Other Half of My Heart / Sundee T. Frazier 296 p.

Bahni Turpin performs this audiobook superbly. What fun to listen to all the characters.
Minny and Keira King are biracial twins. Minny resembles her father--white; while Keira her African American mother. Grandmother Johnson enters them into the Miss Black Pearl Preteen of America. Grandmother is a serious-minded former teacher who dictates how they are to look and to perform. There Minny learns how life treats Keira back their hometown in the Pacific Northwest. Sundee Frazier demonstrates that tension and unfairness still exist between the races. The scene with the dog and its spit will make you LOL. And the trick they play on Grandmother Johnson backfires.

2012 Notable Children's Recordings

This Heart of Mine / Susan Elizabeth Phillips 370 p.

Susan Elizabeth Phillips continues the Chicago Stars series with the story of Molly Sommerville, sister to Phoebe, owner of the Chicago Stars (It Had to Be You). Author and illustrator of the Daphne the Bunny books, Molly nurses unrequited love for Kevin Tucker, Chicago Stars daredevil handsome quarterback. When she gets restless, her hair suffers. Her sister fears what Molly will do now. In the past she's pulled fire alarms, gave away $15 million, and now staying under the same roof as Kevin, who knows what will happen in this contemporary romance. Add a birth mother searching for her son, an aging campground cum B&B, and characters like Benny the Badger and Celia the Hen and Phillips melds laughs with romance.

Girl Who Chased the Moon / Sarah Addison Allen 287 p.

Emily Benedict, orphan, comes to live with her giant 8-ft. grandfather in Mullaby, N.C. There she finds acceptance troublesome from the Coffey's, except for high school senior Win. Neighbor Julia Winterson, a classmate of Emily's mother Dulcie, befriends her. Julia's staying in town just long enough to turn her late father's BBQ Restaurant around before she returns to Baltimore to open Blue-eyed Girl Bakery. Meanwhile she bakes delightful cakes, always leaving the window open--only she knows why. There is history between Julia and Alexander Sawyer, now she gives him a cold shoulder. Emily keeps running into secrets, secrets about her mother that her mother never ever shared. Magic is the only explanation as wallpaper changes to suit Emily's mood, Sawyer's has the family gift--a gifted sense for sweet, and the night lights of Mullaby.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver/ 480 pages

In this society, everyone is cured at age 18. Before scientists found the "cure" everyone thought love was a good thing. They didn't understand that once love - deliria - bloomed, you could not escape it's hold.  Lena has looked forward to her procedure, a life without love was a safe, predictable life, a pain-free life. Then Lena became infected. Delirium is the first book of a trilogy and should be added to your list of must-read dystopian young adult novels. Think of a cross between Uglies by Westerfeld and Matched by Condie, a dystopian romance. The pace is a little slow but the author's writing is  descriptive and very poetic. The love story was a little ho-hum but things did pick up near the end of the book and I must tell you, I've already started Pandemonium, book 2 of the series!

Stones for my Father / Trilby Kent 170 p.

Corlie Rous is still mourning the loss of her beloved father as the British troops move in with their scorched earth policy for Boer families who continue to support the commandos fighting for independence. Corlie's mother seems harsh in her dealings with her. As the story unfolds, the reader learns why. Her friend is Sipho, an African native. The family joins a wagon train of other Boer families as they evade British 'khakis'. Soon, they are captured and sent to a concentration camp. There British try to force the commandos to give up by starving their families. Corlie's mother explodes the home truth about her when she loses of her beloved son. Cast out without a ration book and ostracized by the camp inmates, Corlie faces near death until the soldiers step in. A telling novel of the Boer War. A war observed by Winston S. Churchill.

Book of Vegetarian Cooking / Louise Pickford 120 p.

Louise Pickford features recipes drawn from around the world. Vegetarian cooking is growing in popularity as a more healthful life style. Nine sections offer a wide selection of soups, appetizers, pizzas, pastas, pies and breads, as well as light brunches and suppers. It includes recipes for both vegetarians and vegans.

Language of Flowers / Vanessa Diffenbaugh 529 p. ALA Rusa Reading List - Best Adult Genre Fiction Award

Abandoned at birth, Victoria Jones has lived in 32 foster homes by the time she emancipates at age 18. Homeless, she sleeps in a park among flowers she has grown. Flowers and their meanings are the only connection to the real world she has. She realizes her talent for healing and helping people through the flowers she chooses for them. Her own world of hurt proves more difficult as she faces single motherhood, attachment issues, homelessness, and anger. Told, alternately, by Victoria, age 9, living with Elizabeth, and 18 year old Victoria, homeless, eating half finished meals left by tourists.

Book Discussion Guide Available from NoveList.


Rusa Reading List - Best Adult Genre Fiction Award

Summer Days/Susan Mallery/378 pgs.

This is a "Fool's Gold Romance," and is Heidi Simpson's story. Heidi raises goats, and sells milk, cheese, and home made soaps to eke out a living for herself and her grandfather. Her grandfather sold their ranch in order to help out a sick friend. The only problem is that the ranch wasn't his to sell. Heidi can't repay the money to the new owner, May Stryker, and her mega tycoon son, Rafe, is out for blood.  Rafe had left Fool's Gold, CA, years ago, and hoped never to return. There's instant attraction between Heidi and Rafe, and a complicated relationship develops. The characters are fun, the story line entertaining, and all-in-all, an enjoyable read.

The Kissing Game/Suzanne Brockmann/277 pgs.

This is Brockmann's second entry in the Sunrise Key Trilogy. This is Francine "Frankie" Paresky and Simon Hunt's story. Frankie is embarking on a career as a private investigator, and has been hired to find a man named John who is to be the recipient of some property in Sunrise Key.  Simon Hunt, a long time friend to Frankie, offers his services as her assistant--he has discovered a depth of feeling for Frankie, and wants to see where it leads. It's a short, entertaining read.

The Next Best Thing/Jennifer Weiner/386 pages

Ruth Sanders is a writer on a television series. She's also writing a script that she is hoping to pitch as a series to network executives. The name of the series is The Next Best Thing and is loosely based on her life with her grandmother. She imagines it as an homage to The Golden Girls which she watched over and over again while she recovered from her many surgeries in the hospital. Seriously injured in a car accident that killed both of her parents, Ruth is cared for and raised by her grandmother from the age of 3 on. Now in her late twenties, the two of them have moved to Los Angeles so that Ruth can pursue her dream of being a writer. Nana jumps right into the industry making a living as an extra. Ruth spends six long years before she realizes her dream of getting a show "picked up." She thinks the hard part is behind her, but dealing with the network, the studio, the stars (the actors she didn't want) and the rewrites makes her realize that the show she wanted to do bears little resemblance to the show she ends up making. 

This was my first Jennifer Weiner book, and I enjoyed it very much. It was fun trying to decide which star she was describing even though "the names have been changed to protect the innocent." She does a fair amount of name dropping as well.

Gone Girl / Gillian Flynn / 415 pages

Wow, this author has you right where she wants you throughout this psychological thriller.  She very cleverly develops her characters and reveals each in alternate chapters.  In the first part of the book, we get to know Nick whose wife Amy goes missing on their 5th wedding anniversary.  His story covers the present as the police start looking at him as a possible murderer while we see Amy's viewpoint from the past.  Eventually their two stories merge, and we get a better picture of who Amy really is.  Believe it or not, the book takes place in Carthage, MO.  By the end of the book, you will be looking at your spouse and thinking, who is that guy?  Highly recommended.

Size 12 and Ready to Rock / Meg Cabot / 361 pages

Heather Wells is a cool singer-songwriter whose career is over.  Her dad was arrested for tax evasion and her mom took off with Heather's manager and her bank account.  Heather has her doll collection to remind her of the good old days, and new, secret, fiance, and a job as assistant director of a resident hall at New York College.  Her resident hall is referred to as the Death Dorm...and now another murder has occurred...during a Rock Camp moved from the mountains to the college campus to keep all the teen girls and the rock star, Tania, safe.  Heather, with Cooper's help, is able to save the day...and move along her relationship with Coop.  This is a fun YA read, dealing with domestic abuse and several other edgy themes.

In Search of the Rose Notes / Emily Arsenault / 369 / R. T. Reviewer's Choice Award

Nora resents Charlotte's attitude toward the paranormal as delineated in the Time-Life books, and her obsession with applying facts printed within those books to the disappearance of Rose, their baby-sitter - "like we were all characters in one of [her] mother's PBS mysteries, jolly and clever even though someone was always dead."  Nora is so deeply affected by the disappearance and her mother's reticence, that she attempts a failed suicide.  Nine years later, Rose's body is discovered and Nora returns to her home town and discovers what really happened.  This is an intriguing, thought-provoking read!

"The best way to stop being desperate is to stop waiting for other people to see it and take care of yourself instead."
"We all take leave of our senses at some point in high school."
"If not this, what?"

Nick's Journey / Sue Fineman / 127 pages

An introduction to the Donatelli series, Nick's Journey tells of Nick's journey from New York and an abusive, negligent single mom, to his Aunt Sophia in California.  Sophia is also a single parent raising her 5 kids alone on little more than social security.  She is protecting her children and must be especially vigilant due to L. A. gang activity and her daughter Gina's unwise choices.  When Nick joins the family, he saves Gina from the gang and becomes the glue to re-cement Sophia's family.  Fast forward several years and Nick is still rescuing damsels in distress.  Included in this book are chapters introducing other books in the Donatelli series.

Ashes / Ilsa Bick / 465 pages

Michael Grant, author of the Gone series, says, this book is "a haunting and epic story of survival in a shattered world.  Ashes is a must read."  I would wait for the sequel, however, if I were you, because many of the story's problems and plot lines are left unresolved at the story's end.  Alex has an inoperable brain tumor that is slowly killing her.  She decides to skip school and hike a distance to spread her parents' ashes and perhaps to solve her own problem.  While in the woods, an electromagnetic pulse flashes, destroying every electronic device, wiping out every computerized system, and killlng billions.  It seems the very young and much older folks with brain anomalies are spared.  Who can be trusted?  Will Alex reconnect with Tom and Ellie?

Fatal Destiny / Marie Force / 377 pages

Nick Cappuano and Sam Holland have hired a wedding planner to orchestrate their wedding.  Without Shelby, the event would probably be overlooked by Sam as she is much too busy investigating crimes...including murder, and dealing with the after effects of multiple miscarriages.  She uncovers a threat to an assistant attorney general which led to the acquittal of the man responsible for rape and the loss of her last baby.  She also uncovers the identity of the man who shot her father and left him a quadriplegic.  This is a heartwarming, suspenseful story portraying the universal importance of family.  It also contains several very appropriate scripture passages for weddings, i.e., Book of Ruth & Corinthians.

The Amber Room / Steve Berry / 519 pages

This book has an excellent afterword from the author detailing the historic significance of the Amber Room.  It was a room constructed and decorated with thousands of pieces of amber in the Catherine Palace in Russia.  It survived the Bolshevik Revolution but was lost sometime during World War II.  Now a club calling itself Retrievers of Lost Antiquities is searching for the missing room.  The group is composed of ruthless treasure hunters to whom murder is but a means to an end.  Judge Rachel Cutler's family is significantly impacted by this search.  This is an excellent read!!

Thunder over Kandahar / Sharon E. McKay 260 p.

Fourteen-year old Yasmine only knows Britain when she and her Western educated academic Afghan parents return to Afghanistan. Rather naively they ignore their country's customs. After Yasmine's mother is brutally attacked for travelling out-of-doors without a male family member, they flee to their grandfather's country home. There Tamanna and Yasmine become best friends "sisters of the heart". Thrilled they attend a near by school for boys and girls. The Taliban burn down the school and threaten the teacher and students with death. The village believes this Western educated family to be spies. With Tamanna facing an arranged marriage to an older man and Yasmine and family targets of the Taliban, the girls must flee unaccompanied. They face land minds, suicide bombers, Taliban bands.
This emphasizes how hard life is in Afghanistan, especial for women.

2012 Notable Children's Recordings

Unforgotten Coat / Frank Cottrell Boyce 42 p.

Sarah Coomes narrates with story of two boys, immigrants from Mongolia. Julie becomes their "good guide" through the soccer, British slang, school dress-down days. The brothers are fleeing a demon who makes you vanish. They takes different ways home every night. They have piqued her interest in Mongolia, so she studies up. Though Julie tries to learn where they live, she fails until her mother helps when Julie needs to return a coat. A very telling happening occurs when Julie cannot get anyone to answer the door. Finally after pounding and pounding, a brother appears to take the coat. Julie sees fear in everyone's face. Poignantly, one brother calls to say goodbye when the authorites find them and send them back to Mongolia.

Woman Who Rides Like a Man / Tamora Pierce 238 p.

Continues the series Song of the Lioness, the story of Alanna of Trebond, knight of Tortall. Alanna seeks adventure in the southern desert where she is accompanied by Faithful, her psychic cat and her man-of-arms, Coram. The Bazhir desert tribesmen capture her. By her wits and her sword, she turns the captors into friends. They call her "Woman Who Rides Like a Man". She trains two outcast girls to be shamans. Jonathon comes back into her life assuming she will become his queen. He works to become the Voice of the Bazhir. Who will she marry: Jonathan, the Prince, or George, the King of the Thieves. When she returns to Tortall, she observes strong magic happening, her twin, Tom uses her power. All report he is working to raise the dead. Alanna grows in her knighthood and in her womanhood. She continues to seek to do good with her powers.