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Eddie's Bastard: A Novel
By William Kowalski. 1999
"Eddie's Bastard" is William Amos Mann IV, known as Billy -- the son of a heroic pilot killed in Vietnam…
and an unknown woman. The last in a line of proud, individualistic Irish-American men, Billy is discovered in a basket at the door of the dilapidated mansion where his bitter, hard-drinking grandfather, Thomas Mann, has exiled himself. Astonished and moved by the arrival of his unexpected progeny, Thomas sets out to raise the boy himself -- on a diet of love, fried baloney, and the fascinating lore of their shared heritage. Listening to his sets out to capture the stories on paper. He is a Mann, Grandpa reminds him daily, and thus destined for greatness. Through the tales of his ancestors, his own experiences, and the unforgettable characters who enhance and enliven his adolescence, Billy learns of bravery and cowardice, of life and death, of the heart's capacity for love and for unremitting hatred, eventually grasping the meaning of family and history and their power to shape destiny. Steeped in imagery and threaded with lyricism, Eddie's Bastard is a novel of discovery, of a young man's emergence into the world, and the endless possibilities it offers.The News from Paraguay: A Novel
By Lily Tuck. 2004
“Brimming with rich descriptions of a beautiful country….The News From Paraguay evolves from a quirky, elegant tale of an unconventional…
love affair into a sweeping epic.” — Fort Worth Star-TelegramLily Tuck’s impressive novel offers a kaleidoscopic portrait of 19th century Paraguay, a largely untouched wilderness where European and American figures mix with the Spanish aristocracy of the capital and the indigenous peoples from the surrounding areas. The year is l854. In Paris, Francisco Solano—the future dictator of Paraguay—begins his courtship of the young, beautiful Irish courtesan Ella Lynch with a poncho, a Paraguayan band, and a horse named Mathilde. Ella follows Franco to Asunción and reigns there as his mistress. Isolated and estranged in this new world, she embraces her lover's ill-fated imperial dream—one fueled by a heedless arrogance that will devastate all of Paraguay.With the urgency of the narrative, rich and intimate detail, and a wealth of skillfully layered characters, The News from Paraguay recalls the epic novels of Gabriel García Márquez and Mario Vargas Llosa.The Luck Uglies: Rise of the Ragged Clover (Luck Uglies #3)
By Paul Durham. 2016
In this exhilarating conclusion to the critically acclaimed Luck Uglies series, the final battle between the Luck Uglies and the…
treacherous Fork-Tongue Charmers comes to Rye O’Chanter’s doorstep.Filled with adventure, humor, and a hint of magic, this middle grade fantasy series is an irresistible cross between Chris Colfer’s Land of Stories series and Kelly Barnhill's The Girl Who Drank the Moon.When Rye finally travels back home to Village Drowning to help her father with his plan to defeat the Luck Uglies’ bitter rivals, she finds it in shambles. The monstrous Bog Noblins now raid the streets at night. And people are afraid to leave their houses because no one is around to protect them.Rye soon realizes she can’t wait for the adults to sort everything out, so she enlists her friends to come up with a plan. A plan that could change everything for Drowning . . . because the only way to save her village may just be to destroy it.The Luck Uglies was named an ALA Notable Children’s Book as well as a New York Public Library Title for Reading and Sharing, and it won the Cybil Award for Middle Grade Speculative Fiction and a Sunshine State Young Readers Award.Following Baxter
By Barbara Kerley. 2021
This heartwarming adventure for dog lovers everywhere is a great match for fans of books such as The Fourteenth Goldfish and…
A Snicker of Magic.Eleven-year-old Jordie Marie Wallace has been waiting forever for someone to move in next door, so she is thrilled when Professor Reece arrives: she has a laboratory in her basement and an extraordinary dog named Baxter—who seems to understand everything Jordie says.Jordie and her younger brother T.J. begin walking Baxter and helping Professor Reece in the lab. But being lab assistants ends up being more than Jordie and T.J. bargained for and leads them to a secret neither of them expected.When Professor Reece goes missing, it's up to Jordie and T.J. to use their smarts and Baxter’s magical powers to find her. Will they be able to save Professor Reece before it’s too late?From award-winning author Barbara Kerley comes a sweet and funny story about a young girl, a quirky professor, and a magical dog. A Bank Street Book of the Year!Praise for the award-winning Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins by Barbara Kerley:“Marvelous.” —New York Times“Stunning.” —Kirkus (starred review)“[Kerley] suffuses her text with a contagious sense of wonder and amazement.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)Grandmother's Tale and Selected Stories
By R. K. Narayan. 1994
"It is not too much to compare Mr. Narayan to Chekhov." -The New York TimesThere is no better introduction to…
R.K. Narayan than this remarkable collection of stories celebrating work that spans five decades. Characters include a storyteller whose magical source of tales dries up, a love-stricken husband who is told by astrologers he must sleep with a prostitute to save his dying wife, a pampered child who discovers that his beloved uncle may be an impostor or even a murderer. Standing supreme amid this rich assortment of stories is the title novella. Told by the narrator's grandmother, the tale recounts the adventures of her mother, married at seven and then abandoned, who crosses the subcontinent to extract her husband from the hands of his new wife. Her courage is immense and her will implacable -- but once her mission is completed, her independence vanishes. Gentle irony, wryly drawn characters, and themes at once Indian and universal mark these humane stories, which firmly establish Narayan as one of the world's preeminant storytellers.Maggie-Now: A Novel
By Betty Smith. 1966
Betty Smith, the beloved author of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, weaves a riveting modern myth out of the experiences of…
her own life in this rediscovered classic.In Brooklyn's unforgiving urban jungle, Maggie Moore is torn between answering her own needs and catering to the desirous men who dominate her life. Confronted by her quarrelsome Irish immigrant father, the feckless lover who may become her husband, and others, Maggie must learn to navigate a cycle of loss, separation, and hope as she forges her own path toward happiness.With characteristic warmth, compelling insight, and easy, conversational prose, Maggie-Now poignantly illuminates one woman's struggles and successes as she grapples with timeless questions of desire, duty, self-sacrifice, and the quest for fulfillment. Maggie-Now is an unforgettable masterpiece from one of the twentieth century's greatest talents.Grail Quest: The Shadow Companion (Grail Quest #3)
By Laura Anne Gilman. 2006
The Quest for the Holy Grail has begun. Three teenagers, Gerard, Ailis, and Newt, have earned a place on the…
Quest alongside the Knights of the Round Table. But they are not the only ones seeking this treasured cup. King Arthur's sinister half sister, Morgain le Fay, wants the Grail for herself. To make sure she doesn't fail, she has summoned help from someone more evil and powerful than she—the Shadow Companion. But what Morgain doesn't know is that the Shadow Companion has come with a secret agenda. Now it is more important than ever for Gerard, Ailis, and Newt to recover the Holy Grail . . . before a dark power gets it first.Wild Rescuers: Escape to the Mesa (Wild Rescuers #2)
By Stacy Plays. 2019
The next installment in the New York Times bestselling series! From YouTube gamer StacyPlays comes the exhilarating sequel to her…
Minecraft-inspired adventure novel about a girl raised by wolves. Stacy would do anything to protect the Taiga where she lives with the pack of intelligent wolves who raised her. But when humans start to encroach on their forest, their only choice is escape to a place no Arctic wolf has gone before: the desert. The Mesa, with its canyons, snakes, and coyotes, will be like nothing the pack has ever seen. Even in this unfamiliar territory, Stacy is determined to rescue animals in need. But as she and her wolves face new dangers and old secrets, Stacy can’t help but wonder—where does she truly belong? Fans of DanTDM: Trayasaurus and the Enchanted Crystal and PopularMMOs Presents: A Hole New World will love this illustrated, action-packed series!The Luck Uglies: Fork-Tongue Charmers (Luck Uglies #2)
By Paul Durham. 2015
The Luck Uglies must face their greatest enemy in this second installment of the series that's a perfect match for…
fans of Chris Colfer's Land of Stories series and books by Kelly Barnhill. "There is not a single dull moment in this story. A total delight," raved Bookslist in a starred review!Rye O’Chanter was shocked to discover that her father was the leader of the notorious band of outlaws known as the Luck Uglies. Now she too has been declared a criminal in her own village, and she must flee to the strange and remote Isle of Pest while her father faces off against the Luck Uglies’ bitter rivals, the Fork-Tongue-Charmers, on the mainland.But all bets are off when the battle moves to the shores of Pest. To defeat the Fork-Tongue Charmers, Rye must defy a deranged earl, survive a test meant to judge the grit of the fiercest men, and lead the charge in defending the island against a strangely familiar enemy, which means uncovering some long-buried family secrets….The first Luck Uglies book was named an ALA Notable Children’s Book as well as a New York Public Library Title for Reading and Sharing, and it won the Cybil Award for Middle Grade Speculative Fiction and a Sunshine State Young Readers Award.The Luck Uglies (Luck Uglies #1)
By Paul Durham. 2014
The first in a series with the makings of a modern classic, The Luck Uglies is an irresistible cross between Chris…
Colfer's Land of Stories series and Kelly Barnhill's The Girl Who Drank the Moon, overflowing with adventure, secrets, friendship, and magic.Rye O'Chanter has seen a lot of strange things happen in Village Drowning: Children are chased through the streets. Families are fined for breaking laws that don't even exist. Girls aren't allowed to read anymore, and certain books—books that hold secrets about Drowning's past—have been outlawed altogether.Now a terrifying encounter has eleven-year-old Rye convinced that the monstrous, supposedly extinct Bog Noblins have returned. Before the monsters disappeared, there was only one way to defeat them—the Luck Uglies. But the Luck Uglies have long since been exiled, and there's nobody left who can protect the village.As Rye dives into Drowning's maze of secrets, rules, and lies, she begins to question everything she's been told about the village's legend of outlaws and beasts . . . and what she'll discover is that it may take a villain to save them from the monsters.This critically acclaimed debut middle grade novel was named an ALA Notable Book and a New York Public Library Title for Reading and Sharing and won the Cybil Award for Middle Grade Speculative Fiction and a Sunshine State Young Readers Award.The Last Dragon Charmer: Quest Maker (The Last Dragon Charmer #2)
By Laurie McKay. 2016
This second book in the epic Last Dragon Charmer series is perfect for fans of Soman Chainani’s School for Good…
and Evil and Chris Colfer’s Land of Stories. When mysterious magic transported Prince Caden from the Greater Realm to seemingly normal Asheville, North Carolina, he was shocked to discover it was home to the most dangerous villains ever banished from his homeland. And that a great and powerful Elderdragon rules them all. Now Caden suspects that dark forces are conspiring on both sides of the magical divide between his world, and this one. The Elderdragon gives Caden a quest: uncover the dangerous plan and protect the Greater Realm from banished villains hungry for revenge. Because if they find a way home before Caden can, everyone he loves may be in danger. With its perfect blend of wit, action, and heart, Laurie McKay’s Last Dragon Charmer series will captivate readers young and old, and remind them what it truly means to be a hero.“A sometimes-amusing, sometimes-thrilling, and always entertaining sequel.” —Kirkus ReviewsDietland: A Novel
By Sarai Walker. 2015
AN AMC ORIGINAL SERIES FROM EXECUTIVE PRODUCER MARTI NOXON, STARRING JOY NASH AND JULIANNA MARGULIESA Best Book of the YearEntertainment…
Weekly • Bustle • Amazon • Women&’s National Book Association • Kirkus Reviews • BookPage • Kobo • LitReactor &“Audacious and gutsy and heartbreaking — Dietland completely blew me away.&” — Jennifer WeinerThe diet revolution is here. And it&’s armed. Plum Kettle does her best not to be noticed, because when you&’re fat, to be noticed is to be judged. With her job answering fan mail for a teen magazine, she is biding her time until her weight-loss surgery. But when a mysterious woman in colorful tights and combat boots begins following her, Plum falls down a rabbit hole into the world of Calliope House — an underground community of women who reject society&’s rules — and is forced to confront the real costs of becoming &“beautiful.&” At the same time, a guerilla group begins terrorizing a world that mistreats women, and Plum becomes entangled in a sinister plot. The consequences are explosive. &“A giddy revenge fantasy that will shake up your thinking and burrow under your skin&” (Entertainment Weekly), Dietland takes on the beauty industry, gender inequality, and our weight-loss obsession — with fists flying.The Eulogist: A Novel
By Terry Gamble. 2019
From the author of The Water Dancers and Good Family, an exquisitely crafted novel, set in Ohio in the decades…
leading to the Civil War, that illuminates the immigrant experience, the injustice of slavery, and the debts human beings owe to one another, witnessed through the endeavors of one Irish-American family.Cheated out of their family estate in Northern Ireland after the Napoleonic Wars, the Givens family arrives in America in 1819. But in coming to this new land, they have lost nearly everything. Making their way west they settle in Cincinnati, a burgeoning town on the banks of the mighty Ohio River whose rise, like the Givenses’ own, will be fashioned by the colliding forces of Jacksonian populism, religious evangelism, industrial capitalism, and the struggle for emancipation.After losing their mother in childbirth and their father to a riverboat headed for New Orleans, James, Olivia, and Erasmus Givens must fend for themselves. Ambitious James eventually marries into a prosperous family, builds a successful business, and rises in Cincinnati society. Taken by the spirit and wanderlust, Erasmus becomes an itinerant preacher, finding passion and heartbreak as he seeks God. Independent-minded Olivia, seemingly destined for spinsterhood, enters into a surprising partnership and marriage with Silas Orpheus, a local doctor who spurns social mores.When her husband suddenly dies from an infection, Olivia travels to his family home in Kentucky, where she meets his estranged brother and encounters the horrors of slavery firsthand. After abetting the escape of one slave, Olivia is forced to confront the status of a young woman named Tilly, another slave owned by Olivia’s brother-in-law. When her attempt to help Tilly ends in disaster, Olivia tracks down Erasmus, who has begun smuggling runaways across the river—the borderline between freedom and slavery. As the years pass, this family of immigrants initially indifferent to slavery will actively work for its end—performing courageous, often dangerous, occasionally foolhardy acts of moral rectitude that will reverberate through their lives for generations to come.The Yacoubian Building: A Novel
By Alaa Al Aswany. 2006
August Book Sense PickA fading aristocrat and self-proclaimed ‘scientist of women.’ A purring, voluptuous siren. A young shop-girl enduring the…
clammy touch of her boss and hating herself for accepting the modest banknotes he tucks into her pocket afterward. An earnest, devout young doorman, feeling the irresistible pull toward fundamentalism. A cynical, secretly gay newspaper editor, helplessly in love with a peasant security guard. A roof-squatting tailor, scheming to own property. A corrupt and corpulent politician, twisting the Koran to justify taking a mistress.All live in the Yacoubian Building, a once-elegant temple of Art Deco splendor slowly decaying in the smog and hubbub of downtown Cairo, Egypt. In the course of this unforgettable novel, these disparate lives converge, careening inexorably toward an explosive conclusion. Tragicomic, passionate, shockingly frank in its sexuality, and brimming with an extraordinary, embracing human compassion, The Yacoubian Building is a literary achievement of the first order.Names on a Map: A Novel
By Benjamin Alire Sáenz. 2008
“A book of great lyrical power, Names on a Map is a heartbreaking mirror for our own time, about an American family…
torn apart by an unjust war. In Ben Saenz’ dexterous, tender hands, this novel is a salve upon the wounds of both then and now.” —Ruben Martinez, award winning author of Crossing Over: A Mexican Family on the Migrant TrailA haunting novel from award-winning author and poet Benjamin Alire Saenz, about a family of Hispanic immigrants handling the psychological effects of a war they don’t feel is theirs to fightIn 1967, at the height of the Vietnam War, the Espejo family of El Paso, Texas, is just like thousands of other American families coping with a war they feel does not concern them. When Gustavo, the eldest son—the “bad boy” of the family—is told to report for basic training, his ideology and sense of patriotism is put to the test. Opting to flee to Mexico and avoid the draft, Gustavo soon realizes he is no more culturally connected to his ancestral homeland than he is to the America that called him to war. Poignant and insightful, Names on a Map explores with complex detail the harsh nature of immigrant life in the United States—and the emotional tug-of-war experienced by all those with allegiance to more than one country.Call Me the Breeze: A Novel
By Patrick McCabe. 2003
With T. S. Eliot's words as his guide, Joey Tallon embarks on a journey toward enlightenment in the troubling psychedelic-gone-wrong…
atmosphere of the late 1970s. A man deranged by desire, and longing for belonging, Tallon searches for his"place of peace" -- a spiritual landscape located somewhere between his small town in Northern Ireland and Iowa ... and maybe between heaven and hell.Archangel's Lineage (The Guild Hunter Series)
By Nalini Singh. 2024
Raphael and Elena are experiencing their first ever year of true peace. No war. No horrors of archangelic power. No…
nightmares given flesh. Until...the earth beneath the Refuge begins to tremble, endangering not only angelkind's precious and fragile young, but the very place that has held their most innocent safe for eons. Amid the chaos, Elena's father suffers a violent heart attack that threatens to extinguish their last chance to heal the bonds between them and make sense of the ruins of their agonizing shared history. Even as Elena battles grief, Raphael is torn from her side by the sudden disappearance of an archangel. But worse yet is to come. An Ancestor, an angel unlike any other, stirs from his Sleep to warn the Cadre of a darkness so terrible that it causes empires to fall and civilizations to vanish.This time, even the Cadre itself may not be able to stop a ticking clock that is counting down at frightening speed...The Water Dancers: A Novel
By Terry Gamble. 2003
A stunning debut novel from a new voice in literary fiction, set on Lake Michigan following World War II, The…
Water Dancers limns the divide between the worlds of the wealthy elite "summer people" and the poor native population who serve them–and what happens when those worlds collide. When Rachel Winnapee first comes to work at the March family summer home on vast and beautiful Lake Michigan, she quickly learns her place. Servants are seen and not heard as they bring the breakfast trays, wash and iron luxurious clothes, and serve gin and tonics to the wealthy family as they lounge on the deck playing bridge. Orphaned as a poverty–stricken young girl from the nearby band of Native Americans, Rachel is in awe of the Marches' glamorous life–and quite enamored of the family's son Woody. Rachel is soon assigned the task of caring for Woody, a young man whose life has been changed utterly by his experience as a soldier in WWII. The war has cost Woody not only his leg, but, worse, the older brother he loved and admired. Now back at home, Woody cannot bear to face the obligations of his future – especially when it comes to his bride–to–be Elizabeth. Woody finds himself drawn to Rachel, who is like no one he's ever known. The love affair that unites these two lost souls in this Great Gatsby–esque portrait of class division will alter the course of their lives in ways both heartbreaking and profound. This novel's richness is due, in part, to the author's memories of summers spent at her family's house on Lake Michigan, home to six generations of Gambles (as in Procter & Gamble). THE WATER DANCERS, told in a voice as clear and cool as lake water, is a luminescent tale of love, loss and redemption, and heralds the arrival of a remarkable new talent.Archangel's Lineage (The Guild Hunter Series)
By Nalini Singh. 2024
Raphael and Elena are experiencing their first ever year of true peace. No war. No horrors of archangelic power. No…
nightmares given flesh. Until...the earth beneath the Refuge begins to tremble, endangering not only angelkind's precious and fragile young, but the very place that has held their most innocent safe for eons. Amid the chaos, Elena's father suffers a violent heart attack that threatens to extinguish their last chance to heal the bonds between them and make sense of the ruins of their agonizing shared history. Even as Elena battles grief, Raphael is torn from her side by the sudden disappearance of an archangel. But worse yet is to come. An Ancestor, an angel unlike any other, stirs from his Sleep to warn the Cadre of a darkness so terrible that it causes empires to fall and civilizations to vanish.This time, even the Cadre itself may not be able to stop a ticking clock that is counting down at frightening speed...What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez
By Claire Jimenez. 2023
A powerful novel that's "hilarious, heartbreaking, and ass-kicking" (Jamie Ford) about a Puerto Rican family in Staten Island who discovers their…
long‑missing sister is potentially alive and cast on a reality TV show, and sets out to bring her home. Winner of the 2024 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction · Longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize · March Indie Next Pick · Belletrist, Phenomenal, Page & Pairing, and Readers Digest book club pick The Ramirez women of Staten Island orbit around absence. When thirteen‑year‑old middle child Ruthy disappeared after track practice without a trace, it left the family scarred and scrambling. One night, twelve years later, oldest sister Jessica spots a woman on her TV screen in Catfight, a raunchy reality show. She rushes to tell her younger sister, Nina: This woman's hair is dyed red, and she calls herself Ruby, but the beauty mark under her left eye is instantly recognizable. Could it be Ruthy, after all this time? The years since Ruthy's disappearance haven't been easy on the Ramirez family. It&’s 2008, and their mother, Dolores, still struggles with the loss, Jessica juggles a newborn baby with her hospital job, and Nina, after four successful years at college, has returned home to medical school rejections and is forced to work in the mall folding tiny bedazzled thongs at the lingerie store. After seeing maybe‑Ruthy on their screen, Jessica and Nina hatch a plan to drive to where the show is filmed in search of their long‑lost sister. When Dolores catches wind of their scheme, she insists on joining, along with her pot-stirring holy roller best friend, Irene. What follows is a family road trip and reckoning that will force the Ramirez women to finally face the past and look toward a future—with or without Ruthy in it.What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez is a vivid family portrait, in all its shattered reality, exploring the familial bonds between women and cycles of generational violence, colonialism, race, and silence, replete with snark, resentment, tenderness, and, of course, love. A Most Anticipated Book of 2023 by Elle • USA Today • Today.com • Ms. Magazine • Good Housekeeping • Bustle • The Week • Goodreads • Bookriot • Pop Culturely • SheReads • Litreactor • Electric Lit • The Mary Sue • People Español • Zibby Mag • Debutiful • Her Campus Best Books of March by Shondaland • Ms. Magazine • Popsugar • Bookriot • Debutiful • Powell&’s Book Blog • TIME 100 must-read book of 2023 • Booklist Top 10 debut of 2023 • Library Journal Best Pop Fiction of 2023 • The Latinidad List Best Debut Novel of 2023 • Chicago Public Library Favorite Book of 2023 • Good Housekeeping Must-Read Book of 2023 • Today.com Standout Book of 2023Includes a Reading Group Guide.