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The Spindlers
Lauren Oliver
Decades from now Lauren Oliver will be remembered as one of the best and brightest children's authors of this generation. The Spindlers is her second novel for younger audiences and is destined, in my estimation, to become a classic.
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My Name Is Mina
David Almond
The prequel to the author's award-winning Skellig, which I haven't read and which one doesn't need to read to appreciate this little masterpiece. Almond basically takes us into the mind of a special child, an innocent, not yet corrupted by society's...
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The Boy at the End of the World
Greg van Eekhout
Watch out for Greg van Eekhout! His first book, Kid vs. Squid, was wonderful but so bizarre I'm not sure I could accurately describe it. Not so his sophomore effort, The Boy at the End of the World. This is about as good as science fiction for young...
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Every You, Every Me
David Levithan
A powerful exploration of those intense relationships we form in high school, relationships we assume (no, not assume, know) will define our lives. And those assumptions are always wrong. This realization tears apart a group of friends as they try to...
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Liesl & Po
Lauren Oliver
Lauren Oliver's second book for younger readers, The Spindlers, absolutely blew me away, forcing me to reread this, her first. An adventure, a story of friendships, but also a meditation on coming to terms with loss, on letting go of and remembering...
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The Woman Who Could Not Forget
Iris Chang Before and Beyond The Rape of Nanking
Ying-Ying Chang
A devastatingly powerful book about the loss to madness not only of a daughter, a wife and a mother, but of a promising young historian and author. You must read this. —Recommended by Jeff, City Lights Books
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The End of Everything
A Novel
Megan Abbott
This little book packs a wallop. In prose as relentless as it is compelling, Abbott rips the shiny veneer from an idyllic suburban childhood, uncovering the uncomfortable truths festering therein. —Recommended by Jeff, City Lights Books
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Imaginary Girls
Nova Ren Suma
A tense thriller, full of supernatural overtones, and completely impossible to describe without giving away the story. You will either love it or hate it! Me? I couldn't put it down. Dark and challenging. (For ages 14 and up) —Recommended by Jeff
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A Boy and a Bear in a Boat
Dave Shelton
One of the most charming books I've ever encountered. Just flip through it and try not to smile at the author's whimsical illustrations. (For ages 8 to 12) —Recommended by Jeff, City Lights Books
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Red Heat
Conspiracy, Murder, and the Cold War in the Caribbean
Alex Von Tunzelmann
We never, ever learn. This history is so full of our stupidity, our duplicity, our blind obedience to flawed doctrine, that you will forever question those whose pronouncements determine our foreign policy, not excluding the Chief of State. Then we...
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Cold Cereal
Adam Rex
Let me set this up for you: there is an evil, evil corporate cereal company. And I mean meanly evil. Their slogan, "There's a little bit of magic in every box," is literally true. And how they get that magic there is mean and evil.
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Embassytown
China Mieville
A planet at the farthest reaches of human colonisation. A planet needed by humanity for its irreproducible biotechnology. An exo-terran species whose goodwill is needed in trade negotiations, but whose language is so difficult to mimic that human...
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Oddfellow's Orphanage
Emily Winfield Martin
Finding wonderful chapter books for the under-eights has been the most frustrating part of what I do here... and then I read this. Beautifully written and illustrated, intelligent and witty, as well as warm and fuzzy, this is as good as it gets.
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The Poisoner's Handbook
Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York
Deborah Blum
Fascinating and entertaining, tinged with both humor and horror, this account of the early years of forensic medicine in New York City is near unputdownable. We follow the city's Medical Examiner and head toxicologist as they develop the techniques for...
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