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Staff Recommendations > Jeff

1 2 >>>     sort list by title | author The Infinite Tides Christian Kiefer An impressive debut novel from NorCal poet, songwriter and recording artist Kiefer, full of achingly beautiful passages on loss and regret, yet leavened with self-aware humor and with wonderment at the banality of contemporary suburbia. Arming Mother Nature The Birth of Catastrophic Environmentalism Jacob Darwin Hamblin As a Cold War aggressor, the United States, along with its allies, needed to maintain parity, or better yet attain superiority, in ecological warfare. This fascinating book explores how this perceived "unconventional warfare gap" was one of the main... Hokey Pokey Jerry Spinelli Welcome to Hokey Pokey. A place and a time, when childhood is at its best: games to play, bikes to ride, experiences to be had. There are no adults in Hokey Pokey, just kids, and the laws governing Hokey Pokey are simple and finite. But when one of... The Terrible Thing that Happened to Barnaby Brocket John Boyne Barnaby Brocket is an ordinary 8-year-old boy in most ways, but he was born different in one important way: he floats. Unlike everyone else, Barnaby does not obey the law of gravity. His parents, who have a horror of being noticed, want desperately... 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... 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... 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... 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 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... 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... 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. 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... The Maze Runner James Dashner Thomas wakes up, with no memory, surrounded by other boys his age, in a place they call the Glade. All they know is that the stone door set in the insurmountable stone wall opens every morning and closes every evening. Outside lies a maze against which... The Battle of the Sun Jeanette Winterson This inventive and darkly surreal book is a perfect gateway to the His Dark Materials trilogy. Soaked in the stench of 1600 London, full of conundrums big and small, and swarming with dragons and alchemy, there are indescribable things in here that you... 1 2 >>>