 Friends with Boys
Faith Erin Hicks
A fantastic graphic novel. Being home-schooled and raised with three brothers had its problems, but Maggie's life is about to get a lot more complicated as she faces her greatest trial yet - entering public school for the first time! Google for the online digital version!
 Living Me to We: The Guide for Socially Conscious Canadians
Craig and Marc Kielburger
We all want to make a difference. Now it’s easier to lead a life that makes the world a better
place every day. With this uniquely Canadian guide to socially conscious living, activists Craig
and Marc Kielburger give you the tools for Living Me to We. After 15 years travelling the country
and advocating for social justice, Craig and Marc became inspired to compile their practical tips
for change in one handy guide. The result is a beautifully designed, extensively researched and engaging book—just for Canadians.
 Way to Go
Tom Ryan
Danny thinks he must be the only seventeen-year-old guy in Cape Breton—in Nova Scotia, maybe—who doesn't have his life figured out. His buddy Kierce has a rule for every occasion, and his best friend Jay has bad grades, no plans and no worries. Danny's dad nags him about his post-high-school plans, his friends bug him about girls and a run-in with the cops means he has to get a summer job. Worst of all, he's keeping a secret that could ruin everything.
 The Prisoner of Snowflake Falls
John Lekich
After years of petty theft and larceny, Henry Holloway’s time is up. A teenage burglar, Holloway
is sent to a small community that tests his criminal resolve as its strange residents! A very funny and witty read with clever use of self-deprecation.
 Hummingbird Heart
Robin Stevenson
Which is easier—sharing your bone marrow or opening your heart?
Sixteen-year-old Dylan has never met her father. She knows that her parents were just teenagers themselves when she was born, but her mother doesn’t like to talk about the past, and her father, Mark, has never responded to Dylan’s attempts to contact him. And then, out of the blue, a phone call: Mark will be in town for a few days and he wants to meet her. Amanda is clearly upset, but Dylan can’t help being excited at the possibility of finally getting to know her father. But when she finds out why he has come—and what he wants from her—the answers fill her with still more questions. What makes someone family? And why has her mother been lying to her all these years?
Here are some of the new batch of titles that have been ordered for May. Most are written by Canadian authors (yay, Canada!).
 How Not to Move Back in with Your Parents: The Young Person’s Guide to Financial Empowerment
Rob Carrack
You’ll find no lectures here, just clear and unbiased guidance from someone who has spent more than a decade talking to people of all ages about money. And along the way there are case study interviews with young adults and stories from the author’s own 'pre-expert' past. Carrick writes a weekly financial column for the Globe and Mail.
 Paradise Lost
John Milton
Wait before you pooh-pooh a classic give it a chance! Paradise Lost is about Adam and Eve—how they came to be created and how they came to lose their place in the Garden of Eden, also called Paradise. It's the same story you find in the first pages of Genesis, expanded by Milton into a very long, detailed, narrative poem. It also includes the story of the origin of Satan. Originally, he was called Lucifer, an angel in heaven who led his followers in a war against God, and was ultimately sent with them to hell. Thirst for revenge led him to cause man's downfall by turning into a serpent and tempting Eve to eat the forbidden fruit.
 Erebos
Ursula Poznanski
A hit book written in German but recently translated. When 16-year-old Nick receives a package containing the mysterious computer game Erebos, he wonders if it will explain the behavior of his classmates, who have been secretive lately. Players of the game must obey strict rules: always play alone, never talk about the game, and never tell anyone your nickname. Curious, Nick joins the game and quickly becomes addicted. But Erebos knows a lot about the players and begins to manipulate their lives. When it sends Nick on a deadly assignment, he refuses and is banished from the game. Now unable to play, Nick turns to a friend for help in finding out who controls the game. The two set off on a dangerous mission in which the border between reality and the virtual world begins to blur. This utterly convincing and suspenseful thriller originated in Germany, where it has become a runaway bestseller.
 Two Generals
Scott Chantler
Told through the eyes of everyday heroes, this is a story about friendship, and the tragedies and absurdities of war. Amazing detail and gripping artwork as Chantler's eye for the obscure and intricate weaver an engaging and endearing story!
 What Do You Want to Do Before You Die?
The Buried Life
The popular MTV show based on four Victoria, BC friends deciding they needed to make a drastic change made a list of 100 things to do before they died. They started asking other youth for their lists. This book is a compilation of items from those lists.
Another batch of terrific titles new to the library. Drop by today and check 'em out!
 In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives
Steven Levy
You think you know Google? You don’t know beans. Levy was given essentially unfettered access to Google employees including founders Larry Page and Sergy Brin, both Montessori schooled. This is a story about two guys in a Stanford University dorm setting up a search engine that make surfing the Web easier to a company that pulls in over $40 billion a year in revenues. How? Read and learn!
 Life: An Exploded Diagram
Mal Peet
Clem, a working-class boy living in government assisted housing and Frankie, the daughter of a wealthy landowner, must keep their relationship secret. If it’s discovered, their world will be blown apart. But unknown to them President John F. Kennedy and Russian leader Nikita Khruschev are shaping up to do just that—blow the world apart—with events leading up to what later becomes known as the Cuban Missile Crisis.
 All the Good Children
Catherine Austen
In a not-too-distant future, Max tries to maintain his identity in a world where the only way to survive is to conform and obey.
 The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
William Kamkwamba
The amazing story of William Kamkwamba born in Malawi a land withered by drought and hunger who read about windmills and dreamed of building one that would bring his small village two small luxuries: electricity and running water. His neighbours called him crazy but he refused to let go of his dreams—and he did it!
 The Throne of Fire: The Kane Chronicles
Rick Riordan
The second book in the Kane Chronicles that follows the adventures of the Kane Siblings and takes place about three months after the first book, The Red Pyramid.
Here are a couple of early spring titles new to the library.
 How to Save a Life
Sarah Zarr
Told from their own viewpoints, 17 year old Jill, in grief over the loss of her father, and Mandy, nearly 19, are thrown together when Jill’s mom agrees to adopt Mandy’s unborn child, but nothing turns out as they had anticipated.
 First Descent
Pam Withers
Rex Scruggs, a 17-year-old kayaker, heads to South America for his first international expedition, only to be abandoned by his attractive female guide and kidnapped.
 Wonder Struck Brian Selznick On the heels of his critically acclaimed The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Selznick offers up a beautiful story told in pictures (over 450 pictures) and words. A boy named Ben longs for the father he has never known. A girl named Rose dreams of a mysterious actress whose life she chronicles in a scrapbook. When Ben discovers a puzzling clue in his mother's room, and Rose reads an enticing headline in the newspaper, both children set out alone on desperate quests to find what they are missing. Ben's story, set in 1977, is told entirely with words, while Rose's story, set fifty years earlier, is told entirely with pictures. The two stories weave back and forth before ultimately coming together.
 Pregnant Pause
Han Nolan
Married, pregnant, and living at a “fat camp” in Maine, 16 year old Eleanor has many questions about her future, especially whether the marriage will last and if she should keep the baby.
 The Cat's Table
Michael Ondaatje
Canadian literary giant, Ondaatje’s latest, tells the amazing tale of an eleven-year-old boy who boards a huge liner bound for England. At mealtimes, he is placed at the lowly ‘Cat's Table’ with an eccentric group of grown-ups and two other boys, Cassius and Ramadhin. As the ship makes its way across the Indian Ocean, through the Suez Canal, into the Mediterranean, the boys become involved in the worlds and stories of the adults around them, tumbling from one adventure and discovery to another.
CanLit Week: With so many great Canadian-authored books we thought we'd feature a few of the hot ones now available.
Gimme a Call
by Sarah Mlynowski
_ After accidentally dropping her cell phone into a fountain at the mall, fourteen year old Devi Banks start to get phone calls--and an earful of advice on how to live her life to avoid making disastrous choices--from her seventeen year old self.
Yellow Mini
by Lori Weber
_
This is a powerful free-verse novel that intertwines the coming-of-age stories of five teens and their relationships with each other, their parents, and themselves.
The Avro Arrow: A picture history
by Lawrence Miller
_ When the magnificent new Avro Arrow fighter jet thundered into the sky over Malton, ON on a cold March morning in 1958, Canada became a world leader in the aviation industry. Less than a year later, the Arrow project was dead and the machines were cut up into pieces of scrap metal. What happened? This amazing book uses over 100 dramatic and historic images to tell the story of the creation and destruction of the best aircraft every invented.
The Next Day
by John Porcellino, Paul Peterson & Jason Gilmore
_ A ground-breaking graphic novella constructed from intimate interviews with survivors of near-fatal suicide attempts. In this poetic and profound philosophical exploration, four seemingly ordinary people each offer haunting insight into life, the decision to end it, and what comes after…
Sid vs. Ovi: Natural Born Rival
by Andrew Podnieks
The author traces the most intense rivalry in hockey today and attempts to give a clear picture of Crosby’s and Ovechkin's different career trajectories, distinctive styles of play, influences, strengths and weakness, successes and failures.
Dumb Luck
by Lesley Choyce
Brandon De Wolfe, an 18 year-old lonely misfit just barely getting through school, does what almost everyone else just dreams of: he wins the lottery. Plunged into a world that is completely new to him, and without any real moral compass to follow, Brandon realizes it's a good idea to be careful what you wish for.
 Playaway Week. The beauty of the MP3 and the joy of being read to has become a favourite at LVR. The library now has over 40 Playaway titles. Drop by and check 'em out. This week's picks are new editions to the audiobook collection.
I Am Number Four
Pitticus Lore Here's one where the book is as good or even better than the movie. This follows the story of John Smith, a 15-year old alien from the planet Lorien, and Henri, his guardian Cêpan, as they run from the Mogadorians, another alien race that is hunting John and eight other teenage Lorics residing on the planet Earth. These nine teens are members of the Garde, a group of Loric people gifted with special powers called "Legacies." Cêpans, who are also Loric, do not acquire legacies and most often become protectors and mentors for young members of the Garde. The teenagers are protected by a spell or charm that only allows them to be killed in numeric order. The first three have been killed, and John is Number Four. Strutting It:The Grit Behind the Glamour
Jeanne Beker Who wouldn’t want to wear gorgeous clothes, travel the world, hang out with stars, have adoring fans – and get paid a fortune for it? But is that what the life of a model is like?
World-famous fashion guru Jeanne Beker offers a unique insider’s look at the reality behind the glitz. She demystifies the industry for those who are thinking about a career in modeling and for those who simply want the scoop on an intriguing world. Strutting It! is full of fascinating information, from getting discovered to finding a personal style, from the team of people behind every model to the education a good model should have.
With a foreword by modeling superstar Coco Rocha, Strutting It! is packed with biographies of successful models, lots of black-and-white photos, and the great humor and common sense Jeanne Beker is known for. The Sentimentalists
Johanna Skibsrud
Haunted by the vivid horrors of the Vietnam War, exhausted from years spent battling his memories, Napoleon Haskell leaves his North Dakota trailer and moves to Canada.
He retreats to a small Ontario town where Henry, the father of his fallen Vietnam comrade, has a home on the shore of a man-made lake. Under the water is the wreckage of what was once the town - and the home where Henry was raised.
When Napoleon's daughter arrives, fleeing troubles of her own, she finds her father in the dark twilight of his life, and rapidly slipping into senility. With love and insatiable curiosity, she devotes herself to learning the truth about his life; and through the fog, Napoleon's past begins to emerge. Does this Book Make Me Look Fat?
edited Marissa Walsh How often do you find yourself looking in the mirror? And smiling at what you see? More likely, you're thinking what you see is: Fat, Ugly, Skinny, Round, Stacked or Flat, Bad or Good. From reality television to tabloid headlines, we're all surrounded by weight and discussion of weight. In this collection, a stellar lineup of YA writers sound off on body image., self-esteem, diets, eating disorders, boys, fashion magazines, and why trying on jeans is a bad experience for everyone. There are eight powerful short stories and six moving personal essays from authors whose works include two New York Times bestsellers, a Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and a Printz Honor; an appendix offers book, movie, and music recommendations. (And in case you're still wondering, No this book does not make you look fat.)
Two boxes full of new titles. Here's what's in the first one!
 Bras and Broomsticks
Sarah Mlynowski
Rachel can't believe it. Her younger sister Miri is a witch! Literally. How come Miri inherited the supernatural skills that could have turned Rachel into a teenage superstar?
 Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Ransom Riggs
After a horrific family tragedy, 16 year-old Jacob journeys to a remote island where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine's Home of Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores the abandon hallways and bedrooms it becomes apparent that the children were more than peculiar. They may still be alive.
 Beyond the Horizon
Colin Angus
IN June of 2004, Colin Angus set out from Vancouver on his bicycle and returned nearly two years later after having been the first human to circumnavigate the globe only on human power. An amazing achievement and an even better story!
 Generation A
Douglas Coupland
In the near future bees are believe to be extinct--until one autumn when five people are stung in different places around the world. This shared experience unites them in a way they could never have imagined.
A new year, brings new reads to the library. This week we're featuring some popular classics and some new fresh fiction and non-fiction titles!
Catch-22
by Joseph Heller
Catch-22 follows Captain John Yossarian in his exploits as a bombardier (that is, a member of a fighter plane crew that is in charge of aiming and releasing bombs) in the U.S. Air Force during World War II. Yossarian has one wish: to survive the madness of wartime culture. He's convinced that everyone is trying to kill him, a notion that sometimes arises in a war where…everyone is trying to kill one another. Yossarian has to survive the dangerous combat missions he flies, while Colonel Cathcart continues to increase the number of missions his men must complete.
The novel does not flow in chronological order, but instead involves frequent flashbacks. Sound confusing? That's the idea – so is war. The first part concentrates on the narrative present, the second part on the scene of the Great Big Siege of Bologna, the third part returns to the present, the fourth part centers on the actions of Milo, and finally on Yossarian's escape from the military. Many of Yossarian's actions are in response to the death of a fellow soldier, or as a tactic to avoid flying dangerous missions. The Air Force administration's actions, on the contrary, are based on improving the ranks of the individual officers or making America look good in the war.
*courtesy of Shmoop.com Here's a clip from the amazing movie based on Heller's classic!
Running to Extremes: Ray Zahab's Amazing Ultramarathon Journey
by Steve Pitt & Ray Zahab
This is an inspirational biography of the eco-activist and marathon runner Ray Zahab, who crossed the Sahara Desert by foot.
Here's a clip from Ray Zahab's run across the Sahara Desert. Yes, across the entire Sahara Desert.
Double or Nothing
by Dennis Foon
Kip is a gambler. He hangs with kids who gamble and he bets on everything. Kip thinks drug addicts, drinkers, and smokers are losers--gambling gives him all the buzz he needs. He does not consider himself an addict. Kip knows that addicts don't amount to anything, and he plans on being rich someday.
However, when he discovers big-time gambling with his new girl friend's father King, the famous magician, his whole life changes. The horse track, casinos, and slot machines give him a buzz like he never has known before. Gambling may be taking over his life as he wipes out his mother's bank account and his college fund.
Will Kip wake up in time to recover his losses legally, or will he end up like King? Kip will probably never lose his love of gambling --- will this allow him to follow his dream of becoming a stockbroker? As he says, "The stock market isn't just legal gambling, it powers the whole economy. I get to be rich and be a patriot all at the same time. You gotta love this. Total win-win-win." Read DOUBLE OR NOTHING and find out what happens to Kip --- will he win or will he lose it all? Born Ugly
by Beth Goobie
To say Shir is unpopular is a understatement. In fact she's less than homely, therefore a target of casual cruelty in high school. Even though she wishes to remain invisible, bullies find ways of tormenting her, viciously. Worse still, she's an outcast in her own family. There are two areas where Shir can overcome her negative self image. One is at her part-time job where the kindly Mr. A has hired her as the driver of his grocery delivery truck. The other is at her secret retreat--my place--where she can sip her beer and watch the river, undisturbed.
But neither sanctuary is safe; Shir discovers that Mr. A's kindness is part of a plot to use her as an accomplice in shady dealings, and her haven by the river is intruded upon by a boy who simply won't go away. While these invasions shatter her initially, both lead to her throwing off the mantle of victim and asserting herself for the first time in her life.
Death Benefits by Sarah N. Harvey
Looking after a 95 year old—especially one as cantankerous, crafty and stubborn as Arthur—is a challenge. But as Royce gets to know the eccentric old man—who loves the Pussycat Dolls and hates Anderson Cooper—he gradually comes to appreciate that his grandfather’s life still has meaning.
Fearless Female Journalists by Joy Crysdale
Ten inspirational biographies of women who risked everything–including their lives –to bring us the world’s stories. Whether reporting from the front lines or the anchor desk, they pushed the boundaries of print, radio, TV, and internet journalism. By reading about their lives we learn the history of modern journalism. From abolitionist Mary Ann Shadd and stunt reporter Nellie Bly to feminist Doris Anderson and pioneering photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White. On to TV legends Barbara Frum and Katie Couric–-the first woman to be the solo anchor of a US network news desk–-and sports reporter Pam Oliver. Learn about murdered Russian war correspondent Anna Politkovskaya, courageous Afghan journalist Farida Nekzad, and South African Thembi Ngubane, who recorded her own fight against AIDS. Their personal stories will inspire you as much as their intrepid journalism.
Tricks by Ellen Hopkins
Five teenagers from different parts of the country. Three girls. Two guys. Four straight. One gay. Some rich. Some poor. Some from great families. Some with no one at all. All living their lives as best they can, but all searching...for freedom, safety, community, family, love. What they don't expect, though, is all that can happen when those powerful little words, "I love you," are said for all the wrong reasons. These are five moving stories that remain separate at first, then weave together to tell a larger, more powerful story–a story about making choices, taking leaps of faith, falling down, and growing up. And figuring out what sex and love are all about. Tricks is informed and inspired by living near Las Vegas–a big teen prostitution scene–and by the fact that teen prostitution is not exclusively the result of kids running away from abuse. Kids from "better" families are selling themselves for hefty sums in order to finance addictions or even just to buy jewelry or clothing. In some cases, parents prostitute their children for the same reason. So what happens to the kids who are asking themselves, and asking us, "Can I ever feel OK about myself?"
British Columbia Murders: Notorious Cases by Susan McNicoll
Six of British Columbia's most notorious murders are recounted in these gripping stories of betrayal and intrigue. From the tragic murder of Molly Justice to the unsolved mystery of Janet Smith's untimely death, these stories will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Queen of Hearts by Martha Brooks
Her new novel, Queen of Hearts, is set on the grounds of a similar place, the fictional Pembina Hills Sanatorium in southern Manitoba, in the years 1940-42. The aching loneliness and chill of the landscape, combined with the austere dark cloud of the war as it raged across the Atlantic, provide the perfect setting for an absolutely absorbing account of life on the inside of a “San,” as they were commonly referred to then. The result is a careful, graceful novel, robust with sorrow and triumph in equal measure. It will leave the reader with both a chill down the spine and a lump in the throat. Fifteen-year-old Marie Claire is the eldest of three French-Canadian farm children, all delighted when their vagabond uncle comes to stay for the summer. He’s wheezy and heavy on his feet, and the whole family assumes its lovable uncle’s had too much of the hobo life. In truth, his body has been ravaged by tuberculosis, and all three children are discovered to be consumptives a few months after he dies. Their parents, devastated and ashamed, check them into Pembina Hills.
BEAT THE BAND by Don Calame
Paired with the infamous "Hot Dog" Helen for a health class presentation on safe sex, tenth-grader Coop tries to regain his "cool" by entering his musically challenged rock group in the "Battle of the Bands" competition. The only problem is that the band is well...not very good. A hilarious story of adolescent love!
LITTLE BROTHER by Kenneth Oppel
For thirteen years, Ben Tomlin was an only child. But all that changes when his mother brings home Zan -- an eight-day-old chimpanzee. Ben's father, a renowned behavioral scientist, has uprooted the family to pursue his latest research project: a high-profile experiment to determine whether chimpanzees can acquire advanced language skills. Ben's parents tell him to treat Zan like a little brother. Ben reluctantly agrees. At least now he's not the only one his father's going to scrutinize. It isn't long before Ben is Zan's favorite, and Ben starts to see Zan as more than just an experiment. His father disagrees. To him, Zan is only a specimen, no more, no less. And this is going to have consequences. Soon Ben is forced to make a critical choice between what he is told to believe and what he knows to be true--between obeying his father or protecting his brother from an unimaginable fate.
THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy by Suzanne Collins
 Playaways
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.Now, for the first time, all three books of the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins are available in a gorgeous hardcover boxed set. The books include the New York Times bestselling The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, and the greatly anticipated final book in the trilogy: Mockingjay.
DEATH BENEFITS by Sarah H. Harvey
Looking after his ninety-five-year-old grandfather is not what Royce had in mind for his summer vacation. But Royce soon learns that the old man he never really knew is actually a person with an amazing past and lived a life of excitement and adventure. Inspiring to say the least! This book really shows how ageism can be something powerful and transformational.
GOOL: The Salt Trilogy Vol. 2 by Maurice Gee
The gool cannot be seen, not properly, but Xantee, Lo and their friends sense its evil presence. It lurks in the jungle in rock clefts, an enemy from outside nature. And now, a fragment of Gool holds Hari by the throat, draining the life from him. They can hold it back with the force of their minds, but for how long?
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