Life After Life

Life After Life is by Kate Atkinson. In 1910, Ursula Todd is born in England and dies before she takes her first breath. In 1910, Ursula Todd is born in England and begins her most unusual life. She dies numerous times and always comes back to "try again". Each life is a different story, yet she somehow remembers to change certain things each time. As the world marches toward WWII, does Ursula's gift/curse give her the power to change the course of history for everyone?


Ratings: Adult - 6 out of 10 - P (profanity) - AC (mature thematic content) - V (violence).

Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Will Grayson, Will Grayson is by John Green & David Levithan. One night in Chicago two teenage boys cross paths. Both are named Will Grayson, and although they run in VERY different circles; they both find their lives intertwined with that of Tiny Cooper, a gay teenager who wants nothing more than to see his life story immortalized in a high school musical. A touching story of coming of age and knowing yourself.


Ratings: 10th Grade - 9 out of 10 - P (profanity) - AC (mature thematic content).

The Woman Upstairs

The Woman Upstairs is by Claire Messud. Nora is an elementary teacher in Massachusetts who has given up her dream of being an artist. Then a new student arrives in her class, a charming child named Reza. When Reza is injured in a bullying incident, Nora finds herself bonding with the Shahid family: Reza, Sirena his Italian artist mother, and Skandar his Lebanese professor father. As Nora becomes more involved with the Shahid's she finds her life changing in ways she never dreamed possible. 

Ratings - Adult - 6 out of 10 - P (profanity) - AC (mature thematic content).

Lock and Key

Lock and Key is by Sarah Dessen. Ruby is almost eighteen, she is looking forward to being on her own. Her mother has abandoned her and she's been holding it together just fine, or has she? When social services sends her to live with her sister Cora (who she hasn't seen in ten years) and her husband, Ruby must learn to accept help and that in order to save herself she will need to reach out to others. Fans of Dessen's books will love this one as well.

Ratings - 9th grade - 8 out of 10 - P (profanity) - AC (mature thematic content).

Seconds Away

Seconds Away is by Harlen Coben. The second book in the Mickey Bolitar series. This book picks up right where the first one leaves off. Mickey must convince his uncle to exhume his father's body, so he can be sure his father is really dead, after the Bat Lady shows him a picture of the Butcher of Lodz, who look just like the paramedic who told Mickey his father had died and took his body away. How can a WWII Nazi officer look just like a thirty year old paramedic? Then there is a shooting at Rachel's, she is wounded and her mother is killed and Mickey, Ema, and Spoon are determined to find the shooter and bring him to justice. But what if the shooter is Rachel's father?

Ratings: 8th grade - 9 out of 10 - V (violence).

Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil: A Savannah Story

Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil: A Savannah Story is by John Berendt. A fascinating look into one of the last bastions of the "Old South". The story of the strange and charming residents of Savannah and a murder that shocked them all. Berendt wrings every last drop of humor, suspense, and tragedy out of this true crime drama which kept Savannah gossips going for almost a decade.

Ratings: Adult - 9 out of 10 - P (profanity) - AC (mature thematic content).