Tuesday, July 14, 2015

New children's and YA books added to NCLS!

The Accidental Afterlife of Thomas Marsden, by Emma Trevayne.

Grave robbing is a messy business.

A bad business. And for Thomas Marsden, on what was previously an unremarkable spring night in London, it becomes a very spooky business. For lying in an unmarked grave and half covered with dirt is a boy the spitting image of Thomas himself. This is only the first clue that something very strange is happening. Others follow, but it is a fortune-teller’s frightened screams that lead Thomas into a strange world of spiritualists, death, and faery folk. Faery folk with whom Thomas’s life is bizarrely linked. Faery folk who need his help.

Desperate to unearth the truth about himself and where he comes from, Thomas is about to discover magic, ritual, and the uncanny truth that sometimes the things that make a boy ordinary are what make him extraordinary.

Alive (Generations #1), by Scott Sigler.

A teenage girl awakens to find herself trapped in a coffin. She has no idea who she is, where she is, or how she got there. Fighting her way free brings little relief--she discovers only a room lined with caskets and a handful of equally mystified survivors. Beyond their room lies a corridor filled with bones and dust, but no people . . . and no answers.

She knows only one thing about herself--her name, M. Savage, which was engraved on the foot of her coffin--yet she finds herself in charge. She is not the biggest among them, or the boldest, but for some reason the others trust her. Now, if they're to have any chance, she must get them to trust each other.

Whatever the truth is, she is determined to find it and confront it. If she has to lead, she will make sure they survive. Maybe there's a way out, a rational explanation, and a fighting chance against the dangers to come. Or maybe a reality they cannot comprehend lies just beyond the next turn.

Another Kind of Hurricane, by Tamara Ellis Smith.

In this stunning debut novel, two very different characters--a black boy who loses his home in Hurricane Katrina and a white boy in Vermont who loses his best friend in a tragic accident--come together to find healing.

A hurricane, a tragic death, two boys, one marble. How they intertwine is at the heart of this beautiful, poignant book. When ten-year-old Zavion loses his home in Hurricane Katrina, he and his father are forced to flee to Baton Rouge. And when Henry, a ten-year-old boy in northern Vermont, tragically loses his best friend, Wayne, he flees to ravaged New Orleans to help with hurricane relief efforts--and to search for a marble that was in the pocket of a pair of jeans donated to the Red Cross.

Rich with imagery and crackling with hope, this is the unforgettable story of how lives connect in unexpected, even magical, ways.

Dad's First Day, by  Mike Wohnoutka.

All summer Oliver and his dad played together, laughed together, sang together, and read together.
Now it's time for Oliver to start school!

On the first day, Oliver's dad isn't quite ready...Suddenly he feels nervous. His tummy hurts, and he would rather stay home.

But Oliver isn't convinced. What if the first day is really fun? What if it's the start of an exciting year?

In this charming story of first-day jitters, acclaimed author and illustrator Mike Wohnoutka perfectly captures the mixed emotions felt by kids and their parents when big changes are afoot.


I'm with Cupid (Switched at First Kiss #1), by Anna Staniszewski.

Dared to kiss the adorkable Marcus Torelli at a party, Lena thinks it's the perfect opportunity to cross First Kiss off her list of "Things to Accomplish Before I Turn Fourteen."

It's only when she gets sent on an assignment the next day she realizes something went horribly wrong. That ZING she felt wasn't the thrill of her first kiss—she and Marcus have swapped powers!

Lena is not your average eighth grader, she's a soul collector with an serious job to do. And Marcus turns out to be a supernatural matchmaker (like Cupid, but without the diaper).

Now logical Lena finds herself with the love touch, and sweet, sentimental Marcus has death at his fingertips. The truth is that Lena should never have taken that dare...because one little kiss has Lena and Marcus in a whole lotta trouble.

The Moon is Going to Addy's House, by Ida Pearle.

After a play date in the city, Addy heads home to the country with her family. And through the long drive, the moon seems to be following them closely—Addy's faithful guardian and friend.

The comforting sense that the moon is your own personal companion is universal to childhood, and Ida Pearle has depicted it beautifully through her lyrical text and soft, sleepy cut-paper collage illustrations. This is a book that children will ask to hear every night at bedtime.

A School for Brides: A Story of Maidens, Mystery, and Matrimony, by Patrice Kindl.

The Winthrop Hopkins Female Academy of Lesser Hoo, Yorkshire, has one goal: to train its students in the feminine arts with an eye toward getting them married off. This year, there are five girls of marriageable age. There's only one problem: the school is in the middle of nowhere, and there are no men.

Set in the same English town as Keeping the Castle, and featuring a few of the same characters, here's the kind of witty tribute to the classic Regency novel that could only come from the pen of Patrice Kindl!

The Six, by Mark Alpert.

Adam's muscular dystrophy has stolen his mobility, his friends, and in a few short years, it will take his life. Virtual reality games are Adam's only escape from his wheelchair. In his alternate world, he can defeat anyone. Running, jumping, scoring touchdowns: Adam is always the hero.

Then an artificial intelligence program, Sigma, hacks into Adam's game. Created by Adam's computer-genius father, Sigma has gone rogue, threatening Adam's life—and world domination. Their one chance to stop Sigma is using technology Adam's dad developed to digitally preserve the mind of his dying son.

Along with a select group of other terminally ill teens, Adam becomes one of the Six who have forfeited their bodies to inhabit weaponized robots. But with time running short, the Six must learn to manipulate their new mechanical forms and work together to train for epic combat...before Sigma destroys humanity.

Stonewall: Breaking Out in the Fight for Gay Rights, by Ann Bausum.

In 1969 being gay in the United States was a criminal offense. It meant living a closeted life or surviving on the fringes of society. People went to jail, lost jobs, and were disowned by their families for being gay. Most doctors considered homosexuality a mental illness. There were few safe havens. The Stonewall Inn, a Mafia-run, filthy, overpriced bar in New York City's Greenwich Village, was one of them.

Police raids on gay bars happened regularly in this era. But one hot June night, when cops pounded on the door of the Stonewall, almost nothing went as planned. Tensions were high. The crowd refused to go away. Anger and frustration boiled over.

The raid became a riot. The riot became a catalyst. The catalyst triggered an explosive demand for gay rights.

Ann Bausum's riveting exploration of the Stonewall Riots and the national Gay Rights movement that followed is eye-opening, unflinching, and inspiring. 

(All descriptions from OverDrive.)

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