets Hunter, a girl with a natural talent for finding spheres, the two start searching together. One day they find a Gold--a color no one has ever seen. And when Alex Holliday learns what they have, he will go to any lengths, will use all of his wealth and power, to take it from them. There's no question the Gold is priceless, but what does it actually do? None of them is aware of it yet, but the fate of the world rests on this little golden orb. Because all the world fights over the spheres, but no one knows where they come from, what their powers are, or why they're here.

A Criminal Magic by Lee Kelly

Paranormal 

Washington, DC, 1926. While sorcery opponents have succeeded in passing the 18th Amendment, the Prohibition of magic has only invigorated the city's underworld. Smuggling rings funnel magic contraband in from the coast. Sorcerers cast illusions to aid mobsters' crime sprees. Gangs have even established secret venues called "magic havens," where the public can lose themselves in immersive magic, as well as imbibe a mind-bending and highly addictive elixir known as "the sorcerer's shine." Joan Kendrick, ayoung sorcerer from the back woods of Norfolk County, accepts an offer to work for DC's most notorious crime syndicate, The Shaw Gang, when her family's home is repossessed. Alex Danfrey, first-year Federal Prohibition Unit trainee with a complicated pastand talents of his own, becomes tapped to go undercover and infiltrate the Shaws. Joan meets Alex at the Shaws' magic haven, and soon discovers a confidante in her fellow performer. As Alex grows closer to Joan, he begins to fall under her spell. But when a new breed of sorcerer's shine - one sorcered within the walls of the Shaws' magic haven - gets set to change the face of the underworld, Joan and Alex are forced to question their allegiances and motivations, as they become pitted against one anotherin a dangerous, heady game of cat-and-mouse.

Delilah Dirk and the King's Shilling by Tony Cliff

Graphic Novel 

Globetrotting troublemaker Delilah Dirk and her loyal friend Selim are just minding their own business, peacefully raiding castles and and traipsing across enemy lines, when they attract the unwanted attention of the English Army. Before they know it, Delilah and Selim have gotten themselves accused of espionage against the British crown! Delilah will do whatever it takes to clear her good name, be it sneaking, skirmishing, or even sword fighting... But can she bring herself to wear a pretty dress and have a nice cup of tea with her mother? Delilah Dirk may be defeated at last. By tulle.

Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E. K. Johnston

Contemporary Fiction 

At cheerleading camp, Hermione is drugged and raped, but she is not sure whether it was one of her teammates or a boy on another team--and in the aftermath she has to deal with the rumors in her small Ontario town, the often awkward reaction of her classmates, the rejection of her boyfriend, the discovery that her best friend, Polly, is gay, and above all the need to remember what happened so that the guilty boy can be brought to justice.

The Farmerettes by Gisela Tobien Sherman

Historical Fiction 

Six girls just out of high school live together during the summer of 1943 on a farm as part of the Farm Service Force, doing the work of the men who are off fighting the war in Europe. We follow the stories of Helene, who sends her wages home to support her single mother; Peggy, a flirt who spends her time writing to her soldier beaux; Binxie, whose rich family doesn't approve of her; Isabel, who pines over her fiancé, who is off fighting; Jean, whose family farm has been taken over by the "farmerettes," as they became known; and the mysterious X, who of all the girls feels the most out of place. 

New Books for the Best Month ~ March 2016 (part 10)

We Are The Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson

Contemporary Fiction 

Henry Denton has spent years being periodically abducted by aliens. Then the aliens give him an ultimatum: The world will end in 144 days, and all Henry has to do to stop it is push a big red button. Only he isn't sure he wants to. After all, life hasn't been great for Henry. His mom is a struggling waitress held together by a thin layer of cigarette smoke. His brother is a jobless dropout who just knocked someone up. His grandmother is slowly losing herself to Alzheimer's. And Henry is still dealing with the grief of his boyfriend's suicide last year. Wiping the slate clean sounds like a pretty good choice to him. But Henry is a scientist first, and facing the question thoroughly and logically, he begins to look for pros and cons: in the bully who is his perpetual one-night stand, in the best friend who betrayed him, in the brilliant and mysterious boy who walked into the wrong class. Weighing the pain and the joy that surrounds him, Henry is left with the ultimate choice: push the button and save the planet and everyone on it...or let the world--and his pain--be destroyed forever.

Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin

Action/Adventure

Her story begins on a train. The year is 1956, and the Axis powers of the Third Reich and Imperial Japan rule. To commemorate their Great Victory, they host the Axis Tour: an annual motorcycle race across their conjoined continents. The prize? An audience with the highly reclusive Adolf Hitler at the Victor's ball in Tokyo. Yael, a former death camp prisoner, has witnessed too much suffering, and the five wolves tattooed on her arm are a constant reminder of the loved ones she lost. The resistance has given Yael one goal: Win the race and kill Hitler. A survivor of painful human experimentation, Yael has the power to skinshift and must complete her mission by impersonating last year's only female racer, Adele Wolfe. This deception becomes more difficult when Felix, Adele's twin brother, and Luka, her former love interest, enter the race and watch Yael's every move. But as Yael grows closer to the other competitors, can she be as ruthless as she needs to be to avoid discovery and stay true to her mission?

Wonder Woman vol 6: Bones by Brian Azzarello

Comic Book 

It's the beginning of the end as writer Brian Azzarello and artist Cliff Chiang kick off the astonishing finale of their epic run! Olympus must fall, and its rightful ruler must be restored. Wonder Woman is locked in a desperate battle with the First Born with the destiny of immortals at stake--and she must make a decision that will effect the lives of those she loves most.

New School Year, New Books! September New Books (part 8)

Reawakened by Colleen Houck

Paranormal 

When seventeen-year-old Lilliana Young enters the Metropolitan Museum of Art one morning during spring break, the last thing she expects to find is a live Egyptian prince with godlike powers, who has been reawakened after a thousand years of mummification. 
And she really can't imagine being chosen to aid him in an epic quest that will lead them across the globe.
 
But fate has taken hold of Lily, and she, along with her sun prince, Amon, must travel to the Valley of the Kings, raise his brothers, and stop an evil, shape-shifting god named Seth from taking over the world. 


Rebel Mechanics by Shanna Swendson

Fantasy 

It's 1888, and seventeen-year-old Verity Newton lands a job in New York as a governess to a wealthy leading family--but she quickly learns that the family has big secrets. Magisters have always ruled the colonies, but now an underground society of mechanics and engineers are developing non-magical sources of power via steam engines that they hope will help them gain freedom from British rule. The family Verity works for is magister--but it seems like the children's young guardian uncle is sympathetic to the rebel cause. As Verity falls for a charming rebel inventor and agrees to become a spy, she also becomes more and more enmeshed in the magister family's life. She soon realizes she's uniquely positioned to advance the cause--but to do so, she'll have to reveal her own dangerous secret.

Ruthless by Carolyn Lee Adams

Action/Adventure 

Ruth Carver has always competed like her life depends on it. Ambitious. Tough. Maybe even mean. It's no wonder people call her Ruthless. When she wakes up with a concussion in the bed of a moving pickup trick, she realizes she has been entered into a contest she can't afford to lose. At a remote, rotting cabin deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Ruth's blindfold comes off and she comes face-to-face with her captor. A man who believes his mission is to punish bad girls like Ruth. A man who has done this six times before. The other girls were never heard from again, but Ruth won't go down easy. She escapes into the wilderness, but her hunter is close at her heels. That's when the real battle begins. That's when Ruth must decides just how far she'll go in order to survive. Back home, they called her Ruthless. They had no idea just how right they were.

Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life vol 1 by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Graphic Novel 

Scott Pilgrim's life is totally sweet. He's 23 years old, he's in a rockband, he's ""between jobs,"" and he's dating a cute high school girl. Nothingcould possibly go wrong, unless a seriously mind-blowing, dangerouslyfashionable, rollerblading delivery girl named Ramona Flowers starts cruisingthrough his dreams and sailing by him at parties. Will Scott's awesome life getturned upside-down? Will he have to face Ramona's seven evil ex-boyfriends inbattle? The short answer is yes. The long answer is Scott Pilgrim, Volume 1:Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World vol 2 by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Graphic Novel 

Does Scott and Ramona's burgeoning relationship have a future? Isn't Scott still supposedly dating Knives Chau? Who is Ramona's second evil ex-boyfriend, and why is he in Toronto? Who are The Clash At Demonhead, and what kind of bizarre art-punky music do they play? Who's their hot girl keyboardist, and what is Scott's relation to her? Why are they Knives Chau's new favourite band? Fights! Drama! Secrets revealed! The answers to all these questions and more!

The Rest of Your Summer Reading ~ August New Books (part 9)

Survive the Night by Danielle Vega

Action/Adventure 

Fresh out of rehab for oxycodone addiction, Casey and some of her friends attend an all-night rave called Survive the Night in the New York City subway, and find themselves fighting for their lives because drugs are not the only danger here--something is using the rave to attract victims, and some of them will not be coming back.

Unlikely Hero of Room 13 B by Teresa Toten

Contemporary Fiction 

Adam not only is trying to understand his OCD, while trying to balance his relationship with his divorced parents, but he's also trying to navigate through the issues that teenagers normally face, namely the perils of young love.

We Are All Made of Molecules by Susin Nielsen

Contemporary Fiction 

Thirteen-year-old brilliant but socially-challenged Stewart and mean-girl Ashley must find common ground when, two years after Stewart's mother died, his father moves in with his new girlfriend--Ashley's mother, whose gay ex-husband lives in their guest house.

The Wicked Will Rise by Danielle Paige

Dorothy Must Die #2

Fantasy 

Amy's job as assassin didn't work out as planned. Dorothy is still alive. The Order has vanished. And the home she couldn't wait to leave behind might be in danger.

The Witch Hunter by Virginia Boecker

Witch Hunter #1

Fantasy 

Set in an alternative 16th-century England, Elizabeth Grey is the only girl in the king's elite group of witch hunters. When she's framed for being a witch herself, Elizabeth finds freedom at the hands of the world's most wanted wizard and her loyalties are tested.

The Rest of Your Summer Reading ~ August New Books (part 3)

Welcome to Gotham Academy by Becky Cloonan

Gotham Academy #1

Graphic Novel 

Gotham City's most prestigious prep school is a very weird place. It's got a spooky campus, oddball teachers, and rich benefactors always dropping by...like that weirdo Bruce Wayne. But nothing is as strange as the students! Like, what's up with Olive Silverlock? Is she crazy or what? Where did she go last summer? And what's the deal with her creepy mom? And how come that Freshman Maps is always following her around? And is she still going out with Kyle? P.S. Did you hear the rumor about the ghost in the North Hall?! Collects Gotham Academy #1-6 GOTHAM ACADEMY is a new teen drama set in the shadow of Batman and the craziness of Gotham City, with new characters and old plus a secret tie to Gotham's past.

The Warrior's Return by Alyson Peterson

Ian Quicksilver #1

Pararnormal

Skinny, nerdy foster kid Ian Quicksilver from Puckerbush, Nevada, has just discovered an unsettling truth—he is the last warrior prince of Bankhir. And the fate of his home planet—and the entire galaxy—depends on him. Well, him and Arianna Hernfeld, the hottest girl in school. He needs her help and her magic to stop a sociopathic magician bent on galactic domination.

The problem is, Arianna doesn’t remember anything about their past, and all of this galaxy-saving, spell-breaking stuff has to happen by Ian’s sixteenth birthday. Which is only five days away.

Get ready for an action-packed, laugh-out-loud book that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Witty and perfectly paced, this is one adventure story you’ll have to read to believe. 

Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine 

The Great Library #1

Fantasy 

In a world where the Great Library of Alexandria governs the flow of information to the people, Jess discovers that those who control the Library believe that knowledge is more valuable than human life after his friend inadvertently commits heresy.

Kiss of the Rose Princess by Aya Shouoto

Volume 2

Manga 

Anise Yamamoto has been told that if she ever removes the rose choker given to her by her father, a terrible punishment will befall her. Unfortunately she loses that choker when a bat-like being falls from the sky and hits her. Anise is granted four cards representing four knights whom she can summon with a kiss. But now that she has these gorgeous men at her beck and call, what exactly is her quest?!

The Last Good Day of the Year by Jessica Warman

Mystery 

Ten years after Samantha and her next door neighbor Remy watched as a man broke into Sam's home and lifted her younger sister, Turtle, from her sleeping bag, Sam's shattered family returns to her childhood home in an effort to heal, and the more they re-examine the events of that fateful night, the more questions they discover about what really happened to Turtle.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past by Shotaro Ishinomori

Graphic Novel 

In this adaptation of the classic video game, a young boy named Link must go on a great adventure when the Princess Zelda summons him to save the Kingdom of Hyrule from the evil wizard Agahnim. To find the Master Sword that will defeat Agahnim, Link must travel through both Hyrule and its mirror copy, the Dark World.

New year, new books ~ Happy 2015! (part 6)

The Only Thing to Fear by Caroline Tung Richmond

It has been nearly seventy years since Hitler's armies won the war, and sixteen-year-old Zara St. James lives in the Shenandoah hills, part of the Eastern American Territories, under the rule of the Nazis--but a resistance movement is growing, and Zara, who dreams of freedom, may be the key to its success.

Pandemic by Yvonne Ventresca

Lil is left home alone when a deadly pandemic hits her small town in New Jersey. Will Lil survive the flu and brave her darkest fears?

Princess of Thorns by Stacey Jay

After ten years of exile among fairies who teach her to use her magically-enhanced strength and courage, Sleeping Beauty's daughter Aurora enlists the help of Niklaas, eleventh son of King Eldorio, in the fight to reclaim her throne.

The Rule of Thoughts by James Dashner

Michael and his friends, Sarah and Bryson, are still being chased by a cyber-terrorist. And now the government is after them, too.

Salt & Storm by Kendall Kulper

Sixteen-year-old Avery Roe wants to take her rightful place as the sea witch of Prince Island. When she foresees her own murder, a harpoon boy named Tane promises to help her change her fate and keep her island safe and prosperous, but salvation will require an unexpected sacrifice.

New Books for a New School Year - September books part 7

Marina: a Gothic Tale by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

When boarding-school student Oscar Drai meets Marina, she promises him a mystery and takes him to a secret graveyard deep in Barcelona, where they witness a woman dressed in black lay a single rose atop a gravestone etched with a black butterfly. Their curiosity leads them down a dangerous path, and they discover a decades-old conspiracy that puts their lives in the hands of forces more sinister and mystical than they could have believed possible.

The Ring & the Crown by Melissa de la Cruz

In an alternative past where the Franco-British Empire controls the world's only source of magic, Princess Marie-Victoria, heir to the throne, and Aelwyn Myrddyn, a bastard mage, rekindle their childhood friendship as they plot to save Marie from a loveless, political marriage.

The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco

Okiku has wandered the world for centuries, freeing the innocent ghosts of the murdered-dead and taking the lives of killers with the vengeance they are due, but when she meets Tark she knows the moody teen with the series of intricate tattoos is not a monster and needs to be freed from the demonic malevolence that clings to him.

Sweet Reckoning by Wendy Higgins

Anna Whitt, daughter of a guardian angel and a fallen one, join forces with her true love Kaidan Rowe, as the Nephilim gather together one last time to fight against the demonic Dukes for their freedom.

Strange Fruit: vol 1 Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History by Joel Christian Gill

Strange Fruit, Volume I is a collection of stories from African American history that exemplifies success in the face of great adversity. This unique graphic anthology offers historical and cultural commentary on nine uncelebrated heroes whose stories are not often found in history books. Among the stories included are: Henry "Box" Brown, who escaped from slavery by mailing himself to Philadelphia; Alexander Crummel and the Noyes Academy, the first integrated school in America, established in the 1830s; Marshall "Major" Taylor, a.k.a. the Black Cyclone, the first black champion in any sport; and Bass Reeves, the most successful lawman in the Old West. 

July's New Books are (finally) Here! (part 6)

V is for Villain by Peter Moore

Brad Baron is used to looking lame compared to his older brother, Blake. Though Brad's basically a genius, Blake is a superhero in the elite Justice Force. And Brad doesn't measure up at his high school, either, where powers like super-strength and flying are the norm. So when Brad makes friends who are more into political action than weight lifting, he's happy to join a new crew-especially since it means spending more time with Layla, a girl who may or may not have a totally illegal, totally secret super-power. And with her help, Brad begins to hone a dangerous new power of his own. But when they're pulled into a web of nefarious criminals, high-stakes battles, and startling family secrets, Brad must choose which side he's on. And once he does, there's no turning back. Perfect for fans of The Avengers, Ironman, and classic comic books, V is for Villain reveals that it's good to be bad.

The Inventor's Secret by Andrea Cremer

In an alternate nineteenth-century America that is still a colony of Britain's industrial empire, sixteen-year-old Charlotte and her fellow refugees' struggle to survive is interrupted by a newcomer with no memory, bearing secrets about a terrible future.

More Than This by Patrick Ness

A boy named Seth drowns, losing his life as the pounding sea claims him. But then he wakes. He is naked, thirsty, starving. But alive. How is that possible? He remembers dying. So how is he here? And where is this place? It looks like the suburban English town where he lived as a child, before an unthinkable tragedy happened and his family moved to America. But the neighborhood around his old house is overgrown, covered in dust, and completely abandoned. What's going on? And why is it that whenever he closes his eyes, he falls prey to vivid, agonizing memories that seem more real than the world around him? Seth begins a search for answers, hoping that he might not be alone, trapped in a crumbling, abandoned world.

A Creature of Moonlight by Rebecca Hahn

Marni, a young flower seller who has been living in exile, must choose between claiming her birthright as princess of a realm whose king wants her dead, and a life with the father she has never known--a wild dragon.