August is Romance Awareness Month and we will be featuring a difference romance author everyday on our Facebook page including both old favorites and newcomers to our shelves.

Pick one up to enjoy today!

New YA Books Added to the Collection--Part 2

This is the second blog (of two) that examines new books that have been recently added to the library's YA collection. If you missed last week's blog, check the archives for the May 4, 2011 entry.

The Abused Werewolf Rescue Group by Catherine Jinks opens with Tobias Richard Vandevelde waking up in the hospital with no memory of the night before. His terrified mother tells him that he was found unconscious at Featherdale Wildlife Park in a dingo pen. He figures his two rambunctious best friends are responsible until he discovers that they're just as freaked out as he is. Then the mysterious Reuben turns up, claiming that Toby has a rare and dangerous "condition." Next thing he knows, Toby finds himself involved with a strange bunch of sickly insomniacs who seem convinced that he needs their help. It's not until he's kidnapped and imprisoned that he starts to believe them.

Virals by Kathy Reichs introduces 14 year old Tory Brennan. She is the niece of the world-famous forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. She moves to the middle of nowhere Morris Island, South Carolina to live with a marine biologist dad she's never known. Tory does the best she can to adjust to her new life. There she meets a group of local kids who are just as "Sci-Phile" as she is--science geeks who have grown up experiencing the backswoods marshlands of nearby Loggerhead Island. But there's something strange going on at the Loggerhead Research Institute...maybe even something deadly. After rescuing a stray wolfdog pup from a top-secret lab, Tory and her friends are exposed to a rare strain of canine parvovirus, changing them--and their DNA--forever. Now, with newly heightened senses and canine-quick reflexes, they'll have to solve a cold-case murder that's suddenly become very hot.

Zombies vs. Unicorns by Holly Black and Jusine Larbalestier is an anthology of 12 stories. Though each tale has its own flavor, the dialogue between the co-editors draws them together, creating the feel of one long, continuous story. With Black defending the unicorn side of the debate and Larbalestier advocating voraciously for zombies, each team has six powerful stories to sway readers into joining one side or another.

After by Amy Efaw is Devon's story. Before it all, Devon was a good student, a good athlete, an all-around good girl, but then IT happened--the thing that was so horrible, so shameful, so impossible to imagine that Devon simply chose not to admit it to anyone, even herself. But denial can't make a thing go away, and now Devon's in a juvenile detention center, facing a possible life sentence for her actions. Does she deserve that punishment? Did she know what she was doing? Or was her denial so deep that she was unable to register the seemingly unavoidable changes happening to her?

These are just a few of the wonderful YA books available for check-out---browse the shelves and see what else the library has to offer!

Shhh....it's a Grave Secret

I am a big fan of Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse "Southern Vampire Series." Even though that series (and the HBO series "True Blood" which is based on the books) has made Harris more popular, I am pleased to note that she is still writing new books in her "Harper Connelly series." The newest title is Grave Secrets, and the book traces the events of the lives of Harper Connelly and her stepbrother Tolliver. Harper and Tolliver are not related by blood-- Harper's mom and Tolliver's dad were married after Harper and Tolliver were born. Harper and Tolliver have a unique relationship, as they banded together to survive their horrible childhood with drug-addicted parents, struggling to attend school and work enough so that they could take care of their little sisters Gracie and Mariella. Harper was a normal girl, until she was struck by lightning--ever since then she has been able to "hear" the thoughts of dead people by standing on their graves and using her "extra sense" to learn their last thoughts before they died. This talent is especially helpful when it comes to finding murderers and other types of secrets. When Grave Secrets opens, Harper has been hired by a Texas rancher family to discover how the patriarch of the family died. The police were satisfied that it was an accident, but at least one of his children believes it could be foul play. When Harper puts her talents to work, she finds plenty of secrets in this Texas family, that eventually bleed into her own life and add to the mystery of her oldest sister's disappearance. I love the character development in this book! Harper and Tolliver are very "real" to me and I enjoy the "family developments" in the book, almost as much as the mystery. I have enjoyed watching Harper and Tolliver's relationship develop (you'll have to read the book to find out what happens) as well as the bits of their childhood experiences that Harris weaves into the story. This book is a great blend of suspense, action, romance and paranormal mystery that is a fast and easy read. Try it out this book, or one of the others in the series (Grave Secret, Grave Surpise, An Ice Cold Grave) and let us know if you like it!

Read a Charming Christian Fiction Book

The Carousel Painter is novel of romantic suspense set against a historical background, and was written by Judith Miller, one of the top Christian writers in America today. When Carrie Brouwer received the enviable job of painting carousel horses for a factory in Ohio, she believed her future was secure. But after an expensive necklace disappears from the home where she’s been staying, she’s caught up in a search for the truth that puts her entire livelihood—and her developing relationship with the factory manager—at risk. Can she lead police to the real culprit before she loses everything? The setting of this story is wonderfully crafted and the reader will be caught up in Carrie's search for the truth, as she works to uncover the mystery behind the stolen necklace. An excellent, cozy read for a nice, crisp, October night!