The Meaning Of Life

This month's selection for our library book group, The Fault In Our Stars, by the prolific award-winning author John Green (Looking For Alaska), is a movng and well-written book that poses an important question for readers: How does one go on living in the face of impending death? Sixteen year-old Hazel Grace Lancaster is a terminal cancer patient who attends a cancer support group to help combat her depression. Also in the group  is Augustus Waters, another sixteen year-old who is in remission from osteosarcoma. Hazel and Augustus meet, find they have much in common, and fall in love. This book is not just about cancer - it is about the human experience, the impact that people have on each other, and the factors that give life meaning.

Bibliophile Alert!

Join the Library Book Club! The library hosts a book group that meets on two Tuesdays each month from 3:45 PM - 4:30 PM in the Multipurpose Room. Please join us for exciting and thought-provoking discussions and the opportunity to make friends who share your interests. Food will be provided! We look forward to seeing you there!

Love Against The Odds

Stay With Me, a well-crafted novel by Paul Griffin, poses the following question: How can love survive a long separation? Cece and Mack are both fifteen years old, and meet at a neighborhood restaurant where they both work. Cece is a diligent, hard-working student who dreams of going to college, and Mack is a high school dropout with a terrible temper. However, his expertise in the training of pit bulls seems to offer him a chance at a better life. The teens soon fall deeply in love. Then, Mack commits a violent crime which will surely result in a long prison sentence, leaving the couple to painfully come to terms with the fact that the course of their romance has been irrevocably changed. This is a beautiful and haunting love story with a cast of engaging characters. 

A Long Road Home

 

What are the things that make you feel safe? Home? Family? Friends? In Safekeeping, a powerful novel by Karen Hesse, seventeen year-old Radley's concept of safety is shattered when she returns to her hometown of Brattleboro, Vermont after a brief stint of volunteer work at an orphanage in Haiti. She finds that the United States is in chaos. The American People's Party, an extremist group, has taken over the country, the president has been assassinated, riots and looting are prevalent, and Radley's parents have disappeared. Unsure of what she should do, yet knowing she is unsafe, Radley embarks on a long and perilous journey on foot from Vermont to Canada, where she hopes she will find refuge until the situation in the United States is resolved. The narrative is complemented and enhanced by the author's superb black and white photos. This is a deeply moving and unforgettable work which all readers should experience.

Surviving The Unimaginable

Elizabeth Scott (Perfect You), who usually writes light teen romances, has dramatically shifted gears with a gripping novel that concerns the horrifying plight of a victim of abduction and repeated rape by a sexual predator. When a ten year-old girl is lured away from a class trip, she becomes the unwilling captive of Ray, a manipulative and deranged psychopath who renames her "Alice," and subjects her to starvation, physical and sexual abuse, and repeated threats to her family if she attempts to escape. Five years later, Alice, who calls herself a "living dead girl," is fifteen years old, and Ray, who is displeased with her "maturity," tells Alice to find another young girl to replace her. Alice knows that she is the second of this kidnapper's victims - Ray killed the first. How can this traumatized teenager break free from a monster's grasp? This is a frightening book, and readers will be held spellbound until the conclusion. 

Online Treachery

Want to Go Private? by Sarah Littman is a chilling, yet well-written cautionary tale about online predators that lurk behind the web and ensnare innocent people in a web of deceit. Abby is undergoing a difficult transition to high school life. She does not get along well with her sister, fears that she can't live up to the high expectations of her demanding father, and is concerned that she is losing her best friend from middle school to other interests and people. When Abby meets "Luke" online and gradually involves him in her life, she feels that she has found the perfect boyfriend who understands everything she feels and experiences. When Luke and Abby decide to meet, a chain of events is set in motion that will irrevocably alter the course of her life. Will Abby's parents find their daughter in time?

Summer Reading

I hope you have had a wonderful academic year and that you have enjoyed the marvelous educational and recreational resources offered by The Bronx Science Library. Keep reading this summer!

Go to a fun website called summerreading.org which will keep you busy when school ends. You can keep track of all of the books you read, share your favorite titles with others, and peruse summer reading lists that have been collated and recommended by librarians.

See you in the fall!

Terror On The Subway

The suspenseful work Acceleration by Graham McNamee provides readers with the opportunity to probe the twisted mind of a murderer. 17-year-old Duncan has an unusual summer job: he works in the Toronto Transit Authority's Lost and Found, a hot and stifling underground lair where there are often long periods of boredom. One day, as Duncan aimlessly sorts through piles of accumulated lost possessions, he finds a book which turns out to be the diary of a serial killer. The journal is filled with this unknown person's early demented acts, such as the torture of animals, and eventually details his hunt on the subway for potential victims. Duncan, who falsely blames himself for a drowning death the year before, decides to find the murderer before it is too late.

Family Secrets

How far can you run to escape your past? In The Killer's Cousin, an expertly crafted psychological thriller by Nancy Werlin, seventeen-year-old David Yaffe, after an emotionally wrenching trial, has been acquitted of his girlfriend's death. Due to the media following his every move and his subsequent isolation from his friends and community, David is sent to live with his aunt and uncle in Massachusetts. Immediately, he discovers that this part of his family is deeply troubled. His aunt and uncle do not speak, as they blame each other for the apparent suicide of their older daughter, Kathy. David's younger cousin, Lily, is deeply resentful of him, and does everything possible to fracture the tenuous relationship between David and her parents. When Lily's  behavior becomes more malicious, he begins to suspect that she had a role in Kathy's death. As David tentatively tries to piece his life back together he wonders: What kinds of secrets can be hidden beneath a family's carefully constructed facade?

Poem In Your Pocket Day

Poem In Your Pocket Day is Friday, April 27th! Carry a poem in your pocket, so you can recite it when asked by school staff members randomly throughout the day. You will then receive a card which you will bring into the library and exchange for a prize.

At the beginning of 9th period, there will be a drawing for a grand prize. The more you read, the more chances to win!

The Ties That Bind

The Deadly Sister, written by the prolific Eliot Schrefer, is a complex murder mystery that poses the following question: How well do we really know those who are closest to us? 18-year-old dependable and down-to-earth Abby Goodwin has always taken care of her reckless sister, Maya. She has always gotten Maya out of trouble, covered her drug use and broken curfews, and mediated disputes between her sibling and their parents. When Abby accidentally finds the corpse of Maya's boyfriend on an early morning jog, and the police immediately suspect Maya, Abby helps her sister run away and probes the murder on her own. As she fervently tries to prove Maya's innocence, she uncovers harsh realities, a host of questionable characters, and a crisis of conscience. Appearances are truly deceptive in this shocking, well-crafted story with a surprise twist.

Secrets And Lies

What would you do if you suspected that a family member was keeping secrets from you? It seems like the opportunity of a lifetime when twelve-year-old Britt's older brother, Brandon, gets a house-sitting job for the summer which will enable their family to temporarily live in a spacious new home in a beautiful Florida neighborhood. However, Bran begins to act suspiciously, evades questions, and becomes increasingly paranoid. Britt slowly realizes that her family wasn't invited to live there at all, and that Bran was only hired to mow the lawn. In fact, the house really belongs to her maternal grandparents who cast their daughter off when she married against their wishes. Bran says that the "grandparents" owe them this home due to the heartache they caused, and Britt feels torn between keeping her brother's secret and her own sense of right and wrong. When it is ultimately discovered that her grandparents, in fact, don't have any connection to the house, and the legal owner's return is imminent, how will Britt and Bran resolve the problem and face the consequences? This is a suspenseful and thought-provoking read about the nature of family and forgiveness.

Crossed Connections

Robert Cormier's expertly crafted, exciting page-turner called Tenderness poses one important underlying question: What happens when the paths of two very different adolescents converge? Eric Poole is a psychopathic serial killer who was incarcerated for the murder of two teenaged girls. Nicknamed "The Iceman" for his emotionless demeanor by the other convicts in his cellblock, Eric is now being released, and is thinking of his future victims that he will be "tender" with. Lori Cranston is a troubled runaway who has left home because her mother's boyfriend has molested her. She has seen Eric Poole's picture on television and is now obsessed with him. Lori decides that she must see him again, because she feels that he will give her the kindness and "tenderness" that she craves. When Eric and Lori finally meet, how will the encounter conclude? Murder, obsession, and mesmerizing psychological portraits - the ultimate recipe for an absorbing read.

Eerie Secrets

   

The prolific Mary Downing Hahn (Deep And Dark And Dangerous) has written a spine-tingling story that masterfully combines well-developed characters, dangerous love, and pervasive supernatural elements called Look For Me By Moonlight. When 16 year-old Cynda arrives at her father's inn in Maine to repair their relationship and become acquainted with her new stepmother and stepbrother, she feels isolated and out of place. Soon, an attentive and handsome older man named Vincent Morthanos arrives at the inn, and Cynda begins to fall in love with him. When she realizes that Vincent has sinister intentions and is not who he appears to be, Cynda tries to overcome her feelings and free herself from the grasp of a deadly suitor. Can she save herself before it is too late? This is a well-crafted tale that will keep readers hooked from the first page.

Suspense and Technology

Prolific author Todd Strasser (Boot Camp) combines suspense with a modern technological backdrop in Wish You Were Dead, the first title in a "thrillogy." What would you do if you suspected that someone in your school, perhaps a close friend, is responsible for the mysterious disappearances of some of the most popular students? When a blogger writes that he wishes a girl named Lucy Cunningham would die, the teen vanishes. Madison Archer, Lucy's close friend, is especially frightened because she was the last person to see her before she disappeared. In addition, Madison is being victimized by someone who is sending her anonymous e-mails and notes warning her about her own questionable role in the "in" crowd and future disappearances. When the blogger describes frustrations with two other students, they vanish, and the whole community panics. Madison, unsure of what is going to happen next and of those around her, tries to solve the mystery on her own. This is a top-notch suspense thriller. The other two titles in the "thrillogy" are Blood On My Hands and Kill You Last.

Struggle For Survival

Who can predict the exact moment when a disaster can strike? When a blizzard begins, high school student Scotty Weems' biggest concern is that his basketball game will be cancelled. However, this issue is quickly forgotten when Scotty and six other students are left behind at school because their parents are caught in the storm and can't pick them up. At first, the group feels that staying overnight at school is a big adventure as they raid the cafeteria's food supply and "camp out" on the hallway floor. Eventually, their high spirits deflate as the heat and power go out, the roof threatens to cave in, anxiety mounts, and days pass without any interruption in the snowfall or rescue attempts from the outside world. When a teacher walks out into the storm to try and find help, he does not return. As the students attempt to figure out what to do next, only one question remains: How can an ordinary day at school turn into a struggle for survival? Read Trapped by Michael Northrop to see who escapes from the blizzard's unyielding clutches. What would you do in this situation?

Disaster At Sea

Meticulously researched and engagingly presented, The Watch That Ends The Night:Voices From The Titanic by Allan Wolf offers a fresh perspective on the sinking of this luxury liner in 1912. Written in superbly crafted poems which resound with a variety of emotions (from hope to fear), intensity, and prophetic overtones, the reader hears the voices of  carefully delineated characters representative of all social classes, the Captain and crew, "The Unsinkable" Margaret Brown, the Iceberg itself, and a ship's rat. Other unique touches are actual telegrams and how shipbuilder Thomas Andrews' poem seems to sink on the page. A detailed section of Character Notes, Morse Code message translations, Titanic Miscellany, and a comprehensive bibliography of books, articles, periodicals, government documents, and Internet and Audio Resources enhance this outstanding volume.