My Gift to You ~ New Books for December (part 9)

The Ultimate Unofficial Encyclopedia for Minecrafters by Megan Miller

Nonfiction 

From abandoned mineshafts to mini-games, mods, and zombie sieges, The Ultimate Unofficial Encyclopedia for Minecrafters reveals expert tricks of the trade for gamers. Want to know where you’ll find the most diamonds or how to protect your villagers at night? This A–Z reference is a quick guide to all the tips you want to know, including:

• How to spawn and kill the Wither boss
• How to rescue a baby zombie villager
• How to make a portal without a diamond pickaxe
• How to make a secret passageway using paintings

This exciting book will cover everything players need to know about mining, farming, building, villagers, the Nether, and more! A big book of players’ hacks for Minecrafters organized in an easy-to-reference A–Z encyclopedia format, this book will show readers the ins and outs of the game, how to survive and thrive, and various mods that can improve play. The book will be illustrated with screenshots throughout, making it easy for new and experienced Minecrafters to build, fight, protect, and survive in their creative worlds.

Untwine by Edwidge Danticat

Contemporary Fiction 

Identical twin teenagers Giselle and Isabelle Boyer have always been inseparable, and expected to stay that way even though their Haitian American parents are separating--but when when the entire family is caught in a car crash, everyone's world is shattered forever.

Violent Ends by various

Contemporary Fiction 

Relates how one boy--who had friends, enjoyed reading, playing saxophone in the band, and had never been in trouble before--became a monster capable of entering his high school with a loaded gun and firing on his classmates, as told from the viewpoints of several victims. Each perspective is written by a different writer of young adult fiction.

What We Left Behind by Robin Talley

Contemporary Fiction 

Toni and Gretchen are the couple everyone envied in high school. They've been together forever. They never fight. They're deeply, hopelessly in love. When they separate for their first year at college--Toni to Harvard and Gretchen to NYU--they're sure they'll be fine. The reality of being apart, though, is very different than they expected.

What We Saw by Aaron Hartzler

Contemporary Fiction 

The party at John Doone's last Saturday night is a bit of a blur. Kate Weston can piece together most of the details: Stacey Stallard handing her shots, Ben Cody taking her keys and getting her home early. . . . But when a picture of Stacey passed out over Deacon Mills's shoulder appears online the next morning, Kate suspects she doesn't have all the details. When Stacey levels charges against four of Kate's classmates, the whole town erupts into controversy. Facts that can't be ignored begin to surface, and every answer Kate finds leads back to the same questions: Who witnessed what happened to Stacey? And what responsibility do they have to speak up about what they saw?

Willful Machines by Tim Floreen

Action/Adventure

In a near-future America, a sentient computer program named Charlotte has turned terrorist, but Lee Fisher, the closeted son of an ultraconservative President, is more concerned with keeping his Secret Service detail from finding out about his developing romance with Nico, the new guy at school, but when the spider-like robots that roam the school halls begin acting even stranger than usual, Lee realizes he is Charlotte's next target.

My Gift to You ~ New Books for December (part 3)

A Frozen Heart by Elizabeth Rudnick

Fantasy 

Prince Hans of the Southern Isles, the youngest of twelve bullying brothers, takes advantage of his chance to have his own kingdom when he learns that Elsa will be crowned queen of Arendelle, but he inadvertantly woos her sister Anna instead.

Hacks for Minecrafters: The Unofficial Guide to Tips and Tricks That Other Guides Won't Teach You by Megan Miller

Nonfiction 

With more than 100 million registered players, Minecraft has taken control of gamers all over the world. With Hacks for Minecrafters, you'll be able to take back that control! Only with the help found in Hacks for Minecrafters will you be able to craft your world exactly how you want it to look, all while discovering the hidden gems of the game.

In this hacker's guide, you'll find expertise on:

Mining—including diamonds and rare minerals!

Farming—growing tricks, seed hacks, and the best tree-replanting techniques!

Battle—for the best weapons and armor!

Magic—top crafting hacks and book modifiers!

You will never be stuck again! With more than one hundred full-color screenshots of in-game footage, you’ll be able to carefully follow every tip with precision. It doesn’t matter if you’re playing on a PC, mobile device, or home console; with Hacks for Minecrafters, you’ll be beating the game in no time. Every block has been accounted for, all living entities have been taken into consideration, and all modes of game-play are covered!

Hardwired by Trisha Leaver & Lindsay Currie

Action/Adventure 

When seventeen-year-old Lucas Marshall tests positive for the M0A1 gene—a genetic abnormality believed to predispose humans toward violence—he is shipped off to an impregnable government facility to undergo a battery of psychological tests aimed at making him crack. Now, having survived their tests and proven his mental stability, Lucas is labeled safe to return home. 

But any hope Lucas has of returning to a normal life is shattered when the van transporting him to the reintegration facility is forced off the road by a group of radicals intent on accessing the facility and exposing it's dehumanizing practices. And Lucas is their ticket through the front door.

Spurred by rumors that the facility is secretly holding one of his old friends captive, Lucas and his bunk mate, Chris, agree to infiltrate the testing facility’s inner sanctum. But once inside, Lucas’s carefully laid plans begin to unravel, and he's forced to seek help from a group of kids he neither knows nor trusts. And when every genetic test claims your only allies are hardwired to become the next Charles Manson, it’s impossible to know who has your back.

Hawkeye: Rio Bravo volume 4 by Matt Fraction

Graphic Novel (Comic) 

Reeling from recent events, even Hawkeye wants to know his new status quo. Who's with him? Who's against him? Who's trying to kill him, and why? And just when Clint's rock bottom couldn't arrive fast enough, his brother shows up. After a lifetime of bad decisions, Clint and Barney Barton have to realize that they are brothers - and, ultimately, they're the only ones who can save one another. If they don't kill each other first. Now, the brothers Barton double down as the Clown and the Tracksuit Draculas lay siege to their building. Can Hawkguy keep everyone safe? Deafened and bloodied, will the Bartons make easy pickings for the Tracksuits?

Heartbreakers by Ali Novak

Contemporary Fiction 

When her triplet sister Cara is diagnosed with leukemia, eighteen-year-old Stella puts her dreams on hold to move home and be with her family, but when she starts spending time with the lead singer of Cara's favorite band, will Stella resent him for taking her attention away from her sister--or will he help Stella find the courage to live her own life?