Popular party girl and high school senior Jessica Scott has a secret: she used to be a nerd — a big one — a goody two-shoes, grade-skipping, all-state spelling bee champ. But she lost the braces, put on some contacts, and applied all her academic genius to studying and imitating […]
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Listen, Francesca Varela
In Listen Francesca tells us the story of May. May is a piano-genius college freshman who dreams of becoming a brilliant composer. In her school’s practice rooms she meets Conner, an undeniably unattractive junior, and she is immediately captivated by his raw musicality on the piano. As May tries to […]
Read MoreFracture: Taylor Brorby, Stefanie Brook Trout
Fracture: Essay Poems, and Stories on Fracking in America In the past decade, fracking for natural gas has brought rapid change to landscapes and communities across the country. A new anthology of writing on the subject, Fracture: Essays, Poems, and Stories on Fracking in America, investigates its nature, extent, and […]
Read MoreThe Girl at the Center of the World, Austin Aslan
As sixteen-year-old Leilani and her family learn to live without electronics, farming the land as her ancestors did, she finds strength in her relatives, her friendships, and her strange connection to the Emerald Orchid–the force whose presence caused global devastation–but suffers regret over what she must do to survive. An […]
Read MoreThe Mercy Journals, Claudia Casper
I got a chance to meet Claudia at one of her book launches, and she is a warm, down-to-earth person who filled the room with hugs, laughter, and soul. We will be talking again soon when I interview her about The Mercy Journals. The novel offers a view into the […]
Read MoreMercedes Wore Black, Andrea Brunais
Florida Politics. The only thing predictable is the unpredictability. When Janis is fired from her job at the newspaper, she focuses on the causes that matter to her. The environment and the economy. That embroils her in the 2014 election. When her good friend Mercedes encounters danger and is brutally […]
Read MoreAll the Birds in the Sky, Charlie Jane Anders
A deeply magical, darkly funny examination of life, love, and the apocalypse. -Goodreads Tech culture’s strange relationship with nature takes centre stage in All the Birds in the Sky, a vivid, genre-blending novel from a writer who is clearly one to watch. Jumping skillfully from science fiction to fantasy and […]
Read MoreReady Player One, Ernest Cline
In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. -Goodreads The novel … takes place in 2044, in a world devoid of resources due to climatic catastrophes. Wade Watts, […]
Read MoreCalifornia Poems
Author: © Carolyn Welch Publication Date: July 2014 Publisher: Moon Willow Press Review: Tom Hibbard Rucksack Revolution In the lofty meadow path with yellow firs and ducks, creeks tempt us–naked bath among the aspen tucks? Our Morley pokes at the stream, and barefoot writes his prose; we hike on in […]
Read MoreThe Sacred River …
Author: © Tom Hibbard Publication Date: August 12, 2011 Publisher: Moon Willow Press In Memory Of: Jack Kerouac Back to the Dragonfly Library THE GREEN UNIVERSE I. a misty tautology glimmers on the lake beyond understanding where the downtrodden hang by an anesthetized thread that parasitism devours with inappropriate guilt as […]
Read MoreDust Up (Series), Jon McGoran
Thanks to Jon McGoran for letting us know about his novel Dust Up, which is part of his biotech series. Following up on his critically acclaimed ecological thrillers Drift and Deadout, author Jon McGoran’s latest novel, Dust Up (April 19, Tor/Forge Books), continues to explore new ground. Once again, McGoran […]
Read MoreMr Green Jeans, Chris McGee
Thanks to Harvard Square Editions for sending their forthcoming publication, Mr Green Jeans, an eco-fiction adventure. The novel comes out March 24, 2016. A married couple throws caution to the wind to help the planet. Traveling from the Midwest to Southwest in a converted VW van, they clandestinely exhibit their […]
Read MoreDance of the Coyote, Bill Hotchkiss
Discover Dance of the Coyote Back to the new Discover feature I became enamored of Bill Hotchkiss accidentally. I was looking for a good book once, roaming the eerily silent aisles of the Undergrad Library at Purdue University (the library was in a basement, and hardly anyone ever was there!)–when […]
Read MoreThe Marshlanders Series, Annis Pratt
The Marshlanders is about the conflict between self-sustaining communities and their enemies, who are determined to drain their wetlands for agricultural development. Clare and William are adopted by marsh dwellers and coastal farmers after William’s father, a pharmacist, has been murdered and Clare has barely escaped with her life from […]
Read MoreBadlands, C.J. Box
C.J. Box and Craig Johnson get lumped together a lot in the mass crime-fiction consciousness. Both write series novels set in Wyoming, featuring Old West heroes who aren’t entirely comfortable making their way through the New West. Both weave contemporary environmental and cultural issues into their work, and both have […]
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