May 2017 list by Trish Hull
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| Marlena by Julie BuntinFifteen-year-old Cat is lonely in her new hometown in rural Michigan, until she meets her beautiful, reckless neighbor, Marlena. The friendship that the two build is unlike anything either girl has ever experienced, but it is doomed. Within a year, Marlena is dead. Now in her thirties, Cat is still damaged by the loss. The book alternates between the two eras, creating a haunting portrait of an intense friendship -- and the adult perspective that sees things a little more clearly. Leisurely paced, this debut is "devastating; as unforgettable as it is gorgeous" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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| American War by Omar El AkkadA second American Civil War is underway as three southern states refuse to give up fossil fuels, despite rising waters (New Orleans, Washington D.C., and all of Florida are long gone) and summers that last from March to December. It's 2075, and coastal refugees are pouring into the Midwest, but young Sarat and her family seek shelter in a Mississippi camp. As she grows, she becomes a warrior for the Southern cause, delivering violence until her eventual capture. Vividly imagined, this terrifying dystopian novel is based on debut author Omar El Akkad's work as a journalist, combining disparate elements of reporting on climate change, the Arab Spring, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the war in Afghanistan. |
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Every Wild Heart
by Meg Donohue
A popular radio host whose career was launched years earlier by an on-air rant about her unfaithful husband struggles with falling in love in career-risking ways, an obsessed stalker and her socially fearful teen daughter, who emerges from a riding accident with a high-risk new personality.
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The Gift of a Legacy
by Jim Stovall
"Theodore Hamilton's good friend and Joey Anderson's great-grandmother, Sally May Anderson, touched many lives during her lifetime. Joey, however, has little interest in his great-grandmother's final wishes when she dies - until he learns that she has left him Anderson House, her bed-and-breakfast. But he will only inherit if he lives there and follows Sally May's instructions. How can Joey ever meet her challenge? Jason Stevens knows how Joey is feeling. After all, Jason's grandfather left him a similarinheritance years before - and his life has never been the same. The Gift of a Legacy reminds us that one legacy can change the world forever."
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As Close to Us as Breathing
by Elizabeth Poliner
Enjoying summertime weeks of freedom at a popular Jewish beach with their children, beautiful Ada thrives away from her strict husband, while chef Vivie develops diplomatic skills and unmarried Bec is forced to choose between family beliefs and her passions for a married man.
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The Confessions of Young Nero
by Margaret George
A tale inspired by the rise of the Emperor Nero follows the ascension of a youth to the head of Julius Caesar's imperial dynasty, where he navigates corruption and his mother's ruthless ambitions to pursue his ideals in the arts and athletics. By the best-selling author of Mary, Called Magdalene.
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White Sand, Blue Sea: A St. Barts Love Story
by Anita Hughes
"Olivia Miller is standing on the porch of her mother and stepfather's plantation style villa in St. Barts. They have been coming here every April for years but she is always thrilled to see the horseshoe shaped bay of Gustavia and white sand of Gouverneur's Beach. This trip should be particularly exciting because she is celebrating her twenty-fifth birthday and hoping that Finn, her boyfriend of four years, will propose. The only person who won't be here is her father, Sebastian, who she hasn't seen in twenty years. He's a well-known artist and crisscrosses the globe, painting and living in exotic locations like Kenya and China. When Sebastian unexpectedly walks through the door and floats back into Olivia's life like a piece of bad driftwood she never knew she wanted, she starts to wondering if her world is too narrow. She questions the dreams and the relationship she's always thought she wanted. But there seems to be more to the story than an innocent fatherly visit, and Olivia must decide if love is more important than truth."
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Promises to Keep
by Genevieve Graham
"A memorable story of love surviving devastation. Set during the dark days of the Halifax Explosion-the largest man-made explosion prior to Hiroshima- a young artist and a wounded soldier are forced to overcome their personal struggles in the face of disaster. Graham examines class struggles and the post-traumatic effect of war with a vivid description of early twentieth century Halifax."
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| The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah TintiCareer criminal Samuel Hawley has spent much of his life on the road, dragging his young daughter Loo along, until she enters adolescence and he tries to leave his criminal past behind. They've moved to the Massachusetts town where Loo's long-dead mother grew up, and are cautiously making inroads into the community. But Loo's desire to understand her mother's death sets her at odds with her father, who still carries his late wife's makeup, shampoo, and robe to each new home. Told in their alternating perspectives (hers of their present, his of the twelve times he's been shot), this is a "breathtaking novel of violence and tenderness" (Booklist). |
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| Spoils by Brian Van ReetSet in Baghdad in 2003, this unsettling debut novel is told from three points of view -- on different sides of the war. Cassandra and her fellow soldiers are guarding a roundabout when it is attacked by mujahideen; Sleed and his tank crew are looting a palace and fail to come to their rescue before Cassandra is captured. The third point of view is provided by a Muslim insurgent who is losing ground to an Islamist extremist. With spare, powerful prose, author Brian Van Reet (an Iraq War veteran) vividly portrays the horrors of war. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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