Curl Up With One of February's New Books (part 9)

Velvet Undercover by Teri Brown

Historical Fiction 

Samantha Donaldson's family has always done its duty for the British Crown. In the midst of World War I, seventeen-year-old Sam follows in their footsteps, serving her country from the homefront as a messenger for the intelligence organization MI5. After her father disappears on a diplomatic mission, she continues their studies of languages, mathematics, and complex puzzles, hoping to make him proud. When Sam is asked to join the famed women's spy group La Dame Blanche, she's torn--while this could be an unbelievable adventure, how can she abandon her mother, who has already lost a husband? But when her handlers reveal shocking news, Sam realizes she can't refuse the exciting and dangerous opportunity. Her acceptance leads her straight into the heart of enemy territory on a mission to extract the most valuable British spy embedded in Germany, known only as Velvet. Deep undercover in the court of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Sam must navigate the labyrinthine palace and its many glamorous--and secretive--residents to complete her assignment. To make matters worse she must fight a forbidden attraction to the enemy--a dangerously handsome German guard. In a place where personal politics are treacherously entangled in wartime policy, can Sam find Velvet before it's too late . . . for them both? 

The Wanderers by Kate Ormand

Paranormal

Flo lives an eccentric life—she travels with a popular circus in which the main acts star orphaned children with secret shape-shifting abilities. Once Flo turns sixteen, she must perform, but she’s not ready. While practicing jumping a flaming hurdle in a clearing beside the circus, she spots a dark figure in the trees and fears he saw her shift. The news sends the circus into a panic.

In Flo’s world, shifters are unknown to humans with the exception of a secret organization—the EOS, referred to as “hunters.” Hunters capture and kill. They send some shifters to labs for observation and testing—testing they don’t often survive—and deem others useless, a danger to society, and eliminate them. To avoid discovery, shifters travel in packs, constantly moving and keeping themselves hidden. Up until now, the circus was the perfect disguise.

Zero Day by Jan Gangsei

Action/Adventure 

Addie Webster's kidnapping was the most notorious of the decade - her high-profile parents were forced to go through their grief in the public eye. Mark Webster is now the President of the United States, fighting to keep the oval office after a tumultuous first term when the unthinkable happens: his daughter resurfaces. Addie is brought back into her family's fold, but who is this sixteen-year-old girl with a quiet, burning intelligence now living in the White House? There are those in the president's political circle who find her timely return suspicious.

What's New in November? (part 3)

The Dogs by Allan Stratton

Paranormal 

Cameron is used to moving at a moment's notice because he and his mother are always running away from his supposedly violent father, but he is disturbed by their latest refuge, a creepy, deserted farmhouse, haunted by bloodthirsty dogs--and when he sees a boy hiding in the barn, and finds an old picture of the same boy, he starts wondering about the possibility of human ghosts.

Dreamstrider by Lindsay Smith

Fantasy 

Livia is a dreamstrider. She can inhabit a subject's body while they are sleeping and, for a short time, move around in their skin. She uses her talent to work as a spy for the Barstadt Empire. But her partner, Brandt, has lately become distant, and when Marez comes to join their team from a neighboring kingdom, he offers Livia the option of a life she had never dared to imagine. Livia knows of no other dreamstriders who have survived the pull of Nightmare. So only she understands thestakes when a plot against the Empire emerges that threatens to consume both the dreaming world and the waking one with misery and rage.

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

Contemporary Fiction 

If you could read my mind, you wouldn't be smiling. Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off. Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn't help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. Yet Sam knows she'd be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with Sam's weekly visits to her psychiatrist. Caroline introduces Sam to Poet's Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large. Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse, and starts to discover a whole new side of herself. Slowly, she begins to feel more "normal" than she ever has as part of the popular crowd . . . until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear.

The Fall by James Preller

Contemporary Fiction 

The summer before school starts, Sam's friend and classmate Morgan Mallen kills herself. Morgan had been bullied. Maybe she kissed the wrong boy. Or said the wrong thing. What about that selfie that made the rounds? Morgan was this, and Morgan was that. But who really knows what happened? As Sam explores the events leading up to the tragedy, he must face a difficult and life-changing question: Why did he keep his friendship with Morgan a secret? And could he have done something-anything-to prevent her final actions?

Ice Like Fire by Sara Raasch

Fantasy 

When Cordellan debt forces the Winterians to dig their mines for payment, they unearth something powerful and possibly dangerous: Primoria's lost chasm of magic. Theron sees this find as an opportunity -- with this much magic, the world can finally stand against threats like Angra. But Meira fears the danger the chasm poses -- the last time the world had access to so much magic, it spawned the Decay.

New books for October ~ Part 8

Tear You Apart by Sarah Cross

Fantasy 

Teenager Viv, who is constantly escaping her "Snow White" fairy-tale curse, meets the prince who is supposed to save her, but can not fall out of love with the young man destined to kill her.

This Monstrous Thing by Mackenzi Lee

Fantasy 

When a talented mechanic in 1818 Geneva brings his brother back from the dead using clockwork parts, the citizens of Geneva think they may have inspired the recently published novel Frankenstein.

Ultimate Spy by H. Keith Melton

Nonfiction 

The insider's guide to the secret world of espionage in a revised, expanded edition. From the Civil War to the present day, learn about famous spies throughout history, how they were recruited, and what really happened in some of their most daring missions in history. With more than 600 full-color photographs and illustrations, detailed accounts of formerly secret operations, descriptions of spy equipment and techniques used to gather information, The Ultimate Spy is the insider's guide to the secret world of espionage.

Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman

Historical Fiction 

When her father is killed by the notorious Rose Riders for a mysterious journal that reveals the secret location of a gold mine, eighteen-year-old Kate Thompson disguises herself as a boy and takes to the gritty plains looking for answers--and justice.

Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson

Paranormal 

The first book in a new trilogy from acclaimed New York Times-bestselling author Rae Carson. A young woman with the magical ability to sense the presence of gold must flee her home, taking her on a sweeping and dangerous journey across Gold Rush-era America. Walk on Earth a Stranger begins an epic saga from one of the finest writers of young adult literature. Lee Westfall has a secret. She can sense the presence of gold in the world around her. Veins deep beneath the earth, pebbles in the river, nuggets dug up from the forest floor. The buzz of gold means warmth and life and home--until everything is ripped away by a man who wants to control her. Left with nothing, Lee disguises herself as a boy and takes to the trail across the country. Gold was discovered in California, and where else could such a magical girl find herself, find safety?

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.

New year, new books ~ Happy 2015! (part 7)

Signed Skye Harper by Carol Lynch Williams

In 1972, while her idol, Mark Spitz, is in Germany competing in the Olympics, fifteen-year-old Winston, her Nanny, and her crush, Steve, head to Las Vegas in Steve's parents' motorhome to reconnect with Winston's mother, who left ten years before to become a star.

Stranger by Rachel Manija Brown & Sherwood Smith

Many generations ago, a mysterious cataclysm struck the world. Governments collapsed and people scattered to rebuild where they could. A mutation called the Change arose, granting some people unique powers. Though the area once known as Los Angeles retains its cultural diversity, its technological marvels have faded into legend. "Las Anclas" now resembles a Wild West frontier town--where the Sheriff possesses superhuman strength, the doctor can warp time to heal his patients, and the distant ruins of an ancient city bristle with deadly crystalline trees that take their jewellike colors from the clothes of the people they killed. Teenage prospector Ross Juarez's best find ever--an ancient book he doesn't know how to read--nearly costs him his life when a bounty hunter is sent to kill him and steal the book. Ross barely makes it to Las Anclas, bringing with him a precious artifact, a power no one has ever had before, and a whole lot of trouble.

Storm Siren by Mary Weber

Seventeen-year-old slave girl, Nym, should not exist. In a world where Elementals are only born male, and always killed at birth, she is an anomaly at best. At worst, people around her die. When a court emissary identifies her weather-manipulating ability as a weapon, Nym is purchased and put to work honing her skills. With time running out for the kingdom of Faelen, Nym might be all that stands between it and the technologically-advanced horror racing down upon them--not to mention the rumored reemergence of the monstrous shapeshifter, Draewulf. But some elements even she can't control. Nym must decide whom to trust as she's unleashed into a world of assassins and political betrayal surrounding a young king fighting for his throne, a tired nation that has forgotten its calling, and her handsome tutor whose dark secrets could destroy both her people and her heart.

Swagger by Carl Deuker

High school senior point guard Jonas Dolan is on the fast track to a basketball career until an unthinkable choice puts his future on the line.

The Terminals by Royce Scott Buckingham

Nineteen-year-old Cam Cody takes the opportunity to join a covert unit of young spies who, like him, are terminally ill but have extraordinary abilities due to an experimental super-steroid, but he soon learns the program is not what it seems--and they may not even be ill.

New year, new books ~ Happy 2015! (part 2)

Avatar the Last Airbender: The Search parts 2 & 3 by Gene Luen Yang

Continuing his quest to uncover his mother's fate, Fire Lord Zuko, his sister Azula, and his friends enter the Forgetful Valley, a mysterious forest from which some people never emerge.

Catalyst by S. J. Kincaid

Tom Raines and his friends return to the Spire for their third year as superhuman government weapons, but the rules have been changed and Tom's training is put to the test.

Chernobyl's Wild Kingdom: Life in the Dead Zone by Rebecca Johnson

After the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear explosion, scientists believed radiation would make the area a barren wasteland. Today the Dead Zone is teeming with wildlife. But every plant and animal is radioactive, leaving scientists wondering how their survival is possible.

Dangerous Deceptions by Sarah Zettel

An unwelcome engagement, a mysterious plot that hints at treason, and a possible murder add even more excitement to sixteen-year-old Peggy Fitzroy's life as she continues to serve as both a lady-in-waiting and confidential agent to King George of England.

A Different Me by Deborah Blumenthal

Allie Johnston's secret wish since the day she was twelve is to have her nose done. But she hasn't told anyone--not her parents, or even her best friend, Jen. But when she starts visiting a plastic surgery discussion board on the Web, she finds people who get her, for the first time in her life. Her new friends, including two girls her age with vastly different backgrounds who share her obsession with changing their faces--but for very different reasons. 

Don't Touch by Rachel Wilson

16-year-old Caddie struggles with OCD, anxiety, and a powerful fear of touching another person's skin, which threatens her dreams of being an actress--until the boy playing Hamlet opposite her Ophelia gives her a reason to overcome her fears.

New year, new books ~ Happy 2015! (part 1)

100 Questions You'd Never Ask Your Parents by Elisabeth Henderson & Nancy Armstrong, MD

A guide for teens about sex and related topics draws on the expertise of a psychologist and an OB/GYN to offer answers to questions on a wide range of subjects that teenagers may be reluctant to discuss with adults.

The Accidental Highwayman by Ben Tripp

In eighteenth-century England, young Christopher "Kit" Bristol unwittingly takes on the task of his dead master, notorious highwayman Whistling Jack, who pledged a fairy he would rescue feisty Princess Morgana from an arranged marriage with King George III.

Alex Rider: Russian Roulette: The Story of an Assassin by Anthony Horowitz

The final book in the #1 New York Times bestselling series! Alex Rider's life changed forever with the silent pull of a trigger . Every story has a beginning. For teen secret agent Alex Rider, that beginning occurred prior to his first case for MI6, known by the code name Stormbreaker. By the time Stormbreaker forever changed Alex's life, his uncle had been murdered by the assassin Yassen Gregorovich, leaving Alex orphaned and craving revenge. Yet when Yassen had a clear shot to take out Alex after he foiled the Stormbreaker plot, he let Alex live. Why ? This is Yassen's story. 

Anatomy of a Girl Gang by Ashley Little

Recounts the experiences of the five members of the all-girl gang of Vacouver, the "Black Roses."

Arm Knitting: Chunky Cowls, Scarves, and Other No-Needle Knits by Linda Zemba Burhance

Newtown designer Linda Zemba Burhance is the authorof this arm knitting book, published by The Taunton Press. Arm knitting is a technique in which big arm loops are "cast on" to a person's arms just below the wrists. You knit using your arms as needles, and can make everything from scarves to dresses. 

Ask Again Later by Liz Czukas

Instead of a "No Drama Prom-a" with a group of friends, seventeen-year-old Heart LaCoeur must choose between two boys with good reasons for asking her, but a flip of a coin leads not to one date but two complete--and very different--prom nights.

New Books for a New School Year - September books part 8

Sekret by Lindsay Smith

Follows a group of psychic teenagers in 1960s Soviet Russia who are forced to use their powers to spy for the KGB.

Satan's Prep by Gabe Guarente
Seventeen-year-old Trevor Loomis's high school is literally Hell. In an unfortunate theological snafu, Trevor finds himself at Satan's Prep in the bowels of Hell after he dies choking on a Cheesy Crisp. At Satan's Prep, Trevor is forced through Nine Class Periods of Hell, a take on the classic Circles of Hell. From First Period (homeroom, where students' names are mispronounced a billion ways) to Ninth Period (an assembly, where students stand under spotlights and make speeches in their underwear), Trevor just wants to pass the semester with a 61 percent humanity level and transfer to Purgatory. But when Persephone Plumm shows up at Satan's Prep, Trevor starts to think that maybe Hell isn't so bad after all. But could Trevor's best friend Steve be right could Persephone be a succubus? Will Trevor ever be able to transfer out of Satan's Prep and now that Persephone has arrived, will he even want to?

100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith
Finn Easton, sixteen and epileptic, struggles to feel like more than just a character in his father's cult-classic novels with the help of his best friend, Cade Hernandez, and first love, Julia, until Julia moves away.

Tease by Amanda Maciel
A teenage girl faces criminal charges for bullying after a classmate commits suicide.

The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings
In a world where the murder rate is higher than the birth rate, fifteen-year-old Meadow, trained by her father to kill and survive in any situation, falls in love with Zephyr, a government assassin.

Otherbound by Corinne Duyvis
A seventeen-year-old boy finds that every time he closes his eyes, he is drawn into the body of a mute servant girl from another world--a world that is growing increasingly more dangerous, and where many things are not as they seem.

Fabulous February New Books ~ Part 4

All The Truth That's In Me by Julie Berry

YA MYS BER

Four years ago, Judith and her best friend disappeared from their small town of Roswell Station. Two years ago, only Judith returned, permanently mutilated, reviled and ignored by those who were once her friends and family. Unable to speak, Judith lives like a ghost in her own home, silently pouring out her thoughts to the boy whos owned her heart as long as she can remember--even if he doesnt know it--her childhood friend, Lucas. But when Roswell Station is attacked, long-buried secrets come to light, and Judith is forced to choose: continue to live in silence, or recover her voice, even if it means changing her world, and the lives around her, forever. 

Palace of Spies by Sarah Zettel

YA HIS ZET

In 1716 London, an orphaned sixteen-year-old girl from a good family impersonates a lady-in-waiting only to discover that the real girl was murdered, the court harbors a nest of spies, and the handsome young artist who is helping her solve the mystery might be a spy himself.

Reality Boy by A. S. King

YA FIC KIN

Gerald Faust started feeling angry even before his mother invited a reality TV crew into his five-year-old life. Twelve years later, he's still haunted by his rage-filled youth--which the entire world got to watch from every imaginable angle--and his anger issues have resulted in violent outbursts, zero friends, and clueless adults dumping him in the special education room at school. No one cares that Gerald has tried to learn to control himself; they're all just waiting for him to snap. And he's starting to feel dangerously close to doing just that...until he chooses to create possibilities for himself that he never knew he deserved.

The Rule of Three by Eric Walters

YA ACT WAL

One shocking afternoon, computers around the globe shut down in a viral catastrophe. At sixteen-year-old Adam Daley's high school, the problem first seems to be a typical electrical outage, until students discover that cell phones are down, municipal utilities are failing, and a few computer-free cars like Adam's are the only vehicles that function. Driving home, Adam encounters a storm tide of anger and fear as the region becomes paralyzed. Soon--as resources dwindle, crises mount, and chaos descends--he will see his suburban neighborhood band together for protection. And Adam will understand that having a police captain for a mother and a retired government spy living next door are not just the facts of his life but the keys to his survival.

Hollow City by Ransom Riggs

YA PAR RIG

Having escaped Miss Peregrines island by the skin of their teeth, Jacob and his new friends must journey to London, the peculiar capital of the world. Along the way, they encounter new allies, a menagerie of peculiar animals, and other unexpected surprises. Complete with dozens of newly discovered (and thoroughly mesmerizing) vintage photographs, this new adventure will delight readers of all ages.

In November I am Thankful for...New Books! (part 3)

The Nazi Hunters by Neal Bascomb

In 1945, at the end of World War II, Adolf Eichmann, the head of operations for the Final Solution, walked into the mountains of Germany and vanished from view. Sixteen years later, an elite team of spies captured him at a bus stop in Argentina and smuggled him to Israel, resulting in one of the century's most important trials -- one that cemented the Holocaust in the public imagination. The Nazi Hunters is the thrilling and fascinating story of what happened between these two events. Survivor Simon Wiesenthal opened Eichmann's case; a blind Argentinean and his teenage daughter provided crucial information. Finally, the Israeli spies -- many of whom lost family in the Holocaust -- embarked on their daring mission, recounted here in full.

 The Private School Murders by James Patterson

Wealthy young women are being murdered, and the police aren't looking for answers in the right places. Enter Tandy Angel. Her first case was the mystery of her parents' deaths. Now she's working to exonerate her brother of his girlfriend's homicide. And danger just got closer. One of the recent victims was a student at Tandy's own elite school. She has a hunch it may be the work of a serial killer... and Tandy perfectly fits the profile of the killer's targets. Can she untangle the mysteries in time? Or will she be the next victim? 

 

Roses by G. R. Mannering

The story follows Beauty from birth. She grows up without a name, living with her cruel aunt, uncle and cousin. Beauty has a troubled upbringing, hidden from guests and house staff because of her unusual appearance of silvery skin and violet eyes. When an uprising hits Beauty's home, she is forced to flee with stableboy Owaine as State officials set out to kill those of magic blood. She spends time in the Hillands, and this is where she really comes into her own - away from punishment and torment and cruelty, and free from the grounds of her aunt's home - though Beauty is still not accepted by all. Owaine, now her acting-father, leaves the village for a while, only to return in the harsh winter clutching a gift for Beauty - a red rose. But when he plucked the rose from a beautiful garden beside a castle, he came face-to-face with a ferocious beast who wants a life for a life - Owaine's in return for the rose. Beauty cannot let Owaine die for her and sets off to bargain with the beast... (from mfu_11's Amazon review)

Second Impact by David & Perri Klass

When Jerry Downing, star quarterback in a small football town, gets a second chance after his drunk driving had serious consequences, Carla Jensen, ace reporter for the school newspaper, invites him to join her in writing a blog, mainly about sports.

Sketchy by Olivia Samms

After a stint in rehab, Bea Washington manifests a supernatural ability to draw images from the minds of other people and becomes involved in a case involving two assaults and a survivor who does not remember what happened.