New books to warm you up!

Remember Me by Romily Bernard
Teen hacker Wick Tate has to decide between right and wrong as she tries to solve another murder and discover the truth about her mother's suicide. Sequel to Find Me.

The Halcyon Bird by Kat Beyer (series)
Mia Della Torre is happy to be settled in Milan, learning her family's ancient trade of demon hunting, and able to put her fear of her own, personal demon aside--until she falls in love and realizes how much more than her own happiness is at stake. Sequel to The Demon Catchers of Milan.

The Terminals by Royce Scott Buckingham
Nineteen-year-old Cam Cody takes the opportunity to join a covert unit of young spies who, like him, are terminally ill but have extraordinary abilities due to an experimental super-steroid, but he soon learns the program is not what it seems--and they may not even be ill.

Vivian Apple at the End of the World by Katie Coyle
Sixteen-year-old Vivian Apple returns home after the alleged 'Rapture' to find her devout parents gone and two mysterious holes in the roof. Vivian never believed in the Rapture, or the uber powerful Church of America. Now that she has been left behind, Vivan's quest for the truth begins.

Little White Lies by Katie Dale
The first time Lou meets mysterious Christian, she knows he is The One. But when Christian's secret is unveiled in front of the whole world, it seems everything he's ever told Lou is a lie, and Lou finds herself ensnared in a web of deceit.

The Carnival at Bray by Jessie Ann Foley
It's 1993, and Generation X pulses to the beat of Kurt Cobain and the grunge movement. Sixteen-year-old Maggie Lynch is uprooted from big-city Chicago to a windswept town on the Irish Sea. Surviving on care packages of Spin magazine and Twizzlers from her rocker uncle Kevin, she wonders if she'll ever find her place in this new world. When first love and sudden death simultaneously strike, a naive but determined Maggie embarks on a forbidden pilgrimage that will take her to a seedy part of Dublin and on to a life-altering night in Rome to fulfill a dying wish. Through it all, Maggie discovers an untapped inner strength to do the most difficult but rewarding thing of all--live.

Frostfire by Amanda Hocking
Tracker Bryn Aven's goal of becoming a member of the elite King's Guard is threatened when she is sent to stop Konstantin, a fallen hero who she once secretly loved, who appears to be kidnapping changelings.

This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner (series)
Flynn, leader of the rebellion on Avon, captures Jubilee "Lee" Chase, captain of the forces sent to crush the terraformed planet's rebellious colonists, but later saves her and the two, caught between sides in a senseless war, flee together.

Monkey Wars by Richard Kurti
When rhesus monkeys are brutally massacred on the streets of Kolkata by a troop of power hungry langur monkeys, a young langur soldier's life is changed forever.

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
Told in alternating voices, when Theodore Finch and Violet Markey meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school--both teetering on the edge--it's the beginning of an unlikely relationship, a journey to discover the "natural wonders" of the state of Indiana, and two teens' desperate desire to heal and save one another.

Paper Airplanes by Dawn O'Porter
The story of the strong bond of friendship between two fifteen year-old schoolgirls in Guernsey in the mid-1990s, who became friends through their shared loneliness and dysfunctional families, despite their differences in personality and ambitions.

Firefight by Brandon Sanderson (series)
David and the Reckoners continue their fight against the Epics, humans with superhuman powers, except they may have met their match in Regalia, a High Epic who resides in Babylon Restored, the city formerly known as the borough of Manhattan. Sequel to Steelheart.

X by Ilyasah Shabazz with Kekla Magoon
A novel covering the life of Malcolm X from childhood to age 20.

Hold Tight, Don't Let Go by Laura Rose Wagner
In the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Nadine goes to live with her father in Miami while her cousin Magdalie, raised as her sister, remains behind in a refugee camp, dreaming of joining Nadine but wondering if she must accept that her life and future are in Port-au-Prince.

Memoir and Non Fiction:

Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina by Michaela De Prince
Michaela DePrince lived the first few years of her live in war-torn Sierra Leone until she was adopted by an American Family. Now seventeen, she is one of the premiere ballerinas in the United States.

We Should Hang Out Sometime by Josh Sundquist
The Paralympic ski racer, YouTube star, and motivational speaker documents his coming of age as an amputee cancer survivor and his efforts to investigate past dates gone wrong to discover why he was still single.

Sneaker Century: A History of Athletic Shoes by Amber V. Keyser

Graphic Novels:

Kiss of the Rose Princess vol. 2 by Aya Shouoto

My Love Story vol. 3 by Kazune Kawahara and Aruko

Batman/Superman vol. 2: Game Over

Aquaman vol. 5: Sea of Storms

Batman Detective Comics vol. 5: Gothtopia

A different look at history

History + graphic novel + humor = Larry Gonick's cartoon history books. I think these books are helpful to read to refresh your memory about historical events. Gonick condenses the information down so that the narrative fits into word balloons and description in the comic panels. If you're looking for something different to check out, try one of these books!

Cartoon History of the United States
YA GRAPHIC NOVEL GONICK
Covers U.S. history up to 1991. Includes an index and an illustrated bibliography, which is something I've never seen before. Find it in the catalog!

The Cartoon History of the Modern World. Part 1, from Columbus to the U.S. Constitution
Young Adult 909.0802 GON
Find it in the catalog!

The Cartoon History of the Universe
part 1: YA GRAPHIC NOVEL GONICK 1
part 2: YA GRAPHIC NOVEL GONICK 2
part 3: YA GRAPHIC NOVEL GONICK 3
Find it in the catalog!

Check out these blasts from the past on DVD

If you are in the mood for a laugh, or just want to watch something different than an ordinary comedy or drama, I recommend the DVDs How to be a Woman and How to be a Man. These DVDs feature educational films shown in classrooms from the 1940s-1980s. The films address topics such as getting a better personality, manners, and growing up. The films are at once funny, shocking, nostalgic, and quite mesmerizing, not only in terms of the attitudes of what defines a woman or man but in terms of fashion, hairstyles, and decor of past decades. Plus, as you watch the various films you see differences in quality of acting and filmmaking techniques.

How to Be a Man: Find it in the catalog!
NEW DVD 305.23 HOW

In the segment "Am I Trustworthy?" a boy learns from his dad about how he can be seen as trustworthy by others. He makes a chart of trustworthiness to demonstrate to his dad what he's learned. Other segments include "Act Your Age," "The Other Fellow's Feelings," and "The Show-Off."

"The Show-Off" deals with a classmate who always acts out in order to be the center of attention. Near the end of this film his classmates seem fed up with his behavior, but the film doesn't allow the audience to see what the junior class representatives decide to do about the student.

How to Be a Woman: Find it in the catalog!
NEW DVD 305.23 HOW

The film "Growing Girls" recommends to avoid wet feet and getting a chill. In "Let's Make a Sandwich" we are told that potato chips used to be thought of as only picnic food, but now it's acceptable to serve this food at parties.

"As Others See Us" is one of the most weirdly absorbing of the educational films; its theme is that you must avoid embarrassment at all costs because "nothing spoils a good time like uneasiness." Some examples: don't hold up the line in the cafeteria with conversation pieces, use your knife for cutting not tearing, and allow your date to order for the both of you in a restaurant: "At every age it is still a man's world when it comes to giving the order. So you tell your escort and let him tell the waiter. As we said before, you might as well learn this in junior high and avoid embarrassment in the days ahead. It will probably continue to be a man's world when ordering for a long, long time." I wonder what that male narrator would say today if he were to step foot in any given restaurant and find women of all ages ordering for themselves.

I found the film "Girls Are Better Than Ever" so unsettling I stopped watching. This film's theme is about being active and keeping in shape, but it directs a condescending attitude to its female teenage audience. Case in point: A male narrator says, "Do I have to tell you that every day competition is getting younger? And every day in every way you're getting older?" What a good way to demolish self-esteem!

The film "Pattern for Success" starts out annoyingly enough, with a teenage boy asking a girl about her clothing, and whether she makes all her own clothes. Then the segment switches to demonstrate how the teenager makes her own dresses and follows the girl as she uses a pattern to sew her own dress. I was absolutely mesmerized watching as the dress came together step-by-step. To be completely honest watching this film made me want to sign up for a sewing class.