Happy 4th, and welcome to another hot and sticky week of summer! If you (like all of us!) are looking to escape the scorching temps, we highly recommend grabbing a comfy chair and a cool drink, and spending a lazy afternoon with a stack of great reads. New this week are CROSSING THE TRACKS, a coming-of-age tale of a young bohemian orphan in search of a new home in rural Mississippi; the fantastical adventure THE GRIMM LEGACY; the thought-provoking drama BLINDSIDED; and the racially-charged RESPONSE, now out in paperback.
New Releases for July 6th
Hardcover
CROSSING THE TRACKS by Barbara Stuber (Margaret K. McElderry)
At 15, Iris is a hobo of sorts --- no home, no family and no direction. After her mother’s early death, Iris’s father focuses on big plans for his new shoe stores and his latest girlfriend, and has no time for his daughter. Unbeknownst to her, he hires Iris out as housekeeper and companion for a country doctor’s elderly mother. Suddenly Iris is alone, stuck in gritty rural Missouri, too far from her only friend Leroy and too close to a tenant farmer, Cecil Deets, who menaces the neighbors and, Iris suspects, his own daughter.
Iris is buoyed by the warmth and understanding the doctor and his mother show her, but just as she starts to break out of her shell, tragedy strikes. Iris must find the guts and cunning to take aim at the devil incarnate and discover if she is really as helpless --- or as hopeless --- as she once believed.
Paperback
BAIT by Alex Sanchez (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing)
When a guy in his class looks at him funny, Diego punches him in the face and ends up on probation. At first he wants nothing to do with his probation officer. But as Diego starts to open up, he begins to realize that Mr. Vidas is the first person in his life who ever really wanted to listen to him. With Vidas's help, Diego begins to make real progress in controlling his anger. He even opens up enough to tell Vidas about the shark tooth that his stepfather gave him that he uses to cut himself. But only if Diego can find the courage to trust Vidas with the darkest secrets from his past will he be able to heal completely.
HEROES OF THE VALLEY by Jonathan Stroud (Hyperion Books for Children)
Halli Sveinsson has grown up in the House of Svein, listening to the legends of the heroes as all his forefathers did. His is a peaceful society where the violence of the past has been outlawed and disputes are settled by the Council. But young Halli has never quite fitted in with the others. For starters, he was not at all handsome or tall, like his attractive blond siblings. He's stumpy and swarthy, with a quick mind and aptitude for getting in trouble. Bored with the everyday chores and sheep herding, he can't help himself from playing practical jokes on everyone, from Eyjolf the old servant to his brother and sister.
But when he plays a trick on Ragnor, of the House of Hakonsson, he goes too far, setting in motion a chain of events that will forever alter his destiny. Because of it, Halli will have to leave home and go on a hero's quest. Along the way, he will encounter highway robbers, terrifying monsters and a girl who may finally be his match. In the end, he will discover the truth about the legends, his family and himself.
- Click here to read our review of HEROES OF THE VALLEY.
JUST ANOTHER HERO by Sharon M. Draper (Simon Pulse)
In JUST ANOTHER HERO, a follow-up to Sharon Draper's BATTLE OF JERICHO and NOVEMBER BLUES, a distraught student with an AK 47 holds a class hostage.
New Releases for July 8th
Hardcover
PAISLEY HANOVER KISSES AND TELLS by Cameron Tuttle (Dial)
The election results are in --- and totally UnExpected. Now the UnPops are picketing, the Pops are preening and Paisley’s sophomore year is a bust --- again. But when best frienemy Jen’s reputation takes a beating by viral text, Paisley’s pity party is over. She rolls out a new undercover plan to save Jen’s rep, and in the process, follows her heart into a crazy complicated love triangle. Then as if things weren’t confusing enough, Paisley’s archrival --- super cute, super nice, super popular Candy Esposito --- steals Paisley’s UnPop popularity! First Paisley gets mad but then she gets smart. Can she use Candy’s newfound UnPopularity to save Jen’s reputation --- and pull off the biggest coup since Miss UnPleasant turned the Pleasant Hill High social hierarchy on its big fat head? Hello double-crossers, good-bye double standards! Paisley Hanover is back --- pucker up!
BLINDSIDED by Priscilla Cummings (Dutton Juvenile)
In many ways, Natalie O’Reilly is a typical 14-year-old girl. But a routine visit to the eye doctor produces devastating news: Natalie will lose her sight within a few short months.
Suddenly her world is turned upside down. Natalie is sent to a school for the blind to learn skills such as Braille and how to use a cane. Outwardly, she does as she’s told; inwardly, she hopes for a miracle that will free her from a dreaded life of blindness. But the miracle does not come, and Natalie ultimately must confront every blind person’s dilemma. Will she go home to live scared? Or will she embrace the skills she needs to make it in a world without sight?
THE GRIMM LEGACY by Polly Shulman (Putnam Juvenile)
Elizabeth has a new job at an unusual library --- a lending library of objects, not books. In a secret room in the basement lies the Grimm Collection. That’s where the librarians lock away powerful items straight out of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales: things like seven-league boots, a table that produces a feast at the blink of an eye and Snow White’s stepmother’s sinister mirror that talks in riddles.
When the magical objects start to disappear, Elizabeth embarks on a dangerous quest to catch the thief before she can be accused of the crime --- or captured by the thief.
Paperback
RESPONSE by Paul Volponi (Speak)
Noah and his friends go to a predominantly white neighborhood with a plan: steal a car, sell it to a chop shop and make some fast cash. But that never happens. Instead, Noah, a teen father, is the victim of a vicious beating that leaves him with a fractured skull. Was the attacker just protecting his turf, or did he assault Noah because he’s black?
