FICTION: Popular New Series
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
by Rick Riordan
The escapades of the Greek gods and heroes get a fresh spin in the Percy
Jackson and the Olympians series. A contemporary 12-year-old New Yorker
learns he's a demigod. Perseus, aka Percy Jackson,
thinks he has big problems. His father left before he was born, he's been
kicked out of six schools in six years, he's dyslexic, and he has ADHD. What
a surprise when he finds out that that's only the tip of the iceberg: he
vaporizes his pre-algebra teacher, learns his best friend is a satyr, and is
almost killed by a minotaur before his mother manages to get him to the
safety of Camp Half-Blood--where he discovers that Poseidon is his father.
But that's a problem, too. Poseidon has been accused of stealing Zeus'
lightning bolt, and unless Percy can return the bolt, humankind is doomed.
Riordan's fast-paced adventure is fresh, dangerous, and funny. Percy is an
appealing, but reluctant hero, the modernized gods are hilarious, and the
parallels to Harry Potter are frequent and obvious. The final book in the
series, The Last Olympian has just been released!!!!
Gregor the Overlander
by Suzanne Collins
What if Alice fell down an air vent in a New York City apartment building
instead of down a rabbit hole? Collins considers a similar possibility in
her exceptional debut novel, a well-written, fast-moving, action-packed
fantasy. Eleven-year-old Gregor expects a long, boring summer of baby-
sitting his two-year-old sister, Boots, and his senile grandmother.
Distracted with thoughts about his father, who disappeared three years ago,
Gregor belatedly notices that Boots has crawled into an air vent in the
laundry room. He dives in after her, and the two are sucked downward into
the Underland, a fantastic subterranean world of translucent-skinned, violet-
eyed humans, and giant talking cockroaches, bats, spiders, and rats. Now
upto 5 books in this series - The Underland Chronicles.
Eragon
and Eldest
by Christopher Paolini
Darkness falls...despair abounds...evil reigns...Have the Yankees won the
World Series again? Worse....Take the adventure with the two best selling
fantasy adventures about Eragon and his dragon Saphira. Third book in the
seriesBrisingr
to be out soon!
Maximum Ride, the Angel Experiment
by James Patterson
After the mutant Erasers abduct the youngest member of their group,
the "birdkids" take off in pursuit and find themselves battling their
seemingly evil creators.Series
Stand Alones
Ender's Game
by Orson Scott Card
Intense is the word for Ender's Game. Aliens have attacked Earth twice and
almost destroyed the human species. To make sure humans win the next
encounter, the world government has taken to breeding military geniuses --
and then training them in the arts of war... The early training, not
surprisingly, takes the form of 'games'... Ender Wiggin is a genius among
geniuses; he wins all the games... He is smart enough to know that time is
running out. But is he smart enough to save the planet?
Girl in a Cage
by Jane Yolen
In 1306, a year has passed since patriot William "Braveheart" Wallace was
executed, and things are not going well for the cause of Scottish freedom.
Robert Bruce, newly crowned king of Scotland, has managed to evade his
powerful enemy, Edward I of England, but many allies have been killed or
taken. A recent capture is Bruce's 11-year-old daughter Marjorie. The
princess finds herself conveyed to the English border town of Lanercost,
locked in an iron cage, and displayed outdoors day and night by the decree
of ailing King Edward, "Longshanks," himself.
Al Capone Does my Shirts
by Gennifer Choldenko
Not many kids get to live on an island full of the world's most dangerous
prisoners, but not many kids are Moose Flanagan. When his father takes a job
as a guard on Alcatraz Island, Moose finds himself upclose and personal to
some of the world's most notorious criminals.
Fever 1793
by Laurie Anderson
Fever 1793 is based on an actual epidemic of yellow fever in Philadelphia
that wiped out 5,000 people--or 10 percent of the city's population--in
three months. At the close of the 18th century, Philadelphia was the
bustling capital of the United States, with Washington and Jefferson in
residence. During the hot mosquito-infested summer of 1793, the dreaded
yellow fever spread like wildfire, killing people overnight. Like specters
from the Middle Ages, gravediggers drew carts through the streets
crying "Bring out your dead!" The rich fled to the country, abandoning the
city to looters, forsaken corpses, and frightened survivors.
One-Handed Catch
by M.J. Auch
A strong sense of purpose, leavened by generous doses of humor and post-
World War II period detail, drives this story of a resilient middle-grader
who demonstrates that having one hand is an opportunity rather than a
handicap. Having lost his left hand to a meat grinder, Norm finds his world
has become a complicated place, where even common activities such as tying
shoelaces or playing baseball seem impossible. However, with plenty of
pushing from his tough-love mother, who challenges him to get things done
and firmly checks his efforts to trade on his disability to get special
treatment, Norm not only gets by but also blossoms. He finds ways to display
both musical and artistic talent as he stubbornly and inventively teaches
himself to play ball well enough to earn a spot on a summer league team.
Loosely based on childhood experiences of the author's husband, this story
offers both inspiration and useful information, deftly wrapped in an
engaging narrative.
Non-Fiction
Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True story about Brain Science
by John Fleischman
The fascinating story of the construction foreman who survived for 10 years
after a 13-pound iron rod shot through his brain. Fleischman relates
Gage's "horrible accident" and the subsequent events in the present tense,
giving immediacy to the text. He avoids sensationalizing by letting the
events themselves carry the impact. The straightforward description of Gage
calmly chatting on a porch 30 minutes after the accident, for example, comes
across as horrifying and amazing. The author presents scientific background
in a conversational style and jumps enthusiastically into such related
topics as phrenology, 19th-century medical practices, and the history of
microbiology. He shows how Gage's misfortune actually played an intriguing
and important role in the development of our knowledge of the brain.
Good Brother, Bad Brother
by James Cross Giblin
Actors Edwin and John Wilkes Booth each had a compelling stage presence and
a fondness for alcohol, just like their famous father, Junius. Edwin spent
his life perfecting his craft and building a reputation as the finest
classical actor of his time. John was impulsive, popular with the ladies,
and best known today as the man who assassinated Abraham Lincoln. The text
is carefully researched, drawing heavily on firsthand accounts from family
members and liberally illustrated with photographs, most from the Harvard
Theatre Collection, Houghton Library. The writing is engaging and eminently
readable, and presents history in a manner that is, in essence, consummate
storytelling. Giblin traces the events leading up to the assassination,
discussing the Civil War, John Wilkes Booth's love for the Confederacy, and
the plots he and his colleagues hatched to kidnap Lincoln. The effects that
the assassination had on the country, and his family, are clearly presented.
The search for Booth and his coconspirators rivals the excitement of police
procedurals as Giblin chronicles efforts by law enforcement to bring the
group to justice. Edwin's later life and his contributions to American
theater are discussed. Behind all his successes, however, stood the ghost of
his brother John, and the act that would forever link the Booth name with
disgrace.
Oh, YUCK! The Encyclopedia of Everything Nasty
by Joy Masoff
This book has it all! Skin eruptions. Naked mole rats. The Donner party and
the hissing roach of
Madagascar, maggot therapy, ear wax, the good news about pus, and why vomit
smells. Plus gases -
especially gases!!! Who wouldn't want to read this book that encompasses all
the best stuff about
some of the worst stuff on earth!!
RATS! The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
by Richard Conniff
Rats are among our closest companions in the animal world. They live where we
do. They steal our
food, invade our homes and spread disease. Author Richard Conniff tells it
all!
Did you know:
One rat in the United States can have as many as sixty or seventy babies in
one year.
Rats can survive on their own at 4 weeks of age.
Rat teeth are powerful and have a bite force of twenty-four thousand pounds
per square inch.
Rats' eyes see well at night.
A rat in a lab can swim for three days without drowning.
Rats are very clean (really!). They clean themselves as soon as they wake up.
Rats are very smart.
LEARN MORE!!!!!!
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