Friday, May 25, 2012

New Fiction




A Walk Across The Sun by Corban Addison
When a tsunami rages through their coastal town in India, 17-year-old Ahalya Ghai and her 15-year-old sister Sita are left orphaned and homeless. As they attempt to travel toward safety they are abducted and delivered to a Mumbai brothel, to begin new lives in the sexual slave trade. In Washington, DC, a young lawyer, Thomas Clarke, faces his own personal and professional crises. Forced to take a sabbatical, Thomas volunteers to work in India for an NGO that prosecutes human traffickers. Haunted by the tragic death of his infant daughter and estranged from his wife, Thomas soon becomes involved in an international quest for the woman he has lost and a child he has never met. Spanning three continents and two cultures, this story chronicles an unforgettable journey through the underworld of modern slavery and into the darkest and most resilient corners of the human heart. – Summary

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
Companion to Fire and sequel to Graceling
In a world where a small percentage of people have an extreme skill called a Grace, King Leck’s Grace allowed him to tell lies everyone believed. When Bitterblue became queen at ten years old, she thought her father’s murder meant the end of his violent, sociopathic influence. She was wrong. Now eighteen and believing her advisers are overprotecting her, Bitterblue begins sneaking outside the castle at night to walk the streets of her own city, disguised and alone – risking her life as well as her heart.” – Publisher

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare
The Mortal Instruments; Book Five
“The demon Lilith has been destroyed and Jace has been freed from her captivity. But when the Shadowhunters arrive to rescue him, they find only blood and broken glass. Not only is the boy Clary loves missing – but so is the boy she hates, Sebastian. No magic the Clave can summon can locate either boy, but Jace cannot stay away – not from Clary. When they meet again Clary discovers the horror Lilith’s dying magic has wrought – Jace is no longer the boy she loved. He and Sebastian are now bound to each other, and Jace has become what he most feared: a true servant of Valentine’s evil. The Clave is determined to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. Will the Shadowhunters hesitate to kill one of their own?” – Publisher

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
The Infernal Devices; Book Two
“With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister’s war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move—and that one of their own has betrayed them.” – Publisher

Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Divergent; Book Two
“Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.” – Publisher

Starters by Lissa Price
Starters; Book One
“In the future, teens rent their bodies to seniors who want to be young again. One girl discovers her renter plans to do more than party--her body will commit murder, if her mind can't stop it. Sixteen-year-old Callie lost her parents when the genocide spore wiped out everyone except those who were vaccinated first--the very young and very old. With no grandparents to claim Callie and her little brother, they go on the run, living as squatters, and fighting off unclaimed renegades who would kill for a cookie. Hope comes via Prime Destinations, run by a mysterious figure known only as The Old Man. He hires teens to rent their bodies to seniors, known as enders, who get to be young again. Callie's neurochip malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her rich renter, living in her mansion, driving her cars, even dating Blake, the grandson of a senator. It's a fairy-tale new life . . . until she uncovers the Body Bank's horrible plan.” – Product Description

The Serpent’s Shadow by Rick Riordan
The Kane Chronicles; Book Three
“When young magicians Carter and Sadie Kane learned how to follow the path of the ancient Egyptian gods, they knew they would have to play an important role in restoring Ma'at—order—to the world. What they didn't know is how chaotic the world would become. The Chaos snake Apophis is loose and threatening to destroy the earth in three days' time. The magicians are divided. The gods are disappearing, and those that remain are weak. Walt, one of Carter and Sadie's most gifted initiates, is doomed and can already feel his life force ebbing. Zia is too busy babysitting the senile sun god, Ra, to be of much help. What are a couple of teenagers and a handful of young trainees to do?” – Publisher

The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
The Tales of Beedle the Bard contains five richly diverse fairy tales, each with its own magical character, that will variously bring delight, laughter and a thrill of mortal peril. Additional notes for each story penned by Professor Albus Drumbledore will be enjoyed by Muggles and wizards alike, as the professor muses on the morals illuminated by the tales, and reveals snippets of information about life at Hogwarts.” – Publisher

The Vampire Diaries: The Return: Shadow Souls by L.J. Smith
“Elena Gilbert's love, the vampire Stefan Salvatore, has been captured and imprisoned by sprits wreaking havoc in Fell's Church. While her friends Bonnie and Meredith explore the evil that has taken over their town, Elena goes in search of Stefan. In order to find him, she entrusts her life to Stefan's brother, Damon Salvatore, a handsome but deadly vampire. Along with her childhood friend Matt, they set out for the slums of the Dark Dimension, where Stefan is being held captive. It is rumored to be a world where vampires and demons roam free, but humans must live enslaved to their supernatural masters. Elena will stop at nothing to free Stefan. Yet with each passing day the tension between Elena and Damon grows, and she is faced with a terrible decision: Which brother does she really want?” – Product Description

The Witch of Portobello by Paulo Coelho
“How do we find the courage to always be true to ourselves—even if we are unsure of who we are? That is the central question of international bestselling author Paulo Coelho's profound new work, The Witch of Portobello. It is the story of a mysterious woman named Athena, told by the many who knew her well—or hardly at all. Like The Alchemist, The Witch of Portobello is the kind of story that will transform the way readers think about love, passion, joy, and sacrifice.” – Publisher

The Zahir by Paulo Coelho
“The narrator of The Zahir is a bestselling novelist who lives in Paris and enjoys all the privileges money and celebrity bring. His wife of ten years, Esther, is a war correspondent who has disappeared along with a friend, Mikhail, who may or may not be her lover. Was Esther kidnapped, murdered, or did she simply escape a marriage that left her unfulfilled? The narrator doesn't have any answers, but he has plenty of questions of his own. Then one day Mikhail finds the narrator and promises to reunite him with his wife. In his attempt to recapture a lost love, the narrator discovers something unexpected about himself.” – Publisher

Under the Hawthorn Tree by Ai Mi
“Jingqin, an innocent young woman from poor and politically questionable family in the city, is selected as one of a small group of students to be sent to the countryside to work on a glorious new education project that will further the Cultural Revolution. Clever, curious and eager, she wants to fit in with her hosts and the rural way of life, and it isn’t appropriate for her to fall in love. But she does, with the son of a mighty army general. This beautiful, simple story of love against all odds will break your heart.” – Publisher

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
“When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum's classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil? Gregory Maguire creates a fantasy world so rich and vivid that we will never look at Oz the same way again. Wicked is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like first-class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle-class stability and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to be the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, a smart, prickly and misunderstood creature who challenges all our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil.” – Publisher