Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Sleepers-Really good books that aren't "trendy"

A Monster Calls: Inspired by an idea from Siobhan DowdA Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Conor wakes in the middle of the night to find an ancient monster outside his window. This creature demands something that Conor finds extremely difficult to give: the truth.  Based on an idea by award winning author Siobhan Dowd, Ness wrote this book after Dowd died at a young age of cancer.

North of Beautiful (A Justina Chen Novel) 
North of Beautiful by Justine Chen Headley
The traditional idea of beauty is challenged in this moving novel about Terra, a high school senior who was born with a port wine stain that covers half of her face. 

Sabriel (Old Kingdom) 


The Abhorsen series by Garth Nix
Begin this wonderful fantasy series with Sabriel. Then go on to Lireal and finally Abhorsen. Originally a trilogy which ended over ten years ago, Nix recently wrote and published a fourth book to continue the story: Clariel. Devour these one right after the other.

Why We Broke Up  Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler
Min and Ed are breaking up, so Min writes a letter to Ed and gives him a box containing, among other things, two bottle caps, a movie ticket, a folded note, a box of matches, a protractor, books, a toy truck, and a pair of ugly earrings.  There is a story behind each item that tells why the breakup happens.  Handler (Lemony Snickett to younger readers) tell a wry tale of a doomed relationship.

Between Shades of GrayBetween Shades of Gray  by Ruth Sepetys
A very personal story for the writer as it is based on the history of her own family, this is a historical fiction book about a little known occurrence in the late 1930s when Lithuanian citizens were forcibly relocated to work camps in Siberia after being invaded by Russia. The author estimates that a full one third of the population of the Baltic states  was lost during this genocide.

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