New for Children
The Case of the Weird Blue Chicken
by Doreen Cronin
The Chicken Squad is back for their second (mis)adventure, and this time they’re solving the mystery of a kidnapped … house? In this hilarious chapter book a weird blue bird has just flown into Chicken Squad headquarters squawking about a house-napper and it is once again up to the squad to uncover who is up to no good.
Against the Tide
by Tui Sutherland
The adventure continues in this fifth book in the New York Times bestselling series. The sun is shining in the Hundred Isles, and yet the path forward seems crowded with shadows. Conor, Abeke, Meilin, and Rollan have traveled across the world, seeking a set of powerful talismans to keep them from enemy hands. Throughout their journey the young heroes have been hounded by pursuers, who always seem to know just where to find them. Now they know why: one of them is a traitor. There’s a spy in their midst, and before this mission is over, a deadly trap will close around them..
New for Young Adults
Free to Fall
by Lauren Miller
From the author of “Parallel” comes a romantic puzzler set in a near future, where everyone’s life is orchestrated by personal electronic devices. Apple and Google have been replaced by Gnosis, a monolithic corporation that has developed Lux, an app that flawlessly optimizes decision-making for the best personal results. Like everyone else, sixteen-year-old Rory Vaughn knows the key to a happy, healthy life is following what Lux recommends. When she’s accepted to an elite boarding school, her future happiness seems assured. But once on campus, something feels wrong. Then she meets North, a handsome townie who doesn’t use Lux, and begins to fall for him. Soon, Rory is going against Lux’s recommendations, listening instead to the inner voice that everyone has been taught to ignore.
Four: A Divergent Collection
by Veronica Roth
Fans of the “Divergent” series will be thrilled by this companion volume that includes four pre-Divergent stories and three additional scenes from “Divergent,” all told from Tobias’s point of view. Readers first encountered Tobias as the charismatic character Four in “Divergent.” Now they will find more of his backstory, illuminating defining moments in Tobias’s life. The first three pieces follow Tobias’s transfer from Abnegation to Dauntless, his Dauntless initiation, and the first clues that a foul plan is brewing in the leadership of two factions. The fourth story gives readers a glimpse into the decisions that Tobias makes in the weeks after he meets Tris Prior.
New for Adults
The Story of Land and Sea
Katy Simpson Smith
Set in a small coastal town in North Carolina during the waning years of the American Revolution, this debut novel follows three generations of family—all who yearn for redemption amidst a heady brew of war, kidnapping, slavery, and love.
Drawn to the ocean, ten-year-old Tabitha listens to her father’s stories about his pirate voyages and the mother she never knew. Since the loss of his wife, John has remained land-bound for their daughter, but when Tab contracts yellow fever, he turns to the sea. Desperate to save his daughter, he takes her aboard a sloop bound for Bermuda, hoping the salt air will heal her.
The Innovators
by Walter Isaacson
Following his blockbuster biography of Steve Jobs, “The Innovators” is Walter Isaacson’s revealing story of the people who created the computer and the Internet. Isaacson begins with Ada Lovelace, Lord Byron’s daughter, who pioneered computer programming in the 1840s. He explores the fascinating personalities that created our current digital revolution, such as Vannevar Bush, Alan Turing, John von Neumann, J.C.R. Licklider, Doug Engelbart, Robert Noyce, Bill Gates, Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, Tim Berners-Lee, and Larry Page. This is the story of how their minds worked and what made them so inventive.
