Tag: summer reading

Fantastic Fiction

Don’t let the recommended grades fool you – if you’re interested in a certain topic, you’re bound to love the book.

Black, Holly. White Cat. 2010. 9th Grade.
Cassel Sharpe comes from a family of curse workers – people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, all by the slightest touch of their hands. Since curse work is illegal, they’re all criminals. Except Cassel. He hasn’t got the magic touch, so he’s an outsider – the straight kid in a crooked family – as long as you ignore one small detail: he killed his best friend, Lila. Now he’s sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat. He also notices that his brothers are keeping secrets from him. As Cassel begins to suspect he’s part of one huge con game, he must unravel his past and his memories. To find out the truth, Cassel will have to outcon the conmen.

Carolson, Lori M. Moccasin thunder: American Indian stories for today. 2005. 11th Grade
Ten short stories about contemporary Native American teens by members of tribes of the United States and Canada, including Louise Erdrich, Joseph Bruchac, Cynthia Leitch Smith and Sherman Alexie.

Carter, Ally. I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You. 2007, c2006. 7th Grade
To the outside world, The Gallagher Academy of Exceptional Young Women looks like a boarding school for rich young women. Except the Gallagher Girls, as they’re known, are not ordinary teenagers. For starters, it’s a spy school, and the girls can speak up to fourteen different languages, hack CIA computer codes, and know how to kill a man seven different ways. However, nothing prepares sophomore Cammie Morgan for the ultimate undercover gig: pretending to be an ordinary girl.

de la Cruz, Melissa. Blue Bloods. 2007, c2006. 10th Grade
Sophomore Schuyler Van Alen is confused about what is happening to her. Her veins are starting to turn blue, and she’s craving raw meat. Soon, her world is thrust into an intricate maze of secret societies and bitter intrigue. Schuyler has never been a part of the trendy crowd at her prestigious New York private school. All of a sudden, Jack Force, the most popular guy in school, is showing an interest in her. And when on of the popular girls is found dead, Schuyler and Jack are determined to get to the bottom of it. Schuyler wants to find out the secrets of the mysterious Blue Bloods. But is she putting herself in danger?

Doctorow, Cory. Little Brother. 2008. 10th Grade
After being interrogated for days by the Department of Homeland Security in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco, California, seventeen-year-old Marcus, released into what is now a police state, decides to use his expertise in computer hacking to set things right.

Green, John. The Fault in Our Stars. 2012. 10th Grade
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has brought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten. Have tissues handy.

John, Antony. Five Flavors of Dumb. 2010. 10th Grade
The Challenge: Piper has one month to get the rock band Dumb a paying gig. The Deal: if she does it, Piper will become the band’s manager and get her share of the profits. The Catch: how can Piper possibly manage one egomaniacal pretty boy, one talentless piece of eye candy, one crush, one silent rocker, and one angry girl? And how can she do it when she’s Deaf? Piper can’t hear Dumb’s music, but with growing self-confidence, a budding romance, and a new understanding of the decision her family made to buy a cochlear implant for her deaf baby sister, she discovers her own inner rock star and what it truly means to be a flavor of Dumb.

Lake, Nick. In Darkness. 2012. 9th Grade
In the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake, fifteen-year-old Shorty, a poor gang member from the slums of Site Soleil, is trapped in the rubble of a ruined hospital. As he grows weaker he has visions and memories of his life of violence, his lost twin sister, and of Toussaint L’Ouverture, who liberated Haiti from French rule in 1804.

Lieb, Josh. I am a genius of unspeakable evil, and I want to be your class president. 2009. 7th Grade
Twelve-year-old Oliver Watson has everyone convinced he is extremely stupid and lazy, but he is actually a very wealthy evil genius. When he decides to run for seventh-grade class president, nothing will stand in his way. Warning: if you read this in public, expect to frequently burst out laughing.

Lyga, Barry. I Hunt Killers. 2012. 9th Grade
Seventeen-year-old Jazz learned all about being a serial killer from his notorious “Dear Old Dad.” Believing he has a conscience that will help fight his own urges and right some of his father’s wrongs, he secretly helps the police apprehend the town’s newest murderer, “The Impressionist.” In doing so, he discovers that he may have more in common with his father than he thought.

 

Get in the Game: Sports Fiction

Welcome to the third installment of our suggested summer reading for teens! Here is a selection of quality fiction. Don’t let the recommended grades fool you – if you’re interested in a certain topic, you’re bound to love the book. The grade just refers to where it will fit nicely with the Common Core curriculum.

Aronson, Marc, ed. Pick-up Game: a full day of full court. 2011. 7th Grade.
Ten different short stories, ten different authors, ten different point of views make up Pick-Up Game. While most of the action takes place in the Cage, the basketball court on West 4th Street in New York City, the different characters add more layers and insight than a one-person point of view about this particular sport. Note: Miss Kate doesn’t even like basketball and she LOVED this book.
Ties in with: 7th Grade English

Hornby, Nick. Slam. 2007. 10th Grade.
At the age of fifteen, Sam Jones’s girlfriend gets pregnant and Sam’s life of skateboarding and daydreaming about Tony Hawk changes drastically.
Ties in with: 10th Grade English, Biology, Health

Myers, Walter Dean and Ross Workman. Kick. 2011. 7th Grade.
Told in their separate voices, thirteen-year-old soccer star Kevin and police sergeant Brown, who knew his father, try to keep Kevin out of juvenile hall after he is arrested on very serious charges.
Ties in with: 7th Grade English
Great for fans of Walter Dean Myers

 

Other Sports Fiction of Interest

While these may not necessarily tie-in with the Common Core, they’re still fantastic reads for those in 7-12.

Cross, Shauna. Derby Girl. 2007.
When sixteen-year-old rebel Bliss Cavendar, who is miserable living in a small Texas town with her beauty pageant-obsessed mother, secretly joins a roller derby team under the name “Babe Ruthless,” her life gets better, although infinitely more confusing. This book was the reason Whip It was made into a movie.

Herbach, Geoff. Stupid Fast. 2011.
Growing suddenly very tall in his sophomore year of high school, former small kid Felton Reinstein discovers that he has become a very fast runner but finds his athletic ambitions compromised by his mother’s depression, his annoying younger brother, a first romance and a shocking secret from his past.

Korman, Gordon. Pop. 2009.
Lonely after a midsummer move to a new town, high-school quarterback Marcus Jordan becomes friends with a retired professional linebacker whose erratic behavior confuses him, until Marcus discovers that the player is actually suffering from a neurological disease.

Murdock, Catherine Gilbert. Dairy Queen. 2007, 2006.
After spending her summer running the family farm and training the quarterback for her school’s rival football team, sixteen-year-old D.J. decides to go out of the sport herself, not anticipating the reactions of those around her. First in a trilogy.

Based in Truth: Historical Fiction We Love

Don’t let the recommended grades fool you – if you’re interested in a certain topic, you’re bound to love the book.

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Forge. 2010. 7th Grade
Separated from his friend Isabel after their daring escape from slavery, fifteen-year-old Curzon serves as a free man in the Continental Army at Valley Forge until he and Isabel are thrown together again, as slaves once more. Sequel to Chains.
Ties in with: 7th Grade Social Studies & English

Bray, Libba. The Diviners. 2012. 11th Grade.
Seventeen-year-old Evie O’Neill is thrilled when she is exiled from small-town Ohio to New York City in 1926, even when a rash of occult-based murders thrusts Evie and her uncle, the curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult, into the thick of the investigation.
Ties in with: 11th Grade Social Studies & English
Of interest to anyone taking a class about New York City’s history

Chibbaro, Julie. Deadly. 2011. 7th-8th Grade.
Set during the Typhoid Fever epidemic of 1906, Prudence Galewski leaves school to take a job assisting the head epidemiologist at New York City’s Department of Health and Sanitation. During a time when medicine and science was open only to men, she’ll have to prove to herself and the city that she can help solve one of the great medical mysteries of the time.
Ties in with: 7th Grade English, Social Studies, and Science

Johnson, Alaya Dawn. Moonshine: a novel. 2010. 11th Grade.
Zephyr Hollis is an underfed, overzealous social activist who teaches night school to the underprivileged of the Lower East Side. Strapped for cash, Zephyr agrees to help a student, the mysterious Amir, who proposes she use her charity work cover to bring down a notorious vampire mob boss. What he doesn’t tell her is why. Soon enough she’s tutoring a child criminal with an angelic voice, dodging vampires high on a new blood-based street drug, and trying to determine the real reason behind Amir’s request.
Ties in with: 11th Grade English & Social Studies
Of interest to anyone taking a class about New York City’s history

Meloy, Maile. The Apothecary. 2011. 8th Grade.
It’s 1952 and the Scott family has just from L.A. to London. Here, fourteen-year-old Janie meets a mysterious apothecary and his son, Benjamin Burrows – a fascinating boy who’s not afraid to stand up to authority and dreams of becoming a spy. When Benjamin’s father is kidnapped, the two must uncover the secrets of the apothecary’s sacred book, the Pharmacopoeia, in order to find him, all the while keeping it out of the hands of their enemies – Russian spies in possession of nuclear weapons. Discovering and testing potions they never believed could exist, Janie and Benjamin embark on a dangerous race to save the apothecary and prevent impending disaster.
Ties in with: 8th Grade English, Social Studies, and Science

Napoli, Donna Jo. The Wager. 2010. 10th Grade.
Having lost everything in a tidal wave in 1169 Sicily, nineteen-year-old Don Giovanni makes a simple-sounding wager with a stranger he recognizes as the devil but, while desperate enough to surrender his pride and good looks for three years, three months, and three days, he is not willing to give up his soul.
Ties in with: 10th Grade English and Social Studies, AP European History

Wein, Elizabeth. Code Name Verity. 2012. 10th Grade.
In 1943, a British fighter plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France and the survivor tells a tale of friendship, war, espionage, and great courage as she relates what she must do to survive while keeping secret all that she can.
Ties in with: 10th Grade English and Social Studies, AP European History

Alive & Well: Great Historical Non-Fiction

Here is a selection of quality non-fiction. Don’t let the recommended grades fool you – if you’re interested in a certain topic, you’re bound to love the book.

Blair, Margaret Whitman. Liberty or death: the surprising story of runaway slaves who sided with the British during the American Revolution. 2010. 7th Grade.
Liberty or Death is the little-known story of the American Revolution told from the perspectives of the African-American slaves who fought on the side of the British Royal Army in exchange for the promise of freedom.

Hopkinson, Deborah. Titanic: voices from the disaster. 2012. 7th-8th Grade.
Tells the tale of the sinking of the Titanic using the narratives of the witnesses and survivors to the disaster.

Miller, Brandon Marie. Women of the frontier: 16 tales of trailblazing homesteaders, entrepreneurs, and rabble-rousers. 2013. 9th Grade.
Using journal entries, letters sent home, and song lyrics, the women of the West speak for themselves in these tales of courage, enduring spirit, and adventure. Miller recounts the impact pioneers had on those who were already living in the region as well as how they adapted to their new lives, and the rugged, often dangerous landscape, this exploration also offers resources for further study and reveals exactly how these influential women tamed the Wild West.

Povich, Lynn. The good girls revolt: how the women of Newsweek sued their bosses and changed the workplace. 2012. 11th Grade.
Chronicles the sexual discrimination class action lawsuit that women journalists brought against their employer, Newsweek, in 1970.

Sheinkin, Steve. The notorious Benedict Arnold: a true story of adventure, heroism, and treachery. 2010. 7th Grade.
An introduction to the life of Benedict Arnold that highlights not only the traitorous actions that made him legendary, but also his heroic involvement in the American Revolution.

Swanson, James L. Bloody times: the funeral of Abraham Lincoln and the manhunt for Jefferson Davis. 2011. 8th Grade.
On the morning of April 2, 1865, Jefferson Davis received a telegram from General Robert E. Lee. There is no more time – the Yankees are coming, it warned. That night Davis fled Richmond, setting off an intense manhunt for the Confederate president. Two weeks later, President Lincoln was assassinated, and the nation was convinced that Davis was involved in the conspiracy that led to the crime.

Summer Reading & Common Core

Hey everyone!

So here’s the thing: we have compiled a massive list of books for teens entering grades 7-12 in September. These books are awesome, vetted by our staff as being terrific, and here’s the sneaky thing – they relate to the Common Core Curriculum. From now until August the Teen Services pages will be updated with themed book-lists.

So, if you’re hankering for non-fiction, graphic novels, outer space, or even weird science, visit the Teen page often this summer!

Between the Covers: Adventure, True Survival, & True Crime

This year’s adult summer reading club has come to an end. Get Between the Covers with a nonfiction account of adventure, true survival, or true crime and enjoy the rest of the summer!

This year’s adult summer reading club has come to an end. Get Between the Covers with a nonfiction account of adventure, true survival, or true crime and enjoy the rest of the summer!

At the Devil’s Table: The Untold Story of the Insider Who Brought Down the Cali Cartel by William C. Rempel
Traces the collaborative effort between two U.S. agents and a security chief for a notorious Colombian drug cartel to dismantle the organization and bring its leaders to justice, a life-risking venture marked by a race to protect the life of a key witness.

Crazy for the Storm: A Memoir of Survival by Norman Ollestad (audio download, CD book, eBook)
Describes the author’s struggles with constant fear in the face of his father’s thrill-seeking personality, and his efforts to survive a plane crash that killed his father and stranded him in the Gabriel Mountains.

Down Around Midnight: A Memoir of Crash and Survival by Robert Sabbag
The author shares his story of surviving a 1979 plane crash in the woods on Cape Cod, and reconnects with other survivors in an attempt to come to terms with the emotional ramifications of the incident.

Extreme Weather: A Guide to Surviving Flash Floods, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, Heat Waves, Snowstorms, Tsunamis, and Other Natural Disasters by Bonnie Schneider
A CNN meteorologist shares guidelines on how to prepare for weather emergencies, providing recommendations for making evacuation plans, stocking emergency supplies, and surviving extreme weather scenarios at home, in a car, and outdoors.

Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History by Scott Andrew Selby & Greg Campbell
Presents an account of the largest diamond heist in history as “The School of Turin” stole half a billion dollars in diamonds and other valuables from the Antwerp Diamond Center in Belgium.

Ghost Wave: The Discovery of Cortes Bank and the Biggest Wave on Earth by Chris Dixon
Rising from the depths of the North Pacific lies a fabled island, now submerged just 15 feet below the surface of the ocean. Rumors and warnings about Cortes Bank abound, but among big wave surfers, this legendary rock is famous for one simple (and massive) reason: this is the home of the biggest rideable wave on the face of the earth.

Hell or High Water: Surviving Tibet’s Tsangpo River by Peter Heller
Tibet’s Tsangpo Gorge, inspiration for Shangri-La and one of the world’s most insurmountable stretches of river, remained unconquered until a team of seven world-class kayakers rose to the challenge.

How to Survive Anything, Anywhere: A Handbook of Survival Skills for Every Scenario and Environment by Chris McNab
A complete handbook of the urban and wilderness survival skills practiced by elite U.S. and U.K. military units.

K2: Life and Death on the World’s Most Dangerous Mountain by Ed Viesturs & David Roberts
The first American mountaineer to have ascended all 14 of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks explores the history of K2 as reflected by six dramatic climbing campaigns, describing the tragedies that have marked many attempts as well as his own near-fatal 1992 ascent.

The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann (audio download, CD book, eBook)
Interweaves the story of British explorer Percy Fawcett, who vanished during a 1925 expedition into the Amazon, with the author’s own quest to uncover the mysteries surrounding Fawcett’s final journey and the secrets of what lies deep in the Amazon jungle.

Lost in Shangri-La: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II by Mitchell Zuckoff (audio download, CD book, eBook)
The story of an extraordinary World War II rescue mission, where a plane crash in the South Pacific plunged a trio of U.S. military personnel into the jungle-clad land of New Guinea

Midnight in Peking: How the Murder of a Young Englishwoman Haunted the Last Days of Old China by Paul French
Chronicles the efforts of two detectives, one British and one Chinese, as they raced to find an Englishwoman’s killer in 1937 before the Japanese invaded Peking.

The Pirates of Somalia: Inside Their Hidden World by Jay Bahadur
This riveting narrative examines the world of the Somalian pirates: how they live, the forces that have created piracy in Somalia, how they spend the ransom money, and how they deal with their hostages.

Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival by Dean King
Chronicles the hardships encountered by twelve American sailors who, in 1815, were shipwrecked on the coast of North Africa, captured, sold into slavery, and sent on a difficult odyssey through the perilous heart of the Sahara.

SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy SEAL Sniper by Howard E. Wasdin & Stephen Templin (audio download, CD book)
A Navy SEAL Team Six sniper reveals how he became an elite soldier while recounting the dramatic mission that nearly cost him his life, offering insider perspectives on his team’s extensive training process at the Marine’s Scout Sniper School.

The Survivors Club: The Secrets and Science that Could Save Your Life by Ben Sherwood
Draws on stories about survivors of accidents, crime, and serious illness to investigate why some people succumb to life-threatening hardships while others rally.

The Third Man Factor: Surviving the Impossible by John Geiger
Explores the human capacity to survive extreme conditions, noting a phenomenon in which people in life-endangering circumstances often sense an unseen presence who offers encouragement and guidance.

The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival by John Vaillant (audio download, eBook)
Documents the efforts of a tiger conservation leader who was forced to hunt a man-eating tiger through the brutal Siberian winter, an effort that familiarized him with the creature’s history, motives, and unique method of attack.

To the Last Breath: A Memoir of Going to Extremes by Francis Slakey
A physics professor describes the rigidly scheduled and isolated existence he led before embarking on a life-risking effort to climb the world’s highest mountains and surf every ocean.

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand (audio download, CD book, eBook, large print)
The true story of a U.S. airman who crashed into the sea during WWII and had to face thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater.

Under and Alone: The True Story of the Undercover Agent Who Infiltrated America’s Most Violent Outlaw Motorcycle Gang by William Queen
A veteran ATF agent describes his stint as an undercover agent with the Mongols, a violent outlaw motorcycle gang.

Between the Covers: Supernatural Thrillers

The adult summer reading club is almost over! Get Between the Covers with a supernatural thriller and attend our adult summer reading wrap-up party Monday, August 20!

The adult summer reading club is almost over! Get Between the Covers with a supernatural thriller and attend our adult summer reading wrap-up party Monday, August 20!

77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz (eBook)
The affluent occupants of luxury apartments, housed in a 200-year-old mansion with a checkered past, enter into a terrifying waking nightmare when the haunted house reawakens, leaving no one safe from its grip.

Blood Harvest by S.J. Bolton
An unknown assailant tries to scare the Fletcher family from their new home by staging increasingly disturbing pranks on their ten-year-old son, a situation that escalates when the boy’s two younger siblings go missing.

Dark Magic by James Swain
Dazzling audiences while hiding his membership in an underground group of psychics who predict and prevent crimes, magician Peter Warlock foresees an unspeakable act of violence targeting New York City and finds his preventative efforts thwarted by a shadowy psychic cult.

A Dark Matter by Peter Straub
Old friends try to come to grips with the darkness of the past–a secret ritual that left behind a gruesomely dismembered body–and find themselves face-to-face with the evil they helped create.

The Dead Path by Stephen M. Irwin
After the death of his wife, Nicholas Close is haunted by ghosts doomed to repeat their final violent moments, a situation that strains his grasp on sanity and sweeps him into a disturbing series of disappearances and murders involving an evil spirit.

Deadly Night by Heather Graham (eBook)
After he and his brothers inherit a New Orleans plantation, private investigator Aidan Flynn stumbles upon human bones and delves into the dark history of his new home with the help of a beautiful tarot card reader.

Handling the Undead by John Ajvide Lindqvist
Something very peculiar is happening in Stockholm. There’s a heatwave on and people cannot turn their lights out or switch their appliances off. Then the terrible news breaks. In the city morgue, the dead are waking up …. What do they want? What everybody wants: to come home.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Four seekers have come to the ugly, abandoned old mansion. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable noises and self-closing doors, but Hill House is gathering its powers and will soon choose one of them to make its own.

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill (eBook)
A collector of obscure and macabre artifacts, unscrupulous metal band musician Judas Coyne is unable to resist purchasing a ghost over the Internet, which turns out to be the vengeful spirit of his late girlfriend’s stepfather.

House of Reckoning by John Saul (audio download)
Outcast by an injury sustained from her father, foster child Sara Crane befriends a former mental patient and her art teacher and soon creates paintings of long-ago violent crimes committed by the inmates of a local asylum.

The Magdalena Curse by F.G. Cottam
Convinced that his stricken son was cursed during a misguided military mission in the Amazon, Special Ops veteran Mark Hunter searches for two mysterious women including one who he believes placed the curse and another who he hopes has the power to break it.

Mr. Shivers by Robert Jackson Bennett
Leaving his dust-bowl home with thousands of others during the height of the Great Depression, Marcus Connelly joins a group of survivors who plot revenge against a mysterious scarred man who murdered their loved ones.

Nazareth Hill by Ramsey Campbell
A worried father and his rebellious teenage daughter find themselves trapped within an apartment house where the voices and spirits of wrongly persecuted witches lie in torment.

The New Annotated Dracula by Bram Stoker
A lavishly illustrated tribute to Bram Stoker’s classic shares additional insights into the historical plausibility of vampire lore, surveying more than two centuries of popular culture and myth.

The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian (CD book, eBook)
After he crashes his plane into Lake Champlain, killing most of the passengers, Chip Linton moves into a new home with his wife and twin daughters and finds himself being haunted by the dead passengers.

Other Kingdoms by Richard Matheson
Arriving in a pastoral English village to recover from his experiences in WWI, a young American soldier ignores rumors about malevolent spirits in a nearby wood until a frightening encounter leads him into the arms of an alluring red-haired woman believed to be a witch.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
The tale of the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter, who enters the home of her mysterious and enigmatic new husband and learns the story of the house’s first mistress, to whom the sinister housekeeper is unnaturally devoted.

The Ridge by Michael Koryta
For years, a lighthouse at the top of a hill called Blade Ridge has lit up the surrounding woods. But when the lighthouse keeper is found dead, strange things begin happening to the people and animals in the area.

The Ruins by Scott Smith
In Cancun, Mexico, for a peaceful vacation, a group of tourists sets off in search of one of their group who disappeared during an excursion to some nearby Mayan ruins, only to come face to face with an insidious evil that threatens their very lives.

Some Kind of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce
Returning to her English family home on Christmas 20 years after her inexplicable disappearance, young Tara Martin, who seems to have not aged a day, imparts a fantastical tale that her brother is unable to believe.

The Strain: Book I of the Strain Trilogy by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan (audio download, CD book, eBook)
A vampiric virus infects New York and spreads outward, threatening the city and then the world, as a CDC doctor and a Holocaust survivor fight to save humanity.

The Third Gate by Lincoln Child (audio download, eBook)
Believing he has discovered the burial chamber of a near-mythical Egyptian pharaoh and a mystical double crown, famed archaeologist Porter Stone and his team suffer bizarre accidents that Professor Jeremy Logan is brought in to investigate.

Those Across the River by Christopher Buehlman
Moving to rural Georgia, a failed academic plans to write a history of his family’s old plantation and the horrors that occurred there but instead discovers a sense of unspoken dread among the townspeople and a long-standing debt of blood.

You Came Back by Christopher Coake
Getting his life back together after the death of his young son, Brendan, and his divorce, Mark Fife is jolted when he receives a call from a woman who owns his old house and claims it is haunted by Brendan’s ghost.

Between the Covers: Film Noir

Get Between the Covers with one of these classic film noir movies and join the adult summer reading program!

Get Between the Covers with one of these classic film noir movies and join the adult summer reading program!

Act of Violence (1948)
An embittered, vengeful POW stalks his former commanding officer who betrayed his men’s planned escape attempt from a Nazi prison camp.

Angel Face (1952)
A psychotic woman planning on killing her stepmother for a large inheritance seduces a man into marriage hoping to blame him for the murder.

The Asphalt Jungle: City Under the City (1950)
An aging criminal is released from prison and decides to assemble the old gang to go on one last heist.

The Big Sleep (1946)
L.A. private eye Phillip Marlowe takes on a blackmail case…and a trail peopled with murderers, pornographers, nightclub rogues, the spoiled rich and more.

Crime Wave (1954)
Reformed parolee Steve Lacey is caught in the middle when a wounded former cellmate seeks him out for shelter.

Dark Passage (1947)
A man convicted of murdering his wife escapes from prison and works with a woman to try and prove his innocence.

Decoy (1946)
A mortally wounded female gangster recounts how she and her gang revived an executed killer from the gas chamber, to try and find out where he buried a fortune in cash.

Detour (1945)
Hitchhiker Al Roberts encounters two sinister characters — one of them a venomous, blackmailing woman.

Dial M for Murder (1954)
A man devises a plan to murder his wife, not only because he wants her money, but because she is in love with another man.

D.O.A. (1950)
A complacent accountant unknowingly swallows a drink spiked with radioactive poison and then spends the last few days of his life trying to find out who killed him–and why.

Double Indemnity (1944)
A woman seduces an insurance agent and convinces him to kill her husband so they can collect the insurance money.

House of Strangers (1949)
A favored son seeks revenge on his brothers after he is jailed and they drive the father to his death.

I Wake Up Screaming (1941)
When a model is murdered, her sister joins forces with the chief suspect to find the real killer.

Illegal (1955)
After an overly aggressive district attorney unknowingly sends an innocent man to the chair, he resigns, turns to drink, and acquires a criminal clientele.

In a Lonely Place (1950)
A hotheaded Hollywood screenwriter, questioned for murder, is drawn to his neighbor when she confirms his alibi.

Key Largo (1948)
A disillusioned returning WWII veteran goes to visit the widow and father of an old war buddy in a Florida island hotel and finds that an infamous gangster has moved in and taken over the place.

Killer Bait (1949)
A bickering couple finds a bag of money in the back seat of their car. The husband wants to turn the illicit cash in, but his money-hungry wife has a different idea.

Laura (1944)
Investigating the murder of a beautiful woman, a police detective finds himself falling in love with her.

Little Caesar (1931)
A career-criminal abandons small-time holdups to become a powerful mob boss.

The Maltese Falcon (1941)
After the death of his partner, private eye Sam Spade is dragged into a quest for a priceless statuette.

Marked Woman (1937)
A young assistant District Attorney uses a prostitute to indict a gang of racketeers, its czar, and his underlings.

Murder, My Sweet (1944)
A down-on-his-luck private detective searches for an ex-convict’s missing girlfriend and finds himself in a dark world of mayhem and murder.

The Naked City (1948)
A squad of homicide detectives roams through the seamier parts of New York City as they solve a murder case.

Nightmare Alley (1947)
A dark story revolving around a carnival troupe, that features a carnival barker who turns into The Great Stanton, a mind-reader. His career and ambition get the best of him as he heads downward fast.

Possessed (1947)
A middle-aged woman gets involved with a callous lover, whose inattention finally drives her crazy.

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
A hitchhiker falls in love with a cafe waitress. Together they murder her husband and then their troubles begin.

The Prowler (1951)
A nefarious cop stalks a lonely, repressed Los Angeles housewife and decides to win her by killing her husband.

Scarlet Street (1945)
Homely, henpecked Chris Cross leads an honorable, if tedious, middle-class life until he falls madly in love with the dangerously seductive young Kitty.

Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
A young woman discovers her visiting “Uncle Charlie” may not be the man he seems to be.

Side Street (1950)
A struggling, young father-to-be gives in to temptation and steals money belonging to a pair of ruthless blackmailers. Every move he makes plunges him deeper into trouble, as he’s pursued and pursuing through the shadowy, sinister side of New York

Strangers on a Train (1951)
Guy Haines, a tennis star who hates his wife, is approached on a train by a stranger, Bruno Anthony, who hates his father. Anthony offers a plan: each could kill the other’s victim.

The Street With No Name (1948)
An undercover agent is sent to penetrate the inner circle of the notorious Stiles gang. Everything goes according to plan, until an informant inside the police department tips off Stiles.

Sudden Fear (1952)
A wealthy woman playwright marries a worthless actor who plans to kill her.

Suspicion (1941)
A shy young English woman marries a charming gentleman, then begins to suspect him of trying to kill her.

Tension (1949)
A meek pharmacist creates an alternate identity under which he plans to murder the bullying liquor salesman who has become his wife’s lover.

They Live By Night (1949)
An escaped convict is injured and is helped by a woman with whom he has an ill-fated relationship.

Touch of Evil (1958)
In a bustling border town, a Mexican narcotics agent on his honeymoon investigates a car bombing to find a tangled web of corruption.

Where Danger Lives (1950)
A young doctor falls in love with a disturbed young woman, becomes involved in the death of her husband, and has to flee with her to the Mexican border.

Whirlpool (1949)
A habitual shoplifter falls prey to a fraudulent hypnotist and winds up accused of murder, leaving her psychoanalyst husband to figure it out.

Between the Covers: Mysteries

Get Between the Covers with a suspense-filled mystery and join the adult summer reading program!

Get Between the Covers with a suspense-filled mystery and join the adult summer reading program!

1222 by Anne Holt
When a train in Norway derails during a massive blizzard, the passengers abandon the train for a nearby hotel, centuries-old and practically empty. They think they are safe, until one of their number begins killing off the rest.

Bad Moon by Todd Ritter
Years after a young boy disappears near a waterfall in what is declared a fatal accident, his adult brother, a famous author, urges the local police to reopen the investigation and learns that their late mother had discovered clues that his brother was killed and that he was not the only victim.

Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson (eBook)
Without her husband’s knowledge, Christine, whose memory is damaged by a long-ago accident, is treated by a neurologist who helps her to remember her former self through journal entries until inconsistencies begin to emerge, raising disturbing questions.

Before the Poison by Peter Robinson
Returning to Yorkshire after his beloved wife dies, composer Chris Lowndes discovers that the old house he has just purchased was the scene of a murder more than 50 years before and becomes obsessed with solving the case.

Beneath the Shadows by Sara Foster
Returning to a tiny North Yorkshire hamlet where her husband disappeared a year earlier, Grace is unable to get answers from deeply superstitious villagers and experiences haunting dreams before discovering that she is in danger.

Bent Road by Lori Roy (audio download)
Celia Scott and her family move back to her husband’s hometown in Kansas, where his sister died under mysterious circumstances 20 years before. Celia and her two younger children struggle to adjust, especially when a local girl disappears.

Close Your Eyes by Amanda Eyre Ward (audio download, eBook)
For most of her life, Lauren has been certain of two things: that her mother is dead and that her father is a murderer. Years later, her brother disappears and she comes to question the version of her history that she has clung to so fiercely.

Cold Vengeance by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Seeking revenge after his wife Helen is murdered, Special Agent Pendergast chases the killers from Scotland to New York City and into the bayous of Louisiana and discovers that Helen may have been a collaborator in her own death.

Cop to Corpse by Peter Lovesey
When three policemen are murdered in the Bath area by a sniper who eludes authorities and younger detectives, Chief Superintendent Peter Diamond embarks on what becomes one of the most dangerous cases of his life.

Curse of the Jade Lily by David Housewright
Hired by an insurance company to help ransom a stolen gem, Rushmore McKenzie learns that the reputedly cursed gem causes the death or ruination of everyone who owns it, a situation that is complicated by the untimely murder of one of the thieves.

The Demands by Mark Billingham
A convenience store owner holds a group of customers hostage until Detective Tom Thorne agrees to find out what really happened to his son, who died a year earlier in prison under suspicious circumstances.

The Fate of Katherine Carr by Thomas H. Cook
Shattered by the unsolved murder of his 8-year-old son, travel writer George Gates is approached by a retired missing-persons detective and given a mysterious story left behind by a woman who disappeared 20 years earlier.

The Last Kind Words by Tom Piccirilli
Resolving to pursue an honest life after his brother goes on a murderous rampage, Terrier Rand learns that his brother did not commit one of the killings for which he was sentenced to die and resolves to learn what really happened.

Never Tell by Alafair Burke
While investigating the suicide of 16-year-old Julia Whitmire, whose famous parents believe that she was murdered, NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher discovers that Julia was engaged in a dangerous game of cyberbullying against an unlikely victim.

Night Rounds by Helene Tursten
When a nurse is murdered and another disappears during a hospital blackout, Detective Inspector Irene Huss struggles with a report by the crime’s only witness, who claims she saw a nurse who died 60 years earlier.

No Time for Goodbye by Linwood Barclay (CD book)
Twenty-five years after her family vanishes without a trace, Cynthia Archer is struggling to live a normal life with her husband and daughter, until sinister clues begin to reveal the dark secrets of the past.

On Borrowed Time by David Rosenfelt
Proposing to his girlfriend Jen and accompanying her to Kendrick Falls, Richard loses control of his car in a freak storm. When the storm clears, Jen is gone, all traces of her have disappeared, and no one in Richard’s life will even confirm Jen’s existence.

Secrets to the Grave by Tami Hoag (audio download, CD book, eBook)
Sheriff’s detective Tony Mendez and child advocate Anne Leone investigate the murder of Marissa Fordham, a case that hinges on a key witness, Marissa’s young daughter, Haley. However, they soon discover a shocking fact: Marissa Fordham never existed.

Shatter by Michael Robotham
After Joe O’Loughlin fails to save a woman sobbing on a cell phone from jumping off a bridge, her teenage daughter finds him and reveals that she never would have committed such a desperate act, and that the answer to the mystery may lie with the voice on the other end of the phone.

Still Missing by Chevy Stevens (audio download)
Kidnapped by a psychopath, Annie spent a brutally traumatic year in captivity in a remote mountain cabin. She recounts her experiences and dramatic escape to her therapist while agonizing over the ongoing police search for her captor.

Think of a Number by John Verdon (eBook)
Recently retired NYPD homicide detective Dave Gurney is pulled back into service when an old friend receives threatening letters from a murderous sender who has an uncanny ability to read a person’s thoughts.

Between the Covers: Thrillers

Get Between the Covers with a thrilling page-turner and join the adult summer reading program!

Get Between the Covers with a thrilling page-turner and join the adult summer reading program!

The 500 by Matthew Quirk
Former con artist and Harvard Law student Mike Ford accepts a position with a DC-based consulting firm whose specialty is pulling strings for the 500 most powerful people inside the Beltway.

And Then There Was One by Patricia Gussin
Katie and Scott Monroe’s life is changed forever when two of of their identical triplets disappear from a movie theater.

Archive 17 by Sam Eastland
Appointed by Stalin to find the legendary missing gold of Tsar Nicholas II, former investigator Pekkala goes undercover in Siberia to infiltrate a gang of convicts rumored to know the treasure’s whereabouts.

The Bricklayer by Noah Boyd (eBook)
Ex-FBI agent Steve Vail is asked to help break a shadowy extortion group that is killing people one by one unless the bureau gives them cash, with the dollar amount and body count escalating each time the agency doesn’t pay up.

The Cold Kiss by John Rector
Giving a ride to a snowbound stranger who offers them a lucrative sum, a couple is thrown into a nightmarish situation when the stranger dies in their back seat with more than two million dollars in his possession.

Damaged by Alex Kava (audio download)
When the Coast Guard finds a murdered body in the Gulf of Mexico while preparing for a Category 5 hurricane, Special Agent Maggie O’Dell places herself in the path of the deadly storm to track down the victim’s identity and killer.

The Expats by Chris Pavone (audio download, CD book, eBook)
Newly arrived in Luxembourg, expat Kate Moore suspects that another American couple are not who they claim to be and as her paranoia grows, she becomes increasingly terrified that her own past is catching up with her.

Fifteen Digits by Nick Santora
A fifteen-digit bank account number holds the key to a plot involving five behind-the-scenes employees at a law firm who use discarded documents full of sensitive legal information to get rich.

Istanbul Passage by Joseph Kanon
In 1945 Istanbul, American undercover agent Leon Bauer’s attempt to save a life leads to a desperate manhunt, a game of shifting loyalties, and an unexpected love affair.

The Last Good Man by A.J. Kazinski
A story based on the Jewish legend about how the world is always protected by 36 people follows the sudden deaths of dozens of humanitarians whose untimely ends are investigated by Copenhagen detective Niels Benzon.

The Last Trade by James Conway
Hedge fund operator Drew Havens endures an explosive six days during which six other talented brokers are killed after executing trades linked to his boss’s lucrative fund.

Missing Child by Patricia MacDonald
Caitlin Eckhart finds her past coming back to haunt her, when her 6-year-old stepson is kidnapped from school, jeopardizing her relationship with her husband and everything she loves.

The Nightmare Thief by Meg Gardiner (audio download, eBook)
Given an expensive “ultimate urban reality” adventure for her 21st birthday, Autumn invites five friends to join her in a simulated drug deal and manhunt on the streets of San Francisco only to be exploited by real kidnappers.

Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd
After a chance meeting with a stranger leads Adam Kindred to lose his home, family, friends, job, and reputation, the London police and a hired killer are after him, and Adam joins the army of the missing who live underground as he tries to sort through his life.

The Professionals by Owen Laukkanen
When a joke about making illicit money escalates to a kidnapping scheme, four friends enjoy the proceeds of a low-risk operation until they abduct the wrong target and capture the attentions of the law and a vengeful organized-crime ring.

Rules of Betrayal by Christopher Reich (audio download, CD book, eBook)
Married to an undercover spy who has gone rogue, Jonathan Ransom is catapulted into the shadowy world of double and triple agents, where his life becomes dependent on his discovery of his wife’s true loyalties.

The Sixes by Kate White (eBook)
After being accused of plagiarizing her latest bestselling celebrity biography, Phoebe Hall jumps at the chance to teach at a small college in rural Pennsylvania where she becomes immersed in a deadly mystery involving a mythic secret society known as The Sixes.

Sleepless by Charlie Huston
Working undercover to stop the black market trade of a sleep-aid drug that has become aggressively sought by a world stricken by pandemic insomnia, L.A. cop Parker Haas finds his work compromised by pharmaceutical company corruption.

They’re Watching by Gregg Hurwitz
Struggling with setbacks in his marriage and Hollywood ambitions, Patrick Davis begins receiving mysterious DVDs that reveal that he and his wife are being stalked.

The Wrong Man by David Ellis
When a homeless Iraq War veteran with severe PTSD is arrested for murder, Jason Kolarich agrees to take the case and discovers that the victim had stumbled on a terrorist conspiracy with ties to corporate America.