What's New in November? (part 4)

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Science Fiction 

 This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she''d have to do. This afternoon, her planet was invaded. The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that''s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra--who are barely even talking to each other--are forced to evacuate with an enemy warship in hot pursuit. But their problems are just getting started. A plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet''s AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what''s really going on. As Kady hacks into a web of data to find the truth, it''s clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she''d never speak to again. Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents--including emails, schematics, files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more-- Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.

The Immortal Heights by Sherry Thomas

Fantasy 

In a pursuit that has spanned continents, Iolanthe, Titus, and their friends have always managed to remain one step ahead of the forces of Atlantis. But now the Bane, the monstrous tyrant who bestrides the entire mage world, has issued his ultimatum: Titus must hand over Iolanthe, or watch as his entire realm is destroyed in a deadly rampage. Running out of time and options, Iolanthe and Titus must act decisively to deliver a final blow to the Bane, ending his reign of terror for good.

However, getting to the Bane means accomplishing the impossible—finding a way to infiltrate his crypt in the deepest recesses of the most ferociously guarded fortress in Atlantis. And everything is only made more difficult when new prophecies come to light, foretelling a doomed effort....

The Lost Girl by R. L. Stine

Action/Adventure 

New student Lizzy Palmer is the talk of Shadyside High. Michael and his girlfriend Pepper befriend her, but the closer they get to her, the stranger she seems... and the more attractive she is to Michael. He invites her to join him on a snowmobile race that ends in a tragic accident. Soon, Michael's friends start being murdered, and Pepper becomes convinced that Lizzy is behind the killings. But to her total shock, she and Michael are drawn into a tragic story of an unthinkable betrayal committed over 60 years ago.

Lumberjanes vol 2: Friendship to the Max by Grace Ellis

Graphic Novel 

Jo, April, Mal, Molly and Ripley are five best pals determined to have an awesome summer together...and they’re not gonna let any insane quest or an array of supernatural critters get in their way! But having stumbled onto a mysterious force wreaking havoc in the camp, it’s a race through the woods as the Lumberjanes work together to save not only their friends, but maybe even the whole world!

It’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Gravity Falls and features five butt-kicking, rad teenage girls wailing on monsters and solving a mystery with the whole world at stake. And with the talent of acclaimed cartoonist Noelle Stevenson, talented newcomer Grace Ellis writing, and Brooke Allen on art, the spectacular series that took the internet by storm continues!

Nightfall by Jake Halpern and Peter Kujawinski

Fantasy 

On Marin's island, sunrise doesn't come every twenty-four hours--it comes every twenty-eight years . Now the sun is just a sliver of light on the horizon. The weather is turning cold and the shadows are growing long. Because sunset triggers the tide to roll out hundreds of miles, the islanders are frantically preparing to sail south, where they will wait out the long Night. Marin and her twin brother, Kana, help their anxious parents ready the house for departure. Locks must be taken off doors. Furniture must be arranged. Tables must be set. The rituals are puzzling--bizarre, even--but none of the adults in town will discuss why it has to be done this way. Just as the ships are about to sail, a teenage boy goes missing--the twins' friend Line. Marin and Kana are the only ones who know the truth about where Line's gone, and the only way to rescue him is by doing it themselves. But Night is falling. Their island is changing. And it may already be too late.

My gift to you...New Books for December! (part 3)

Deliverance by C. J. Redwine

Rachel Adams has been kidnapped by enemy forces and is being taken to Rowansmark while her love, Logan McEntire, is imprisoned and awaiting trial, unable to leave Lankenshire. As uneasy alliances are tested and their enemies plot against them, will the two manage to find a way to rid their world of the tyrannical Commander and destroy the tech that controls the deadly Cursed One once and for all?

Demon Derby by Carrie Harris

Once a true daredevil, South Carolina high school junior Casey is in remission from cancer when a terrifying encounter at a Halloween party leads her to become a demon-fighting roller derby girl.

Diamond Boy by Michael Williams

When Patson's family moves to Marange region of Zimbabwe, he begins working in the mines, searching for blood diamonds, until government soldiers arrive and Patson is forced to journey to South Africa in search of his missing sister and a better life.

Don't Let Go by Michelle Gagnon

In the final installment of the Don't Turn Around trilogy, Noa, Peter, and what is left of their army race across the country in their search to destroy Project Persephone before time runs out...

Endgame: The Calling by James Frey & Nils Johnson-Shelton

Twelve teens who have prepared their entire lives for an ancient life-or-death game must finally come to terms with its arrival, forming tenuous alliances and kiling each other for the chance to be the last one standing and the winner of the ultimate prize: the ability to save a select group of people from the end of the world.  

July's New Books are (finally) Here! (part 3)

Wickedpedia by Chris Van Etten

Don't open the door. Don't answer your phone. And whatever you do, DON'T turn on your computer. . . . Cole and Greg love playing practical jokes through Wikipedia. They edit key articles and watch their classmates crash and burn giving oral reports on historical figures like Genghis Khan, the first female astronaut on Jupiter. So after the star soccer player steals Cole's girlfriend, the boys take their revenge by creating a Wikipedia page for him, an entry full of outlandish information including details about his bizarre death on the soccer field. It's all in good fun, until the soccer player is killed in a freak accident . . . just as Cole and Greg predicted.

Code Name Komiko by Naomi Paul

In Hong Kong, high school senior Lian, code name Komiko, begins to investigate the Harrison Corporation, a clothing business using an illegal workforce, after a dead body washes up in Big Wave Bay. With the help of her cyber-investigating group 06/04, Komiko plunges into a world of corruption and danger to uncover Harrison Corps' crimes.

#scandal by Sarah Ockler

When pictures of Lucy kissing her best friend's boyfriend emerge on the world of social media, she becomes a social pariah after the scandal rocks the school.

Dear Life, You Suck by Scott Blagden

Irreverent, foul-mouthed, seventeen-year-old Cricket Cherpin, living under the watchful eye of Mother Mary at a Catholic boys' home in Maine, has such bleak prospects he is considering suicide when Wynona Bidaban steps into his world.

Dirt Bikes, Drones, and Other Ways to Fly by Conrad Wesselhoeft

Seventeen year-old dirt-bike-riding daredevil Arlo Santiago catches the eye of the U.S. military with his first-place ranking on a video game featuring drone warfare, and must reconcile the work they want him to do with the emotional scars he has suffered following a violent death in his family.

New books to read during those April showers! (Part 5)

Paper Artist by Gail Green

Paper is not just for drawing! Budding artists use paper to create everything from lanterns to  picture frames. Simple, step by step instructions and big, full color photographs help readers maximize their potential.

Wonder Woman, vol 1: Blood by Brian Azzarello

When Wonder Woman learns the secret her mother Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons, has kept regarding her father, her life shatters.

Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

With Omega Point destroyed, Juliette doesn't know if the rebels, her friends, or even Adam are alive. But that won't keep her from trying to take down The Reestablishment once and for all. Now she must rely on Warner, the handsome commander of Sector 45. The one person she never thought she could trust. The same person who saved her life. He promises to help Juliette master her powers and save their dying world ... but that's not all he wants with her.

Don't Even Think About It by Sarah Mlynowski

What happens when a group of Tribeca high school kids go in for flu shots . . . and end up being able to read each others' minds.

Find Me by Romily Bernard

When teen hacker and foster child Wick Tate finds a dead classmate's diary on her front step, with a note reading "Find me," she sets off on a perverse game of hide-and-seek to catch the killer.

In November I am Thankful for...New Books! (part 2)

The End Games by T. Michael Martin

Seventeen-year-old Michael and his baby brother, five-year-old Patrick, have managed to stay alive by following the Instructions of a mysterious Games Master. They spend their nights fighting the Bellows, grotesque, flesh-eating creatures. But the brothers may not survive much longer. The Bellows are evolving. And the others in The Game don't always follow the rules. 

Endless Knight by Kresley Cole

Evie has fully come into her powers as the Tarot Empress, and Jack was there to see it all. She now knows that the teens who've been reincarnated as the Tarot are in the throes of an epic battle. It's kill or be killed, and the future of mankind hangs in the balance. With threats lurking around every corner, Evie is forced to trust her newfound alliance. Together they must fight not only other Arcana, but also Bagmen zombies, post-apocalyptic storms, and cannibals. When Evie meets Death, things get even more complicated. Though falling for Jack, she's drawn to the dangerous Endless Knight as well. Somehow the Empress and Death share a history, one that Evie can't remember but Death can't forget.

The Extra by Kathryn Lasky

Is the chance to serve as an extra for Hitler's favorite filmmaker a chance at life -- or a detour on the path to inevitable extermination? In this chilling but ultimately uplifting novel, Kathryn Lasky imagines the lives of the Gypsies who worked as extras for the real Nazi filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, giving readers a story of survival unlike any other.

Fourth Down and Inches: Concussions and Football's Make or Break Moment by Carla Killough McClafferty

When the 1905 football season ended, nineteen players were dead and countless others were critically injured. The public was outraged. The game had reached a make-or-break moment fourth down and inches. Coaches, players, fans, and even the president of the United States had one last chance: change football or leave the field. Football's defenders managed to move the chains. Rule changes and reforms after 1905 saved the game and cleared the way for it to become America's most popular sport. But they didn't fix everything. Today, football faces a new injury crisis as dire as 1905's. With increased awareness about brain injury, reported concussions are on the rise among football players. But experts fear concussions may only be the tip of the iceberg. The injuries are almost invisible, but the stakes couldn't be higher: the brains of millions of young football players across the country.

Man Made Boy by Jon Skovron

Sixteen-year-old Boy’s never left home.  When you’re the son of Frankenstein’s monster and the Bride, it’s tough to go out in public, unless you want to draw the attention of a torch-wielding mob.  And since Boy and his family live in a secret enclave of monsters hidden under Times Square, it’s important they maintain a low profile.  Boy’s only interactions with the world are through the Internet, where he’s a hacker extraordinaire who can hide his hulking body and stitched-together face behind a layer of code.  When conflict erupts at home, Boy runs away and embarks on a cross-country road trip with the granddaughters of Jekyll and Hyde, who introduce him to malls and diners, love and heartbreak. But no matter how far Boy runs, he can’t escape his demons—both literal and figurative—until he faces his family once more.