Stephen has always been invisible – even to his own parents. Unable to deal with the complexity of having an invisible son, his father split when he was younger, leaving Stephen to be creatively and lovingly raised by his mother. When she dies, Stephen, now 15, is left to live on his own in a Manhattan apartment paid for by his father. One day a new family moves into the apartment. Stephen watches as the 16-year-old daughter fumbles and drops moving boxes. When she turns to him and asks, well aren’t you going to help?, Stephen meets the one person in the world who can actually see him. Together Stephen and Elizabeth discover the reason for his invisibility and the possibility that Elizabeth might be the key to Stephen becoming visible to the world, but not without great risk to everyone involved. Elizabeth’s younger brother, Laurie, shines as the faithful sidekick. Fast paced, action packed, suspenseful, magical thriller – loved it! For 9th grade and up.

- Martha

Welcome to seedy, backwater Utina, Florida, a down-on-its-heels town on the east bank of the Intracoastal Waterway, about to see more prosperous days. Meet its unofficial royalty: the Bravo family, wild, lawless, every member a character guilty of questionable actions. Beautiful, perfect Arla Bolton of the San Augustine Boltons has it all, but opts to leave her comfortable upper class upbringing to marry bad boy Dean Bravo. On their honeymoon, Arla is maimed in a boating accident, the two retreat to Utina, children are born and grow up, many years pass. Enter realty developers offering big money for the Bravos’ waterfront property and all the family’s past tragedies come to a head. Here is proof of what happens when years of bad behavior go unchecked. Nevertheless, these characters are bound by something “harder, tighter, stronger, even, than love—family.”

– Jennifer

The narrator is an elderly Russian émigré, looking back on his life and his marriage to Zoya. Escaping from Bolshevik Russia in 1922, they went first to France and then to England, where they have lived ever since, working, raising a family, and trying to keep quiet about their origins because they still fear for their lives. Georgy's story is good historical adventure with lots of details about life in the Romanov family in the last days of its existence. This could easily be a crossover for 13+ readers who like historical fiction. Excellent writing. Recommended.

–Alice

Also Known As is being pitched to "Ally Carter Fans", I understand its probably the teen spy thing, but it could not be more different. Also Known As is a really good book, but it's very different from the Heist Books. In Also Known As we meet Maggie, a safe cracker. She and her parents work for an organization called The Collective. They go around the world stopping things like human trafficking. They bring in Maggie to remove sensitive documents from safes. Her parents have always run the operation and Maggie just waits to be called in. Their next job will be Maggie's first big project when The Collective finds out that someone has information about them and plans on publishing the story. They send Maggie to the same school with the magazine owner's son. Her job is to get close to him and retrieve the data. Only Maggie has never been to school or has ever had to deal with kids her own age. Her parents are worried that it's too much for her to handle. Maggie finds herself getting in too deep and blurs the line between teenager and spy. Also Known As is a fun contemporary novel that is definitely worth the read or listen, best for grades 7 and up.

– Maria

A boy remembers his father's dream to build a flying machine. The dream never comes to fruition but, as an adult, the boy makes the dream come true. The simple explanation of this story masks the beauty of the language used to tell it. It's uncommonly good and will, quite frankly, make you cry when you read of a father's love for his son and the son's love for his father. For ages 5 and up.

– Cathy

Though she had a "magical" childhood, Glennon Melton found herself bulimic by age 8, alcoholic, addicted to drugs, and pregnant in high school. Crying out in prayer on the bathroom floor, Glennon went "cold turkey", married her baby's father, and turned her life around. Years later, she started a blog called Momastery because she found writing to be healing and noticed that motherhood is like being in a monastery -- a sacred experience. Carry On, Warrior is a collection of Glennon's incredibly funny, brutally honest, poignant observations about life, motherhood, addictions, friendships and faith. Fans of Anne Lamott and Kelly Corrigan will love Glennon! She’ll be visiting us on April 9th.

– Martha

A spectacular fantasy/parable/feminist primer from old friend, Ronlyn Domingue. In an unknown kingdom, a young girl is raised to be a mapmaker and a dreamer. The story is told in flashbacks, so the plot unfolds in bits and pieces. We know that as a young woman she is sent to the land beyond the river where there is wealth and a form of Utopia that is coveted by those in her kingdom. She falls in lust (or love) only to be dragged down by the constraints of her society. When cast out, she escapes to this magical other place. You need to read between the lines to see the parable about the roles of women. It's moving, heartbreaking, and just so different from anything you've read before.

– Valerie