Young Adult (ages 14-18)

Material appropriate for young adults

The Year Nick Mcgowan Came To Stay

Seventeen-year-old Rachel Hill is the girl most likely to succeed. And the girl most likely to have everything under control . . . that is, until her dad invites Nick McGowan, the cutest boy at school, to live with them. Rachel worries that this could only be a recipe for disaster, but her best friend Zoe thinks it’s the perfect opportunity for lurve. Sparks start to fly for all the wrong reasons. Nick finds Rachel spoiled and uptight and Rachel dismisses Nick as lazy and directionless. But a secret from Nick’s past draws them together and makes the year Nick McGowan came to stay one that Rachel will never forget.

The Last Apprentice: Night of the Soul Stealer

Tom is dismayed when his master the Spook decrees that they will be spending the winter on gloomy and forbidding Anglezarke Moor but soon discovers the reason for his master’s decision, as they tangle with two dangerous witches and struggle to keep a dark mage from resurrecting an ancient evil.


The Book of Time

A statue; a coin; an old book. They look as dusty as everything else in the Faulkner Antiquarian Bookstore, where 14-year-old Sam Faulkner seeks his father, who’s been missing for days. But when Sam slips the coin into the statue, he’s swept back in time — to Scotland in 800 A.D. — where he must find both the statue and another coin in order to return to the present. It’s the first step in an adventure that will take him to ancient Egypt, World War I, even Dracula’s castle and a mystery that will end only when Sam saves his father, or loses him in time.

Shadow of a Hero

As Eastern Europe lurches toward chaos after the fall of communism, at last it seems possible to Letta that she and her grandfather will be able to visit his homeland, the tiny country Varina. Varina is presently split among three big neighbors, but why shouldn’t it be free? It has its own language and history, its own songs and dances, its own dogs and cheeses. Can Varina take its chance or must it go the tragic way of Bosnia and Croatia? Can one old man make any difference? And how can Letta help?

Panama (Cultures Of The World)

The authors cover geography, history, government, population, notable residents, and landmarks in a clear, readable fashion about Panama. Brilliant full-color photos and reproductions abound, giving glimpses into historical and modern ways of life. Maps, charts, and graphs are plentiful and informative.

Crazy Jack

Once there was a boy named Jack who traded away a cow for a handful of beans. But Jack was no fool, he was haunted since the day his father climbed up into the clouds and vanished. When the beans provide a way for Jack to pursue his father, he enters the Giant’s world, where he discovers the terrifying ends of greed and desire. In Donna Jo Napoli’s transforming novel, Jack’s search for his father yields not gold, but sustenance, love, and the means to build a life.From the Paperback edition.

Sword Song

This is the swashbuckling story of Bjarni, a Viking swordsman.  Banished from his home for a murder he didn’t intend to commit, Bjarni takes up a new life as a mercenary. He journeys from England to Dublin, and then to the islands off the west coast of Scotland. There he meets the man who is to shape the course of his life for years to come, a life that will lead him from boyhood to manhood–fighting among the clan chiefs from the west coast of Scotland in feuds as bitter and bloody as can be imagined.

Thanks to My Mother

Susie Weksler was only eight in 1941 when Hitler’s forces invaded her Lithuanian city of Vilnius, a great center for Jewish learning and culture. Soon her family would face hunger and fear in the Jewish ghetto – but worse was to come. When the ghetto was liquidated, some Jews were selected for forced labor camps; the rest were killed. Susie would live – because of the courage and ingenuity of her mother. It was her mother who carried Susie, hidden in a backpack, to the group destined for the labor camps; who disguised her as an adult in makeup and turban to fool the camp guards; who fed her body and soul through gruesome conditions in three concentration camps and a winter “death march”; who showed her the power of the human spirit to endure.

The Science of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials

Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy is renowned for its mystery and magic. What’s the truth behind it all? Is the golden compass actually based in science? How does the subtle knife cut through anything? Could there be a bomb like the one made with Lyra’s hair? How do the Gallivespians’ lodestone resonators really work? And, of course, what are the Dark Materials? Drawing on string theory and spacetime, quantum physics and chaos theory, award-winning science writers Mary and John Gribbin reveal the real science behind Philip Pullman’s bestselling fantasy trilogy in entertaining and crystal-clear prose.