Spotlight - Field of Screams

Field of Screams

by Wendy Parris

What they say: Paranormal enthusiast Rebecca Graff isn’t happy about being dragged to Iowa to spend the summer with family she barely knows. But when she tracks a ghostly presence to an abandoned farmhouse, she starts to think the summer won’t be a total lost cause!

The trouble is no one believes her. Then Rebecca finds a note stashed in a comic belonging to her late father—a note that proves the same spirit haunted him when he was twelve. Suddenly she feels a connection to the dad she pretends not to miss, and she is determined to uncover the story behind the haunting.

But the more Rebecca discovers, the scarier the ghost becomes. Soon she is in a race to piece together the puzzle and recover a family legacy before it is lost forever and a horrible tragedy repeats itself.

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Book Spotlight - Ghost Book

Ghost Book

by Remy Lai

What they say: Twelve years ago, the boy and the girl lived. But one was supposed to die.

July Chen sees ghosts. But her dad insists ghosts aren’t real. So she pretends they don’t exist. Which is incredibly difficult now as it's Hungry Ghost month, when the Gates of the Underworld open and dangerous ghosts run amok in the living world. When July saves a boy ghost from being devoured by a Hungry Ghost, he becomes her first ever friend. Except William is not a ghost. He’s a wandering soul wavering between life and death. As the new friends embark on an adventure to return William to his body, they unearth a ghastly truth―for William to live, July must die.

Inspired by Chinese mythology, this dark yet resoundingly hopeful tale about friendship, sacrifice, and the unseen world of ghosts is a dazzling heir to beloved Studio Ghibli classics.

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Am Reading - The Lost Library

The Lost Library

by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass

What they say: When a mysterious little free library (guarded by a large orange cat) appears overnight in the small town of Martinville, eleven-year-old Evan plucks two weathered books from its shelves, never suspecting that his life is about to change. 

Evan and his best friend Rafe quickly discover a link between one of the old books and a long-ago event that none of the grown-ups want to talk about. The two boys start asking questions whose answers will transform not only their own futures, but the town itself.

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Whatcha Reading Wednesday - Once Upon a Time in the North

Once Upon a Time in the North: Illustrated Edition

by Philip Pullman

What they say: Lyra is studying at Oxford University, she comes across the story of Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrnisson's first meeting, many years ago, along with much evidence of the adventure that brought them together...

When a young Texan balloonist, Lee Scoresby, comes down to earth in the harbour of an Arctic town in the North, little does he realise that he is about to be embroiled in an out-and-out political brawl.

Lee and his daemon, Hester, find themselves the target of political factions trying to take over the running (and oil) of the town. And also resident in the town are huge arctic bears, ignored and patronised by the people and treated like second-class citizens. When Lee and Iorek first meet, they cement a friendship that will continue throughout their lives, as the tensions and pressure in town lead to a deadly conclusion...

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Book Spotlight - Foul Heart Huntsman

Foul Heart Huntsman - Foul Lady Fortune #2 

by Chloe Gong

What they say: Winter is drawing thick in 1932 Shanghai, as is the ever-nearing threat of a Japanese invasion.

Rosalind Lang has suffered the worst possible fate for a national spy: she’s been exposed. With the media storm camped outside her apartment for the infamous Lady Fortune, she’s barely left her bedroom in weeks, plotting her next course of action after Orion was taken and his memories of Rosalind wiped. Though their marriage might have been a sham, his absence hurts her more than any physical wound. She won’t rest until she gets him back.

But with her identity in the open, the task is near impossible. The only way to leave the city and rescue Orion is under the guise of a national tour. It’s easy to convince her superiors that the countryside needs unity more than ever, and who better than an immortal girl to stir pride and strength into the people?

When the tour goes wrong, however, everything Rosalind once knew is thrown up in the air. Taking refuge outside Shanghai, old ghosts come into the open and adversaries turn to allies. To save Orion, they must find a cure to his mother’s traitorous invention and take this dangerous chemical weapon away from impending foreign invasion—but the clock is ticking, and if Rosalind fails, it’s not only Orion she loses, but her nation itself.

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Whatcha Reading Wednesday - The Chalice of the Gods

The Chalice of the Gods - Percy Jackson and the Olympians #6 

by Rick Riordan

What they say: The original heroes from The Lightning Thief are reunited for their biggest challenge yet: getting Percy to college when the gods are standing in his way.

After saving the world multiple times, Percy Jackson is hoping to have a normal senior year. Unfortunately, the gods aren’t quite done with him. Percy will have to fulfill three quests in order to get the necessary three letters of recommendation from Mount Olympus for college. 

The first quest is to help Zeus’s cup-bearer retrieve his goblet before it falls into the wrong hands. Can Percy, Grover, and Annabeth find it in time? 

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Spotlight - Running Past Dark

Running Past Dark

by Han Nolan

What they say: What happens to the twin left behind?

Scottie O’Doul isn’t looking forward to starting her senior year. Last May, her identical twin sister, Cait, died in a car crash involving the school’s beloved football coach. There’s been no official report on the accident yet, but before she died, Cait told Scottie a disturbing secret. When Scottie reveals this secret, half the town turns against her, certain that Scottie is lying to protect her sister and that Cait deliberately lost control of the car.

Scottie knows her twin would never take her own life, or someone else’s, but how can she prove it? As she faces bullying and hostility at school, she starts to wonder if what Cait said was even true. Turning to running to break through her grief, Scottie finds a new world and a new sense of self outside her twinness. She also reconnects with her old boyfriend, who had a terrible accident of his own the same day Cait died. Could there be a connection? 

As she runs mile after mile, Scottie keeps trying to fit the jigsaw pieces together and find the true picture of what happened to Cait and what was really going on at school before the crash.

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Whatcha Reading Wednesday - Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World

Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World

by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

What they say: In Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, two boys in a border town fell in love. Now, they must discover what it means to stay in love and build a relationship in a world that seems to challenge their very existence.

Ari has spent all of high school burying who he really is, staying silent and invisible. He expected his senior year to be the same. But something in him cracked open when he fell in love with Dante, and he can’t go back. Suddenly he finds himself reaching out to new friends, standing up to bullies of all kinds, and making his voice heard. And, always, there is Dante, dreamy, witty Dante, who can get on Ari’s nerves and fill him with desire all at once.

The boys are determined to forge a path for themselves in a world that doesn’t understand them. But when Ari is faced with a shocking loss, he’ll have to fight like never before to create a life that is truthfully, joyfully his own.

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Coming Soon - The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac

Coming Oct 2023

I cannot wait for this!!

The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac: The official magical companion to J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books  

by J.K. Rowling and illustrated by Peter Goes,  Louise Lockhart, Weitong Mai,  Olia Muza,  Levi Pinfold, Pham Quang Phuc and Tomislav Tomić

What they say: The only official companion to the seven spellbinding novels about the Boy Who Lived, fully illustrated and superbly sorted – the perfect gift for Harry Potter fans of all ages! Whisk yourself away to Harry Potter’s wizarding world with this Whiz-bang of an illustrated companion. Discover magical places, study wandlore, encounter fantastic beasts, and find out about the witches and wizards who lived. From the Sorting Hat to the secrets of the Forbidden Forest, it’s all packed inside! This dazzling gift book brings together beloved characters, unforgettable moments, and iconic locations from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone all the way through to The Deathly Hallows . It’s the ultimate magical miscellany, filled with facts and fun about the wizarding world, beautifully catalogued and brilliantly explored. Joyfully illustrated throughout in full color by seven stunning artists and tingling with astonishing details to spot on every page, this is the ideal introduction to the Harry Potter stories for new readers and sure to surprise and fascinate lifelong fans. From incredible cross-sections to magical maps and ingenious lists, lose yourself exploring Hogwarts and beyond…

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