Wednesday, February 24, 2010

New Books!

Mystery

The Amanda Project: invisible i  by Stella Lennon

When new and unconventional high school student Amanda Valentino disappears, her three closest friends, who are all from vastly different circles, band together and, using enigmatic clues that seem to come from Amanda herself, try to find her.

Realistic Fiction

The Vast Fields of Ordinary by Nick Burd

It's Dade's last summer at home. He has a crappy job at Food World, a "boyfriend" who won't publicly acknowledge his existence (maybe because Pablo also has a girlfriend), and parents on the verge of a divorce. College is Dade's shining beacon of possibility, a horizon to keep him from floating away. Then he meets the mysterious Alex Kincaid. Falling in real love finally lets Dade come out of the closet—and, ironically, ignites a ruthless passion in Pablo. But just when true happiness has set in, tragedy shatters the dreamy curtain of summer, and Dade will use every ounce of strength he's gained to break from his past and start fresh with the future.

Vampires!

The Van Alen Legacy: A Blue Bloods Novel by Melissa De la Cruz

Once left to live the glamorous life in New York City, the Blue Bloods--an ancient group of vampires--now find themselves in an epic battle for survival following the stunning revelation of a young socialite's true identity and the growing threat of the sinister Silver Bloods.

Fairy Tale

The Princess and the Hound by Mette Ivie Harrison

George has always felt burdened by his princely duties, and even more by the need to hide the magic through which he speaks with animals, but when he is betrothed to the strange princess of a neighboring kingdom, his secret, and the persecution of people like himself, must come to an end.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Review of Salt by Maurice Gee

salt It’s been a while since I’ve read a fantasy I liked as much as this one. The opening scene where Hari’s father, Tarl, is being taken away to be a slave could be straight out of a historical fiction, except for the part where the guards use “their electric hands” to shoot “fizzing bolts” into the air. Is this science fiction? Then comes the part where Harl “sent a questing thread out from his mind to the horses, found them and whispered silently: Brother horse, sister horse, the black fly stings your rump,” causing the horses to lurch forward. Harl has been learning from Lo, an ancient prisoner, how to communicate with animals without using words and although he is unable to prevent his father being taken away, he does manage to escape himself. Another story is unfolding at the same time: Pearl, the daughter of a privileged family runs away to escape an arranged marriage, taking with her Tealeaf, the maid who has been teaching her to communicate wordlessly. It is inevitable (for the story, anyway) that two young people fleeing the same city should meet up in the countryside; what isn’t so obvious is that they would meet when Hari kills Pearl’s brother (who is seeking Pearl, but is only too happy to be sidetracked by hunting and killing a Burrows boy). And so the great adventure begins. Tealeaf knows that the children need each other, but she won’t tell them why. Tarl’s father has been taken to the most dangerous of the mines, Deep Salt, from which no one has ever returned. The quest to save Tarl turns into a race to save mankind from itself. In this first book of The Salt Trilogy there’s plenty of adventure, suspense, fighting and romance to keep most readers happy. Review by Stacy Church

It’s summer in Australia, you know!

Come check out these books set in Australia:

Genius Squad and Evil Genius by Jinks

Jellicoe Road and Looking for Alibrandi by Marchetta

The Wolf by Herrick

The Sweet, Terrible, Glorious Year I Truly, Completely Lost It by Shanahan

Magic or Madness, Magic Lesson, Magic’s Child by Larbalestier

Things You Either Hate or Love and Follow the Blue by Lowry

The Murder of Bindy MacKenzie, The Spell Book of Listen Taylor, The Year of Secret Assignments by Moriarty

Undine by Russon

all of John Marsden’s books

After Summer by Earls

Saving Francesca by Marchetta

Fifteen Love by Corbet

The Divine Wind: A Love Story by Disher

Walkabout by Marshall

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me…

Come in to the Young Adult Dept. and check out some books about music:

Beige by Castellucci

LBD: It’s a Girl Thing by Dent

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Cohn & Levithan

Diva by Flinn

Born to Rock by Korman

Guitar Girl by Manning

Garage Band by Gipi (Graphic Novel)

Avril Lavigne's Make 5 Wishes (Graphic Novel)