12/9: New at the library this week

Books:

• Rise and shine / Anna Quindlen — It's an otherwise ordinary Monday when Meghan Fitzmaurice's perfect life hits a wall. A household name as the host of Rise and Shine, the country's highest-rated morning talk show, Meghan cuts to a commercial break-but not before she mutters two forbidden words into her open mike. In an instant, it's the end of an era, not only for Meghan, who is unaccustomed to dealing with adversity, but also for her younger sister, Bridget, a social worker in the Bronx who has always lived in Meghan's long shadow. The effect of Meghan's on-air truth telling reverberates through both their lives, affecting Meghan's son, husband, friends, and fans, as well as Bridget's perception of her sister, their complex childhood, and herself.
• Judge & jury / James Patterson — Senior FBI agent Nick Pellisante is closing in on the notorious mob boss "The Electrician," when the scheduled sting goes spectacularly awry. Two FBI agents are dead, the boss is wounded, and Pellisante vows the Electrician's next move will be from a jail cell. Andie Echeverra, a part-time actress and a single, full-time mom, is assigned her next role as Juror #11 in the landmark trial against Mafia Don Dominic Cavello. Everybody is on edge. No one has ever crossed the man whose orders have made entire families disappear.
• Motor mouth / Janet Evanovich — A woman with a taste for speed and a talent for breaking the rules, Barney also knows a little too much about cheating. First there was Hooker and that salesclerk. Now she's convinced one of the competitors is up to no good on the track. Snooping to find evidence, Hooker and Barney "borrow" a NASCAR hauler. Turns out, the hauler is carrying two race cars and a dead guy. Now Barney and Hooker are facing multiple counts of grand theft auto and homicide.
• Triptych / Karin Slaughter — From Atlanta's wealthiest suburbs to its stark inner-city housing projects, a killer has crossed the boundaries of wealth and race. And the people who are chasing him must cross those boundaries, too. Among them is Michael Ormewood, a veteran detective whose marriage is hanging by a thread- and whose arrogance and explosive temper are threatening his career. And Angie Polaski, a beautiful vice cop who was once Michael's lover before she became his enemy. But unbeknownst to both of them, another player has entered the game: a loser ex-con who has stumbled upon the killer's trail in the most coincidental of ways- and who may be the key to breaking the case wide open.
• Thirteen moons / Charles Frazier — At the age of twelve, under the Wind moon, Will is given a horse, a key, and a map, and sent alone into the Indian Nation to run a trading post as a bound boy. It is during this time that he grows into a man, learning, as he does, of the raw power it takes to create a life, to find a home. In a card game with a white Indian named Featherstone, Will wins - for a brief moment - a mysterious girl named Claire, and his passion and desire for her spans this novel.
• Pirate Island adventure / Peggy Parish — Summer vacation at Pirate Island! Liza, Bill, and Jed can't believe their grandparents' wonderful surprise. The excitement begins even before they reach the island, as Grandpa gives the first clue to the unsolved mystery of a long-lost family "treasure." (Age Range: 7 to 10)
• Chomps, Flea, and Gray Cat (that's me!) / Carol Wallace — Jealous? Me? Well...maybe a little. My people got a new white puppy named Chomps. That's because he bits at everything, especially flies. What could a gray cat—me—want with a Scottish terrier, anyway? The little nipper got into some trouble with the big rats in the barn. It was partly my fault. So...I had to save him. Problem is, now I can't get rid of him. What am I supposed to do with a dog who's determined to get himself into trouble. (Thats Me Series; Age Range: 8 to 10) (read a sample chapter)
• Carlotta's kittens and the Club of Mysteries / Phyllis Reynolds Naylor — It is the coldest part of winter and all of the male cats in the Club of Mysteries — which meets over Murphy's garage — have one thing on their minds: Carlotta. Has anyone seen the she-cat that they all adore? Has she had her kittens yet? Because they all know that once Carlotta and her kittens appear, it will be their job not only to protect the young ones from the dangers of the world — including being discovered and taken to the pound — but also to teach them the skills they'll need to survive. (Cat Pack Series; Age Range: 8 to 10)
• The Van Gogh Cafe / Cynthia Rylant — The Van Gogh Cafe, located in Flowers, Kansas, has magic in its walls, causing strange and mysterious events to occur there. (Age Range: 8 to 12)
• Akiko on the planet Smoo / Mark Crilley — When fourth grader Akiko finds a spacecraft hovering outside her window one night, she begins the adventure of a lifetime. She is whisked off to the planet Smoo to lead a team searching for the King of Smoo's kidnapped son. Akiko the head of a rescue mission? She's afraid to be on the school's safety patrol! (what's a graphic novel?)
• The chameleon wore chartreuse : from the tattered casebook of Chet Gecko, private eye / Bruce Hale — Chet Gecko loves a good mystery. Almost more than he loves his fee —stinkbug pie. So when fellow fourth grader Shirley Chameleon asks him to find her missing brother, Billy, Chet expects the case to be as easy as pie. But Billy's disappearance is part of a larger plot, one that involves the Rat Sisters, a riddling junkyard dog, and a vicious Gila monster named Herman. If Chet doesn't solve the case fast, the entire school could be humiliated. Worst of all, Chet might not get his fee. And Chet's hungry.... (Chet Gecko Mysteries Series; Age Range: Young Adult)
• The trouble with Tuck / Theodore Taylor — Helen adored her beautiful golden Labrador from the first moment he was placed in her arms, a squirming fat sausage of creamy yellow fur. As her best friend, Friar Tuck waited daily for Helen to come home from school and play. He guarded her through the long, scary hours of the dark night. Twice he even saved her life. Now it's Helen's turn. No one can say exactly when Tuck began to go blind. Probably the light began to fail for him long before the alarming day when he raced after some cats and crashed through the screen door, apparently never seeing it. But from that day on, Tuck's trouble—and how to cope with it—becomes the focus of Helen's life. (Age Range: 9 to 12) (read an excerpt)
• The seven treasure hunts / Betsy Byars — Two boys make up a series of treasure hunts for each other, with disastrous and hilarious results. (Age Range: 9) (read an excerpt)
• Our only May Amelia / Jennifer L. Holm — It isn't easy being a pioneer in the state of Washington in 1899, but it's particularly hard when you are the only girl ever born in the new settlement. With seven older brothers and a love of adventure, May Amelia Jackson just can't seem to abide her family's insistence that she behave like a Proper Young Lady. Not when there's fishing to be done, sheep to be herded, and real live murderers to be captured! May is sure she could manage better if only there were at least one other girl living along the banks of the Nasel River. And now that Mama's going to have a baby, maybe there's hope.... (Age Range: 9 to 12) (read an excerpt)