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 10

Until Beth by Lisa Amowitz

Paranormal

Talented rock guitarist Beth Collins has been barely holding herself together for months, ever since her boyfriend and bandmate became the latest victim in a string of suspicious disappearances. When her brother is injured an accident and she sees something dark billowing around him as he hovers close to death, she’s convinced her sanity is collapsing for good. 

Then she's accepted by a boarding school for the musically gifted. All of her new friends are bursting with talent, but they're also keeping secrets. Can she trust Vincent, who's so sweet that his very touch makes her fears melt away? Or Xavier, who's trying to tell her something but is hiding even more? 

And will anyone be safe when her true Talent comes out?

The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore

Paranormal 

Although Lace Paloma knows all about the feud between the Palomas and the Corbeaus, she finds herself falling for Cluck Corbeau when he saves her life while both families are performing in the same town.

Weird Girl and What's His Name by Meagan Brothers

Contemporary Fiction 

In the tiny podunk town of Hawthorne, North Carolina, seventeen-year-old geeks Lula and Rory share everything--sci-fi and fantasy fandom, Friday night binge-watching of old X-Files episodes, and that feeling that they don't quite fit in. Lula knows she and Rory have no secrets from each other; after all, he came out to her years ago, and she's shared with him her "sacred texts"--the acting books her mother left behind after she walked out of Lula's life. But then Lula discovers that Rory--her Rory, who maybe she's secretly had feelings for--has not only tried out for the Hawthorne football team without telling her, but has also been having an affair with his middle-aged divorcee boss. With their friendship disrupted, Lula begins to question her identity and her own sexual orientation, and she runs away in the middle of the night on a journey to find her mother, who she hopes will have all the answers. 

Wendy Darling: Volume One: Stars by Colleen Oakes

Paranormal 

Wendy Darling has a perfectly agreeable life with her parents and brothers in wealthy London, as well as a budding romance with Booth, the neighborhood bookseller's son. But one night, while their parents are at a ball, the charmingly beautiful Peter Pan comes to the Darling children's nursery, and dazzled by this flying boy with god-like powers they follow him out of the window and straight on to morning into Neverland, an intoxicating island of freedom. As time passes in Neverland, Wendy realizes that this Lost Boy's paradise of turquoise seas, mermaids, and pirates holds terrible secrets rooted in blood and greed. As Peter's grasp on her heart tightens, she struggles to remember where she came from and begins to suspect that this island of dreams, and the boy who desires her, have the potential to transform into an everlasting nightmare.

Zebulon Finch: At the Edge of Empire by Daniel Kraus

Historical Fiction 

The story follows Zebulon Finch, a teenager murdered in 1896 Chicago who inexplicably returns from the dead and searches for redemption through the ages.

New books for October ~ Part 7

Show and Prove by Sofia Quintero

Historical Fiction 

Friends Smiles and Nike spend the summer of 1983 in the South Bronx working a job at a summer camp, chasing girls, and breakdancing.

Silver in the Blood by Jessica Day George

Paranormal 

In 1897, seventeen-year-olds Dacia and Lou, New York socialites and cousins, visit their maternal homeland of Romania and learn the family secret--that they are shapeshifters, expected to take their rightful places and marry proper husbands.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Fantasy 

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price--and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone... A convict with a thirst for revenge. A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager. A runaway with a privileged past. A spy known as the Wraith. A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums. A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes. Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction--if they don't kill each other first.

Stand Off by Andrew Smith

Contemporary Fiction 

Now a senior at Pine Mountain Academy, fifteen-year-old Ryan Dean West becomes captain of the rugby team, shares his dormitory room with a twelve-year-old prodigy, Sam Abernathy, and through the course of the year learns to appreciate things he has tried to resist, including change.

State of Grace by Hilary Badger

Science Fiction 

Ever since she was created, Wren has lived with her friends in an Eden created by Dot--but lately she has been troubled by visions of a very different world, and when she meets Dennis who comes from outside, she begins to confront the ugly truth at the heart of paradise.

The Rest of Your Summer Reading ~ August New Books (part 7)

Proof of Forever by Lexa Hillyer

Contemporary Fiction 

Four former friends are transported back in time to a pivotal summer in all of their lives during a camp reunion.

Rook by Sharon Cameron

Science Fiction 

In the Sunken City that was once Paris the guillotine rules again, while Sophia Bellamy from the Commonwealth across the Channel Sea tries to rescue as many of the revolution's victims as she can smuggle out, and some prisoners disappear from their cells, with a red-tipped rook feather left in their place--but who is the mysterious Red Rook and where does Sophia's wealthy fiancé, René Hasard, fit in?

The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes

Contemporary Fiction 

A handless teen escapes from a cult, only to find herself in juvenile detention and suspected of knowing who murdered her cult leader.

A School For Brides: A Story of Maidens, Mystery, and Matrimony by Patrice Kindl

Historical Fiction 

In the early 1800s, in a remote corner of England with almost no eligible young men, the eight students at the Winthrop Hopkins Female Academy uncover a mystery while learning all the skills necessary to become a good wife.

Secret History: Conspiracies from Ancient Aliens to the New World Order by Nick Redfern

Nonfiction 

The book moves from biblical, Egyptian, Mayan, Greek, and early mysteries of antiquity to the clandestine doings of the Nazis and the Masons and assassination plots of the more recent past to the surveillance, monitoring, mind-control, and secret schemes of today. Researcher Nick Redfern investigates the stories, mythologies, lore behind incredible events and clandestine groups of yesterday and today. More than 60 entries dig deep into the manipulation of events by influential groups, including …

• Historical riddles—alien visitations, space gods, and human–alien crossbreeding.

• Government cover ups—mind control, murders, scientists, and secret agents.

• Powerful groups and intended consequences—9-11, new world order, bird-flu, and chemtrails.

New year, new books ~ Happy 2015! (part 4)

Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky

Grayson, a transgender twelve-year-old, learns to accept her true identity and share it with the world.

Halley by Faye Gibbons

Times are hard in Depression era Georgia mountain country. Even so, fourteen-year-old Halley Owenby, her younger brother, Robbie, and their parents, Jim and Kate manage to get by until Jim dies suddenly in an accident, and Kate decides she and her children have no choice but to move in with her parents.

How it Went Down by Kekla Magoon

When sixteen-year-old Tariq Johnson is shot to death, his community is thrown into an uproar because Tariq was black and the shooter, Jack Franklin, is white, and in the aftermath everyone has something to say, but no two accounts of the events agree.

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

Isla has had a crush on classmate Josh since their freshman year at the School of America in Paris, but after a chance encounter over the summer in Manhattan they return to France for their senior year where they are forced to confront challenges every young couple in love must face.

The Jewel by Amy Ewing

Violet, a poor girl from the outer city, finds forbidden romance and uncovers brutal secrets when, after three years of training, she is purchased by a royal family as a surrogate mother for royal children.

New year, new books ~ Happy 2015! (part 3)

Edge of Nowhere by John Smelcer

Seth is a teenage deckhand on his father's boat when he and his dog are washed overboard and swept to one of Alaska's small islands where they struggle for months to survive off land and sea, while his desperate father endures his own emotional journey and never gives up hope.

Even in Paradise by Chelsey Philpot

Seventeen-year-old Charlotte "Charlie" Ryder, a girl from a working class family whose talent for the arts has gained her entry into the exclusive St. Anne's school, is drawn into the circle of the larger-than-life Julia Buchanan, a former senator's daughter.

Fairy Tail, vol 14 by Hiro Mashima

Laxus wants Fairy Tail for himself, and he's set his three powerful allies against the entire guild!  But when the attacks of Laxus's right-hand man become sadistic, the guild's angel, Mirajane, is forced to reveal the frightening satanic power she's been hiding for so long!

Feral by Holly Schindler

After Claire Can survives a brutal attack in Chicago, she and her father move to Peculiar, Missouri, where she discovers the body of a high-school girl and realizes that she cannot escape her past.

Fiendish by Brenna Yovanoff

Clementine DeVore, seventeen, is determined to learn what happened ten years ago that led to her magical imprisonment and problems in her town, but a dangerous attraction to Fisher, the boy who freed her, town politics, and the terrifying Hollow get in the way.

Frostfire by Amanda Hocking

Tracker Bryn Aven's goal of becoming a member of the elite King's Guard is threatened when she is sent to stop Konstantin, a fallen hero who she once secretly loved, who appears to be kidnapping changelings.

Thanks for the New Books! ~ November New Books Part 9

Sanctum by Madeleine Roux

Plagued by nightmares from their summer in the Brookline asylum, Dan, Abby, and Jordan return to New Hampshire College for a prosective students weekend, only to find themselves caught in a dark and dangerous mystery.  

The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry

There's a murderer on the loose--but that doesn't stop the girls of St. Etheldreda's from attempting to hide the death of their headmistress in this rollicking farce. The students of St. Etheldreda's School for Girls face a bothersome dilemma. Their irascible headmistress, Mrs. Plackett, and her surly brother, Mr. Godding, have been most inconveniently poisoned at Sunday dinner. Now the school will almost certainly be closed and the girls sent home--unless these seven very proper young ladies can hide the murders and convince their neighbors that nothing is wrong. Julie Berry's The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place is a smart, hilarious Victorian romp, full of outrageous plot twists, mistaken identities, and mysterious happenings.

Screaming Divas by Suzanne Kamata

At sixteen, Trudy Baxter is tired of her debutante mom, her deadbeat dad, and her standing reservation at the juvenile detention center. Changing her name to Trudy Sin, she cranks up her major chops as a singer and starts a band, gathering around other girls ill at ease in their own lives. Cassie Haywood, would-have-been beauty queen, was scarred in an accident in which her alcoholic mom was killed. But she can still sing and play her guitar, even though she seeks way too much relief from the pain in her body and her heart through drugs, and way too much relief from loneliness through casual sex. Still, it's Cassie who hears former child prodigy Harumi Yokoyama playing in a punk band at a party, and enlists her, outraging Harumi's overbearing first-generation Japanese parents. The fourth member is Esther Shealy, who joins as a drummer in order to be close to Cassie--the long-time object of her unrequited love--and Harumi, her estranged childhood friend. Together, they are Screaming Divas, and they're quickly swept up as a local sensation. Then, just as they are about to achieve their rock-girl dreams, a tragedy strikes.

Siege & Storm by Leigh Bardugo

Hunted across the True Sea and haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land, all while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret.

Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

Orphaned Meira, a fierce chakram-wielding warrior from the Kingdom of Winter, must struggle to free her people from the tyranny of an opposing kingdom while also protecting her own destiny.

Thanks for the New Books! ~ November New Books Part 1

Althea & Oliver by Cristina Moracho

Althea Carter and Oliver McKinley have been best friends since they were six; she's the fist-fighting instigator to his peacemaker, the artist whose vision balances his scientific bent. Now, as their junior year of high school comes to a close, Althea has begun to want something more than just best-friendship. Oliver, for his part, simply wants life to go back to normal, but when he wakes up one morning with no memory of the past three weeks, he can't deny any longer that something is seriously wrong with him. And then Althea makes the worst bad decision ever, and her relationship with Oliver is shattered. He leaves town for a clinical study in New York, resolving to repair whatever is broken in his brain, while she gets into her battered Camry and drives up the coast after him, determined to make up for what she's done. 

The Art of the Doodle: Discover Your Inner Artist by Eleanor Kwei

Includes "A Guide to Doodling" booklet and a journal to doodle in.  Gives tips on doodling, coloring with pencils and markers, and clever ways to use your doodles to make creative gifts and decorations.  

As Red As Blood by Salla Simukka

In the midst of the freezing Arctic winter, seventeen-year-old Lumikki Andersson walks into her school's darkroom and finds a stash of money splattered with someone's blood. She is swept into a whirlpool of dangerous encounters with dirty cops and a notorious drug kingpin as she helps to trace the origin of the cash.

Atlantia by Ally Condie

Rio has always dreamed of leaving the underwater city of Atlantia for life in the Above; however, when her twin sister, Bay, makes an unexpected decision, Rio is left stranded below where she must find a way to unlock the secrets of the siren voice she has long hidden and save Atlantia from destruction.

Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer

Jam Gallahue, fifteen, unable to cope with the loss of her boyfriend Reeve, is sent to a therapeutic boarding school in Vermont, where a journal-writing assignment for an exclusive, mysterious English class transports her to the magical realm of Belzhar,where she and Reeve can be together.

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 1)

In The Shadows by Kiersten White

Minnie and Cora, sisters living in a sleepy Maine town in the nineteenth century, are intrigued by Arthur, a mysterious boy with no past who has come to live in their mother's boarding house--but something sinister is stirring and the teens must uncover the truth, and unlock the key to immortality.

A Dark Inheritance by Chris D'Lacey

When Michael Malone saves a dog, he discovers that he has paranormal abilities, which bring him to the attention of a secret organization, UNICORNE--but he plans to use the ability to find out what happened to his father, who mysteriously vanished three years earlier, and save his new friend, Freya.

Free to Fall by Lauren Miller

In a near-future world where everyone is controlled by their smartphones, sixteen-year-old Rory Vaughn suddenly begins listening to the voice within--which kids are taught to ignore--and discovers a terrible plot at the heart of the corporation that makes the devices.

Don't Look Back by Jennifer Armentrout

Seventeen-year-old Sam seems to have everything until she and her best friend, Cassie, disappear one night and now Sam has returned with amnesia, striving to be a much better person and aware that her not remembering may be the only thing keeping Cassie alive.

Silver by Chris Wooding
When the students at Mortingham Boarding Academy find a group of strange, silvery beetles on school grounds they are excited, but when the beetles attack them and a mysterious virus starts spreading, a group of mismatched students must work together to survive.