What's New at the Caestecker Public Library

The closers by Michael Connelly.

Janet Maslin - The New York Times
Like James Ellroy and John Fante, both of whose work is referred to here, Mr. Connelly continues to make his doomy, secretive Los Angeles a living, breathing character in his stories.

Marker by Robin Cook.

In his 25th case, the good doctor brings back Dr. Laurie Montgomery and Dr. Jack Stapleton (e.g., Vector) to figure out why so many healthy young people are dying in standard surgery.

Velocity by Dean R. Koontz.

Bill Wile is an easygoing, hardworking guy who leads a quiet, ordinary life. One evening, after his usual eight-hour bartending shift, he finds a typewritten note under the windshield wiper of his car. If you don't take this note to the police and get them involved, I will kill a lovely blond schoolteacher. If you do take this note to the police, I will instead kill an elderly woman active in charity work. You have four hours to decide. The choice is yours. It seems like a sick joke, and Bill's friend on the police force, Lanny Olson, thinks so too. His advice to Bill is to go home and forget about it. Besides, what could they do even if they took the note seriously? No crime has actually been committed. But less than twenty-four hours later, a young blond schoolteacher is found murdered, and it's Bill's fault: he didn't convince the police to get involved. Now he's got another note, another deadline, another ultimatum--and two new lives hanging in the balance.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 12:32 PM | Permalink

Are we there yet?

Rated PG. Language and rude humor.

Ice Cube, Nia Long, Jay Mohr, M.C. Gainey, Aleisha Allen, Philip Daniel Bolden, Tracy Morgan.

When Nick falls for single mother Suzanne, he initially doesn't have to worry about what her kids think of him because she just wants to "be friends." Undeterred by this statement -- or his buddies, who dog him for loitering in the stalking-friend zone -- Nick keeps hanging around. So when Suzanne finds herself in a jam and needs someone to escort her kids to meet her in Vancouver for New Year's Eve, Nick gladly opens the door of opportunity. it could be the best way to win her heart ... or the biggest mistake of his life.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:56 AM | Permalink

Granite baby by Lynne Bertrand.

Five talented New Hampshire sisters try to care for a baby that one of them has carved out of granite. Five giant sisters meet their match in one tiny baby! Back when folks first discovered granite, five burly sisters ruled the mountains of New Hampshire. No problem was too big for those women. But when one sister carves a real live baby out of granite, a big problem appears that is, you might say, too small. Lil Fella wailed so much that no one north of the Kancamagus Highway could eat, sleep, or plow. "Do something!" everyone demanded. But what? The five gals, who are strong enough to move mountains, are flummoxed - until a young backwoods girl named Nellie offers a small, simple suggestion. With its droll humor and inventive, witty pictures, this uproarious tall tale is a true original - one not to be missed.

Inside mouse, outside mouse by Lindsay Barrett George.

Two mice, one who sleeps inside the house in a clock and one who sleeps outside the house in a stump, follow complicated but strangely parallel paths and meet each other at a window.

My mom's having a baby! by Dori Hillestad Butler.

Elizabeth's mom is having a baby, and the whole family is involved. Elizabeth learns all about the baby's development, and she traces his growth, month by month. This charming book gently answers all sorts of questions any sibling-to-be may have.

Puppies puppies puppies by Susan Meyers.

Rhyming text follows the life of all sorts of puppies from when they are born "with eyes shut tight," through moving in with a new family and "getting bowls and beds and names," to learning how to do things grown-up dogs do.

Russell the sheep by Rob Scotton.

Russell the sheep tries all different ways to get to sleep.

This is the van that dad cleaned by Lisa Campbell Ernst.

The whole green world by Tony Johnston.

A rhyming story about planting some seeds.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:52 AM | Permalink

DOn't get lost! by Pat Hutchins.

When Little Piglet, Little Lamb, Little Calf, and Little Foal take a walk across the fields after breakfast, they seem to lose their way as they try to head for home.

From me to you by Anthony France.

Rat stays in his house feeling blue until a mysterious letter leads him to go out to see his friends.

Hooray for fish! by Lucy Cousins.

Revel in all things fishy in this undersea riot of color and rhyme in an oversize read-aloud picture book.

Magic thinks big by Elisha Cooper.

A cat sits in the doorway and tries to decide whether to go inside where he might get fed again, go outside where he might have an adventure, or stay where he is.

Squashed in the middle by Elizabeth Winthrop.

Nobody ever listens to Daisy. Her father was chopping carrots. Her mother was talking on the phone. Her big sister was chasing her little brother around and around the kitchen table. So it was no surprise that no one heard where Daisy went, even though she told them.
With humorous text and striking, bold illustrations, this book captures the frustration of a middle child trying to be heard over the noise of a well-meaning family.

Surprise visitor by Juli Kangas.

With classically beautiful illustrations and a text that overflows with charm and humor, The Surprise Visitor reminds readers that it's what's inside that truly matters-especially to a mother.

One morning, Edgar Small discovers a blue, speckled "roundish thing"-an egg-on his front step. Who could it belong to? Edgar visits several animals, but the roundish thing does not fit in with any of them. All of the animals are willing to help, though, and they decorate the egg to make it more attractive. With a coat of fresh yellow paint, a smiling face, and a big bushy tail, the roundish thing is looking quite handsome-but when the egg finally reunites with its mother, will she recognize it as her own?

Too many frogs by Sandy Asher.

Rabbit's comfortable nightly routine is disturbed by exuberant Froggie, who settles in for a snack and a story without being invited.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:44 AM | Permalink

Gnat Stokes and the Foggy Bottom Swamp Queen by Sally M. Keehn.

In Mary's Cove, Tennessee, in 1869, twelve-year-old Gnat Stokes decides to prove she's not just a trouble maker by rescuing a boy who was spirited away seven years earlier by the evil Swamp Queen of Foggy Bottom.

Sixth-grade glommers, norks, and me by Lisa Papademetriou.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:34 AM | Permalink

Space cat by Doug Cushman.

When Space Cat and Earl the robot encounter trouble with their space ship, they crash-land on an alien planet to search for more fuel.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:02 AM | Permalink

By the sword

It takes a special man to wield a special sword. Long ago, a half-breed swordsmith forged the Moegi, a magical sword now sought by the demon hunter Asagi. Asagi has searched the land high and low in the hope that this sword can handle his awesome might, which tends to destroy ordinary swords. He meets Kaede, a half-breed demon girl, who leads him to the Moegi. There's just one problem - only the nephew of the spirit trapped inside the blade can draw it from its sheath! Will Asagi find the nephew and make the sword his?

Honey, Baby, Sweetheart by Deb Caletti.

In the summer of her junior year, sixteen-year-old Ruby McQueen and her mother, both nursing broken hearts, set out on a journey to reunite an elderly woman with her long-lost love and in the process learn many things about "the real ties that bind" people to one another.

The Hunter's Moon by O. R. Melling.

Two teenage cousins, one Irish, the other from the United States, set out to find a magic doorway to the Faraway Country, where humans must bow to the little people.

Makeovers by Marcia by Claudia Mills.

At the beginning of eighth grade, all Marcia can think about is what nail polish to use, how to lose weight, and whether Alex will ask her to the dance, but after giving makeovers in a nursing home for a school project, she begins to appreciate the value of inner beauty.

Seven tears into the sea by Terri Farley.

At the age of ten, Gwen Cooke had a strange encounter with a boy with dark, slightly tilted eyes. He came to her on the beach, whispered strange words in her ear, and then disappeared. Shortly thereafter, her family moved away from their seaside home and Gwen never saw the boy again.

Now seventeen, Gwen is returning to her childhood home. Her nana asked her to come. But Gwen knows it's time to go back for another reason: She yearns for the sea. Perhaps the sea itself is calling to her. Perhaps the memory of the boy and his haunting words are drawing her back to the place they met. Perhaps it's time for her to face her destiny.

The sledding hill by Chris Crutcher.

Billy Bartholomew has an audacious soul, and he knows it. Why? Because it's all he has left. He's dead.

Eddie Proffit has an equally audacious soul, but he doesn't know it. He's still alive.

These days, Billy and Eddie meet on the sledding hill, where they used to spend countless hours—until Billy kicked a stack of Sheetrock over on himself, breaking his neck and effectively hitting tilt on his Earthgame. The two were inseparable friends. They still are. And Billy is not about to let a little thing like death stop him from hanging in there with Eddie in his epic struggle to get his life back on track.

Strangers in paradise by Terry Moore.

Katchoo is a beautiful young woman living a quiet life with everything going for her. She's smart, independent and very much in love with her best friend, Francine. Then Katchoo meets David, a gentle but persistant young man who is determined to win Katchoo's heart. The resulting love triangle is a touching comedy of romantic errors until Katchoo's former employer comes looking for her and $850,000 in missing mob money. As her idyllic life begins to fall apart, Katchoo discovers no one can be trusted and that the past she thought she left behind now threatens to destroy her and everything she loves, including Francine. This is the first edition in the series - don't miss it!

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 10:57 AM | Permalink

Fair wind & plenty of it by Rigel Crockett.

Fair Wind and Plenty of It tells the story of an obsession, as Captain Dan Moreland, driven by a desire to make his mark in the world of traditional sail, rallies forces to convert a 69-year-old North Sea trawler into a seaworthy tall ship, and then assemble the crew to sail it. It's the story of the uneasy balance that is achieved on board, where insubordination and rancor must be kept in line among a crew whose only connection is their common desire to be part of this journey. And it's Rigel's story: a man who was conceived the day his father laid the keel for his first boat, whose mother was a sailmaker, and who has to reconcile his family legacy with his own need to understand why he must take part in the voyage of the barque Picton Castle.

In Fair Wind and Plenty of It, Rigel Crockett tells a tale of shipboard camaraderie, gut-wrenching struggles, and the near mutinies that marked the year-and-a-half journey. A must-read for lovers of nautical adventure, this is a virtuoso debut filled with high seas drama and human intrigue, and a personal exploration of what it means to be a sailor.

Not tonight, honey: Wait 'til I'm a size 6 by Susan Reinhardt.

"Not Tonight, Honey Wait Til I'm a Size 6" is the book people are talking about. Syndicated Gannett News Services columnist Susan Reinhardt takes every topic on men's and women's minds and blows them wide open with a never-before-seen candor. The humor is explosive. Topics range from bodies that have gone to pot, to grandmothers taking up smoking at age 80 and hiding lit cigarettes in bras and aprons. Once, the author had to "marry" her best friend when the minister (also the bride's yard man) blew a gasket in his colostomy bag.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 10:47 AM | Permalink

Blinding light by Paul Theroux.

Slade Steadman is the ultimate one-book wonder. His lone opus, published twenty years ago, was Trespassing, a cult classic about his travels through dozens of countries without benefit of passport. With his soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend Ava in tow, he sets out for Ecuador's jungle in search of a rare hallucinogenic drug and the cure for his writer's block.

Amid a gang of thrill-seeking tourists, Steadman finds his drug
and his inspiration but is beset with an unnerving side effect—periodic blindness. His world is altered profoundly; Ava stays by his side, he writes an erotic, autobiographical novel with the drug serving as muse, and he returns to stardom, now as a Blind Writer.

He becomes addicted to the drug and the insights it provides, only to have them desert him, along with his sight. Will he regain his vision? His visions? Or will he forgo the world of his imagining and his ambition? As Theroux leads us toward the answers, he makes fresh magic out of the venerable intertwined themes of sight and insight. He also offers incisive, sometimes hilarious takes on the manifold ironies of travel and the trappings of the writer's life—from the fear of the blank page to the unexpected challenges of the book tour.

The company car by C. J. Hribal.

The Company Car opens in 1952 with Wally and Susan Czabek getting married on television in Chicago. The novel is narrated by their son Emil, who is traveling to his parents' fiftieth wedding anniversary. The occasion is bittersweet; the kids are also gathering to decide what is going to happen to their parents as they slide into not being able to care for themselves; and Emil's own marriage is on the brink of dissolving, with the beloved independent bookstore chain he owns possibly being a casualty. Both comically tragic and touching, The Company Car is a sweeping, generational American saga about a family caught in the changing landscape of American life, and announces the voice of an important new writer in American fiction.

A good yarn by Debbie Macomber.

The highly anticipated sequel to "The Shop on Blossom Street." Once again, a disparate group of women find friendship and comfort as they learn the age-old craft of knitting.

The light of day by Jamie M. Saul.

The swords of night and day: a novel of Skilgannon the Damned by David Gemmell.

Even in death, Skilgannon the Damned's name lives on. Now, as an ancient evil threatens the Drenai heartlands, he returns. A thousand years after they fell in battle, two heroes -- Druss and Skilgannon -- are revered throughout the war-torn lands of the Drenai where men and women live in abject fear of the Joinings, abominable meldings of man and beast, and of their mistress the dark sorceress known as the Eternal. None can stave off these ruthless foes. But what if the soul of a hero could be called back from the void, his bones housed again in flesh? An ancient prophecy foretold that Skilgannon would return in his people's darkest hour. To most, this is a foolish hope, but not so to Landis Kan. For years Kan searched for the tomb of Skilgannon the Damned. And at last, he found it, gathered up the bones and performed the mystic ritual. But the reborn hero is an enigma; a young man whose warrior skills are blunted and whose memories are fragmented. This Skilgannon is a man out of time, marooned in a world as strange to him as a dream, remote from all he knew and loved. Or nearly all. Before bringing Skilgannon back, Landis Kan had experimented with other bones in the hero's tomb. That ritual resulted in a surly giant who possessed astounding strength, but no memories. To Kan, he is a dangerous failure. To Skilgannon, this giant represents their last hope. As the ageless evil of the Eternal threatens to drown the Drenai lands in blood, two legendary heroes rise again.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 12:45 PM | Permalink

Pooh's heffalump movie

MPAA rating: G.

When Roo meets up with a feared Heffalump, he quickly learns an important lesson: they are nothing like what he's been told, and he has much more to gain by befriending Lumpy than fearing him. They strike up a friendship as they spend the day together.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 12:37 PM | Permalink

The aviator

MPAA rating: PG13.

An epic biopic depicting the early years of legendary director and aviator Howard Hughes' career, from the late 1920's to the mid 1940's.

The forgotten

Rated PG-13.

Julianne Moore, Dominic West, Gary Sinise, Alfre Woodard, Linus Roache, Robert Wisdom, Jessica Hecht, Anthony Edwards.

Nine-year-old Sam Paretta is dead, killed in a plane crash. Even though it's been fourteen months since the accident, his mother, Telly, still grieves over the loss. But suddenly, her husband swears they never had a child and her psychiatrist insists she's delusional. Worst of all, there is absolutely no evidence to prove Sam ever existed. Haunted by the memories of her son, Telly's search for the truth propels her into a dark mind-shattering conspiracy of unearthly terror.

Kinsey

Rated R for pervasive sexual content including some graphic images and descriptions.

Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Chris O'Donnell, Peter Sarsgaard, Timothy Hutton, John Lithgow, Tim Curry, Oliver Platt, Dylan Baker.

Kinsey is a portrait of a man driven to uncover the most private secrets of the nation, and journey into the mystery of human behavior. His 1948 book "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male" irrevocably changed American culture and created a media sensation.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 12:36 PM | Permalink

Andy Warhol: prince of pop by Jan Greenberg.

The bomb: a life by Gerard J. De Groot.

Bombs are as old as hatred itself. But it was the twentieth century - one hundred years of incredible scientific progress and terrible war - that brought forth the Big One, the Bomb, humanity's most powerful and destructive invention. In The Bomb: A Life, Gerard DeGroot tells the story of this once unimaginable weapon that - at least since 8:16 a.m. on August 6, 1945 - has haunted our dreams and threatened our existence.

Photo by Brady: a picture of the Civil War by Jennifer Armstrong.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 12:32 PM | Permalink

Always and forever by Alan Durant.

A family of forest animals learns to cope with the death of a loved one.

Bittle by Patricia MacLachlan.

Nigel the cat and Julia the dog think they will have no use for the new baby in their house, but after awhile they realize that they have come to love her.

Conquerors by David McKee.

The general of a large country conquers other lands "so they can be like us," but discovers that the last small country he invades seems to influence his own instead.

Guess who, baby duck! by Amy Hest.

On a rainy day when Baby Duck is sick with a cold, her grandfather cheers her up by showing her family photographs.

The hello, goodbye window by Norton Juster.

Llama llama red pajama by Anna Dewdney.

In this infectious rhyming read-aloud, Baby Llama turns bedtime into an all-out llama drama! Tucked into bed by his mama, Baby Llama immediately starts worrying when she goes downstairs, and his soft whimpers turn to hollers when she doesn't come right back. But just in time, Mama returns to set things right. Children will relate to Baby Llama's need for comfort, as much as parents will appreciate Mama Llama's reassuring message.

A monkey among us by Dave Horowitz.

Illustrations and brief text follow the antics of a mischievous monkey and his animal friends.

Once upon a cloud by Rob Walker.

Rhyming text invites the reader to muse on the origin and nature of clouds.

Seen art? by Jon Scieszka.

It all started when I told my friend Art I would meet him on the corner of Fifth and Fifty-Third. I didn't see him. So I asked a lady walking up the avenue, "Have you seen Art?" "MoMA?" asked the lady. "Just down Fifty-Third Street here." When this address turns out to be the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, confusion and hilarity ensue. As the narrator continues looking for Art inside MoMA, he views the best pieces of modern art.

Wallace's lists by Barbara Bottner.

Devoted to making lists about everything in his life, Wallace the mouse discovers the joys of spontaneity and adventure when he becomes friends with his neighbor Albert.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 12:25 PM | Permalink

Anne Elizabeth's diary: a young artist's true story by Anne Elizabeth Rector.

The diary of a twelve-year-old girl living in New York City in 1912, with sidebars describing the author/illustrator's life and family and significant events of the year and the city.

Jim Thorpe's bright path by Joseph Bruchac.

A biography of Native American athlete Jim Thorpe, focusing on how his boyhood education set the stage for his athletic achievements which gained him international fame and Olympic gold medals. Author's note details Thorpe's life after college.

A kick in the head

In this splendid and playful volume, acclaimed poetry anthologist Janeczko and Caldecott Honor illustrator Raschka present lively examples of 29 poetic forms, demonstrating not only the (sometimes bendable) rules of poetry, but also the spirit that brings these forms so wonderfully to life.

Sequoyah: the Cherokee man who gave his people writing by James Rumford.

While walking through a forest of sequoias, a father tells his family the story of the tree's namesake. Sequoyah was a Cherokee man who invented a system of writing for his people. His neighbors feared the symbols he wrote and burned down his home. All of his work was lost, but, still determined, he tried another approach. The Cherokee people finally accepted the written language after Sequoyah taught his six-year-old daughter to read.

Spiders and their webs by Darlyne Murawski.

In Spiders and Their Webs biologist-photographer Darlyne Murawski shares her fascination with web-spinning spiders with young readers. They will learn that not all spiders weave webs, but those that do not only create an incredible variety of designs but also have different ways of using their webs to catch their prey.

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Cut & run by Ridley Pearson.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:48 AM | Permalink

Day of tears: a novel in dialogue by Julius Lester.

Emma has taken care of the Butler children since Sarah and Frances's mother, Fanny, left. Emma wants to raise the girls to have good hearts, as a rift over slavery has ripped the Butler household apart. Now, to pay off debts, Pierce Butler wants to cash in his slave "assets", possibly including Emma.

Magic by the book by Nina Bernstein.

After returning from a trip to the library, eleven-year-old Anne and her younger brother and sister discover a magic book which sends them on amazing adventures where they meet Robin Hood, giant bugs, and a dark, sinister man with a wolfish face.

Magyk by Angie Sage.

After learning that she is the Princess, Jenna is whisked from her home and carried toward safety by the Extraordinary Wizard, those she always believed were her father and brother, and a young guard known only as Boy 412--pursued by agents of those who killed her mother ten years earlier. The seventh son of the seventh son, aptly named Septimus Heap, is stolen the night he is born by a midwife who pronounces him dead. That same night, the baby's father, Silas Heap, comes across a bundle in the snow containing a new born girl with violet eyes. The Heaps take this helpless newborn into their home, name her Jenna, and raise her as their own. But who is this mysterious baby girl, and what really happened to their beloved son Septimus? The first book in this enthralling new series by Angie Sage leads readers on a fantastic journey filled with quirky characters and magykal charms, potions, and spells. Magyk is an original story of lost and rediscovered identities, rich with humor and heart. In his place, his parents raise an abandoned newborn baby girl. Ten years later an evil wizard named Dom Daniel appears to search for the baby girl, who is actually a princess.

Mimmy and Sophie: all around town by Miriam Cohen.

Describes the experiences of two sisters growing up in Brooklyn in the time of Shirley Temple movies and trolleys.

My 13th Season by Kristi Roberts.

Already downhearted due to the loss of her mother and her father's overwhelming grief, thirteen-year-old Fran decides to give up her dream of becoming the first female in professional baseball after a coach attacks her just for being a girl.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:23 AM | Permalink

Glad news of the natural world by T. R. Pearson.

Whether catching up with Louis Benfield and the denizens of Neely or meeting them for the first time, readers will find Glad News of the Natural World hilarious and heartbreaking, warm and wise.

Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson.

A crime from her youth threatens a young woman's future in this extraordinary debut novel that follows in the bestselling Southern tradition of "Big Stone Gap."

Hot kid by Elmore Leonard.

Hot cars, gun molls, speakeasies, bank robbers and murder are the game in this powerfully entertaining story from Elmore Leonard, the undisputed master of the crime novel. Set in Oklahoma during the 1930s, The Hot Kid introduces Carl Webster, one of the coolest lawmen ever to draw on a fugitive felon. At 21, Carl Webster's on his way to beconing the most famous Deputy US Marshall in America. He's shot and killer motorious bank robber Emmet Long and is now tracking Jack Belmont, the no-good son of an oil millionaire with dreams of becoming Public Enemy Number One.

Oblivion by Peter Abrahams.

Blending evocative imagery with psychological complexity, "Oblivion" is a dark, disturbing story of identity and memory from the acclaimed author of "The Tutor" and "The Fan."

Once upon a summer day by Dennis L. McKiernan.

Once upon a summer day, Prince Borel of the Winterwood falls asleep, and a beautiful golden-haired maiden with a shadowy band across her eyes comes to him in his dreams and pleads for aid. She returns time after time, and the prince is certain that she is real and in deadly peril. Yet he knows not who she is...nor where she is imprisoned. Opposed by witches and trolls and goblins and beings even more dreadful, and aided by a field sprite, Borel begins a desperate quest through the wonders and hazards of Faery, seeking a mysterious masked demoiselle guarded by perilous blades. And though time touches not this land of legend, time is running out.

Self's punishment by Bernhard Schlink.

As a young man, Gerhard Self served as a Nazi prosecutor. After the war he was barred from the judicial system and so became a private investigator. He has never, however, forgotten his complicity in evil. Hired by a childhood friend, the aging Self searches for a prankish hacker who's invaded the computer system of a Rhineland chemical plant. But his investigation leads to murder, and from there to the charnel house of Germany's past, where the secrets of powerful corporations lie among the bones of the numberless dead.

The silence of John by D. S. Lliteras.

A novel focused on the experiences of Jesus' women disciples throughout the crucifixion and after Christ's death. An examination of the roots of the church's exclusion of women, and the part they played in early Christianity.

The triumph of the sun by Wilbur A. Smith.

In the Sudan decades of brutal misgovernment by the ruling Egyptian Khedive in Cairo precipitate a fierce and bloody rebellion and Holy War headed by a charismatic new religious leader, the Mahdi or 'Expected One'. The British are forced to intervene to protect their national interests and to attempt to rescue the hundreds of British subjects stranded in the country. Along with hundreds of others, British trader and businessman Ryder Courtney is trapped in the capital city of Khartoum. It is here that he meets Captain Penrod Ballantyne of the 10th Hussars, as well as the British Consul, David Benbrook, and his three beautiful daughters. Against the vivid and bloody backdrop of the siege of Khartoum, in which British General Charles George Gordon is killed and the British retreat, these three powerful men fight to survive.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:14 AM | Permalink

Fold me a poem by Kristine O'Connell George.

A collection of poems about origami animals.

What does peace feel like? by Vladimir Radunsky.

Simple text and illustrations portray what peace looks, sounds, tastes, feels, and smells like to children around the world.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:01 AM | Permalink

BooBoo by Olivier Dunrea.

BooBoo the gosling likes to eat from morning until night and thinks everything is "good food"--well, almost everything!

Duck's key, where can it be? by Jez Alborough.

Duck has lost his silver key. I wonder where the key can be? Lift the flaps--take a peek, Frog is playing hide and seek.

Mommies say shhh by Patricia Polacco.

Animals make many different noises, but when they make too much noise their mommies quiet them down.

Mouse went out to get a snack by Lyn Rossiter McFarland.

A hungry mouse finds a tableful of delectable morsels in quantities which illustrate counting from one to ten.

Precious and the Boo Hag by Pat McKissack.

Home alone with a stomachache while the family works in the fields, a young girl faces up to the horrifying Boo Hag that her brother warned her about.

What's going on in there? by Geoffrey Grahn.

Granville looks like an ordinary town, but a turn of the page reveals that the pizza cooks are actually building a dinosaur, and many other things are not as they appear.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 10:59 AM | Permalink

The Peabody Sisters: Three women who ignited American Romanticism by Megan Marshall.

Elizabeth, Mary, and Sophia Peabody were in many ways our American Brontes. The story of these remarkable sisters - and their central role in shaping the thinking of their day - has never before been fully told. Twenty years in the making, Megan Marshall's monumental biograpy brings the era of creative ferment known as American Romanticism to new life.

Shane comes home by Rinker Buck.

At once an inspiring account of commitment to the military and a moving story of family and devotion, Shane Comes Home rises above politics and captures the life of an extraordinary young man who came to symbolize the heart of America during a difficult time. An invaluable record of or nation's changing attitudes toward the military and those who serve, it is a thoughtful tribute to a man whose sacrifice touches us all.

Tarot: history, symbolism and divination by Robert Michael Place.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:45 AM | Permalink

Balancing in high heels by Eileen Rendahl.

Alissa Lindley didn't mean to take it out on the fax machine. But when your not-yet-ex-husband knocks up his girlfriend and your divorce is going worse than the next World War -- well, something's got to give. Unfortunately, Alissa's employers at the L.A. Public Defender's office take a dim view of the destruction of office equipment. Funny how that anti-workplace violence policy used to seem like a good idea, before she got fired. And the networking thing just isn't happening at her Anger Management class.

The great inland sea by David Francis.

Lord Will and Her Grace by Sophia Nash.

Fleeing from an imminent marriage, Lord Will finds refuge by the sea, as far away from London scandal as he can get. But he soon crosses paths with a pretty outcast who may just be the solution to his problems.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:41 AM | Permalink

An elephant in the backyard by Richard Sobol.

Describes how special elephants are in the village of Tha Kleng in Thailand and looks at the life of one particular young elephant named Wan Pen.

Gobble, gobble, slip, slop: a tale of a very greedy cat by Meilo So.

In this story based on a folk tale from India, a very greedy cat eats five hundred cakes, his friend the parrot, the nosy old woman, and much more.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:36 AM | Permalink

A good day's fishing by James Prosek.

A child searches through the hooks, lures, bobbers, and other paraphernalia in his tacklebox for the one thing he needs to ensure a good day's fishing. Includes a detailed glossary.

No dogs allowed by Sonia Marzano.

When Iris, her family, and the neighbors take a trip to Enchanted Lake, everyone brings what they think is needed, but the family dog turns out to present a problem. Written by "Maria" on Sesame Street.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:32 AM | Permalink

Age of Bronze: A thousand ships by Eric Shanower.

Drawn from the myths and legends of centuries, A thousand ships presents a new for the twenty-first century the complete prelude to the Trojan war- each sensual touch, every savage blow, the smiles and tear, the lust and betrayal, the entire tapestry of drama and action.

Age of Bronze: Sacrifice by Eric Shanower.

The Trojan War springs to life once more in this award-winning graphic novel. The famous names of legend breathe anew as human nature displays itself in all its glory and all its degradation. Odysseus decides to use runaway Helen's beauty as an incentive to gather the army and keep it focused on war with Troy. But this clever idea ties Odysseus closer to the war, ensuring that long years must pass before he can return to the home and family he longs for. When the warrior prince Achilles leaps onto the beach and throws his spear, it's the opening of a battle with ramifications reaching far beyond the end of the fight. Achilles finds himself compelled to choose between his son's mother and the man he loves. Then a ragged stranger forces his way through the gates of Mycenae to threaten High King Agamemnon's infant son Orestes. Instead of uniting Agamemnon with his wife Klytemnestra, this menace only increases the tension between them, tension that grows even sharper when Agamemnon is required by the gods to make a heart-searing sacrifice.

Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon.

Dream-team creators Joss Whedon (TV's Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and John Cassaday (Planetary, Captain America) present the explosive, all-new flagship X-Men series - marking a return to classic greatness and the beginning of a brand-new era for the X-Men! Cyclops and Emma Frost re-form the X-Men with the express purpose of "astonishing" the world. But when breaking news regarding the mutant gene unexpectedly hits the airwaves, will it derail their new plans before they even get started? As demand for the "mutant cure" reaches near-riot levels, the X-Men go head-to-head with the enigmatic Ord, with an unexpected ally - and some unexpected adversaries - tipping the scales!

Once in a blue moon by Nunzio DeFlippis.

Aeslin Finn had a magical childhood - a nice house, two loving parents, and every night before bed, a whole new world to explore. The Avalon Chronicles were the perfect tuck-in tale and her parents enjoyed reading the fantastic fables as much as she liked listening to them. But one day, the book shifted tones. The unbelievably brave Dragon Knight and her courageous Prince faced an evil Wizard that threatened the entire land. But before they could finish the chapter, Aeslin's parents left on a business trip. When her father died on that trip, it was time for Aeslin to stop living in a fantasy world. Aeslin's mom never read from the tome again. Now Aeslin's a teenager and living a fairly ordinary life. She has a crush on Michael, the most popular boy in school, and her best friend Samantha loves to trade secrets and share gossip. It's a fine, if not extraordinary, existence until Samantha happens on a new book - Once In A Blue Moon. It's a sequel to the novel Aeslin loved as a child. The new pages catch up on the denizens of Avalon and their miserable eight-year existence since the defeat of the Dragon Knight. Aeslin can't believe it. She wishes she could be there to defend all of the creatures and common folk she loved as a child. And then out of nowhere, she is...

Peach Fuzz, Volume 1 by Lindsay Cibos.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:28 AM | Permalink

24 girls in 7 days by Alex Bradley.

Jack Grammar, average American senior, has no date to the prom. Or so he thinks. Percy and Natalie, Jack's so-called best friends, post an ad in the classified section of the online version of the school newspaper. They figure it couldn't hurt. After all, there's not much in this world sadder than Jack's love life. Soon Percy and Natalie have assembled a list of girls eager to go to the prom with Jack, including one mysterious girl known only as FancyPants. He has just seven days to meet and date them before he will ask one special girl to the prom.

Beauty by Nancy Butcher.

Queen Veda of Ran does not believe in growing old gracefully. In fact she will shun anything that makes her look or feel less than the fairest in the land including her daughter, Ana.

Luckily Ana has both beauty and intelligence. She realizes the way to remain close to her beloved mother is to make herself ugly. Ana does everything she can to maintain her new disheveled appearance: She doesn't bathe for days, doesn't wash or brush her hair, and bites her nails down to the quick. Her plan works. She has finally won her mother's love.

Then Ana realizes all the lovely young girls of Ran are being sent to the prestigious Academy for Girls, including Ana's best friend, Pell. When Ana's told she must go too, she resists. She doesn't want to leave her loving mother. But Ana has no choice. She goes and once there learns how potent a drug beauty can be.

Convicts by Iain Lawrence.

His efforts to avenge his father's unjust imprisonment force thirteen-year-old Tom Tin into the streets of nineteenth-century London, but after he is convicted of murder, Tom is eventually sent to Australia where he has a surprise reunion.

I am the wallpaper by Mark Peter Hughes.

Thirteen-year-old Floey Packer, jealous of her attractive and popular older sister, shares her home with two younger cousins and experiences a summer vacation filled with embarrassing events, with herself as the star.

Storky: how I lost my nickname and won the girl by D. L. Garfinkle.

Michael Pomerantz doesn't have great expectations for high school-people are still calling him "Storky," his mom is dating his dentist, and his father can barely sit through their Sunday night dinners. The only bright spot so far is his weekly Scrabble game with an old-timer at the Senior center-not very encouraging.
But over the course of the year, things start to pick up for Michael. A new friend introduces him to the joy (and misery) of social drinking, a sophomore with great legs seems unfathomably interested in him, and Dr. Berman the dentist turns out to be an okay guy. But then a startling announcement from Mom threatens to destroy all of Michael's progress.
Like a boy Georgia Nicholson transplanted to San Diego, Storky is a hilarious journal of teen trials and tribulations written with incredible depth and sensitivity. In no time, you'll be rooting for Storky to lose his nickname and win the girl.

Wereling: Wounded by Stephen Cole.

Sixteen-year-old Tom Anderson and seventeen-year-old Kate Folan try to escape Kate's werewolf family--and fight becoming werewolves themselves--by making a cross-country journey in search of a mysterious man who might have a cure.

The witch's boy by Michael Gruber.

A grotesque foundling turns against the witch who sacrificed almost everything to raise him when he becomes consumed by the desire for money and revenge against those who have hurt him, but he eventually finds his true heart's desire.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:21 AM | Permalink

Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa by Erica Silverman.

Cowgirl Kate and her cowhorse Cocoa, who is always hungry, count cows, share a story, and help each other fall asleep.

Judy Moody declares independence by Megan McDonald.

Hear ye! Hear ye! Everyone knows that Judy Moody has a mood for every occasion, and now a visit to Boston has put our famous third grader in a revolutionary mood. When Judy meets an English girl named Tori at the Tea Party ship, she is gobsmacked to learn how many liberties her British friend enjoys — her very own phone, private loo, and pounds of allowance. When a day of cheerfully doing her chores doesn't earn Judy Moody more rights, and staging a revolt in the form of a tea-throwing Boston Tub Party has her dad reading the riot act, Judy is forced into temporary retreat. Who would guess that a real-life crisis involving her brother, Stink, would finally give Judy a chance to show her courageous quick thinking-and prove her independence, once and for all?

Olivia Kidney and the Exit Academy by Ellen Potter.

Twelve-year-old Olivia Kidney and her father move into a Manhattan brownstone that has a lagoon in the living room, hosts visiting strangers in the middle of the night, and is mysteriously close to the spirit world.

Owly by Andy Runton.

Owly is a kind, yet lonely, little owl who's always on the lookout for new friends and adventure. The first graphic novel in the series contains two enchanting novellas, "The Way Home" & "The Bittersweet Summer," wherein Owly discovers the meaning of friendship, and that saying goodbye doesn't always mean forever.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 11:04 AM | Permalink

The Chorus

In good company

Rated PG-13. Some sexual content and drug references.

Dennis Quaid, Topher Grace, Scarlett Johansson, Marg Helgenberger, David Paymer, Clark Gregg, Philip Baker Hall, Frankie Faison, Ty Burrell, Selma Blair.

Dan Foreman is a loving husband, caring father and star ad executive. But now, life is putting him through the ultimate test. Carter Duryea, a young hotshot half his age, has just become his boss. And to complicate matters, Dan discovers Carter is dating his daughter.

Life and times of Pope John Paul II, the Holy Father

This biographical look at Pope John Paul II, arguably one of the most controversial and influential Popes in history follows Pope John Paul, born Karol Wojtyla from his birth in Poland to his rise as spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church. Originally aired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the program provides a balanced view of the Pope's theology, including his return to more restrictive teachings on sex, contraception, divorce, homosexuality, and other controversial subjects. Featuring interviews with theologians, religious officials, and political leaders, this film provides a comprehensive portrait of the Pope's life, religious beliefs, and political influence.

Monarch of the Glen, Series 3

Phantom of the Opera

Rated PG-13. Brief violent images.

Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum, Patrick Wilson, Miranda Richardson, Minnie Driver, Ciarán Hinds, Simon Callow, Victor McGuire, Jennifer Ellison, Murray Melvin, Kevin R. McNally, James Fleet.

Tells the story of a disfigured musical genius who haunts the catacombs beneath the Paris Opera, waging a reign of terror over its occupants. When he falls fatally in love with Christine, the Phantom devotes himself to creating a new star for the Opera, exerting a strange sense of control over the young soprano as he nurtures her extraordinary talents.

Texas Hold 'Em: the winning strategy

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 10:30 AM | Permalink

Meet wild boars by Meg Blackall.

Meet Wild Boars! Or maybe you better not. After all, they are dirty and smelly, bad-tempered and rude. They might try to fool you, but don't worry, you won't believe them. There's no such thing as a nice wild boar. Hmmm.
This insufferable gang of boars will mess up your house and set a very bad example indeed. If you are foolish enough to fall in love with them, they will break your heart (and most of your furniture). So don't say we didn't warn you!

My mom by Anthony Browne.

A child describes the many wonderful things about "my mom," who can make anything grow, roar like a lion, and be as comfy as an armchair.

Whose garden is it? by Mary Ann Hoberman.

When Mrs. McGee passes through a beautiful garden asking whose it is, the gardener is the first to claim it, followed by all of the garden's inhabitants plus the sun and the rain, who also claim it as their own.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 6:00 PM | Permalink

How I live now by Meg Rosoff.

To get away from her pregnant stepmother in New York City, fifteen-year-old Daisy goes to England to stay with her aunt and cousins, with whom she instantly bonds, but soon war breaks out and rips apart the family while devastating the land.
Unabridged.

Kira-Kira by 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. kira-kira (kee' ra kee' ra): glittering; shining Glittering. That's how Katie Takeshima's sister, Lynn, makes everything seem. The sky is kira-kira because its color is deep but see-through at the same time. The sea is kira-kira for the same reason. And so are people's eyes. When Katie and her family move from a Japanese community in Iowa to the Deep South of Georgia, it's Lynn who explains to her why people stop them on the street to stare. And it's Lynn who, with her special way of viewing the world, teaches Katie to look beyond tomorrow. But when Lynn becomes desperately ill, and the whole family begins to fall apart, it is up to Katie to find a way to remind them all that there is always something glittering -- kira-kira -- in the future.
Unabridged.

Lizzie Bright and the buckminster boy by Gary D. Schmidt.

Unabridged.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 5:54 PM | Permalink

Little black dress by Loren D. Estleman.

Peter Macklin was a hit man for a long time, but he has taken steps to distance himself from his tattooed past, like quitting the mob, moving away from Detroit, and marrying the gorgeous, intelligent Laurie. But retirement isn't easy for an ex-hit man. Now the man accustomed to killing people in cold blood must adjust to a sadistic ritual of early marriage - he must spend time with his eccentric mother-in-law. This event takes an unexpected turn when Macklin discovers that mom-in-law's boyfriend, Benjamin Grinnell, is a spotter for a gang of armed robbers. Unfortunately, Grinnell made a big mistake: he failed to spot a shotgun-toting shop-owner, whom the gang had to turn into red mist. Now Grinnell's life is threatened and Grinnell's jeopardy endangers his sweetie...and Laurie. Macklin, driven by his professional curiosity and his desire to protect his family, can't help but get involved. As Macklin investigates Grinnell's dark affairs, he inevitably gets tangled up with Grinnell's enemies, including the Ohio mob...and the law. All parties converge in a deadly shoot-out, with the lives of Macklin's loved ones and the fate of his marriage precariously hanging in the balance.

Zorro by Isabel Allende.

Between California and Barcelona, the New World and the Old, the persona of Zorro is formed, a great hero is born, and the legend begins. After many adventures - duels at dawn, fierce battles with pirates at sea, and impossible rescues - Diego de la Vega, a.k.a. Zorro, returns to America to reclaim the hacienda on which he was raised and to seek justice for all who cannot fight for it themselves.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 5:46 PM | Permalink

Countdown by Iris Johansen.

Iris Johansen sets her readers' pulses racing once again in this relentless psychological thriller of a young woman caught in a maze of secrets and stalked by a merciless killer. The countdown begins the moment you open this riveting novel that only grows more electrifying as the pages turn, more exciting as time runs out.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 5:35 PM | Permalink

Camp

MPAA rating: PG-13; for mature thematic elements regarding teen sexual issues, and some langauge.

Daniel Letterle, Joanna Chilcoat, Robin de Jesus, Steven Cutts, Vince Rimoldi, Kahiry Bess, Tiffany Taylor, Sasha Allen, Anna Kendrick, Don Dixon.

Guitarist Vlad attends Camp Ovation, the summer theater camp for budding actors, dancers, and musicians. Finding himself to be one of the only straight boys around, he soon befriends Ellen. Meanwhile, openly gay Michael develops a crush on him. This sparks dramatic confrontations among fellow campers Jenna, Jill, and Fritzi. The whole camp is run by Bert Hanley, a washed-up Broadway songwriter who decides to enlist the help of his young campers to put together a new musical production.

Notre Musique

Legendary French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard once again poses a number of provocative questions about art, politics, and the nexus point between them in this drama in three acts. After a collage-style meditation on the nature of war and conflict in society, Godard introduces his central set piece, in which a group of authors, artists, and noted thinkers gather for a symposium taking place in the battle-scarred city of Sarajevo. Olga Lerner (Sarah Adler), a journalist who is French and Jewish by birth and Israeli by choice, has come to discuss the conflict between her adopted nation and Palestine with the many notables in attendance. As Olga discusses issues of conflict, identity, and culture, one of the participants, Jean-Luc Godard, posits the notion that its the essential differences of all the peoples of the world, rather than their similarities, which are at the root of our world.

The sea inside

MPAA rating: PG13.

A young man who has spent more than a quarter of a century as a quadriplegic chooses to die, petitioning the courts for permission to be euthanized. His decision sets off controversy throughout Spain and with his family and friends.

Tarnation

In the making since the director was 11-years-old and completed on a reported budget of about 200 dollars, Jonathan Caouette's Tarnation is an experimental and self-reflective mix of documentary and fiction. Bringing together a collection of home movies, family photos, answering machine messages, reenactments and Caouette's video diary, the film attempts to delve into the filmmaker's experiences growing up queer with a schizophrenic mother and dealing with her 2003 lithium overdose, which rendered her even more mentally unstable than before.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 5:24 PM | Permalink

The Breakdown Lane by Jacqueline Mitchard.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 5:16 PM | Permalink

Dora the Explorer: It's a party!

Kim Possible movie: so the drama

Rated TV G.

Kim Possible is ready to save the world. Dr. Drakken has an evil new plot for world domination, but his ultimate success depends upon finding out KP's weakness. Could it have anything to do with a certain new hottie named Eric? Kim is definitely distracted by the prom date drama. Meanwhile, Ron is up to his eyeballs in strange little Diablo Devil toys when his favorite food joint, Buenos Nachos, crosses over to the dark side. Now he's acting like such a dweeb, just when Kim needs him most! If Dr. D can keep up the pressure, KP will so have to surrender.

Lemony Snicket's A series of unfortunate events

Rated PG for thematic elements, scary situations and brief language.

Jim Carrey, Liam Aiken, Emily Browning, Timothy Spall, Catherine O'Hara, Billy Connolly, Cedric the Entertainer, Luis Guzman, Jennifer Coolidge, Craig Ferguson, Jane Adams, Jamie Harris, Meryl Streep, Kara Hoffman, Shelby Hoffman, Jude Law.

Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire are taken in by a series of oddball relatives and others after their wealthy parents are killed in a fire. The first to take them in is the dastardly and cunning Count Olaf, who is only interested in their inheritance.

Saddle Club: Horse Crazy

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 5:05 PM | Permalink

Seinfeld, Seasons 1 & 2

Without a paddle

Rated PG-13.

Seth Green, Matthew Lillard, Dax Shepard, Ethan Suplee, Abraham Benrubi, Rachel Blanchard, Ray Baker, Burt Reynolds, Bonnie Somerville, Christina Moore.

Three childhood friends, after discovering a hidden treasure map that was left behind by a recently departed friend, go into the Oregon wilderness in search of lost treasure. They take a canoe upriver and everything that can go wrong, does. The three become hunted by two backwoods farmers, tree-hugging hippie chicks and a crazy old mountain man. All in the hopes of finding the D.B. Cooper treasure they studied about when they were young kids.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 5:00 PM | Permalink

Chicken bedtime is really early by Erica S. Perl.

" 'A story, a story!' the young bunnies roar. And just as it ends, all the bunnies beg: 'More!' " Sound familiar? It turns out no one wants to go to sleep, not the chickens, bunnies, sheep, or fishes in this clever bedtime romp. Each animal has a different bedtime and a different strategy for staying up all night. Clocks hidden in the bright, bold illustrations help kids brush up on their time-telling skills as this evening on the farm winds down and eyes finally drift shut. In the morning, at the crow of the rooster, an exciting new day begins and everyone is glad to have the energy to greet it. A surefire read-aloud bedtime hit from two exciting newcomers.

If I were a lion by Sarah Weeks.

A young girl imagines how wild she could be if she were an animal.

Into the forest by Anthony Browne.

After his father seems to disappear, a boy takes a cake to his ill grandmother, traveling through the forest in a journey reminiscent of the story of Little Red Riding Hood.

Supermarket by Charlotte Doyle.

A toddler creates chaos while shopping with his mother at the supermarket.

T is for terrible by Peter McCarty.

A tyrannosaurus rex explains that he cannot help it that he is enormous and hungry and is not a vegetarian.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 4:54 PM | Permalink

T. Rex by Vivian French.

A young boy and his grandfather tour a dinosaur museum where they discuss what the tyrannosaurus rex was like and how people figured it out.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 12:54 PM | Permalink

Garrett files by Glen Cook.

Witch magic by Kelley Armstrong.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 12:52 PM | Permalink

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.

Everybody gets to be supermodel gorgeous. What could be wrong with that? Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there. But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world -- and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 12:50 PM | Permalink

Acts of faith by Philip Caputo.

Thirty years ago, Pulitzer Prize—winning author and journalist Philip Caputo crossed the deserts of Sudan and Eritrea on foot and camelback, a journey that inspired his first novel, Horn of Africa, and awakened a lifelong fascination with Africa. His travels have since taken him back to Sudan, as well as to Kenya, Somalia, and Tanzania, and from those experiences he has fashioned Acts of Faith, his most ambitious novel. A stunning and timely epic, it tells the stories of pilots, aid workers, missionaries, and renegades struggling to relieve the misery wrought by the civil war in Sudan.

Exact revenge by Tim Green.

A promising attorney and political candidate, Raymond White was on the fast track when his life was suddenly derailed. Unexpectedly framed and convicted of murder, he is sentenced to solitary confinement in a maximum-security prison. Alone with his inner rage, Raymond methodically plots his revenge against those who schemed to ruin his career and take away his life. Now, after spending 18 years behind bars, Raymond makes his escape—and is ready to finally put his plan into action.

Hunter killer by Patrick Robinson.

When a Saudi prince planning a coup d'Etat seeks help from France, which then recruits a HAMAS terrorist as assassin, the U.S. government has to act.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 12:44 PM | Permalink

The innocent by Harlan Coben.

A gripping new novel from international bestseller Harlan Coben, author of the New York Times bestsellers Just One Look, No Second Chance, Gone for Good, and Tell No One.

Lucky strike by Nancy Zafris.

Just as she did in her New York Times Notable debut novel, The Metal Shredders, Nancy Zafris follows a colorful cast of characters into uncharted fictional territory, this time landing in the canyon country of the desert Southwest in 1954. For motivations as straightforward as striking it rich to reasons far more complex and confounding, they each embark on very personal divergent journeys across an unforgiving countryside, even while their quest to find uranium unites them. By turns meditative and funny, frightening, witty and refreshingly wise, Lucky Strike explores the ways that lanuguage simply put can mine the inexpressible. In the process, a young widow and her two children learn much about uranium but even more about the nature of the love that binds them. This is a story to touch your heart.

One Sunday morning by Amy Ephron.

One Sunday Morning is a drama of the strictures of polite society tragically coming to conflict with the liberated spirit of the Jazz Age. With all the romance of Gatsby's New York and the seduction of Josephine Baker's Paris, Ephron's tale is compelling all the way to its surprising and satisfying ending.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 12:56 PM | Permalink

Aspirin: the remarkable story of a wonder drug by Diarmuid Jeffreys.

Aspirin has its earliest beginnings in the Ancient Egyptian recognition of the usefulness of Willow bark for the treatment of rheumatism. Writing for a general audience, British journalist Jeffreys examines the history of the "wonder drug" from those beginnings to the current resurgence of interest in its usefulness for a wide range of hitherto unsuspected applications. His narrative is a story of scientific accidents, commercial competition, public relations management, corporate greed, and other factors in the widespread adoption of the medicine.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 12:51 PM | Permalink

Inside the wire: a military intelligence soldier's eyewitness account of life at Guantanamo by Erik Saar.

Inside the Wire is a gripping portrait of one soldier's six months at the terrorist detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba - a powerful, searing journey into a surreal world completely unique in the American experience.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 12:51 PM | Permalink

It's about time by Stuart J. Murphy.

A twenty-four—hour day is full of great things to do! Endearing illustrations depicting things kids do every day make this an easy introduction to the skill of telling time, perfect for very young readers.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 12:47 PM | Permalink

Pea blossom by Amy Lowry Poole.

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 12:46 PM | Permalink

Misplaced: Somewhere under the rainbow by Josh Blaylock.

Alyssa lives in the Realm 77, a technological paradise with a dark secret. Constantly chastised for questioning the rules of this highly strict society and its complacent populace, Alyssa must run for her life when the city leaders order her execution. Alyssa is chased to Earth, where she discovers amazing powers developing within her, and learns why the guardians of the Realm feared her so much.

One piece by Eiichiro Oda.

A new shonen sensation in Japan, this series features Monkey D. Luffy, whose main ambition is to become a pirate. Eating the Gum-Gum Fruit gives him strange powers but also invokes the fruit's curse: anybody who consumes it can never learn to swim. Nevertheless, Monkey and his crewmate Roronoa Zoro, master of the three-sword fighting style, sail the Seven Seas of swashbuckling adventure in search of the elusive treasure "One Piece."

Posted by Tasha Saecker at 12:40 PM | Permalink

Dashwood Sisters' secrets of love by Rosie Rushton.

Sophie Pitt-Turnbull discovers America by Dyan Sheldon.

While spending the summer in Brooklyn with her mother's former schoolmate, Sophie, a sheltered English teenager, makes new and unlikely friends and finds a new side to her formerly "dull and passive" personality.

Where I want to be by Adele Griffin.

Two teenaged sisters, separated by death but still connected, work through their feelings of loss over the closeness they shared as children that was later destroyed by one's mental illness