Webb Library Adult Book Club. Discussion of the book "The Forgotten Garden" by Kate Morton will highlight the April 6 meeting. On May 4 the book will be "Secrets of Eden" by Chris Bohjalian.

Read Alikes. The following read like Nevada Barr: Jessica Speart, Karen Kijewski, Taffy Cannon, Lise McClendon, Lee Wallingford, Tony Hillerman, Margaret Mann, Elizabeth Quinn, Dana Stabenow, Lillian Jackson Braun, Sue Grafton, Peater Bowen, C. J. Box, Sue Henry, Linda Fairstein, Deborah Crombie, Sue Henry, J. A. Jance, Elizabeth George.
 

NEW MATERIALS

Adult

Breach of Trust  by David Ellis 
From Booklist

Imagine tense confrontations over the board of education’s contract for school buses. Or white-knuckle clashes about veterans-first hiring laws. Ellis, the prosecutor who convicted former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, routinely turns these real-life dramas into compelling fiction. In his sixth novel, the Edgar winner gives us young criminal lawyer Jason Kolarich, about to settle into a career defending awful people with money. Then something horrible happens to his family. Trying to learn more, he takes a job on the governor’s staff. Now he’s surrounded by reptiles who rattle on about downstate poll numbers so they can keep the posts that let them steal the state blind. Then come the feds, who are not exactly driven by a longing for justice. There’s sex, suspense, and blood here, but it’s Ellis’ insider knowledge of this corrupt-wheels-within-corrupt-wheels world that sparks his narrative. He knows that power often goes to the wrong people because they’re the ones who want it, and he turns that knowledge into penetrating legal fiction reminiscent of George V. Higgins.

Rain Gardens  by Nigel Dunnett and Andy Clayton 
From Booklist

The demand for water is growing exponentially as supplies dwindle, so it becomes ever more critical for home gardeners, professional landscapers, construction engineers, and city planners to consider rainfall and snowfall management. Structures as small as a garden shed and hard surfaces as massive as an arena parking lot each have an environmental effect through the loss of water as uncontained runoff. Rain gardening emphasizes the capture and reuse of water within residential and commercial landscapes by using such techniques as bioretention ponds, storm-water chains, green roofs, and permeable paving. In this unique and essential resource, Dunnett and Clayden expertly and comprehensively explain the various methods of creating rain-gardening systems in clear, precise, and enthusiastic language; augment their proposals with simple line drawings and color photographs; provide a concise directory of suitable plants; and draw on inspiring case histories of successful rain-garden projects throughout the U.S and Europe.

Eyes of the Innocent  Brad Parks 
From Booklist

A house burns. Two children die. A newspaper reporter finds the house documents have disappeared from the courthouse. The investigation begins, and Parks and his hero, Newark newsman Carter Ross, show us that police and newshound procedures have much in common: knocking on doors, working the phones, staring at dusty paper until the eyes burn. Like other fictional star reporters—Gregory Mcdonald’s Fletch and Laura Lippmann’s reporter-turned-PI Tess Monaghan—Ross must rout the villains without a badge to flash or the power of officialdom. Also like them, he’s a reporter “type”; a veneer of cynicism covers a layer of mush, which in turn covers a core of titanium. The revelations involve the subprime mortgage swindle, a city councilman and his cookie, and a moneyman who knows which politicians are for sale. The novel reads like a bit of investigative journalism: told in reporter’s prose, with dollops of humor, suspense, and violence. Like his creator, Ross is aware of the pain in the things he writes about. He’s also aware that that makes for darned good reporting.

Young Adult

Subway Girl  by P. J. Converse 
Product Description

He is shy. Unassuming. Inexperienced.She is Subway Girl. Cool. Unattainable.From the moment he sees her on a Hong Kong subway, Simon is intrigued by Amy, but he doesn't have the nerve to talk to her. When he finally works up the courage, he realizes he can't. Because Amy doesn't speak Chinese, and Simon is failing English.
But somehow, Amy and Simon connect, and they find that they understand each other. Enough for Simon to admit that he is dropping out of school. Enough for Amy to confess that she is pregnant with her ex-boyfriend's baby. Amy and Simon feel lost in a world so much bigger than they are, and yet they still have each other.
In this brilliant debut by P. J. Converse, two unlikely teenagers discover that love has a language all its own.

Skate Fate  by Juan Felipe Herra  
Product Description

I wanted to roar out, touch things I had never touched. to see if it was true. was I still here was this life still here. on this side. whatever you call it dude. wanted to touch everything like van Gogh touched and smeared everything when he painted. so I wrote it and spoke it. maybe mama would hear me. cuz I could hear her. sayin' When your heart hurts, sing. wherever you go.
Lucky Z has always lived on the edge—he loved to skateboard, to drag race, to feel alive. But things have taken a turn—he's living with new foster parents and a tragic past. An accident changed everything. And only his voice will set him free.

Juvenile

How To Train your Dragon: The Heroic Misadventures of Hiccup the Pirate  by Cressida Cowell 
From School Library Journal

Grade 3-5–Young Hiccup may be the son of Stoick the Vast, chief of the Hairy Hooligans, but he isn't exactly heroic Viking material. When he and the other boys of his tribe are sent on a mission to fetch dragons to train, Hiccup comes back with the scrawniest creature ever seen. Toothless, as Hiccup names him, is also rude, lazy, and greedy, but when the tribe is faced with horrible danger, Hiccup's unorthodox dragon-training techniques prove successful and he and his unique beast become true heroes. Sprinkled throughout with funny sketches, scribbles, and ink blots, this is a goofy and exciting tale of an underdog who proves that brains can be just as important as brawn. Kids will hoot at the ridiculous names and sympathize with Hiccup's exasperation with his truly obstinate but strangely lovable dragon. A delightful read that fans of Ian Whybrow's "Little Wolf" series (Carolrhoda) will particularly enjoy.

Easy Readers

When I Grow Up  by Al Yankovic 
From School Library Journal

Grade 1–3—Eight-year-old Billy has an active imagination and a host of interests. So, when it's time for show-and-tell, he can barely contain himself as he describes, nonstop, what he'd like to be when he grows up. His career choices include chef, snail trainer, lathe operator, gorilla masseuse, an artist whose preferred medium is chocolate mousse, sumo wrestler, pickle inspector...and on and on. Mrs. Krupp's attempts to call "time up" are unsuccessful. He's just getting started. Billy is still pondering vocational choices at lunchtime when he comes up with one more possibility—a great teacher like Mrs. Krupp. The story has a nice premise, but it doesn't quite live up to its potential. In addition, the rhyming text can be distracting. Well-done, realistic and colorful watercolor and ink illustrations accompany the story, but overall this book is a supplemental purchase.

Dirty Joe, the Pirate: A True Story by Bill Harvey 
From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2—This book has everything to attract kids and tickle their funny bones—pirates, smelly socks, and, best of all, undies! In rollicking rhyme, Harley tells of a "cruel and evil man" who sails the seven seas with his crew, stealing dirty socks to hang proudly on the ship's rigging. But Dirty Joe meets his match when he comes upon Stinky Annie and her all-female crew, buccaneers who specialize in pilfering and displaying undergarments: "Boxers big and boxers small, with stripes and polka dots,/And tighty-whities hung there too, like the ones your grandpa's got." After a battle fought with swords, toasters, tennis rackets, and whatever else comes to hand, the barefoot women prevail and, in a heartfelt and humorous moment, Joe and Annie discover that they are siblings. That doesn't stop Annie from taking Joe's drawers, leading to a last-page bemoaning of the fact that older sisters hold a lifelong upper hand. Davis's balloon-headed, goofy characters are just right for the tale. The chaotic full-color pictures are jam-packed with pirates and dirty laundry. The crews, dressed in a hilarious mishmash of styles, will have readers poring over the pages to spot amusing details. Even kids who aren't pirate fans will be wooed and wowed by this rib-tickling tale.


On the Go With Pirate Pete and Pirate Joe  by Ann Edwards Cannon 
From School Library Journal

Grade 2-3-Three lightly amusing, easy-to-read short stories introduce two pirates with "stinky feet." In the first selection, readers are told where the buccaneers live; that they are not very ferocious, even when hungry; and that they have a cat, Studley, and a dog, Dudley. In the second tale, they realize that they don't have a ship. Unfortunately, after they find one for sale, they discover that they are afraid of the water and buy the captain's van instead, with "PIRATES 'R' US" on the front. In the last story, they convince themselves that they need a parrot. At the pet shop, one bird sings opera, another speaks three languages, but it is Bucko that wins their heart because he only says, "Yo ho!" Smith's cartoonlike color illustrations complement the zany adventures, and the compact text has just enough repetition for beginning readers, who will enjoy these charming protagonists.