Saturday, August 30, 2014

Teen pick of the Week: The Island of Excess Love

The Island of Excess Love
by Francesca Block
In The Island of Excess Love, Pen has lost her parents. She’s lost her eye. But she has fought Kronen; she has won back her fragile friends and her beloved brother. Now Pen, Hex, Ash, Ez, and Venice are living in the pink house by the sea, getting by on hard work, companionship, and dreams. Until the day a foreboding ship appears in the harbor across from their home. As soon as the ship arrives, they all start having strange visions of destruction and violence. Trance-like, they head for the ship and their new battles begin.
This companion to Love in the Time of Global Warming follows Pen as she searches for love among the ruins, this time using Virgil’s epic Aeneid as her guide. A powerful and stunning book filled with Francesca Lia Block’s beautiful language and inspiring characters.
Interested? Read an excerpt here.
Click on the title to place it on hold at the Ventress Library.
Read a great book lately? Want to recommend it as Pick of the Week? Email me!
Curious to see what other new and hot titles we've added to our collection? Check out the NEW Graphic Novel and YA Fiction boards on the Ventress Memorial Library Pinterest page

Friday, August 22, 2014

Small Fry Friday Pick of the Week: Minion

[Cover]

Minion by John David Anderson
A companion to sidekicked

Ages 8-12

Michael Morn might be a villain, but he's really not a bad guy.  When you live in New Liberty, known as the City without a Super, there are only two kinds of people:  those who turn to crime and those who suffer.  Michael and his adoptive father spend their days building boxes--special devices with mysterious abilities--which they sell to the mob at a price.  With Michael's "gift" and his dad's ingenuity, they find a way to get by.  They provide for each other.  In a city torn apart by the divide between the rich and the poor, the moral and the immoral, this is as much of a family as Michael could ever hope for.

But then a Super comes to town, a mysterious blue streak in the sky known only as the Comet, and Michael's world is thrown into disarray.  The Comet could destroy everything and Michael and his dad have built, the safe and secure life they've made for themselves.  And now Michael and his father face a choice:  to hold tight to their life or to let it unravel.


Read a great book lately? Want to recommend it as Pick of the Week? Email me!

Click on the title to place it on hold at the Ventress Memorial Library!


Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Teen Pick of the Week: Between the Spark and the Burn

Between the Spark and the Burn
by April Genevieve Turcholke
The conclusion to Between the Devil and The Deep Blue Sea, this gothic thriller romance with shades of Stephen King and Daphne du Maurier is a must-read for fans of Beautiful Creatures and Anna Dressed in Blood.
Freddie once told me that the Devil created all the fear in the world.
But then, the Devil once told me that it's easier to forgive someone for scaring you than for making you cry.
The problem with River West Redding was that he'd done both to me.

The crooked-smiling liar River West Redding, who drove into Violet's life one summer day and shook her world to pieces, is gone. Violet and Neely, River's other brother, are left to worry—until they catch a two a.m. radio program about strange events in a distant mountain town. They take off in search of River but are always a step behind, finding instead frenzied towns, witch hunts, and a wind-whipped island with the thrum of something strange and dangerous just under the surface. It isn't long before Violet begins to wonder if Neely, the one Redding brother she thought trustworthy, has been hiding a secret of his own . . .

Read a great book lately? Want to recommend it as Pick of the Week? Email me!
Curious to see what other new and hot titles we've added to our collection? Check out the NEW Graphic Novel and YA Fiction boards on the Ventress Memorial Library Pinterest page

Friday, August 15, 2014

Small Fry Pick of the Week: The adventures of Beekle


[Cover] 


Picture Book

This magical story begins on an island far away where an imaginary friend is born.  He patiently waits his turn to be chosen by a real child, but when he is overlooked time and again, he sets off on an incredible journey to the bustling city, where he finally meets his perfect match and--at long last--is given his special name: BEEKLE.



Read a great book lately? Want to recommend it as Pick of the Week? Email me!

Click on the title to place it on hold at the Ventress Memorial Library!

Friday, August 8, 2014

Small Fry Pick of the Week: Sorry You're Lost

[Cover]
Sorry You're Lost by Matt Blackstone

Middle School

When seventh grader Denny "Donuts" Murphy's mother dies, he becomes the world's biggest class clown, hiding his grief by playing pranks and seeking rock stardom.  Craving an even larger distraction, Donuts and his best friend hatch a flabbergasting candy scheme to land dates to an upcoming school dance.  But dodging teachers, bullies, candy wrappers, and the truth isn't ( entirely) a laughing matter.  It's time to stop playing the fool and find out what more Donuts is made of.

Matt Blackstone's funny and uplifting novel about friendship, loss, and healing reminds us all that life is good.  Except when it's not.  And even then . . . well, as a wise person atop a mountain sipping hot chocolate and eating gourmet candy once said, you should read the book.

Read a great book lately? Want to recommend it as Pick of the Week? Email me!

Click on the title to place it on hold at the Ventress Memorial Library!



Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Teen Pick of the Week: The Half Life of Molly Pierce

The Half-Life 
of Molly Pierce
You take it for granted. Waking up. Going to school, talking to your friends. Watching a show on television or reading a book or going out to lunch.

You take for granted going to sleep at night, getting up the next day, and remembering everything that happened to you before you closed your eyes.

You live and you remember.

Me, I live and I forget.

But now—now I am remembering. 



For all of her seventeen years, Molly feels like she’s missed bits and pieces of her life. Now, she’s figuring out why. Now, she’s remembering her own secrets. And in doing so, Molly uncovers the separate life she seems to have led…and the love that she can’t let go.

The Half Life of Molly Pierce is a suspenseful, evocative psychological mystery about uncovering the secrets of our pasts, facing the unknowns of our futures, and accepting our whole selves.




Click on the title to place it on hold at the Ventress Memorial Library.

Read a great book lately? Want to recommend it as Pick of the Week? Email me!

Curious to see what other new and hot titles we've added to our collection? Check out the NEW Graphic Novel and YA Fiction boards on the Ventress Memorial Library Pinterest page

Friday, August 1, 2014

Small Fry Pick of the Week: Saving Kabul Corner

 [Cover] Saving Kabul Corner by N.H. Senzai

Ages 8-12

A true tomboy, twelve-year-old Ariana couldn't be more different from her cousin Laila, who just arrived in California from Afghanistan.  Laila is a proper, ladylike Afghan  girl, one who can cook, sew, sing, and is well versed in her Pukhtun culture.  Ariana can't stand her.  Laila has moved into Ariana's cramped bedroom and, even worse, she is becoming close to Mariam, Ariana's friend.

When a rival Afghan grocery store opens near Ariana's family store, it reignites a decades-old feud tracing back to Afghanistan.  Like it or not, the cousins must move beyond their differences to help the families make peace before everything their parents have worked for is destroyed.

Read a great book lately? Want to recommend it as Pick of the Week? Email me!

Click on the title to place it on hold at the Ventress Memorial Library!