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If You Like Nicholas Sparks...
Check out these novels for more heartwarming tales of love and loss.
For One More Day By Mitch Albom
The Smoke Jumper by Nicholas Evans
The Carousel by Richard Paul Evans
Slow Waltz in Cedar Bend by Robert James Waller
Dancing at the Harvest Moon by K.C. McKinnon
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas by James Patterson
Ticket Home by James Michael Pratt
Hawkes Cove by Susan Wilson
Sweetwater Creek
The Smoke Jumper by Nicholas Evans
The Carousel by Richard Paul Evans
Slow Waltz in Cedar Bend by Robert James Waller
Dancing at the Harvest Moon by K.C. McKinnon
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas by James Patterson
Ticket Home by James Michael Pratt
Hawkes Cove by Susan Wilson
Sweetwater Creek
NEW MATERIALS
Adult
Gun Games by Faye KellermanPeter Decker and Rina Lazarus are back in this gripping mystery involving a secret cabal of some of Los Angeles’ most wealthy—and vicious—teens
LAPD lieutenant detective Decker and his wife, Rina, have willingly welcomed fifteen-year-old Gabriel Whitman, the son of a troubled former friend, into their home. While the enigmatic teen seems to be adapting
easily, Decker knows only too well the secrets adolescents keep—witnessed by the tragic suicide of another teen, Gregory Hesse, a student at Bell and Wakefield, one of the city’s most exclusive prep schools.
Gregory’s mother, Wendy, refuses to believe her son shot himself and convinces Decker to look deeper. What he finds disturbs him. The gun used in the tragedy was stolen—evidence that propels him to launch a full investigation with his trusted team, Sergeant Marge Dunn and Detective Scott Oliver. But the case becomes darkly complicated by the suicide of another Bell and Wakefield student—a death that leads them to uncover an especially nasty group of rich and privileged students with a predilection for guns and violence. Decker thought he understood kids, yet the closer he and his team get to the truth, the clearer it becomes that he knows very little about them, including his own charge, Gabe. The son of a gangster and an absent parent, the boy has had a life filled with too much free time, too many unexplained absences, and too little adult supervision.
Before it’s over, the case and all its terrifying ramifications will take Decker and his detectives down a dark alley of twisted allegiances and unholy alliances, culminating at a heart-stopping point of no return.
LAPD lieutenant detective Decker and his wife, Rina, have willingly welcomed fifteen-year-old Gabriel Whitman, the son of a troubled former friend, into their home. While the enigmatic teen seems to be adapting
Gregory’s mother, Wendy, refuses to believe her son shot himself and convinces Decker to look deeper. What he finds disturbs him. The gun used in the tragedy was stolen—evidence that propels him to launch a full investigation with his trusted team, Sergeant Marge Dunn and Detective Scott Oliver. But the case becomes darkly complicated by the suicide of another Bell and Wakefield student—a death that leads them to uncover an especially nasty group of rich and privileged students with a predilection for guns and violence. Decker thought he understood kids, yet the closer he and his team get to the truth, the clearer it becomes that he knows very little about them, including his own charge, Gabe. The son of a gangster and an absent parent, the boy has had a life filled with too much free time, too many unexplained absences, and too little adult supervision.
Before it’s over, the case and all its terrifying ramifications will take Decker and his detectives down a dark alley of twisted allegiances and unholy alliances, culminating at a heart-stopping point of no return.
Hope, A Tragedy by Shalom Auslander
Description
The rural town of Stockton, New York, is famous for nothing: no one was born there, no one died there, nothing of any historical import at all has ever happened there, which is why Solomon Kugel, like other
urbanites fleeing their pasts and histories, decided to move his wife and young son there.
To begin again. To start anew. But it isn’t quite working out that way for Kugel…
His ailing mother stubbornly holds on to life, and won’t stop reminiscing about the Nazi concentration camps she never actually suffered through. To complicate matters further, some lunatic is burning down farmhouses just like the one Kugel bought, and when, one night, he discovers history—a living, breathing, thought-to-be-dead specimen of history—hiding upstairs in his attic, bad quickly becomes worse.
Hope: A Tragedy is a hilarious and haunting examination of the burdens and abuse of history, propelled with unstoppable rhythm and filled with existential musings and mordant wit. It is a comic and compelling story of the hopeless longing to be free of those pasts that haunt our every present.
Young Adult
Dead End In Norvelt by Jack Gantos
The winner of the 2012 Newbery Medal for the year's best contribution to children's literature and the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction!
Melding the entirely true and the wildly fictional, Dead End in Norvelt is a novel about an incredible two
"grounded for life" by his feuding parents, and whose nose spews bad blood at every little shock he gets. But plenty of excitement (and shocks) are coming Jack's way once his mom loans him out to help a fiesty old neighbor with a most unusual chore—typewriting obituaries filled with stories about the people who... founded his utopian town. As one obituary leads to another, Jack is launced on a strange adventure involving molten wax, Eleanor Roosevelt, twisted promises, a homemade airplane, Girl Scout cookies, a man on a trike, a dancing plague, voices from the past, Hells Angels . . . and possibly murder. Endlessly surprising, this sly, sharp-edged narrative is the author at his very best, making readers laugh out loud at the most unexpected things in a dead-funny depiction of growing up in a slightly off-kilter place where the past is present, the present is confusing, and the future is completely up in the air.
Reading level: Ages 10 and up
Description
Juvenile
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede (Grade 5-9)
Dealing With Dragons: Book 1
founded his utopian town. As one obituary leads to another, Jack is launced on a strange adventure involving molten wax, Eleanor Roosevelt, twisted promises, a homemade airplane, Girl Scout cookies, a man on a trike, a dancing plague, voices from the past, Hells Angels . . . and possibly murder. Endlessly surprising, this sly, sharp-edged narrative is the author at his very best, making readers laugh out loud at the most unexpected things in a dead-funny depiction of growing up in a slightly off-kilter place where the past is present, the present is confusing, and the future is completely up in the air.
Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede
Dealing With Dragons: Book 1
Searching For Dragons: Book 2
Calling On Dragons: Book 3
Talking to Dragons: Book 4
"Dealing with Dragons" introduces Princess Cimorene, youngest daughter of the king of Linderwall. Like most medieval tomboys, Cimorene is considered rough, unseemly and stubborn -- she wants to fight with swords
be housekeeper for. But when she's not sending away valiant knights, she's dealing with some very troublesome wizards...
"Searching For Dragons" picks up when the dragon Kazul goes mysteriously missing. Cimorene is, unsurprisingly, very concerned about this and wants to find her. Enter Mendanbar, a young king as unconventional as Cimorene -- not to mention in need of a wife. But even though he goes along to find Kazul, with wizards and laughter all around, he'll find that he's much more interested in Cimorene.
"Calling on Dragons" skips ahead to when Cimorene and Mendanbar are mrried, and Queen Cimorene is pregnant. All is right, right? Wrong. Magic is vanishing in the Enchanted Forest; the king's sword has been stolen. To combat the troublesome wizards, Morwen the witch teams up with Cimorene, Kazul, Telemain the
"Talking to Dragons" skips ahead even further, to when Daystar is sent off by his mom Cimorene with only a magic sword. Poor kid -- he has to help King Mendanbar escape from an evil wizard's spell, without knowing that Mendanbar is his father. He teams up with a hot-tempered firewitch, Shiara, a dragon, a lizard, and a rather annoying princess. Can Daystar clue in before all is lost?
The new four-volume release from Magic Carpet Books is a good one, with quirky cover illustrations and better quality. While the first book is the best, the following ones each have their own measure of charm. The third book is a little weak at times, and the dragons are a bit less prominent in the fourth book, but each one is still quite enjoyable.
Cimorene is a solid, likable heroine who doesn't like being a stuffy princess, and much prefers keeping house for a dragon, learning magic, and cooking cherries jubilee. Mendanbar is a good love interest, quirky and pleasant enough; Morwen and Kazul are excellent supporting characters.
So if you're a fan of fractured fairy tales, dragon politics and melting wizards, this series will be at the top of your list. Highly recommended for those who like their fantasy with a dash of comedy.
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