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The Aftermath
Jen Alexander
Synopsis: Sometimes, I dream that I'm someone else. 

A girl with dark hair who doesn't worry about hunger or thirst or running from flesh-eaters. 

In her world, those sorts of things don't exist…. 

Since the spring of 2036, when the world changed forever, Claudia and a small clan of survivors have roamed the streets of a very altered Nashville—polluted and desolate, except for the ever-present threat of cannibals. Together they must undergo punishing tests of endurance and psychological challenge—sometimes with devastating consequences—all just to live another day. 

With food and water in dwindling supply, and with danger lurking around every corner, no one can be trusted. And as her world starts to make less and less sense, Claudia begins to realize something terrifying: she is just a pawn in some sort of game, and all of her actions are being controlled from afar by a mysterious gamer. So when she meets a maddening and fascinating outsider named Declan, who claims to be a game moderator, she must decide whether to join him in exchange for protection and access to the border. 

If they play the game right, they are each other's best hope for survival—and a life beyond the only world Claudia's ever known: the terrifying live-action game known as The Aftermath.
Publication Date: 05/02/25
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Fiction
The Illuminated Forest
Edwin Fontanez, Edwin Fontanez
Synopsis: 2015 International Latino Book Award Finalist--Best Young Adult Fiction (English) 12-year-old Mateo returns to his grandparents' island to deal with a family tragedy. From the moment he arrives, a series of terrifying events turn his world upside down. A stray cat with a mohawk, a ruthless town bully, and a lost ghost mysteriously come together and change his life forever. "The Illuminated Forest" is an imaginative study in parallels: the fine lines that separate the real and the fantastic, the tangible and the mystical, the plausible and the magical. The novel's heart is contained within the atmospheric, lush descriptions of the geography of an island that breathes and feels along with the characters. "The Illuminated Forest" is at times a very human portrait populated by flawed characters trying to find balance and renewal, at other times it is a magical escape into another realm when faith has failed them. "The Illuminated Forest" is a heartfelt story told through magical realism, a literary work that seeks to delve deeply into its characters' humanity without sentimentality or trite happy endings. "FIVE STARS! TENDER, YET DELIVERED WITH A PUNCH IN ALL THE RIGHT PLACES... SOPHISTICATED SYMBOLISM AND WELL-HONED LANGUAGE TYPICAL OF FINE LITERATURE." -ForeWord Clarion Review
Publication Date: 05/02/25
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Busy Dizzy (Inspirational bedtime story for kids ages 4-8)
Synopsis: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Daisy S- HALL OF FAME - TOP 10 REVIEW - ERVINE VOICE
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"This is one of the BEST children's book I have ever read. It teaches quite the lesson in how to get rid of the DIZZY'S (negative thoughts). The pictures are colorful, easy to see even in a smaller Kindle! Parents this book is one that you will enjoy reading to your children and even enjoy it yourself. For me, it touched my heart and I really loved reading this book!
Highly recommend this book! "

A motivational bedtime picture story for children ages 4-8

"...Then suddenly David thinks he can hear, 
A strange little voice whisper into his ear: 
"It's me Bizzzzzzzy Dizzzzzzy!" that voice says to him 
"Don't run the race. There's no way you'll win!" 
So David decides that today he won't run, 
He watches his friends. 
And he misses the fun..." 


This motivational bedtime rhyming picture book for kids ages 4-8, tells the tale of Miss Young's class and their unexpected visitors: Busy Dizzies. Or, in other words, the strange little negative voice that sometimes comes near and whispers into your ear... 
A fun to read children's rhyming picture book that is suitable as a read aloud book for kindergarten and preschoolers or as a self-read book for beginning and early readers. 

"A must for all children and parents, preschool teachers, therapists and coaches ..."

Don't forget to scroll back up and grab your own copy of this beautiful picture book while the price is still low.
Publication Date: 12/21/13
Age Level: 5 - 8
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Deluge
Daniel Diehl
Synopsis: Noah’s wife and sons knew he was old but they assumed his claim of being over 600 years old was a joke. But when he begins hearing a disembodied voice claiming to be an unknown God who was about to destroy the world, they begin fearing for his sanity. When Noah insists on building a huge ship to save his family they are certain that advancing age is destroying his mind – at least that’s what they think until the mysterious strangers appear out of the desert and claim they have been sent to help Noah build his great ship. Finally accepting this strange situation, Noah’s sons agree to help build the ship, but as construction progresses relations between Noah’s family and their neighbors deteriorate into ugly confrontations and threats of violence. Then, as the ship nears completion, it begins to rain…and then the real problems start.
Publication Date: 12/20/13
Age Level: Any Age
Genre: Historical Fiction
The Purgatorium (Book One)
Synopsis: Seventeen year-old Daphne Janus is surprised when her parents agree to let her accompany her friend to a getaway resort on an island off the coast of California. They haven't let her out of their sight since last New Year's Eve, when she could no longer stand the way they looked at her. Her sister would still be alive if it weren't for Daphne. Her friend, Cam, takes her to a mostly uninhabited island with a wildlife preserve on one side and Chumash Indian ruins on the “haunted” side. Daphne decides she will have one last "hurrah" before she finishes what she started last New Year's Eve. However, things seldom go as planned... The resort is beautiful, the beach pristine, and the views from the headland amazing. The only thing missing is the boyfriend who left her when she could no longer love anyone. Then strange things begin to happen on the island that soon have Daphne running for her life. She eventually learns that her parents have sent her for experimental "suicide therapy," but when her horse bucks her off during a trail ride and she becomes lost on the haunted side of the island, she wonders if her parents have sent her there to help her or to punish her.
Publication Date: 12/16/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Series
The Crazy Things Girls Do For Love
Synopsis: In a new comedy from the best-selling author of CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE DRAMA QUEEN, two popular girls vie to out-green each other to snare a boy.

Fashion-crazy Sicilee is a poster child for over-consumption. Her archrival, Maya, wears arty vintage clothes but hasn’t a clue what’s in the food she eats. So when drop-dead gorgeous new student Cody Lightfoot sets out to spread his eco-ways—and spur the Environmental Club toward an all-out Earth Day bash—Sicilee and Maya have their work cut out to attract his attention. What if Sicilee trades her fur boots for walking shoes (even if she can’t find the school when she’s not inside a car)? What if Maya dresses in plastic bottles and bags to preach in front of the supermarket (until security is called)? Or could it be that Cody isn’t all he’ s cracked up to be, and that saving the planet really is more important than impressing a boy? With her trademark quick-fire wit, Dyan Sheldon shows just what girls will do for love—and what earth-changing realizations they might have along the way.
Publication Date: 12/10/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Chick Lit
One or Two Things I Learned About Love
Synopsis: If this first love is true love, why can’t Hildy hang out with her friends without feeling guilty? Dyan Sheldon takes on the possessive side of summer romance with humor and insight.

Hildy has only had two-and-a-half dates in her whole life, and she isn’t counting the half. It’s starting to look as if she’s never going to have a third date, or be kissed, or know a boy who is more than just a friend. Then, on an ordinary day, she meets Connor of the melt-that-ice-cap smile — and a summer that was going to be ordinary as toast turns into Hildy’s summer of love. But love for Hildy is a little more complicated than the songs and movies have led her to believe. It’s not so much girl-meets-boy-and loses-her-heart as boy-meets-girl-and-loses-his-mind. Part cautionary tale and part romantic comedy, Dyan Sheldon’s wry, diary-style novel weighs in on all ends of the relationship scale in a story of first love.
Publication Date: 12/10/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
A Force of Will A Shakespearean Fantasy Adventure
Synopsis: In the great land of Nebula, all boys reaching the age of eighteen must undertake a dangerous initiation into manhood. Will of Harken, a Prince of Noble blood, is no exception. On his eighteenth birthday, Will is sent alone to a desert isle where he must kill a vicious shape-shifting beast. The beast will test all of Will’s courage and resolve, but no more so than the evil men, who in his absence have murdered his father, and are now out to kill him. Will escapes the assassins, only to be kidnapped by sky pirates who pilot him thousands of miles from his home to be sold into slavery. Thus begins an epic journey that will take Will into the most savage and fantastical worlds ever imagined. Inspired by the works of Shakespeare, driven by the winds of Homer, and molded by the imagination of one of Hollywood’s greatest mythmakers, Mr. Wallace has invented an Elizabethan Fairy Tale and Sci-Fi Fantasy Adventure story of the grandest order. Written with a nod to the poetry and style of the Bard, those who love Shakespeare are assured of a fantastic read. And for those who love Fantasy and Adventure, be prepared for a ride on one of the most incredible literary roller coasters ever invented. Welcome to the strange and beautiful world of D.J. Wallace.
Publication Date: 12/10/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen
Synopsis: Pride and Prejudice is a novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1813. The story follows the main character Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education, and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of early 19th-century England. Elizabeth is the second of five daughters of a country gentleman living near the fictional town of Meryton in Hertfordshire, near London.
Publication Date: 12/07/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Romance
Bird Without Wings
Cally Pepper
Synopsis: Scarlett is sixteen. She’s glad to be finishing high school because she feels unpopular and not especially attractive. Following the mysterious disappearance of her father, and then an attempted date-rape by her best friend’s older brother, Scarlett is confused, friendless and lonely. Then strange things begin to happen. Scarlett discovers a beautiful and mystical world that exists in parallel to the real world, the Fae (Fairy) World, and is happy to escape to this amazing place which is inhabited by some beautiful, friendly and sexy, winged Fae people.
Publication Date: 12/07/13
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
White Fang
Jack London
Synopsis: White Fang is the titular character and a novel by American author Jack London. First serialized in Outing magazine, it was published in 1906. The story takes place in Yukon Territory, Canada, during the Klondike Gold Rush at the end of the 19th-century, and details a wild wolfdog's journey to domestication. White Fang is a companion novel (and a thematic mirror) to London's best-known work, The Call of the Wild, which is about a kidnapped, domesticated dog embracing his wild ancestry to survive and thrive in the wild. Much of White Fang is written from the viewpoint of the titular canine character, enabling London to explore how animals view their world and how they view humans. White Fang examines the violent world of wild animals and the equally violent world of humans. The book also explores complex themes including morality and redemption. White Fang has been adapted for the screen numerous times, including a 1991 film starring Ethan Hawke.
Publication Date: 12/05/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Rain of the Ghosts
Greg Weisman
Synopsis:

Rain of the Ghosts is the first in Greg Weisman's series about an adventurous young girl, Rain Cacique, who discovers she has a mystery to solve, a mission to complete and, oh, yes, the ability to see ghosts.

Welcome to the Prospero Keys (or as the locals call them: the Ghost Keys), a beautiful chain of tropical islands on the edge of the Bermuda Triangle. Rain Cacique is water-skiing with her two best friends Charlie and Miranda when Rain sees her father waiting for her at the dock. Sebastian Bohique, her maternal grandfather, has passed away. He was the only person who ever made Rain feel special. The only one who believed she could do something important with her life. The only thing she has left to remember him by is the armband he used to wear: two gold snakes intertwined, clasping each other's tails in their mouths. Only the armband . . . and the gift it brings: Rain can see dead people. Starting with the Dark Man: a ghost determined to reveal the Ghost Keys' hidden world of mystery and mysticism, intrigue and adventure.

Publication Date: 12/03/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Mystery
Lost Covenant
Ari Marmell
Synopsis: This third YA novel starring the young thief Widdershins combines the angst and vulnerability of any teenage girl with the high action of the best fantasy adventures.
 
It's been six months since Widdershins and her own "personal god" Olgun fled the city of Davillon. During their travels, Widdershins unwittingly discovers that a noble house is preparing to move against the last surviving bastion of the Delacroix family. Determined to help the distant relatives of her deceased adopted father, Alexandre Delacroix, she travels to a small town at the edge of the nation. There, she works at unraveling a plot involving this rival house and a local criminal organization, all while under intense suspicion from the very people she's trying to rescue. Along the way she'll have to deal with a traitor inside the Delacroix family, a mad alchemist, and an infatuated young nobleman who won't take no for an answer.
Publication Date: 12/03/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
The Grey Star
James Bartholomeusz
Synopsis: After thwarting the Cult of Dionysus and with the city of Nexus in ruins, all that remains for the Apollonians is to find the final Shards of the Risa Star before the Cult can use it to wreak havoc on an astronomical scale—but in this final installment of the Seven Stars trilogy, Jack Lawson and his allies face unexpected challenges. They are worlds apart; some battling old enemies in a desert fortress, and others in a formerly prosperous city-state that is slipping into totalitarianism. All the while, the pieces of a greater puzzle have been moving into place and a trap has been laid, and Jack must confront a truth that threatens to destroy everything.
Publication Date: 12/01/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Brewster Boys and the Red Revenge
Synopsis: A week has passed since Jon, Pete, and Abby returned home from the attack on Pearl Harbor. Now all they want is to relax and enjoy the remainder of their summer. However, they soon realize that their time-travel adventure has just begun. After noticing minor changes in their neighborhood’s landscape, and receiving a cryptic phone message from an unknown source, the Brewster boys and Abby realize that something is missing from America - the states! The Mississippi River now divides the United States and the North American territory of the Soviet Union! Feeling responsible for these radical changes the Brewster boys and Abby have no other choice but to travel back and set things right. On their journey they’ll discover significant changes in the events of the Manhattan project, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the assassination of J.F.K. They will even visit Nikita Khrushchev’s Moscow!
Publication Date: 11/29/13
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Historical Fiction
Olivia, Mourning
Yael Politis
Synopsis: Book 1 of the Olivia Series
Historical Fiction (USA, 1840s)
Midwest Book Reviewbr>"Olivia, Mourning is historical fiction at its best ... Expect no easy conclusions to Book 1: it’s all about transition points and leaves the door open for further journeys with Olivia. Readers interested in historical fiction with a healthy dose of romance will find Olivia, Mourning a compelling, gripping saga that deliciously wraps what could be predictable elements in a cloak of many choices. It’s all about options and consequences – and is a heartfelt story especially recommended for readers who enjoy headstrong protagonists tasked with making their own way in the world."
Read the entire review at the author's blog:
yaelpolitis.wordpress.com/olivias-book/midwest-book-review-olivia-mourning/

Description
Olivia wants the 80 acres in far off Michigan that her father left to whichever of his offspring wants to stake a claim. As Olivia says, “I’m sprung off him just as much as Avis or Tobey.”
The problem: she’s seventeen, female, and it’s 1841.
Mourning Free knows how to run a farm and Olivia has complete trust in him.
The problem: he’s Black, the orphaned son of runaway slaves, and reluctant to travel and work with a white girl. He especially fears the slave catchers who patrol the free states, hunting fugitive slaves.
Not without qualms, they set off together. All goes well, despite the drudgery of survival in an isolated log cabin. Incapable of acknowledging her feelings for Mourning, Olivia thinks her biggest problem is her unrequited romantic interest in their young, single neighbor.
Then her world falls apart.
Strong-willed, vulnerable, and compassionate, Olivia is a compelling protagonist on a journey to find a way to do the right thing in a world in which so much is wrong.
Publication Date: 11/27/13
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Historical Fiction

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