Fig

Fig
Sarah Elizabeth Schantz
Fiction Sch165f

Fig’s world lies somewhere between reality and fantasy.

But as she watches Mama slowly come undone, it becomes hard to tell what is real and what is not, what is fun and what is frightening. To save Mama, Fig begins a fierce battle to bring her back. She knows that her daily sacrifices, like not touching metal one day or avoiding water the next, are the only way to cure Mama.

The problem is that in the process of a daily sacrifice, Fig begins to lose herself as well, increasingly isolating herself from her classmates and engaging in self-destructive behavior that only further sets her apart.

Spanning the course of Fig’s childhood from age six to nineteen, this deeply provocative novel is more than a portrait of a mother, a daughter, and the struggle that comes with all-consuming love. It is an acutely honest and often painful portrayal of life with mental illness and the lengths to which a young woman must go to handle the ordeals—real or imaginary—thrown her way.

(From publisher.)

Dead to Me

Dead to Me
Mary McCoy
Fiction M459d

"Don't believe anything they say."

Those were the last words that Annie spoke to Alice before turning her back on their family and vanishing without a trace. Alice spent four years waiting and wondering when the impossibly glamorous sister she idolized would return to her--and what their Hollywood-insider parents had done to drive her away.

When Annie does turn up, the blond, broken stranger lying in a coma has no answers for her. But Alice isn't a kid anymore, and this time she won't let anything stand between her and the truth, no matter how ugly. The search for those who beat Annie and left her for dead leads Alice into a treacherous world of tough-talking private eyes, psychopathic movie stars, and troubled starlets--and onto the trail of a young runaway who is the sole witness to an unspeakable crime. What this girl knows could shut down a criminal syndicate and put Annie's attacker behind bars--if Alice can find her first. And she isn't the only one looking

Evoking classic film noir, debut novelist Mary McCoy brings the dangerous glamour of Hollywood's Golden Age to life, where the most decadent parties can be the deadliest, and no drive into the sunset can erase the crimes of past.

(From publisher.)

The Storyspinner

The Storyspinner
Becky Wallace
Fiction W1551s

Drama and danger abound in this fantasy realm where dukes play a game for the throne, magical warriors race to find the missing heir, and romance blossoms where it is least expected.

In a world where dukes plot their way to the throne, a Performer’s life can get tricky. And in Johanna Von Arlo’s case, it can be fatal. Expelled from her troupe after her father’s death, Johanna is forced to work for the handsome Lord Rafael DeSilva. Too bad they don’t get along. But while Johanna’s father’s death was deemed an accident, the Keepers aren’t so sure.

The Keepers, a race of people with magical abilities, are on a quest to find the princess—the same princess who is supposed to be dead and whose throne the dukes are fighting over. But they aren’t the only ones looking for her. And in the wake of their search, murdered girls keep turning up—girls who look exactly like the princess, and exactly like Johanna.

With dukes, Keepers, and a killer all after the princess, Johanna finds herself caught up in political machinations for the throne, threats on her life, and an unexpected romance that could change everything.

(From Amazon.)

Grim

Grim
Christine Johnson, editor
Fiction G88

Inspired by classic fairy tales, but with a dark and sinister twist, Grim contains short stories from some of the best voices in young adult literature today:

Ellen Hopkins

Amanda Hocking

Julie Kagawa

Claudia Gray

Rachel Hawkins

Kimberly Derting

Myra McEntire

Malinda Lo

Sarah Rees-Brennan

Jackson Pearce

Christine Johnson

Jeri Smith Ready

Shaun David Hutchinson

Saundra Mitchell

Sonia Gensler

Tessa Gratton

Jon Skrovron

(From publisher.)

The Oathbreaker's Shadow

The Oathbreaker's Shadow
Amy McCulloch
Fiction M1392o

In the land of Darhan, promises are bound by magic, tied into knots, and worn with pride. Those who break them are physically scarred, cast out into the desert, and stalked by vengeful shadows of their treachery. 

Fifteen-year-old Raim, the best young fighter ever to train for the elite Yun guard, has worn a simple knot around his wrist for as long as he can remember. He doesn’t know where it came from and barely thinks about it at all. But on the most important day of his life, when Raim agrees to give his life as a warrior to the future king, that knot bursts into flames and sears a dark mark into his skin.

Now scarred as an oathbreaker, Raim has two options: run or die.

(From publisher.)

Blues for Zoey

Blues for Zoey
Robert Paul Weston
Fiction W528b

She walks in with her music and out with his heart.

Kaz Barrett should be saving for college. Instead, he saves his pay from the Sit ’n’ Spin Laundromat to send his mother to an expensive sleep clinic in New York. She suffers from a rare neurological disorder, and both Kaz and his kid sister worry that one day, maybe tomorrow, their mother will fall asleep and never wake up.  

But when pink-haired Zoey walks past the laundromat’s window, Kaz’s ordered life spins out of control. Smart, mysterious, and full of music, Zoey is unlike anyone Kaz has met . . . but there’s another side to her that he can’t quite figure out. When he goes looking for answers, he finds a whirlwind of lies, half-truths, and violence that could cost him everything he’s worked for.

(From publisher.)

This Side of Home

This Side of Home
Renee Watson
Fiction W337s

Identical twins Nikki and Maya have been on the same page for everything-friends, school, boys and starting off their adult lives at a historically African-American college. But as their neighborhood goes from rough-and-tumble to up-and-coming, suddenly filled with pretty coffee shops and boutiques, Nikki is thrilled while Maya feels like their home is slipping away. Suddenly, the sisters who had always shared everything must confront their dissenting feelings on the importance of their ethnic and cultural identities and, in the process, learn to separate themselves from the long shadow of their identity as twins.

In her inspired YA debut, Renee Watson explores the experience of young African-American women navigating the traditions and expectations of their culture.

(From Amazon.)

The Alex Crow

The Alex Crow
Andrew Smith
Fiction Sm516a

Here is a handful of dirt.
Here is nothing but ice.
Here is Joseph Stalin telling the melting man what to do.
Here is the family pet--a crow we call Alex.

Here is an immigrant kid, a second son named Ariel, who lives in a place called Sunday.

Skillfully blending multiple story strands that transcend time and place, award-winning Grasshopper Jungle author Andrew Smith chronicles the story of Ariel, a refugee who is the sole survivor of an attack on his small village. Now living with an adoptive family in Sunday, West Virginia, Ariel's story is juxtaposed against those of a schizophrenic bomber and the diaries of a failed arctic expedition from the late nineteenth century . . . and a depressed, bionic reincarnated crow.

(From publisher.)

There Will be Lies

There Will be Lies
Nick Lake
Fiction L148t

There will be two lies.  Then there will be the truth.  And that will be the hardest of all.

In four hours, seventeen-year-old Shelby Jane Cooper will be struck by a car, and her life as she knows it--Ice Cream for Dinner Night every Friday, hitting baseballs, and checking out "the Boy" at the Scottsdale library--will be over.

Barely recovered from the accident, Shelby is inexplicably whisked away by her mother on a long vacation to the Grand Canyon.  Her mother says everything's fine.  But with the miles falling fast behind them, Shelby isn't so sure.

As the Arizona desert heat rises along with Shelby's questions, she comes face-to-vace with a shocking realization: everything she thought she knew about herself and her family just might be a lie.  Whom can she trust?  Is the truth waiting for her at the end of this manic road trip?  And if its, does Shelby really want to know it?

This emotionally charged thriller by Printz Award winner and master storyteller Nick Lake deftly exposes the lies we tell others--and the lies we tell ourselves.

(From publisher.)

Shadow Scale

Shadow Scale
Rachel Hartman
Fiction H255sh

Seraphina took the literary world by storm with 8 starred reviews and numerous “Best of” lists. At last, her eagerly awaited sequel has arrived—and with it comes an epic battle between humans and dragons.

The kingdom of Goredd: a world where humans and dragons share life with an uneasy balance, and those few who are both human and dragon must hide the truth. Seraphina is one of these, part girl, part dragon, who is reluctantly drawn into the politics of her world. When war breaks out between the dragons and humans, she must travel the lands to find those like herself—for she has an inexplicable connection to all of them, and together they will be able to fight the dragons in powerful, magical ways.

As Seraphina gathers this motley crew, she is pursued by humans who want to stop her. But the most terrifying is another half dragon, who can creep into people’s minds and take them over. Until now, Seraphina has kept her mind safe from intruders, but that also means she’s held back her own gift. It is time to make a choice: Cling to the safety of her old life, or embrace a powerful new destiny?

(From Amazon.)

The Riverman

The Riverman
Aaron Starmer
Fiction St285r1

Alistair Cleary is the kid who everyone trusts. Fiona Loomis is not the typical girl next door. Alistair hasn't really thought of her since they were little kids until she shows up at his doorstep with a proposition: she wants him to write her biography. What begins as an odd vanity project gradually turns into a frightening glimpse into the mind of a potentially troubled girl. Fiona says that in her basement, there's a portal that leads to a magical world where a creature called the Riverman is stealing the souls of children. And Fiona's soul could be next. If Fiona really believes what she's saying, Alistair fears she may be crazy. But if it's true, her life could be at risk. In this novel from Aaron Starmer, it's up to Alistair to separate fact from fiction, fantasy from reality.

TheRiverman, by master storyteller Aaron Starmer, will leave you questioning the responsibilities of friendship, the boundaries of imagination, and the true origin--and ownership--of the stories we tell.

(From publisher.)

How I Discovered Poetry

How I Discovered Poetry
Marilyn Nelson
811 W186ho

A unique and powerful memoir, a window into an astonishing decade, a glimpse of the awakening of artistic inspiration...

How I Discovered Poetry is the story of Marilyn Nelson's own childhood, and of America in the 1950s.  This highly decorated poet has created fifty eye-opening, intimate poems that tell the tale of her development as an artist and young womand during one of the most turbulent decades in our nation's history.  These poems, spanning her fourth to fourteenth years, touch on many aspects of the time: racism and the Civil Rights Movement, the "Red Scare," the shadow of the atom bom, and the first stirrings of the feminist movement.

This is a book to study, discuss, and treasure--a deeply felt, masterfully crafted autobiographical history.

(From publisher.)

Dreamfire

Dreamfire
Kit Alloway
Fiction Al57d

Unlike most 17-year-olds, Joshlyn Weaver has a sacred duty. She's the celebrated daughter of the dream walkers, a secret society whose members enter the Dream universe we all share and battle nightmares. If they fail, the emotional turmoil in the Dream could boil over and release nightmares into the World.

Despite Josh's reputation as a dream walking prodigy, she's haunted by her mistakes. A lapse in judgment and the death of someone she loved have shaken her confidence. Now she's been assigned an apprentice, a boy whose steady gaze sees right through her, and she's almost as afraid of getting close to him as she is of getting him killed.

But when strangers with impossible powers begin appearing in the Dream, it isn't just Will that Josh has to protect--it's the whole world.

(From publisher.)

Red Queen

Red Queen
Victoria Aveyard
Fiction Av39r

Mare Barrow's world is divided by blood—those with common, Red blood serve the Silver- blooded elite, who are gifted with superhuman abilities. Mare is a Red, scraping by as a thief in a poor, rural village, until a twist of fate throws her in front of the Silver court. Before the king, princes, and all the nobles, she discovers she has an ability of her own.

To cover up this impossibility, the king forces her to play the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his own sons. As Mare is drawn further into the Silver world, she risks everything and uses her new position to help the Scarlet Guard—a growing Red rebellion—even as her heart tugs her in an impossible direction. One wrong move can lead to her death, but in the dangerous game she plays, the only certainty is betrayal.

(From publisher.)

A Hero at the End of the World

A Hero at the End of the World
Erin Claiborne
Fiction C521h

Sixteen year-old Ewan Mao knows one thing for certain: according to prophecy, it's his destiny to kill the evil tyrant whose dark reign has terrorized Britain for as long as he can remember. Although he's just a normal boy, deep down Ewan is confident that he has exactly what it takes to be a hero. But when Ewan's big moment comes and his best friend, the clever and talented Oliver Abrams, defeats the villain for him, Ewan's bright future crumbles before his eyes.

Five years later, while Ewan is living at home and working a minimum wage job, Oliver has a job as an Unusual in the government's Serious Magical Crimes Agency, the life he and Ewan always dreamed of. A routine investigation leads him and his partner, Sophie Stuart, to uncover a dangerous and powerful cult... one that seems to have drawn his former best friend into a plot to end the world.

A deftly plotted, hysterically funny journey through magical London and beyond, A Hero at the End of the World expertly walks the fine line between satire and sincerity. Its sensitive depiction of a broken friendship and wry takedown of unfairly great expectations will appeal to all readers of modern fantasy.

(From publisher.)

The Nightingale

The Nightingale
Kristin Hannah
Fiction H195n

In love we find out who we want to be.

In war we find out who we are.

France, 1939

In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn't believe that the Nazis will invade France … but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions Vianne's home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive.

Vianne's sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gäetan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can … completely. But when he betrays her, Isabelle joins the Resistance and never looks back, risking her life time and again to save others.

With courage, grace and powerful insight, bestselling author Kristin Hannah captures the epic panorama of WWII and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women's war. The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France--a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime.

(From publisher.)

Se7en Second Delay

Se7en Second Delay
Tom Easton
Fiction Ea795s

Seven seconds is all she has.

In a futuristic world of constant surveillance, Mila is hunted by government agents. She has only one advantage: a seven second delay on her monitored video feed. On her lightning-fast getaway she must take an unpredictable route to thwart her pursuers. In just seven seconds, she can fake one direction and take off in the next. As she runs, the government positions Mila as a dangerous terrorist in the media. Soon the entire nation is watching her feed! Against all odds, Mila gains the trust of one of her monitors and finds an unlikely ally in an Isles citizen. With their help, Mila must use her seven seconds wisely to prevent a nationwide disaster—and save her own life.

(From publisher.)