New Historical Fiction

	Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson  The Patriot Army was shaped and strengthened by the desperate circumstances of the Valley Forge winter. This is where Curzon the boy becomes Curzon the young man. In addition to the hardships of soldiering, he lives with the fear of discovery, for he is an escaped slave passing for free. And then there is Isabel, who is also at Valley Forge—against her will. She and Curzon have to sort out the tangled threads of their friendship while figuring out what stands between the two of them and true freedom.
	The Queen’s Daughter by Susan Coventry  Joan’s mother is Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, the most beautiful woman in the world. Her father is Henry II, the king of England. She loves them both—so what is she to do when she’s forced to choose between them? When her parents marry her off to the king of Sicily, Joan finds herself stuck with a man ten years her senior. She doesn’t love her husband, and she can’t quite forget her childhood crush, the handsome Lord Raymond. As Joan grows up, she begins to understand that her parents’ worldview is warped by their political ambitions, and hers, in turn, has been warped by theirs. Is it too late to figure out whom to trust?
	Annexed by Sharon Dogar  Everyone knows about Anne Frank and her life in the secret annex – but what about the boy, Peter, who was also trapped there with her?  What was it like to be forced into hiding with Anne Frank, first to hate her and then to find yourself falling in love with her?  To know you’re being written about in Anne’s diary, day after day?  What’s it like to start questioning your religion, wondering why simply being Jewish inspires such hatred and persecution?  Anne’s diary ends on August 4, 1944, but Peter’s story takes us on, beyond their betrayal and into the Nazi death camps.
	Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly  BROOKLYN: Andi Alpers is on the edge. She’s angry at her father for leaving, angry at her mother for not being able to cope, and heartbroken by the loss of her younger brother, Truman. And she’s about to be expelled from Brooklyn Heights’ most prestigious private school when her father intervenes. Now Andi must accompany him to Paris for winter break. PARIS: Alexandrine Paradis lived over two centuries ago. She dreamed of making her mark on the Paris stage, but a fateful encounter with a doomed prince of France cast her in a tragic role she didn’t want—and couldn’t escape. Two girls, two centuries apart. One never knowing the other. But when Andi finds Alexandrine’s diary, she recognizes something in her words and is moved to the point of obsession.
	Sphinx’s Queen by Esther Friesner  Overnight, every aspect of Nefertiti’s life has changed. She is no longer living at the royal palace as the intended bride of the crown prince. Instead, she is being chased by the prince and his soldiers for a crime she did not commit. Traveling with two of her dearest friends, including the crown prince’s brother, who helped her escape, Nefertiti takes shelter in the wild hills along the Nile’s west bank. She must rely on her own resourcefulness and skills as the fugitives fight to survive. But the need for justice gnaws at Nefertiti. She is determined to plead her case to the Pharaoh and set things right.
	Dangerous Neighbors by Beth Kephart  It is 1876, the year of the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. Katherine has lost her twin sister Anna in a tragic skating accident.  One wickedly hot September day, Katherine sets out for the exhibition grounds to cut short the haunted life she no longer wants to live.  But what she finds there changes everything.
	The Wake of the Lorelei Lee by L.A. Meyer  Jacky Faber, rich from her exploits diving for Spanish gold, has purchased the Lorelei Lee to carry passengers across the Atlantic. Believing she has been absolved of past sins against the Crown, Jacky docks in London to take on her crew, but is instead arrested and sentenced to life in the newly formed penal colony in Australia. To add insult to injury, the Lorelei Lee is confiscated to carry Jacky and more than 200 female convicts to populate New South Wales. Not one to give in to self pity, Jacky rallies her sisters to “better” their position—resulting in wild escapades, brushes with danger, and much hilarity. Will Jacky find herself a founding mother of New South Wales, Australia? Not if she has anything to do about it!
	A Golden Web by Barbara Quick  Alessandra is desperate to escape.  To escape from her stepmother, who’s locked her away for a year; to escape the cloister that awaits her and the marriage plans that have been made for her; to escape the expectations that limit her and every other girl in fourteenth-century Italy. In defiant pursuit of her dreams, Alessandra undertakes an audacious quest, her bravery equaled only by the dangers she faces. Disguised and alone in a city of spies and scholars, Alessandra will find a love she could not foresee – and an enduring fame.

New Mysteries and Thrillers

	You by Charles Benoit  You’re just a typical fifteen-year-old sophomore, an average guy named Kyle Chase. This can’t be happening to you. But then, how do you explain all the blood? How do you explain how you got here in the first place? There had to have been signs, had to have been some clues it was coming. Did you miss them, or ignore them? Maybe if you can figure out where it all went wrong, you can still make it right. Or is it already too late? Think fast, Kyle. Time’s running out. How did this happen?
	Three Black Swans by Caroline B. Cooney  Missy and her cousin Claire are best friends who finish each other’s sentences and practically read each other’s minds. It’s an eerie connection—so eerie that Missy has questions she wants to put to her parents. But she’s afraid to ask. So she decides to use a school project about scientific hoaxes to try to uncover the answers. She enlists Claire to help. As part of the project the girls perform a dramatic scene that is captured on video at school. After the video is posted on YouTube, Missy and Claire realize that they’ve opened Pandora’s box and much more than they ever imagined has come out. Not only are their identities called into question, but so is the future of everyone involved.
	Accomplice by Eirann Corrigan   Finn and Chloe have it all figured out. Their school guidance counselor has told everyone that it’s not enough to get good grades or do community service anymore – kids like that are everywhere, and colleges are bored of them. So what do you do? Chloe decides they should get attention another way. She and Finn will stage her own disappearance – and then Finn will be the one who finds and saves her. What college wouldn’t want them after that kind of attention? It seems like a good plan – until things start going very wrong.
	The Body at the Tower by Y.S. Lee  Mary Quinn is back, now a trusted member of the Agency, the all-female detective unit operating out of Miss Scrimshaw’s Academy for Girls. Her new assignment sends her into the grimy underbelly of Victorian London dressed as a poor boy, evoking her own childhood memories of fear, hunger, and constant want. As she insinuates herself into the confidence of several persons of interest, she encounters others in desperate situations and struggles to make a difference without exposing – or losing – her identity.
	The Kneebone Boy by Ellen Potter  Otto, Lucia, and Max are the Hardscrabble children. Otto, the oldest, hasn’t spoken out loud since he was eight, when the children’s mother vanished. Their father, Casper Hardscrabble, paints portraits of royal families, returning with stories of their adventures to tell his children. When he sends them to London to stay with his cousin, they make their way to their great-aunt Haddie, who lives in a life-size playhouse castle behind a real castle, once owned by the Kneebone family. Soon, the Hardscrabbles learn about the Kneebone boy, locked away in a tower in the castle because of some unnamed deformity, and decide that they must rescue him. Instead, their mission leads to the resolution of their own family mystery.

Halloween party!

 

Don’t forget the Teen Advisory Council’s Halloween party this Thursday at the library from 4 to 6!  All teens ages 12 and up are welcome, and feel free to dress up in your best costume.  We’ll have terrifying treats, ghoulish games, scary storytelling, and of course, lots of candy.  Hope to see you there!

New Science Fiction and Fantasy

	Twelfth Grade Kills by Heather Brewer  As a teenage vampire, Vlad has spent the last four years trying to handle the pressures of school while sidestepping a slayer out for his blood. Now he’s a senior, and in this final, action-packed book in the series, Vlad must confront the secrets of the past, unravel the mystery of who he really is, make decisions about his future, and face his greatest enemy. It’s a senior year that totally bites.
	Black Hole Sun by David Macinnis Gill  Young Martian mercenary Durango is playing the cards he was dealt. And it’s not a good hand. He’s lost his family. He’s lost his crew. And he’s got the scars to prove it. You don’t want to mess with Durango.
	Genius Wars by Catherine Jinks  Boy-genius Cadel Piggot has a new name (Cadel Greenaius), a new family, and a new life. No more illegal hacking, no more false identities, and most of all, no more Prosper English. But when his best friend Sonja is attacked, it’s up to him to figure out who was behind it, and before he knows it, Cadel is barrelling back into the depths of the criminal activity he thought he’d left behind, and coming face to face with Prosper English once again. Can Cadel track down Prosper before it’s too late?
	Firelight by Sophie Jordan  Marked as special at an early age, Jacinda knows her every move is watched. But she longs for freedom to make her own choices. When she breaks the most sacred tenet among her kind, she nearly pays with her life. Until a beautiful stranger saves her. A stranger who was sent to hunt those like her. For Jacinda is a draki—a descendant of dragons whose greatest defense is her secret ability to shift into human form. Now forced to flee into the mortal world, Jacinda struggles with her attraction to the hunter Will as she fights against all odds to keep her draki powers.
	I Am Number 4 by Pittacus Lore  Nine of us came here. We look like you. We talk like you. We live among you. But we are not you. We are the superheroes you worship in movies and comic books—but we are real. Our plan was to grow, and train, and become strong, and become one, and fight them. But they found us and started hunting us first. Now all of us are running.  We have lived among you without you knowing. But they know. Now three are dead.  I am Number Four. I am next…
	Immortal Beloved by Cate Tiernan  Nastasya has spent the last century living as a spoiled, drugged-out party girl. She feels nothing and cares for no one. But when she witnesses her best friend, a Dark Immortal, torture a human, she realizes something’s got to change. She seeks refuge at a rehab for wayward immortals, where she meets the gorgeous, undeniably sexy Reyn, who seems inexplicably linked to her past. Nastasya finally begins to deal with life, and even feels safe – until the night she learns that someone wants her dead.
	Paranormalcy by Kiersten White  Evie’s always thought of herself as a normal teenager, even though she works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she’s falling for a shape-shifter, and she’s the only person who can see through paranormals’ glamours. But Evie’s about to realize that she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures. So much for normal.

TRW link: Musipedia

Ever had a tune stuck in your head, but you just can’t remember the title, who sang it, or even any of the lyrics?  Rather than go insane trying to figure out where your stray song came from, try looking it up at Musipedia.  Musipedia is an online, Wikipedia-like service that helps users find song titles and artists using what they can remember of the tune.  If you’re at all musically inclined, you can choose to enter the tune by playing a Flash-based piano keyboard.  You can also whistle or hum the tune into a microphone, or even tap out a rhythm.  It’s pretty good – I tried it with several songs, including the first few notes of the worst earworm of all, Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up, and it got them all.

Yet more TRW book recommendations

	Just Listen by Sarah Dessen  When Annabel, the youngest of three beautiful sisters, has a bitter falling out with her best friend Sophie, she suddenly finds herself isolated and friendless. But then she meets Owen—a loner, passionate about music and his weekly radio show, and always determined to tell the truth. And when they develop a friendship, Annabel is not only introduced to new music but is encouraged to listen to her own inner voice. with Owen’s help, can Annabel find the courage to speak out about what exactly happened the night her friendship with Sophie came to a screeching halt?
	Heavy Metal and You by Chris Krovatin  Boy listens to lots of loud music and hangs with his friends. Boy meets girl. Boy falls dippy-happy-scared-as-hell in love with girl. Friends meet girl – and aren’t impressed. Girl meets friends – and isn’t impressed. Boy meets big dilemma. Boy plays music even louder. Big dilemma meets big, complicated resolution.
	Knuckle Sandwich by Adam Palmer  Bass player Jeremiah Springfield was born to rock. The son of a musician, Jeremiah was raised on a steady diet of his father’s classic seventies rock albums. When Jeremiah meets enigmatic singer/songwriter Matt Ripke and Liz Bennett, a beautiful and talented drummer, it’s a match made in Christian rock heaven. Soon the group is tearing up the youth group scene and making quite the name for themselves. But when they move from the small towns to a national tour, they learn quickly that fame isn’t everything. This is the break the band has been hoping for, but can they survive life in the spotlight with all its temptation and distraction?
	When the Black Girl Sings by Bil Wright   Lahni Schuler is the only black student at her private prep school. She’s also the adopted child of two loving, but white, parents who are on the road to divorce.  When Lahni and her mother attend a local church one Sunday, Lahni hears an amazing gospel choir, and her life takes an unexpected turn. It so happens that one of Lahni’s teachers, Mr. Faringhelli, has nominated her for a talent competition, and she is expected to perform a song in front of the whole school. Lahni decides to join the church choir to help her become a better singer. But what starts out as a way to practice singing becomes a place of belonging and a means for Lahni to discover her own identity.

More TRW recommendations and a video

	Jimi and Me by Jaime Adoff  After his father is murdered, Keith and his mother try desperately to pick up the pieces of their lives. But his father’s death has left them devastated—both emotionally and financially. Forced to leave Brooklyn and move in with his aunt, Keith urgently clings to every last reminder of his dad, discovering comfort in his own music and that of the late legend—and his father’s idol—Jimi Hendrix. In Jimi’s music, Keith finds solace, and brief moments of reprieve from his chaotic new life. But just as he begins to get a handle on his father’s death, he discovers the secrets of his father’s life–secrets that threaten to tear apart what’s left of his fragile family.
	Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan  Nick frequents New York’s indie rock scene nursing a broken heart and Norah is questioning all of her assumptions about the world. Though they have nothing in common except for their taste in music, their chance encounter leads to an all-night quest to find a legendary band’s secret show and ends up becoming the first date that could change both their lives.
	Born to Rock by Gordon Korman  Leo Caraway—high school senior, president of the Young Republicans club, 4.0 GPA, future Harvard student—had his entire future perfectly planned out.  When Leo discovers that his real father is a punk rock legend, he is disgusted.  But when a misunderstanding leads to Leo’s scholarship to Harvard being taken away, he hatches the crazy plan of going on tour with King Maggot for Purge’s summer revival tour, all the while secretly hoping to convince Maggot to pay for his tuition. But life on the road is even crazier than Leo ever bargained for, and before the summer is out, he will finally discover the surprising truth about his dad, his friends, and most important, himself.
	Somebody Everybody Listens To by Suzanne Supplee  Retta Lee Jones is blessed with a beautiful voice and has big dreams of leaving her tiny Tennessee hometown. With a beaten down car, a pocketful of hard-earned waitressing money, and stars in her eyes, Retta sets out to make it big in Nashville. But the road to success isn’t a smooth one in a town filled with dreamers, and Retta begins to have doubts: can she make her mark while staying true to herslf?

 
Now enjoy this video of a dancing cockatoo:
 

Teen Read Week recommendations and link

Spotlighting a few great books with beat you can check out here at NPL:

	Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway  California high school student Audrey Cuttler dumps self-involved Evan, the lead singer of a little band called The Do-Gooders. Evan writes “Audrey, Wait!,” a break-up song that’s so good it rockets up the billboard charts. And Audrey is suddenly famous!  Now rabid fans are invading her school. People is running articles about her arm-warmers. The lead singer of the Lolitas wants her as his muse. And the Internet is documenting her every move! Audrey can’t hang out with her best friend or get with her new crush without being mobbed by fans and paparazzi.  But will she ever get the chance to show the world who she really is?
	Fat Kid Rules the World – K.L. Going  Troy Billings is seventeen, 296 pounds, friendless, utterly miserable, and about to step off a New York subway platform in front of an oncoming train. Until he meets Curt MacCrae, an emaciated, semi-homeless, high school dropout guitar genius, the stuff of which Lower East Side punk rock legends are made. Never mind that Troy’s dad thinks Curt’s a drug addict and Troy’s brother thinks Troy’s the biggest (literally) loser in Manhattan. Soon, Curt’s recruited Troy as his new drummer—even though Troy can’t play the drums. Together, Curt and Troy will change the world of punk, and Troy’s own life, forever.
	The Vinyl Princess by Yvonne Prinz  Summer is here, and self-professed music geek Allie is exactly where she wants to be: working at Berkeley’s ultra-cool Bob and Bob Records. There, Allie can spend her days bantering with the street people, talking the talk with the staff, shepherding the uncool bridge-and-tunnel shoppers, all the while blissfully surrounded by music, music, music. It’s the perfect setup for her to develop her secret identity as The Vinyl Princess, author of both a brand-new zine and blog. But business at Allie’s beloved record store is becoming dangerously slow—not to mention that there have been a string of robberies in the neighborhood. At least her blog seems to be gaining interest, one vinyl junkie at a time…
	Struts and Frets by Jon Skovron  Music is in Sammy’s blood. His grandfather was a jazz musician, and Sammy’s indie rock band could be huge one day—if they don’t self-destruct first. Winning the upcoming Battle of the Bands would justify all the band’s compromises and reassure Sammy that his life’s dream could become a reality. But practices are hard to schedule when Sammy’s grandfather is sick and getting worse, his mother is too busy to help either of them, and his best friend may want to be his girlfriend. When everything in Sammy’s life seems to be headed for major catastrophe, will his music be enough to keep him together?

And now for a great link!  If you’re like me, sometimes you get stuck in a music rut and feel the need to freshen up your playlist a little bit.  If you want to find new bands to follow based on your current favorites, check out TuneGlue, a really cool music-mapping site.  Just type in your favorite band in the search bar, then click on nodes to expand your options and find new bands.

Teen Read Week and Teens’ Top Ten

It’s Teen Read Week, put on every year by the Young Adult Library Services Association.  The theme this year is “Books With Beat”.  If you’re looking for some great books to read, check out the display by the teen area, or pick up a bookmark at the front desk for suggestions of great music-themed books. Also, keep checking this space throughout the week for reading suggestions, links, and more.  And finally, don’t forget to check out this year’s Teens’ Top Ten list, voted on by YOU and your fellow teens.  Here are the winners:

1. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
2. City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
3. Heist Society by Ally Carter
4. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
5. Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
6. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
7. Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen
8. If I Stay by Gayle Forman
9. Fire by Kristin Cashore
10. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Manga Anime Club art day!

This coming Tuesday, October 19, from 4:30 to 6:00, we’re trying something new at MAC.  Come prepared with your favorite art supplies, or use the paper, colored pencils, markers, etc. that will be provided, and get ready to draw manga-style!   You can choose to create your own take on one of the submissions for club mascot, or go off in a completely new direction.  Afterwards, we’ll display copies of your artwork here at the library.

Of course, we’ll still serve snacks and  show anime as usual, so if you’re less artistically inclined, don’t hesitate to come and hang out.  We’ll be watching another episode of Ouran High School Host Club and Oh My Goddess!  Hope to see everyone there on Tuesday!