Fiction
Adventure
TheCat’s TableBR 19469
byMichaelOndaatje
2 volumes
1954. Eleven-year-old Michael sails from Ceylon to Great Britain to rejoin his mother. During the three-week voyage he befriends two other boys, and together they have adventures that lead to insights about adulthood, love, and betrayal. Some strong language. Bestseller. 2011.
AConspiracy of KingsBR 19165
byMegan WhalenTurner
2 volumes
Reluctant heir to the throne Sophos is kidnapped, becomes a slave, escapes, then finally accepts his destiny. He tries to save his country from being destroyed by rebellion and exploited by the conniving Mede empire. Companion to The King of Attolia (BR 16604). For junior and senior high readers. 2010.
Everwild: Skinjacker Trilogy, Book 2BR 18943
byNealShusterman
3 volumes
Nick the Chocolate Ogre tries to release all the children in Everlost from their state of afterlife limbo. Meanwhile Mikey and Allie join a band of skinjackers and place themselves in danger by visiting the world of the living. Sequel to Everlost (BR 17117). For senior high readers. 2009.
FragmentBR 18538
byWarrenFahy
3 volumes
When scientists and crew for the reality television show SeaLife respond to a distress signal near Henders Island, they are unprepared for what they find. They encounter monstrous, bizarre vegetation and creatures, and struggle to survive while viewers back home witness their violent slaughter. Violence and strong language. 2009.
How to Be BadBR 18253
by E. Lockhartand others
2 volumes
Florida teenage girls Mel, Jesse, and Vicks leave their summer jobs and head to Miami for the weekend to visit Vicks’s boyfriend Brady at college. The three weather adventures including hurricanes and arguments about family problems but manage to remain friends. Some strong language. For senior high readers. 2008.
Miles to Go: The Second Journal of The WalkBR 19429
byRichard PaulEvans
2 volumes
Alan Christoffersen, who began a cross-country trek after losing everything in The Walk (BR 19058), is recuperating from a near-fatal mugging in Spokane, Washington, with help from a stranger named Angel. Alan in turn helps Angel heal from her emotional wounds before he heads on to Mount Rushmore. 2011.
Mississippi Jack: Being an Account of the Further Waterborne Adventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman, Fine Lady, and the Lily of the West; a Bloody Jack AdventureBR 18066
by L.A. Meyer
4 volumes
1806. Jacky Faber heads west to escape British charges of piracy. She turns a Mississippi keelboat into a casino-showboat and heads for New Orleans, with her beloved Jaimy following in her wake. Sequel to In the Belly of the Bloodhound (BR 17126). For junior and senior high readers. 2007.
Pirate LatitudesBR 18634
byMichaelCrichton
2 volumes
Jamaica, 1665. Captain Charles Hunter of the Cassandra assembles a motley crew to infiltrate the Spanish fortress on Matanceros island and steal its gold. An adventurous, bloody raid ensues against the outpost’s garrison and its savage commander, Cazalla. Violence and some descriptions of sex. Bestseller. 2009.
RevolverBR 19076
byMarcusSedgwick
1 volume
Scandinavian Arctic, 1910. After fourteen-year-old Sig Andersson’s father Einar dies, a stranger arrives demanding that Sig and his sister return gold Einar allegedly stole during the Alaska Gold Rush a decade ago. Sig struggles with the dilemma of using Einar’s hidden revolver. Violence. For senior high and older readers. 2009.
Sahara: A Dirk Pitt AdventureBR 19155
byCliveCussler
5 volumes
West Africa. Dirk Pitt seeks the origin of a red tide threatening global oxygen supplies. As Pitt and sidekick Al Giordino track pollutants, they suffer enslavement in a coal mine, rescue a woman from cannibalistic nomads, discover a hazardous-waste disposal plant, and find a long-missing pilot’s body. Some violence. 1992.
Slumdog MillionaireBR 18105
byVikasSwarup
3 volumes
Mumbai, India. Uneducated waiter Ram Mohammad Thomas wins a billion rupees on a quiz show but is accused of cheating and thrown into jail. In flashback-accounts to his lawyer, Ram explains his past adventures supplied him the winning answers. Strong language, some violence, and some descriptions of sex. Bestseller. 2005.
TheWake of the Lorelei Lee: Being an Account of the Adventures of Jacky Faber on Her Way to Botany BayBR 19312
byL.A. Meyer
4 volumes
1807. Jacky Faber purchases the brigantine Lorelei Lee and then docks in London, believing that her past sins against the crown have been absolved. Instead, Jacky is arrested and sent to an Australian penal colony. Sequel to Rapture of the Deep (BR 18900). For junior and senior high readers. 2010.
TheWalkBR 19058
byRichard PaulEvans
2 volumes
Seattle advertising executive Alan Christoffersen has everything—until his beloved wife dies, his business partner steals their clients, and his house is repossessed. Alan decides to walk across America to Key West, Florida, in search of new meaning while keeping a journal and befriending people along the way. 2010.
Blindness and Physical Handicaps
Alive DayBR 18545
byTomSullivan
2 volumes
Blind psychiatrist Brenden McCarthy treats marine corporal Antwone Carver, an Iraq War veteran who is paralyzed from the waist down. Antwone struggles with his disability but finds inspiration with the help of therapy, medication, and Brenden’s lovable guide dog, Nelson. Sequel to Together (BR 17900). 2009.
Five Flavors of DumbBR 19295
byAntonyJohn
2 volumes
Eighteen-year-old Piper, who is deaf, volunteers as a manager for a rock band called Dumb. While trying to make Dumb profitable, Piper learns a few things about music and business—and about herself. For senior high readers. Schneider Award. 2010.
Flowers for AlgernonBR 18365
byDanielKeyes
2 volumes
Charlie Gordon, a thirty-two-year-old with an IQ of 68, keeps progress reports for the doctors who artificially increase his intelligence through surgery. Charlie quickly becomes a
genius but the sudden death of Algernon, the lab mouse who preceded him in the experiment, bodes ill for Charlie’s future. Nebula Award. 1966.
TheRunning DreamBR 19489
byWendelinVan Draanen
2 volumes
After a school-bus accident, sixteen- year-old Jessica has her right leg amputated below the knee and is convinced she will never run again. But prosthetics, a new friend with cerebral palsy, and the support of her track team help Jessica find a way forward. Some strong language. For junior and senior high readers. Schneider Award. 2011.
Together: A Novel of Shared VisionBR 17900
byTomSullivan
2 volumes
Colorado. Twenty-five-year-old Brenden McCarthy is a first-year medical resident and an avid mountain climber until a climbing accident blinds him. Now Brenden’s widowed mother wants to care for him and his fiancée considers leaving him, while Brenden enters rehabilitation and gets a guide dog—thrice-rejected black Labrador Nelson. 2008.
Classics
Crime and PunishmentBR 18145
byFyodorDostoevsky
6 volumes
An impoverished student, Raskolnikov, convinces himself that he is above the law and murders an elderly pawnbroker. But his subsequent guilt is overwhelming. Acclaimed 1992 translation into English by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky from the 1866 Russian original. Some violence. 1993.
TheMaster and MargaritaBR 19148
byMikhailBulgakov
5 volumes
Satire of Soviet society. Satan and his cronies wreak havoc in 1930s Moscow. The Master, who is writing a tale about Pontius Pilate, is confined to a psychiatric clinic, while his beloved Margarita flies naked in the night sky. Notes and 1997 translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. 1940.
Family
Big GirlBR 18826
byDanielleSteel
3 volumes
Growing up in L.A. was hard for Victoria Dawson: her parents constantly tormented her about her size. But Victoria escapes and takes a teaching job in New York City, where she learns to accept herself. Strong language and some descriptions of sex. Bestseller. 2010.
ABlue and Gray ChristmasBR 18817
byJoanMedlicott
2 volumes
When a historic restoration crew
unearths a rusty box, friends Grace, Amelia, and Hannah discover it contains the diaries and letters of two soldiers—one Southern and one Northern —chronicling the Civil War era in Covington, North Carolina. The women track down the men’s descendants and arrange a reunion. 2009.
The Deep Blue Sea for Beginners BR 18941
byLuanneRice
2 volumes
In this sequel to The Geometry of Sisters (BR 18646), sixteen-year-old Pell visits Capri to reconcile with her mother, whose depression led her to abandon the family a decade ago. Also on Capri is nineteen-year-old recovering addict Rafe, who tries to move beyond his past. Strong language. 2009.
Dreams That Won’t Let Go: Jubilant Soul, Book 3BR 19067
byStacy HawkinsAdams
2 volumes
Jubilant, Texas. Indigo Burns is planning her wedding when her long-lost brother Reuben returns and claims their parents’ total attention. But Reuben has a secret reason for moving back home with his blind wife and son, and with the help of God the family will reconnect. 2010.
TheFamily ManBR 18653
byElinorLipman
3 volumes
After twenty-four years, gay New Yorker Henry Archer reunites with his ex-wife Denise and stepdaughter Thalia when Denise’s husband dies. Thalia moves in with Henry and he
becomes her attorney. While Denise battles her stepsons’ efforts to evict her, she introduces Henry to his new lover. 2009.
Gardenias for Breakfast BR 18607
byRobin JonesGunn
2 volumes
Abby and her twelve-year-old daughter Hannah travel from Hawaii across the country to visit their relatives, including Abby’s estranged mother and beloved grandmother. Abby is
surprised that Hannah has a preference for Abby’s once-difficult mother and vows, with God’s help, to make amends. 2005.
TheGeometry of SistersBR 18646
byLuanneRice
3 volumes
After the drowning of her husband and disappearance of her older daughter, Maura moves her other two children, daughter Beck and son Travis, from Columbus, Ohio, to Newport, Rhode Island, where both Maura’s long-ago summer lover and estranged sister live. Some descriptions of sex. 2009.
Good Hope Road BR 18684
by Lisa Wingate
3 volumes
After a tornado destroys all but one building in the tiny town of Poetry, Missouri, twenty-one-year-old Jenilee Lane rescues her elderly neighbor Eudora Gibson and helps the other survivors. Jenilee tries to reconcile with her estranged family and Mrs. Gibson attempts to let go of the past. 2003.
AGood WomanBR 18245
byDanielleSteel
2 volumes
Wealthy, nineteen-year-old Annabelle Worthington of Manhattan, who loses her father on the Titanic, ma ries older banker Josiah Millbank. After a scandalous divorce, Annabelle moves to France to study medicine—but her past catches up with her. Some violence and some descriptions of sex. Commercial audiobook. 2008.
AHappy MarriageBR 18928
byRafaelYglesias
3 volumes
In this autobiographical novel, twenty-one-year-old published novelist Enrique is immediately attracted to Margaret when they meet. Details of their awkward early courtship and snapshots of their marriage alternate with descriptions of Enrique helping Margaret as she dies of cancer thirty years later. Strong language and explicit descriptions of sex. 2009.
Heart and Soul BR 18107
byMaeveBinchy
4 volumes
While her philandering husband wants a divorce and her immature adult daughters still live at home, Dublin cardiologist Clara Casey opens and runs an underfunded heart clinic at St. Brigid’s hospital. Clara assembles a compassionate staff, ultimately realizing their efforts are making a difference and people can change. Bestseller. 2008.
His First Wife BR 18272
byGraceOctavia
2 volumes
Raised in affluence in an elite African American community in Atlanta, expectant mother Kerry Jackson discovers that her husband of ten years is having an affair. Despite their different backgrounds and family issues, however, Kerry’s husband Jamison still loves her and wants to preserve their marriage. Strong language. 2008.
TheHouse of DjinnBR 18083
bySuzanne FisherStaples
2 volumes
Dismayed fifteen-year-old Californian Jameel learns that he has been designated head of the family in Lahore, Pakistan—and that a marriage with his cousin Mumtaz has been arranged.
A “djinni,” or spirit, helps him decide between cultures. Sequel to Haveli (BR 10586). For junior and senior high readers. 2008.
If I StayBR 18565
byGayleForman
2 volumes
Cellist and Juilliard hopeful Mia clings to life after a car accident kills her family. While observing herself during an out-of-body experience, Mia flashes through her past to determine whether to fight for survival or die. Some strong language. For junior and senior high readers. 2009.
If Only You Knew: A Hotlanta Novel BR 18061
byDenene Millner andMitziMiller
2 volumes
Atlanta. Twins Sydney and Lauren run into trouble when Sydney makes secret visits to their biological father in jail and Lauren falls in love with a boy from the wrong side of town. And their wealthy stepfather may be involved in murder. Some strong language. For senior high readers. 2008.
Jerk, California BR 18379
byJonathanFriesen
2 volumes
Isolated at school and tormented by his stepdad, Minnesota high school senior Sam Carrier feels defined by his Tourette syndrome. But long-distance running, his deceased father’s friend George, a girl named Naomi, and a road trip to Jerk, California, change his perspective. Some strong language. For senior high readers. Schneider Family Book Award. 2008.
KendraBR 18282
byCoeBooth
2 volumes
Fourteen-year-old Kendra, raised by her strict grandmother while her mother Renée attends college, expects to be reunited with her mom after Renée graduates. But Renée rejects her and Kendra turns to a boy for affection. Some strong language and some descriptions of sex. For senior high readers. 2008.
LegacyBR 19225
byDanielleSteel
2 volumes
After Brigitte Nicholson loses both her job and her boyfriend, she helps her mother research their family’s genealogy. Brigitte discovers that a Native American, Wachiwi, married Brigitte’s French ancestor, the marquis de Margerac. Brigitte travels to Paris, where she meets historian Marc Henri. Some strong language. 2010.
Little Wing BR 18341
byJoanneHorniman
1 volume
Australia. Emily, a young mother, struggles to find a way out of postpartum depression and leaves her baby, Mahalia. Along her emotional journey she meets Martin and his son, whose relationship reminds her of what she left behind. Companion to Mahalia (BR 15232). For junior and senior high readers. 2006.
Minding Frankie BR 19210
byMaeveBinchy
3 volumes
Dublin. Alcoholic clerk Noel Lynch becomes a single father when his lover Stella dies after giving birth to their daughter Frankie. Noel’s parents, neighbors, and his American cousin Emily band together to help raise the baby. Meanwhile, social worker Moira hounds Noel as he struggles to stay sober. Bestseller. 2010.
Promises of Change: The Ladies of Covington BR 18366
byJoanMedlicott
3 volumes
The women of Covington face challenges in their routines after Hannah’s volatile stepson Zachary unexpectedly returns from India with a pregnant wife. Meanwhile Grace helps Randy Banks, a traumatized veteran who has come back from Iraq, and Amelia fears her stepdaughter and grandchild may leave the area. 2009.
TheReturningBR 18320
byAnnTatlock
2 volumes
Andrea Sheldon awaits her husband John’s return from a five-year prison sentence for vehicular homicide. Their son with Down syndrome welcomes John, who is now religious, but their two daughters reject him. Over the summer, the family members adjust to new roles amid personal turmoil. 2009.
Salvage the BonesBR 19453
byJesmynWard
2 volumes
Mississippi, August 2005. Young black teenager Esch Batiste—pregnant, hungry, and rejected—helps her widowed father and three brothers prepare for the approaching hurricane. When the storm arives, the family seeks refuge in the attic. Violence, strong language, and some explicit
descriptions of sex. National Book Award. 2011.
Sleeping Arrangements BR 18168
byMadeleineWickham
2 volumes
British Chloe looks forward to staying at a friend’s villa in Spain with her longtime partner Philip and their two sons. Meanwhile Hugh, who dumped Chloe years earlier, has unknowingly booked the same villa for his family. Some strong language and some descriptions of sex. 2001.
The Smart One and the Pretty One BR 18406
byClaireLaZebnik
2 volumes
When Ava and Lauren Nickerson’s mother develops cancer, the sisters gather in Los Angeles. Trying to straighten each other out, bookish attorney Ava makes spendthrift fashionista Lauren establish a plan to become debt-free, while Lauren makes over Ava and reunites her with former childhood neighbor Russell Markowitz. 2008.
That Old Cape Magic BR 18484
byRichardRusso
2 volumes
Jack and Joy Griffin attend a wedding on Cape Cod, where Jack spent boyhood summers with his cynical academic parents. A year later Jack and Joy are separated but together again for their daughter’s wedding. Jack is ready to shed his resentment toward his parents. Strong language. Bestseller. 2009.