Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Inheritance : a memoir of genealogy, paternity, and love

Inheritance : a memoir of genealogy, paternity, and love 
by Dani Shapiro 
Language: English 
New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2019. 
272 pages 
ISBN: 9781524732714 ; 1524732710 
Summary: In the spring of 2016, through a genealogy website to which she had whimsically submitted her DNA for analysis, Dani Shapiro received the stunning news that her father was not her biological father. She woke up one morning and her entire history--the life she had lived--crumbled beneath her. Inheritance is a book about secrets--secrets within families, kept out of shame or self-protectiveness; secrets we keep from one another in the name of love. It is the story of a woman's urgent quest to unlock the story of her own identity, a story that has been scrupulously hidden from her for more than fifty years, years she had spent writing brilliantly, and compulsively, on themes of identity and family history. It is a book about the extraordinary moment we live in--a moment in which science and technology have outpaced not only medical ethics but also the capacities of the human heart to contend with the consequences of what we discover. 
Available: https://www.amazon.com/Inheritance-Memoir-Genealogy-Paternity-Love/dp/1524732710

Tell it to the moon

Tell it to the moon 
by Siobhan Curham 
Language: English 
London : Walker Books, 2017. 
327 pages; 20 cm. 
ISBN: 9781406366150 ; 1406366153 
Summary: To make a dream come true, tell it to the moon! Tell It to the Moon continues the story of Moonlight Dreamers Amber, Maali, Sky and Rose, who are not like everyone else and don't want to be: becoming friends gives them the courage to be themselves. After failing to find her surrogate mother, Amber is left unsure of who she is and what she wants to do; Maali's spiritual faith is tested when her father becomes ill; Sky, previously home-schooled, struggles to adapt to the pressures of the school system; and after having found the courage to come out, Rose begins to pursue her dream of becoming a patissier. Once again the four girls band together to help one another overcome their individual challenges and fulfill their dreams in this fabulous and heart-warming celebration of friendship. 
Available: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1406366153/

The moonlight dreamers

The moonlight dreamers 
by Siobhan Curham 
Language: English 
London : Walker Books, 2016. 
345 pages ; 20 cm. 
ISBN: 9781406365825 ; 1406365823 
Summary: An inspirational, heart-warming book about four girls trying to find their place in the world. Siobhan Curham celebrates very different but like-minded friends in this captivating novel. Amber craves excitement and adventure. Instead, she's being bullied at school for having two dads, and life at home isn't much better. Inspired by Oscar Wilde, Amber realizes that among the millions of people in London, there must be others who feel the same as she does; other dreamers - moonlight dreamers. After chance encounters with Maali, Sky and Rose, Amber soon recruits the three girls to the Moonlight Dreamers. It's high time they started pursuing their dreams, and how better than with the support of friends? 
Available: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1406365823/

The Lotterys more or less

The Lotterys more or less 
by Emma Donoghue 
illus. by Caroline Hadilaksono 
Language: English 
London, England : Macmillan Children's Books, 2018. ©2018. 
277 pages : illustrations ; 20 cm. 
ISBN: 9781509883844 ; 1509883843 
Summary: Nine-year-old Sumac Lottery considers it her job to make sure none of the Lottery celebrations are forgotten, especially now at Christmas time, and in her large, gay, and multiethnic family there are a lot of occasions for celebration in the house they all call Camelottery--but when a terrible ice storm hits Toronto, one of her dads, and her favourite brother cannot make it home from India, and it becomes increasingly difficult to hang on to the holiday spirit. 
Available: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1338207539/

Ashes to Asheville

Ashes to Asheville 
by Sarah Dooley 
Language: English 
New York: Penguin Young Readers Group, 2017. 
256 pages 
ISBN: 9780399165047 ; 0399165045 
Summary: A heartrending story of a family torn apart and put back together again, Ashes to Asheville is an important, timely tale. 
Available: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0399165045/

Nikki on the line

Nikki on the line
by Barbara Caroll Roberts
Language: English
New York ; Boston : Little, Brown and Company, 2019.
328 pages ; 20 cm.
ISBN: 9780316521901 ; 0316521906
Summary: Nikki, thirteen, dreams of being a great basketball player but struggles on her new, elite team while also juggling school stress, her non-traditional family, and revelations about her biological father.
Available: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316521906/

Your own worst enemy

Your own worst enemy 
by Gordon Jack 
Language: English 
New York, NY : HarperTeen, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, [2018] ©2018. 
436 pages ; 22 cm. 
ISBN: 9780062399427 ; 006239942X 
Summary: Stacey Wynn was the clear front-runner for Lincoln High student council president. But then French-Canadian transfer student Julia Romero entered the race…and put the moves on Stacey’s best friend/campaign adviser, Brian. Stacey also didn’t count on Tony Guo, resident stoner, whose sole focus is on removing the school’s ban of his favorite chocolate milk, becoming the voice of the little guy, thanks to a freshman political “mastermind” with a blue Mohawk. Three candidates, three platforms, and a whirlwind of social media, gaffes, high school drama, and protests make for a ridiculously hilarious political circus that just may hold some poignant truth somewhere in the mix. 
Available: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/006239942X/

Jack of hearts (and other parts)

Jack of hearts (and other parts) 
by L.C. Rosen 
Language: English 
New York : Little, Brown and Company, 2018. 
352 pages 
ISBN: 9780316480536 0316480533 
Summary: Jack has a lot of sex--and he's not ashamed of it. While he's sometimes ostracized, and gossip constantly rages about his sex life, Jack always believes that "it could be worse." But then, the worse unexpectedly strikes: When Jack starts writing a teen sex advice column for an online site, he begins to receive creepy and threatening love letters that attempt to force Jack to curb his sexuality and personality. Now it's up to Jack and his best friends to uncover the stalker--before their love becomes dangerous. Ground-breaking and page-turning, Jack of Hearts (and other parts) celebrates the freedom to be oneself, especially in the face of adversity. 
Available: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316480533/

To Night Owl from Dogfish

To Night Owl from Dogfish 
by Holly Goldberg Sloan; Meg Wolitzer 
Language: English 
New York : Dial Books for Young Readers/Dutton Children's Books, imprints of Penguin Random House LLC, [2019]. 
295 pages ; 22 cm. 
ISBN: 9780525553236 ; 0525553231 
Summary: Avery Bloom, who's bookish, intense, and afraid of many things, particularly deep water, lives in New York City. Bett Devlin, who's fearless, outgoing, and loves all animals as well as the ocean, lives in California. What they have in common is that they are both twelve years old, and are both being raised by single, gay dads. When their dads fall in love, Bett and Avery are sent, against their will, to the same sleepaway camp. Their dads hope that they will find common ground and become friends--and possibly, one day, even sisters. But things soon go off the rails for the girls (and for their dads too), and they find themselves on a summer adventure that neither of them could have predicted. Now that they can't imagine life without each other, will the two girls (who sometimes call themselves Night Owl and Dogfish) figure out a way to be a family? 
Available: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0525553231/