New Fiction

 

Deadline by Chris Crutcher

Given the medical diagnosis of one year to live, high school senior Ben Wolf decides to fulfill his greatest fantasies, ponders his life's purpose and legacy, and converses through dreams with a spiritual guide known as "Hey-Soos." –Summary

Every Day by David Levithan

“Every morning, A wakes in a different person’s body. There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere. It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply, Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with – day in, day out, day after day.” –Jacket.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

“Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones. Stay true to her first love – music – even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind? Then, one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it’s the only one that matters.” –Jacket.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Sequel to If I Stay

"It's been three years since Adam’s love saved Mia after the accident that annihilated life as she knew it. And three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever. Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Juilliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future – and each other." –Jacket.

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan.

“The Great Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon out of his life as a San Francisco web-design drone, and serendipity, sheer curiosity and the ability to climb a ladder like a monkey have landed him a new gig working the night shift at Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. But after just a few days on the job, Clay begins to realize that this store is even more curious than the name suggests. There are only a few customers, but they come in repeatedly and never seem to actually buy anything. Instead they 'check out' impossibly obscure volumes from strange corners of the store, all according to some elaborate, long-standing arrangement with the gnomic Mr. Penumbra. The store must be a front for something larger, Clay concludes, and soon he embarks on a complex analysis of the customers' behaviour and ropes his friends into helping him figure out just what's going on. But once they bring their findings to Mr. Penumbra, they discover that the secrets extend far beyond the walls of the bookstore.”–Cover.

Page by Paige by Laura Lee Gulledge

“When Paige’s parents move her family from Virginia to New York City, Paige doesn’t know where she fits in anymore. At first, the only thing keeping her company is her notebook, where she pours her worries and observations and experiments with her secret identity: ARTIST. With the confidence the book brings her, she starts to make friends and shake up her family’s expectations. But is she ready to become the person she draws in her notebook?” –Jacket.

Scrawl by Mark Shulman

"Tod Munn is a bully. He's tough, but times are even tougher. The wimps have stopped coughing up their lunch money. The administration is cracking down. Then to make things worse, Tod and his friends get busted doing something bad. Something really bad. Lucky Tod must spend his daily detention in a hot, empty room with Mrs. Woodrow, a no-nonsense guidance counselor. He doesn't know why he's there, but she does. Tod's punishment: to scrawl his story in a beat-up notebook. He can be painfully funny and he can be brutally honest. But can Mrs. Woodrow help Tod stop playing the bad guy before he actually turns into one . . . for real? Read Tod's notebook for yourself." –Jacket.

The Eye of the Forest by P. B. Kerr

Children of the Lamp; Book Five

"John and Philippa are off on another fantastical and gripping adventure. Their friend Dybbuk has been drained of his powers, but he is back and determined to recover them. In a fury, he's headed to an ancient Incan empire in South America where he believes he can regain his strength. Dybbuk will stop at nothing- even if it means destroying the rain forest, and disturbing the mystical and ancient empire of the Incas that has slept for hundreds of years. Can the twins stop him before he destroys everything?" –Publisher.

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

"After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day's journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season and shore leaves are granted every other year at best, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby's cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby. Tom, whose records as a lighthouse keeper are meticulous and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel has taken the tiny baby to her breast. Against Tom's judgment, they claim her as their own and name her Lucy. When she is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them."–Jacket.

The Oracle of Stamboul by Kichael David Lukas

"It is 1877, when a heartbreaking tragedy leaves Eleanora Cohen marooned in Istanbul during the last days of the Ottoman Empire. But young Eleonora, clever and engaging beyond her years, soon catches the attention of the Sultan's court.–Summary.

The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain

“In 1977, pregnant Genevieve Russell disappeared. Twenty years later, her remains are discovered and Timothy Gleason is charged with her murder. But there is no sign of the unborn child. CeeCee Wilkes knows how Genevieve Russell died, because she was there. And she also knows what happened to the missing infant, because two decades ago she made the devastating choice to raise the baby as her own. Now Timothy Gleason is facing the death penalty, and she has another choice to make. Tell the truth, and destroy her family. Or let an innocent man die in order to protect a lifetime of lies.” –Cover.

The Crimson Crown by Cinda Williams Chima

Seven Realms; Book Four

“A thousand years ago, two young lovers were betrayed – Alger Waterlow to his death, and Hanalea, Queen of the Fells, to a life without love. Now, once again, the Queendom of the Fells seems likely to shatter apart. For young queen Raisa ana’Marianna, maintaining peace even within her own castle walls is nearly impossible; tension between wizards and Clan has reached a fevered pitch. With surrounding kingdoms seeking to prey on the Fells’ inner turmoil, Raisa’s best hope is to unite her people against a common enemy. But that enemy might be the person with whom she's falling in love.”–Jacket.

The Taliban Cricket Club by Timeri Murari

When Rukhsana, a young Kabul Daily journalist, is summoned to appear before the infamous Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, her family is devastated. She is summoned as The Minister, zorak Wahidi, wishes to threaten the anti-Taliban news reporters, announce the Taliban’s intention to hold a cricket tournament, and eventually marry Rukhsana. The tournament, according to Wahidi, would give the brutal regime a cloak of respectability in the world. Rukhsana knows this is a ludicrous idea as the Taliban could never embrace cricket and hardly anyone in Afghanistan, besides herself, plays the game. This could be, however, a way to get her male cousins, her brother, and herself out of Afghanistan. Can freedom be won with a bat and a ball? –Summary.

Touch by Alexi Zentner

“In Sawgamet, a north-woods boomtown gone bust, the cold of winter breaks the glass of the schoolhouse thermometer and logging season is overshadowed by the mysteries and magic lurking in the woods. Stephen, an Anglican priest, is at home on the eve of his mother's funeral, thirty years after the mythic summer his grandfather returned to the town in search of his beloved but long-dead wife. And like his grandfather, Stephen is forced to confront the losses of his past.”–Cover.