No Place Like Home

No Place Like Home

K. A. Applegate

Science Fiction / Young Adult / Fiction

The Remnants are on a mission to promote peace but the Blue Meanies have created a horrifying weapon, and the peacemakers are in grave danger. Yago's plan to rule has finally taken form, and promises death and destruction to everyone in the Zone. How does this all tie into the disturbing appearance of a stranger? Who is he? Can he be trusted? And what about Violet? The secret she hides may be a clue to the 'evolution' of the human race. Secrets will be revealed as devious plots unfold. The future of the Remnants hangs in the balance. Can Billy save them? Can he even save himself?
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Sorceress

Sorceress

Celia Rees

Horror / Young Adult / Historical Fiction

It came to Agnes unbidden: a vision of Mary Newbury, a young woman driven from her Puritan settlement, accused of being a witch. It is an image of a life about to change radically, as Mary defies all accepted norms — embracing independence, love, and loyalty to a Native American community that accepts her as one of their own. The two women’s lives are separated by almost four hundred years, but they are linked by more than blood. For, like Mary, Agnes has special powers — powers that Mary seeks to ensure that the rest of her story is told.
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Living to Tell the Tale

Living to Tell the Tale

Gabriel García Márquez

Literature & Fiction / Short Stories / Magical Realism

In Living to Tell the Tale Gabriel Garcia Marquez - winner of the 1982 Nobel Prize for Literature and author of One Hundred Years of Solitude - recounts his personal experience of returning to the house in which he grew up and the memories that this visit conjured. 'My mother asked me to go with her to sell the house' Gabriel Garcia Marquez was twenty-three, a young man experimenting with his writing when this mother asked him to come back with her to the village of his grandparents and the memories of his Colombian childhood. In the first part of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's memoir, the Nobel Prize-winning author returns to the atmosphere and influences that shaped his formidable imagination and formed the basis of his world-famous, and much-loved, fiction. 'A treasure trove, a discovery of a lost land we knew existed but couldn't find. A thrilling miracle of a book' The Times 'A marvellous journey. Never less than a miracle' Sunday Times 'Marquez writes in this lyrical, magical language that no one else can do' Salman Rushdie
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Witch Boy

Witch Boy

Russell Moon

Russell Moon

From School Library JournalGrade 8 Up-Marcus Aurelius is in a quandary. He's moving to a new town with his mom just as something dreadful happens to his girlfriend that he may or may not have caused. (Readers never find out here.) Some new mystical talents are budding inside him, but he's not sure he wants them. In his new town, Marcus meets some fellow students who already know him. His reputation has preceded him and his new "friends" are anxious to help him develop his powers. Marcus has to confront his feelings about his new abilities, while deciding whether or not to believe what everyone is saying about him. The book contains intense sexual situations and language, and the dialogue can be hard to follow. Some readers may become confused, even frustrated with the story, as it tends to jump around. The protagonist's knack of thinking and speaking metaphorically all the time can be exhausting. Nothing is resolved here; perhaps things will be if readers have the patience to wait for the rest of the series-if they care.Julie E. Darnall, Chester County Library, Exton, PACopyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. FromGr. 11-12. This original paperback, the first volume in a new trilogy, is creepy, gory, sexy, and explicit. Since turning 17, Marcus has discovered that things have gotten weird: he can knock down trees and throw large rocks without even touching them. Something of a loner, Marcus spends most of his time in the woods with his faithful dog, Chuck. However, he does have Jules. They have never made love, but she's all for it. Marcus hesitates, but on the eve of his moving away, he agrees. All goes as planned until the actual act, when something unthinkable happens--but what? Marcus is left wondering whether he is "the perpetrator of absolute evil, or the victim of it." Things don't get any better in the new town, where he freaks out over what may have happened and is stunned to be asked to join a coven and learn that Chuck is his familiar. Chris Lynch is named on the copyright page of this page-turner, but the book isn't for Lynch's younger fans. The audience is older YAs, even though the book title and cover art scream, "middle readers." Sally EstesCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Summerland

Summerland

Michael Chabon

Literature & Fiction

Summerland is the story of a young hero on a quest through the strange world of the American Faery. This is a fantasy for readers of all ages, set against the background of the American myth. The Clam Island fairies are in grave peril. War is coming, another battle in an ancient conflict. When the band sends for a champion, they get an 11 year-old boy named Ethan Feld. He hates baseball and wants to quit his losing team, but Jennifer T. Rideout loves baseball and won't let him quit. The two find themselves on a journey that includes zeppelins, werefoxes, Indian mythology, sasquatches, wendigos, and the haunted 161 year old husk of George Armstrong Custer. Finally Ethan becomes who he is: a changeling, a hero, and even a man. - Publisher Statement
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Because of Anya

Because of Anya

Margaret Peterson Haddix

Children's Books / Young Adult

Ten-year-old girls don't wear wigs. So why is Anya wearing one? That's what Keely wants to know. But when Anya's wig falls off in front of the whole class, Keely realizes what she really wants is to help Anya, even though she's not sure how--and even though it means she'll have to do something she's afraid of: stand up to her friends.      As for Anya, she just wants her hair to grow back, but no one can tell her whether it ever will. How can she learn to accept her disease when she can't even look in the mirror?
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A Thousand Pieces of Gold

A Thousand Pieces of Gold

Adeline Yen Mah

Biographies & Memoirs

In this poignant memoir the New York Times bestselling author of Falling Leaves, Adeline Yen Mah, provides a fascinating window into the history and cultural soul of China. Combining personal reflections, rich historical insights, and proverbs handed down to her by her grandfather, Yen Mah shares the wealth of Chinese civilization with Western readers. Exploring the history behind the proverbs, she delves into the lives of the first and second emperors and the two rebel warriors who changed the course of Chinese life, adding stories from her own life to beautifully illustrate their relevance and influence today.
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The Wish House and Other Stories

The Wish House and Other Stories

Rudyard Kipling

Fiction / Poetry / Children's

Rudyard Kipling, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1907, has long been considered an important and vibrant, even controversial, storyteller and poet. The Wish House and Other Stories is a collection of Kipling’s finest works, including the stories “In the House of Suddhoo,” “The Disturber of Traffic,” and “The Eye of Allah,” the poems “The Runners,” “The Return of the Children,” and “The Last Ode,” and his famous story about Afghanistan, “The Man Who Would Be King.” Each piece was selected by poet and scholar Craig Raine, who writes in his Preface, “We need to think about Kipling. He is our greatest short-story writer, but one whose achievement is more complex and surprising than even his admirers recognize.” From the Trade Paperback edition.
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The Gadfly

The Gadfly

E. L. Voynich

E. L. Voynich

The GadflyBy E. L. VoynichThe Gadfly is a novel by Irish writer Ethel Voynich, published in 1897, set in 1840s Italy under the dominance of Austria, a time of tumultuous revolt and uprisings. The story centres on the life of the protagonist, Arthur Burton, as a member of the Youth movement, and his antagonist, Padre Montanelli. A thread of a tragic relationship between Arthur and his love Gemma simultaneously runs through the story. It is a story of faith, disillusionment, revolution, romance, and heroism.Arthur Burton, an English Catholic, travels to Italy to study to be a priest. He discovers radical ideas, renounces Catholicism and leaves Italy. While away he suffers great hardship, but returns with renewed revolutionary fervour. He becomes a journalist, expounding radical ideas in brilliant satirical tracts published under the pseudonym "the gadfly". The local authorities are soon dedicated to capturing him. Gemma, his lover, and Padre Montanelli, his Priest, show various forms of love via their tragic relations with the focal character of Arthur: religious, romantic, and family. The story compares these emotions to those Arthur experiences as a revolutionary, particularly drawing on the relationship between religious and revolutionary feelings. This is especially explicit at the climax of the book, where sacred descriptions intertwine with reflections on the Gadfly\'s fate. It is debatable to what extent an allegorical comparison can be drawn between the Gadfly and Jesus.
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The Last of the Sky Pirates: First Book of Rook

The Last of the Sky Pirates: First Book of Rook

Paul Stewart

Science Fiction & Fantasy / Children's Books / Young Adult

Rook Barkwater lives in the network of sewer-chambers beneath Undertown, the bustling main city of the Edgeworld. He dreams of becoming a librarian knight – one of those sent out to explore the mysteries of their world. Somewhere out there lie the secrets of the past – including the lost floating city of Sanctaphrax – and hope for a future free from the fear of tyranny. When his chance comes, Rook breaks all the rules and sets out on a journey to the Free Glades. His luck and determination lead him from one peril to another until he encounters a mysterious character – the last sky pirate – and is thrust into an extraordinary adventure. The Last of the Sky Pirates is the first book of the Rook Saga – third trilogy in The Edge Chronicles. There are now 13 titles and four trilogies in the series, but each book is a stand-alone adventure, so you can read The Edge Chronicles in any order you choose.
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Nancy Bell

Nancy Bell

Biggie;the Devil Diet

Biggie;the Devil Diet

SUMMARY: 02 Biggie is back! Nancy Bell returns with another delicious installment in her series of rural Texas mysteries featuring local doyen Biggie Weatherford as amateur detective. Once again, young J.R. faithfully narrates the humorous exploits of Biggie, his grandmother. Filled with plenty of quirky characters and down-home Texas flair, Bell's stories continue to delight. An old friend of Biggie comes back to Job's Crossing. Rex Barnwell and his young wife have returned to convert his father's ranch into a retreat for overweight teenage girls, and Biggie is forced to reveal a secret that she has always kept from J.R. Not long after this startling revelation, Rex is murdered. Knowing full well that he won't be able to keep Biggie away, the Texas Ranger in charge of the case enlists her help.While Biggie pursues her investigation, J.R. has his hands full with troubles of his own. These troubles don't involve any murders-though it might be easier for J.R. if they did. As an extra treat for the reader, Willie Mae shares her recipe for King Ranch Casserole. Biggie is back! Nancy Bell returns with another delicious installment in her series of rural Texas mysteries featuring local doyen Biggie Weatherford as amateur detective. Once again, young J.R. faithfully narrates the humorous exploits of Biggie, his grandmother. Filled with plenty of quirky characters and down-home Texas flair, Bell's stories continue to delight. An old friend of Biggie comes back to Job's Crossing. Rex Barnwell and his young wife have returned to convert his father's ranch into a retreat for overweight teenage girls, and Biggie is forced to reveal a secret that she has always kept from J.R. Not long after this startling revelation, Rex is murdered. Knowing full well that he won't be able to keep Biggie away, the Texas Ranger in charge of the case enlists her help.While Biggie pursues her investigation, J.R. has his hands full with troubles of his own. These troubles don't involve any murders-though it might be easier for J.R. if they did. As an extra treat for the reader, Willie Mae shares her recipe for King Ranch Casserole.
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Miles Errant

Miles Errant

Lois McMaster Bujold

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Contains: "The Borders of Infinity" Brothers in Arms Mirror Dance Miles Naismith--in the person of his two alter-egos Admiral Naismith and Lieutenant Lord Vorkosigan--embarks on a perilous series of adventures, from the liberation of Barrayaran allies from a Cetagandan POW camp to the rescue of clone children scheduled
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Kingdom's Swords

Kingdom's Swords

David Sherman

David Sherman

The Marines were told it was a simple peasant rebellion–but the mission proved to be far deadlier. . . .Gunny Charlie Bass isn't the only Marine mystified by the order sending the entire 34th to put down a few seditious serfs on planet Kingdom. Rumors swirl of a deadly alien invasion. But few believe that such sentient beings exist. Except Gunny Bass and the Marines of the 3rd platoon, who once fought enemy aliens called Skinks–fierce, fanatical fighters with hideous weapons who attack for no other reason but to kill.Then, while slogging through Kingdom's fetid swamps, the Marines are attacked by awesome unseen weapons that could destroy half a platoon with one shot. Clearly they are facing no normal enemy. And if their adversaries are Skinks, one FIST isn't enough. Third platoon's orders are to penetrate deeper into the bloody jungle hell–and find out what happens when a few good men bite the bullet. . . .
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Who Was Maria Tallchief

Who Was Maria Tallchief

Catherine Gourley

Catherine Gourley

Born in 1925, Maria Tallchief spent part of her childhood on an Osage reservation in Oklahoma. With the support of her family and world-renowned choreographer George Balanchine, she rose to the top of her art form to become America's first prima ballerina. Black-and-white illustrations provide visual sidebars to the history of ballet while taking readers through the life of this amazing dancer.
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