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Meryl Streep

It's bizarre that the produce manager is more important to my children's health than the pediatrician.

Attribution

Meryl Streep

January 26, 2016

Here you will find books releasing the weeks of January 25th and February 1st that we think will be of interest to Bookreporter.com readers, along with Bonus News, where we call out a contest, feature or review that we want to let you know about so you have it on your radar. This week, we are calling attention to FIVE contests for book groups on our ReadingGroupGuides.com site. Be sure to enter for your chance to win some outstanding novels for you and your group to read and discuss.

NFL Confidential: True Confessions from the Gutter of Football by Johnny Anonymous

January 2016

In NFL CONFIDENTIAL, a current pro player takes fans on a pseudonymous trip through one of the most infamous years of football --- the very long, sometimes funny, often controversial 2013-2014 season --- sharing raucous, behind-the-scenes, on-the-field and in-the-locker-room truth about life in the National Football League.

Editorial Content for Anna and the Swallow Man

Reviewer (text)

Rachel D., Teen Board member and Sarah Rachel Egelman

I've read my fair share of Holocaust-themed novels, but Gabriel Savit's ANNA AND THE SWALLOW MAN stands out from the rest with its impressive creativity and inspiring characters. From the opening scene, I was instantly hooked to Anna, a seven-year-old girl whose father is taken by the Gestapo during the Second World War, and the Swallow Man, who takes care of Anna and is one of her only true companions throughout the novel. Read More

Teaser

Anna Łania is just seven years old when the Germans take her father, a linguistics professor, during their purge of intellectuals in Poland. Then Anna meets the Swallow Man. He is a mystery, strange and tall, a skilled deceiver with more than a little magic up his sleeve. And when the soldiers in the streets look at him, they see what he wants them to see. Over the course of their travels together, Anna and the Swallow Man will dodge bombs, tame soldiers and even, despite their better judgment, make a friend. But in a world gone mad, everything can prove dangerous. Even the Swallow Man.

Promo

Anna Łania is just seven years old when the Germans take her father, a linguistics professor, during their purge of intellectuals in Poland. Then Anna meets the Swallow Man. He is a mystery, strange and tall, a skilled deceiver with more than a little magic up his sleeve. And when the soldiers in the streets look at him, they see what he wants them to see. Over the course of their travels together, Anna and the Swallow Man will dodge bombs, tame soldiers and even, despite their better judgment, make a friend. But in a world gone mad, everything can prove dangerous. Even the Swallow Man.

About the Book

A stunning, literary and wholly original debut novel set in Poland during the Second World War perfect for readers of THE BOOK THIEF.

Kraków, 1939. A million marching soldiers and a thousand barking dogs. This is no place to grow up. Anna Łania is just seven years old when the Germans take her father, a linguistics professor, during their purge of intellectuals in Poland. She’s alone. 

And then Anna meets the Swallow Man. He is a mystery, strange and tall, a skilled deceiver with more than a little magic up his sleeve. And when the soldiers in the streets look at him, they see what he wants them to see. 

The Swallow Man is not Anna’s father --- she knows that very well --- but she also knows that, like her father, he’s in danger of being taken, and like her father, he has a gift for languages: Polish, Russian, German, Yiddish, even Bird. When he summons a bright, beautiful swallow down to his hand to stop her from crying, Anna is entranced. She follows him into the wilderness. 

Over the course of their travels together, Anna and the Swallow Man will dodge bombs, tame soldiers and even, despite their better judgment, make a friend. But in a world gone mad, everything can prove dangerous. Even the Swallow Man. 

Destined to become a classic, Gavriel Savit’s stunning debut reveals life’s hardest lessons while celebrating its miraculous possibilities.

Editorial Content for We Are the Ants

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ariel G., Teen Board member

“If the world were going to end, but you could stop it, would you?” In Shaun David Hutchinson’s riveting drama, we explore the boundaries of forgiveness, pain, friendship and loss. Although Hutchinson has explored comparable topics in his previous works, WE ARE THE ANTSstands alone in its quest to advocate for issues that are usually not discussed. Read More

Teaser

Henry Denton has spent years being periodically abducted by aliens. Then the aliens give him an ultimatum: The world will end in 144 days, and all Henry has to do to stop it is push a big red button. Only he isn’t sure he wants to. His mom is a struggling waitress held together by a thin layer of cigarette smoke. His brother is a jobless dropout who just knocked someone up. His grandmother is slowly losing herself to Alzheimer’s. And Henry is still dealing with the grief of his boyfriend’s suicide last year. Wiping the slate clean sounds like a pretty good choice to him. But Henry is a scientist first, and facing the question thoroughly and logically, he begins to look for pros and cons: in the bully who is his perpetual one-night stand, in the best friend who betrayed him, in the brilliant and mysterious boy who walked into the wrong class. Weighing the pain and the joy that surrounds him, Henry is left with the ultimate choice: push the button and save the planet and everyone on it...or let the world --- and his pain --- be destroyed forever.

Promo

Henry Denton has spent years being periodically abducted by aliens. Then the aliens give him an ultimatum: The world will end in 144 days, and all Henry has to do to stop it is push a big red button. Only he isn’t sure he wants to. His mom is a struggling waitress held together by a thin layer of cigarette smoke. His brother is a jobless dropout who just knocked someone up. His grandmother is slowly losing herself to Alzheimer’s. And Henry is still dealing with the grief of his boyfriend’s suicide last year. Wiping the slate clean sounds like a pretty good choice to him. But Henry is a scientist first, and facing the question thoroughly and logically, he begins to look for pros and cons: in the bully who is his perpetual one-night stand, in the best friend who betrayed him, in the brilliant and mysterious boy who walked into the wrong class. Weighing the pain and the joy that surrounds him, Henry is left with the ultimate choice: push the button and save the planet and everyone on it...or let the world --- and his pain --- be destroyed forever.

About the Book

From the “author to watch” (Kirkus Reviews) of THE FIVE STAGES OF ANDREW BRAWLEY comes a brand-new novel about a teenage boy who must decide whether or not the world is worth saving.

Henry Denton has spent years being periodically abducted by aliens. Then the aliens give him an ultimatum: The world will end in 144 days, and all Henry has to do to stop it is push a big red button.

Only he isn’t sure he wants to.

After all, life hasn’t been great for Henry. His mom is a struggling waitress held together by a thin layer of cigarette smoke. His brother is a jobless dropout who just knocked someone up. His grandmother is slowly losing herself to Alzheimer’s. And Henry is still dealing with the grief of his boyfriend’s suicide last year.

Wiping the slate clean sounds like a pretty good choice to him.

But Henry is a scientist first, and facing the question thoroughly and logically, he begins to look for pros and cons: in the bully who is his perpetual one-night stand, in the best friend who betrayed him, in the brilliant and mysterious boy who walked into the wrong class. Weighing the pain and the joy that surrounds him, Henry is left with the ultimate choice: push the button and save the planet and everyone on it...or let the world --- and his pain --- be destroyed forever.

Editorial Content for The Fire Horse Girl

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Alyssa L., Teen Board member

Told from the perspective of a Chinese-American immigrant, Kay Honeyman’s debut novel THE FIRE HORSE GIRL gives readers insights into what it was like to be Chinese in America during the 1920s and the stereotypes associated with Chinese girls who spoke their minds. It was a refreshing read that opened my eyes to a darker history of my culture. Read More

Teaser

 
A young man named Sterling Promise comes to their village to offer Jade Moon and her father a chance to go to America. While Sterling Promise's smooth manners couldn't be more different from her own impulsive nature, Jade Moon falls in love with him on the long voyage. But America in 1923 doesn't want to admit many Chinese, and when they are detained at Angel Island, the "Ellis Island of the West," she discovers a betrayal that destroys all her dreams. To get into America, much less survive there, Jade Moon will have to use all her stubbornness and will to break a new path...one as brave and dangerous as only a Fire Horse girl can imagine.

Promo

Jade Moon is a Fire Horse, the worst sign in the Chinese zodiac for girls, said to make them stubborn, willful and far too imaginative. But while her family despairs of marrying her off, she has a passionate heart and powerful dreams and wants only to find a way to make them come true.
 
Then a young man named Sterling Promise comes to their village to offer Jade Moon and her father a chance to go to America. While Sterling Promise's smooth manners couldn't be more different from her own impulsive nature, Jade Moon falls in love with him on the long voyage. But America in 1923 doesn't want to admit many Chinese, and when they are detained at Angel Island, the "Ellis Island of the West," she discovers a betrayal that destroys all her dreams.

About the Book

Jade Moon is a Fire Horse, the worst sign in the Chinese zodiac for girls, said to make them stubborn, willful and far too imaginative. But while her family despairs of marrying her off, she has a passionate heart and powerful dreams and wants only to find a way to make them come true.
 
Then a young man named Sterling Promise comes to their village to offer Jade Moon and her father a chance to go to America. While Sterling Promise's smooth manners couldn't be more different from her own impulsive nature, Jade Moon falls in love with him on the long voyage. But America in 1923 doesn't want to admit many Chinese, and when they are detained at Angel Island, the "Ellis Island of the West," she discovers a betrayal that destroys all her dreams. To get into America, much less survive there, Jade Moon will have to use all her stubbornness and will to break a new path...one as brave and dangerous as only a Fire Horse girl can imagine.

Editorial Content for It's All Your Fault

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Hasnah Farraj

IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT by Paul Rudnick --- a well-known playwright and author of the books GORGEOUS and SOCIAL DISEASE --- follows a 17-year-old girl named Caitlin Mary Prudence Rectitude Singleberry who is worrying where she will get into college, if she is accepted at all. Sheltered and homeschooled, Caitlin was raised to be a God-fearing individual, which she most certainly is. Read More

Teaser


Up until forty-eight hours ago, seventeen-year-old Caitlin Singleberry had never: Tasted alcohol, kissed a boy, sang in public at the top of her lungs, kidnapped anyone or --- what? Stolen a convertible?  Now she's in jail and has no idea what to tell: The police, her parents, the mayor, all of those camera crews and everyone on Twitter. She blames one person for the entire insane weekend: Her famous cousin.

Promo

Up until forty-eight hours ago, seventeen-year-old Caitlin Singleberry had never: Tasted alcohol, kissed a boy, sang in public at the top of her lungs, kidnapped anyone or --- what? Stolen a convertible?  Now she's in jail and has no idea what to tell: The police, her parents, the mayor, all of those camera crews and everyone on Twitter. She blames one person for the entire insane weekend: Her famous cousin.

About the Book

Up until forty-eight hours ago, seventeen-year-old Caitlin Singleberry had never: Tasted alcohol, kissed a boy, sang in public at the top of her lungs, kidnapped anyone or --- what? Stolen a convertible? 
 
Now she's in jail and has no idea what to tell: The police, her parents, the mayor, all of those camera crews and everyone on Twitter.
 
She has just noticed that: Her nose is pierced and --- wait? Is that a tattoo
 
She blames one person for the entire insane weekend: Her famous cousin.
Who is also her former best friend. Who she has hated for the past four years. Who she also might miss like crazy. It's all your fault, Heller Harrigan!

Editorial Content for The Memory of Light

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Maggie L., Teen Board member.

In THE MEMORY OF LIGHT by Francisco X. Stork, Vicky's reached rock bottom and she realizes she has two choices: give up or start the journey to recovery. She's already tried to give up once, in her attempted suicide, but was found and taken to the hospital before the pills could reach their full effect. Read More

Teaser

 

When Vicky Cruz wakes up in the Lakeview Hospital Mental Disorders ward, she knows one thing: She can't even commit suicide right. But for once, a mistake works out well for her, as she meets Mona, the live wire; Gabriel, the saint; E.M., always angry; and Dr. Desai, a quiet force. With stories and honesty, kindness and hard work, they push her to reconsider her life before Lakeview, and offer her an acceptance she's never had.

Promo

When Vicky Cruz wakes up in the Lakeview Hospital Mental Disorders ward, she knows one thing: She can't even commit suicide right. But for once, a mistake works out well for her, as she meets Mona, the live wire; Gabriel, the saint; E.M., always angry; and Dr. Desai, a quiet force. With stories and honesty, kindness and hard work, they push her to reconsider her life before Lakeview, and offer her an acceptance she's never had.
 
But Vicky's newfound peace is as fragile as the roses that grow around the hospital. And when a crisis forces the group to split up, sending her back to the life that drove her to suicide, Vicky must try to find the strength to carry on. She may not have it. She doesn't know.

About the Book

When Vicky Cruz wakes up in the Lakeview Hospital Mental Disorders ward, she knows one thing: She can't even commit suicide right. But for once, a mistake works out well for her, as she meets Mona, the live wire; Gabriel, the saint; E.M., always angry; and Dr. Desai, a quiet force. With stories and honesty, kindness and hard work, they push her to reconsider her life before Lakeview, and offer her an acceptance she's never had.
 
But Vicky's newfound peace is as fragile as the roses that grow around the hospital. And when a crisis forces the group to split up, sending her back to the life that drove her to suicide, Vicky must try to find the strength to carry on. She may not have it. She doesn't know.
 
Inspired in part by the author's own experience with depression, THE MEMORY OF LIGHT is the rare young adult novel that focuses not on the events leading up to a suicide attempt, but the recovery from one --- about living when life doesn't seem worth it, and how we go on anyway

Editorial Content for I See Reality: Twelve Short Stories About Real Life

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Lauren H., Teen Board member

I SEE REALITY is a compilation of 12 short stories dealing with the problems and obstacles teens face in this modern world. Each story provides an insight into a different kind of life, issue and method to triumph over everyday battles. Amazingly, each story and writer manages to captivate the reader with every page, sentence and word. Read More

Teaser

 

Through prose and comics alike, these heart-pounding short stories for young adults ask hard questions about a range of topics from sexuality and addiction to violence and immigration. Here is the perfect tool for starting tough discussions or simply as an introduction to realistic literary fiction. In turns funny, thought-provoking and heartbreaking, I SEE REALITY will resonate with today's teens long after the last page has been turned.

Promo

A collection of twelve original short stories by top authors exploring real issues for real teens.
 
Through prose and comics alike, these heart-pounding short stories for young adults ask hard questions about a range of topics from sexuality and addiction to violence and immigration. Here is the perfect tool for starting tough discussions or simply as an introduction to realistic literary fiction. In turns funny, thought-provoking and heartbreaking, I SEE REALITY will resonate with today's teens long after the last page has been turned.

About the Book

A collection of twelve original short stories by top authors exploring real issues for real teens.
 
Through prose and comics alike, these heart-pounding short stories for young adults ask hard questions about a range of topics from sexuality and addiction to violence and immigration. Here is the perfect tool for starting tough discussions or simply as an introduction to realistic literary fiction. In turns funny, thought-provoking and heartbreaking, I SEE REALITY will resonate with today's teens long after the last page has been turned.
 
Contributing authors include Jay Clark, Kristin Clark, Heather Demetrios, Stephen Emond, Patrick Flores-Scott, Faith Hicks, Trisha Leaver, Kekla Magoon, Marcella Pixley, James Preller, Jason Schmidt and Jordan Sonnenblick.