Story Hour. There will not be a story time this coming Tuesday. Sorry. HOWEVER, there WILL be a Birthday Party for Dr. Seuss on Tuesday March 1 hosted by our good Library Friend, Laura Murphy!
To think that you'll see it on Evans Street! What fun, make sure to be here! (There's a rumor that there will be cake?)  Peggy will look forward to hearing all about the party when she returns from an extended trip to Hawaii.


Reads Like Dan Brown. Daniel Silva, Michael Crichton, Barbara Wood, Margaret George, Katherine Neville, David Poyer, Jonathon Rabb, Clive Cussler, Nelson DeMille, Thomas Gifford, Robert Ludlum, Steve Berry, Raymond Khoury, Lincoln Child, Robert Crais, Greg Iles, Dean Koontz, James Patterson, Morris West, Frank Peretti.  



NEW MATERIALS

Adult

Crown of Dust  by Mary Volmer  

From Booklist 

Alex is running away and hiding from her past. Disguised as a young man, she stumbles across a small, crude California mining town called Motherlode. It’s the height of the gold rush, and she blends in with the ragtag crowd of men looking to strike it rich. Emaline is the strong, robust town matriarch who runs the inn, controls the booze, and, as the only woman in town, supplies some feminine company for a price. Emaline takes a shine to Alex, gives her a room at the inn, and even lets her help in the kitchen occasionally. But when Alex finds a sizable gold nugget in the local river, word spreads fast, and the changes that come to Motherlode have a costly price, including the discovery of Alex’s true identity. Volmer’s first novel is a pleasant effort. What she lacks in plot she makes up for in interesting characters and atmosphere. 

The Charming Quirks of Others  by Alexander McCall Smith 

From Booklist

The seventh entry in McCall Smith’s series featuring moral philosopher Isabel Dalhousie finds the fortysomething Edinburgh resident drawn into an investigation of three candidates vying for the headmaster position at a local boys’ school. It seems that the selection committee has received an anonymous letter alleging that one of the three candidates has engaged in behavior that would cause the school serious embarrassment. But which one? As Isabel makes discreet inquiries about the candidates’ backgrounds, she learns that her much younger lover, Jamie, is anxious to give up his bachelor pad, marry Isabel, and move in with her and their toddler son, Charlie. But Isabel suspects that Jamie is not telling her everything about his sudden desire to make a mad dash for the altar. For Isabel, no decision is straightforward; there are always complications and nuances that must be given their proper due.

The Metropolis Case  by Matthew Gallaway
From Publishers Weekly

In his ambitious debut, Gallaway jumps backward and forward in time between two cities, spiraling in on four characters connected by music: Lucien, an opera singer coming-of-age in mid-19th-century Paris; Anna, an opera singer reaching the height of her career in 1960s New York; Maria, an extraordinarily promising young singer but a difficult student; and Martin, an aging lawyer whose love of music might save his life. The ties between them are at first so tenuous that readers may wonder when, how, or if their narratives will converge. But Wagner's Tristan and Isolde touches each in some way, as does, eventually, eternal life, a device that allows Gallaway to chronicle 1860s Paris and 1960s New York through the eyes of one character. Gallaway, a former musician, gives music a literary presence, intertwining opera and punk by illuminating their shared passion and chaos.

Young Adult 

Ship Breaker  by Paolo Bacigalupi  

From School Library Journal 

Grade 7 Up—A fast-paced postapocalyptic adventure set on the American Gulf Coast. Nailer works light crew; his dirty, dangerous job is to crawl deep into the wrecks of the ancient oil tankers that line the beach, scavenging copper wire and turning it over to his crew boss. After a brutal hurricane passes over, Nailer and his friend Pima stumble upon the wreck of a luxurious clipper ship. It's filled with valuable goods—a "Lucky Strike" that could make them rich, if only they can find a safe way to cash it in. Amid the wreckage, a girl barely clings to life. If they help her, she tells them, she can show them a world of privilege that they have never known. But can they trust her? And if so, can they keep the girl safe from Nailer's drug-addicted father? Exciting and sometimes violent, this book will appeal to older fans of Scott Westerfeld's "Uglies" series (S & S) and similar action-oriented science fiction.

Across the Universe  by Beth Revis 

From School Library Journal 

Gr 10 Up-Imagine leaving everything behind in order to be with the people you love, only to be left with nothing. Amy and her parents have been cryogenically frozen to be awakened in 300 years when their spaceship reaches the planet they will colonize. Unfortunately, Amy is unfrozen 50 years too soon. Her parents are too critical to the colony to awaken early, so by the time she sees them again, she will be older than they are. The culture on the spaceship is unfamiliar and everyone Amy meets is either an emotionless drone or lives in the mental ward. But there is little time for her to grieve the loss of her former life, because someone is thawing other colonists and leaving them to die. In order to find the murderer, Amy must join forces with Elder, the teenage future leader of the ship. But all of the inhabitants onboard have been told lies, and there are secrets that even Elder doesn't know. This compelling novel is told in alternating chapters from Amy's and Elder's points of view. Amy is a contemporary character in a fish-out-of-water situation, and her grief and fear are realistically depicted. And as Elder learns the truth behind the ship, he begins to experience a coming-of-age that is convincingly written. The mystery will propel readers along, and the budding romance between Amy and Elder set against the backdrop of a dystopian society will appeal even to readers who don't enjoy science fiction. Revis's thrilling debut novel hints at more great books to come

 

Juvenile 

  

Moon Over Manifest  by Clare Vanderpool  

From School Library Journal

Gr 5-8–History and fiction marry beautifully in this lively debut novel. It's as if readers jump off the train in Manifest, KS, in 1936 with Abilene Tucker, 12, the feisty, likable, and perceptive narrator. She is there to live with Pastor Shady Howard, her father's friend, while her father works on the railroad back in Iowa. An equally important story set during World War I is artfully intertwined. Since her mother went off on her own 10 years earlier, Abilene and Gideon have been alone. Though their life together is unsettled, their bond is strong. Shady's place is shabby, but he is welcoming. The mystery about Manifest and Gideon unfolds after Abilene finds a box filled with intriguing keepsakes. It includes a letter dated 1917 to someone named Jinx from Ned Gillen that has a warning, “THE RATTLER is watching.” This starts Abilene, with the help of new friends Ruthanne and Lettie, on a search to learn the identity of the pair. The story cleverly shifts back and forth between the two eras. Abilene becomes connected to Miss Sadie, a “diviner” who slowly leads her through the story of Ned and Jinx. Though the girl is lonely, she adjusts to her new life, feeling sure that her father will come for her at summer's end. The Ku Klux Klan and its campaign against the many immigrants working in the coal mines and the deplorable conditions and exploitation of these men provide important background.

Easy Readers

A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead 

Amazon.com Review  

Product Description 

THE BEST SICK DAY EVER and the animals in the zoo feature in this striking picture book debut.

Friends come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. In Amos McGee’s case, all sorts of species, too! Every day he spends a little bit of time with each of his friends at the zoo, running races with the tortoise, keeping the shy penguin company, and even reading bedtime stories to the owl. But when Amos is too sick to make it to the zoo, his animal friends decide it’s time they returned the favor.