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Showing posts from September, 2022

The Island

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 By: Adrian McKinty Location: FIC MCK Genre: Thriller Mystery " Overall: this is a twisty, extra exciting, fueled with adrenaline, wildest and darkest ride! You never get bored! Highly recommended!  What the heck I just read! So many times I just wanted to drop my e-reader and run away while I was screaming! This is so freaking tense! This is mind blowing! I couldn’t put it down but I was extremely jumpy during my read. " Ulifer It was just supposed to be a family vacation. A terrible accident changed everything. You don't know what you're capable of until they come for your family. After moving from a small country town to Seattle, Heather Baxter marries Tom, a widowed doctor with a young son and teenage daughter. A working vacation overseas seems like the perfect way to bring the new family together, but once they’re deep in the Australian outback, the jet-lagged and exhausted kids are so over their new mom. When they discover remote Dutch Island, off-limits to outs...

Always Remember Your Name

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 By: Andra and Tatiana Bucci Location: NF 920 BUC WWII Genre: Holocaust Survivor A haunting WWII memoir of two sisters who survived Auschwitz that picks up where Anne Frank's Diary left off and gives voice to the children we lost. On March 28, 1944, six-year-old Tati and her four-year-old sister Andra were roused from their sleep and arrested. Along with their mother, Mira, their aunt, and cousin Sergio, they were deported to Auschwitz. Over 230,000 children were deported to the camp, where Josef Mengele, the Angel of Death, performed deadly experiments on them. Only a few dozen children survived, Tati and Andra among them. Tati, Andra, and Sergio were separated from their mothers upon arrival. But Mira was determined to keep track of her girls. After being tattooed with their inmate numbers, she made them memorize her number and told them to “always remember your name.” In keeping this promise to their mother, the sisters were able to be reunited with their parents when WWII ended...

The Whalebone Theatre

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 By: Joanna Quinn Location: FIC QUI Genre: Historical Fiction, WWII An utterly enchanting, immersive novel about an irrepressible young heroine who becomes an undercover agent during World War II--a sparkling debut, by turns heartwarming and heartbreaking. One blustery night in 1928, a whale washes up on the shores of the English Channel. By law, all whales belong to the King, but twelve-year-old Cristabel Seagrave has other plans. She and the rest of the household and their guests--her sister, Flossie (known affectionately as The Veg); her brother Digby, the long-awaited heir to Chilcombe manor; Maudie Kitkat, maidservant; Taras, a hot-tempered visiting artist--build a theatre within the whale's skeleton. Cristabel is an orphan, mostly ignored by her feckless step-parents and brisk governesses. But within the Whalebone Theatre, she is fully at home and in charge, and her imagination comes to life. As Cristabel grows into a headstrong young woman, chafing against expectations, Worl...

96 Miles

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By: J.L Espin Location: FIC ESP Genre: Adventure , Survival “A suspense thriller, survival story, and a story of the love between brothers. You'll turn the pages and be surprised again and again.” 21 days without power. Two brothers on a desperate trek. 72 hours before time runs out... The Lockwood brothers are supposed to be able to survive anything. Their dad, a hardcore believer in self-reliance, has stockpiled enough food and water at their isolated Nevada home to last for months. But when they are robbed of all their supplies during a massive blackout while their dad is out of town, John and Stew must walk 96 miles in the stark desert sun to get help. Along the way, they’re forced to question their dad’s insistence on self-reliance and ask just what it is that we owe to our neighbors, to our kin, and to ourselves. From talented newcomer J. L. Esplin comes this story of survival and determination as two young brothers confront the unpredictability of human nature in the face of...

Beasts of Prey

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 By: Ayana Gray Location: FIC GRA Genre: Fantasy, Mythology, Magic “I know I'm too much, but I don't know how to be less.” ―  Ayana Gray,  Beasts of Prey An unforgettable, New York Times bestselling fantasy adventure for fans of AN EMBER IN THE ASHES, SHADOW AND BONE and THE GILDED ONES.  Soon to be a major Netflix movie. 'The hunt for your next YA fantasy book trilogy obsession has ended' Entertainment Weekly 'The next big thing in YA fantasy . . . Dazzling' Kirkus 'A fast-paced, rip-roaring ride . . . A masterpiece of magic' - Namina Forna, New York Times bestselling author of The Gilded Ones Magic doesn't exist in the broken city of Lkossa anymore, especially for girls like sixteen-year-old  Koffi . Indentured to the notorious Night Zoo, she cares for its fearsome mythical creatures to pay off her family's debts. But when they are threatened by the Zoo's cruel master, Koffi unleashes a power she doesn't fully understand. As ...

Just Our Luck

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 By: Julia Walton Location: FIC WAL Genre: Young Adult, Mental Health From the author of  Words on Bathroom Walls-- now a major motion picture--comes a romance in the spirit of  Dear Evan Hansen  about overcoming anxiety--and about finding love and friendship in unlikely places. ★  A masterpiece   --Kirkus,  starred review Bad luck follows lies.  That was the first rule for life that Leo's Greek grandmother, Yia Yia, gave him before she died. But Leo's anxiety just caused a fight at school, and though he didn't lie, he wasn't exactly honest about how it all went down . . . how  he  went down. Now Leo's father thinks a self-defense class is exactly what his son needs to man up. Leave the Paros family alone.  That was Yia Yia's second rule for life. But who does Leo see sitting at the front desk of the local gym? Evey Paros, whose family supposedly cursed Leo's with bad luck. Seeing that Leo is desperate to enroll in anything but self...

The Final Strife

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 By: Saara El- Arifi   Location: FIC ELA Genre: Fantasy, LGBT “remember what it felt like…being part of something bigger. Something that carries you along like a grain of sand. You can’t fight it—you don’t want to—because alone you are just one grain. Together you are the desert.”   The Empire rules by blood Red is the blood of the elite, of magic, of control. Blue is the blood of the poor, of workers, of the resistance. Clear is the blood of the servants, of the crushed, of the invisible. The Aktibar – a set of trials held every ten years to find the next Ember rulers of the Empire – is about to begin. All can join but not just anyone can win; it requires great skill and ingenuity to become the future wardens of Strength, Knowledge, Truth and Duty. Sylah was destined to win the trials and be crowned Warden of Strength. Stolen by blue-blooded rebels she was raised with a Duster’s heart; forged as a weapon to bring down from within the red-blooded Embers’ regime of cr...

The People We Keep

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 By: Allison Larkin Location: FIC LAR Genre: Historical Fiction, Roady, Music, Coming of A ge “We have people we get to keep, who won’t ever let us go. And that’s the most important part.” The People we Keep  is about a young songwriter longing to find a home in the world. Little River, New York, 1994: April Sawicki is living in a run-down motorhome, flunking out of school, and picking up shifts at the local diner. But when April realizes she’s finally had enough—enough of her selfish, absent father and barely surviving in an unfeeling town—she decides to make a break for it. Stealing a car and with only her music to keep her company, April hits the road, determined to live life on her own terms. She manages to scrape together a meaningful existence as she travels, encountering people and places she’s never dreamed of, and could never imagine deserving. From lifelong friendships to tragic heartbreaks, April chronicles her journey in the beautiful music she creates as she disco...

The Blood Trials

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 By: N. E. Davenport Location: FIC DAV Genre: Fantasy Sci Fi This is a full on book  Lots of violence, blood and death, sexual content, racism, misogyny, loss of loved ones . BUT.... Blending fantasy and science fiction, N. E. Davenport’s fast-paced, action-packed debut kicks off a duology of loyalty and rebellion, in which a young Black woman must survive deadly trials in a racist and misogynistic society to become an elite warrior. It’s all about blood. The blood spilled between the Republic of Mareen and the armies of the Blood Emperor long ago. The blood gifts of Mareen’s deadliest enemies. The blood that runs through the elite War Houses of Mareen, the rulers of the Tribunal dedicated to keeping the republic alive. The blood of the former Legatus, Verne Amari, murdered. For his granddaughter, Ikenna, the only thing steady in her life was the man who had saved Mareen. The man who had trained her in secret, not just in martial skills, but in harnessing the blood gift that c...

Cop and Robber

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 By: Tristan Bancks Location: FIC BAN Genre: Family Suspense, Crime If your mum was a cop and your dad was a crim who needed your help to commit a crime, would you do it to save him? At what cost? Nash Hall's dad is a criminal who just can't seem to go straight. He wants Nash to help him commit a robbery. A big one. The trouble is, Nash's mum is a cop. And the robbery is at Nash's school. But Dad owes a lot of money to some very dangerous people and if Nash doesn't help him do the job, it could cost both their lives. From the bestselling author of Two Wolves, The Fall and Detention. Review by Sarah A great premise and another riveting and suspense-filled novel by Tristan Bancks. A fantastic opening scene at the petrol station has you on the edge of your seat right from the start! There’s a touch of menace when Nash’s Dad is being dealt with by the baddies he owes money too. The tension builds throughout this book as Nash is forced to deal with some tough situations ...

Babylon Twins

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  By: Michael Ferris Gibson   Location: FIC GIB Genre: Sci Fi   AI apocalypse Meet Chloe and Elizabeth Yetti: antisocial, semi-homicidal eighteen-year-old twins casually surviving the AI apocalypse. Ten years ago, a powerful machine intelligence unleashed a nanoengineered superdrug on humanity. Civilization is now a collection of mindless addicts confined to automated treatment centers that tower over drone-dominated cityscapes. Having escaped and grown up in the forests of Northern California alongside their younger brother and brilliant scientist/survivalist mother, Clo and El stayed safe while society collapsed around them. But when a mysterious stranger and a demonic woodland creature appear and threaten their family, the twins are drawn back to a disintegrating, drug-addled San Francisco. There, biomechanical gods and monsters vie for control of what’s left of humanity’s consciousness. Armed with only a knife, an old hunting rifle, and their secret, cryptop...

Children of the Flying City

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 By: Jason Sheehan Loction: FIC SHE Genre: Fantas y "Richly imagined and emotionally resonant,  Children of the Flying City  is a fantasy for young and old alike. This book gave my heart wings." -Pierce Brown, #1  New York Times  bestselling author of  Red Rising Brought to the flying city of Highgate when he was only five years old, orphan Milo Quick has never known another home. Now almost thirteen, Milo survives one daredevil grift at a time, relying only on his wit, speed, and best friends Jules and Dagda. A massive armada has surrounded Highgate's crumbling armaments. Because behind locked doors-in opulent parlors and pneumatic forests and a master toymaker's workshop-the once-great flying city protects a powerful secret, hidden away for centuries. A secret that's about to ignite a war. One small airship, the  Halcyon , has slipped through the ominous blockade on a mission to collect Milo-and the rich bounty on his head-before the fighting begins....

Together We Burn

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 By: Isabel Ibanez Location: FIC IBA Genre: Fantasy, Dragons “Easy for him to suggest something like that. To sign over my rights, become someone’s property. Financial burden. An exchange in which I’d lose my self-respect, become someone I didn’t recognize. Chattel. A porcelain figurine on a shelf.” An ancient city plagued by dragons. A flamenco dancer determined to save her ancestral home. A dragon hunter refusing to teach her his ways. They don't want each other, but they need each other, and without him her world will burn. Eighteen-year-old Zarela Zalvidar is a talented flamenco dancer and daughter of the most famous Dragonador in Hispalia. People come for miles to see him fight in their arena, which will one day be hers. But disaster strikes during their five hundredth anniversary show, and in the carnage, Zarela’s father is horribly injured. Facing punishment from the Dragon Guild, Zarela must keep the arena—her ancestral home and inheritance —safe from their greedy hands. Sh...

The Shadow Glass

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 By: Josh Winning Location: FIC WIN Genre: Fantasy Horror A thrilling race against the clock to save the world from fantasy creatures from a cult 80s film – perfect for fans of Henson Company puppet classics like  Labyrinth  and  The Dark Crystal , and  The NeverEnding Story. The Shadow Glass is the remarkable upcoming novel by Josh Winning. To share his love for the golden age decade which brought us fantasy films featuring puppets on high-stake quests, Winning delivers an 80’s nostalgic revival tale which will have you longing to crack out those VHS tapes and become lost in an era of magic, adventure and escapism. Nils Jack Corman is failing at life. Jobless, jaded and facing the threat of eviction, he’s also reeling from the death of his father, one-time film director Bob Corman. Back in the eighties, Bob poured his heart and soul into the creation of his 1986 puppet fantasy The Shadow Glass, but the film flopped on release and Bob was never the same again. I...

We Run Tomorrow

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 By: Nat Amoore Location: FIC AMo Genre:  Graphic Hybrid Novel- Adventure Review buy " I teach muggels everyday" Everyday kids channel their inner superheroes in Nat Amoore’s and Mike Barry’s graphic novel hybrid. Best friends Jed, Tommy, Maki and Sticks all live on Lockett Street (which is actually a cul-de-sac). United by the street that they call home and a shared love for the Screen Savers comic book series, they go under the moniker The Lockett Squad. When not at school or doing household chores, they hang out at their HQ shack at the reservoir where they chat all things Screen Savers and create videos of their favourite episodes. Life is awesome until the adults in their lives start making decisions that could tear the four friends apart. Jed’s pushy parents have enrolled him into more after school clubs than he can count and are intent on sending him away to boarding school so he can fulfil his potential. Maki, whose family moves every two years because of his dad’s jo...

The Girl with the Soul

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 By: Morgan Owen  Location: FIC OWE Genre: Fantasy The Girl with no Soul  combines a fabulous concept, a swooning love story, and intoxicating world building in one glorious package. Perfect for fans of Alice Broadway and Leigh Bardugo. Morgan Owen is a bright new talent in the YA wo How can you find your soul mate, when you don't have a soul? Iris lives in a world ruled by The Order. Inspectors police the population by keeping careful watch over people's souls. If they shine their lanterns on you, your soul is projected for the world to see... and judge. But Iris has a deadly secret ... she is a hollow, a person with no soul. She must hide from the Order at all costs, scraping a living in the shadows. But when she's sent to steal a ring from a lady of nobility, she is reunited with her Spark - one of the five parts that make up her own missing soul. Now she must rely on the help of a young scholar named Evander Mountebank to track down the other four missing pieces of he...

Cold Cold Bones

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 By: Kathy Reichs Location: FIC REUI Genre: Forensic, Mystery The author knows her stuff: Kathy Reichs is a forensic anthropologist for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, State of North Carolina, and for the Laboratoire des Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale for the province of Quebec. She is one of only fifty forensic anthropologists certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology and is on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. A professor of anthropology at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Dr. Reichs is a native of Chicago, where she received her Ph.D. at Northwestern. She now divides her time between Charlotte and Montreal and is a frequent expert witness in criminal trials. Can be read as a STANDALONE #1  New York Times  bestselling author Kathy Reichs returns with her twenty-first novel of suspense featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan who, after receiving a box with a human eyeb...

Bravely

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 By: Maggie Stiefvater Location: FIC STI Genre; Fantasy, Retellings This book was a delight to read. It was sweet, heartwarming and a little sad FROM THE AUTHOR:  Bravely is what booksellers and librarians sometimes call "clean teen," which means the complexity of the plot and emotions should be satisfying for teens and above, but the language and content is perfectly able to live on the shelves of middle school libraries without requiring parental or teacher approval to make sure less worldly readers can process the content. Basically, I wanted Bravely to satisfy the same audience as the original film, Brave. Family friendly! Merida goes on an all-new, life-changing adventure in this original YA novel set several years after the close of Brave! What if you had one year to save everything you loved? ONE PRINCESS. Merida of DunBroch needs a change. S he loves her family—jovial King Fergus, proper Queen Elinor, the mischievous triplets—and her peaceful kingdom. But she’s frustr...