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Black Cake: A Novel
by Charmaine Wilkerson
Fiction: In this moving debut novel, two estranged siblings must set aside their differences to deal with their mother's death and her hidden past--a journey of discovery that takes them from the Caribbean to London to California and ends with her famous black cake. In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett's death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a traditional Caribbean black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking journey Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child, challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their family, and themselves. Can Byron and Benny reclaim their once-close relationship, piece together Eleanor's true history, and fulfill her final request to 'share the black cake when the time is right?' Will their mother's revelations bring them back together or leave them feeling more lost than ever? Charmaine Wilkerson's debut novel is a story of how the inheritance of betrayals, secrets, memories, and even names, can shape relationships and history. Deeply evocative and beautifully written, Black Cake is an extraordinary journey through the life of a family changed forever by the choices of its matriarch.
Recommended by Lisa, Ewing Branch
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Train Dreams
by Denis Johnson
Fiction: Robert Grainer is a day laborer in the American West at the start of the twentieth century-an ordinary man in extraordinary times. Buffeted by the loss of his family, Grainer struggles to make sense of this strange new world. As his story unfolds, we witness both his shocking personal defeats and the radical changes that transform America in his lifetime.
Recommended by David, Hickory Corner Branch
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Zara Hossain is Here
by Sabina Khan
Young Adult Fiction: Ever since her family moved to Texas from Pakistan when she was a baby, seventeen-year-old Zara Hossain has only ever called Corpus Christi home. Being the only Muslim girl at her conservative Catholic school, blending in isn't really an option, especially with people like Tyler Benson always tormenting her. But one day Tyler takes thing too far by defacing Zara's locker with a racist message, which gets him suspended. As an act of revenge, Tyler and his friends vandalize the Hossains' house with Islamophobic graffiti, which leads to a violent crime that puts Zara and her family's entire future at risk.
Recommended by Kaneeze, Hightstown Memorial Branch
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The Girl in the Ice
by Robert Bryndza
Mystery: When a young boy discovers the body of a woman beneath a thick sheet of ice in a South London park, Detective Erika Foster is called in to lead the murder investigation. The victim, a beautiful young socialite, appears to have had the perfect life. Yet when Erika begins to dig deeper, she starts to connect the dots between the murder and the killings of three prostitutes, all found strangled, hands bound and dumped in water around London. As Erika inches closer to uncovering the truth, the killer closes in on Erika.
Recommended by Rebecca, Hollowbrook
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The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl
by Stacy McAnulty
Juvenile Fiction: Surviving a lightning strike that has given her genius-level math skills, 12-year-old Lucy is offered entry into college but reluctantly takes her grandmother's advice to attend one year of middle school, make a friend, join a club and read a non-math book. A first middle-grade novel by the author of the Dino Files chapter books.
Recommended by Birana, Hopewell Branch
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Hamster Princess: Of Mice and Magic
by Ursula Vernon
Juvenile Fiction: A hamster retelling of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" finds a restless Princess Harriet Hamsterbone tackling unexpected dangers after accepting a quest to save 12 mice princesses who are cursed to dance all night long.
Recommended by Jennifer, Lawrence Headquarters Branch
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A Heart in a Body in the World
by Deb Caletti
Young Adult Fiction: Annabelle is running. From Seattle to Washington, DC, through mountain passes and suburban landscapes, from long lonely roads to college towns. She's not ready to think about the tragedy from the past year, or The Taker that haunts her. But Annablle can't outrun it, and becomes a reluctant activist as people connect her journey to the trauma from her past. Followed by Grandpa Ed in his RV and backed by her brother and two friends, she just keeps running. Will she finally face what lies behind her-- and what is to come?
Recommended by Grace, Robbinsville Branch
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River Sing Me Home
by Eleanor Shearer
Fiction: In 1834 Barbados, after the master of the Providence plantation in Barbados refuses to let them go even though the king has decreed an end to slavery, Rachel escapes and embarks on a grueling, dangerous journey to find her five children who survived at birth and were sold.
Recommended by McKenna, Twin Rivers Branch
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You Dreamed of Empires
by Alvaro Enrigue
Fiction: Bringing to life Tenochtitlan at its height and reimagines its destiny, the vision author of Sudden Death takes us back to 1519 where conquistador Hernan Cortes meets emperor Moctezuma in a collision of two worlds, two empires, two languages and two possible futures.
Recommended by Corina, West Windsor Branch
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The Midnight Children
by Dan Gemeinhart
Juvenile Fiction: In the dead of night, a truck arrives in Slaughterville, a small town curiously named after its windowless slaughterhouse. Seven mysterious kids with suitcases step out of the vehicle and into an abandoned home on a dead-end street, looking over their shoulders to make sure they aren't noticed. But Ravani Foster covertly witnesses their arrival from his bedroom window. Timid and lonely, Ravani is eager to learn everything he can about his new neighbors: What secrets are they hiding? And most mysterious of all...where are the adults? Yet amid this shadowy group of children, Ravani finds an unexpected friend in the warm and gutsy Virginia. But with this friendship comes secrets revealed--and danger. When Ravani learns of a threat to his new friends, he must fight to keep them safe, or lose the only person who has ever understood him.
Recommended by Joanna, Information Technology Department
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Mercer County Library System
2751 Brunswick Pike Lawrenceville, New Jersey 08648 609-882-9246 https://mcl.org
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