New Book Alert!!!!!

NEW BOOK ALERT!! NEW BOOK ALERT!!

Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters by Natalie Standiford

          On Christmas Day, the scion of the Sullivan family, Almighty, announces one of her grandchildren has offended her. Unless she receives a proper confession by New Year’s Day, Norrie, Jane, Sassy, their brothers, and their parents will be ripped from Almighty’s will and left destitute. Oh dear. So begins a cleverly plotted romp divided into three parts—the confession letters of each sister. Bunched together in age—18, 16, and 15—the girls have much in common, including a cheerful disdain for their parents, a healthy fear of Almighty, and the uneasy knowledge that their life of privilege isn’t how the rest of the world lives. The letters themselves are both thoughtful and funny, and if the voices of the three sisters sometimes sound alike, their confessions amply show the reasons Almighty might be angry, as one sister skips out on her cotillion to follow her heart, another blogs about her family’s evil road to power, and the third regrets killing Almighty’s fifth husband. A step above most books about rich girls, their boys, and their toys in both style and substance.

Grades 7-10.

The Kneebone Boy by Ellen Potter

          Hilarious and heartbreaking, wild and down-to-earth, this story of dark family secrets starts off with all the conventional quest clichés. Since the three Hardscrabble kids’ mother mysteriously disappeared five years earlier, Dad will not talk about her, and the eldest, Otto, now 13, only communicates through sign language. After the kids get a hint that Mama may still be alive, they take off to find her, first in London and then in a small seaside town, where they search through a castle with dungeons, dragons, and secret passageways and try to save a young sultan held prisoner in a wild forest. Even fantasy fans may tire of the contrivances, but Potter keeps this genre adventure moving briskly, and the very end brings a huge surprise that Dad’s been in on all along. The combination of fantasy and realism makes a compelling story, and young people will relate easily to the characters’ struggles. As the author tells the reader, “All great adventures have moments that are really crap.” Grades 5-8

The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey

Will Henry, assistant to monstrumologist Pellinore Warthrop, finds a woman at his doorstep who seeks Warthrop's help in recovering her missing husband. He vanished while in search of a mythical creature known as the Wendigo, a vampirelike monster whose hunger for human flesh is insatiable. Will Henry and Warthrop travel to Canada to find Jack Fiddler, a Native shaman who was the last person to see Chanler alive. While he puts forward a supernatural scenario for Chanler's disappearance, Warthrop is convinced that there is a rational scientific explanation for everything, even when faced with seemingly incontrovertible evidence to the contrary. His stubborn commitment to the rational is challenged by his own mentor, Dr. von Helrung, who is about to propose that the Monstrumology Society accept mythological monsters as real. Refusing to accept what Chanler has become, Warthrop ends up endangering not only himself and Will but also the only woman he has ever loved. The style is reminiscent of older classic horror novels, such as Bram Stoker's Dracula, mixed with the storytelling sensibilities of Dickens. The ever-present, explicitly detailed, over-the-top, disgusting gore, however, is very much a product of modern times. Grade 9 and up.

Denim Diaries 5: Raising Kane by Darrien Lee

Fifteen-year-old Kane Alexander is growing up in a single parent home with her father and two younger brothers after her mother is put in a mental hospital. Her father is forced to take on two jobs to support his family, and the responsibility of caring for the younger siblings is placed on Kane. She loves her family, but can't help but feel like she's missing out on life as a teenager. When Kane shares her feelings with her father. He has no sympathy; telling her that she should put family ahead of her social life. Stunned by his reaction, Kane decides to run away; however, she doesn't make it far. Instead, she ends up on the front porch of her new neighbors, who don't hesitate to take her in. Will Kane and her father be able to work out their differences? Grades 9 and up.

The Outside of a Horse by Ginny Rorby
 Hannah, 13, has always loved watching horse races on television with her father, but when she begins to help out at a local riding stable, she discovers how much more she enjoys working with real animals, especially those who have suffered abuse. She particularly loves a filly named Rega, the offspring of a Premarin mare (a pregnant horse from which urine is collected to make pharmaceuticals). When her dad returns from Iraq as an amputee suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, Hannah's work at the stable not only helps her cope with the problems at home, but also leads her to equine-assisted psychotherapy and riding therapy for her troubled father. Things improve, but Hannah will need all her strength to make a difficult decision when Rega suffers a terrible injury.Grade 6-9

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