He was a man of two tribes and the Comanche blood that flowed in his veins was that of one of the most savage raiders of the south-west. But a white man had raised him and there was as much hate as duty mixed in with those years. They called him Blaine, a name known far and wide across Texas: a man who said little and who was willing to be judged by his actions. He worked hard and fought hard, essentially a loner with a void in his heart that could never be filled. Unless he killed the man who had raised him - a man to whom he owed everything. And Blaine always paid his debts. Views: 31
I should have died quick. But I didn't. I'm a miracle of modern medicine, only the medicine doesn't get much credit, I notice. People say I'm lucky, or I'm blessed, and then they turn away.I'm not the only miracle. There's Odd too.Polly Furnas had The Plan for the future. Get married to Bridger Morgan, for one. College, career, babies. Etc. All the important choices were made.It was all happily-ever-after as a diamond-ring commercial.But The Plan did not include a lethal drug-resistant infection. It did not include “some more reconstruction and scar revision in the future." And it certainly did not include Odd Estes, a trip to Portland in an ancient Cadillac to "tear Bridger a new one," fly fishing, marshmallows, Crisco, or a loaded gun.But plans change. Stories get revised and new choices must be made.Polly and Odd have choices: Survival or not. Catch or release.From BooklistPolly has physically recovered from the flesh-eating bacteria that attacked her face near the close of her senior year. She has lost one eye and that side of her face is now deeply distorted. Much more brutal than the physical scarring, however, is the fact that the boyfriend with whom she had planned a happily-ever-after future dumped her while she was hospitalized. He just couldn’t stand the imperfections that New Polly bore—aesthetically, psychologically, and socially. While in the hospital, however, Polly strikes up an acquaintance with another bacteria survivor, Odd Estes, who lost his foot to the disease and has been outfitted with a robotic prosthesis that he learns to work quite well. In addition to sharing the adjustment to life as bacteria survivors, they both love fishing, and Odd takes Polly on a road trip outfitted with some nearly Kerouacian moments. Woolston’s novel offers intriguing characters, contemporary ethical questions, and a story that will have appeal to a wide range of readers. Grades 10-12. --Francisca Goldsmith About the AuthorBlythe Woolston works as professional book indexer for academic presses. She is the author of The Freak Observer, which won the ABC New Voices Pick award, the Moonbeam Children's Book Award, and the 2010 William C. Morris YA Debut Award. She lives in Montana with her family. Views: 31
Hilary takes on a pair of mysteries—one fictional, and one all too realIn college, Hilary Quayle dreamed of the stage, and playing all the great leading ladies that Shakespeare had to offer. But her interest was due less to the Bard than to another man: director, actor, and theatrical personality Michael Godwin. And though she got her wish, she found that acting onstage and romancing backstage did not add up to happiness. A decade past college, she's now a publicity wizard and occasional sleuth, but still nursing enough of a schoolgirl crush to help Michael Godwin when he calls. The director is in New York to stage a spectacular, arena-sized Macbeth, one that will answer the centuries-old question: Who is the mysterious third murderer who appears in Act III? When accidents begin to plague the production, Godwin and his company chalk it up to the play's curse. But when a real murderer enters the scene, only Hilary Quayle can guarantee a happy ending. Views: 31
Rebellious and independent, schoolmarm Eliza Willows wants to find the crook who thieved her rich granny's horses and knocked Eliza out cold. When outlaw "Canyon" Jack Ransom hires the beautiful 'marm to teach him to read, sparks fly and worlds collide...until she finds out just who her lover is. Views: 31
Paradise Can Melody convince her best friend’s uncles that she is enough woman for the both of them? When Melody Madison, new first violin, first chair of the New Haven Philharmonic gets strange threatening letters from a deranged fan, she has nowhere to turn. With her family gone, she has only her best friend, Carmen and Carmen’s uncles to turn to. Can the men help her in her time of need and will she be able to keep her hands to herself so they can protect her? When Mitch and Wyatt Baldwin meet their niece’s college roommate for the first time, they are shocked to realize that she is their much-anticipated mate. After years of waiting and searching, they find it difficult to believe she has been so close, but yet so far for the last several years. When they find she is being stalked by a fanatical admirer, they take her security into their hands. After all, it is their right and their privilege to protect what is theirs. Views: 31
An explosive, funny, wildly original fiction debut: nine stories about the power of love and the love of power, two urgent human desires that inevitably, and sometimes calamitously, intertwine.In I Am an Executioner, Rajesh Parameswaran introduces us to a cast of heroes—and antiheroes—who spring from his riotous, singular imagination. From the lovesick tiger who narrates the unforgettable opener, “The Infamous Bengal Ming” (he mauls his zookeeper out of affection), to the ex-CompUSA employee who masquerades as a doctor; from a railroad manager in a turn-of-the-century Indian village, to an elephant writing her autobiography; from a woman whose Thanksgiving preparations put her husband to eternal rest, to the newlywed executioner of the title, these characters inhabit a marvelous region between desire and death, playfulness and violence. At once glittering and savage, daring and elegant, here are wholly unforgettable tales where reality loops in Borgesian twists and shines with cinematic exuberance, by an author who promises to dazzle the universe of American fiction.This ebook edition includes a Reading Group Guide. Views: 31
Lexi and her younger brother, Kevin, are spending the summer in New York City with their colorful actress aunt while their father is away on his honeymoon with his new wife. Still mourning the loss of their mother, time in NYC should be a welcome change for Lexi and Kevin-assuming that the day camp they'll be attending isn't super lame. But excitement finds Lexi and Kevin when, while waiting for their aunt in Grand Central in the famous Whispering Gallery, Lexi overhears a conversation about a big jewel heist going down. Once at Aunt Roz's, the siblings meet Kim Ling Levine in the building. Half Chinese, half Jewish, persuasive and all knowing, Kim Ling urges them to ditch day camp and dig into the more exciting mystery Alexi overheard in Grand Central. After several missteps and a run-in with a mischievous runaway can Lexi, Kevin, and Kim find out who's behind the jewel heist without getting into too much trouble themselves? Views: 31
