Fictional Character Contest Winner! Jean Moore correctly identified Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum as our fictional character. Congratulations!

Reads like Janet Evanovich.  If you like books featuring strong, sassy female leads, offbeat characters, bounty hunters, romance, and a hint of humor then try these authors: Linda Barnes, Jan Burke, Meg Cabot, Deborah Coontz, Carl Hiaasen, Sophie Littlefield, Lisa Lutz, Nancy Martin, Sarah Strohmeyer, Elaine Viets,

Entry Display. Browse the entry display and pick up a book dealing with Martin Luther King, Jr.
 

NEW MATERIALS

Adult

The Hunter  by John Lescroart 
Book Description 
New York Times bestseller John Lescroart delivers a dark, intimate thriller about the price we put on family and the terrible costs of seeking the truth.

Raised by loving adoptive parents, San Francisco private investigator Wyatt Hunt never had an interest in finding his birth family-until he gets a chilling text message from an unknown number: "How did ur mother die?"

The answer is murder, and urged on by curiosity and the mysterious texter, Hunt takes on a case he never knew existed, one that has lain unsolved for decades. His family's dark past unfurls in dead ends. Child Protective Services, who suspected but could never prove that Hunt was being neglected, is uninformed; his birth father, twice tried but never convicted of the murder, is in hiding; Evie, his mother's drug-addicted religious fanatic of a friend, is untraceable. And who is the texter, and how are they connected to Hunt?
Yet in the present, time is running out. The texter, who insists the killer is out there, refuses to be identified. The cat-and-mouse game leads Hunt across the country and eventually to places far more exotic-and far more dangerous. As the chase escalates, so does the threat, for the killer has a secret that can only be trusted to the grave. Thriller master John Lescroart weaves a shocking, suspenseful tale about the skeletons inside family closets . . . and the mortal danger outside the front door.

1222: A Hanne Wilhelmsen Novel  by Anne Holt 
Book Description
From Norway’s bestselling female crime writer comes a suspenseful locked-room mystery set in an isolated hotel in Norway, where guests stranded during a monumental snowstorm start turning up dead.

A TRAIN ON ITS WAY to the northern reaches of Norway derails during a massive blizzard, 1,222 meters above sea level. The passengers abandon the train for a nearby hotel, centuries-old and practically empty, except for the staff. With plenty of food and shelter from the storm, the passengers think they are safe, until one of them is found dead the next morning.
With no sign of rescue, and the storm continuing to rage, retired police inspector Hanne Wilhelmsen is asked to investigate. Paralysed by a bullet lodged in her spine, Hanne has no desire to get involved. But she is slowly coaxed back into her old habits as her curiosity and natural talent for observation force her to take an interest in the passengers and their secrets. When another body turns up, Hanne realizes that time is running out, and she must act fast before panic takes over. Complicating things is the presence of a mysterious guest, who had travelled in a private rail car at the end of the train and was evacuated first to the top floor of the hotel. No one knows who the guest is, or why armed guards are needed, but it is making everyone uneasy. Hanne has her suspicions, but she keeps them to herself.
Trapped in her wheelchair, trapped by the storm, and now trapped with a killer, Hanne must fit the pieces of the puzzle together before the killer strikes again.

Young Adult

The Host  by Stephenie Meyer
Book Description

In the future Earth has been taken over by a unique alien species. The infiltration was slow and undetected until it was too late. Now these aliens, known as Souls, live inside human bodies, which act as hosts for the invading parasites. Usually when a Soul is placed in a new host it is able to take full control of the body, pushing aside any remnant of the human consciousness that once lived inside.

Juvenile

Seriously, Norman  by Chris Raschke 
Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Caldecott Medalist Chris Raschka makes his dazzling debut as a fiction writer
Now that the whole thing is over (and we all survived!), I can tell you what happened.
Picture this for a second. Rock wall six inches on my left. Sheer cliff hundreds of feet down on my right, my best friend Norman in front of me, mumbling something, and my mom behind me saying, "Step, step, step."
EEEEEEYAAAAAH! Next time my mom bugs me about sitting in front of the computer too much, I'm going to say, "Thanks, I prefer it where the near-death experiences are virtual!"
No, seriously, this story is about Norman and about how he grows and learns stuff. Uses his imagination. Observes things. Like his dad, who is so devoted to . . . money! Like how his dad is mixed up with weird creeps of the underworld. All over the world!
Why, why are grown-ups so insane?
That's exactly the question that Norman, Anna and Emma (the twins), and I, Leonard, try to answer. And with the help of Norman's new tutor, Balthazar Birdsong (also fairly nuts), we nearly do it, too.

Picture Books

Red Sled  by Lita Judge
Caldecott Contender, November 1, 2011

By 

Sterling Librarian (Greater Chicago)

Red Sled may be almost wordless, but it's full of heart and soul. This is a new kind of book for Judge, who is well known for her picture book biographies and nonfiction science. And it seems to be the book she was born to create. The joyous exuberance of the animals is impossible to deny as they whiz through a winter wonderland on a borrowed red sled. Perfect for sharing with your favorite child and a steaming cup of cocoa, this book is bound to become a classic.

Making A Friend  by Alison McGhee 
Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up 

Clean, cold, white snow! Snow for sledding. Snow for catching on your tongue. Snow for making a SNOWMAN! Is there anything as wonderful as SNOW? Is there any better friend than a SNOWMAN? Snow isn’t forever, though. The wind shifts, the weather warms and snow melts into spring. The Snowman has become something else—the fog, the rain. But, how can this boy forget his good friend? He doesn’t…and he doesn’t have to.

Bestselling author, Alison McGhee reminds us all that nothing that has been cared for can ever disappear for good, for, “What you love will always be with you.” And, this tender story about the power of friendship will stay with readers long after they turn the last page.