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Jezebel and the Star Monster
Jezebel and the Star Monster
Cameron Glenn
A dark fairy tale for adults and young adults calling for struggle and hope among dispiriting times.

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The Star of the Serpent
The Star of The Serpent
If you were there… You would have heard a surprising story about the mystical star that today inspires the annual crowning of cultivated saplings and the proud decoration of many homes. A star believed by many sent to glorify a newborn king. But there is a sinister side to the tale many have never been told. It is the untold story of a manipulated star that led unsuspecting astrologers to a jealous king bent on eliminating a rightful ruler. An artful star that indirectly influenced a hidden infanticide that neither clerics nor profiteers want to talk about or remembered. A pretending star of light guided by one known as "the serpent".

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Mirror Me
Mirror Me
Hannah McCauley doesn't look at herself in the mirror anymore. After a rebellious past, she now attends a strict private school in a new town, where her recently divorced mother has put her on social lockdown. No driving. No bad grades. No skipping classes. No unapproved friends. No makeup. No boys. And the subject of her best friend from her old school is definitely forbidden. Hannah is being punished for something that happened a year earlier, something that she would like to put behind her. But strange occurrences frighten her, and she's accused of breaking rules and doing other terrible things without any recollection of them. No one believes her, so she starts distrusting everything, even her own reflection. Is she being haunted by her past? Stalked by someone with a grudge? Or is it all in her head? If she doesn't figure out what's happening fast, her existence could end up irreparably shattered.

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Josie and the Trouble with Trash (Josie Goes Green)
Josie and the Trouble with Trash
Antonia Bruno, Kenny Bruno, Beth Handman
Will Josie Win the War on Waste? Trash is piling up all over Brooklyn. Where does all this trash come from? And where does it all go? Josie and the gang become trash detectives. But this time, they have to organize their teachers too. And just as they are making progress, Josie’s brother Damien, who has been acting strangely, disappears! That leads to the biggest surprise yet in the Josie Goes Green series.

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From the Publisher

Nefertiti, the Spidernaut: The Jumping Spider Who Learned to Hunt in Space
Nefertiti, the Spidernaut
Top Choice
2017 National Science Teacher's Association Outstanding Science Trade Book2016-17 Alabama Camellia Children's Choice Book Award reading listTHE AMAZING VOYAGE OF NEFERTITI, THE SPIDERNAUT --Most spiders spin a web and passively wait for prey to come to them. Jumping spiders, by contrast, actively hunt by jumping to catch their food. What if a jumping spider was sent to the International Space Station? When it jumped, it would simply float. No one knew if the spider could hunt in a weightless environment.This nonfiction picture book for elementary kids chronicles the amazing voyage of Nefertiti, the Spidernaut to the International Space Station and back. She's a Phiddipus johnsonii, or Johnson jumping spider, native to western United States. Her colorful anatomy--red, black and teal--made for stunning photography and video. In 2012, Nefertiti clocked a record-breaking 100 days in space, during which time she circled Earth about 1584 times, traveling about 41,580,000 miles.Astronaut Sunita Williams, Captain U.S. Navy said, "It was a suspense story for me as it happened. I didn't know if she would survive when I unpacked her for the first time, or when I packed her up and sent her back home to Earth."This is an astonishing story of change: through the dark and cold, in spite of being weightless and isolated, this incredible spider adapted and learned to hunt. Against all odds, she survived to return to Earth, where she had to re-adapt to Earth's gravity. Nefertiti's story of survival brings hope that we, too, can adapt to a changing world.Join Nefertiti in this inspiring journey into space. 

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Burn: Michael Faraday's Candle
Burn: Michael Faraday's Candle
Buy the paperback, get ebook free. Give one, keep one. COOL SCIENCE THAT WILL AWE KIDSSolid wax is somehow changed into light and heat. But how? Travel back in time to December 28, 1848 in London, England to one of the most famous juvenile science Christmas lectures at the Royal Institution. British scientist Michael Faraday (1791-1867) encouraged kids to carefully observe a candle and to try to figure out how it burned. Known as one of the best science experimenters ever, Faraday's passion was always to answer the basic questions of science: "What is the cause? Why does it occur?"Since Faraday's lecture, "The Chemical History of a Candle," was published in 1861, it's never been out of print. Oddly, till now, it's never been published as a children's picture book. Faraday originally gave seven lectures on how a candle burns. Pattison has adapted the first 6000-word lecture to about 650 words for modern elementary students. 

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The Nantucket Sea Monster: A Fake News Story
The Nantucket Sea Monster: A Fake News Story
A JUNIOR LIBRARY GUILD SELECTIONDo you believe everything you read in the newspaper?Early in August 1937, a news flash came: a sea monster had been spotted lurking off the shore of Nantucket Island. Historically, the Massachusetts island had served as port for whaling ships. Eyewitnesses swore this wasn't a whale, but some new, fearsome creature. As eyewitness account piled up, newspaper stories of the sea monster spread quickly. Across the nation, people shivered in fear.Then, footprints were found on a Nantucket beach. Photographs were sent to prominent biologists for their opinion. Discussion swirled about raising a hunting party.On August 18, news spread across the island: the sea monster had been captured. Islanders ran to the beach and couldn't believe their eyes.This nonfiction picture book is a perfect tool to discuss non-political fake news stories.Back matter discusses the freedom of the press guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Quotes from Thomas Jefferson make it clear that fake news has always been one of the costs of a free press. A Timeline lists actual events in the order they occurred. A vocabulary list defines relevant words.

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Arrows, Bones and Stones: the shadow of a child soldier (the Stones Trilogy) (Volume 2)
Arrows, Bones and Stones: the shadow of a child soldier - Book 2 in The Stones Trilogy Series
Charlie looked at Fire, then to the burning logs, and back to her again. Finally, he spoke. “If you were taken by the LRA, why can you not say it just?” Fire glanced at Charlie and sighed. “Because when you are a girl, there is more to lose.” Charlie has much to fear since escaping the Lord’s Resistance Army. If recaptured by Joseph Kony, he faces torture and death at the hands of his fellow soldiers. If he returns to his own village, many will seek revenge at the end of a hangman’s rope for killing and maiming his own people. But it is the ajiji he fears most—the haunting flashbacks and tormented nightmares of the evil deeds he has committed. When he meets Fire, the village witch doctor, Charlie sets out on a journey where he must learn to face the sun and leave the shadows of his past behind him. But many secrets can’t be revealed. And Fire, a beautiful young girl who has recently escaped from the LRA, holds the darkest secret of them all. “Arrows, Bones and Stones compellingly reveals the struggle faced by those trying to overcome childhood trauma. For youth abducted and forced to fight as child soldiers, escape is not the end of the story, but just the beginning. The shadow of their past haunts them, and the physical scars and psychological wounds cut deep. But even in the darkest hour, there is always the promise of new light. Yes, this is a story of despair, guilt, and shame, but it’s also one of resilience and hope.” - Patrick Reed, Director/Producer, Fight Like Soldiers, Die Like Children “In this second installment in the trilogy, Charlie, Fire and Sam, provide us with the necessary human contexts to the plight of girl child soldiers but also the harsh reality of losing a loved one at a young age. The gripping tale reminds us that even in the midst of inhumanity, we all have the ability to be hopeful, and have the will to survive. An incredibly well written book! I can't wait for the next one.” - Michel Chikwanine, former child soldier and author of Child Soldier: When Boys and Girls are Used in War

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Runs Good --No Reverse
Runs Good No Reverse
Mark Sills, 16, found the car on Craigslist --the ad read RUNS GOOD -NO REVERSE. He buys the car and, along with his pal Fred, decides to fix it up, but he doesn't have much experience. Oh, Mark once oiled the chain on his bike and Fred added a quart of oil to his Dad's car, but that was about it. A car with no reverse soon finds Mark in trouble with his girlfriend, her mom and his school's Vice Principal. He finds some new friends too -- an ex-Marine junkyard owner and an old lady named Agnes. The title describes the car, and also the boys --and a girl named Karen.

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From the Publisher

Vigilance & Vengeance
Vigilance & Vengeance
Eighteen-year-old Seanna had a face that was hard to forget. A blood red birthmark emblazoned across her chin is the reason why. It made her the target of taunts from bullies and the bane of the headmistress of the orphanage where she lived since birth. Her mark possesses a fiery flair she struggles to control. Consumed by a pyrokinetic ability she can either learn to control it or let it control her. Her Bitter Birthday brings the opportunity to be adopted by a real family, or so she believes. The Trident, the governing dictatorship, has found the solution to their budgetary shortfall – orphanages have replaced schools and slave houses have replaced homes. And Seanna has just had her introduction to the world outside the safety and comfort of the orphanage. A world where young adults are abused and chained in the mines as slaves of the tyrannical Trident. Using her Fiery Cinder she escapes and meets a young revolutionary hell-bent on change. He leads her in a charge against the Witch he believes to be the cause of the breakdown of the family unit – Amethyst, who also happens to be Seanna’s new adoptive “mother.” Bought and paid for by Amethyst, Seanna reels against the truth – she was given the Cinder to be the weapon that can overthrow the Trident and bring a new day to the Fourth Quarter. In a world where no one can be trusted can she trust herself to save the world or will she be the one to end it?

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