Jessilynn

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Grief Is for People By Sloane Crosley Cover Image
$27.00
ISBN: 9780374609849
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: MCD - February 27th, 2024

Life hit Sloane Crosley with a one-two punch she never could have seen coming in 2019: First her apartment was burglarized; weeks later, her best friend died. Although the tragedies are unrelated, the rapid diminishment with which one fades in comparison to the other is a dramatic and tender exploration of loss. Imagine all of the thoughts and emotions of grief as a carousel spinning around the person at the center of the loss. Crosley reaches in, slows down the carousel of heartache, and examines each sensation, idea, and feeling with a clarity that truly took my breath away. It's as if I was turning each page thinking, "Yes! THAT is the exact way it feels." or "THOSE are the words I was looking for!" She filters out all of the noise that accompanies the terribly sad moments that follow a death, and distills the inner monologue we all have onto the page.
As Sherman Alexie said, “When it comes to death, we know that laughter and tears are pretty much the same thing.” The experience of reading Grief is for People is therapeutic, edgy, and at times, laughable.


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The Morningside: A Novel By Téa Obreht  Cover Image
$29.00
ISBN: 9781984855503
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Random House - March 19th, 2024

This novel is for anyone who ever believed that there might just be a (maybe-sort-of-kind-of-out-of-the-corner-of-their-eyes) Boo Radley, Wicked Witch of the West, Baba Yaga, or Maleficent character who lives among us. Reach back, and pull out your memory of Francie from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Next, pull up a time when your imagination ran wild with speculation over the strange woman who lived next door, and what mysterious things she might have been up to. Mix those two together, and you've set the stage to jump in to the formerly-lovely, now discarded and neglected Morningside Apartments.
Silvia and her mother have relocated to this slowly-sinking version of Manhattan, in hopes that better opportunities await them both. Forced from their homeland due to devastating floods and mudslides, they move in with Ena - a great aunt who fills Sylvia's imagination with dark folklore from the "old world." Is the woman living in the penthouse a recluse who loves dogs, or an enchantress who has the ability to turn men into wolfhounds? Sylvia will stop at nothing to find out, but the stakes are higher than she could ever imagine. Addictive and gauzy in the vein of Eowyn Ivy's Snow Child, you will fall in love with the young narrator of The Morningside, and turn the last page with a smile on your face despite what you've been through with the characters.


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The Quest of Danger (Once Upon a Tim #4) By Stuart Gibbs, Stacy Curtis (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Stuart Gibbs, Stacy Curtis (Illustrator)
$12.99
ISBN: 9781665917476
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers - November 7th, 2023

Book 4 in the Once Upon a Tim series did not disappoint! Wonderful characters, rowdy adventures, and if you have any fans of the city of Atlantis, they'll be rolling with laughter. Perfect for ages 6-10.
The box set would make a great gift. Click here for the full series.


Fantastic Mr. Fox By Roald Dahl Cover Image
$16.99
Email or call for price
ISBN: 9780142423431
Published: Viking Books for Young Readers - September 13th, 2012

From the bestselling author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The BFG


The Future By Naomi Alderman Cover Image
$28.99
ISBN: 9781668025680
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Simon & Schuster - November 7th, 2023

My brain still hurts, and I still have questions. I finished this one months ago, and loved every step of the slow, intellectual burn that lead to a revelatory ending. It's not so much that AI will turn on us, but more that the people who CREATE the AI are always 5 steps ahead of it... until they aren't. You'll want to talk about this one when you finish it. I'm here for you.


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No Flying in the House By Betty Brock, Wallace Tripp (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Betty Brock, Wallace Tripp (Illustrator)
$9.99
ISBN: 9780064401302
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: HarperCollins - May 5th, 2020

This was a favorite of mine growing up, and thankfully, it is still as charming and whimsical as I remember. Gloria is the 3 inch high dog entrusted to take care of Annabel until her parents come back. But who are Annabel's parents, and could they be... fairies?!
A wonderful read aloud for ages 5-9.


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The Caretaker: A Novel By Ron Rash Cover Image
$28.00
ISBN: 9780385544276
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Doubleday - September 26th, 2023

The left side of Blackburn's face is paralyzed from his childhood battle with polio, and Naomi scandalized the town by daring to elope with Blowing Rock, North Carolina's most eligible bachelor. So, when Jacob Hampton is conscripted to Korea, he asks his best friend to care for his newly-pregnant wife, (the aforementioned Blackburn and Naomi) a tender friendship develops between the two outcasts.
Although the newlyweds, Naomi and Jacob, are this novel's star-crossed lovers, Blackburn is truly its beating, page-turning heart. He doesn't give up. Ever. Not on his friends, not on his obligations, and never on himself. You. Will. Love. Blackburn Gant. So much.
Rash's depiction of a trademark Appalachian self-reliance and grit make for a remarkable cast of characters. Each one holds responsibility of making a mess of Jacob's return home from war and the nightmares he brings with him. Parents make selfish decisions with traumatic outcomes, government officials make innocent mistakes for which they are blackmailed, lies converge and shatter, but everyone gets what's coming to them in the end.
At its core, this novel might be the Korean War's
Cold Mountain.


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My Name Is Iris: A Novel By Brando Skyhorse Cover Image
$28.00
ISBN: 9781982177850
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster - August 1st, 2023

Iris Soto's parents are thrilled when her seventh grade teacher can't pronounce her given name, Inez. After all, Iris is so much more "American." And, as they ritualistically tell her, she was BORN here. Likewise, Iris knows how to situationally identify as Mexican or American: "Stud earrings at work, hoop earrings on weekends with my Mexican girlfriends. English only in the office, Spanish solo en casa despues de las cinco y solamente con la familia. Console my white friends that racism doesn't exist (which of course it does), and console my Mexican friends racism was the reason they didn't get the job they wanted (which of course it wasn't). Living in the middle made me insane sometimes." Iris is dedicated to "following the rules," because that is the path to success. If she does what she's told, she will rise above her parents' immigrant status and be a "real" American. So will her daughter, Mel, a vivacious, sweet, and watchful nine-year-old.
Iris has just moved into a new house and is separating from her husband, Alex. He's the college-educated, Mexican-American, hardworking, man who checked all of the boxes on her "husband" list, and he is content with functional and responsible. Iris needs more for Mel. She needs him to love and adore their child the way she does. But Alex never wanted children, and they argue over every nuance of parenting. Iris wants her child to be a rule-following success like her, and she can't do that with Alex.
As the mother and daughter get settled into their new home, Americans are being cheerfully encouraged to participate in a new wristband program, and Iris finds herself unable to follow the rules. She can't, "Get on the band!" Wearing your band shows that you are a true American, a patriot, and a rule-follower. While Iris is all of those things, her parents don't have US birth certificates, so she is ineligible for the program. Thankfully, because Iris was born in the US, her daughter has no trouble getting her band. Besides, the bands are optional.
When grocery stores, resturaunts, and places of work all start asking to see individuals' bands, Iris realizes she might have a bigger battle ahead of her than she thought. How can she follow the rules, raise her daughter to be a rule follower, and stay out of the unrest and suspicion her neighbors start to have about why she doesn't have a band? And why is there a growing wall in the front yard of her new home?
Despite listening to the
Kirkus podcast, Fully Booked, interview of Skyhorse, I was utterly unprepared for the emotional devastation in which this book would leave me. He seemed like such a nice, laid back guy, but I was up all night thinking about the painful truths he so eloquently led me to. It doesn't sound like such a tough book when the premise includes a wall popping up in someone's front lawn. I picked it up for its unconventional story line, not an social-emotional gut punch. And yet...
Required reading for anyone who believes we have to hear more voices to live in a more empathetic world.


Dances: A Novel By Nicole Cuffy Cover Image
$27.00
ISBN: 9780593498156
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: One World - May 16th, 2023

I didn't know how to describe this book, so I took a note from my daughter. When she doesn't know how to talk about something, she tells me that she has a lot of emotions, and then decides how to communicate it. The last time that happened, she came back to me with a page full of cartoon faces and explained what emotion each of them meant to her. So, I extrapolated what I read from several professional book reviews that said what I couldn't say. (I'm going to give you their exact quotes at the end of this review because technically, these thoughts are not 100% my own.)
Although reading Dances is the closest you'll ever get to training as a professional dancer, you don't need to know a single thing about ballet to understand the grace and power behind Nicole Cuffy's magnificent prose. This is a mesmerizing novel that follows a driven young girl with a dream. Despite the obstacles in her way, Cece is determined to make her dream of becoming a professional dancer a reality. Her mother knows the odds against her; doesn't want her daughter to be disappointed; and excels at tough love. Her brother has the cash to get her there, but it's origins aren't what one would call "savory." For all of her trials, Cece just powers through time and time again, eventually ending up as principal at the New York City Ballet. Her one downfall being her judgement in matters of the heart.
 
Quotes used:
"The closest thing most of us will ever experience to actually dancing the ballet and to life in a dancer’s body." ~ Starred Review in Kirkus
"A ballet dancer herself, Cuffy brings grace, control, and vigor to her prose." ~ Starred Review in PW
“You don’t have to know anything about ballet to start reading Nicole Cuffy’s lyrical debut about a Black principal ballerina with the New York City Ballet, but you’ll have a deep appreciation of it by the time you finish . . . a profound and captivating examination of family, ambition, power, and sacrifice.”—Bustle


Pacey Packer: Unicorn Tracker Book 1: (A Graphic Novel) (Pacey Packer, Unicorn Tracker #1) By J. C. Phillipps Cover Image
$7.99
ISBN: 9780593568750
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Random House Graphic - March 21st, 2023

 
Pacey is stuck taking care of her annoying little sister. She just wont' stop talking to her stuffed unicorn, but Pacey wants to keep imagining she's busting the bad guys! When Pacey goes to get Mina for dinner, she finds her jumping out of her bedroom window onto a rainbow with her stuffed unicorn - who isn't stuffed after all, but a REAL unicorn!
And that's just the beginning of the surprises in store for readers! It turns out that unicorns aren't all nice, they don't like it when kids in the "real" world make silly dolls out of them, and they have magical seeds they can eat to shrink in size! From the moment Pacey enters Rundalyn (the magical land the unicorns live in), her quest is to find her little sister Mina, but things get complicated when Pacey finds out that not all unicorns are created equal. Mina's unicorn has a brother who doesn't like kids. At all. As a matter of fact. He thinks they should all be turned to stone. Will that happen to Mina, or will Pacey get to her in time?! See what happens, and follow the adventures in Pacey Packer's other three books as her adventures with Slasher the unicorn continue! Click here for the full series.


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Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide By Rupert Holmes Cover Image
$28.00
ISBN: 9781451648218
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster - February 21st, 2023

Picture if you can, Hogwarts without the magic, but with a lot more poison. And instead of kids, disgruntled employees serve as our protagonists.
McMasters Conservatory of the Applied Arts is the most prestigious graduate school you've never heard of. You've never heard of it because it has a 100% success rate. The McMasters school trains "deletists." ("Murderer" is a word considered too crass for McMasters.) Dean Harbinger Harrow is our omnipotent narrator, and gives readers an unprecedented insider's view of what it is like to train at and then graduate from McMasters. He tells us the story of 3 of his best students via a delightful mix of his narration and the extraordinarily detailed journal entries of Cliff Iverson, who will quickly become your favorite deletist. Cliff and his fellow graduates have four rules to gain entry to McMasters in the first place:
  1. Is this murder necessary?
  2. Have you given your target every last chance to redeem themselves?
  3. What innocent person might suffer by your actions?
  4. Will this deletion improve the life of others?
Answering 1, 2, and 4 with a "yes" and 3 with with "no one," began their educational program.
To the general public, all great killers have one thing in common: you've heard of them. The truly great deletists take great pride in one of their alma mater's sayings, "Wherever a murder goes unsolved, there goes a McMasters graduate!" Your insider's guide awaits.


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How Dinosaurs Went Extinct: A Safety Guide By Ame Dyckman, Jennifer Harney (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Ame Dyckman, Jennifer Harney (Illustrator)
$17.99
ISBN: 9780316593298
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers - April 18th, 2023

I'm sure YOU would never lean back in your chair; and YOU would never run with scissors; and YOU would never swallow your gum... or anything else you may have picked from your nose... but guess who did? Heed this cautionary tale, dear readers. For when you do not practice "safety first," you too may soon be extinct.
Caretakers of all ages! Read this book just once, and the next time your ward is trying to leave without their jacket, all you have to do is raise your shoulders and say, "Okay. But. That's how the dinosaurs went extinct, you know." The bright colors and silly expressions on the dinosaurs' faces draw kids in immediately. When they spy some all-too-familiar stubborn behavior, they will quickly be empathetic to the poor dinosaurs.
Dyckman uses humor to open up discussions about regret, making responsible choices, and being empathetic. After all, it is really hard to be a little kid and make the right decisions all the time. A funny refrain like this will be welcomed by everyone involved.


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The Light Pirate: GMA Book Club Selection By Lily Brooks-Dalton Cover Image
$29.00
ISBN: 9781538708279
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Grand Central Publishing - December 6th, 2022

My favorite book of 2023 also happens to be the first book to make me cry since 2005. (I read an early copy of a book that our Harper Collins Rep. said would be "really big" for the fall called Marley and Me.) Almost 20 years later, I guess I was due.
It's not that I'm not emotional; quite the opposite. It's the way the Brooks-Dalton made me fall in love with Wanda, named for the hurricane raging during her birth, the very moment she came into the world. Just as with any child, my instinct/wish was to protect her from the injustices and tragedies of life. I recognized Wanda's world as our own, but it was in the same way I might view a scary movie through semi-parted palms over my eyes. I knew it was fiction, but it tapped into exactly what I fear I can't protect my child from, and my anxiety for her future.
Brooks-Dalton is a chameleon. At first, I thought I was reading a book about the destruction of the world... but I wasn't. Then I thought I was reading a book about the different shapes that make a family... but I wasn't. Then I thought I was reading a book about loss... but I wasn't. It turned out that I was reading a book about love. In the face of uncertainty, love serves as resilience; in grief, recovery, and in life, hope.
This book knocked me back on my heels with its beauty. I hope you treasure it, pass it on, and think back on it often.


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Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone: A Murdery Mystery Novel By Benjamin Stevenson Cover Image
$30.00
ISBN: 9780063279025
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Mariner Books - January 17th, 2023

I know what you're thinking. ANOTHER hilarious book about murder? Yep! Seriously though. This has to be the funniest whodunit I've ever read.
Protagonist Ernie Cunningham's family hates him for taking the stand and putting his brother away for murder. Now he's snowed-in with them at a crummy ski resort. The hotel was cheaper than the one next door, and his self-designated family planner aunt is obsessed with both reunions and penny pinching. Finances aren't something Ernie has had to worry about since the night three years ago when his brother showed up on his doorstep with not only a body, but also a bag containing almost $300,000 in cash. Not that he's spent it mind you... or at least, not very much. Is the money the motive behind last night's murder?
This breath of fresh air will have you laughing off the edge of your seat. When is the last time that happened?!


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Welcome to the Island (Isla of Adventure #1) By Dela Costa, Ana Sebastián (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Dela Costa, Ana Sebastián (Illustrator)
$6.99
ISBN: 9781665926539
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Little Simon - December 27th, 2022

Meet Isla Verde, soon to be your new best friend! Each of Isla's adventures include a dash of Spanish, a feel-good, not in-your-face lesson in friendship, and a talking geko named Fitz who is always looking for a great place to take a nap. Cosa's perfect balance of classic storytelling and modern word choices will keep kids aged 5-8 in suspense of "what will happen in the next chapter?" Did I mention Isla can talk to animals? Who wouldn't want to read more?!
The first book deals with a new neighbor moving to the island from the big city, and the second is a mystery involving a legendary mermaid! Click to view all four books and learn more.


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The Labyrinth of Doom (Once Upon a Tim #2) By Stuart Gibbs, Stacy Curtis (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Stuart Gibbs, Stacy Curtis (Illustrator)
$12.99
ISBN: 9781534499287
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers - November 1st, 2022

In the first episode of Once Upon a Tim, we heard nothing of The Labyrinth of Doom, despite the book's map including The River of Doom, The Mountain of Doom, and The Desert of Doom. -Mapmakers in the Kingdom of Wyld are not known for their creativity. Little did we know that the king had long ago commissioned an expert to make the finest labyrinth, the deadliest labyrinth, the most dangerous labyrinth in all the lands! And now Princess Grace has been placed in the middle of the finest, deadliest, most dangerous labyrinth by two good-guys-turned-bad in a shocking twist from book #1. Will Tim and his "team" be able to rescue the princess before time runs out? He's got: Belinda - his best friend who is training to be a knight under the disguise of being a boy; Ferkle - the village idiot who is actually an intellectual prodigy in hiding; and Rover - Tim's fr-dog (1/2 frog, 1/2 dog) and most loyal companion with a heart of gold and a handy tongue. You read that right. Just when you think the series couldn't have more to offer, Gibbs has included more "IQ Boosters" throughout the story to keep young readers giggling because they can fool the adults around them into thinking they are reading an "educational book" because of the advanced vocabulary words. Joke's on them. I laughed through every page. Best for ages 5-11.


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The FRUSTRATING Book! (Unlimited Squirrels #5) By Mo Willems Cover Image
$12.99
ISBN: 9781368074827
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Hyperion Books for Children - September 27th, 2022

Have I read every Mo Willems book? Yes. Have I read every Mo Willems book aloud? Yes. Is this one the best? Yes. OK; I might be exaggerating, since I don't think I could ever pick just one Mo book to be my favorite, but this one is truly a standout!
If you have read any of the other "Unlimited Squirrels" books in the series, you already know about their BIG emotions! In this installment, two squirrels set up a Feelings (a la Lemonade) Stand. What ensues is a truly introspective story, cloaked in hilarity. Zoom Squirrel's first emotion is on the house, which makes him... HAPPY! The Squirrel Friends ask him what he would like next, and Zoom requests something new. He requests DISAPPOINTMENT. Unfortunately, the Squirrel Friends tell him that he will need to make a disappointment appointment. Zoom Squirrel wanted his DISAPPOINTMENT now. That makes him feel... GRRRRR. But wait! The Squirrel Friends recommend another feeling: FRUSTRATION. Unfortunately, when they go to get it for Zoom, they are all out. That makes Zoom feel... GRRRRR. But wait! They DO have one feeling they think he will like, even though it isn't what he requested. They think he's felt it before. It's LOVE. A happy ending for everyone.
Learning through laughter is the best! Kids need practice dealing with negative emotions, and this one knocks it out of the park.


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The Wolf Suit By Sid Sharp Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9781773217208
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Annick Press - October 25th, 2022

"Gorgeous."--The New York Times - Best Books of 2022 lists: NYPL, School Library Journal, The Globe and Mail, Indigo - JLG Gold Standard Selection - Moonbeam Children's Book Award Winner - Kids Indie Next Pick


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The Three Billy Goats Gruff By Mac Barnett, Jon Klassen (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Mac Barnett, Jon Klassen (Illustrator)
$18.99
ISBN: 9781338673845
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Orchard Books - October 18th, 2022

It's still the best "goat-meets-troll" story on the market, and the Mac Barnett plus Jon Klassen collaboration is still the perfect example of an author and an illustrator clicking together like matched puzzle pieces.
Their marvelous retelling of the Norwegian folk tale leans heavily on suspense and perspective. Knowing what's coming for the troll adds to the intensity as kids near the end of the book. Frankly, it was a little too much for my 6-year-old who told me she would, "come back to that one when I'm a little bit older." The troll is the biggest thing on the page at the beginning of the story, and the smallest by the end. Seriously. Wait until you see the size of the oldest goat brother! The troll certainly learns about perspective from each goat that he meets, but also from his unfortunate trip down the river at the end. Additionally, the story has a definite sequence of events, which is vital for emerging readers. Kids can practice reading skills like: predicting what happens next; retelling the story in their own words (or pictures); identifying sequencing vocabulary (first, next, then, finally); and connecting text from words into sentences into paragraphs into stories.
The crisp Klassen artwork with its subtle emotional undertones, is exactly the right fit for this type of "just a little bit scary" storytelling. Readers will be entranced, and I wonder how many will take up the challenge on the last page: "If you want to see them, all you have to do... is cross the bridge."


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The Ski Jumpers: A Novel By Peter Geye Cover Image
$25.95
ISBN: 9781517913496
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Univ Of Minnesota Press - September 13th, 2022

If I have ever recommended a novel with crisp writing, families with seemingly-chilly edges (who turn out to be so much warmer than they appear), and a plot line that will have you cracking your knuckles in anticipation of what's to come - then I've most certainly handed you one of Peter Geye's novels.
His latest takes us from the seedy underbelly of Chicago in the 1950s to the pristine, snow-laden ski hills of Northern Minnesota, making The Ski Jumpers everything you'd expect from an author Kirkus has likened to Jack London and Jon Krakauer.
So much of the Bargaard family story revolves around winters on the slopes, but you won't find something as posh as a lift ticket here. Likewise no gondolas or après-skis; brothers Jon and Anton scale their hills fueled purely by adrenaline and competition. Family lore alleges that Pop and Bett ran away from a bad situation in Chicago, but the details are sparse, and things only get more foggy as the boys grow older. When they are in their early teens, their father goes to jail for murder, but something doesn't add up. What happened when their parents first arrived in Minneapolis?
When Jon and Anton are forced to reunite decades after Jon left home, at their father's funeral, the only thing more contentious than Jon's relationship with his mother is his attempt to talk to his brother about something other than his unsuccessful Olympic trials in the sport of ski jumping. Anton's pursuit of the sport for which their father had an undying love, made him the "golden child," despite his sleazy business dealings, which may have been passed on to him from their father. The brothers' trips down memory lane are packed with so much love, but it's buried under so much resentment and misunderstanding that you wonder if they will ever find common ground. The past gradually reveals answers to how their family became a broken one, but the journey of Jon's effort to set things right before his entire life changes is well-worth the hopeful hike.
As with every burnished novel he's written to date, Geye's story shines bright with storytelling of the highest caliber, with a whodunit to boot.If I have ever recommended a novel with crisp writing, families with seemingly-chilly edges (who turn out to be so much warmer than they appear), and a plot line that will have you cracking your knuckles in anticipation of what's to come - then I've most certainly handed you one of Peter Geye's novels.
His latest takes us from the seedy underbelly of Chicago in the 1950s to the pristine, snow-laden ski hills of Northern Minnesota, making The Ski Jumpers everything you'd expect from an author Kirkus has likened to Jack London and Jon Krakauer.
So much of the Bargaard family story revolves around winters on the slopes, but you won't find something as posh as a lift ticket here. Likewise no gondolas or après-skis; brothers Jon and Anton scale their hills fueled purely by adrenaline and competition. Family lore alleges that Pop and Bett ran away from a bad situation in Chicago, but the details are sparse, and things only get more foggy as the boys grow older. When they are in their early teens, their father goes to jail for murder, but something doesn't add up. What happened when their parents first arrived in Minneapolis?
When Jon and Anton are forced to reunite decades after Jon left home, at their father's funeral, the only thing more contentious than Jon's relationship with his mother is his attempt to talk to his brother about something other than his unsuccessful Olympic trials in the sport of ski jumping. Anton's pursuit of the sport for which their father had an undying love, made him the "golden child," despite his sleazy business dealings, which may have been passed on to him from their father. The brothers' trips down memory lane are packed with so much love, but it's buried under so much resentment and misunderstanding that you wonder if they will ever find common ground. The past gradually reveals answers to how their family became a broken one, but the journey of Jon's effort to set things right before his entire life changes is well-worth the hopeful hike.
As with every burnished novel he's written to date, Geye's story shines bright with storytelling of the highest caliber, with a whodunit to boot.


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Acts of Violet: A Novel By Margarita Montimore Cover Image
$27.99
ISBN: 9781250815064
Availability: Special Order
Published: Flatiron Books - July 5th, 2022

This book is about the disappearance of renowned magician, Violet Volk. Do I care about magicians? No. Frankly, I find magic frustrating, and I've never given it much more than a passing thought. Imagine my surprise when with a 10-member cast performing interviews, podcasts, email correspondence, and straight-forward first person narration, this audiobook knocked my socks off!
Montimore's opening line, "Anyone who tells you they knew Violet Volk is a liar." plunges the reader into an engrossing family saga rather than what I thought would be a gimmicky, sappy novel. From she and her sister Sasha's childhood sibling rivalry to her dramatic and quite literal disappearance from the stage, the details of Violet's life flicker and flash at you through the pages at a rapid clip. You quickly get the sense that there is more to Violet than just a charismatic personality with a determined disposition. Buckle up, because Violet's got loads of secrets in store for you. The question of what happened to Violet Volk, quickly becomes insignificant in comparison to the question, Who in the world WAS Violet Volk? What happened to make her who she became? How much of her life was real vs. how much of it was a show for the paparazzi? What was the true cause of the split between Violet and her sister, Sasha?
I expected a perky little pick-me up, and got an intricate game of cat and mouse instead. Simply delightful.


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A Spoonful of Frogs: A Halloween Book for Kids By Casey Lyall, Vera Brosgol (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Casey Lyall, Vera Brosgol (Illustrator)
$18.99
ISBN: 9780062890290
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Greenwillow Books - July 19th, 2022

A witch with a cooking show debuts her favorite treat: Frog Soup! She starts by warming up her cauldron on the stove, and then adding water, garlic, and other veggies. The last and most important ingredient is a spoonful of frogs. Just place the frogs on the spoon... er... place the frogs on the spoon... er... how is she supposed to place the frogs on the spoon when they never stop hopping?! They are tricky little amphibians: hiding behind her lizard oil, hopping across her kitchen and out the window, and gathering in the little pond across the street.
Warning: do not read this book somewhere you are supposed to be quiet! Kids will giggle out loud as the witch tries, and tries, and tries again to get a frog on her spoon. The slapstick hijinks are matched with lively illustrations that show the hopping trails of the frogs as they race away from the witch's spoon every time she makes a new attempt at capture. Wipe away your squeamish thoughts; this one has a happy ending. Best for 3 and up, but wonderful for classroom connections up to 5th grade.
Classroom connections:

    how to write detailed directions
    having a backup plan
    how to create suspense in writing
    vocabulary and writing words: spoon, frogs
    verb study: fill, pinch, sprinkle, chop, toss, mix, place, find, grab, slide, put
    teach anthimeria (words that function as verbs or nouns depending upon placement and useage): fill, pinch, sprinkle, mix, place, trap, scoop, chase

 


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Out in the Wild!: A Graphix Chapters Book (Bug Scouts #1) By Mike Lowery, Mike Lowery (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Mike Lowery, Mike Lowery (Illustrator)
$7.99
ISBN: 9781338726329
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Graphix - April 19th, 2022

 

(Scroll down for inside images!)
Is Mike Lowery a genius? Definitely. This is one of those books that just seems like a whole lot of fun - and it is! - but there is so much intentional messaging going on here about friendship, bravery, kindness, humor, and adventure! This perfect-for-first-and-second-grade read has a colorful cast of characters who exhibit distinct personality traits. Every bug is pumped to go exploring... until maybe... they... aren't so sure about what's out there.
Lowrey highlights characters struggling with complicated emotions like sulking (Spider can be a little... sensitive), and he gives a nod to ADHD with Worm, who is often derailed from the task at hand, because he's just so darned excited about everything! The Bug Scouts handle the wild by using great communication skills and gentle words to have a wonderful adventure full of nonfiction facts and information kids can use! Every bug has something to contribute, and there is power in keeping your wits about you.
This book is a wonderful reminder for parents and teachers dealing with aloof, distracted, or prickly kids that powerful learning and messages are taking place regardless of how sunny or cloudy a kid's disposition may be. Thanks for the reminder, Spider!


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The Myth of Surrender: A Novel By Kelly O'Connor McNees Cover Image
$25.95
ISBN: 9781643139302
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Pegasus Books - March 1st, 2022

Being pregnant is, well, miserable. Also draining, and a roller-coaster ride of emotions. Can you imagine being a pregnant, teenaged girl? In 1960? And your parents are Catholic with a capital "c?" For Doreen and Margie, the decision of what to do next is not remotely theirs. One from Chicago, one from its suburbs, each girl is sent to the "Holy Family Home for the Wayward" in the rural countryside. They are to serve their remaining pregnant months as penance, and be grateful for the opportunity to bless a couple with a new baby. They are to express nothing but gratitude toward their parents, and the nuns who house them. In fact, they are supposed to be happy that they can "move on with their lives" when they leave. Unsurprisingly, things do not go as planned.
And that is perhaps the most magical part about this book: Its lack of predictability. Stunning? Yes. Pitch-perfect? Yes. Heart touching and tender? Absolutely. And most of all, eye-opening.
This novel reaches out and creates a space in our hearts for the estimated 2 million frightened teenage girls of the 1960s, whose emotional and psychological needs were never taken into consideration. Women who had children taken away from them without their consent. Women who lived the rest of their lives in secret grief, sadness, guilt, shame, remorse, and anger. Although I was shocked at the number of women who share this history, I was struck by the compassionate and elegant way O'Connor McNees managed to tell their story. All along, I could feel the way she held these women and children close, and when I turned the final page, I was filled with gratitude for the gentle unearthing she gave their account. I feel fortunate for having read it and for the opportunity to share it with others. You will not be disappointed.


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Not Drinking Tonight: A Guide to Creating a Sober Life You Love By Amanda E. White, LPC Cover Image
$27.00
ISBN: 9780306925856
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Hachette Go - January 4th, 2022

Although the title was off-putting, and I'd like to send this one back to the publisher drawing-board to be retitled, Ladies, Get Your Evenings Back, I'd also like to stress the point that reading this book is not even about stopping drinking. It's so much more. And it's amazing.
Amanda White's book was a freebie for booksellers from Libro.fm (click to view audio), so I thought I'd listen to a couple of minutes, just in case customers asked about it. Surprise! I found one of the best self-help books I've ever come across! White's writing is rooted science, backed up by examples, and user-friendly. At regular intervals, I would find myself saying, "Wait. What? Why didn't I know that?!" Then, I'd go back to re-listen, and to reinforce the information. It wasn't enough. I wanted more. I bought the book before I was even done with the audio.
White came out of the gate swinging when she hit me with the statistic that 3 drinks a week boosts my chances of getting breast cancer by 15%. She nailed my insecurities by pointing out that peer pressure is a huge roadblock to not drinking. (I'm fun, damnit! I don't want people to think I'm weird! I mean... not in THAT way.) Then, she grabbed me by both shoulders and shook me awake to the idea that there are reasons we drink that have nothing to do with being an alcoholic or not being an alcoholic - habit drives human psychology, and the habit of drinking alcohol is more detrimental than I've ever bothered to think about.
I think that was the whole point for me. I've never really thought about drinking alcohol as a personality trait or a habit. I've never thought about how it fills an "entertainment" gap in my life, or how much I get done in the evening when I don't have a glass of wine. The insight that you can't break a habit, but that you can create a new one, was exactly what I needed to hear, at exactly the right time.
Finding out why you drink might just rock your inner life the way it has mine. It doesn't even mean you stop drinking altogether. But thinking about your motivations is always insightful. This one was less emotional work than I expected. Especially for the payoff.
I wanted to take notes, do the exercises in the back, and try this experiment for myself. I. Never. Do. That! As a rule, I enjoy self-help books; I think Brené Brown is a goddess; I love self-reflection and attempting to be a better human.... But I don't actually DO the exercises in the books! Let alone WANT to do them! If self-reflection isn't for you, then neither is this book, but if you enjoy a look at your motivations and the psychology behind your decisions, this gem will quickly be the book you start handing out to all of your friends. (Don't worry. Mine already knew I was weird. I didn't lose any.)


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Magic Season: A Son's Story By Wade Rouse Cover Image
$27.99
ISBN: 9781335475176
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Hanover Square Press - May 3rd, 2022

Wade Rouse only believes in three strikes when it comes to baseball, not family. With so much talk in today's culture of creating healthy boundaries, and cutting ties from "toxic" family members, it is a rare gift to find a soul with an almost super-human strength of forgiveness. Wade Rouse illustrates what true compassion and grace look like, and he gives hope to those who believe in the power of their convictions. Especially when that conviction is the belief that love can conquer all. While it is always tempting to paint the picture of our families with blurred the edges and sunny skies, this memoir is starkly beautiful in its honesty. Families who love baseball have a peculiar way of spending their Saturday afternoons getting "bleacher-butt," spitting sunflower seeds, and giving umpires the stink-eye while experiencing the wonder of being lost in the game. The sounds of the crack of the bat, the call of the ump., and the organ notes of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" were the backdrop of my childhood, and it was something I could do with my dad. Readers will connect with Wade's complicated family, their love for the game, and the pain of adulthood.
A powerful message of forgiveness couched in the nostalgia of ballgames gone by.


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Honor By Thrity Umrigar Cover Image
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ISBN: 9781616209957
Availability: Out of Print
Published: Algonquin Books - January 4th, 2022

At an event full of strangers, isn't it always a wonderful surprise to find someone you can truly talk with? You laugh at the same jokes, share the same interests, and spend the evening chatting as if you've known one another for years. When you recount who was at the party, funeral, or dinner you last attended, you will remember that rare spark of a kindred spirit. Meena, Shannon, Smita, Abru, and Mohan are those strangers. These are the people you too will talk about as if you know them when you finish Honor.
Smita is our protagonist: Indian-American, investigative journalist, steadfast friend. Proof of her loyalty comes in the form of cutting her vacation short to come to the aid of an old friend, Shannon, who breaks a hip and can't finish covering one of the most heartbreaking murder trials I've ever encountered in a novel. Shannon and Smita strive for objective distance from the people they cover in their reporting, but you, the reader, can not bear even one inch of distance between yourself and Meena. Whether it's because you know so much about her from Umrigar's immaculate storytelling, or because Smita uncovers brutal truths about Meena's life from which you desperately wish you could protect her, I can't say. All I know is that the religious fundamentalism that brings about Meena's husband's murder makes your whole body ache to just reach out and hold and comfort Meena through her unjustifiable loss.
Some of the reviews I've read describe this novel as the painful love story of two couples: Smita and Mohan, who immediately becomes not just her driver, but her trusted companion during her investigation; and Meena and Abdul, who was murdered for marrying a Hindu outside of his Muslim religion...by Meena's own brothers. (I told you it was heartbreaking.) But I think the really painful love story is that of Smita returning to India, and seeing it without the veil of childhood memories clouding her vision.
At the core of Umrigar's writing, as always, is how people treat one another. She picks up the human condition, holds it to the light, and examines all of life's most painful moments exquisitely. She effortlessly brings her belief that, "Hope is a moral obligation." directly from the page into your heart and soul.
You simply must pick it up and savor every word.


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The Impossible Mountain By David Soman Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780316427746
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers - November 30th, 2021

Anna is fond of exploring the nooks and crannies of her village, which feels reminiscent of the Pied Piper's Hamelin. Upon climbing a forbidden ladder to the top of the village wall, she spies a far-off mountain, larger than anything she has ever imagined. Ignoring the call of the wild proves pointless, and Anna eventually enlists her little brother, Finn, in an epic quest to reach the top. -This despite earnest warnings from the other villagers that there is nothing outside the city walls except danger. Sure enough, the kids encounter a raging waterfall they must cross, discover that the only trail to the peak runs along sheer cliffs, and spend an evening in a bear cave along the way. The bear is one of the best parts. My daughter says he is her favorite part of the book because, "He is so big that he is scary, but then his eyes are so kind you just know everything is going to be ok." And after Anna gives him an apple she found in a lovely orchard along the way, he snuggles by the fire with the children through a stormy night. The siblings eventually DO make it to the top, discovering that what they thought would be the biggest adventure of their lives is only the beginning. They trek excitedly back to the village to tell everyone what they have discovered.
I couldn't put my finger on what my favorite thing about this book was until my third or fourth time through its color-saturated pages. And then it struck me: the intricately detailed illustrations seem to have an indigo wash over them, and it gives the book a dreamlike feel. The softening of color gives the storytelling an otherworldly quality, and heightens the readers' emotional connection to the characters. The suspense is timed just right so that, as the children journey into more and more difficult terrain it brings the reader joyful relief when they triumph as heroes and return home from their mighty exploration at the end.
It's lovely, exciting, and an instant classic.


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Happier, No Matter What: Cultivating Hope, Resilience, and Purpose in Hard Times By Tal Ben-Shahar Cover Image
$18.95
ISBN: 9781615197910
Availability: Backordered
Published: The Experiment - May 11th, 2021

Don't let the title of this book throw you. Having the lessons from little blue page-turner with you is like knowing you have a flotation device under your seat if and when things get bad. From personal loss to global pandemics, cultivating resilience today should be as ingrained as eating the five food groups. Raising, teaching, or working with children can leave you feeling one of two ways:
1- in awe of the positivity children find in everyday moments and tasks.
2- despair at the difficulties of the world they will be coming up against.
Ben-Shahar's book is exactly the right book at the right time to take those thoughts and turn them into a cycle of positivity. He'll have you walking away from those questions (and more) thinking, "It's a good thing those kids are learning how to bolster themselves up for when times get tough."
He uses a cheesy, but helpful framework for looking at difficulties in our lives called the SPIRE method:
S is for how we feel Spiritually (secular and religious examples are both addressed).
P conveys the vital role Physical activity plays in our emotional lives.
I reminds us that a lack of Intellectual stimulation can be detrimental to our health.
R communicates that we are Relational beings who need social interaction AWAY FROM OUR SOCIAL MEDIA FEEDS to nourish our well-being.
E explains that we need to make sure we are truly connected to and honor the Emotional needs we have. (Like crying instead of "staying strong.")
Hardships and adversity are inevitable; what we do with those experiences can change our lives.
I picked this book up with the goal of learning more about arming our children with tools to practice what it feels like to fail, and how to deal with failure. While I did get that information, I was also pleasantly surprised at the way the author spelled out what self-reflection can do for our every day well-being. Just allowing ourselves a moment here and there to stop and regroup has been the antidote I needed at the tail-end of a very stressful two years.


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Beasts and Beauty: Dangerous Tales By Soman Chainani, Julia Iredale (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Soman Chainani, Julia Iredale (Illustrator)
$17.99
ISBN: 9780062652638
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: HarperCollins - September 21st, 2021

Do you love adult fairy tales? Do you simultaneously cringe when the female protagonist's goal in life is to be blond-haired, blue-eyed, and secure herself a prince? Look no farther!
Chainani has Snow White waiting for someone who will appreciate her dark skin, Hansel and Gretel finding their real mother instead of a witch in the candy cottage in the woods, and Ariel never even swimming out of the witch's cave (Ursula has her asking herself why she'd really want to sacrifice her voice for legs - all for a boy who didn't even say thank you for rescuing him from his shipwreck!) I felt waves of contentment at the end of each chapter. Sometimes it was because the protagonist got the revenge they were owed, but most of the time it was just the feeling of a truly well-told story.
Best for 10 and up - some of them are pretty bloody.


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Shine Like a Unicorn By Shelli R. Johannes, Maddie Frost (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Shelli R. Johannes, Maddie Frost (Illustrator)
$17.99
ISBN: 9780062998330
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: HarperCollins - September 21st, 2021

This hilarious picture book about how to be a unicorn is laugh-out-loud funny and will encourage readers to embrace their own unique and glorious selves! Perfect for fans of How to Catch a Unicorn, Thelma the Unicorn, and Not Quite Narwhal.

Do you want to shine like a unicorn? Of course you do!


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Norman Didn't Do It!: (Yes, He Did) By Ryan T. Higgins Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781368026239
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Disney Hyperion - September 7th, 2021

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Fresh Water for Flowers By Valérie Perrin, Hildegarde Serle (Translator) Cover Image
$16.95
ISBN: 9781609456764
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Europa Editions - May 4th, 2021

A WALL STREET JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF SUMMER 2021
A 2020 INDIES INTRODUCE & INDIE NEXT LIST PICK


A #1 international best-seller, Fresh Water for Flowers is an intimately told story about a woman who defiantly believes in happiness, despite it all.


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The Rock from the Sky By Jon Klassen, Jon Klassen (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Jon Klassen, Jon Klassen (Illustrator)
$18.99
ISBN: 9781536215625
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Candlewick - April 13th, 2021

The instant #1 New York Times bestseller!

Look up! From the Caldecott Medal–winning creator of the hat trilogy comes a new deadpan gem.


There is a spot.
It is a good spot.
It is the perfect spot to stand.
There is no reason to ever leave.
But somewhere above there is also a rock.
A rock from the sky.


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One Two Three: A Novel By Laurie Frankel Cover Image
$26.99
ISBN: 9781250236777
Availability: Special Order
Published: Henry Holt and Co. - June 8th, 2021

From Laurie Frankel, the New York Times bestselling author of This Is How It Always Is, a Reese's Book Club x Hello Sunshine Book Pick, comes One Two Three, a timely, topical novel about love and family that will make you laugh and cry...and laugh again.

In a town where nothing ever changes, suddenly everything does...


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Women Don't Owe You Pretty By Florence Given Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781524857561
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Andrews McMeel Publishing - April 6th, 2021

Chapter 5 of Given's manifesto helped me finally find the words to express what I've felt since adolescence, and now I consider the entire chapter a "to do" list. If it rings true for you, helps you look at yourself and others in a new way, or makes you want to be a better person, then you'll enjoy the whole book:
"Chapter 5: Refuse to Find Comfort in Other Women's Flaws
As a result of the rigorous beauty standards that we are so harshly held up against, we inevitably find a disturbing amount of comfort in tearing down women who reflect our own insecurities back to us. The drive to become "more beautiful" creates a toxic competitiveness among women.
We seek comfort in other women's perceived "flaws" in an attempt to avoid addressing our own insecurities.
Every time you find yourself critiquing a woman on the choices she makes - who she sleeps with, how she dresses - sit in it. Reflect. What is it about her that makes you feel so uncomfortable? Ask yourself WHY you think this way, instead of just accepting it.
Here's an example of internalized misogyny: You find yourself saying, "I'm not like the other girls." Think about what you are implying the other girls "are like" when you say this. If you are reinforcing stereotypes that women are "bitchy" or "full of drama" and that you are the exception, darling, you are not."
My whole life, girls were pitted against one another by their environments, and then they turned on one another. Classic movies from my teen years like "Heathers," and "She's All That," were like watching our worst nightmares played out on the screen in front of us... yet we ate it up. It wasn't only happening on the movie screen. We were being conditioned to accept this behavior as "girls being girls." (And don't even get me started on "boys will be boys.")
If you can read this book with an open heart, there may be some painful realizations for you, as there were for me. (And not just if you are a woman.) To understand the "secret" lives women lead: constantly considering our physical safety, wondering if we are emotionally safe to reveal our true selves based on past "girlfriend" betrayals, and expecting to be criticized is to give men the opportunity to understand where we are really coming from. But how can we raise our daughters without understanding how to protect them from well... turning on one another? I felt a sense of hope for the future as I finished Givens's book. And I haven't felt that in a long time. I listened to this book on Libro.fm, and it was a powerful 3.5 hours. Here's that direct link. I'm going back through the physical book now and making notes. Yes. It's that good.


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Dear Beast: The Pet Parade By Dori Hillestad Butler, Kevan Atteberry (Illustrator) Cover Image
$15.99
ISBN: 9780823444939
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Holiday House - February 2nd, 2021

I don't know what it is about the idea of communication between cats and dogs that I find so hilarious, but it makes these books incredibly fun to read out loud... leading to lots of laughing out loud as well. In the first book in this new series, Simon (our feline protagonist) is discouraged to learn that since Andy's dad has moved into his new place, he's gotten a dog. One who can't spell, who is perpetually happy, and who likes to "you noe, have fun with his hyooman boy!" A "beast," if you will. All Baxter (0ur canine protagonist) really wants is to give Simon a great nickname (Cat Man) and make his boy, Andy happy. How can these two decide who should be Andy's pet?
And the adventure continues in book 2 and 3 (click to view all). You won't want to miss what happens next!


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I Am Every Good Thing By Derrick Barnes, Gordon C. James (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Derrick Barnes, Gordon C. James (Illustrator)
$18.99
ISBN: 9780525518778
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Nancy Paulsen Books - September 1st, 2020

This book is an uplifting, confidence building, feel-good, explosion! I can not remember the last time I read a book that made me smile from the first to the very last page.  Any child at any age can read this book and feel a sense of peace in who they are. It can be used not only in one-on-one readings, but also for parent-child conversations, child-to-child interactions, and as a classroom mentor text for Pre-K all the way through 5th grade. You might even know adults who could use a lift as well. Maybe instead of a self-help section, we should just have this book instead. Every page is an affirmation. Every page is a blast of color, a roar of positivity, a barrage of joy! Stock up. You need several.


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Firekeeper's Daughter By Angeline Boulley Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9781250766564
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) - March 16th, 2021

First of all: Do. Not. Read. The. Jacket. Description. On this book!! It is full of spoilers!! Second: can we talk about this cover?! Ravishing. It's the kind of cover that whispers to you from the shelf, and I'm not even sure whether or not I had a choice in picking it up or not! Third: this book is not at all what you think it will be, in all of the best ways. I knew it was about an Ojibwe teen growing up in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan; what I didn't know was that once the plot twists started, they just kept on coming! The same way that you can't live in Northern Michigan and be untouched by Anishinaabe culture, you can't read this book without being touched by Daunis. (Sounds like the Adonis from Greek mythology without the "A".) She is 18 and starting to have make real-life, grown-up decisions like choosing to go to Lake Superior State University in her hometown, instead of going to her orginal choice of the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, so that she can help her mother take care of her ailing grandmother. Daunis is a wonderful blend of science nerd and hockey jock, with a rich connection to her family and community. Frankly, she's the teenager many of us wish we were: self-aware, confident, and seemingly unsusceptible to peer pressure. When the story began with "hometown-girl (Daunis) meets new-boy in town (Jamie)," I wasn't excited. Then, one night, Daunis is acting as a tourguide for Jamie, and something goes horribly, lethally wrong at an underage house party. The book increases speed at that point, while it begins to peel back the layers of what government involvement can really look like in indigenous peoples' affairs. Our mixed-race, teen protagonist was able to take me by the hand, and walk me through what anti-indigenous policies, and cultural microagressions feel like in an engaging, personal, and relateable way. The understanding Boulley gave me was a gift that will stay with me for a long time. And as the plot thickened into a bonafide thriller, it kept me sitting in my car far too long when I was supposed to be getting to work! This is a tremendous performance from actress/narrator, Isabella Star LaBlanc... I listened to the audio on Libro.fm. Here's that link.
Whether you're interested in hockey or not, indigenous cultures of North America or not, or if you just need a wonderful escape that will keep you turning the pages (or listening) all day long, you won't regret picking up this powerful novel. Bonus: the age of the protagonist and subject matter will resonate not only with adults, but with teens 15 and up as well.


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I'd Give Anything: A Novel By Marisa de los Santos Cover Image
$27.99
Email or call for price
ISBN: 9780062844484
Published: William Morrow - May 12th, 2020

In the way that humans can be so unpredictable, so are the characters in de los Santos's latest. The perfect high school romance turns out to be not-so-perfect; the hero turns out to be weak and fallible; and overheard conversations are misunderstood with tragic results. Zinny has made decisions in her life that have cost her a brother, her best friends, and her future. And the worst part is that she was making the right decisions all along. Zinny isn't Zinny anymore. She's Ginny, looking back on her life and trying to decide what to do when her husband is fired after being embroiled in a controversy at work. It's rare to find contemporary fiction light enough to bring a smile to your face while being simultaniously so perfectly engrossing. You'll burn through the pages.


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Sugar in Milk By Thrity Umrigar, Khoa Le (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Thrity Umrigar, Khoa Le (Illustrator)
$17.99
ISBN: 9780762495191
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Running Press Kids - October 6th, 2020

You may recognize Thrity Umrigar's name from my previous recommendations. She is one of the most talented fiction writers of our time.

A young girl has been sent to America to live with her aunt and uncle, but she is lonely and homesick. Her aunt tells her a story that has been passed down through their family for centuries: A group of refugees fleeing Persia arrive on India's shore, but the king will not allow them to stay. He says the country is too crowded, and they have no room for more people. He illustrates his point by filling a cup with milk, and pointing to it for the Persians to understand (they do not speak the same language). Ther Persians reply by taking a spoonful of sugar and mixing it into the milk to show the king that they can only make India better by enriching it and making it sweeter. The illustrations are whimsical and vibrant, expressing the wide range of human emotion. From scared, to overjoyed and everything in between. Le and Umrigar's work is seamlessly intertwined and delivers a story that will stand the test of time. Perfect for the shelves of every child dealing with loneliness or fear of not fitting in. I adore it.


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Magic Lessons: The Prequel to Practical Magic (The Practical Magic Series #1) By Alice Hoffman Cover Image
$27.99
Email or call for price
ISBN: 9781982108847
Published: Simon & Schuster - October 6th, 2020

It's been 25 years since the publication of Practical Magic, but just as you can pick up with an old friend, you'll find yourself burning through these pages again like you did back then. It was worth the wait.
A baby found first by a crow, next by a woman, Maria Owens doesn't have a traditional birthday story. She is found in a field by a caring woman named Hannah Owens. Hannah doesn't need to teach Maria anything about the "Nameless Art," because the gift is already in her blood. Years of contentment and love are followed by a betrayal - a cycle that unfortunately follows Maria through her life as a young pregnant teenager on her way to Salem, Massachussets in the 1680s. There was perhaps no greater target than a single, educated, woman who could heal living among Puritans in the New England colonies, and an inevitable mother-daughter separation is made particularly painful because of the bittersweet life Maria has had up to the point she is put on trial for witchcraft.
I don't know if Hoffman realized she was creating a "Godfather-esque" saga when she first published the Owen's family secrets in 1995, but the lore and legends that plague the family from "the old world" to America are wrought with the age-old dilemmas of loyalty vs. happiness and "doing what one should" vs. happiness. You will remember every larger-than-life character, and you will love every single page.
Although this is the third book in the Owen's family saga, (click to view all three) readers should know that they can (and perhaps should) read this book first. Practical Magic was written first, then in 2018 we were gifted the sequel, The Rules for Magic, and now, we have the prequel, Magic Lessons. And - get ready for it - there's one more coming! No publication date, yet, but you can rest assured, we'll be ready!


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Not an Alphabet Book: The Case of the Missing Cake By Eoin McLaughlin, Marc Boutavant (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Eoin McLaughlin, Marc Boutavant (Illustrator)
$17.99
ISBN: 9781536212679
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Candlewick - August 11th, 2020

Kids are escorted through the alphabet by a suspiciously chocolatey-faced bear who is intent on figuring out who stole the cake on page "C." There are several clues along the way, and this is one tricky bear. My 4-year-old's favorite page is the letter "B" when the bear says, "Nothing to see here." as we see a table, and chocolate-crumb-filled plate behind him. Kids are in on the joke right from the beginning, and laugh out loud as the bear tries to frame every chacter along the way. Especially, the pig on the "P" page. Don't worry. It all works out in the end, and the bear decides he will make it right by going to bake a new cake and keep it "nice and safe." Bright, vivid colors and detailed expressions make this an alphabet book you will enjoy all the way from A to Z!


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The Bright Side Sanctuary for Animals: A Novel By Becky Mandelbaum Cover Image
$26.00
ISBN: 9781982112981
Availability: Special Order
Published: S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books - August 4th, 2020

To say that Mona and Ariel have a strained relationship would be putting it lightly. Their connection is tenuous from the time Ariel’s father brakes both of their hearts by leaving. These two finally let one another down one too many times, and Ariel runs away at 18. From her stoic façade, most wouldn’t realize it, but Mona is devastated by the blow, and buries herself in the work of caring for the neglected animals who are dropped off at her farm for refuge.  Dogs, horses, cats -they are easy compared to daughters. Mona understands exactly what the animals on her farm need in order to heal and be adopted, or to find a peaceful home on her farm. Six years after her disappearance, and fresh after of the Bright Side Sanctuary’s recent violent vandalism, Ariel arrives back on Mona’s front step. The book unfolds imperfectly- exactly the way a fractured relationship with decades of baggage would. And you wonder if Ariel and Mona will ever find the healing they so easily give to their animals. Mandelbaum’s debut novel is peppered with small town petty arguments and divisive politics, right along with laugh-out-loud moments.  Her characters hang in an emotional limbo; so much so that in an attempt to give the book what you know each of the characters seeks, you’ll find yourself cradling the pages as you turn them late into the night.


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Filthy Beasts: A Memoir By Kirkland Hamill Cover Image
$27.00
ISBN: 9781982122768
Availability: Special Order
Published: Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster - July 14th, 2020

You’ll have to try and stop yourself from consuming Kirkland Hamill’s memoir in one sitting. It reads like a gossipy magazine column at first with its high society, 1970s, boozy, late-night, grown-up parties that look downright glamorous. But as soon as that carefully constructed memory is scratched, it flakes away like a gilded picture frame, and reveals the sadness underneath. Kirkland’s family attended all manner of New York's swanky, upper-crust parties until he was about seven years old. Then his parents got divorced, and he and his two brothers were cast out of that life, landing in their mother’s not-so-chic stomping grounds in Bermuda. Watching you mother drink until she blacks out, sleep all day, and begin the cycle every late afternoon looks a lot less charming when she can’t remember to wash your clothes or make you food. And yet somehow, this little boy was able to not only survive, but to find the humor and resilience to thrive amid his chaotic home life. As an adult, Kirkland called his mother during a particularly wicked hurricane, and she told him that everything on the island was destroyed, including the phone lines. His immediate response was to say, “Well, then mom, I guess we better hang up. I’ll try again when the lines are back up.” He laughs in the face of darkness, and refuses to let it overtake him; even now. If you’ve ever needed a reminder that parents love you despite their flaws, this is the memoir for you. Bring your tissues and your funny bone, because you’ll be laughing through tears the whole way.


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A Wish in the Dark By Christina Soontornvat Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781536204940
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Published: Candlewick - March 24th, 2020

I picked this book up at the Winter Institute in Baltimore in January before it was published because the representative from Candlewick Press described it as, "'Les Mis.' set in Thailand." Our protagonist, Pong is born in prison, and therefore not allowed into the general population until he reaches the age of 13. At age 9, he has a split-second to make a decision to escape; and he takes it. Life outside of Namwok Prison is unfortunately, not all that different, and the harsh realities of the "real world" hit Pong hard. Certainly, the warden's daughter, Nok, has things easier. Or does she? This magical, tightly woven novel serves up a fistful of moral and ethical points of discussion, both implied and overt. From trusting your heart and staying strong, to seeing things from another's point of view, kids 9 and up will have plenty to chew on. Frankly, so will adults.


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Pluto Gets the Call By Adam Rex, Laurie Keller (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Adam Rex, Laurie Keller (Illustrator)
$18.99
ISBN: 9781534414532
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Beach Lane Books - November 12th, 2019

My personal pick for the 2020 Caldecott, this is narrative nonfiction at its comedic best! And I highly recommend brushing up on your favorite foreign language accents prior to a read-aloud. Pluto is our host, and he's thrilled to have visitors. Unfortunately, we meet him right before he gets "the call." Pluto is devestated by the news that mean scientists from Earth (a planet he'd rather not discuss right now, thank you very much) have downgraded him to a "plutoid" or "ice dwarf" from the thing he loves most: being a planet! While he deals with the bad news, he shows us around, and we get to meet all 8 of the other planets. By the time this book is over, you'll be howling with laughter and brimming with knowledge - no matter your age. Thank you, Adam Rex and Laurie Keller for saving me from having to come up with a new acronym to teach my child the names of the planets in our solar system. "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nothing," just doesn't have the same ring to it. If you need proof that this book is memorable, my 3-year-old does not sing herself to sleep anymore. She recites Pluto Gets the Call from beginning to end.


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Song for a Whale By Lynne Kelly Cover Image
$8.99
ISBN: 9781524770266
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Yearling - December 31st, 2019

Iris can fix a radio, but she can't hear one. Blue 55 (a humpback whale) can sing, but his song is at a different frequency, so no whales sing back. When Iris finds out about Blue 55, she is drawn to his story. Iris knows what it's like not to fit in.  She can't convince her mother that going to an a"all-deaf" school would be better for her than the school she is in.  Blue 55 can't figure out why none of his fellow whales don't sing back to him, and he doesn't have his own pod.  Iris feels so strongly about Blue 55, that she convinces her band teacher to allow the kids to gather and all play their instruments at the same frequency that Blue 55 sings.  She mixes and cuts sections of the music to make a special Bluee 55 "song."  Now, she's just got to figure out a way to get him to hear it.

I love the way Iris keeps trying, hoping, and wishing for different ways to make her dreams come true throughout this book.  There are unanticipated hurdles, wrong turns, and dead ends.  And she never gives up.  Tenacity without a bad attitude.  Now that's a girl after my own heart.  She'll grab your heart as well.  Best for 9 and up.


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Sharon, Lois and Bram's Skinnamarink (Sharon, Lois & Bram's Classic Songs) By Sharon Hampson, Lois Lillienstein, Bram Morrison, Qin Leng (Illustrator), Randi Hampson (Contributions by) Cover Image
By Sharon Hampson, Lois Lillienstein, Bram Morrison, Qin Leng (Illustrator), Randi Hampson (Contributions by)
$17.99
ISBN: 9780735264069
Availability: Backordered
Published: Tundra Books - September 3rd, 2019

National bestseller — Based on the classic folk song made famous by a beloved trio of children's entertainers, this board book is best sung aloud! "Skinnamarink" is a timeless anthem of love and inclusion.


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The World That We Knew: A Novel By Alice Hoffman Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9781501137587
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Atria Books - September 1st, 2020

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * LONGLISTED FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL

On the brink of World War II, with the Nazis tightening their grip on Berlin, a mother’s act of courage and love offers her daughter a chance of survival.

“[A] hymn to the power of resistance, perseverance, and enduring love in dark times…gravely beautiful…Hoffman


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The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls By Anissa Gray Cover Image
$16.00
ISBN: 9781984802446
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Published: Berkley - January 14th, 2020

“If you enjoyed An American Marriage by Tayari Jones, read The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls...an absorbing commentary on love, family and forgiveness.”—The Washington Post 


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Solving for M By Jennifer Swender Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781101932902
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Crown Books for Young Readers - May 28th, 2019

Perfect for fans of Raymie Nightingale and The Fourteenth Goldfish, this heartfelt middle-grade novel seamlessly melds STEAM content with first loss in an honest and striking debut.


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The Miracle & Tragedy of the Dionne Quintuplets By Sarah Miller Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9781524713812
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Published: Random House Studio - August 27th, 2019

Sarah Miller shows us that once again, the truth really is stranger than fiction.  How could five children have been put on public display?  How could babies have been kept from their mother...even though she lived across the street?!  I can not remember ever feeling such emotion while reading a nonfiction title.  It was a shock to my system!  Ask anyone you know over the age of 70, and they know who the Dionne Quintuplets are.  People in the 1930s spent their last dime to come see the first five children born to one woman.  The appalling decisions that the Ontario government made in regard to these babies will haunt you long after you close the book.


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The River: A novel (Vintage Contemporaries) By Peter Heller Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780525563532
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Vintage - March 3rd, 2020

NATIONAL BESTSELLER From the author of The Guide and The Dog Stars comes the story of two college students on a wilderness canoe trip—a gripping tale of a friendship tested by fire, white water, and violence.


The Valedictorian of Being Dead: My Struggle with Suicidal Depression By Heather B. Armstrong Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781501197055
Availability: Special Order
Published: Gallery Books - May 12th, 2020

From New York Times bestselling author and blogger Heather B.


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The Purloining of Prince Oleomargarine By Mark Twain, Philip C. Stead, Erin Stead (Illustrator) Cover Image
$24.99
ISBN: 9780553523225
Availability: Special Order
Published: Doubleday Books for Young Readers - September 26th, 2017

Here we have the story of gentle Johnny who's miserly grandfather sends him to market to sell the family chicken for something to eat.  Johnny's grandfather is a bad man.  On the way to market, Johnny trades his one and only friend for beans from a mysterious old woman, who may or may not be a fairy.  She tells him that these beans mean that he will never go hungry again.   And then she dies.  No.  Wait.  Not in this version of the story.  You see, Philip and Erin Stead are telling the children's story that Mark Twain began for his daughters but never finished.  Mark and Philip have a conversation after the old woman gives Johnny the beans debating whether the old woman should die or not.  Eventually, Philip decides that since he's the one telling the story now, he wants the old woman to live.  And for Johnny's dreadful grandfather to die instead.  Then we go back to the story where Johnny meets the height-challenged, insecure king.  The king has decided that anyone taller than himself is a criminal, so most of his subjects walk with a slouch.  And they might have kidnapped his son, the prince.  Hence, the title.  But he had it coming.
This book is supposed to be for ages 8-12 because of vocabulary, but you could certainly read it to any child who likes epic storytelling with talking animals.  The Steads have marvelously delivered what his daughter longed for, "I have wanted Papa to write something that reveals something of his kind and sympathetic nature." ~Susy Clemens.


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The Rules of Magic: A Novel (The Practical Magic Series #2) By Alice Hoffman Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781501137488
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Atria Books - June 26th, 2018

An instant New York Times bestseller and Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick from beloved author Alice Hoffman—the spellbinding prequel to Practical Magic.

Find your magic.

For the Owens family, love is a curse that began in 1620, when Maria Owens was charged with witchery for loving the wrong man.

Hundreds of years later, in New York City at t


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Undiscovered Country By Kelly O'Connor McNees Cover Image
Email or call for price.
ISBN: 9781643132266
Availability: Out of Print
Published: Pegasus Books - September 10th, 2019

In 1932, New York City, top reporter Lorena “Hick” Hickok starts each day with a front page byline—and finishes it swigging bourbon and planning her next big scoop. But an assignment to cover FDR’s campaign—and write a feature on his wife, Eleanor—turns Hick’s hard-won independent life on its ear.


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An American Marriage By Tayari Jones Cover Image
$16.95
ISBN: 9781432861308
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Large Print Press - May 1st, 2019

A New York Times Bestseller
A New York Times and Washington Post Notable Book
A Best of the Year Selection of NPR, Time, and O, The Oprah Magazine
An Oprah�'s Book Club Selection
Longlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction


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Love and Ruin: A Novel By Paula McLain Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9781101967393
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Ballantine Books - January 15th, 2019

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A powerful novel of the stormy marriage between Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn, a fiercely independent woman who became one of the greatest war correspondents of the twentieth century—from the author of The Paris Wife and When the Stars Go Dark


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Florida By Lauren Groff Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9781594634529
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Published: Riverhead Books - May 21st, 2019

The universally-acclaimed return of the New York Times bestselling author of Fates and Furies, Matrix, and the highly-anticipated The Vaster Wilds


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Julián Is a Mermaid By Jessica Love, Jessica Love (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Jessica Love, Jessica Love (Illustrator)
$17.99
ISBN: 9780763690458
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Candlewick - April 23rd, 2018

When a picture book makes an adult stop mid-conversation and say, "What is the book you have over there?" to my child, who is spread out with the book on the floor of the kitchen, I know it's a show-stopper. Jessica Love's illustrations bring to mind smudged chalk backgrounds, diffused light, and they are simply wondrous. The detailed facial expressions evoke emotional connections with Julian with every turn of the page.  Julian dreams of dressing up like a mermaid, but fears what his abuela will think when she finds him in full costume.  Never fear.  Abuela gives Julian a special necklace to complete his costume and takes him to a special parade where other people of all kinds are dressed like sea creatures as well.  They are just.  Like.  Him!  Children will find comfort in Love's message of acceptance, being original, and most important, being yourself.  (My research also found that Jessica Love loosely based the parade on the Coney Island Mermaid Parade, which you can view here!)


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Spinning Silver: A Novel By Naomi Novik Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9780399180996
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Del Rey - May 7th, 2019

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “One of the year’s strongest fantasy novels” (NPR), an imaginative retelling of the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale from the bestselling author of Uprooted.


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The Flame: Poems Notebooks Lyrics Drawings By Leonard Cohen Cover Image
$20.00
ISBN: 9781250234797
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Published: Picador - October 15th, 2019

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER

Named a Fall Read by Vogue, Esquire, The Washington Post, TIME, Vanity Fair and O, the Oprah Magazine. One of Daily Mail and Financial Times's Best Books of 2018.

“There are very, very few people who occupy the ground that Leonard Cohen walks on.” —BONO


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Little Faith: A Novel By Nickolas Butler Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9780062469724
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Ecco - October 29th, 2019

In this moving new novel from celebrated author Nickolas Butler, a Wisconsin family grapples with the power and limitations of faith when one of their own falls under the influence of a radical church 

Lyle Hovde is at the onset of his golden years, living a mostly content life in rural Wisconsin with his wife, Peg, daughter, Shiloh, and six-year old grandson, Is


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The Eulogist: A Novel By Ms. Terry Gamble Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9780062839909
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: William Morrow Paperbacks - April 28th, 2020

From the author of The Water Dancers and Good Family, an exquisitely crafted novel, set in Ohio in the decades leading to the Civil War, that illuminates the immigrant experience, the injustice of slavery, and the debts human beings owe to one another, witnessed through the endeavors of one Irish-American family.

Cheated out of their family estate in Northern Ireland


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Hazards of Time Travel: A Novel By Joyce Carol Oates Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9780062319609
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Ecco - October 8th, 2019

An ingenious, dystopian novel of one young woman’s resistance against the constraints of an oppressive society, from the inventive imagination of Joyce Carol Oates


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The Tilted World: A Novel By Tom Franklin, Beth Ann Fennelly Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9780062069191
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: William Morrow Paperbacks - June 10th, 2014

In 1927, as rains swell the Mississippi, the river threatens to burst its banks and engulf everything in its path, including the tiny hamlet of Hobnob, where federal agents Ted Ingersoll and Ham Johnson arrive to investigate the disappearance of two fellow agents—and find a baby boy abandoned in the middle of a crime scene.


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Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures By Kate DiCamillo, K. G. Campbell (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Kate DiCamillo, K. G. Campbell (Illustrator)
$8.99
ISBN: 9780763687649
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Candlewick - September 13th, 2016

Available in a paperback edition! The beloved 2014 Newbery Medal winner by former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Kate DiCamillo.


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Life After Life: A Novel By Jill McCorkle Cover Image
$15.95
ISBN: 9781616203221
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Algonquin Books - November 5th, 2013

Ron Rash has a quote on the cover. It says, "Like Flannery O'Connor, McCorkle's genius is to give us both philosophical speculation and a riveting narrative filled with unforgettable characters. Great writing, poignancy, humor, wisdom-all are in abundance here. Jill McCorkle is one of the South's greatest writers; she is also one of America's." I wouldn't even attempt to say it better. I'll only add 4 things. 1: This is a beautifully woven story with characters from 12-85 that stay with you long after the reading is over. 2: I can not think of a single reader who would not appreciate this tender novel. 3: The readers who have been waiting for a new novel from McCorkle for over 17 years will not be disappointed. 4: If Ron Rash loves it, don't you think you should give it a read?


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That Is Not a Good Idea! By Mo Willems, Mo Willems (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Mo Willems, Mo Willems (Illustrator)
$19.99
ISBN: 9780062203090
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Balzer + Bray - April 23rd, 2013

My absolute favorite read aloud of 2013 so far. It's perfect for ages 4-7, but I've seen high school kids giggling over it as well. This is a cautionary tale about why one animal should never follow another animal home for dinner, with an unexpected twist. Guaranteed giggles and surprises on the last 2 pages. ...and oh yes, there is a new Gerald and Piggie book coming out May 21st! (A Big Guy Took My Ball - pre orders available now!)


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Endangered (Ape Quartet) By Eliot Schrefer Cover Image
$12.99
ISBN: 9780545165778
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Scholastic Paperbacks - January 7th, 2014

From National Book Award Finalist Eliot Schrefer comes the compelling tale of a girl who must save a group of bonobos -- and herself -- from a violent coup.

Congo is a dangerous place, even for people who are trying to do good.When Sophie has to visit her mother at her sanctuary for bonobos, she's not thrilled to be there.


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Bossypants By Tina Fey Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780316056878
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Back Bay Books - January 3rd, 2012

Tina Fey is one of the leading ladies of comedy, and rightly so. Her memoir depicts a woman who appreciates seeing the humor and the absurd in the every day. She is eloquent about what it means to be "the boss," and why it does not involve marching around saying "I am the boss! I am the boss!" the way she thought it might when she was 10. Pieces of her childhood, along with her adult life mix together into one of the most introspective, entertaining, and inspiring books of the decade. Thank goodness Fey reads the audio herself. Now I want to listen to it all over again.


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The Lighthouse Road By Peter Geye Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9781609531003
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Unbridled Books - June 4th, 2013

Against the wilds of sea and wood, a young immigrant woman settles into life outside Duluth in the 1890s, still shocked at finding herself alone in a new country, abandoned and adrift; in the early 1920s, her orphan son, now grown, falls in love with the one woman he shouldn't and uses his best skills to build them their own small ark to escape.


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The Bartender's Tale (Two Medicine Country) By Ivan Doig Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9781594631481
Availability: Backordered
Published: Riverhead Books - August 6th, 2013

A national bestseller, the story of “a boy’s last days of youth and a history his father can’t leave behind” (The Daily Beast).


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The Snow Child: A Novel By Eowyn Ivey Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9780316175661
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Back Bay Books - November 6th, 2012

In this magical debut, a couple's lives are changed forever by the arrival of a little girl, wild and secretive, on their snowy doorstep.


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The Cove: A Novel By Ron Rash Cover Image
$15.99
ISBN: 9780061804205
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Ecco - November 6th, 2012

“Set during World War One, The Cove is a novel that speaks intimately to today’s politics. Beautifully written, tough, raw, uncompromising, entirely new. Ron Rash is a writer’s writer who writes for others.”
—Colum McCann


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The Song of Achilles: A Novel By Madeline Miller Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9780062060624
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Ecco - August 28th, 2012

A New York Times Bestseller

“At once a scholar’s homage to The Iliad and startlingly original work of art….A book I could not put down.” —Ann Patchett, author of The Dutch House


If you don't know David Rakoff from appearances on NPR's This American Life, I'm sorry. You've been missing a brilliantly sarcastic storyteller. It's not too late though! David's book Don't Get Too Comfortable takes stabs at everything from "fasting for enlightenment" to the Log Cabin Republicans. Witty, hilarious, and politically poignant - I think he's a genius!


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The Art of Racing in the Rain: A Novel By Garth Stein Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780061537967
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Harper Paperbacks - May 22nd, 2018

Enzo is the charismatic narrator of The Art of Racing in the Rain. He has struggled since his puppyhood with the fact that monkeys got opposable thumbs and dogs did not. It just isn't fair. Why does the canine have a wonderful, imaginative, innovative mind, and not have the physical means to open a refrigerator door? He stays home and watches television while his owner (a down-on-his-luck racecar driver) and family are away. The Weather Channel, we learn, is not about the weather, but about the world. Unfortunately, things get very rough for the family and Enzo is there through the pains of that real world. Just the way a good dog ought to be. The best ending I've read in quite some time.


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Addition: A Novel By Toni Jordan Cover Image
$13.99
Email or call for price
ISBN: 9780061582585
Published: William Morrow Paperbacks - February 2nd, 2010

Fun and fast, with a straightforward voice, this is a nice romantic comedy with some pretty steamy love scenes. Grace is our witty heroine, suffering with undiagnosed Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Every morning begins with a trip to the coffee shop, where she sits in the same seat, has a muffin, and uses the number of poppy seeds on her muffin to determine how many bites she will take to eat the entire muffin. One morning, her table is occupied, and she is forced to sit with, look at, and talk to….Seamus. Jordan has created a wonderful exploration of both the comic and tragic life of someone living with OCD.


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Califia's Daughters: A Novel By Leigh Richards, Laurie R. King Cover Image
$7.99
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ISBN: 9780553586671
Published: Spectra - August 3rd, 2004

I read it because Laurie King used a pen name and I had to have it. Then *gasp* I liked it! Set in the not so distant future; a man-killing virus has swept across the globe. Men only make up 1/3 of the population and must be protected at all costs. Marriage is a luxury, reserved primarily for women who can afford it. In the midst of such global change, a woman named Dian sets off on a journey to change the course of a new world's history. (Think The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, without the graphic abuse scenes toward the end.)


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Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel By Jeannette Walls Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9781416586296
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Scribner - September 7th, 2010

You met Jeannette's maternal grandmother in her memoir, "The Glass Castle," but you probably wanted more. Now we have it! Jeannette published this book as a novel, but it is entirely based on the life of her strong-willed grandmother, Lily Casey Smith. This is a woman who rode 500 miles on horseback to get her first teaching job... at 15 ...all alone. It has been called "Laura Ingalls Wilder for adults," and I agree. Heartfelt, adventurous, and inspiring.


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The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel By David Wroblewski Cover Image
$22.00
ISBN: 9780061374234
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Ecco - September 8th, 2009

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is a completely engrossing novel set on the plains of Northern Wisconsin. Edgar Sawtelle is a little boy who comes into the world without a voice. But he doesn't need a voice to communicate with his dogs. The Sawtelles raise dogs, not for their withers height or by any other AKC point system. The Sawtelles are looking for something else; character, heart, and a compatibility with people. They find all of this and more in Almondine, Edgar's dog. It is epic. It is heartbreaking. It is wonderful.


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The Story Sisters: A Novel By Alice Hoffman Cover Image
$16.00
ISBN: 9780307405968
Availability: Special Order
Published: Crown - June 1st, 2010

“When they spoke to each other, they sounded like birds.” Almost identical, three stunningly beautiful sisters share an imaginary secret world and a secret language. It sounds like a charming and whimsical tale on the surface. Unfortunately, the eldest sister has created an imaginary world for her sisters, in order to escape the traumatic events of this world. Alice Hoffman delivers a coming-of-age story that drifts to the reader through a haze of dark events that shape the fate of these three sisters’ lives. One of her best.


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The Red Garden: A Novel By Alice Hoffman Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780307405975
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Crown - August 2nd, 2011

From the author of Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick The Rules of Magic comes a transfixing glimpse into a small American town where a mysterious, magical garden holds the truth behind three hundred years of passion, dark secrets, loyalty, and redemption.
 


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The History of Love: A Novel By Nicole Krauss Cover Image
$15.95
ISBN: 9780393328622
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: W. W. Norton & Company - May 17th, 2006

"Leo Gursky is trying to survive a little bit longer, tapping his radiator each evening to let his upstairs neighbor know he's still alive, drawing attention to himself at the milk counter of Starbucks. But life wasn't always like this: sixty years ago, in the Polish village where he was born, Leo fell in love and wrote a book. And although he doesn't know it, that book also survived: it crossed oceans and generations, and changed lives." Fourteen-year-old Alma was named after a character in that book. She has her hands full keeping track of her little brother Bird (who thinks he might be the Messiah) and taking copious notes in her book, How to Survive in the Wild Volume Three. But when a mysterious letter arrives in the mail she undertakes an adventure to find her namesake and save her family.


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Serena: A Novel By Ron Rash Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9780061470844
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Ecco - September 29th, 2009

George Pemberton is the ruler of his Appalachian timber empire. In 1929 he returns from a trip with a wife. The dark and lovely Serena. The mystique surrounding Serena grows around the lumberjack camp with each of her accomplishments. This is a woman who looks at a tree and accurately quotes the amount of timber it will yield; a woman who saves her husband from being mauled by a bear; a woman who hunts rattlesnakes with her trained hawk. Amazing narrative, wicked characters, thrilling plot. It is the perfect fall book.


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The Reader: A novel (Vintage International) By Bernhard Schlink Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780375707971
Availability: Backordered
Published: Vintage - March 7th, 1999

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER •  Hailed for its coiled eroticism and the moral claims it makes upon the reader, this mesmerizing novel is a story of love and secrets, horror and compassion, unfolding against the haunted landscape of postwar Germany.

"A formally beautiful, disturbing and finally morally devastating novel." —Los Angeles Times


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Beware of God: Stories By Shalom Auslander Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780743264570
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Simon & Schuster - April 3rd, 2006

I heard Auslander’s short story “Waiting for Joe” on NPR’s This American Life, and I was hooked. I needed to read more. What I found were some unexpected philosophical takes on religion, and an enourmous amount of irreverent wit. I still can’t decide if I liked the book because it was thought-provoking, or if I liked it because it made me laugh out loud. Either way, it’s edgy and fantastic.


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The Air Between Us: A Novel By Deborah Johnson Cover Image
$13.99
ISBN: 9780061255588
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Amistad - March 24th, 2009

A fast-paced story of integration, that tugs at the heart strings. Let’s say you have to drive a bleeding white man to the doors of a hospital in 1960, in the south, and you are a 10 year old black boy. Should you deliver him to the “white side” or the “black side” of the hospital? Such are the everyday dilemmas for the people of Revere, Mississippi where race is the ultimate decision maker. With fully realized characters and a wonderful sense of place, Johnson captures the spirit of the small southern town.


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Still Waters By Nigel McCrery Cover Image
$15.00
ISBN: 9780307388704
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard - July 14th, 2009

Gritty, well, yes…Look, I’m not going to lie, there is a lot of graphic, gross stuff in this book, but there is also one heck of a mystery. Our detective has a condition known as synesthesia, a condition where sensory impressions are translated into overwhelming odors and tastes. So, he tastes and smells what he hears, which makes him a fantastic detective, but a horribly troubled man.When a decomposing body is unearthed at the scene of a relatively routine car accident, Detective Lapslie begins to uncover a series of murders. We know the inner workings of the murderer’s mind, and we can see exactly how careful Detective Lapslie needs to be. The last 35 pages have you whispering, “Careful, careful.” Page. Turner.


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The Ice Queen: A Novel By Alice Hoffman Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9780316154383
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Published: Back Bay Books - January 3rd, 2006

Do not read the jacket description about this book! (It makes it sound sappy and goofy. Well, maybe it is a little bit sappy, but it is too well written to be described that way.) It is a story about decisions that change lives, but it is also heartbreakingly romantic in places. Hoffman’s novels almost always have a supernatural element to them, and this one did too, but it surprised me this time. She remains a favorite.


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Burning Bright: Stories By Ron Rash Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9780061804120
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Published: Ecco - February 1st, 2011

“A gorgeous, brutal writer.”
—Richard Price, New York Times bestselling author of Lush Life and Clockers

 


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The Painted Drum: A Novel By Louise Erdrich Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9780060515119
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Harper Perennial - January 22nd, 2019

The imagery in this novel is fantastic. I re-read several passages. Learning the history of the drum is a story within the story. It was like reading an old legend, and it was my favorite part of the book. Interesting how some horrific experiences can be so softly explained.


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Little Bird Of Heaven: A Novel By Joyce Carol Oates Cover Image
$14.99
ISBN: 9780061829840
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Published: Ecco - August 31st, 2010

"Little Bird of Heaven" by Joyce Carol Oates. I know, I know, I can't keep my mouth shut about this book, but I just don't want anyone to miss it. (September 15 release date.) The writing is simply wonderful. Every phrase, every sentence, every word is just exactly the way it should be. With the care Oates takes creating her stunning prose, I am floored by the fact that she has the time to craft rich, full characters as well. This upstate New York tale is told from the point of view of two small town children. One child is going through her parents divorce, following the accusation that her alcoholic father murdered the local temptress, Zoe Kruller. The other is Zoe's son, trying to figure out what life is like when your mother is murdered, and quite possibly by the father of the girl you are in love with. It is lyrical and poetic, without any of the stumbling blocks in tempo that normally come with such writing.


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Remarkable Creatures: A Novel By Tracy Chevalier Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9780452296725
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Penguin Books - October 26th, 2010

Remember “She sells sea shells down by the seashore?” This novel is the story of the woman behind that tongue twister, Mary Anning. In the seaside town of Lyme, just outside of London, fossils and friendships are uncovered. At a time when Jane Austin is in her heyday and the bible is seen as historical fact, fossils don’t exactly fit into fashionable society. The discovery of skeletons from extinct animals, are the cause of scientific furvor and controversy. Mary is right in the middle of it. Mary Anning’s lifelong journey with fossils began as a common way to make ends meet for her family, and gradually developed into a scientific exploration unlike anything the world had seen.


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Saints at the River: A Novel By Ron Rash Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780312424916
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Picador - July 1st, 2005

More than likely, if you have been into the store in the past few years, you know how I feel about author Ron Rash. I just discovered this 2004 novel by him, which is as magically wonderful and well-written as all the rest. Set in Appalachian South Carolina, along an untamed and wild stretch of mountainside, a young girl is lost to the raging waters of the majestic Tamassee River. This is a tale of environmentalism vs. emotional morality (which I know sounds like an oxymoron, but if you read it, you will understand) where a federally protected river holds the body of a dead 12 year old girl whose father wants her buried elsewhere. No one does "sense of place" like Rash (well, Mary Relindes-Ellis is a close second), and the rich narrative made me crave vinegar- based barbeque when I don't even like pork. The winding, and at times tumultuous tale, echoes the bends and eddies of its eerily quiet main character, the Tamassee River.


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The Turtle Warrior By Mary Ellis Cover Image
$25.00
ISBN: 9780143034520
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Penguin Books - January 25th, 2005

I read this book in 2004, and I have not read a contemporary novel that I feel so strongly about since. When I got to the ending, I wanted to start over with page 1. The narrative style is reminiscent of Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible, and there is a sense of place that only Jim Harrison can match. There are some books that capture your heart and you fall in love. This is one of them.


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Middlesex: A Novel By Jeffrey Eugenides Cover Image
$21.00
ISBN: 9780312427733
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Picador - June 5th, 2007

For those who can appreciate good literature, this is a tenderly written story, spanning three generations of a Greek American family. I especially enjoyed the rich storytelling about the history of Detroit.


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Final Exits: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of How We Die By Michael Largo Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780060817411
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: William Morrow Paperbacks - October 3rd, 2006

Every time I opened Final Exits, I learned something new and I wanted others to share in the "fun." I became particularly fond of annoying those around me by blurting out things like "Did you know that bees and wasps cause 6,000 deaths a year?" or "Look, here's a guy who specialized in killing landladies!" and "Ewww! Listen to what it says about cockroaches!" Am I the only one who finds these things fascinating?


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The Financial Lives of the Poets: A Novel By Jess Walter Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9780061916052
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Published: Harper Perennial - September 7th, 2010

Jess Walter has me roaring with "The Financial Lives of the Poets." I can not remember the last book I read that actually made me laugh out loud while reading. All you need to know is in the first chapter. Late 30s, laid off, and 6 days from losing his home, Matt Prior needs a break. He is supposed to go to the 7-11 to get milk for his sons' cereal the following morning. Instead he ends up happily smoking pot with some local college kids, and setting into motion a scheme that will either sink him or save him from the dismal situation in which he finds his life. Contemporary, witty and smart. (Sept. 22, release date)


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Rich Boy By Sharon Pomerantz Cover Image
$14.99
ISBN: 9780446563192
Availability: Special Order
Published: Twelve - July 13th, 2011

Robert Vishniak is the favored son of Oxford Circle, a working-class Jewish neighborhood in 1970s Philadelphia. Handsome and clever, Robert glides into the cloistered universities of New England, where scions of unimaginable wealth and influence stand shoulder to shoulder with scholarship paupers like himself who wash dishes for book money.


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Heroic Measures (Vintage Contemporaries) By Jill Ciment Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9780307386786
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Vintage - June 1st, 2010

We only get one weekend with this New York City couple, and it just isn't enough. On the morning of their open house, their dachsund takes ill, and a man takes a taxi hostage in the middle of rush hour traffic. They rush off to the vet, listening to the radio all the while, trying to beat the traffic back to their apartment in time for the showing. Needless to say, things get chaotic. The writing is charming and you find yourself rooting for the couple to get a good bid on their apartment, or to get their dog back in good health, or to wind up happily ever after. I can't tell you if they do, but I can tell you it's a great journey. And no, the dog doesn't die.


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The Last Child: A Novel By John Hart Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9780312642365
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Published: Minotaur Books - March 9th, 2010

Johnny will do anything to find out what happened to his twin sister Alyssa, who disappeared when they were 12. Johnny’s mother numbs her pain with drugs, while he relentlessly searches for her every single day and night. Events from this small North Carolina town’s past are slowly revealed, and they change everything. I get the feeling that John Hart wants to be as commercial as John Grisham. The only thing holding him back is that his writing in better! Fast, intriguing, and well written.


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Dead End Gene Pool: A Memoir By Wendy Burden Cover Image
$16.00
ISBN: 9781592406067
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Avery - March 1st, 2011

The great-great-great-great granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt takes a look at the decline of her wealthy blue-blooded family in this irreverent and wickedly funny memoir


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The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise By Julia Stuart Cover Image
$16.95
ISBN: 9780307476913
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Anchor - August 23rd, 2011

Brimming with charm and whimsy, this national bestseller set in the Tower of London has the transportive qualities and delightful magic of the contemporary classics Chocolat and Amélie


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Ant Farm: And Other Desperate Situations By Simon Rich Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9781400065882
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Random House Trade Paperbacks - April 3rd, 2007

Remember the bible story of Abraham taking his son Isaac up the mountain to kill him because God asked for a sacrifice? Well, if you don’t think that a conversation on the way back down the hill (when God said, “Nah, I can tell you mean it. Don’t kill him.”) is funny, then this is not the book for you. Each of these stories is about 5 pages or less, and I laughed every single time I opened it. THE perfect book to have on hand when you only have a second to read, but want the satisfaction of a beginning, middle, and end.


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The Wanderer: A Newbery Honor Award Winner By Sharon Creech, David Diaz (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Sharon Creech, David Diaz (Illustrator)
$9.99
ISBN: 9780064410328
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: HarperCollins - November 21st, 2011

The only girl on a trip from Connecticut to Ireland, Sophie is our main character. The story is told through her journal entries and the journal entries of her cousin, Cody. This book has many layers. The story of Sophie crossing the ocean is a wild ride of literal ups and downs on the waves. However, you also get a glimpse into the tough emotional things Sophie has had to deal with in her family…but no one knows that she has quite so many things on her mind. A wonderful ending to a beautiful, adventurous story. Bound to be a classic. Best for ages 9 and up.


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A Thread of Sky: A Novel By Deanna Fei Cover Image
$24.00
ISBN: 9780143118626
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Penguin Books - March 29th, 2011

This is the book for all of the women whose mothers made them read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Now it's your turn to give one to mom! Contemporary instead of historical fiction, this is a beautifully written, emotionally complex novel based on the Asian American woman's experience. To celebrate her mother's 80th birthday, Irene Shen covertly plans to take her on a trip to visit her daughter and sister in China, bringing her other 2 daughters unwillingly along. These 6 women, from 3 generations drive the novel. You want to know more and more about them, and you spend a great deal of the book hoping against hope for a resolution or bond of some kind to bring them all out of their individual sadness. A beautiful book about what it means to be family.


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Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal By Conor Grennan Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9780061930065
Availability: Special Order
Published: William Morrow Paperbacks - December 27th, 2011

“Funny, touching, tragic….A remarkable tale of corruption, child trafficking and civil war in a far away land—and one man’s extraordinary quest to reunite lost Nepalese children with their parents.”
—Neil White, author of In the Sanctuary of Outcasts


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Silver Sparrow By Tayari Jones Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781616201425
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Algonquin Books - May 8th, 2012

From the New York Times Bestselling Author of An American Marriage

“A love story . . . Full of perverse wisdom and proud joy . . . Jones’s skill for wry understatement never wavers.”
O: The Oprah Magazine

Silver Sparrow will break your heart before you even know it.


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I Don't Want to Be a Pea! By Ann Bonwill, Simon Rickerty (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Ann Bonwill, Simon Rickerty (Illustrator)
$14.99
ISBN: 9781442436145
Availability: Special Order
Published: Atheneum Books for Young Readers - January 3rd, 2012

Hugo Hippo has a great idea. He and Bella Bird should go to the fairy tale costume party dressed as the Princess and the Pea. The only problem is that Bella doesn't want to be a pea. As matter of fact, she tells Hugo that if he wants to go so badly, HE should be the pea. After a very funny back and forth, Hugo and Bella come to a surprising compromise and learn about what it means to do something for a friend. Good for 2 and up.


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Little Night: A Novel By Luanne Rice Cover Image
$16.00
ISBN: 9780143123323
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Penguin Books - June 25th, 2013

The New York Times–bestselling author’s heart-wrenching chronicle of a woman and her niece, who attempt to build the relationship they longed for all their lives


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The World Without You: A Novel (Vintage Contemporaries) By Joshua Henkin Cover Image
$20.00
ISBN: 9780307277183
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Vintage - April 9th, 2013

It's July 4, 2005, and the Frankel family is descending upon their beloved summer home in the Berkshires. They have gathered to memorialize Leo, the youngest of the four siblings and an intrepid journalist killed on that day in 2004, while on assignment in Iraq.


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The Red Garden: A Novel By Alice Hoffman Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780307405975
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Crown - August 2nd, 2011

From the author of Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick The Rules of Magic comes a transfixing glimpse into a small American town where a mysterious, magical garden holds the truth behind three hundred years of passion, dark secrets, loyalty, and redemption.