New Books

Summer /Fall2007

 

Fiction

 

F All     The Ladies of the Lake : A Mystery. Jennifer Allison

Having earned a scholarship to a private girls' high school, self-proclaimed psychic investigator Gilda Joyce investigates the circumstances surrounding the drowning death of a student whose ghost supposedly haunts the campus.

 

F Ano  Go Ask Alice.   Anonymous.

A fifteen-year-old drug user chronicles her daily struggle to escape the pull of the drug world.

 

F Bea   Going Nowhere Faster. Sean Beaudoin

Although his past accomplishments have convinced everyone else he is headed for college and greatness, seventeen-year-old Stan just wants to work at Happy Video, live in his parents' basement, write a movie script--and convince someone there really is a madman after him.

 

F Bos   Swiped. Michele Martin Bossley

Trevor and his friends investigate after a series of thefts of school lunches and a valuable hockey book.

 

F Bro   Being. Kevin Brooks

After having a routine exam that turns out to be anything but routine, Robert learns about the mechanical parts and plastic casings that make up his being, forcing him to flee the only world he has ever known and go on a dangerous search to find out who (and what) he is.

 

F Bro   The Road of the Dead. Kevin Brooks

Two brothers, sons of an incarcerated gypsy, leave London traveling to an isolated and desolate village, in search of the brutal killer of their sister.

 

F Bro   First King of Shannara. Terry Brooks

Bremen, cast out by the Druids because of his study of magic, discovers a plot by evil archmage Brona to conquer the Four Lands, but he must work fast to unite the people of the lands and find a weapon that will stop Brona's power.

 

F Bud   Ask Me No Questions. Marina Budhos

Fourteen-year-old Nadira, her sister, and their parents leave Bangladesh for New York City, but the expiration of their visas and the events of September 11, 2001, bring frustration, sorrow, and terror for the whole family.

 

F Bur   Sara’s Face. Melvin Burgess

Seventeen-year-old Sara wants so much to be famous that when a legendary, plastic-surgery-addicted rock star offers to take her under his wing and pay for her to have surgery too, she jumps at the chance despite her misgivings.

 

F Cab  Project Princess Meg Cabot

Princess Mia and her friends volunteer to build a house for the less fortunate during their spring break.

 

F Cle    Mutant. Peter Clement

After a heart attack changes his life, Dr. Richard Steele is recruited into a movement to examine the hazards of genetically modified foods, and his controversial findings threaten the future of science.

 

F Chi    Donald Duk. Frank Chin

On the eve of the Chinese New Year in San Francisco's Chinatown, twelve-year-old Donald Duk attempts to deal with his comical name and his feelings for his cultural heritage.

 

F Coh Nick & Nora’s Infinite Playlist. Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

High school student Nick O'Leary, member of a rock band, meets college-bound Norah Silverberg and asks her to be his girlfriend for five minutes in order to avoid his ex-sweetheart.

 

F Con   The Book of Lost Things. John Connolly

Twelve-year-old David's grief over his mother's death at the start of World War II intensifies with his father's remarriage and the impending birth of a sibling, so when his books begin talking to him, tempting him to enter a portal into a magical world, he decides to take the risk.

 

F Coo  Chromosome 6.            Robin Cook

Forensic pathologist Dr. Jack Stapleton and his colleague Dr. Laurie Montgomery discover a mysterious cult involved in high-tech experimental medical procedures when they set out to discover the truth about what happened to Carlo Franconi, mobster whose body was stolen from the morgue and later turned up mutilated and without its liver.

 

F Coo  Code Orange. Caroline B. Cooney

While conducting research for a school paper on smallpox, Mitty finds an envelope containing 100-year-old smallpox scabs and fears that he has infected himself and all of New York City.

 

F Dea   Beautiful Stranger. Zoey Dean

When Anna moves from Manhattan to Hollywood, she experiences a culture shock and quickly learns that beautiful girls are not always welcome in the inner circle.

 

F Doi   The Whistling Season   Ivan Doig

Hired as a housekeeper to work on the early 1900s Montana homestead of widower Oliver Milliron, the irreverent and perpetually whistling Rose and her font-of-knowledge brother, Morris, endeavor to educate the widower's reluctant sons while witnessing local efforts on a massive irrigation project. Reader's Guide available.

 

F Fel    ­Touching Snow    M. Sindy Felin

After her stepfather is arrested for child abuse, thirteen-year-old Karina's home life improves but while the severity of her older sister's injuries and the urging of her younger sister, their uncle, and a friend tempt her to testify against him, her mother and other well-meaning adults persuade her to claim responsibility.

 

F Gar   Endgame. Nancy Garden

Fifteen-year-old Gray Wilton, bullied at school and ridiculed by an unfeeling father for preferring drums to hunting, goes on a shooting rampage at his high school.

 

F Gar   Inventing Elliott. Graham Gardner

Elliot, a victim of bullying, invents a calmer, cooler self when he changes schools in the middle of freshman year, but soon attracts the wrong kind of attention from the Guardians, who "maintain order" at the new school.

 

F Gil     What Happened to Cass McBride? Gail Giles

After his younger brother commits suicide, Kyle Kirby decides to exact revenge on the person he holds responsible.

 

F Goi   Saint Iggy. K.L. Going

Iggy Corso, who lives in city public housing, is caught physically and spiritually between good and bad when he is kicked out of high school, goes searching for his missing mother, and causes his friend to get involved with the same dangerous drug dealer who deals to his parents.

 

F Gri    ­ Playing for Pizza. John Grisham

Cut from the Cleveland Browns after the worst performance in the history of the NFL, third-stringer Rick Dockery, desperate to play football, is hired by the Panthers of Parma, Italy, to be their starting quarterback and finds himself confronted by the confusing diversity of Italian culture, language, and romance.

 

F Gru   Water for Elephants. Sara Gruen.

Ninety-something-year-old Jacob Jankowski remembers his time in the circus as a young man during the Great Depression, and his friendship with Marlena, the star of the equestrian act, and Rosie, the elephant, who gave them hope.

 

F Ham  Color of the Sea. John Hamamura

Separated from his Japanese-American family and girlfriend by the interment practices of World War II, martial arts master Sam Hamada is recruited by the U.S. Army for a secret mission in Japan, where he finds himself torn between cultures.

 

F Hos     A Thousand Splendid Suns. Khaled Hosseini

A novel set against the three decades of Afghanistan's history shaped by Soviet occupation, civil war, and the Taliban, which tells the stories of two women, Mariam and Laila, who grow close despite their nineteen-year age difference and initial rivalry as they suffer at the hand of a common enemy: their abusive husband.

 

F Kad  Kira-Kira. Cynthia Kadohata

Chronicles the close friendship between two Japanese-American sisters growing up in rural Georgia during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and the despair when one sister becomes terminally ill.

 

F Kad Weedflower. Cyntha Kadohata

After twelve-year-old Sumiko and her Japanese-American family are relocated from their flower farm in southern California to an internment camp on a Mojave Indian reservation in Arizona, she helps her family and neighbors, becomes friends with a local Indian boy, and tries to hold on to her dream of owning a flower shop.

 

F Lip    Raiders Night. Robert Lipsyte 

Matt Rydek, co-captain of his high school football team, endures a traumatic season as he witnesses the rape of a rookie player by teammates and grapples with his own use of performance-enhancing drugs.

 

F McC             Charmed Thirds. Megan McCafferty

During the summer after her first year in college, Jessica has a hard time fitting in with the hipster staff at the Brooklyn-based magazine for which she's interning and is tempted by three very different guys--a neoconservative resident assistant, an "emo" boy, and a married Spanish graduate student--when problems with Marcus arise.

 

F McM    Promise Not to Tell. Jennifer McMahon

Soon after returning to her childhood home in Vermont to care for her mother who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, Kate Cypher learns about a recent murder that is similar to one thirty-one years earlier in which her friend Del was the victim, and as she investigates, surprising details about the community begin to unfold.

 

F Mey  Eclipse. Stephenie Meyer

Bella must choose between her friendship with Jacob and her relationship with Edward, but when Seattle is ravaged by a mysterious string of killings, the three of them need to decide whether their personal lives are more important than the well-being of an entire city.

 

F Mey  New Moon. Stephenie Meyer

When the Cullens, including her beloved Edward, leave Forks rather than risk revealing that they are vampires, it is almost too much for eighteen-year-old Bella to bear, but she finds solace in her friend Jacob until he is drawn into a "cult" and changes in terrible ways.

 

F Moe  The Forensic Files of Batman. Doug Moench

Discover how the use of forensic science allows the World’s Greatest Detective to solve the world’s most shocking crimes. 

 

F Nay  Dangerously Alice. Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

During fall semester of her junior year of high school, Alice decides to change her good girl image, while major remodeling begins at home and some important relationships begin to change.

 

F Nix   The Keys to the Kingdom: Lady Friday. Garth Nix

Young Arthur Penhaligon must weigh an offer from Lady Friday that is either a cunning trap for the Rightful Heir or a golden opportunity that he must seize.

 

F Nix   The Keys to the Kingdom: Sir Thursday. Garth Nix

When Arthur is drafted into the Glorious Army of the Architect by Sir Thursday, he must survive basic training, avoid getting posted to the Front, and figure out how to free Part Four of the Will, while Leaf tries to banish Arthur's doppleganger on Earth.

 

F Nix   The Ragwitch. Garth Nix

When his sister Julia falls under the spell of the evil Ragwitch and her minions, Paul must journey across time to a distant dimension and rally the forces of good to rescue Julia and save the magical kingdom of Yendre.

 

F Nix   Shade’s Children. Garth Nix

In a savage postnuclear world, four young fugitives attempt to overthrow the bloodthirsty rule of the Overlords with the help of Shade, their mysterious mentor.

 

F Pat    Higher Power of Lucky. Susan Patron

Fearing that her legal guardian plans to abandon her to return to France, ten-year-old aspiring scientist Lucky Trimble determines to run away while also continuing to seek the Higher Power that will bring stability to her life.

 

F Pfe    Life As We Knew It. Susan Beth Pfeffer

Through journal entries sixteen-year-old Miranda describes her family's struggle to survive after a meteor hits the moon, causing worldwide tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.

 

F Pic    Nineteen Minutes. Jodi Picoult

The people of Sterling, New Hampshire, are forever changed after a shooting at the high school leaves ten people dead, and the judge presiding over the trial tries to remain unbiased, even though her daughter witnessed the events and was friends with the assailant.

 

F Pro   Bullyville. Francine Prose

After the death of his estranged father in the World Trade Center, thirteen-year-old Bart, still struggling with his feelings of guilt, sorrow and loss, wins a scholarship to the local preparatory school and there encounters a vicious bully whose cruelty compounds the aftermath of the tragedy.

 

F Rit     Over the Wall. John H. Ritter

Tyler, who has trouble controlling his anger, spends an important summer with his cousins in New York City, playing baseball and sorting out how he feels about violence, war, and in particular the Vietnamese conflict that took his grandfather's life.

 

F Ros   Lost Bullet. Malcolm Rose

Sixteen year old forensic investigator Luke Harding and his robot sidekick Malc investigate a murder where the bullet and the rest of the clues have been washed away by the rain.

 

F Row  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. J.K. Rowling

The final book in the series of seven in which Harry must face Voldemort in the show-down for the wizarding world. Who will win? Who will die? In the darkest book yet, find out how J.K. ends her series and whether it lives up to the hype.

 

F Sch   A Drowned Maiden’s Hair: A Melodrama. Laura Amy Schlitz

At the Barbary Asylum for Female Orphans, eleven-year-old Maud is adopted by three spinster sisters moonlighting as mediums who take her home and reveal to her the role she will play in their séances.

 

F Sha Bec Darren Shan

As the demonic Fomorii ravage their land, Bec and her warrior companions leave the devastated area not only to answer a call for help but also to find information that will enable Bec to unlock the secrets of her past. Book #4 in the Demonata Series.

 

F Sha   Demon Thief. Darren Shan

With the opening of a window into a demon world, a boy discovers his powers as a Disciple and his mission to hunt the viciously powerful Demonata to the death. Book #2 in the Demonata Series.

 

F Sha Slawter. Darren Shan

While on a horror movie set with his Uncle Dervish, Grubbs Grady realizes that his battle with the evil demon master Lord Loss may be about to resume. Book #3 in the Demonata Series.

 

F Son   Stop Pretending: What Happened When my Big Sister Went Crazy. Sonya Sones

A younger sister has a difficult time adjusting to life after her older sister has a mental breakdown.

 

F Son   What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know. Sonya Sones

Fourteen-year-old Robin Murphy is so unpopular at high school that his name is slang for "loser," and so when he begins dating the beautiful and popular Sophie her reputation plummets, but he finds acceptance as a student in a drawing class at Harvard.

 

F Tur    The King of Attolia. Megan Whalen Turner

Eugenides, still known as a Thief of Eddis, faces palace intrigue and assassins as he strives to prove himself both to the people of Attolia and to his new bride, their queen.

 

F Van   Heir Apparent. Vivian Van Velde

Trapped in a virtual reality game, Giannine must find treasure, solve riddles, defeat a dragon, and face other challenges in order to survive in the game and in real life.

 

SC Nix             Across the Wall: A Tale of Abhorsen and Other Stories. Garth Nix

A collection of fantasy short stories plus a novella that is set in the world of the Abhorsen trilogy.

 

Nonfiction

 

160 Hin            Think For Yourself       Steve Hindes

Explains the significant but often ignored difference between intuitive reasoning and logical reasoning and what those differences mean in a world filled with deception and double-meaning.

 

303.3 Ros        The Flip: Turn Your World Around. Jared Rosen

"Rosen and Rippe use wit and insight to highlight the transformation from an upside-down to a right-side up world. The Flip offers interviews and wisdom from leading thinkers and visionaries, including Oscar Arias, Paul Ray, John Gray, Ed Begley Jr., and Dr. Christiane Northrup, who illuminate the influential shifts in our corporations, media, politics, food, medicine, and beliefs"--Provided by publisher.

 

305.8009 Lam Two Wands, One Nation: An Essay on Race and Community in America.

Discusses minority underperformance in the U.S., its causes, and its impact on the country and explores answers, examining post-civil-rights strategies in minority communities and how to balance diversity and unity.

 

306.76 Gar  Hear Us Out: Lesbian and Gay Stories of Struggle, Progress, and Hope, 1950 to the Present. Nancy Garden

A collection of nonfiction essays and short stories that explores the experiences of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people from 1950 until the early twenty-first century; discussing prejudice, discrimination, family, emotions, same-sex marriage, and more.

 

 

363.25 Hop     Bone Detective: The Story of Forensic Anthropologist Diane France. Lorraine Jean Hopping

Discusses the life & many achievements of anthropologist Diane France.

 

 

610 Dav   The Pact: Three Young Men make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream. Drs Dampson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt

Presents the true story of three African-American kids from the inner city of Newark, New Jersey, who made a pact to support each other as they rose from an environment of poverty, crime, and drugs, and went on to become successful doctors.

 

614 Map          Dead Men Do Tell Tales. William R. Maples

The memoirs of a noted forensic scientist who has helped to unravel numerous investigative mysteries, including the investigations of the remains of conquistador Francisco Pizarro, President Zachary Taylor, and the family of Czar Nicholas II.

 

614 Yan     The Forensic Anthropologist. Diane Yancy

Describes how forensic anthropologists can identify people from skeletons and sometimes how they were killed, and explains what training and skills are necessary for the job.

 

650.14 Bol       What Color is Your Parachute 2007: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters & Career Changers. Richard Nelson Bolles.

Provides tips on finding a dream job, including advice on resumes, online job hunting, starting a business, determining priorities, making contacts, interviewing, and negotiating salary.

 

741.5 Her        Sloth. Gilbert Hernandez

A graphic novel in which troubled teen Miguel Serra willingly slips into a coma to escape his life and becomes an urban legend when he wakes up a year later completely unchanged except for his sloth-like pace.

 

741.5 Kub      Yossel, April 19, 1943 : A Story of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Joe Kubert

The sketches of Yossel, a fifteen-year-old Jewish boy confined to the Warsaw Ghetto in Poland during World War II, capture the suffering of his family, the hardships and cruelties of the ghetto, the increasingly harsh treatment of the Nazis, and the events of the 1943 uprising.

 

741.5 Lem       Mendel’s Daughter: A Memoir. Martin Lemelman

A graphic novel in which Martin Lemelman recounts his mother's childhood in 1930s Poland and her escape from Nazi persecution

 

741.5 Mel        Identity Crisis. Brad Meltzer

When the wife of superhero Elongated Man is murdered in her own home, superheroes join forces to scour the country for clues and suspects, while five champions stay behind to protect a secret that could change the world forever.

 

741.5 Ohb   Deathnote: 2. Tsugumi Ohba

Light Yagami, having vowed to use the Death Note to rid the world of evil, attracts the attention of authorities who are curious to know why criminals are suddenly dropping dead, but Light crosses the line when he decides to kill the agents who are chasing him, and soon finds himself pursued by his father, the legendary detective L, and the determined fiancee of one of the agents he has eliminated.

 

741.5 Ohb       Deathnote: 3. Tsugumi Ohba Light tests the boundaries of the Death Note's powers as L., his alter ego, and the police begin to close in. Luckily, Light's father is the head of the Japanese National Police Agency, and Light can keep one step ahead of the authorities.

 

741.5 Vau        Pride of Baghdad : Inspired by a True Story. Brian K. Vaughan

A pride of lions escapes from the Baghdad Zoo during the Iraq War and question the meaning of freedom. Presented in graphic novel format.

 

741.5 Whi        Death, Jr.. Gary Whitta

Follows the son of Death and his friends Pandora, Stigmartha, and the conjoined twins Smith and Wesson on a field trip to the Museum of Supernatural History, where Pan opens a cask and releases Moloch, Death's evil older brother.

 

746.43 Wer  Get Hooked!   Kim Werker

Presents an introduction to crochet and fifteen projects including a chunky scarf, a belt, a pillow, a purse, and "punk" gloves.

 

917.9804 Kra Into the Wild. Jon Krakauer

Tells the story of Chris McCandless, a twenty-four-year-old who walked into the Alaskan wilderness on an idealistic journey and was found dead of starvation four months later. Attempts to discover what led the young man to that point.

 

921 Bea   A Long Way Gone. Ishmael Beah

Ishmael Beah describes his experiences after he was driven from his home by war in Sierra Leone and picked up by the government army at the age of thirteen, serving as a soldier for three years before being removed from fighting by UNICEF and eventually moving to the United States.

 

940.53 Bac      Tell Them We Remember: The Story of the Holocaust. Susan D. Bachrach

Presents the story of the Holocaust and shows how it affected the lives of innocent people throughout Europe, using artifacts, photographs, maps, and taped oral and video histories from the collections of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

 

 

974.7 McB      The Color of Water. James McBride

James McBride shares the story of his mother's life and complicated racial identity which he only learned after becoming an adult. He tells of her infancy in Poland as the daughter of an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, her childhood in small-town Virginia, her move to Harlem at the age of eighteen, her marriage to an African-American man, her achievements as a wife and mother to twelve children, and her refusal to ever admit she is white.

 

977.3 Cow   To Sleep With the Angels: The Story of a Fire. David Cowan

Tells the story of the fire that occurred at Our Lady of the Angels School in Chicago in December 1958, claiming the lives of ninety-two children and three nuns, and precipitating a complete overhaul of school fire safety laws in the United States. Includes interviews with survivors of the fire, and discussion of the rumors and evidence about how it started.  

 

921 Har     Another Way Home: The Tangled Roots of Race in One Chicago Family. Ronne Hartfield

The author shares the history of her family, beginning with her mother, Day Shepherd, the child of a wealthy British plantation owner and the mixed-race daughter of a former slave, and discusses the establishment of the family in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago where they enjoyed a comfortable, middle-class life.

921 San My Bloody Life. Reymundo Sanchez

The author tells about his early life in Puerto Rico, shares the story of how he became involved with the Latin Kings in Chicago, and discusses how the gang changed over the years from heroes representing the struggle for Latino equality to cold-blooded murderers.