In one moment, your whole life can change...

On a beautiful June morning, Jane Arrowood is attacked by a shark in shallow water. She loses most of her right arm. She actually loses much more than an arm...Jane is an artist who can no longer draw and a pretty girl who is stared at like a freak. Told in poetry form (like Sonya Sones), Jane struggles to regain her health and find her way in a much-changed world. Shark Girl by Kelly Bingham

Which would you choose: safety or freedom?

In the future, our country is now called United Safer States of America. When you play "sports," you are encased in padding from head to toe and padded mats replace cinder track. Sportsmanship is key; calling an opponent a bad name could get you sent to prison. That's exactly where Bo ends up when he insults someone on the track team. Will he survive life in a penal colony in the wilderness of Canada, making frozen pizzas for the MacDonalds Corporation 18 hours a day? In the end, he will have to choose. Will it be freedom or safety? Rash by Pete Hautman is in the Fiction section.

Did you like "The Other Boleyn Girl?"

"The Other Boleyn Girl" by Phillipa Gregory is coming to theaters soon as a film starring Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johannsen. If you enjoyed the book and have read Gregory's other historical fiction outings, why not try out an older writer who influenced Phillipa Gregory? Anya Seton's books have been reissued with introductions by Ms. Gregory. Explore the early days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony with The Winthrop Woman. Discover where the Tudor dynasty began by meeting Katherine. Follow the last religious conflict in Jacobite England in Devil Water. Travel back in time to sail the seas with Viking and explore the origins of the King Arthur legend in Avalon.

New book mini-list

Jared Diamond, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed “Using the Mayan empire, Easter Island, the Anasazi, and other examples, the author shows how a combination of environmental factors such as habitat destruction, the loss of biodiversity, and degradation of the soil caused complex, flourishing societies to suddenly disintegrate.”

Michel Laclotte, A Key to the Louvre: Memoirs of a Curator Post-DeGaulle France from the former curator.

Paul Robert Walker, Remember Little Big Horn: Indians, Soldiers, and Scouts Tell their Stories Drama of Native American History, with lots of primary source material

Jeff Sypeck, Becoming Charlemagne: Europe, Baghdad, and the Empires of A.D. 800 “Sypeck, who teaches medieval literature at the University of Maryland, paints a splendid portrait of the emperor's various supporters, including Isaac, his Jewish envoy to Baghdad; Harun al-Rashid, the legendary caliph of Baghdad who, though the two never met, believed that he and Charlemagne would be great military and political companions; and the elephant, Abul Abaz, a gift from Harun.”

Judith Bloom Fradin, 5,000 Miles to Freedom: Ellen and William Craft’s Flight from Slavery “Ellen is a light-skinned African American, daughter of the master who raped her mother. Disguised as a wealthy Southern gentleman, she escapes with her husband, William, disguised as her slave, and they travel by train and steamboat to freedom in Boston. When their astonishing story makes the fugitive couple famous, slave catchers come after them, so the Crafts leave for England, where they continue their abolitionist work, until their return home after the Civil War.”

Robert E. Bonner, The Soldier’s Pen: Firsthand Impressions of the Civil War “Bonner uses the letters, journal entries, and sketches of 16 Civil War infantrymen, all previously unpublished, to convey the experiences of war as recounted by those who witnessed it at its most elemental level.”

Best Books of the Year!

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang is the Printz Award winner for best young adult novel of the year. This graphic novel tells 3 interrelated stories about feeling alone and isolated, hating being different, having a crush and more.

New Science books:a mini-list

American Museum of Natural History, Ocean: the World’s Last Wilderness Revealed. “Crafted by devoted scientists and visual artists, Ocean offers page after page of stunning images and vital information about the very heartbeat of planet Earth.”

Dennis Fradin, With a Little Luck. “Whether Fradin is writing about the discovery of penicillin, Neptune, pulsars, or the Dead Sea Scrolls, he smoothly combines personal stories with fascinating science, technology, and history.”

Colin Tudge, The Tree. “British biologist and science-writer-extraordinaire Tudge offers a sumptuously specific tour of the phenomenal world of trees.”

Eugene Linden, The Winds of Change. “Restrained in tone, Linden's presentation of scientists' theories on historical climate change will provoke readers concerned about the implications of global warming for modern civilization.”

Richard Dawkins, The Ancestor’s Tale. A pilgrimage back through four billion years of life on earth. Evolution with a Chaucerian twist!

My Einstein Essays by 23 scientists/thinkers, including Jeremy Bernstein, Gino C. Sergré and Maria Spiropulu.Titles of their pieces range from "Einstein, Moe, and Joe" to "The Greatest Discovery Einstein Didn't Make".

Miyoko Chu, Songbird Journey. Chu, an ornithologist at Cornell, follows bird migration through all four seasons and scientists’ techniques for tracking them.

Tim Flannery, The Weather Makers. A history of climate change and how it will likely unfold this century.

Bruce Stutz, Chasing Spring. Stutz tracks spring in the Appalachians, Louisiana, the Arizona desert, the Rockies, and Alaska.

Erik Reece Lost Mountain Exposes the coal industry's destruction of the mountains of eastern Kentucky..

If you liked "The Diary of Anne Frank..."

In a colonial world of the future, Toni V. is a teenager working on a demolition crew. His job is to remove rubble from a city recently devastated by a war. In the rubble, he finds a plastic package. Inside the package is Pelly D's diary. She is just a normal teen girl: a little selfish, a little foolish, a little thoughtful. She has crushes on boys, she worries about her skin, she tries to ignore the hate that is building, even in her high school. People are deciding that certain strains of DNA are superior to others. As the winds of an imminent war between groups of people based on the superiority of their DNA swirl around her, Pelly tries to make sense of what's happening. And Toni begins to realize that his government has been lying to him.

Pelly D. will remind you of another remarkable young teen named Anne Frank.

What was your favorite book this year?

Best book I read this year? A tie between As Simple as Snow by Greg Galloway and Just in Case by Meg Rosoff.

In As Simple as Snow, an average kind of lonely boy falls in love with Anna, a new and mysterious girl in town. She dresses Goth and is fascinated with mysteries, codes, ciphers, and ghost stories. She decides to kill off everyone in town (in her mind only) and writes crazy imaginary obituaries for everyone. When she writes her own,the final one, she disappears. Did she commit suicide (a simple answer)? Was she murdered (a simple answer)? Is her ghost haunting the boy (a simple answer)? No, there are no simple answers to this mystery. Bacause, you see, snow is not simple! This is a book you will have to hand to a friend to read because, when you finish reading, you will want to talk about it. All of the librarians have read this book (which is unusual) because we all needed to talk about it! This is an adult book with some mature subjects and not a light and fluffy read. But if you like to be challenged and don't like things tied up in a pretty bow at the end of a book, you will enjoy As Simple as Snow.

Just in Case by Meg Rosoff asks whether there is such a thing as fate and, if so, can one escape or change ones fate. David Case looked away for a minute and his baby brother climbed up on a windowsill. He is prevented from falling but David is so shaken by this close call that he sets out to hide from his own fate. He changes his name (Just in Case), he changes his friends (just in case), he conjures up an imaginary dog (just in case), and hangs out with an older girl who has a taste for adventure (just in case)> But no matter how hard he tries, David/Justin cant really escape fate...or can he?

Humanity's fate is in the balance

The forces of good and evil battle in a destroyed United States in Terry Brooks' Armageddon's Children.War, plagues, ecological disasters and a shift of balance in the spirit world have devastated the country. Two young people, Logan Tom and Angel Perez, stand for good as Knights of the Word. With the help of a band of street urchins, will they be able to defeat the Void before it swallows up the last outposts of humanity? First of a new trilogy.

The Book of Fate...a Washington thriller

Wes Holloway, a presidential aide shot in an assassination attempt eight years ago, has never truly recovered. His face has healed but his spirit has not. His scars are a daily reminder of those moments of horror and he feels guilty that Boyle,a man he invited along for the presidential appearance was killed that day. Wes still works for the former President and is with him in Malaysia when he sees a familiar face. It is Boyle...a man supposedly dead for 8 years. Wes has stumbled on a plot hundreds of years in the making and one that threatens to destroy the country. The Book of Fate by Brad Meltzer

Nursery Rhyme Crime

Jack Spratt is back with his stalwart assistant Mary Mary. Goldilocks is found dead in a World War I amusement park and the investigation focuses first on the three bears (Mama, Papa and Baby). But the Gingerbread Man, newly escaped from a prison for the criminally insane, is on a rampage and may be connected to the crime. Or is it connected somehow to the recent crisis of exploding cucumbers? Read The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde to find out!

Read about the first book in the series, The Big Over Easy, here!

Meet Alex Rider

Alex Rider's only living relative, his Uncle Ian, died in a car crash. The police said it was an accident but what kind of accident leaves a windshield riddled with bullet holes?

Alex uses his skills at sneaking around to try to uncover the real story of his uncle's death. But when he discovers that his uncle was a spy for the British M16 (similar to our CIA), his quest for the truth gets him into big trouble. The spymaster running the agency gives Alex a life or death choice—finish his uncle’s last mission—or else. Check out "Stormbreaker" by Anthony Horowitz

Booktalk books--Mr. Gregory

Can You Keep a Secret? by Kinsella (Fiction)
Cell by King (Fiction)
Found II by Rothbart (PB)
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Foer (fiction)
In the Heart of the Sea by Philbrick (910.91)
Chasing Vermeer by Biallett (Fiction)

Booktalk books--Mr. Gregory

Can You Keep a Secret? by Kinsella (Fiction)
Cell by King (Fiction)
Found II by Rothbart (PB)
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Foer (fiction)
In the Heart of the Sea by Philbrick (910.91)

A strange summer job!

Finding a summer job is definitely a challenge for most teens. Ilana, who has her own distinctive way of dressing and a feisty attitude to match, has had no luck at all finding a "white bread" mall job. So she jumps at the chance to work for the Divine Relief Temp Agency. Imagine her surprise when she discovers that "divine" describes the clients very well...this temp agency specializes in giving overworked gods and goddesses a break. Will Ilana be able to temporarily substitute for her clients or will her mistakes cause genuine chaos in the world? "Temping Fate" by Esther Freisner

Harry, Carrie and Garp...oh my!

File under "what librarians do on summer vacation..."

Last Tuesday I was in Radio City Music Hall to hear Stephen King, John Irving and J.K. Rowling read from their books. The night was introduced by Whoopie Goldberg and each author was also introduced by a celebrity and a video clip a la Oscars. Kathy Bates introduced Stephen King, who read his famous pie eating story from "The Body." His State of Mainer accent was perfect for this piece and the crowd really enjoyed the story.

Andre Braugher introduced John Irving (the least well known of the authors...I heard someone behind me asking his friends who Irving was). He read a Christmas pageant section from "A Prayer for Owen Meany". He is a great reader and the little cracked voice he used for Owen will stick in my head forever.

Finally, Jon Stewart introduced the star of the night...Ms. Rowling. She sat on a red velvet throne, showed us her marvelous shoes (sandles with silvery snakes as straps) and read a section from the Half Blood Prince where Dumbeldore is recruiting Tom Riddle for Hogwart's. Questions and answers followed but Ms. Rowling kept mum on any details of the final book.

All in all, a "magical" night. Ask Ms. Richardson or Ms. Johns for more details!

P.S. I saw J.K. Rowling at the Museum of Modern Art the following afternoon. She was with some children (possibly hers) and was wandering through the museum like any other tourist. You never know who you might spot in New York City!!

Help a library in need

Gulfport Library, located on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, sustained heavy damage from Hurricane Katrina. The first floor of the library was washed through by flood waters. The library lost its entire children’s, adult fiction, and audio-visual collections. Now you can help by donating a book or dvd to this library using amazon.com. Just click on this link to see the wish list for this library.

We take our wonderful libraries for granted until a disaster reminds us of just how lucky we are. If you have the resources, why not help rebuild this Mississipp library?

Readers Never Go on Vacation

I will continue to add books to Looking for a Good Book during the summer. I have a big juicy stack on my coffee table just waiting for vacation. So check back when you can and when you are looking for something good to read.

I read in a magazine the other day that reading something for fun actually reduces hormones related to stress. So...if you're college searching or engaged in something else stressful during the summer, drop your stress levels by reading for pleasure: a magazine, a graphic novel (check out V for Vendetta), a book, a joke, a puzzle. Have a great summer!

Why are the pictures now question marks?

Sory to visitors of this blog from Newton Public School computers. We've run afoul of a software glitch with our server. You can view the blog in all its glory from home or public library computers. The good news is that the text has not been affected (yet!)so you can still read the log...just can't see the covers. We hope to get this resolved before school ends!

And one from Mrs. Johns!!

Compiled by Dave Eggers and teen students from his San Francisco writing center, this collection of stories, reporting and alternative comics is a perfect beach/pool/camp/ travel book. My favorites include Al Franken's "Tearaway Burkas and Tinplate Menorahs,"(Franken goes to Iraq) and William T. Vollmann's "They Came Out like Ants!" (Vollmann searches for Chinese tunnels in Mexico.) Pick out your favorite!

Here's one more recommendation....

You probably don't know the critic but I can tell you she has exquisite taste in summer reading!

Joan Acocella, critic, The New Yorker
I actually recommend The Da Vinci Code. I stayed up till 3 in the morning to make sure that the demented, knife-wielding albino monk lurking in the bushes outside the chateau didn't kill Sophie. Or, if the beach is a nice one, take Ian McEwan's Amsterdam or Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. The latter is supposedly for "young adults," but it's hair-raising and also quite serious. You get to visit hell.

Summer reading, anyone??

Newton North doesn't have a required summer reading list. But some folks (like me!) collect titles for their summer reading. Here are recommendations from two authors popular at Newton North (From SLATE website: http://www.slate.com/id/2142161/nav/tap1/ Check it out for a full article!)

Jodi Picoult, author, The Tenth Circle
Dirty Blonde, by Lisa Scottoline—I like to take her books on vacation with me. She's a really great writer for that genre, with terrific female characters—the only caveat is that I get so involved in the plot that I forget I'm supposed to be watching my kids Boogie-board in the ocean. Shopaholic & Sister, by Sophie Kinsella—Confession time: I picked this up when I was in the U.K. and jet-lagged, and found myself absolutely charmed. When you don't want to have to think, this is perfect ... and Becky Bloomwood, the main character, makes anyone feel better about their own shopping addictions!

Michael Chabon, author, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
I don't change what I read when I go to the beach or on a vacation. I just read more.

A Pulitzer Prize winner

"March," by Geraldine Brooks is the winner of this year's Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Ms. Brooks has always been a fan of Louisa May Alcott's classic "Little Women." She began to speculate about the father of the March girls, who was away at war for most of the first half of the book. The result of that speculation is this novel about war, race, faith and honor. Read more about it on this link: 'Pulitzer surprise' an award all its own

A Contest for Readers

Who do you think is the best living British writer? J.K. Rowling? Phillip Pullman? Helen Fielding? My favorite (no pressure here!) is Tom Stoppard, creator of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Shakespeare in Love, and the wonderful Arcadia. Go to http://www.thebookmagazine.co.uk/author.asp to vote for your fave!

Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar

9th Grade and starting high school is no problem for Scott. He has a group of friends he's been tight with since elementary school. His mom and dad are normal, supportive, loving parents. Everything's good...until his big brother moves back home, his mother announces she is having a baby, his friends are all taking automotive courses and Scott is stuck with Honors English and a teacher who introduces him to Tom Swifties (click audio file for an explanation of Tom Swifties) AND he falls hopelessly in love with Julia, who doesn't even know he is alive. Will Scott survive these freshman challenges?

Things that go bump in the night

Here's a third mini-list of books whose roots are in the scary tradition of Frankenstein and Dracula:

2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke - computer gone beserk
Shadowmancer by G.P. Taylor-in pursuit of evil
Sweetblood by Pete Hautman -vampires
Magic Time by Marc Scott Zicree -evil fairies
Salem’s Lot by Stephen King -more vampires (in New England)
The Historian by Eliabeth Kostova -even more vampires (all over the world)

In search of...

The quest has been a theme in books since ancient times (remember the Odyssey?) Here is a mini-list of questing titles as diverse as they are wonderful:

Extremely Loud and Incredible Close by Jonathan Safron Foer
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Lord Foul’s Bane by Stephen Donaldson
Ararat by Clive Barker
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
The Ropemaker by Peter Dickinson
Summerland by Michael Chabon
The Talisman by Stephen King/Peter Straub
The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks
Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Mini-list of folklore titles

Do you remember stories your elementary teachers read you about magical spiders, big monsters, and fairies? There are grown up versions of these stories. For example, Neil Gaiman's new book is called "Anansi Boys." It tells the story of Fat Charlie Nancy who jets off to Florida for the funeral of his estranged father, only to discover that his deceased father was the West African trickster god, Anansi and that Charlie has a "prankster" half brother he has never met. Check out the rest of the mini-list:


Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
Grendel by John Gardner
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
Druids by Morgan Llywelyn
Bard by Morgan Llywelyn
Faerie Tale by Raymond Feist
Grendel’s Children by Larry Niven

Checkmate

An ornate, jeweled chess set given to Charlemagne by the Moors, holds a code which would yield incredible power. Many have schemed to own it. The set is broken up during the French Revolution and a young novice risks her life to guard it. Alternating with her story are the present-day efforts of Catherine, a disgraced accountant, and a Russian chess master to gather the set and solve its mystery. "The Eight" is by Katherine Neville/

Meet Jack Ryan

Tom Clancy's greatest creation is the character of Jack Ryan, a CIA analyst who is thrust into harrowing situations and uses his common sense and personal bravery to survive. In "Debt of Honor", malcontents in Japan plot to destroy the economy of the United States. The fiery conclusion is frighteninly close to our September 11th experience and the book was written several years before those horrible events.

"Prey" by Michael Crichton

A swarm of lethal microscopic robots escape into the Nevada desert and attack everything in its path. It's up to Jack Foreman, who unwitingly programmed the robots, to deprogram them before they destroy the world.

Jack the Ripper meets Ebenezer Scrooge

Winifred Rudge, is in London to research a novel linking Jack the Ripper to the house in Hampstead where her own great-great-grandfather rumored to be the model for Ebenezer Scrooge lived. But Winnie's cousin, John Comestor, the latest resident of the family house has gone missing and something is making an infernal racket inside the chimney. As wormen are scared away from opening the chimney, Winnie tries to figure out the secret that ties her family history together in Lost by Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked.

The fall of Troy, a giant tsunami and more!

"Trojan Odyssey" by Clive Cussler is an old-fashioned adventure story featuring Dirk Pitt, naval explorer and scientist. A giant tsunami is racing toward a luxury resort and Dirk races to save his own children and the rest of the tourists. The tsunami is also dredging up amazing artifacts which may point to some unknown history around the ancient city of Troy.

A tragic story told by an angel

“My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973 … It was still back when people believed things like that didn’t happen…My murderer was a man from our neighborhood. My mother liked his border flowers, and my father once talked to him about fertilizer.” Susie tells her sad story, observes her sorrowing family and explores heaven in The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.

How much can you love a sister?

13-year-old Anna Fitzgerald is going to sue her own parents. Why? To stop them from using her as "spare parts" for her older sister, Kate, who suffers from leukemia. After years of having her bone marrow and blood used to keep Kate alive, Kate's illness requires a kidney transplant and Anna has had enough. She loves her sister but she has her own life to live. Are her parents asking too much? The courts will decide. My Sister's Keeper is by Jodi Picoult.

"Where the Heart Is" by Billie Letts

Novalee's sevens are definitely not lucky. She's 17, seven months pregnant, 37 pounds overweight -- and now she finds herself stranded at a Wal-Mart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma, holding just $7.77 in change. Her no-good boyfriend Willy Jack Pickens has left her with empty pockets in a strange town. But Novalee is about to discover some luck in Sequoyah Oklahoma.

Tattoo stories

Ray Bradbury wrote "The Illustrated Man" 50 years ago, long before tattos became so common and popular (a la Miami Ink). In his book, a man's body is covered with 18 elaborate tatoos. Each tattoo tells a strange or fanciful story.

Lost in the Woods!

Trisha steps off the hiking trail for a minute and when she returns, her brother and mother are gone. She attempts a shortcut to catch up and becomes lost in the Maine woods. With her trusty radio turned to the Red Sox game, she uses the great relief pitcher Tom Gordon as inspiration as she faces the dangers of the forest...insect bites, cold, rain, and wild animals. In the bottom of the ninth, with the bases loaded against her, can Trisha summon the courage of Tom Gordon to fight her way out of danger? "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon" is by Stephen King.

Author of "Stormbreaker" starts a new series

Matt is a good kid who keeps getting in trouble. He lives with an aunt who doesn't pay him any attention so he hangs out with another neglected kid and spends a lot of time shoplifting and stealing. One night, while raiding a video game warehouse, a guard is badly hurt by Matt's partner and he faces the real possibility of going to detention center at age 14. His other option is to agree to be part of a new program (LEAF) which sends kids to the country for hard work and fresh air under the careful supervision of a sponsor. Matt agrees, only to discover that his sponsor is a witch and he is in desperate danger. Will Matt be able to harness his own special powers to combat the growing evil in the village? Anthony Hurwitz begins his new series with Raven's Gate.

Westminster Abby

Abby's parents keep a close and watchful eye on her: no going out on school nights, Friday night is "family night," and only sleepovers with her best friend Dori. But that's all going to change. Abby is on her way to England for a 10 week exchange program. Will she be able to handle all that freedom? And will she ever be able to decipher such british terms as boot, lorry, jumper and trainer? Part of a new series, which includes trips to France, Italy, and Spain.

Imagine...

Imagine that, in the middle of the night, word comes that the enemy army is a few miles down the road and you must flee in the night, after burning your crops and slaughtering your animals so the army will not benefit from destroying your home. Imagine that you are an army doctor who spends most of your time amputating the shattered limbs of the young soldiers. Imagine that you are a soldier without a real allegiance to either side of the war but with a huge drive to stay alive. Imagine that you are a freed slave with the snow white skin of your father. Imagine that, because of this civil war, you are now homeless and the only place you seem to belong is tagging along behind the marauding union army under the leadership of General Sherman. Imagine one of the darkest chapters of the American Civil War as seen through the eyes of characters trying to survive "the March" by E.L. Doctorow.

And you thought your high school was strange!

Cody Elliot managed to fail every course at his new high school...even study hall! His father is furious and decides to transfer Cory to one of two schools. His choices are (1) Our Lady of Perpetual Homework or (2) the ultra fancy looking Vlad Dracul High School. Now, granted, Vlad Dracul's mascot is a live wolf and all the students are pale and wear black. But if you were making the choice, you'd pick it too...who wants perpetual homework? See what happens when an ordinary boy enrolls at "Vampire High" (by Douglas Rees).

Have you ever made a big mistake?

Samantha Sweeting, type A personality and a lawyer on a fast track to being a partner, makes a gigantic, career-wrecking mistake. She is so horrified that she wanders around London for hours and then randomly hops on a bus "out of town." She ends up way out in the country and stops at a rather grand estate to ask for a phone. The next thing she knows, Samantha has a new job...as a housekeeper. Will this overstressed lawyer find happiness in the country? Will she ever learn how to cook or clean or make a bed? Because, you see, Samantha is truly "The Undomestic Goddess" (by Sophie Kinsella, author of "Shopaholic" series).

Spy series

Alex Rider's only living relative, his Uncle Ian, died in a car crash. The police said it was an accident but what kind of accident leaves a windshield riddled with bullet holes?

Alex uses his skills at sneaking around to try to uncover the real story of his uncle's death. But when he discovers that his uncle was a spy for the British M16 (similar to our CIA), his quest for the truth gets him into big trouble. The spymaster running the agency gives Alex a life or death choice—finish his uncle’s last mission—or else. Check out "Stormbreaker" by Anthony Horowitz

Egg-citing New Mystery

CSI meets Mother Goose in this new series by the Jasper Fforde, author of the Tuesday Next books. As the autopsy diagram indicates, Humpty Dumpty has met an unfortunate end. It was staged as an accident but the albumen spatter clearly indicates murder. Can lead detective Jack Spratt solve the murder before more nursery rhyme citizens lose their lives? Read "The Big Over Easy" to find out!

The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks

Every time you make a call on your cell phone or use your ATM card or register for something on a computer, you are leaving an electronic footprint. People knowledgable of computer programming can gather information on you and there is the potential to use that information against you. John Twelve Hawks calls this process of leaving an electronic record "living on the grid"

In the very near future, society is monitored and controlled by a secret society called the Tabula. The only people the Tabula cannot control are Travelers, who have the ability to move into other realms and see clearly the manipulation of free will by the Tabula. Travelers are very carefull not to live on the grid. Tabula's mission is to locate and destroy all the Travelers, ensuring their ability to continue controlling society. Between them and success stand the Harlequins, trained from birth to protect the travelers. And Maya, who never wanted to be a Harlequin, finds herself in a life and death struggle to save one of the last Travelers from extinction.

1776 by David McCullough

Did you know we came very close to losing the American Revolution? Several times, the army, under George Washington, had to flee from a battlefield under cover of darkness. Supplies were few and the "rebels" were fighting a powerful and well provisioned army. Thanks to some good luck and inspiring leadership by a relatively inexperienced general named Washington, 1776 became a year of beginnings rather than endings.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

Oskar Schell is a 9 year old genius who enjoys solving complex problems and writing letters to famous scientists. When his father dies in the World Trade Center tragedy, Oscar sets out on a quest to understand why this happened to him. His only clue? a key with the word "Black" written on it in his father's handwriting.

State of Fear by Michael Crichton

From the glaciers of Iceland to the volcanoes of Antarctica, federal agent John Kenner faces dangerous eco-terrorists intent on creating ecological disasters to buttress their theories on global warming.

Brimstone by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Jeremy Grove, a notorious and hated art critic, has been found dead. Murdered. Burned from the inside out, with a hoof print charred into the floor and a melted crucifix in the victim's hand. The work of the devil? Or a very clever murderer?