July New Books (Part 2)

Bloodkin by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Fantasy 

When a shapeshifter/vampire nation is charged with a crime against Midnight that sixteen-year-old Kadee and her friend Vance played a hand in, Kadee feels compelled to return to the Shantel forest where she must confront her past and the decisions she has made in the pursuit of freedom.

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

Contemporary Fiction 

Caden Bosch is on a ship that's headed for the deepest point on Earth: Challenger Deep, the southern part of the Marianas Trench. Caden Bosch is a brilliant high school student whose friends are starting to notice his odd behavior. Caden Bosch is designated the ship's artist in residence, to document the journey with images. Caden Bosch pretends to join the school track team but spends his days walking for miles, absorbed by the thoughts in his head. Caden Bosch is split between his allegiance to the captain and the allure of mutiny. 

Charlie, Presumed Dead by Anne Heltzel

Mystery 

Told in separate voices, Lena and Aubrey, each hiding her own secrets, set off in search of the truth about Charlie, including if he is really dead, after meeting at his funeral and learning that he was dating both of them.

Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge

Paranormal 

In post-World War I England, eleven-year-old Triss nearly drowns in a millpond known as "The Grimmer" and emerges with memory gaps, aware that something is terribly wrong, and to try to set things right, she must meet a twisted architect who has designs on her family.

Daughter of Deep Silence by Carrie Ryan

Action/Adventure 

At fourteen, Frances survived a slaughter that claimed the lives of her parents and best friend, Libby, but she took on Libby's identity and wealth while plotting revenge against the powerful Wells family and now, at age eighteen, is ready to destroy them, including her first love, Grey.

Happy birthday to me! ~ New Books for March (part 6)

The Princess Spy by Melanie Dickerson

Historical Fiction  

Margaretha hopes her newest suitor, Lord Claybrook, will be her one true love, but when an injured man is brought to Hagenheim Castle claiming to be an English lord who was attacked by Claybrook, Margaretha is drawn into a plot, not knowing who is telling the truth.

The Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Fantasy 

When her supernatural powers manifest in front of a noble court, Mare, a thief in a world divided between commoners and superhumans, is forced to assume the role of lost princess before risking everything to help a growing rebellion.

The Ruby Circle by Richelle Mead

The epic conclusion to Richelle Mead's New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series is finally here... Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets-and human lives. After their secret romance is exposed, Sydney and Adrian find themselves facing the wrath of both the Alchemists and the Moroi in this electrifying conclusion to Richelle Mead's New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series. When the life of someone they both love is put on the line, Sydney risks everything to hunt down a deadly former nemesis. Meanwhile, Adrian becomes enmeshed in a puzzle that could hold the key to a shocking secret about spirit magic, a secret that could shake the entire Moroi world.

Sneaker Century: A History of Athletic Shoes by Amber Keyser

Nonfiction 

Whether you call them kicks, sneakers, runners, or gutties, you probably have a pair of athletic shoes in your closet.  The earliest sneakers debuted in the 1800s and weren't much more than a canvas upper and a flexible sole made of a crazy new material - rubber.  In Sneaker Century, follow sneaker fashions and the larger-than-life personalities behind the best known athletic shoe brands in history.

Stone Cove Island by Suzanne Myers

Mystery 

As Stone Cove Island, a quaint New England resort community, struggles to recover from a catastrophic hurricane, seventeen-year-old Eliza cleans out the island's iconic lighthouse and stumbles upon new evidence in an unsolved thirty-year-old murder case.

Temple Boys by Jamie Buxton

Historical Fiction 

Jerusalem, year zero.

Flea belongs to a gang of teenage vagrants living in the shadow of the Temple, with no family and no home, living on their wits and what they can beg or steal. The city is crowded with visitors for Passover and governed by an uneasy alliance between the Temple priests and the occupying Roman army, bringing talk of miracles and revolution. Flea and his comrades latch onto the newcomer in the hope that he'll offer them a secure home. As events accumulate and powerful forces gather around the Magician, Flea notices rumblings of discontent among his followers, and finds himself torn between one of them—the protective Jude, who employs Flea to run errands—and a brutal Roman spy determined to uncover the Magician's plans.

Is the Magician the savior he claims to be, or a fraud? Does Flea hold the fate of the Magician—and possibly the world—in his hands, as he begins to believe? Temple Boys vividly conjures up ancient Jerusalem and the Biblical era and boldly re-imagines the western world's most famous story from the point of view of a teenage boy.

New Books for October ~ Part 1

Born in 1857 and raised in oil country, Ida M. Tarbell was one of the first investigative journalists and probably the most influential in her time. Her series of articles on the Standard Oil Trust, a complicated business empire run by John D. Rockefeller, revealed to readers the underhanded, even illegal practices that had led to Rockefeller's success. Rejecting the term "muckraker" to describe her profession, she went on to achieve remarkable prominence for a woman of her generation as a writer and shaper of public opinion.

When the high school cheerleading team takes over a soda vending machine's funds, which were previously collected by the pep band, Gabe Johnson, an overweight "band geek" tired of being called names and looked down on, declares war.

In the aftermath of a tumultuous event that ripped their world apart, Sydney and her love Adrian need to make their way back to each other, but they must survive first.

When the widely disliked Honeywell Stingers football coach is found murdered, 17-year-old Millie is determined to investigate. She is chasing a lead for the school newspaper - and looking to clear her father, the assistant coach, and prime suspect. Millie's partner is gorgeous, smart--and keeping secrets Millie joins forces with her mysterious classmate Chase who seems to want to help her even while covering up secrets of his own. She's starting to get a reputation...without any of the benefits. Drama--and bodies--pile up around Millie and she chases clues, snuggles Baxter the so-ugly-he's-adorable bassett hound, and storms out of the world's most awkward school dance/memorial mash-up. At least she gets to eat a lot of pie. 

Sparks fly when sixteen-year-old Lucy Patterson and seventeen-year-old Owen Buckley meet on an elevator rendered useless by a New York City blackout. Soon after, the two teenagers leave the city, but as they travel farther away from each other geographically, they stay connected emotionally, in this story set over the course of one year.

New Books ~ August 2014 ~ Part 9

Beyond  Texting: The Fine Art of Face-to-Face Communication for Teenagers by Debra Fine

Describes how to develop the ability to have in-person conversations, offering practical advice on balancing real-world and online relationships and gaining confidence to speak up in personal, educational, and professional atmospheres.

Pivot Point by Kasie West

A girl with the power to search alternate futures lives out six weeks of two different lives in alternating chapters. Both futures hold the potential for love and loss, and ultimately she is forced to choose which fate she is willing to live through.

The Forever Song by Julie Kagawa

Allie will embrace her cold vampire side to hunt down and end Sarren, the psychopathic vampire who murdered Zeke. But Sarren has left many surprises for Allie and her companions as his trail leads straight to the one place they must protect at any cost -- the last vampire-free zone on Earth.

Caged Warrior by Alan Lawrence Sitomer

McCutcheon Daniels' life is full of bone-cracking violence. As a star fighter in the gritty underground Mixed Martial Arts circuit in the poorest section of Detroit, McCutcheon fights under the tutelage of his volatile and violent father, not so much for himself but to survive as protector of his beloved five-year old sister, Gemma. We get to know McCutcheon as he battles opponents who are literally trying to kill him. Mr. Freedman, his science teacher, spots his intellectual potential, befriends him, and encourages him to enter the lottery for a scholarship to an elite charter school so he can obtain a first-class education. 

Seven Billion and Counting: The Crisis in Global Population Growth by Michael Andregg

October 31, 2011, marked an uneasy milestone for Planet Earth. On this day, the global population surpassed seven billion. What does that mean for a world that, until the nineteenth century, was home to less than one billion people? Experts say it means the planet is in trouble. Some wonder if Earth will even be able to sustain human life at its current rate of growth.  Will there be enough food for everyone? Will conflicts over land increase? How will the environment be affected? Can humanity survive the predicted disasters?

First Books of Summer ~ June New Books part 4

Sailor Moon Short Stories vol. 1 by Naoko Takeuchi

In this first of two collections of short stories, we find our favorite Sailor Guardians and their friends encountering new mysteries, enemies, allies, and once more saving the day.

Bloodwitch by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Raised by vampires, a shapeshifter learns that he may be a bloodwitch who possesses rare and destructive magic that the leader of the powerful Midnight empire seeks to control.

Learn to Program with Scratch by Majed Marji

In Learn to Program with Scratch, author Majed Marji uses Scratch to explain the concepts essential to solving real-world programming problems. The labeled, color-coded blocks plainly show each logical step in a given script, and with a single click, you can even test any part of your script to check your logic. You'll learn how to:

• Harness the power of repeat loops and recursion
• Use if/else statements and logical operators to make decisions
• Store data in variables and lists to use later in your program
• Read, store, and manipulate user input
• Implement key computer science algorithms like a linear search and bubble sort

 Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman

In 1930s Munich, the favorite niece of rising political leader Adolph Hitler is torn between duty and love after meeting a fearless and handsome young Jewish reporter.

 She is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick

A London teenager who is blind and her younger brother travel to New York to find their missing father, using clues from his notebook.

New books to read during those April showers! (Part 1)

FML by Shaun David Hutchinson

At a party near the end of senior year, seventeen-year-old Simon Cross imagines his life with and without Cassie, the girl he has yearned for since they were freshman, and begins to discover the unpredictable wonders of life his best friends, Ben and Coop, have urged him to explore.

No Place by Todd Strasser

When Dan and his parents can no longer pay their mortgage, they end up homeless and living in a local tent city. It's a bad situation, and it only gets worse when the leader of the tent city is brutally beaten. Who is trying to shut down the tent city, and why?

Zombillenium by Arthur De Pins

Francis von Bloodt, a vampire and good family man, operates the one-of-a-kind theme park Zombiellennium. But this unique amusement park doesn't just hire anyone: mere mortals need not apply - only genuine werewolves, vampires, zombies and other citizens from the undead community are employed. This is what Aurelian gets to discover as, burnt out, deceived by his wife, he finally gets hired in spite of himself in this strange business. Gretchen, a plucky trainee witch, helps him get around...

Snakeroot by Andrea Cremer

Bosque Mar haunts Adne and Logan's dreams, trying to turn Adne to the dark side as he attempts to escape the Nether, where Calla, Shay and the other Guardians trapped him in the final battle of the War of All Against All.

A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller

In 1909 London, as the world of debutante balls and high society obligations closes in around her, seventeen-year-old Victoria must figure out just how much is she willing to sacrifice to pursue her dream of becoming an artist.

New Books for March ~ Part 5

These Lying Eyes by Amanda Allen

How can the truest friends you’ve ever had be a curse? Perhaps when you’re the only one who can see them. But when the unseen world forces its way into Mina Roth’s life, she is forced to trust herself as never before. With an old friend, her lifelong companions, and a newly discovered faith in herself, Mina uncovers a hidden world and makes some startling discoveries about friendship, family, and what it means to love.

 Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick

Seven stories of passion and love separated by centuries but mysteriously intertwined--this is a tale of horror and beauty, tenderness and sacrifice. An archaeologist who unearths a mysterious artifact, an airman who finds himself far from home, a painter, a ghost, a vampire, and a Viking: the seven stories in this compelling novel all take place on the remote Scandinavian island of Blessed where a curiously powerful plant that resembles a dragon grows. What binds these stories together? What secrets lurk beneath the surface of this idyllic countryside? And what might be powerful enough to break the cycle of midwinterblood?

 Twisted Myths: 20 Classic Stories with a Dark and Dangerous Heart by Maura McHugh

Readers may be familiar with these traditional tales of gods, demons, and tricksters but they've never heard them like this before! Award-winning fantasy author Maura McHugh revisits the popular myths of Loki, Odin, Cupid, and Psyche and others from Greek and Norse mythology--as well as lesser known fables from Africa, Asia, and the Americas--and gives them a macabre makeover. These gruesome myths of love, treachery, sacrifice and revenge include:

New books to spend the holidays with~ (Part 3)

Daylighters by Rachel Caine

While Morganville, Texas, is often a troubled town, Claire Danvers and her friends are looking forward to coming home. But the Morganville they return to isn't the one they know; it's become a different place-a deadly one; Something drastic has happened in Morganville while Claire and her friends were away. The town looks cleaner and happier than they've ever seen it before, but when their incoming group is arrested and separated-vampires from humans-they realize that the changes definitely aren't for the better. It seems that an organization called the Daylight Foundation has offered the population of Morganville something they've never had: hope of a vampire-free future. And while it sounds like salvation-even for the vampires themselves-the truth is far more sinister and deadly. Now, Claire, Shane and Eve need to find a way to break their friends out of Daylighter custody, before the vampires of Morganville meet their untimely end.

Pandemic Survival: It's Why You're Alive by Ann Love & Jane Drake

The Black Death. Yellow Fever. Smallpox. History is full of gruesome pandemics, and surviving those pandemics has shaped our society and way of life. Every person today is alive because of an ancestor who survived--and surviving our current and future pandemics, like SARS, AIDS, bird flu or a new and unknown disease, will determine our future. Pandemic Survival presents in-depth information about past and current illnesses; the evolution of medicine and its pioneers; cures and treatments; strange rituals and superstitions; and what we're doing to prevent future pandemics. Full of delightfully gross details about symptoms and fascinating facts about bizarre superstitious behaviors, Pandemic Survival is sure to interest even the most squeamish of readers.

The Lightning Dreamer by Margarita Engle

In free verse, evokes the voice of Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda, a book-loving writer, feminist, and abolitionist who courageously fought injustice in nineteenth-century Cuba. Includes historical notes, excerpts from her writings, biographical information, and source notes.

 Pretenders by Lisi Harrison

Three girls, two guys, five secret journals. The five most popular students at Noble High have secrets to hide; secrets they wrote down in their journals. Now one of their own exposes the private entries... I am leaking these because I'm tired and I know you are too. The success bar is too high and pretending has become the only way to reach it. Instagrams are filtered, Facebook profiles are embellished, photos are shopped, reality TV is scripted, body parts get upgraded like software, and even professional athletes are cheating. The things we believe in aren't real. We are pretenders.

 Teardrop by Lauren Kate

An epic saga of heart-stopping romance, devastating secrets, and dark magic . . . a world where everything you love can be washed away. The first book in the new series from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Fallen series Never, ever cry. . . . Eureka Boudreaux's mother drilled that rule into her daughter years ago. But now her mother is gone, and everywhere Eureka goes he is there: Ander, the tall, pale blond boy who seems to know things he shouldn't, who tells Eureka she is in grave danger, who comes closer to making her cry than anyone has before. But Ander doesn't know Eureka's darkest secret: ever since her mother drowned in a freak accident, Eureka wishes she were dead, too. She has little left that she cares about, just her oldest friend, Brooks, and a strange inheritance--a locket, a letter, a mysterious stone, and an ancient book no one understands. The book contains a haunting tale about a girl who got her heart broken and cried an entire continent into the sea. Eureka is about to discover that the ancient tale is more than a story, that Ander might be telling the truth . . . and that her life has far darker undercurrents than she ever imagined.

New Books - October (Part 1)

Code of Silence by Tim Shoemaker
When thirteen-year-olds Cooper, Hiro, and Gordy witness a robbery that leaves a man in a coma, they find themselves tangled in a web of mystery and deceit that threatens their lives.

 Branded by the Pink Triangle by Ken Setterington
Before the rise of the Nazi party, Germany, especially Berlin, was one of the most tolerant places for homosexuals in the world. Activists such as Thomas Mann and Albert Einstein campaigned openly for the rights of gay men and women and tried to repeal the law against homosexuality. But that all changed when the Nazis came to power; existence for gay people became fear-filled. Raids, arrests, prison sentences and expulsions became the daily reality. When the concentration camps were built, homosexuals were imprisoned along with Jews and any other groups the Nazis wanted to suppress.
The pink triangle sewn onto prison uniforms became the symbol of the persecution of homosexuals, a persecution that would continue for many years after the war. A mix of historical research, first-person accounts and individual stories brings this time to life for young readers. Stories of bravery in the face of inhuman cruelty, friendship found in the depths of despair in the camps and the perseverance of the human spirit will educate and inspire.

 The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
When seventeen-year-old Tana wakes up following a party in the aftermath of a violent vampire attack, she travels to Coldtown, a quarantined Massachusetts city full of vampires, with her ex-boyfriend and a mysterious vampire boy in tow.

The Dark Shore by Kevin Emerson
On the run from EdenWest, Owen, Lily, and Leech cross North American deserts seeking Atlantis and find a third Atlantean, the wild child Seven, who is goddess of the Heliad-7 death cult in Yucatan.

My Beautiful Hippie by Janet Nichols Lynch
Fifteen-year-old Joanne, raised in San Francisco's Haight District, becomes involved with Martin, a hippy, and various aspects of the late 1960s cultural revolution despite her middle-class upbringing.

New Books for May (part 2)

The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa

"In Allison Sekemotos world, there is one rule left: Blood calls to blood." She has done the unthinkable: died so that might continue to live. Cast out of Eden and separated from the boy she dared to love, Allie will follow the call of blood to save her creator, Kanin, from the psychotic vampire Sarren. But when the trail leads to Allies birthplace in New Covington, what Allie finds there will change the world forever--and possibly end human and vampire existence. Theres a new plague on the rise, a strain of the Red Lung virus that wiped out most of humanity generations ago--and this strain is deadly to humans and vampires alike. The only hope for a cure lies in the secrets Kanin carries, if Allie can get to him in time. Allison thought that immortality was forever. But now, with eternity itself hanging in the balance, the lines between human and monster will blur even further, and Allie must face another choice she could never have imagined having to make.

 The Elite by Kiera Cass

Sixteen-year-old America Singer is one of only six girls still competing in the Selection--but before she can fight to win Prince Maxon and the Illean crown, she must decide where her own heart truly lies.

In Darkness by Nick Lake

In the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake, fifteen-year-old Shorty, a poor gang member from the slums of Site Soleil, is trapped in the rubble of a ruined hospital, and as he grows weaker he has visions and memories of his life of violence, his lost twin sister, and of Toussaint L'Ouverture, who liberated Haiti from French rule in the 1804.

The Essence by Kimberly Derting

Seventeen-year-old Charlaina "Charlie" Hart has defeated the tyrant Queen Sabara and taken control of Ludania, only to have Sabara's soul fuse itself with her own.

Thank You Notes by Jimmy Fallon with the writers of Late Night

The late-night show host and former cast member of "Saturday Night Live" addresses more than subjects in need of his undying "gratitude," including the Taco Bell chihuahua, Pez dispensers, and fake drawers. 

In with books...check out like a lion! March New Books (Part 2)

Enchanted by Alethea Kontis

When Sunday Woodcutter, the youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week, kisses an enchanted frog, he transforms back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland--a man Sunday's family despises.

 The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead

3rd book in the Bloodlines series (book one Bloodlines book two The Golden Lily)

As former Alchemist Marcus Finch pushes Alchemist Sydney Sage to rebel against the people who raised her, Sydney finds that breaking free is harder than she thought. There is an old and mysterious magic rooted deeply within her. And as she searches for an evil magic user targeting powerful young witches, she realizes that her only hope is to embrace her magical blood--or else she might be next.

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Fifteen-year-old Tiger Lily receives special protections from the spiritual forces of Neverland, but then she meets her tribe's most dangerous enemy--Peter Pan--and falls in love with him.

Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan

Kami Glass is in love with someone she's never met--a boy she's talked to in her head since she was born. This has made her an outsider in the sleepy English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale, but she has learned ways to turn that to her advantage. Her life seems to be in order, until disturbing events begin to occur. There has been screaming in the woods and the manor overlooking the town has lit up for the first time in 10 years. The Lynburn family, who ruled the town a generation ago and who all left without warning, have returned. Now Kami can see that the town she has known and loved all her life is hiding a multitude of secrets--and a murderer. The key to it all just might be the boy in her head. The boy she thought was imaginary is real, and definitely and deliciously dangerous.

The City's Son by Tom Pollock

Expelled from school, betrayed by her best friend, and virtually ignored by her widowed father, Beth Bradley is introduced to the magic and wonder of a hidden London by Filius Viae, then helps him protect it from Reach, a malign god of demolition who wants to claim the skyscraper throne for himself.