Wendy Smith

"With open hearts and open hands, we gave what we could, and a little became a lot." --from Give a Little

Dimes destroyed polio. Five bucks can beat malaria. Give a Little: How Your Small Donations Can Transform Our World not only contains remarkable, inspiring stories of how small donations are making an extraordinary difference in the lives of millions both here in the United States and around the world, but also lays out where and how to start giving . . . today.

Together, ordinary Americans have far more transformational power than any government or big foundation. In 2007, giving by American individuals amounted to $229 billion--that is, 82 times the amount the Gates Foundation gave that same year. Simple, inexpensive things--a water filter, a bike, an irrigation pump, a bed net, a goat--cause a ripple effect that lifts a whole family, a town, and, astonishingly, even a nation out of poverty.

Inspired by Smith's twenty years in the nonprofit sector, Give a Little shows how easily we can dip into our pockets and, with just a few dollars, change the world.

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

Massachusetts

How Your Small Donations Can Transform Our World

-With open hearts and open hands, we gave what we could, and a little became a lot.- -from Give a LittleDimes destroyed polio. Five bucks can beat malaria. Give a Little: How Your Small Donations Can Transform Our World not only contains remarkable, inspi

Give a Little

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Sarah Weeks

Everything's better with cheese in this hilarious combination of Sarah Weeks' Oggie Cooder and Oggie Cooder, Party Animal.
Oggie Cooder loves cheese so much that he carries a slice of cheese with him wherever he goes. It's not just for a snack -- Oggie is an excellent charver. (Charving is when you chew a piece of cheese to carve it in the shape of something.) The kids at school think Oggie's charving is a little strange. But when a big TV show comes looking for people with unusual talents, Oggie is suddenly Mr. Popular. Can Oggie charve a path to fame and score an invite to the party of the year without melting under the pressure? No matter how you slice it, you're going to laugh when you read about one small kid becoming a really big cheese, in this hilarious combination of Oggie Cooder and Oggie Cooder, Party Animal.

A Combo of Oggie Cooder and Oggie Cooder, Party Animal

Everything's better with cheese in this hilarious combination of Sarah Weeks' Oggie Cooder and Oggie Cooder, Party Animal.Oggie Cooder loves cheese so much that he carries a slice of cheese with him wherever he goes. It's not just for a snack -- Oggie is an excellent charver. (Charving is when you chew a piece of cheese to carve it in the shape of something.) The kids at school think Oggie's charving is a little strange. But when a big TV show comes looking for people with unusual talents, Oggie is suddenly Mr. Popular. Can Oggie charve a path to fame and score an invite to the party of the year without melting under the pressure? No matter how you slice it, you're going to laugh when you read about one small kid becoming a really big cheese, in this hilarious combination of Oggie Cooder and Oggie Cooder, Party Animal.

Cheese

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What do you do when your neighbors are a bunch of hit men, con men, and mad dog murderers? Well, if you're Moose Flanagan, you ask the most notorious convict of them all, Al Capone, for help. But when that convict comes through for youÑand then asks you for a favor in returnÑsuddenly it's a whole different ball game. Picking up where the NewberyÐHonor winning Al Capone Does My Shirts left off, this lively second romp featuring Moose, his friends, and some of Alcatraz's "finest" is just as satisfying as the first.

Another Tale From Alcatraz

Al Capone Shines My Shoes

Emily Jane Fox

PS: EX-LIBRARY BOOK

Who is Donald J. Trump? To truly understand America’s forty-fifth president, argues Vanity Fair journalist Emily Jane Fox, you must know his children, whose own stories provide the key to unlocking what makes him tick. Born Trump is Fox’s dishy, deeply reported, and richly detailed look at Trump’s five children (and equally powerful son-in-law, Jared Kushner), exploring their lives, their roles in the campaign and administration, and their dramatic and often fraught relationships with their father and with one another.

Reexamining the tabloid-soaked events that shaped their lives in startling new detail, Born Trump is full of surprising insights, previously untold stories, and delicious tidbits about their childhoods (ridiculously privileged and painful, in equal measure) and the extraordinary power they now wield. As a version of this new kind of American royalty they wish to be, they are ensconced not in palaces but in Trump Tower and the White House.

Even before Trump’s oldest child, Don Jr., was born, Donald told friends that he wanted at least five kids—to make sure there was a greater probability one would turn out just like him. His vision didn’t pan out exactly as he’d imagined, but Trump’s children each inherited some of his essential traits—as one source says, “collectively, they make the whole.”

Ivanka is a media-savvy, hyperskilled messenger with her father’s self-promotional ease but without the brash.

Don Jr. has the most contentious relationship with his father yet seems prone to endlessly repeat his mistakes.

Eric embraced the family’s real estate business but has, in surprising ways, charted a more independent course than his siblings.

While Tiffany grew up mostly separate from her father, she inherited Trump’s perspective as an outsider—his unique combination of assurance and insecurity.

And there is Ivanka’s husband, Jared Kushner, whose own family drama and personal ambition is a crucial thread in this saga.

Come for the vision of Trump as a father—a portrait of the president at his kindest and cruelest. Stay for the revelatory gossip, including the truth about the firings of Christie and Manafort, the inside scoop on Donald’s three marriages, why Ivanka and Jared are “bashert,” and how this family of real estate tycoons have become the most powerful people in the world.

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

Inside America's First Family

Who is Donald J. Trump? To truly understand America’s forty-fifth president, argues Vanity Fair journalist Emily Jane Fox, you must know his children, whose own stories provide the key to unlocking what makes him tick. Born Trump is Fox’s dishy, deeply reported, and richly detailed look at Trump’s five children (and equally powerful son-in-law, Jared Kushner), exploring their lives, their roles in the campaign and administration, and their dramatic and often fraught relationships with their father and with one another. Reexamining the tabloid-soaked events that shaped their lives in startling new detail, Born Trump is full of surprising insights, previously untold stories, and delicious tidbits about their childhoods (ridiculously privileged and painful, in equal measure) and the extraordinary power they now wield. As a version of this new kind of American royalty they wish to be, they are ensconced not in palaces but in Trump Tower and the White House. Even before Trump’s oldest child, Don Jr., was born, Donald told friends that he wanted at least five kids—to make sure there was a greater probability one would turn out just like him. His vision didn’t pan out exactly as he’d imagined, but Trump’s children each inherited some of his essential traits—as one source says, “collectively, they make the whole.” Ivanka is a media-savvy, hyperskilled messenger with her father’s self-promotional ease but without the brash. Don Jr. has the most contentious relationship with his father yet seems prone to endlessly repeat his mistakes. Eric embraced the family’s real estate business but has, in surprising ways, charted a more independent course than his siblings. While Tiffany grew up mostly separate from her father, she inherited Trump’s perspective as an outsider—his unique combination of assurance and insecurity. And there is Ivanka’s husband, Jared Kushner, whose own family drama and personal ambition is a crucial thread in this saga. Come for the vision of Trump as a father—a portrait of the president at his kindest and cruelest. Stay for the revelatory gossip, including the truth about the firings of Christie and Manafort, the inside scoop on Donald’s three marriages, why Ivanka and Jared are “bashert,” and how this family of real estate tycoons have become the most powerful people in the world.

Born Trump

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John Jordan

Briefly traces the history of the American Navy and discusses the development, armaments, and operations of its various types of warships

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

An Illustrated Guide to the Modern U. S. Navy

354c9934-1ef5-40a7-8062-fbd1699f9808-0

Jack Gantos

This rocket-paced follow-up to the Newbery Medal–winning novel Dead End in Norvelt opens deep in the shadow of the Cuban missile crisis. But instead of Russian warheads, other kinds of trouble are raining down on young Jack Gantos and his utopian town of Norvelt in western Pennsylvania. After an explosion, a new crime by an old murderer, and the sad passing of the town's founder, twelve-year-old Jack will soon find himself launched on a mission that takes him hundreds of miles away, escorting his slightly mental elderly mentor, Miss Volker, on her relentless pursuit of the oddest of outlaws. But as their trip turns south in more ways than one, it's increasingly clear that the farther from home they travel, the more off-the-wall Jack and Miss Volker's adventure becomes, in From Norvelt to Nowhere, a raucous road novel about roots and revenge, a last chance at love, and the power of a remarkable friendship.

A Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book of 2013

Dead End in Norvelt

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Funke Cornelia

Oliver Latsch

An exciting, magical adventure set among the crumbling canals and ancient ruins of Venice, Italy.

Prosper and Bo are orphans on the run from their cruel aunt and uncle. The brothers decide to hide out in Venice, where they meet a mysterious character who calls himself the "Thief Lord." Brilliant and charismatic, the Thief Lord leads a ring of street children who dabble in petty crimes. Prosper and Bo relish being part of this colorful new family. But the Thief Lord has secrets of his own. And soon the boys are thrust into circumstances that will lead them, and readers, to a fantastic, spellbinding conclusion.

Escaping the aunt who wants to adopt only one of them, two orphaned brothers run away from Hamburg to Venice, finding shelter with a gang of street children and their leader, the thirteen-year-old "Thief Lord," while also eluding the detective hired to return them to Germany.

The Thief Lord

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Jamaica Rose

Michael MacLeod

PS: EX-LIBRARY BOOK

“This delightful book” for young readers “is full of creative activities, interspersed with plenty of fascinating historical facts” (School Library Journal).
 
On this here ship, we follow the pirate's code: No frolikin' in the bilges, no songs about scurvy, and most important, each buccaneer must keep his pistol ready for action at all times. Break the code, me bucko, and you'll be forced to walk the plank.
 
In The Big Book of Pirate Stuff, Captain Michael MacLeod and Jamaica Rose teach the fine art of pirateering, from plundering, pillaging, and gambling to digging for buried treasure. A dabble of history, a smatterin' of activities, and a healthy dose of derring-do make this book a must-read for aspiring pirates.

Briefly introduces pirates throughout history, and discusses notable individuals, pirate ships and tactics, piracy in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, and Asia, and pirates as they appear in popular culture.

Book of Pirates

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Lurlene McDaniel

Three of Lurlene McDaniel's bestselling novels in one volume. Readers will relate to the compassion and strength of the characters as they piece their lives back together after tragedy strikes.

Letting Go of Lisa
Nathan Malone has been home schooled his whole life. He hasn't spent much time with kids his own age, let alone dated. Now that his mother is busy with his new twin sisters, he must enroll at the local high school for his senior year. On the first day of school a girl catches his eye. Lisa is a loner and doesn't care what anybody thinks of her. Nathan is intrigued. When he and Lisa finally start spending time together, he is the happiest he's ever been. But Lisa has a tragic secret and when she decides to deal with it herself, Nathan has to make a choice. Can he ever let go of Lisa?

Saving Jessica
Jessica McMillan and Jeremy Travino are a perfect couple. When they met in high school, Jessica's upbeat spirit helped Jeremy to see that there must be a reason he was spared in the car accident that killed his brother. But now Jessica has been diagnosed with kidney failure. Her only hope is a kidney transplant but no one in her family is a match. Jeremy can't watch another person he loves die. He believes that his life was spared so he could save Jessica by donating a kidney. But his parents are terrified of losing their only child. Will Jeremy go against his parents' wishes to do what he must to save Jessica?

Telling Christina Goodbye
Trisha Thompson and her best friend, Christina, are having a great senior year. Trisha and her boyfriend are making plans to attend Indiana University, and Christina received a scholarship to the University of Vermont. Everything would be perfect if only Trisha got along with Christina's controlling boyfriend, Tucker, who is trying to convince Christina not to go away for college. Their lives are forever changed when one night Tucker drives them all home from a basketball game. He hits black ice and the car overturns. Tucker walks away with barely a scratch, but Trisha is injured, Cody is in a coma, and Christina is dead. Those that are left must learn to heal, in order for their lives to move on.

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

Three Novels

Three of Lurlene McDaniel's bestselling novels in one volume. Readers will relate to the compassion and strength of the characters as they piece their lives back together after tragedy strikes.

Letting Go of Lisa
Nathan Malone has been home schooled his whole life. He hasn't spent much time with kids his own age, let alone dated. Now that his mother is busy with his new twin sisters, he must enroll at the local high school for his senior year. On the first day of school a girl catches his eye. Lisa is a loner and doesn't care what anybody thinks of her. Nathan is intrigued. When he and Lisa finally start spending time together, he is the happiest he's ever been. But Lisa has a tragic secret and when she decides to deal with it herself, Nathan has to make a choice. Can he ever let go of Lisa?

Saving Jessica
Jessica McMillan and Jeremy Travino are a perfect couple. When they met in high school, Jessica's upbeat spirit helped Jeremy to see that there must be a reason he was spared in the car accident that killed his brother. But now Jessica has been diagnosed with kidney failure. Her only hope is a kidney transplant but no one in her family is a match. Jeremy can't watch another person he loves die. He believes that his life was spared so he could save Jessica by donating a kidney. But his parents are terrified of losing their only child. Will Jeremy go against his parents' wishes to do what he must to save Jessica?

Telling Christina Goodbye
Trisha Thompson and her best friend, Christina, are having a great senior year. Trisha and her boyfriend are making plans to attend Indiana University, and Christina received a scholarship to the University of Vermont. Everything would be perfect if only Trisha got along with Christina's controlling boyfriend, Tucker, who is trying to convince Christina not to go away for college. Their lives are forever changed when one night Tucker drives them all home from a basketball game. He hits black ice and the car overturns. Tucker walks away with barely a scratch, but Trisha is injured, Cody is in a coma, and Christina is dead. Those that are left must learn to heal, in order for their lives to move on.



Keep Me in Your Heart

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Tonya Hurley

Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

And if I should die before I awake,

I pray the popular attend my wake.

Charlotte Usher feels practically invisible at school, and then one day she really is invisible. Even worse: she's dead. And all because she choked on a gummy bear. But being dead doesn't stop Charlotte from wanting to be popular; it just makes her more creative about achieving her goal.

If you thought high school was a matter of life or death, wait till you see just how true that is. In this satirical, yet heartfelt novel, Hurley explores the invisibility we all feel at some times and the lengths we'll go to be seen.

Praise for ghostgirl:

* Polished dark-and-deadpan humor, it's a natural fit with Gen Y, too." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

* "[Tonya] beats out witty teen-speak like a punk-band drummer, keeping the narrative fast-paced and fun yet thought-provokingly heartwarming. Goofy, ghastly, intelligent, electrifying." --Kirkus (starred review)

*"Tim Burton and Edgar Allan Poe devotees will die for this fantastic, phantasmal read." --School Library Journal (starred review)

* "Readers with a taste for black humor and satire will feast on Hurley's crisp, wise dialogue. Anticipate a well deserved cult following." --VOYA (starred review)

Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. And if I should die before I awake, I pray the popular attend my wake. Charlotte Usher feels practically invisible at school, and then one day she really is invisible. Even worse: she's dead. And all because she choked on a gummy bear. But being dead doesn't stop Charlotte from wanting to be popular; it just makes her more creative about achieving her goal. If you thought high school was a matter of life or death, wait till you see just how true that is. In this satirical, yet heartfelt novel, Hurley explores the invisibility we all feel at some times and the lengths we'll go to be seen. Praise for ghostgirl: * Polished dark-and-deadpan humor, it's a natural fit with Gen Y, too." --Publishers Weekly (starred review) * "[Tonya] beats out witty teen-speak like a punk-band drummer, keeping the narrative fast-paced and fun yet thought-provokingly heartwarming. Goofy, ghastly, intelligent, electrifying." --Kirkus (starred review) *"Tim Burton and Edgar Allan Poe devotees will die for this fantastic, phantasmal read." --School Library Journal (starred review) * "Readers with a taste for black humor and satire will feast on Hurley's crisp, wise dialogue. Anticipate a well deserved cult following." --VOYA (starred review)

Ghostgirl

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Malcolm Gladwell

From the #1 bestselling author of The Bomber Mafia, the landmark book that has revolutionized the way we understand leadership and decision making.

 

In his breakthrough bestseller The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell redefined how we understand the world around us. Now, in Blink, he revolutionizes the way we understand the world within.

 

Blink is a book about how we think without thinking, about choices that seem to be made in an instant--in the blink of an eye--that actually aren't as simple as they seem. Why are some people brilliant decision makers, while others are consistently inept? Why do some people follow their instincts and win, while others end up stumbling into error? How do our brains really work--in the office, in the classroom, in the kitchen, and in the bedroom? And why are the best decisions often those that are impossible to explain to others?

 

In Blink we meet the psychologist who has learned to predict whether a marriage will last, based on a few minutes of observing a couple; the tennis coach who knows when a player will double-fault before the racket even makes contact with the ball; the antiquities experts who recognize a fake at a glance. Here, too, are great failures of "blink": the election of Warren Harding; "New Coke"; and the shooting of Amadou Diallo by police.

 

Blink reveals that great decision makers aren't those who process the most information or spend the most time deliberating, but those who have perfected the art of "thin-slicing"--filtering the very few factors that matter from an overwhelming number of variables.

The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Blink

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Jonathan Miles

Sometimes the planes don’t fly on time.

Bennie Ford, a fifty-three-year-old failed poet turned translator, is traveling to his estranged daughter’s wedding when his flight is canceled. Stuck with thousands of fuming passengers in the purgatory of O’Hare airport, he watches the clock tick and realizes that he will miss the ceremony. Frustrated, irate, and helpless, Bennie does the only thing he can: he starts to write a letter. But what begins as a hilariously excoriating demand for a refund soon becomes a lament for a life gone awry, for years misspent, talent wasted, and happiness lost. A man both sinned against and sinning, Bennie writes in a voice that is a marvel of lacerating wit, heart-on-sleeve emotion, and wide-ranging erudition, underlined by a consistent groundnote of regret for the actions of a lifetime -- and made all the more urgent by the fading hope that if he can just make it to the wedding, he might have a chance to do something right.

A margarita blend of outrage, wicked humor, vulnerability, intelligence, and regret, Dear American Airlines gives new meaning to the term “airport novel” and announces the emergence of major new talent in American fiction.

A Novel

Sometimes the planes don't fly on time.

Bennie Ford, a fifty-three-year-old failed poet turned translator, is traveling to his estranged daughter's wedding when his flight is canceled. Stuck with thousands of fuming passengers in the purgatory of O'Hare airport, he watches the clock tick and realizes that he will miss the ceremony. Frustrated, irate, and helpless, Bennie does the only thing he can: he starts to write a letter. But what begins as a hilariously excoriating demand for a refund soon becomes a lament for a life gone awry, for years misspent, talent wasted, and happiness lost. A man both sinned against and sinning, Bennie writes in a voice that is a marvel of lacerating wit, heart-on-sleeve emotion, and wide-ranging erudition, underlined by a consistent groundnote of regret for the actions of a lifetime -- and made all the more urgent by the fading hope that if he can just make it to the wedding, he might have a chance to do something right.

A margarita blend of outrage, wicked humor, vulnerability, intelligence, and regret, Dear American Airlines gives new meaning to the term "airport novel" and announces the emergence of major new talent in American fiction.

Dear American Airlines

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Harry H. Harrison

What things does every college student need to know? In 1001 Things Every College Student Needs to Know , Harry H. Harrison Jr. provides practical advice ranging from classroom enrollment, living on campus, study habits, and more, that every student and parent will benefit from.

This book is a solid gift if you know a college student that needs a little wisdom


Financial advice while attending school
Handling parental expectations and being away from home
Taking care of your mental health and maintaining your faith
Taking and mastering multiple choice tests
Creating healthy relationships with your professors
Selecting classes, surviving campus life, and writing a college paper
Participating in groups and handling various personality types
College students will appreciate the author's witty yet relatable tone. 1001 Things Every College Student Needs to Know is a great resource for high school graduates and new college students

Like Buying Your Books Before Exams Start

Harrison's latest dose of trademark wit and wisdom provides practical advice ranging from class enrollment and living on campus to study habits and more, that every student--and parent--can benefit from.

1001 Things Every College Student Needs to Know

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Christine Schutt

In 1997, at the distinguished Siddons School on Manhattan's Upper East Side, the school year opens with distressing news: Astra Dell is suffering from a rare disease. Astra's friends try to reconcile the sick girl's suffering with their own fierce longings and impetuous attachments. Car writes unsparing letters, which the dirty Marlene, in her devotion, then steals. Other classmates carry on: The silly team of Suki and Alex pursue Will Bliss while the subversive Lisa Van de Ven makes dates with Miss Wilkes. The world of private schools and privilege in New York City is funny, poignant, cruel, and at its heart is a sick girl, Astra Dell, "that pale girl from the senior class, the dancer with all the hair, the red hair, knotted or braided or let to fall to her waist, a fever and she consumed."

National Book Award Finalist Christine Schutt has created a wickedly original tale of innocence, daring and illness.

As Astra Dell, a senior suffering from cancer, fights for her life in the hospital, her privileged classmates at Siddons, a posh private school in New York City, struggle with their own concerns over boys, exams, dance recitals, college applications . . . and Astra Dell. By the author of the critically acclaimed Florida. Reprint.

All Souls

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Keigo Higashino

Alexander O. Smith

Now a major motion picture on Netflix, Jaane Jaan

Yasuko Hanaoka is a divorced, single mother who thought she had finally escaped her abusive ex-husband Togashi. When he shows up one day to extort money from her, threatening both her and her teenaged daughter Misato, the situation quickly escalates into violence and Togashi ends up dead on her apartment floor. Overhearing the commotion, Yasuko's next door neighbor, middle-aged high school mathematics teacher Ishigami, offers his help, disposing not only of the body but plotting the cover-up step-by-step.
When the body turns up and is identified, Detective Kusanagi draws the case and Yasuko comes under suspicion. Kusanagi is unable to find any obvious holes in Yasuko's manufactured alibi and yet is still sure that there's something wrong. Kusanagi brings in Dr. Manabu Yukawa, a physicist and college friend who frequently consults with the police. Yukawa, known to the police by the nickname Professor Galileo, went to college with Ishigami. After meeting up with him again, Yukawa is convinced that Ishigami had something to do with the murder. What ensues is a high level battle of wits, as Ishigami tries to protect Yasuko by outmaneuvering and outthinking Yukawa, who faces his most clever and determined opponent yet.

A Detective Galileo Novel

Yasuko Hanaoka is a divorced, single mother who thought she had finally escaped her abusive ex-husband Togashi. When he shows up one day to extort money from her, threatening both her and her teenaged daughter Misato, the situation quickly escalates into violence and Togashi ends up dead on her apartment floor. Overhearing the commotion, Yasuko's next door neighbor, middle-aged high school mathematics teacher Ishigami, offers his help, disposing not only of the body but plotting the cover-up step-by-step. When the body turns up and is identified, Detective Kusanagi draws the case and Yasuko comes under suspicion. Kusanagi is unable to find any obvious holes in Yasuko's manufactured alibi and yet is still sure that there's something wrong. Kusanagi brings in Dr. Manabu Yukawa, a physicist and college friend who frequently consults with the police. Yukawa, known to the police by the nickname Professor Galileo, went to college with Ishigami. After meeting up with him again, Yukawa is convinced that Ishigami had something to do with the murder. What ensues is a high level battle of wits, as Ishigami tries to protect Yasuko by outmaneuvering and outthinking Yukawa, who faces his most clever and determined opponent yet.

The Devotion of Suspect X

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Lisa See

In nineteenth-century China, in a remote Hunan county, a girl named Lily, at the tender age of seven, is paired with a laotong, “old same,” in an emotional match that will last a lifetime. The laotong, Snow Flower, introduces herself by sending Lily a silk fan on which she’s painted a poem in nu shu, a unique language that Chinese women created in order to communicate in secret, away from the influence of men.

As the years pass, Lily and Snow Flower send messages on fans, compose stories on handkerchiefs, reaching out of isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments. Together, they endure the agony of foot-binding, and reflect upon their arranged marriages, shared loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood. The two find solace, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a misunderstanding arises, their deep friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart.

Lily is haunted by memories–of who she once was, and of a person, long gone, who defined her existence. She has nothing but time now, as she recounts the tale of Snow Flower, and asks the gods for forgiveness. In nineteenth-century China, when wives and daughters were foot-bound and lived in almost total seclusion, the women in one remote Hunan county developed their own secret code for communication: nu shu (“women’s writing”). Some girls were paired with laotongs, “old sames,” in emotional matches that lasted throughout their lives. They painted letters on fans, embroidered messages on handkerchiefs, and composed stories, thereby reaching out of their isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments. With the arrival of a silk fan on which Snow Flower has composed for Lily a poem of introduction in nu shu, their friendship is sealed and they become “old sames” at the tender age of seven. As the years pass, through famine and rebellion, they reflect upon their arranged marriages, loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood. The two find solace, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a misunderstanding arises, their lifelong friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a brilliantly realistic journey back to an era of Chinese history that is as deeply moving as it is sorrowful. With the period detail and deep resonance of Memoirs of a Geisha, this lyrical and emotionally charged novel delves into one of the most mysterious of human relationships: female friendship.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

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Carla Buckley

Everything seems quiet on Ann Brooks’s suburban cul-de-sac. Despite her impending divorce, she’s created a happy home and her daughters are adjusting to the change. She feels lucky to be in a supportive community and confident that she can handle any other hardship that life may throw her way. But then, right before Thanksgiving, a crisis strikes that turns everybody’s world upside down. Suddenly her estranged husband is forced back onto her doorstep, bringing with him his beautiful graduate assistant. Trapped inside the house she once called home, confronted by challenges she never could have imagined, Ann must make life-or-death decisions in an environment where the simple act of opening a door to a neighbor could jeopardize all she holds dear.

The choices she makes will impact the lives of those around her irrevocably and linger in the reader’s memory in this marvelous first novel, written with authority, grace, and wisdom.

Everything seems quiet on Ann Brooks's suburban cul-de-sac. Despite her impending divorce, she's created a happy home and her daughters are adjusting to the change. She feels lucky to be in a supportive community and confident that she can handle any other hardship that life may throw her way. But then, right before Thanksgiving, a crisis strikes that turns everybody's world upside down. Suddenly her estranged husband is forced back onto her doorstep, bringing with him his beautiful graduate assistant. Trapped inside the house she once called home, confronted by challenges she never could have imagined, Ann must make life-or-death decisions in an environment where the simple act of opening a door to a neighbor could jeopardize all she holds dear.

The choices she makes will impact the lives of those around her irrevocably and linger in the reader's memory in this marvelous first novel, written with authority, grace, and wisdom.

The Things That Keep Us Here

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Cat Patrick

In this heartfelt and powerfully affecting coming of age story, a neurodivergent 7th grader is determined to find her missing best friend before it's too late. Now in paperback.

Things never seem to go as easily for thirteen-year-old Frankie as they do for her sister, Tess. Unlike Tess, Frankie is neurodivergent. In her case, that means she can't stand to be touched, loud noises bother her, she's easily distracted, she hates changes in her routine, and she has to go see a therapist while other kids get to hang out at the beach. It also means Frankie has trouble making friends. She did have one--Colette--but they're not friends anymore. It's complicated.

Then, just weeks before the end of seventh grade, Colette unexpectedly shows up at Frankie's door. The next morning, Colette vanishes. Now, after losing Colette yet again, Frankie's convinced that her former best friend left clues behind that only she can decipher, so she persuades her reluctant sister to help her unravel the mystery of Colette's disappearance before it's too late.

A powerful story of friendship, sisters, and forgiveness, Tornado Brain is an achingly honest portrait of a young girl trying to find space to be herself. Inspired by her own neurodiverse child, Cat Patrick writes with authenticity and sincerity in her depiction of Frankie in what is ultimately a love letter to neurodiverse children everywhere.

Seventh-grader Frankie, who has various sensory disorders, is determined to find her missing best friend, Colette, before it is too late.

Tornado Brain

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Cassandra Clare

What price is too high to pay, even for love? Plunge into fifth installment the internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series and “prepare to be hooked” (Entertainment Weekly).

The New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments continues—and so do the thrills and danger for Jace, Clary, and Simon.

What price is too high to pay, even for love? When Jace and Clary meet again, Clary is horrified to discover that the demon Lilith’s magic has bound her beloved Jace together with her evil brother Sebastian, and that Jace has become a servant of evil. The Clave is out to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. As Alec, Magnus, Simon, and Isabelle wheedle and bargain with Seelies, demons, and the merciless Iron Sisters to try to save Jace, Clary plays a dangerous game of her own. The price of losing is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she still trust him? Or is he truly lost?

Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series.

The Mortal Instruments Book 5

When Jace vanishes with Sebastian, Clary and the Shadowhunters struggle to piece together their shattered world and Clary infiltrates the group planning the world's destruction.

City of Lost Souls

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Kathleen Ernst

PS: EX-LIBRARY BOOK

Kit Kittredge is back, in a mystery that takes place in the Cincinnati Zoo! Kit lands a summer job writing a children’s column for her local newspaper and looks for story ideas at the Cincinnati Zoo, where her friend Stirling works as a guide and her old friend Will, the hobo, has a job cleaning cages. As Kit noses around, she stumbles into some strange activities in the monkey house. Meanwhile, Kit begins to notice small things missing at home too. It’s not long before Will looks like the logical suspect in both places. Can Kit clear her friend-and get a good story in the bargain? Fireworks fly as Kit’s mystery is solved at the zoo’s grand Fourth of July spectacular. Includes a full-color Looking Back historical essay.

A Kit Mystery

While working as a reporter during her summer vacation in 1935, Kit uncovers a mystery at the Cincinnati Zoo involving suspected break-ins at the monkey house.

Danger at the Zoo

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Hart Alison

PS: EX-LIBRARY BOOK

When Molly’s aunt flies in for a visit, she unknowingly brings trouble - and a frightening mystery. While searching for clues, Molly discovers that even on the home front, war can change friends and family forever. At the end of the story, the Looking Back section provides historical and interesting facts about Molly’s time period.

A Molly Mystery

During a visit to her grandparents' Illinois farm in 1944, ten-year-old Molly tries to prove the innocence of a German-American neighbor whom the FBI suspects of smuggling anti-American propaganda. Includes historical notes about life on the home front in World War II.

Spy on the Home Front

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Alison Hart

During a stay at Grammy and Granpa?s farm in the summer of 1944, Molly spends time with her friend Anna Schulz, the daughter of German immigrants. When Aunt Eleanor, now a WASP pilot, stops for a visit, a security check uncovers anti-American propaganda stashed aboard her plane. The FBI interrogates Eleanor but quickly zeroes in on another suspect - Anna?s 17-year-old brother Max. Molly and Anna look for the real traitor. With lots of daring and a little luck, the girls manage to finger the culprit - but they discover that that may not be enough to save Max. Molly realizes that wartime, even on the home front, changes friends and family forever. Includes a full-color "Loking Back" historical essay. Paperbacks also include a tear-off postcard.

A Spy on the Home Front

Sarah Masters Buckey

P.S: EX-LIBRARY BOOK

Uncle Gard and Aunt Cornelia’s New York City brownstone is being expanded to make more room for Samantha and the three O’Malley sisters. While the renovation is underway, the family moves to an apartment on the top floor of Ravenscourt, a fashionable new 13-story apartment-hotel. Samantha is excited about their luxurious new home-until she learns there’s a terrible curse on the building’s owner, Horace Raven! Are strange things happening because of the curse-or is something else scaring the residents from Ravenscourt? It’s up to Samantha and Nellie to find out! Includes a Looking Back historical essay.

A Samantha Mystery

Uncle Gard and Aunt Cornelia's New York City brownstone is being expanded to make more room for Samantha and the three O'Malley sisters. While the renovation is underway, the family moves to an apartment on the top floor of Ravenscourt, a fashionable new 13-story apartment-hotel.- Samantha is excited about their luxurious new digs - until she learns there's a terrible curse on the building's owner, Horace Raven! Are strange things happening because of the curse or is something else scaring the residents from Ravenscourt? It?s up to Samantha and Nellie to find out! Includes a full-color - Looking Back - historical essay.

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