Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission-and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.Įxcept that right now, he doesn’t know that. “If you loved The Martian, you’ll go crazy for Weir’s latest.”- The Washington Post “An epic story of redemption, discovery and cool speculative sci-fi.”- USA Today.ONE OF THE YEAR’S BEST BOOKS: Bill Gates, GatesNotes, New York Public Library, Parade, Newsweek, Polygon, Shelf Awareness, She Reads, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal. From the author of The Martian, a lone astronaut must save the earth from disaster in this “propulsive” ( Entertainment Weekly), cinematic thriller full of suspense, humor, and fascinating science-in development as a major motion picture starring Ryan Gosling.
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Unfortunately, that night also begins her descent into Vicodin dependency. In a tour-de-force introduction to her sense of humor, Kate breaks the fourth wall and addresses her reading audience, narrating the plot of the ballet in spectacular smartass fashion. Kate begins her story on the night she throws out her neck during a performance of Swan Lake. The following year, her even-more-talented younger sister, Gwen, followed, and they have both moved steadily up the ranks ever since. LC 2012001331.Īdult/High School–Kate Crane moved to New York City as a teenager to join a prestigious ballet company. Howrey was widely praised for last year’s debut novel, The Blind Sight, which was an AB4T Best of 2011 and earned an Alex Award nomination. There are dark moments in this book, and although its cover and subject matter will appeal to younger teens, girls especially, I would limit my recommendation to mature teens (perhaps 16 or 17 and older) unless you have read the book yourself and know the teen involved. A big part of whether Kate will survive this time in her life is dependent on rediscovering joy in her talent. But you’d also give anything to get it back again.” That is exactly the state of Kate’s relationship to dance in this novel. At that point you might curse it, mock it, turn away and hide from it. As she states, “There may come a time when the thing that once inspired and fed you ceases to do so. Her attitude is partially illuminated by the author in her post on Largehearted Boy’s Book Notes. Move over Ramona Quimby, Portland has another neighbor you have to meet!” - Kirkus Reviews, starred review Allows Black readers to see themselves and all readers to find a character they can love. “Intermittently funny, frustrating, and touching. And plenty of sunshine.Īcclaimed author Renée Watson writes her own version of Ramona Quimby, one starring a Black girl and her family, in this start to a charming new series. But even if her life isn't everything she would wish for, when her big brother is infuriating, her parents don't quite understand, and the unexpected happens, she always finds a way forward, with grace and wit. Ryan is all about trying to see the best in people, to be a good daughter, a good sister, a good friend. As her brother says when he raps about her, she's got the talent that matters most: it's a talent that can't be seen, she's nice, not mean! But Ryan is a girl who knows how to make sunshine out of setbacks. That means some changes, like selling their second car and moving into a new (old) house. Her dad finally has a new job, but money is tight. Ryan Hart has a lot on her mind-school, self-image, and especially family. From Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Author Award winner Renée Watson comes the first book in a young middle grade series about Ryan Hart, a girl who is pure spirit, kindness, and sunshine. Graham is known for her artful, unique, Canadian take on historical fictionĪ dazzling novel set during the Great War and postwar Prohibition about a young nurse, a soldier, and a family secret that binds them together for generations to come-from USA TODAY and repeat #1 bestselling author Genevieve Graham.Ĭassie Simmons, a museum curator, is enthusiastic about solving mysteries from the past, and she has a personal interest in the history of the rumrunners who ferried illegal booze across the Detroit River during Prohibition. This exclusive, limited edition Bluebird Box features a signed copy of Genevieve Graham's brand new masterpiece Bluebird Join master author Genevieve Graham and Read Between the Vines at Book Club this spring on Zoom! Children, especially girls, are brought up under strict gendered and religious codes. The novel is set in an idyllic village in Borno State, where Christians and Muslims coexist. In this story, Boko Haram is the antagonist, the evil and death- dealing force, the destroyer of dreams and communities. Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree is the writer’s attempt to humanize the stolen girls and put a face to the countless victims of the worst terrorist violence in Nigeria. Apart from journalistic and historical writings on insurgency in Nigeria, Nwaubani’s novel is one of few literary works to project the voices of Boko Haram’s female abductees on the national and global stage. As a fictional story based on real accounts of survivors, the author exposes the trauma of female captivity in strikingly lucid vignettes. Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani’s new book, Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree is the coming of age and captivity story of a teenage girl enslaved in Boko Haram’s infamous Sambisa forest. He was later known in particular for his numerous books on crime, notably A Criminal History of Mankind ( 1984) and Written in Blood: A History of Forensic Detection ( 1989) and for his investigations of the paranormal, of which the most important are The Occult ( 1971), Mysteries: An Investigation into the Occult, the Paranormal, and the Supernatural ( 1978), Poltergeist! ( 1981), Beyond the Occult ( 1988) and From Atlantis to the Sphinx: Recovering the Lost Wisdom of the Ancient World ( 1996), which locates its titular "lost wisdom" in cultures like Atlantis, before the advent of civilizations built around the control of fertility (see Feminism). (1931-2013) UK author of speculative works, who remains best known for his first book, The Outsider ( 1956), in which he gave graphic expression to the brilliant autodidactism, the erratic system-building mentality, the tendency to treat himself (and a previous few others) as a natural elite, and the voracity for new mental sensations that would mark the very numerous titles he would produce over the next several decades, many of them of some indirect interest to sf and fantasy writers and readers. Half of Yellow Sun was adapted by Biye Bandele for the cinema and stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandie Newton. The novel’s searing treatment of the Biafran War saw Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie compared to, among others, Chinua Achebe, Ken Saro-Wiwa and Helon Habila. The lives of these three collide in unexpected ways as serious questions of ethnicity, politics and history play out. Ugwu his houseboy, Olanna the professor’s girlfriend, and Richard an English writer. It centres on a professor, Odenigbo, and three characters who lie in his orbit. Half of a Yellow Sun is set against the backdrop of the Biafran War, Nigeria’s bloody civil war fought from 1967 – 1970. It went on to win several awards including the Orange Prize for fiction. Purple Hibiscus was shortlisted for the Orange Prize and won the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize in 2005.įurther critical acclaim came with the publication of her second novel, Half of a Yellow Sun which was heralded almost immediately as a masterpiece. Set in Nigeria where she grew up, her debut is told through the eyes of a fifteen year old girl who is facing the challenges of living under the rule of her fanatically religious father and an oppressive state. Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis Vance, J.D.This lead further to generally trying to understand the experience of women and minorities in the world. Realizing the white story is a very narrow angle of history, I sought to balance out my understanding with the perspective of marginalized people. This began with the exceptionally well-timed Hillbilly Elegy and the more technical White Trash. I began the year, like many city dwelling liberals attempting to understand the Trump phenomenon. Special thanks to Marc Bodnick’s book recommendation Facebook requests for inspiring many of these. Here are 80ish of the books I read this year, just those that I gave four or five stars on Goodreads. DuBois and James Baldwin, the year that Max Tegmark opened my mind to the multiverse, and Robert Sapolsky helped me understand that mind better. Four months later, I set it to 60, then 80, finally sticking with 100, which I recently surpassed.Ģ017 was a hell of a year, but I’ll remember it as the year I learned from W.E.B. So I set myself a slightly higher goal of reading 37 books. In 2017, I chose to focus on health, but didn’t want to leave behind my obsession with reading. To that end, I set myself an aggressive reading target and spent the year working on the small hadron collider that is the human brain. In 2016, I chose learning as my focus area. Leo and Kevin ask the advice of Archie Brubaker, a retired paleontologist who mentors the kids of Mica. Soon after, the head cheerleader invites Stargirl to join the squad. Leo, however, decides there’s something wonderfully real about her, though he can’t pinpoint what it is.Ī few weeks later, Stargirl shows up at the Mica High football game and thrills the normally dull crowd by dancing around the field. Mica High is “not exactly a hotbed of nonconformity,” and Stargirl’s ways continue to baffle the other kids. Stargirl also brings her pet rat, Cinnamon, to school and has an unsettling habit of greeting strangers in the hallways. Over the coming days, Stargirl’s strange outfits-and her habit of serenading kids in the lunchroom-lead to speculations that she’s a fake. They make plans to interview Stargirl on Hot Seat, the student TV show they co-created. Leo’s best friend, Kevin, tells him that Stargirl was homeschooled until recently. Stargirl wears flowing dresses and carries a ukulele on her back. On Leo’s first day of 11th grade, all of Mica High is whispering about a new 10th-grade girl named Stargirl Caraway. A few days later, Leo receives a package containing another porcupine necktie. His collection is mentioned in a small newspaper feature on Leo’s 14th birthday. As a newcomer to Mica, Arizona, Leo decided to start a porcupine necktie collection. When Leo Borlock was a little boy, his uncle gave him a porcupine necktie. Dramatic, heartbreaking and surprising, this is a story about the love between a man and a woman and between a parent and a child. But just as his life seems to be settling into a blissful pattern, an unsettling and mysterious message re-opens old wounds and sets off a chain of events that will forever change the course of this young couple's marriage. Now, Jeremy is living in the tiny town of Boone Creek, North Carolina, married to Lexie Darnell, the love of his life, and anticipating the birth of their daughter. There are a few things Jeremy Marsh was sure he'd never do: he'd never leave New York City never give his heart away again after barely surviving one failed marriage and, most of all, never become a parent. |