‘What Doesn’t Kill Her’ by Christina Dodd is a combination mystery/thriller/romance that does all three genres proud

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While “What Doesn’t Kill Her” is the sequel to “Dead Girl Running,” author Christina Dodd completely fills in the reader in a manner so natural that this book could be the first in the series. Former US Army Captain Kellen Adams is living at the winery where her daughter lives with the man who was Kellen’s boyfriend before her accident, her coma, and the missing year of her life.

In both books, Dodd gives the reader three statements narrated by the main character, Kellen Adams. In this book, the statements are:
-I’ve got the scar of a gunshot on my forehead
-I have willfully misrepresented my identity to the US military
-I’m the new mother of a seven-year-old girl

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‘Diego’s New America’ by Evelyn Sanchez-Toledo is a picture book that students enjoy about multicultural families

diego “Diego’s New America” (La nueva America de Diego) by Evelyn Sanchez-Toledo is a charming picture book about Diego, a curious and intelligent boy who loves to ask questions. When the students need to do a project for an International Fair the school is producing, students are told to pick a country to present at the fair. All of Diego’s friends decide to pick countries that their families are from. One student’s family is from Austria, another’s from Greece.

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‘Dead Girl Running’ by Christina Dodd is thrilling action from the start

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“Dead Girl Running” by Christina Dodd is an action-packed mystery novel in more ways than one. Not only is there the mystery of who, at the fancy Washington State resort, is the head of a smuggling ring, there are also mysteries aplenty about the main character. Her name is Kellen Adams, or that is what those around her believe. In reality, the truth is much different.

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‘Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow’ by Jessica Townsend is a suspenseful sequel in middle grade series

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“Wundersmith: The Calling of Morigan Crow” is the sequel to the first book in the “Nevermoor” series, “Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow,” about a young girl who was whisked to Nevermoor just before she had been doomed to die on her 11th birthday. As an illegal immigrant in Nevermoor, the only way she can stay in Nevermoor is to pass rigorous trials to earn a place in the illustrious Wundrous Society — which she does in the first book.

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‘The Widows’ by Jess Montgomery is a gripping historical fiction set in turbulent coal mining Appalachia

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In “The Widows,” author Jess Montgomery visits a time and place that is not often memorialized in fiction. In a corner of rural Ohio, where coal mines control the lives of the residents and the immigrants who come to America to work in the mines, the lives of the miners and those who live in town intersect through the relationship of two women, both widows, who fight for justice.

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‘An Easy Death’ by Charlaine Harris is the first in a new exciting paranormal series

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“An Easy Death” is by acclaimed author Charlaine Harris, who wrote the fabulous Sookie Stackhouse series. It’s the first in a new series featuring Lizbeth Rose, a 19-year-old, determined, talented gun for hire.

The setting is an alternate United States which was forever altered when Franklin Roosevelt was assassinated before he could be sworn in. Texas has been reclaimed by Mexico, Russia (the Holy Russian Empire) has grabbed California, and Canada has taken over many of the northern states. Native Americans have claimed their ancestral land which had been stolen from them. The only part of the actual United States that’s left is really poor, and those who live there have a hard life. Farmers hoping to get to a safer and better place to live must hire gunslingers to ensure their safety as they journey to a different place.

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‘The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise’ by Dan Gemeinhart surprises, touches, and grabs readers

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With “The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise,” Dan Gemeinhart once again shows his writing super-power ability to simultaneously amuse, touch, fascinate, and grab readers by the heartstrings as they race through this story of a girl and her father who live a peripatetic life, traveling from place to place in their rehabbed school bus.

Coyote and her father, Rodeo, have lived on Yager, their converted school bus, and traveled wherever their whims have taken them. Want to walk on the beach? They’d head for the coast. Pulled pork sandwich? The best one is at Pork Chop John’s Sandwich Shop, in Butte, Montana.

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Children’s chapter book round up: From graphic novels to roadkill – a year in review

 

Start the new year right — get some of 2018’s (and one 2019 new release) middle grade books for the young reader in your life. There is a wide range of titles that will appeal to many different readers.

Graphic novels are high in interest and many children who aren’t interested in reading text-only chapter books love the illustrations and fast-moving pace of these books. There are several 2018 releases that include graphic novels and books with many illustrations along with text, mimicking the feel of a graphic novel. Continue reading

‘Outfoxed’ by David Rosenfelt continues the fabulous Andy Carpenter/dog-filled mystery series

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From the fertile, facile, and unfailingly funny imagination of author David Rosenfelt comes “Outfoxed,” the fourteenth installment of the Andy Carpenter mystery series. But don’t let the fact that it’s the fourteenth installment deter you from picking it up — Rosenfelt cleverly manages to make each book a stand-alone that can be enjoyed by either new readers or Andy Carpenter “veterans.”

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‘Pets on the Couch’ Explores Animal Psychiatry and the Treatment of Emotional Disorders

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“Pets on the Couch: Neurotic Dogs, Compulsive Cats, Anxious Birds, and the New Science of Animal Psychiatry” is written by veterinarian Nicholas Dodman, who also wrote bestsellers, “The Dog Who Loved Too Much” and “The Cat Who Cried for Help.”

Dodman breaks new ground with this book; he details how animals and humans share many of the same emotions and emotional disorders. He writes that animals can be depressed and feel grief and loss. It’s now known that pets can have post-traumatic stress disorder, and Dodman has asserted that this affects dogs who have served in the military in combat zones. Dogs can also have other “human” emotional disorders like anxiety and compulsive disorders.

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‘Fire & Heist’ by Sarah Beth Durst is a perfect young adult fantasy/action/scifi thriller

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“Fire & Heist” by Sarah Beth Durst is a wonderful young adult fantasy. Long-time fans of this author will not be surprised that it’s engaging and boasts a fabulous plot. While she has included a lot in the story — there is some “Ocean’s Eleven” mixed up with a bit of “Wrinkle in Time” and every book with a wonderfully evil villain (think Michael Grant’s newest book, appropriately titled “Villain”) — it just boils down to a book that ends up being a quick read because the action simply doesn’t stop.

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’50 First Words – Primeras palabras’ in English and Spanish by Scholastic Early Learners

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“50 Primeras palabras- First Words” is a well thought-out set of flash cards that is bilingual for children who speak both English and Spanish, or those that speak only one language but might like learning a second language for enrichment. The cards themselves are large and laminated with pictures and words on each side in both languages.

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