Graphic Novels:

Superman Chronicles Vol. 10 -- In this new volume of stories from the height of World War II, Superman battles The Night Owl, a mad architect, Nazi sympathizers, the mysterious "Man with the Cane," and a mad scientist who creates henchman by bringing characters from newspaper comic strips to life. Plus, when Clark and Lois go to the movies, he is embarrassed to see his own adventures onscreen in an animated cartoon!
Voltron Force. Vol. 2, Tournament of Lions -- When a cargo ship in deep space sends out a distress signal, it's the Voltron Force to the rescue! But without warning, Daniel, Larmina and Vince find themselves fighting the greatest warriors in the galaxy for the right to pilot the Voltron lions!

Nonfiction:

Beyond Courage by Doreen Rappaport -- Through twenty-one meticulously researched accounts-- some chronicled in book form for the first time-- Doreen Rappaport illuminates the defiance of tens of thousands of Jews across eleven Nazi-occupied countries during World War II.
Cyberbullying (ed. By Roleff) -- Explores issues related to cyberbullying through articles from a variety of sources, addressing whether or not cyberbullying is a serious problem, the impact of cyberbullying, the effectiveness of criminalizing cyberbullying, and the role of schools and parents in addressing cyberbullying incidents.
History of Country Music by Stuart Kallen A compact history of American country music, from the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers to Brad Paisley and Neko Case.
History of American Pop by Stuart Kallen -- Examines the rich history of the American pop genre of music. Discusses innovators who shaped the style, form, and content of the music.
History of Rock and Roll by Stuart Kallen -- Traces the history of rock and roll from its early 1950s beginnings through its most significant developments to date.
History of Alternative Rock by Stuart Kallen -- Discusses the history of alternative rock and the ethos of alt-rockers as rebels who value independence, experimentation, and truth-telling.

Fiction:

Fang Girl by Helen Keeble -- Although fifteen-year-old Jane has always loved vampire lore, she is surprised to awaken in her coffin with fangs, and she goes to her parents and younger brother for help in figuring out why undead factions are vying for her eternal allegiance.
Dark Destiny by Mary Jo Putney -- Tory and her friends receive an urgent summons, leading the young mages known as Merlin's Irregulars to ask Rebecca Weiss, an untrained telepath from 1940, to join them in 1804 and stop Napoleon from invading England.
Tiger’s Destiny by Colleen Houck -- Kelsey, Ren, and Kishan race against time and the evil sorcerer Lokesh on the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal as they seek Durga's final gift, the Rope of Fire, that will finally break the tiger's curse.
Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater -- Though she is from a family of clairvoyants, Blue Sargent's only gift seems to be that she makes other people's talents stronger, and when she meets Gansey, one of the Raven Boys from the expensive Aglionby Academy, she discovers that he has talents of his own -- and that together their talents are a dangerous mix.
Unstoppable by Tim Green -- If anyone understands the phrase 'tough luck,' it's Harrison. As a foster kid in a cruel home, he knows his dream of one day playing for the NFL is a long shot. Then, Harrison's luck seems to change. He is brought into a new home with kind, loving parents -- his new dad is even a football coach. Harrison's big build and his incredible determination quickly make him a star running back on the junior high school team. In no time, he's practically unstoppable. But, Harrison's good luck can't last forever.
Immortal Heart by Ellen Schrieber -- The relationship of Raven and her vampire boyfriend Alexander is tested when his younger sister Stormy comes to town.

New Books

Graphic Novels:

Ant-Man. Season One; A husband to a murdered wife. A son to a disapproving father. A scientist disgraced and undercut by his rivals. Before he began his life of super heroics as the original Avenger called Ant-Man, Hank Pym was a man lost in other indentities. Now, legendary writer Tom DeFalco (Amazing Spider-Man) and acclaimed artist Horacia Domingues (Fantastic Four: True Story) bring you the untold story of how the man the Marvel Universe has known as Ant-Man, Giant-Man, Goliath, and Yellowjacket grew from a tortured lost soul into one of Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
Girl Who Owned a City by O.T. Nelson -- When a plague sweeps over the earth killing everyone except children under twelve, ten-year-old Lisa organizes a group to rebuild a new way of life.
Drama by Raina Telgemeier -- Callie rides an emotional roller coaster while serving on the stage crew for a middle school production of Moon over Mississippi as various relationships start and end, and others never quite get going.

Fiction:
Huntress by Malinda Lo -- Seventeen-year-olds Kaede and Taisin are called to go on a dangerous and unprecedented journey to Tanlili, the city of the Fairy Queen, in an effort to restore the balance of nature in the human world.
Goddess Interrupted by Aimee Carter -- About to be crowned Queen of the Underworld, the immortal Kate Winters must save Henry from the depths of Tartarus. But in order to navigate the endless caverns of the Underworld, Kate must enlist the help of the one person who is the greatest threat to her future: Henry's first wife, Persephone.
Goddess Legacy by Aimee Carter -- five tales telling the legend of Persephone and other gods and goddesses of Olympus.
Edge of Nowhere by Elizabeth George -- When her mother abandons her on Whidbey Island, Washington, a fourteen-year-old girl with psychic abilities meets a Ugandan orphan with a secret.
Circle of Silence by Carol Tanzman --     Valerie Gaines has a turn running the Campus News crew. A secret society has formed at her school and has been doing pranks. No one knows the society's members, agenda, or initiation secets. But when a student lands in the hospital under strange circumstances, Valerie wants to break the story. Will she and her crew be successful or will she be a victim of the next crime?
Caught by Margaret Haddix -- When Jonah and Katherine travel to early 1900s Switzerland and Serbia to return Albert Einstein's daughter, Lieserl, to history, her mother Mileva grasps entirely too much about time travel and has no intention of letting her daughter go.
Beautiful Lies by Jessica Warman -- Eighteen-year-old identical twins Alice and Rachel have always shared a very special bond, so when one is abducted, the other uses their connection to try to locate her.
Blood Keeper by Tessa Gratton -- Teenager Mab Prowd is perfectly content to practice blood magic on the secluded Kansas farm where she's lived all her life until one of her spells taps into a powerful, long-dormant curse and she finds her magic spinning out of control.
Starling by Lesley Livingston -- Mason Starling, a champion fencer at Gosforth Academy, finds her school overrun with terrifying creatures after a mysterious, ferocious storm falls on Manhattan and the mysterious stranger who saves her life becomes her only ally as they work together to discover his past and learn of Mason's family's dark allegiance to ancient Norse gods.
Hidden by Sophie Jordan -- Firelight #3 - Jacinda, a sixteen-year old who can shift into dragon form, surrenders herself to her greatest enemies in the hopes of destroying them and finally being free to choose a life with the human boy she loves.
Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst -- When the goddess Bayla fails to take over Liyana's body, Liyana's people abandon her in the desert to find a more worthy vessel, but she soon meets Korbyn, who says the souls of seven deities have been stolen and he needs Liyana's help to find them.
One for the Murphys by Carley Hunt -- After heartbreaking betrayal, Carley is sent to live with a foster family and struggles with opening herself up to their love.
This is Not  a Test by Courtney Summers -- Barricaded in Cortege High with five other teens while zombies try to get in, Sloane Price observes her fellow captives become more unpredictable and violent as time passes although they each have much more reason to live than she has.
Treachery of Beautiful Things by Ruth Frances Long -- Seven years after the forest seemingly swallowed her brother whole, seventeen-year-old Jenny, whose story about Tom's disappearance has never been believed, sets out to finally say goodbye, but instead she is pulled into a mysterious world of faeries and other creatures where nothing is what it seems.
Survive by Alex Morel -- A troubled girl is stranded in an arctic winter terrain after a plane crash and must fight for survival with the only other boy left alive.
The Rising by Will Hill -- Department 19 #2 - Now that Jamie's an official member of Department 19 -- a classified government agency of vampire hunters -- he and his squad of elite operators are discovering that work is a non-stop emergency. And that's before the red alert: Dracula's remains have been stolen from the hiding place where they've been in lockdown for more than a century. The clock has been set. Jamie and the Department must stop the world's oldest evil from becoming the world's newest overlord.
Outlaw by Stephen Davies -- The children of Britain's ambassador to Burkina Faso, fifteen-year-old Jake, who loves technology and adventure, and thirteen-year-old Kas, a budding social activist, are abducted and spend time in the Sahara desert with Yakuuba Sor, who some call a terrorist but others consider a modern-day Robin Hood.
Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry -- Rendered a subject of gossip after a traumatic night that left her with terrible scars on her arms, Echo is dumped by her boyfriend and bonds with bad-boy Noah, whose tough attitude hides an understanding nature and difficult secrets.

book review - Sweetest Spell

The Sweetest Spell, by Suzanne Selfors is a very fun fantasy novel. It's sweet (it's about magical chocolate, of course!) and original, and I enjoyed it quite a lot. The heroine is a downtrodden girl, damned to be picked as the scapegoat of her village because she was born with a crippled foot. She has a sort of magical connection with the cows of the village because they saved her from death as an infant, and this connection becomes even more important later, when fate sweeps away most of the rest of Emmeline's village. After being rescued by a charming young cowherd, Emmeline discovers her magical power of creating chocolate; but not all is well, because many people desire to control her ability and profit from it.

I did have a few reservations about this story; I thought that Emmeline was too naive at some points in the story; her ability to trust complete strangers even after she'd been kidnapped and held captive seemed unrealistic. And the descriptions of the kingdom's geography baffled me. I was unable to understand how Emmeline could be washed DOWNriver from an area of river-bottom to a hillier and less flood-prone region, which was, nonetheless, not far from the sea-coast.

These minor points aside, The Sweetest Spell will appeal to anyone looking for a light, frothy fantasy novel with just a few magical elements, a likeable and believable hero, and a fun story.

New Books

Graphic Novels:

Flash Chronicles vol. 3 -- As if Central City didn't have enough super-villainy to contend with, the Flash's famous rogues gallery is about to welcome a new comrade-in-crime who's primed to get the Scarlet Speedster both coming and going! And the debut of Captain Boomerang is only one of the highlights to be found in this volume. With nefarious schemes being hatched by such antisocial agents as the Weather Wizard, Captain Cold, and the Trickster, even the Fastest Man Alive has his work cut out for him.
Torador Vol. 5 by Yuyuko Takemiya -- Summer vacation is here, and the whole gang heads out to Ami's summer home for a beach vacation! Taiga and Ryuuji hatch a plan to scare Minori out of her wits so Ryuuji can swoop in and come to her rescue. However, when Kitamura overhears the cunning scheme, he demands to be let in on the action and drags Ami along for the ride. What soon follows is a trip into madness as the kids venture into a small cave by the beach where untold horrors await...

Fiction:

A Certain October by Angela Johnson -- Scotty compares herself to tofu: no flavor unless you add something. And it's true that Scotty's friends, Misha and Faclone, and her brother, Keone, make life delicious. But when a terrible accident occurs, Scotty feels responsible for the loss of someone she hardly knew, and the world goes wrong. She cannot tell what is a dream and what is real. Her friends are having a hard time getting through to her and her family is preoccupied with their own trauma. But, the prospect of a boy, a dance, and the possibility that everything can fall back into place soon help Scotty realize that she is capable of adding her own flavor to life
Seconds Away by Harlan Coben -- When tragedy strikes close to home, Mickey Bolitar and his new friends find themselves at the center of a murder mystery.
Adaptation by Malinda Lo -- In the aftermath of a series of plane crashes caused by birds, seventeen-year-old Reese and her debate-team partner, David, receive medical treatment at a secret government facility and become tangled in a conspiracy that is, according to Reese's friend, Julian, connected with aliens and UFOs.
Crater by Homer Hickam -- In the twenty-second century, sixteen-year-old Crater Trueblood, who mines the moon for Helium-3 to produce energy for a desperate, war-torn Earth, undertakes a deadly mission that could mean the difference between life and death for every inhabitant of the moon.
Seeing Cinderella by Jenny Lindquist -- Sixth grade is not going well for Calliope Meadow Anderson. Callie's hair is frizzy, her best friend, Ellen, is acting weird, and to top things off, she has to get glasses. And her new specs aren't even cute, trendy glasses -- more like hideously large and geeky. But, Callie soon discovers that her glasses have a special, magical perk...
Settle Down ; Be Real by Stephanie Moore -- Eva Blount is a salty girl with a bad rep and attitude to spare. Everyone knows not to mess with her. She speaks her mind. She does her thing. She holds her own. Guys, in her opinion, are good for just a few things: a free meal, some quick cash, and a good feeling. But one guy takes it too far. Be Real. Landon King was born with a silver spoon: he has talent, smarts, and looks to spare, so why does the star wide receiver feel the desperate need to fit in with thugs and lowlifes?

New Books!

Graphic Novels:

Avengers. The Children’s Crusade -- Wiccan, who believes that he and Speed must be the long missing sons of the Scarlet Witch, decides to search for her, and nothing the Young Avengers, the Avengers, the X-Men, or anyone else can do will stop him.

Nonfiction:

Seventeen  Ultimate Guide to Beauty -- When it comes to teen beauty advice, no brand is more trusted than Seventeen , the #1 best-selling monthly teen magazine. Seventeen Ultimate Guide to Beauty is a girl's handbook to celebrating her natural beauty. It's packed with clear, customized service that helps make the most of her skin tone, her face shape, her hair texture, and her style! Each chapter is filled with detailed how-tos, amazing inspiration, and awesome advice from Seventeen's editors and the Beauty Smarties, our real-girl beauty experts, to help the reader have fun with her look!. Seventeen Ultimate Guide to Beauty is broken down into three main sections: makeup, hair, and a resource guide.

Fiction:

Unwholly by Neal Shusterman -- Unwind trilogy #2 - Thanks to Connor, Lev, and Risa, and their high-profile revolt at Happy Jack Harvest Camp, people can no longer turn a blind eye to unwinding. Ridding society of troublesome teens and, in the same stroke, providing much-needed tissues for transplant might be convenient, but its morality has finally been brought into question. However, unwinding has become big business, and there are powerful political and corporate interests that want to see it not only continue, but expand, allowing the unwinding of prisoners and the impoverished.
All Good Children by Catherine Austen -- In the not-too-distant future, Max tries to maintain his identity in a world where the only way to survive is to conform and obey.
Such Wicked Intent by Kenneth Oppel --  When his grieving father orders the destruction of the Dark Library, Victor retrieves a book in which he finds the promise of not just communicating with the dead, but entering their realm, and soon he, Elizabeth, and Henry are in the spirit world of Chateau Frankenstein, creating and growing a body.
The Unnaturalists by Tiffany Trent -- Vespa Nyx wants nothing more than to spend the rest of her life cataloging Unnatural creatures in her father's museum, but as she gets older, the requirement to become a lady and find a husband is looming large over her. Syrus Reed's Tinker family has always served and revered the Unnaturals from afar, but when his family is captured for refinery slaves, he finds that his fate may be bound up with Vespa's-- and with the Unnaturals. As the danger grows, Vespa and Syrus find themselves in a tightening web of deception and intrigue. At stake may be the fate of New London -- and the world.
The Broken Lands by Kate Milford -- Set in the seedy underworld of nineteenth-century Coney Island during the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, two orphans are determined to stop evil forces from claiming the city of New York.
Sweetest Spell by Suzanne Selfors -- Scorned in her Flatlands village because of a deformed foot, Emmeline Thistle's life changes when she is taken in by Wanderlands dairy farmers and discovers her magical ability to make chocolate, which is more precious and rare than gold or jewels in the kingdom of Anglund.
Dragons of Winter by James Owen -- With the Archipelago of Dreams in the hands of the Echthroi and the link to the Summer Country lost, the Grail child, Rose Dyson, the new Cartographer, Edmund McGee, and the Caretakers Emeritus seek to rebuild the Keep of Time but face a terrible new enemy who was once an ally.
Pizza, Love, and Other Stuff That Made Me Famous by Kathryn Williams -- Although sixteen-year-old Sophie has grown up working in her family's Mediterranean restaurant in Washington, D.C., she is not prepared to compete on the new reality show, Teen Test Kitchen, when her best friend Alex convinces her to audition. Includes recipes.
Embrace by Jessica Shirvington -- Seventeen-year-old Violet Eden's world is turned upside down when she falls for the sexy and aloof Lincoln and discovers he is part angel and part human. As Violet gets caught up in an ancient battle between dark and light, she must choose her path because the wrong decision could cost not only her life but her eternity.

Pikapals of Waco

We had a great meeting last night!

I hope to see all of you next month; we'll be decoupaging Bookends for the new Teen Room at Central Library - so come prepared with any art, stickers, fancy paper or whatever that you would like to add.

We will also be learning to fold and costume "book hedgehogs". Isn't this one just cute? But he needs a costume...