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"In small towns, news travels at the speed of boredom." ~ Carlos Ruiz Zafón, Spanish novelist
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New and Recently Released!
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| The Secrets of Midwives by Sally HepworthSkipping from past to present and back again, this debut tells the story of three generations of midwives, each keeping secrets from the others. There's grandmother Floss, who's retired from midwifery but can't let go of the past; her fatherless daughter Grace; and Grace's daughter Neva, who's been hiding her pregnancy beneath baggy scrubs. Neva's refusal to reveal the father's name prompts both Grace and Floss to revisit their pasts. Likened to the popular BBC series Call the Midwife, this moving tale shows how the truth can bring families together, as well as split them apart. |
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| Black River by S.M. HulseMeditative and Montana-set, this debut will appeal to fans of modern American Westerns or authors like Annie Proulx. It tells the story of former prison guard Wes Carver, tortured 20 years ago by an inmate who's now up for parole, claiming to have found religion. Though Wes moved away, he's back in Black River (with his wife's ashes) to speak against the parole hearing. He's also got some work to do in repairing his damaged relationship with his stepson. Awash in bluegrass music, this wrenching story of a broken man trying to find his way back is "bound to turn readers' hearts inside-out" (Library Journal). |
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| The Country of Ice Cream Star by Sandra NewmanAt some point in the future, the U.S. has been decimated by a disease that kills everyone before they're 20 years old. Nomadic bands of youths scavenge what they can, but when 15-year-old Ice Cream Star realizes her older brother is showing symptoms of the infection, she risks everything to find a cure. The capture of a "roo" (a light-skinned foreigner) offers hope for a cure (he's nearly 30), but the threat of war between the roos and the wandering tribes, who try to band together for strength, may jeopardize her plans. Written in the broken English that is all these children know, this suspenseful tale combines the appeals of The Hunger Games, Lord of the Flies, and The Walking Dead, only "much, much better" (Booklist). |
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| The Jaguar's Children by John VaillantDuring an illegal border crossing near Tucson, a tanker truck breaks down, trapping 15 would-be immigrants inside when their guides take off. Waiting helplessly for a rescue that may never come, Hector uses his unconscious friend's cell phone to send texts and sound files to the only U.S. number in its list of contacts, reflecting on his difficult life in Mexico and his family's hopes for his future. Blending Oaxacan religious beliefs and history with environmental concerns and Hector's desperate situation, this debut novel deftly tackles present-day concerns. |
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| My Sunshine Away by M.O. WalshOne summer evening in 1989, 15-year-old Lindy Simpson is raped just yards from her house in suburban Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Her attacker is not caught, but her neighbor, a 14-year-old boy who narrates this story as an adult, loves her too much to let the incident lie. His need to prove himself to her by exposing the rapist changes everything. With vivid depictions of both Baton Rouge and the self-absorption of teens, this assured debut will appeal to readers as diverse as Pat Conroy and Jeffrey Eugenides. |
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| Queen Sugar by Natalie BaszileCharley Bordelon has just inherited a neglected sugarcane farm from her father; unable to sell it, she and her daughter move to rural Louisiana to get to work. A black woman in a field dominated by white men, the neophyte farmer has a lot to contend with: in addition to racism and sexism at work, Charley's living with her opinionated grandmother while her estranged half-brother demands a share of any profits, her daughter is homesick, and bad weather causes setbacks. But Charley's plenty determined, and readers who appreciate characters with grit will enjoy this debut novel. |
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| The Round House by Louise ErdrichIt's a North Dakota summer in 1988 when 13-year-old Joe Coutts' mother, a tribal enrollment specialist on the Ojibwe reservation, is viciously attacked, raped, and nearly killed. Traumatized, she retreats to her bed, unwilling to identify her attacker. Frustrated with the official investigation's glacial pace, Joe sets out to find his mother's assailant and deliver justice. Imbued not only with Ojibwe culture and beliefs but with Christian ideas and the philosophy of Star Trek: The Next Generation as well (Joe and his friends are hooked on the show), this is a thoughtful, perceptive take on a violent crime. |
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| Flight Behavior by Barbara KingsolverDellarobia Turnbow gave up college and a chance at a better life when she got pregnant in high school; eleven years later, she's deeply tired of a life that's going nowhere. But the appearance of millions of Monarch butterflies on her in-laws' land might upend all that -- just maybe not in the way she'd hoped. Expecting tourists, they also get reporters and scientists flooding into their corner of Appalachia, concerned with what the butterflies' unusual flight behavior might mean for climate issues. Whether you're interested in environmental issues or love the author's charismatic characters, Flight Behavior offers a richly detailed read. |
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| Salvage the Bones: A Novel by Jesmyn WardWinner of both the National Book Award and the Alex Award, Salvage the Bones is set in 2005, as a desperately poor African-American bayou family tries to prepare for a hurricane called Katrina. There's 14-year-old Esch, secretly pregnant, three brothers, and their alcoholic dad; though we know what Katrina will do to the area, for Esch's family, there's little they can do to meaningfully prepare for the devastation it will cause. Painful to read yet exquisite, this novel, with its memorable characters, is "superbly realized" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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| Winter's Bone: A Novel by Daniel WoodrellSixteen-year-old Ree Dolly lives in the bitterly poor Missouri Ozarks, part of a family that makes and sells crystal meth. When her dad jumps bail, her family (two small brothers and a sick mother) risks losing their house unless Ree can find him. To do that, she must navigate tangled relationships among taciturn relatives and survive a harsh, unforgiving winter. This startling and sharply accurate portrait of rural America and the compelling tale of a vulnerable, courageous, and determined young woman received incredible reviews (Booklist said "one runs out of superlatives to describe" the author's writing) and of course the 2010 film inspired by this book jumpstarted actress Jennifer Lawrence's career. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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If you are having trouble unsubscribing to this newsletter, please contact the Millburn Free Public Library at 973-376-1006, 200 Glen Avenue, Millburn, NJ 07041
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