Blackout

By Connie Willie

Oxford in 2060 is a chaotic place. Scores of time-traveling historians are being sent into the past, to destinations including the American Civil War and the attack on the World Trade Center. Michael Davies is prepping to go to Pearl Harbor. Merope Ward is coping with a bunch of bratty 1940 evacuees and trying to talk her thesis adviser, Mr. Dunworthy, into letting her go to VE Day. Polly Churchill’s next assignment will be as a shopgirl in the middle of London’s Blitz. And seventeen-year-old Colin Templer, who has a major crush on Polly, is determined to go to the Crusades so that he can “catch up” to her in age. 

But now the time-travel lab is suddenly canceling assignments for no apparent reason and switching around everyone’s schedules. And when Michael, Merope, and Polly finally get to World War II, things just get worse. For there they face air raids, blackouts, unexploded bombs, dive-bombing Stukas, rationing, shrapnel, V-1s, and two of the most incorrigible children in all of history—to say nothing of a growing feeling that not only their assignments but the war and history itself are spiraling out of control. Because suddenly the once-reliable mechanisms of time travel are showing significant glitches, and our heroes are beginning to question their most firmly held belief: that no historian can possibly change the past.  www.fantasticfiction.co.uk

Cate of the Last Colony

By Lisa Klein

The greatest unsolved mystery of American history--what happened to all the colonists who landed on Roanoke Island in 1587? This novel traces the fortunes and misfortunes of one Cate Archer, banished to Virginia by a jealous Queen Elizabeth because of her dalliance with Sir Walter Ralegh. What will be her fate in this dangerous New World?   www.authorlisaklein.com/1.html

I am number four

By Pittacus Lore

In the beginning they were a group of nine. Nine aliens who left their home planet of Lorien when it fell under attack by the evil Mogadorian. Nine aliens who scattered on Earth. Nine aliens who look like ordinary teenagers living ordinary lives, but who have extraordinary, paranormal skills. Nine aliens who might be sitting next to you now.

The Nine had to separate and go into hiding. The Mogadorian caught Number One in Malaysia, Number Two in England, and Number Three in Kenya. All of them were killed. John Smith, of Paradise, Ohio, is Number Four. He knows that he is next.

I am number four is the thrilling launch of a series about an exceptional group of teens as they struggle to outrun their past, discover their future—and live a normal life on Earth.  www.iamnumberfourfans.com/pittacus-lore/

Out of darkness: the Jeff Healey story

By Cindy Watson

From the moment three-year-old Jeff Healey first laid a guitar across his lap in what was to become his signature style, it was clear he was no ordinary kid. Losing both eyes to retinoblastoma, a rare form of cancer, opened a door to another world for Jeff, a newly adopted infant. Out of darkness he created music, becoming one of the most influential blues-rock and jazz performers of our time, beginning with his first hit album, See the Light.

In this up-close and personal account, loaded with never-before-seen photographs, memorabilia, and intimate recollections of family, friends, and fellow musicians, we discover this unique music icon's dynamic career, which saw him collaborate with everyone from George Harrison and Eric Clapton to B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughan. From Jeff's lonely start one snowy night at St. Joseph's Hospital in Toronto to his untimely end in the same building, we come away with a potent message of empowerment and a renewed sense of hope.  www.amazon.ca/

Not that kind of girl

By Siobhan Vivian

Seventeen-year-old Natalie Sterling, a B-minus-meets-type-A student, has just been elected student council president. It's not quite as glamorous as it sounds, but it definitely gets interesting when she tries to "rehabilitate" a pack of hyper-sexualized freshmen girls whose pep rally prank tarnishes their school’s reputation. Natalie wants to teach them that sex isn’t important--while at the same time she gets involved in her first relationship (and tries to keep it a secret). As her public life and secret romance intertwine, Natalie has to learn how to live in the real world--and discover the difference between sex as a ploy and sex as something meaningful.What Mean Girls did for girl bullying, Not That Kind of Girl does for girls’ empowerment.  TitlePeek