New Books for the Best Month ~ March 2016 (part 9)

Traveler by Arwen Elys Dayton

Fantasy 

After learning that she pledged her life to deception, Quin and her oldest companion Shinobu search for answers in the past about the Seeker legacy and uncover a sinister plan, begun generations ago, with the power to end it.

Unbound by Neal Shusterman

Science Fiction 

A collection of stories about Connor, Risa, and Lev after they have destroyed the Proactive Citizenry and are, apparently, free to live in a peaceful future.

Utopia, Iowa by Brian Yancey

Paranormal 

For the most part, aspiring screenwriter Jack Bell is just your typical Midwestern kid. He's got a crush on his hot best friend, Ash. He's coping with a sudden frostiness between his once crazy-in-love parents. He's debating where to go to college next year - or whether to go at all. But then there's his gift (or curse): Jack can see dead people, just like the kid in The Sixth Sense. Lately, the ghosts are more distracting than usual, demanding that Jack get to the bottom of their mysterious deaths - all while avoiding the straitlaced Detective Bloodsmith, who doesn't believe in gifts or curses and can't help wondering why Jack keeps turning up at crime scenes. Is there a happily-ever-after in Jack's future, or is that only the stuff of movies?

The V-Word: True Stories About First-Time Sex by Amber Keyser

Nonfiction 

An honest and poignant collection of essays by women about losing their virginity in their teens. The V-Word captures the complexity of this important life-decision and reflects diverse real-world experiences. Includes helpful resources for parents and teens. Losing it. Popping your cherry. Handing in your V-card. First time sex is a big unknown. Will it be candlelight and rose petals or quick and uncomfortable? Is it about love or about lust? Deciding to have sex for the first time is a choice that's often fraught with anxiety and joy. But do you have anyone telling you what sex is really like? In The V-Word seventeen writers (including Christa Desir, Justina Ireland, Sara Ryan, Carrie Mesrobian, Erica Lorraine Scheidt, and Jamia Wilson) pull back the sheets and tell all, covering everything from straight sex to queer sex, diving-in versus waiting, and even the exhilaration and disappointment that blankets it all. Some of their experiences happened too soon, some at just the right time, but all paint a broad picture of what first-time sex is really like. Funny, hot, meaningful, cringe-worthy, gross, forgettable, magnificent, empowering, and transformative, the stories in The V-Word are never preachy, but provide a map for teens to chart their own course through the steamy waters of sex. With The V-Word girls can finally take control, learn what's on the horizon, and eliminate the fear and mystery surrounding this important milestone.

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 October ~ Part 1

13 Days of Midnight by Leo Hunt

Paranormal 

When his estranged father dies, sixteen-year-old Luke inherits eight spirits who want revenge for their enslavement, and with Halloween fast approaching, he has only thirteen days to give them their eternal rest or he may join their ghostly ranks.

All American Boys by Jason Reynolds & Brendan Kiely

Contemporary Fiction 

A bag of chips. That's all sixteen-year-old Rashad is looking for at the corner bodega. What he finds instead is a fist-happy cop, Paul Galluzzo, who mistakes Rashad for a shoplifter, mistakes Rashad's pleadings that he's stolen nothing for belligerence, mistakes Rashad's resistance to leave the bodega as resisting arrest, mistakes Rashad's every flinch at every punch the cop throws as further resistance and refusal to STAY STILL as ordered. But how can you stay still when someone is pounding your face into the concrete pavement? But there were witnesses: Quinn Collins-a varsity basketball player and Rashad's classmate who has been raised by Paul since his own father died in Afghanistan-and a video camera. Soon the beating is all over the news and Paul is getting threatened with accusations of prejudice and racial brutality. Quinn refuses to believe that the man who has basically been his savior could possibly be guilty. But then Rashad is absent. And absent again. And again. And the basketball team-half of whom are Rashad's best friends-start to take sides. As does the school. And the town. Simmering tensions threaten to explode as Rashad and Quinn are forced to face decisions and consequences they had never considered before. 

Anne & Henry by Dawn Ius

Contemporary Fiction 

On a rigid path, set by his family, to become valedictorian, attend Harvard Law School, have a stunning political career like his father's, and date the right girl, Henry Tudor feels trapped until he meets the wild, brash Anne Boleyn, and they embark on a dangerous romance.

Ash & Bramble by Sarah Prineas
Fantasy
After Pin and Shoe escape from servitude in the Godmother's fortress, they learn that she has taken control of Story, which can warp the world around it, forcing people into its shape, and they decide to try to break out and create their own destinies in this tale that features many familiar characters.

 

Attack on Titan vols 4 & 5 by Hajime Isayama

Manga (Japanese graphic novel) 

Volume 4 back cover: The Survey Corps develops a risky gambit-have Eren in Titan form attempt to repair Wall Rose, reclaiming human territory from the monsters for the first time in a century.  But Titan-Eren's self control is far from perfect, and when he goes on a rampage, not even Armin can stop him!  With the survival of humanity on his massive shoulders, will Eren be able to return to hist senses, or will he lose himself forever?

New School Year, New Books! September New Books (part 9)

Shutter by Courtney Alameda

Paranormal 

Micheline Helsing is a tetrachromat -- a girl who sees the auras of the undead in a prismatic spectrum. As one of the last descendants of the Van Helsing lineage, she has trained since childhood to destroy monsters both corporeal and spiritual: the corporeal undead go down by the bullet, the spiritual undead by the lens. With an analog SLR camera as her best weapon, Micheline exorcises ghosts by capturing their spiritual energy on film. She's aided by her crew: Oliver, a techno-whiz and the boy who developed her camera's technology; Jude, who can predict death; and Ryder, the boy Micheline has known and loved forever. When a routine ghost hunt goes awry, Micheline and the boys are infected with a curse known as a soulchain. As the ghostly chains spread through their bodies, Micheline learns that if she doesn't exorcise her entity in seven days or less, she and her friends will die. Now pursued as a renegade agent by her monster-hunting father, Leonard Helsing, she must track and destroy an entity more powerful than anything she's faced before . . . or die trying. Lock, stock, and lens, she's in for one hell of a week.

Siren's Fury by Mary Weber

Fantasy 

Nym has saved Faelen only to discover that Draewulf stole everything she valued. Now he’s destroyed her Elemental storm-summoning ability as well.

When Nym sneaks off with a host of delegates to Bron, Lord Myles offers her the chance for a new kind of power and the whispered hope that it may do more than simply defeat the monster she loathes. But the secrets the Bron people have kept concealed, along with the horrors Draewulf has developed, may require more than simply harnessing a darker ability.

They may require who she is.

Set against the stark metallic backdrop of the Bron kingdom, Nym is faced with the chance to change the future.

Or was that Draewulf’s plan for her all along?

Slasher Girls & Monster Boys by various

Paranormal 

For fans of Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, American Horror Story and The Walking Dead comes a powerhouse anthology featuring some of the best thriller and horror writers in YA A host of the sharpest young adult authors come together in this collection of terrifying tales and psychological thrillers. Each author draws from a mix of literature, film, television, and music to create something new and fresh and unsettling. Clever readers will love teasing out the references and can satisfy their curiosity at the end of each tale, where the inspiration is revealed. There are no superficial scares here; these are stories that will make you think even as they keep you on the edge of your seat. From blood horror, to the supernatural, to unsettling, all-too-possible realism, this collection has something for anyone looking for an absolute thrill. 

Stick by Michael Harmon

Contemporary Fiction 

"Stick" is the best wide receiver in the history of his high school--the football seems magnetically drawn to his hands, hence his nickname. Preston is an outcast, and his pipsqueak stature and nerdy social status couldn't be further from a star athlete's. Stick puts on his football costume every week to make others--his teammates, his dad, everyone but himself--happy, but he's fallen out of love with the sport and feels that he's lost control of his future. Preston puts on his homemade superhero costume every night to help others, too: to avenge his father's murder, he's determined to right the wrongs he sees in his neighborhood and regain control of the flawed world he sees around him. A twist of fate brings this unlikely pair together in a friendship that is as odd as it is true.

Terrible Typhoid Mary: A True Story of the Deadliest Cook in America by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Nonfiction 

What happens when a person's reputation has been forever damaged? With archival photographs and text among other primary sources, this riveting biography of Mary Mallon by the Sibert medalist and Newbery Honor winner Susan Bartoletti looks beyond the tabloid scandal of Mary's controversial life. How she was treated by medical and legal officials reveals a lesser-known story of human and constitutional rights, entangled with the science of pathology and enduring questions about who Mary Mallon really was. How did her name become synonymous with deadly disease? And who is really responsible for the lasting legacy of Typhoid Mary? This thorough exploration includes an author's note, timeline, annotated source notes, and bibliography.

New School Year, New Books! September New Books (part 3)

Court of Fives by Kate Elliott

Fantasy 

When a scheming lord tears Jess's family apart, she must rely on her unlikely friendship with Kal, a high-ranking Patron boy, and her skill at Fives, an intricate, multi-level athletic competition that offers a chance for glory, to protect her Commoner mother and mixed-race sisters and save her father's reputation.

Crystal Kingdom by Amanda Hocking

Paranormal 

Cast out by her kingdom and far from home, she's the Kanin people's only hope. Bryn Aven-unjustly charged with murder and treason-is on the run. The one person who can help is her greatest enemy, the gorgeous and enigmatic Konstantin Black. Konstantin is her only ally against those who have taken over her kingdom and threaten to destroy everything she holds dear. But can she trust him? As Bryn fights to clear her name, the Kanin rulers' darkest secrets are coming to light... and now the entire troll world is on the brink of war. Will it tear Bryn from Ridley Dresden, the only guy she's ever loved? And can she join forces with Finn Holms and the Trylle kingdom? Nothing is as it seems, but one thing is certain: an epic battle is underway-and when it's complete, nothing will ever be the same.

Daughter of Dusk by Livia Blackburne

Fantasy 

As tensions rise within Forge's Council, and vicious Demon Rider attacks continue in surrounding villages, Kyra knows she must do something to save her city. But she walks a dangerous line between opposing armies: will she be able to use her link to theDemon Riders for good, or will her Makvani blood prove to be deadly? Kyra and Tristam face their biggest battle yet as they grapple with changing allegiances, shocking deceit, and vengeful opponents

The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall by Katie Alender

Paranormal 

Sixteen-year-old Cordelia and her family move into the house they just inherited in Pennsylvania, a former insane asylum the locals call Hysteria Hall--unfortunately the house does not want defiant girls like Delia, so it kills her, and as she wanders the house, meeting the other ghosts and learning the dark secrets of the Hall, she realizes that she has to find a way to save her sister, parents, and perhaps herself.

Dead Upon a Time by Elizabeth Paulson

Fantasy 

A sinister kidnapper is on the loose in Kate Hood's world, and when her grandmother disappears from her cottage in the woods, leaving behind tapestries showing the torments being inflicted on the victims, Kate knows she will have to find the witch responsible on her own--that is until the King's daughter is also kidnapped.

New Books for June...Finally! (Part 10)

Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

Contemporary Fiction 

Sydney's charismatic older brother, Peyton, has always been the center of attention in the family but when he is sent to jail, Sydney struggles to find her place at home and the world until she meets the Chathams, including gentle, protective Mac, who makes her feel seen for the first time.

Scarlett Undercover by Jennifer Latham

Mystery 

Scarlett, a sixteen-year-old private detective in the fictional city of Las Almas, finds herself at the center of a mysterious case--involving ancient curses, priceless artifacts, and jinn--as she discovers that her own family secrets may have more to do with the situation than she thinks.

A School for Unusual Girls by Kathleen Baldwin

Historical Fiction 

England, 1814. After accidentally setting her father's stables on fire while performing a scientific experiment, Miss Georgiana Fitzwilliam is sent to Stranje House where she meets Lord Sebastian Wyatt. Thrust together in a desperate mission to invent a new invisible ink for the English war effort, Georgie and Sebastian must find a way to work together without losing their heads-or their hearts.

The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud

Mystery 

Follows three young operatives of a Psychic Detection Agency as they battle an epidemic of ghosts in London.

Seriously Wicked by Tina Connolly

Paranormal 

Cam's adopted mother is a wicked witch who wants Cam to be just like her, even as Cam tries to stop her plans for ruling the world, including the latest, which involves summoning a demon that now possesses one of the boys at Cam's school.

Happy birthday to me! ~ New Books for March (part 4)

I am Pusheen the Cat by Claire Belton

Graphic Novel 

Pusheen is a pleasantly plump cat who has warmed hearts and tickled funny bones of millions worldwide with her signature GIF animated bops, bounces, and tail wiggles. Now, Pusheen is ready to make the leap from digital to print in her first comic collection! Learn what makes her purr and find out why millions of people have already fallen in love with this naughty, adorable kitty. Featuring some of the most popular stories from Pusheen’s Tumblr and Facebook pages (plus a healthy serving of never-before-seen material), I Am Pusheen the Cat is a treat for cat lovers and comics fans alike.

I'm Glad I Did by Cynthia Weil

Historical Fiction 

In 1963 sixteen-year-old JJ Green, a songwriter interning at New York City's famous Brill Building, finds herself a writing partner In Luke Silver, a boy who seems to connect instantly with her music, and they start cutting their first demo with Dulcie Brown, a legend who has fallen on hard times, with a secret past.

Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer by Katie Alender

Mystery

While in Paris, France on a class trip, Colette Iselin enlists the help of her charming French tour guide to help uncover a possible connection between Marie Antoinette, a series of gruesome murders, and perhaps her own family history, and he also gives her insights into herself.

Mary: The Summoning by Hillary Monahan

Paranormal

Teens Jess, Shauna, Kitty, and Anna follow all the rules, but when their summoning circle is broken the vengeful spirit of Bloody Mary slips through, and as the girls struggle to escape Mary's wrath, loyalties are questioned, friendships torn apart, and lives changed forever.

Ms. Marvel: No Normal by Willow Wilson

Graphic Novel 

Kamala Khan is an ordinary girl from Jersey City - until she's suddenly empowered with extraordinary gifts. But who truly is the new Ms. Marvel? Teenager? Muslim? Inhuman? Find out as she takes the Marvel Universe by storm! When Kamala discovers the dangers of her newfound powers, she unlocks a secret behind them, as well. Is Kamala ready to wield these immense new gifts? Or will the weight of the legacy before her be too much to bear? Kamala has no idea, either. But she's comin' for you, New York!

New Books for February (part 7)

Mystery

~On shelf date: 2/10/15~

Rory, Callum and Boo are still reeling from Stephen's tragic death, but Rory is determined to bring Stephen back while new dangers lurk around the city from Jane and her nefarious organization

Contemporary Fiction

Alice is ready to go out in a blaze of glory, but then she discovers she's in remission from cancer and she must deal with all of the mistakes she's made and the people she's hurt.

Paranormal

When seventeen-year-old Lucy Aimes moves to New Orleans and meets Alex, a boy who behaves as if they've known each other forever, she becomes caught up in a centuries-old vendetta.

Action/Adventure

After Riley and his friends see some disturbing visions through a mysterious pair of binoculars, they soon realize these hallucinations are coming true, especially as one of Riley's closest friends becomes the prime suspect of a gruesome murder.

Nonfiction

The popular Top 10 series was packed with pictures and charts and information. The 2015 edition will be bigger (320 pages vs. 256 pages) and once again deliver the tallest scariest windiest fastest lightest winning-est slowest worst free-est deadliest loudest most-wanted brightest sleepiest longest reigning deepest driest most valuable richest wettest most aggressive heaviest cleanest of games books basketball players Olympic athletes buildings bridges pop music twitter followers movies oil production race cars Oscar winners paintings and much more! Packed with unusual comparisons, special features, awe-inspiring photographs and holographic foil histories, engineering feats, and thousands of facts and pictures, the Top 10 of Everything 2015 will be one of the most desired and appreciated reference books of the 2014 season.

My gift to you...New Books for December! (part 7)

Of Monsters and Madness by Jessica Verday

In 1820s Philadelphia, a girl finds herself in the midst of a rash of gruesome murders in which her father and his alluring assistant might be implicated.

 On the Day I Died by Candace Fleming

In a lonely Illinois cemetery one cold October night, teen ghosts recount the stories of their deaths in different time periods, from 1870 to the present, to sixteen-year-old Mike, who unknowingly picked up a phantom hitchhiker.

Otherwise by Linda Oatman High

A law has been passed. There will be no more genders. Everyone must appear gender neutral. No more boys. No more girls. Just ... Otherwise. Same bland clothes. Same fuzzy heads. "Spark" dreads the countdown leading up to the finality of the new law's passage. Her parents are for it. They're tired of conforming to society's standards. But they allow her to take off for a quick camping trip to gather her thoughts. At the campsite, she meets "Whistler." And the attraction is instant and mutual. But who is Whistler? And what is Whistler? Boy? Or girl? This gender-bending story in verse will make readers question everything they thought they knew about love, chemistry, and cultural norms.

Perfectionists by Sara Shepard

Ava, Caitlin, Mackenzie, Julie, and Parker are all driven to be perfect--no matter the cost. At first the girls think they have nothing in common, until they discover that they all hate the same person: handsome womanizer Nolan Hotchkiss, who's done things to hurt each of them. They come up with the perfect plan to murder Nolan--jokingly, of course. They'd never actually go through with it. But when Nolan turns up dead in the exact way they'd discussed, the girls suddenly become prime suspects in his murder. Only, they didn't do it. So who did? Unless they find the real killer, and soon, their perfect lives will come crashing down around them.

Phantom Thief Jeanne vol 1 by Arina Tanemura
High school student Maron Kusakabe has a secret: she's Phantom Thief Jeanne. She sneaks into private art collections to steal paintings in which demons reside. Jeanne's task is to seal the demons before they can devour human hearts. So far she's been able to evade the police on her midnight outings, but now another thief has come onto the scene-Phantom Sinbad-and he's trying to take the paintings before she does!

My gift to you...New Books for December! (part 2)

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

Blue Sargent has found things. For the first time in her life, she has friends she can trust, a group to which she can belong. The Raven Boys have taken her in as one of their own. Their problems have become hers, and her problems have become theirs. The trick with found things though, is how easily they can be lost.

Confessions: The Paris Mysteries by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro

Sixteen-year-old Tandy Angel moves to Paris for a fresh start with her siblings and to be reunited with James, her lost love, but her detective work soon uncovers long-buried family secrets that threaten to destroy her life.

Dead Boy Detectives, vol 1 by Toby Litt & others

From the pages of THE SANDMAN, Neil Gaiman's intrepid dead schoolboys head back to the horror that is St. Hilarions School; the place where they both were murdered.   While trying to protect their new acquaintance, techno-savvy sleuth Crystal, from suffering the same fate at the hands of familiar bullies, Charles and Edwin begin to unravel the mysteries surrounding their own untimely demise.

Collects DEAD BOY DETECTIVES #1-7

Dear Nobody: The True Diary of Mary Rose edited by Gillian McCain & Legs McNeil

Fans of Go Ask Alice will devour Dear Nobody , a real teen's diary, so raw and so edgy that it's authenticity rings off every page. They say that high school is supposed to be the best time of your life. But what if that's just not true? More than anything, Mary Rose wants to fit in. To be loved. And she'll do whatever it takes to make that happen. Even if it costsher her life. Told through the raw and unflinching diary entries of a real teen, Mary Rose struggles with addiction, bullying, and a deadly secret. Her compelling story will inspire readers-and remind them that they are not alone.

Death Coming Up the Hill by Chris Crowe

Douglas Ashe keeps a weekly record of historical and personal events in 1968, the year he turns seventeen, including the escalating war in Vietnam, assassinations, rampant racism, and rioting; his first girlfriend, his parents' separation, and a longed-for sister.