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Mistry at Dawn
Claire Merchant
Synopsis: Continue the mystery of Taylor's supernatural life, as we discover answers to impossible questions about her fate as a screaming banshee. Taylor Mistry yearns for understanding to control her curse and continue to protect Harper, the love of her life. Both share the burden of living their life according to the lunar calendar. With each full moon Taylor turns into a screaming white woman who guides other supernaturals into the afterlife, whilst Harper transforms into a dangerous werewolf. Both supernatural creatures reach out to those around them in South Coast to find answers - for with knowledge comes power but it seems it is also followed by life altering danger. Although Taylor is beginning to accept her fate, the twenty-two year old is faced with her own mortality sooner than anyone ever imagined. Revenge is a powerful weapon, sometimes more powerful than the strongest of loves. Will such a love be enough to keep Taylor and her supernatural companions out of harm's way? Or will she have to make the ultimate sacrifice to keep them all safe?
Publication Date: 01/22/16
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Those We Fear
Victoria Griffith
Synopsis: When a dangerous situation forces 18-year-old Maria to leave her Boston home, she’s swept away to Scotland as part of the Witness Protection Program. In a strange land, with a new name, Maria hides out as an au pair to the Carlisle family at the mysterious Harley Estate. Already known as an “over-feeler”—and paranoid for good reason—Maria is spooked by the mysterious behavior of the Harley residents: from the oddly eccentric kids in her care, to the miserly nurse with the sheet-white skin, to the attractive yet broody eldest son, Jonathan. As the days pass, the vanishing portraits, cloaked figures, and mysterious humming in the dead of night could perhaps be explained away, but it’s the discovery of the Harley’s macabre and deadly family history that confirms Maria's growing fears and suspicions are more than just over-sensitive nerves; that she may have fallen into something even more horrifying and threatening than what she left behind—something perhaps not even of this world. Written with lush Scottish imagery, chilling suspense, and an addicting intensity, Griffith brings a vibrant, young contemporary edge to the classic gothic mystery. And make no mistake, skin will crawl.
Publication Date: 01/04/16
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal
The History Major
Michael Phillip Cash
Synopsis: After a vicious fight with her boyfriend followed by a night of heavy partying, college freshman Amanda Greene wakes up in her dorm room to find things are not the same as they were yesterday. She can't quite put her finger on it. She's sharing her room with a peculiar stranger. Amanda discovers she's registered for classes she would never choose with people that are oddly familiar. An ominous shadow is stalking her. Uncomfortable memories are bubbling dangerously close to her fracturing world, propelling her to an inevitable collision between fantasy and reality. Is this the mother of all hangovers or is something bigger happening?
Publication Date: 12/17/15
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Fiction
Midnight Mistry (The Mistry Trilogy)
Synopsis: Step into a supernatural world to encounter werewolves, vampires, grim reapers and banshees, but most of all, to encounter an epic love story between two, what should be, impossible lovers. Taylor Mistry, a veterinary student living in South Coast, is about to embark on the biggest adventure of her life. A shocking discovery about her future as a human not only endangers her own safety, but the safety of everyone she loves and holds dear. It is now up to Taylor and her supernatural friends to uncover the secrets behind her curse and find out if there is anything that can be done to stop it, or whether she is doomed to accept her fate and what that fate means to those close to her. It is only through an unthinkable romance that Taylor learns the sacrifices that can be made, the power that can be held and the strength that can be possessed through the most natural feeling on this earth; love.
Publication Date: 11/26/15
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Romance
Writing Standout Résumés: A Guide to Help Recent Graduates
Synopsis: Neil O'Donnell's résumé guide provides recent college and high school graduates with an easy to follow guide for writing a résumé that looks professional and will get graduates noticed by employers and graduate schools. With an entire chapter containing career-specific résumé filler, this is THE guide to get graduates ready for their first job search. With the addition of O'Donnell's free online resources, this guide is the perfect launch pad for students' careers.
Publication Date: 11/26/15
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Nonfiction
My Life Hereafter
Lynette Ferreira
Synopsis: We all have a little man on our shoulder, but for Sunel, that little voice went one step too far when she played a prank on the school bus. She never, for a second, thought about the consequences.

They arrive in a large, white hall and her friend asks, Is this Heaven? but no one knows because everything looks exactly the same as before.

The twins, Mark and David, were also on the bus, but David did not come here with them. David was sent across the valley to the other side.

Mark convinces Sunel to help him find his brother, no matter what the dangers might be.

And now, she is in a battle between death or a second chance--and it is not just her. In an effort to save her friends, she will have to risk not only her life but also her soul.
Publication Date: 11/18/15
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal
This Way Home
Wes Moore, Shawn Goodman
Synopsis: “Brimming with hard realities about the choices we make, the friendships we keep, and the unlikely allies we find along the way, this affecting novel helps to fill the gaping hole left by Walter Dean Myers’s passing.” —Booklist
 
“A taut, haunting tragedy.” —Kirkus Reviews
 
One young man searches for a place to call home in this gut-wrenching, honest novel from New York Times bestselling author Wes Moore and cowriter Shawn Goodman.
 
Elijah Thomas knows one thing better than anyone around him: basketball. But when a sinister street gang, Blood Street Nation, wants him and his team members to wear the Nation’s colors in the next big tournament, Elijah’s love of the game is soon thrown into jeopardy.
 
The boys gather their courage and take a stand against the gang, but at a terrible cost. Now Elijah must struggle to balance hope and fear, revenge and forgiveness, to save his neighborhood. For help, he turns to the most unlikely of friends: Banks, a gruff ex–military man, and his beautiful and ambitious daughter. Together, the three work on a plan to destroy Blood Street and rebuild the community they all call home.
 
This Way Home is a story about reclamation. It’s about taking a stand for what matters most, and the discovery that, in the end, hope, love, and courage are our most powerful weapons.
 
Publication Date: 11/10/15
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Fiction
Stories from History's Dust Bin, Volume 1
Synopsis: Stories from History's Dust Bin (vols 1-3) named the Arizona Book of the Year for 2016.

Stories from History's Dust Bin is a 3-volume set of historical vignettes, each volume containing over 120 short stories, each of which can be read in fifteen minutes or less. The books make perfect companions for travel, relaxing near the pool, great substitutes for in-flight magazines, and ideal for those times when you're stuck in the doctor's waiting room.

The books feature the unusual, such as the story of Mary Toft who, in 1726, had a lot of folks, including members of King George's court, convinced she had given birth to nine rabbits; and the story of Franz Haydn, the Father of Music, whose head was stolen after his death in 1809, and remained so for 145 years before being reunited with its body, and the story about Larry Walters, who in 1982, "slipped the surly bonds of earth," in a Sears & Roebuck lawn chair, to which were affixed 45 army surplus helium balloons. After leveling off, two pilots (TWA &Delta) radioed the Long Beach, California, tower that a guy in a lawn chair had just smiled and waved to them at 16,000 feet. Those are but three of the 366 stories contained in the set.
Publication Date: 11/04/15
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Short Story
See No Color
Shannon Gibney
Synopsis:

"Transracial adoption is never oversimplified, airbrushed, or sentimentalized, but instead, it's portrayed with bracing honesty as the messy institution it is: rearranging families, blending cultural and biological DNA, loss and joy. An exceptionally accomplished debut." -- Kirkus, starred review

For as long as she can remember, sixteen-year-old Alex Kirtridge has known two things about herself: She's a stellar baseball player. She's adopted.

Alex has had a comfortable childhood in Madison, Wisconsin. Despite some teasing, being a biracial girl in a wealthy white family hasn't been that big a deal. What mattered was that she was a star on the diamond, where her father, a former Major Leaguer, coached her hard and counted on her to make him proud. But now, things are changing: she meets Reggie, the first black guy who's wanted to get to know her; she discovers the letters from her biological father that her adoptive parents have kept from her; and her changing body starts to affect her game. Suddenly, Alex begins to question who she really is. She's always dreamed of playing pro baseball just like her father, but can she really do it? Does she truly fit in with her white family? Who were her biological parents? What does it mean to be black? If she's going to find answers, Alex has to come to terms with her adoption, her race, and the dreams she thought would always guide her.

- Winner of the Minnesota Book Award
- A Kirkus Reviews Best Teen book of the Year
- A Bank Street College Best Children's Book of the Year

Publication Date: 11/01/15
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Fiction
Placebo Junkies
J.C. Carleson
Synopsis: Going Bovine meets Trainspotting in this gritty portrait of at-risk teens gaming the prescription drug trial system.
 
Meet Audie: Professional lab rat. Guinea pig. Serial human test subject. For Audie and her friends, “volunteering” for pharmaceutical drug trials means a quick fix and easy cash.
Sure, there’s the occasional nasty side effect, but Audie’s got things under control. If Monday’s pill causes a rash, Tuesday’s ointment usually clears it right up. Wednesday’s injection soothes the sting from Tuesday’s “cure,” and Thursday’s procedure makes her forget all about Wednesday’s headache. By the time Friday rolls around, there’s plenty of cash in hand and perhaps even a slot in a government-funded psilocybin study, because WEEKEND!
 
But the best fix of all is her boyfriend, Dylan, whose terminal illness just makes them even more compatible. He’s turning eighteen soon, so Audie is saving up to make it an unforgettable birthday. That means more drug trials than ever before, but Dylan is worth it.
No pain, no gain, Audie tells herself as the pills wear away at her body and mind. No pain, no gain, she repeats as her grip on reality starts to slide. . . .
 
Raw and irreverent, Placebo Junkies will captivate readers until the very end, when author J. C. Carleson leans in for a final twist of the knife.
Publication Date: 10/27/15
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Mystery
Illuminae: The Illuminae Files_01
Jay Kristoff, Amie Kaufman
Synopsis: For fans of Marie Lu comes the first book in an epic series that bends the sci-fi genre into a new dimension.
 
 “A truly beautiful novel that redefines the form." —Victoria Aveyard, bestselling author of Red Queen

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do. This afternoon, her planet was invaded.
      The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than a speck at the edge of the universe. Now with enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to evacuate with a hostile warship in hot pursuit.
     But their problems are just getting started. A plague has broken out and is mutating with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a web of data to find the truth, it’s clear the only person who can help her is the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.
      Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, maps, files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.
 
“Prepare yourselves for Illuminae.” —EW.com
 
“[Y]ou’re not in for an ordinary novel experience. . . .”  —Bustle.com
 
“A truly interactive experience. . . . A fantastically fun ride.” —MTV.com
 
★ “[O]ut-of-this-world awesome.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred
 
★ “…stylistically mesmerizing.” —Publishers Weekly, starred
 
★ “[A]n arresting visual experience.”—Booklist, starred
  
★ “[A] game-changer.” —Shelf Awareness, starred

“Brace yourself. You're about to be immersed in a mindscape that you'll never want to leave.”  —Marie Lu, bestselling author of the Legend trilogy
 
"Genre: Undefinable. Novel: Unforgettable." —Kami Garcia, bestselling coauthor of Beautiful Creatures & author of Unbreakable
 
“An exuberant mix of space opera, romance, zombies, hackers, and political thrills.”  —Scott Westerfeld, bestselling author of  Zeroes and Uglies
 
“Stunningly creative. Smart, funny, and romantic.”  —Veronica Rossi, bestselling author of Under the Never Sky
 
“This is one of those rare books that will truly keep your heart pounding.” —Beth Revis, bestselling author of Across the Universe
 
“This book is xxxxing awesome.”
—Laini Taylor, bestselling author of Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Publication Date: 10/20/15
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Fiction
The Emperor of Any Place
Tim Wynne-Jones
Synopsis: The ghosts of war reverberate across the generations in a riveting, time-shifting story within a story from acclaimed thriller writer Tim Wynne-Jones.

When Evan’s father dies suddenly, Evan finds a hand-bound yellow book on his desk—a book his dad had been reading when he passed away. The book is the diary of a Japanese soldier stranded on a small Pacific island in WWII. Why was his father reading it? What is in this account that Evan’s grandfather, whom Evan has never met before, fears so much that he will do anything to prevent its being seen? And what could this possibly mean for Evan? In a pulse-quickening mystery evoking the elusiveness of truth and the endurance of wars passed from father to son, this engrossing novel is a suspenseful, at times terrifying read from award-winning author Tim Wynne-Jones.
Publication Date: 10/13/15
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Historical Fiction
MARTians
Blythe Woolston
Synopsis: In a near-future world of exurban decay studded with big box stores, daily routine revolves around shopping—for those who can. For Zoë, the mission is simpler: live.

Last girl Zoë Zindleman, numerical ID 009-99-9999, is starting work at AllMART, where "your smile is the AllMART welcome mat.” Her living arrangements are equally bleak: she can wait for her home to be foreclosed and stripped of anything valuable now that AnnaMom has moved away, leaving Zoë behind, or move to the Warren, an abandoned strip-mall-turned-refuge for other left-behinds. With a handful of other disaffected, forgotten kids, Zoë must find her place in a world that has consumed itself beyond redemption. She may be a last girl, but her name means “life,” and Zoë isn’t ready to disappear into the AllMART abyss. Zoë wants to live.
Publication Date: 10/13/15
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
In Real Life
Lawrence Tabak
Synopsis: Fifteen-year-old math prodigy Seth Gordon knows exactly what he wants to do with his life—play video games. Every spare minute is devoted to honing his skills at Starfare, the world's most popular computer game. His goal: South Korea, where the top pros are rich and famous. But the best players train all day, while Seth has school and a job and divorced parents who agree on only one thing: "Get off that damn computer." Plus there's a new distraction named Hannah, an aspiring photographer who actually seems to understand his obsession.

While Seth mopes about his tournament results and mixed signals from Hannah, Team Anaconda, one of the leading Korean pro squads, sees something special. Before he knows it, it's goodbye Kansas, goodbye Hannah, and hello to the strange new world of Korea. But the reality is more complicated than the fantasy, as he faces cultural shock, disgruntled teammates, and giant pots of sour-smelling kimchi.

What happens next surprises Seth. Slowly, he comes to make new friends, and discovers what might be a breakthrough, mathematical solution to the challenges of Starcraft. Delving deeper into the formulas takes him in an unexpected direction, one that might just give him a new focus—and reunite him with Hannah.
Publication Date: 10/13/15
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Romance
Birds of Passage, An Italian Immigrant Coming of Age Story
Synopsis: "With Birds of Passage, Joe Giordano delivers a rollicking, wholly entertaining take on the Italian immigrant story. His rich cast of characters arrives seeking the usual: Money, honor, love, respect, a decent shot at the pursuit of happiness. But things get complicated fast as they plunge into the rough-and-tumble world of rackets, scams, and politics of early 20th-century New York City. Giordano serves up a thick, satisfying slice of the entire era in all its raw and brutal glory."

Ben Fountain, author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, soon to be a major motion picture directed by Ang Lee.
Publication Date: 10/08/15
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Historical Fiction
Either the Beginning or the End of the World
Synopsis: For sixteen years, it's been just Sofie and her father, living on the New Hampshire coast. Her Cambodian immigrant mother has floated in and out of her life, leaving Sofie with a fierce bitterness toward her and a longing she wishes she could outgrow.

Then she meets Luke, an army medic back from Afghanistan, and the pull between them is as strong as the current of the rushing Piscataqua River. But Luke is still plagued by the trauma of war, as if he's lost with the ghosts in his past. Sofie's dad orders her to stay away; it may be the first time she has ever disobeyed him.

When Sofie is forced to stay with her mother and grandmother while her dad's away, she is confronted with their memories of the ruthless Khmer Rouge, a war-torn countryside, and deeds of heartbreaking human devotion.

As Sofie and Luke navigate a forbidden landscape, they discover they both have their secrets, their scars, their wars.  Together, they'll discover what extraordinary acts love can demand.
Publication Date: 10/01/15
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Fiction

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