by Steve Olson I was just a baby when Mount St. Helens blew up. I remember my parents telling me about the ash fall, but I always wondered how that could be: the mountain is 500 km away. After reading Eruption: the Untold Story of Mount St. Helens by Steve Olson, now I get it. […]
by Ali SmithAli Smith’s How to Be Both is not an easy read, but it is a clever and engaging one. Split into two separate sections, one set in the Renaissance and one set in the modern era, the stream-of-consciousness style of writing can make it a challenge to grasp the two separate stories and […]
The Firebug of Balrog CountyBy David Oppegaard Mack Druneswald is a high school senior living in Balrog County. (Mack has named it Balrog County after the fiery monster in Lord of the Rings. Its real name is something as boring as the place itself.) But Mack has more to contend with than boredom. His mother […]
By Michael Grant In this alternate history set during World War II, a court decision makes women subject to the draft and eligible for service. Not just desk jobs, either – they’re going to be on the front lines. This doesn’t mean that everyone is thrilled with the idea, though – there’s still a huge […]
Secret Daughter Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda interweaves the stories of Kavita and Somer, two mothers connected by one daughter. When Somer, in America, realizes she cannot have a child of her own, she and her husband, Krishnan, decide to adopt. Kavita, having already lost one daughter in a country that favours boys, decides […]
Passenger by Alexandra BrackenA new YA historical time-travel romance novel where said time travel occurs at the sound of orchestra music and the male protagonist is African-American and our first adventure back in time puts us on a pirate ship in 1776? Was this book written just for me?!Etta is a seventeen-year-old violin prodigy. She […]
by Joshua Ferris Healthy teeth are much more important to one’s overall constitution than I ever gave them credit for. It all ties in, as I learned from reading Joshua Ferris’ To Rise Again at a Decent Hour- not a dentistry textbook but an offbeat novel about a dentist who becomes the victim of an […]
As Dead as it getsBy Katie AlenderI’ll be completely honest I was waiting for the first book in this trilogy and I got tired of waiting so instead I decided to start at the end. Here at the library we often find ourselves unable to find the first book in a series and we don’t […]
by Rainbow RowellSimon Snow is your average foster kid in England, shuttled from care home to care home during his summer holidays from Watford School of Magicks. Did I say average? Simon’s one of the most powerful mages in England. Or he would be if only he could get his magic under control. Usually when […]
Indian HorseBy Richard Wagamese Lately I have been fascinated by Canadian First Nations writers, and the writing of Richard Wagamese shimmers. Indian Horse is the story of Saul Indian Horse, an Ojibway from northern Ontario. His life is marred by the horrors of the residential schools, which systematically separated children from families and tore the […]