New Books for the New Year - January 2016 New Books part 1

A 52-Hertz Whale by Bill Sommer

Contemporary Fiction 

Reveals, through emails from various people, the growing connection between sixteen-year-old James, who is obsessed with the fate of a juvenile humpback whale he adopted, and Darren, a would-be filmmaker who once did community service in James's Special Education classroom.

97 Things To Do Before You Finish High School by Steven Jenkins

Nonfiction 

Discover new places, new people, new hobbies, and open your eyes to the world. Learn about the stuff they don't teach you in high school like how to host a film festival, plan your first road trip, make a podcast, spend a day in silence, or shut down a house party before the police do. Interest, amuse and educate yourself--because your life doesn't stop at 3 PM each day, it just gets started.

The Anatomical Shape of a Heart by Jenn Bennett

Contemporary Fiction 

Sparks fly when Beatrix Adams, seventeen, who strives to be a medical illustrator, meets Jack, one of San Francisco's most notorious graffiti artists, but even as Beatrix begins to uncover the secrets that have left Jack so wounded, her own family secrets threaten to tear them apart.

The Appearance of Annie Van Sinderen by Katherine Howe

Paranormal

It's July in New York City, and aspiring filmmaker Wes Auckerman has just arrived to start his summer term at NYU. While shooting a séance at a psychic's in the East Village, he meets a mysterious, intoxicatingly beautiful girl named Annie. As they start spending time together, Wes finds himself falling for her, drawn to her rose-petal lips and her entrancing glow. There's just something about her that he can't put his finger on, something faraway and otherworldly that compels him to fall even deeper. Annie's from the city, and yet she seems just as out of place as Wes feels. Lost in the chaos of the busy city streets, she's been searching for something--a missing ring. And now Annie is running out of time and needs Wes's help. As they search together, Annie and Wes uncover secrets lurking around every corner, secrets that will reveal the truth of Annie's dark past. 

Assassin by Anna Myers

Historical Fiction 

Would you betray your president to win the heart of America's most celebrated actor? Bella isn't evil. But even people with good intentions can end up doing bad things. Especially when they meet people with the power to persuade them to do almost anything, like John Wilkes Booth--the most charismatic and famous actor of his time. So when Booth sets his sights on Bella, an assistant seamstress to Mary Todd Lincoln, to help with his plot to kidnap President Lincoln, he is able to persuade her to betray her president and even turn her back on the boy she has loved her entire life. Bella believes Booth is only trying to force the North to release Southern war prisoners, and will not harm her dear friend Mr. Lincoln. But the kidnapping plot fails, and now Booth will stop at nothing--even if it means harming Bella in the process. 

New Books for February (part 1)

Action

There are many powerful people along Embassy Row who want Grace to block out all her unpretty thoughts. But Grace will not stop until she finds out who killed her mother and make the killer pay.

Mystery

Mob goddaughter Gina Gallo stands to inherit two million bucks from her great-uncle Seb, a master forger. But there's a catch. Uncle Seb wants Gina to make things right and return an extremely valuable painting to the art gallery. A reluctant Gina comes up with a plan for a reverse heist, but things never go as planned when her family is involved...

Historical Fiction

The inspiring story of Clara Lemlich, whose fight for equal rights led to the largest strike by women in American history A gorgeously told novel in verse written with intimacy and power, Audacity is inspired by the real-life story of Clara Lemlich, a spirited young woman who emigrated from Russia to New York at the turn of the twentieth century and fought tenaciously for equal rights. Bucking the norms of both her traditional Jewish family and societal conventions, Clara refuses to accept substandard working conditions in the factories on Manhattan's Lower East Side. For years, Clara devotes herself to the labor fight, speaking up for those who suffer in silence. In time, Clara convinces the women in the factories to strike, organize, and unionize, culminating in the famous Uprising of the 20,000. Powerful, breathtaking, and inspiring, Audacity is the story of a remarkable young woman, whose passion and selfless devotion to her cause changed the world.

Paranormal

There's something about the swamp in Sticks, Louisiana. Something different, something haunting . . . something alive. Everyone knows this, and everyone avoids going near it. And even the Mardi Gras-bead-decorated fence that surrounds it keeps people away. Until one morning when Sterling Saucier's older brother, Phineas, runs into the swamp . . . And doesn't return. Instead, a girl named Lenora May climbs out in his place, and all of a sudden, no one in Sticks remembers Phin at all. They treat Lenora May as if she's been Sterling's sister forever. Sterling needs to figure out what the swamp's done with her beloved brother and how Lenora May is connected to his disappearance--but first she's got to find someone who believes her. Heath Durham might be that someone. A loner shrouded behind rumors of drug addiction, Heath has had his own strange experience with the swamp. He and Sterling will have to piece together enough bits of memory and ancient swamp lore to get to the truth. But as the wild swamp encroaches on their town, Sterling and Heath may find a lot more than they expected . . . and Phin may be lost to them forever.

Action

Idaho is a war zone under Federal occupation, and Danny Wright and his friends in the Idaho Militia are determined to fight back, running guerrilla missions against the army--but what at first seemed like a straightforward battle against governmental repression quickly grows murky, and Danny finds that even winning the war does not mean an end to tyranny.