It is always summer in Whimsy. The humans practice their livelihoods, not only for their own needs, but for the sheer pleasure of the fair folk. Seventeen-year-old Isobel is a gifted painter who lives with her Aunt Emma and twin half sisters (half goats) March and May. She angers Rook, the autumn prince, when she paints his eyes to display the sorrow she sees in real life which he hides behind his glamour. Angered, because human emotion is seen as a weakness in the fair folk, Rook kidnaps Isobel and takes her into the fairy world to stand trial. But as they venture toward the autumnlands, they begin to fall for each other, developing a relationship that is forbidden between humans and fair folk. With both condemned to death, will it be magic or human ingenuity that saves their lives?
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When Connor’s Italian grandmother, Nonna Lucia, dies, she leaves a ring, a pilot’s wings, and a letter for Connor’s father. The letter states that Nonna Lucia’s husband was not Connor’s dad’s father! What a shock to the whole big Bianchini family! But Connor is the one who takes the initiative to try and find out who his real grandfather is. The ring holds the key, and with the help of a research librarian at the local college, Connor begins to discover some amazing information about his possible grandfather. Told in free verse, this story of family secrets makes me wonder what secrets are still hidden in my own family history, waiting to be discovered. Grace, a pregnant teen, has been locked away in an insane asylum by her father, a Massachusetts senator, in the 1800s. The horrors she suffers have killed her spirit and taken her voice. She lives as a mute until a violent episode brings forth her voice and the doctor attending to the asylum patients recognizes her intelligence and gifts in observation. Dr. Thornhollow and Grace stage her death at the asylum and Thornhollow takes her away to his new job of investigating murders in Athens, Ohio. Grace has agreed to enter his dark world, helping in the investigation of the murders, but living under cover as a mute in a “more pleasant” asylum. Always at the back of her mind is trying to find a way to protect her younger sister back home from the same fate Grace endured from their father. As Grace becomes more skilled in helping Thornhollow solve murders, she begins to take risks that will put her own life in more danger. Be forewarned, this is a rather dark mystery based on historical practices of insane asylum patients in the 1800s. In an attempt to provide the background for The Hunger Games trilogy, Collins has crafted this prequel centering around teenager Coriolanus Snow who becomes the dictator of Panem in the trilogy. Snow, whose prominent family is suffering in poverty, is ready to graduate from the Academy, hoping for a scholarship to the University, planning to regain his family’s stature and become president of Panem someday. At the same time, tributes are being selected from the 12 districts for the 10th Hunger Games and Academy seniors are selected to mentor each of the 24 competitors. Coriolanus is paired with District Twelve’s female tribute, Lucy Gray Baird, who seems weak and somewhat crazy. But Lucy Gray has a voice that makes the citizens take notice, and it isn’t long before Snow is crafting a plan that changes the nature of the Hunger Games and elevates the status of his tribute, all with the intention of making sure “snow lands on top.” But for those at the top, the fall to the bottom is a long way down. If you are a Hunger Games fan, don’t miss this companion novel. Coyote and Rodeo have traveled the country in an old school bus for five years, trying to move forward and put the past, an accident that took the lives of Coyote’s two sisters and mother, behind them. But when Coyote learns that a park in their former home town is being dug up, she has to get her dad (Rodeo) to take her home, something he has always refused to do. Coyote, her mom and sisters buried a special box of memories in that park that she desperately needs to retrieve. How can she get Rodeo to travel across the country without telling him the reason – in just a few days? Coyote, just like the animal from which she adopted her name, is a sly one and has a few tricks up her sleeve. Fortunately, the caring people they meet along the way want to help her out. Spoiler alert: Have tissues ready for the last 50 pages! School has just ended for Camino Rios and she is waiting for her father to arrive on his annual summer visit. With her mother having passed away when she was eight, she and Tia Solana, her aunt, look forward to his summer visits to the Dominican Republic. Camino is anxious to talk with him about his plans to take her to the US for college. Yahaira Rios has just said good-bye to her father who makes annual visits to the Dominican Republic for business and to see family. She and Mami (her mother) spend summers alone in their New York City apartment. While Mami works, Yahaira spends time with best friend Dre. When a plane goes down shortly after take-off killing everyone on board, Mr. Rios’ secret is revealed. As the only deaf student in her middle school, Iris feels like a fish out of water. Her only friend at school is her deaf interpreter. As a result, she often explodes and lands in the principal’s office. At home she finds solace in repairing old radios, a strange hobby for someone who can’t hear. When her science teacher introduces the class to the story of Blue 55, a whale who seems to be a loner because “his song” is at a frequency different from other whales, Iris feels a connection and comes up with the idea to create a song for Blue 55 at his frequency. But how will she get her song played where Blue 55 can hear it? And will it make a difference? Students who loved Wonder, Fish in a Tree and Counting by 7’s will be attracted to Iris’ story. Most novels about the Holocaust deal with before and during WWII. Hesse’s novel is about the aftermath for one Polish survivor, Zofia Lederman, who is being released after several months in a hospital where she was taken after being liberated from Gross-Rosen concentration camp. She wants to return home to Sosnowiec, Poland, hoping to find her younger brother, Abek, there. When Abek is not at home, a confused Zofia sets out for a displaced persons camp being run by the allies in Germany, hoping to find her brother, the only member of her family she believes has survived. While her brother is not at Foehrenwald, Zofia does make some friends who help her in her search. One day, Abek shows up at the camp. Zofia can hardly believe her good fortune. But through twists and turns, it turns out that Zofia may not be so lucky after all. Siblings Bird, Fitch and Cash are seventh graders in January 1986. Each has their quirks in this dysfunctional family: Bird (Bernadette) is quiet, smart and dreams of becoming an astronaut. Fitch, her twin, has a temper problem and loves arcade games. (Remember, this is before Xbox and cell phones.) Cash, a year older and NOT interested in school, has failed seventh grade and is on track to fail again. When science teacher, Ms. Salonga, arranges her classes into space shuttle crews to prepare for the launch of the Challenger, Bird participates whole heartedly. She even writes an essay to “win” a place in the auditorium to watch the launch of the Challenger live on TV. But when disaster happens, Bird is devastated and ready to give up on her dreams. Need a fun, light read? This one is for you. Briggs Henry, recent high school graduate, has taken a job helping “Mrs. B.” with odd repair jobs around her gorgeous Victorian home on the shores of Lake Michigan. Oddly enough, Briggs and his parents used to spend their summers in their own cottage and on their boat in South Haven, MI, until something happened to the family fortune, so he is familiar with the area. Briggs, trying to live up to his father’s expectations, is a definite people pleaser. He carts Mrs. B to doctor appointments (nothing is really wrong with her) and the paint store (trying to find just the right shade of blue.) When he realizes Mrs. B doesn’t know the people whose funerals he takes her to, he begins to understand she is “shopping around” for her own funeral plans. A little bit of romance with the girl next door, who keeps disappearing, and plenty of humor between Mrs. B. and Briggs round out this perfect summer read. |
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