My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen

This fun take on the classic Cinderella tale will keep you laughing from beginning to end.

Chris is the step child in a family that was historically wealthy but has fallen on hard times.  In a desperate attempt to save the family fortune, Chris' stepmother and step siblings get an invite to THE social event of the year.  The hope is that the daughter Kimberly will meet J.J. Kennerly, and somehow a marriage between the two families will save the fortunes of the Bellows family.

Left at home because the family couldn't afford a ticket for Chris, he is sitting outside of the family brownstone when the fabulous Coco Chanel Jones walks past and decides to take Chris under his arm and help him get into THE event.

As events unfold, it is revealed that not only is Coco a Drag Queen, she is a member of the group that is performing at the event.

When Chris meets the man of his dreams as his shoe slips off his foot, things take an unexpected turn.  When said man shows up at his door the next day with the shoe in one hand and Kimberly's hand in the other, Chris begins a walk down a path that leads him to accepting his own sexuality.

You will enjoy the unexpected twists and turns in this story that finally lead to the magical fairy tale ending that every Cinderalla story deserves!

Find this book in your local public library: https://www.worldcat.org/title/my-fairy-godmother-is-a-drag-queen/oclc/1021376363&referer=brief_results

Flame in the Mist

Ahdieh, Renee.  Flame in the Mist.  2017.  G. P. Putnam's Sons, a Division of Random House.  New York, NY.

Mariko is the only daughter of a powerful Samurai.  Her parents have arranged a marriage between her and the Emporer's Son.  As her caravan travels to the Imperial City for the wedding, it is attacked by the infamous Black Clan.  Mariko is the lone survivor of the attack.  Determined to find and destroy the members of the Clan, Mariko disguises herself as a boy and infiltrates the group, making herself learn the skills that are necessary for her very survival.

As Mariko spends more time with the Black Clan, she comes to the realization that the story is much more complicated than she had originally thought.  Things are not as they seem - and while the Black Clan does not like her father, they would never have wantonly killed every member of the caravan.

Determined to find out more, Mariko is stopped when her brother and her betrothed husband discover the Black Clan's hideout in the woods.

Mariko's determination, spirit of adventure and quick intellect make this story stand out.

Author's Website: http://www.reneeahdieh.com/

Find this book in your local public library: https://www.worldcat.org/title/flame-in-the-mist/oclc/993698066&referer=brief_results 

Strange the Dreamer

Taylor, Laini.  Strange the Dreamer.  2017.  New York: Little, Brown and Company.

Raised by Monks, Lazlo Strange was a foundling.  He and many other orphans were tossed into the back of a wagon and taken to the monks.  Nobody knew where they came from, or who their parents were.

By the age of five, Lazlo had become obsessed with the legends surrounding a town with no name.  At one time, the town had a name, but it had been forgotten.  Curious about the town, Lazlo spent any extra time that he could find researching legends and stories about this mysterious town that people refer to simply as "Weep".

Fast forward 15 or so years, and Lazlo is working as an assistant in the Library.  During the day, Lazlo finds the materials that scholars need for their research.  In his spare time, he searches for any information he can find about Weep, sharing the information with nobody, but carefully collating it all into a collection of books he has assembled from scraps of paper found in trash bins about the library.

One magic day, a delegation arrives from the mysterious city of Weep, searching for people to help them solve their mysterious "problem".  They say nothing about the nature of the problem, but they interview all of the scholars, searching for people who might be able to help them with this unnamed foe.  While Lazlo was not interviewed, he managed to plead his case to the leaders of the caravan and is included as a member of the Tizerkane, the guard of the caravan.

Upon arriving in the mysterious city, the problem facing the citizens immediately become apparent.  Every member of the delegation begins work on their own specific contribution, attempting to figure out how to make the problem go away.  But Lazlo Strange - the odd, mysterious, orphan - just might hold the key to the solution.  But at what cost?

Author Website: http://www.lainitaylor.com/

Find this book in your local public library: https://www.worldcat.org/title/strange-the-dreamer-01/oclc/980908261&referer=brief_results

Every Falling Star

Lee, Sungju.  Every Falling Star. 2016. New York: Abrams Books.

Sungju lived in Pyongyang with his family in the Nineties.  His father was an important man, and Sungju was being raised to be a part of the party system.  He lived in an apartment where everyone had their own room, and their lives were comfortable.

Sungju's father disagreed with the party line, and the family found themselves exiled to the northernmost reaches of North Korea.  Living off of savings in a hut with no electricity and no central heat in the middle of a deadly famine, the family fell into hard times and stayed there.

Sungju's father snuck across the border into China with hopes of selling his medals and bringing home food.  After several months, Sungju and his mother realized that he was not returning.  When Sungju awoke one morning to find his mother gone, the struggle to survive began.

Forced to run the streets and steal food, Sungju's life became a living nightmare.  He never knew where his next meal was coming from, and survival became a daily struggle.  How Sungju survived the streets of North Korea and escaped to safety in the South is a story that everyone needs to hear.



Find this book in your local public library: https://www.worldcat.org/title/every-falling-star-the-true-story-of-how-i-survived-and-escaped-north-korea/oclc/972770913&referer=brief_results

The Rithmatist

Sanderson, Brandon.  The Rithmatist.  2013.  Macmillan Publishers. New York, NY.

More than anything, Joel wants to be a Rithmatist.  While he was not chosen to be a Rithmatist, Joel has a fascination with Rithmatics - the patterns that go into the defenses, and he has a deep understanding of the patterns and lines that are needed to make a strong defense. He sneaks into Rithmatics lectures during his spare time, and his understanding of the material rivals that of most of his classmates. Even so, he is not a Rithmatist, and because of this, deeper Rithmatic Theory forever remains beyond his grasp - a forbidden fruit that he is not allowed to touch.

Chalkings are the creatures that are made with chalk to attack Rithmatic defenses.  These two dimensional creatures come to life at the behest of a Rithmatist, and attack the weak point of an opponents defenses.  A Rithmatist will draw the chalkings to do his bidding, and then dismiss them with a swipe of his chalk when the battle is finished.

But what happens when Chalkings are no longer under the control of a Rithmatist?  What becomes of these Wild Chalkings?  There are rumors of Wild Chalkings loose on the island of Nebrask, but they are under the control of the Rithmatists stationed there.  Or are they?

Joel's mother is a cleaning lady, and together they live in the school that trains the Rithmatists - Armedius Academy.  Joel longingly watches the Rithmatics students as he works his way through the regular curriculum at Armedius.

Strange things are happening at Armedius - Rithmatic students are disappearing, leaving behind trails of blood.  Chalk lines are appearing all over the campus - but these lines have no Rithmatic meaning that anybody understands.

Will Joel, Melody, and Professor Fitch be able to discover the meaning of these strange lines in time to save their own lives?


Find this book in your local public library: https://www.worldcat.org/title/rithmatist-the-1/oclc/993965071&referer=brief_results

Stealing Snow

Paige, Danielle.  Stealing Snow.  2016.  Bloomsbury Children's Press.  New York, NY.

16 year old Snow has spent most of her life in the Whittaker Psychiatric Institute.  She was institutionalized by her mother when she was 5 years old after she attempted to walk through a mirror to the world beyond - as was described in the book "Through the Looking Glass".

Life in Whittaker has not been kind to Snow.  Separated from society, and kept under the influence of the drugs which make her world foggy and keep her senses dulled, Snow has had little interaction with anyone outside of the other residents of Whittaker.  But, she does have one very good friend.  Bale.  Bale has been there with her almost since the beginning of her time at Whittaker.

One magical night, Bale and Snow kiss in a hidden corner and her world changes forever.

After the magical kiss, Snow's one and only love turns violent.  The doctors up his dosage of meds and keep the two of them apart. On the night Snow manages to sneak through the security, Bale disappears into a mirror and is never seen again.

Meanwhile, a strange and magical tree begins to haunt Snow's dreams. A new orderly appears, calling her "Princess" and telling her of a strange and magical land, located beyond the tree that is hers if only she can break free from the drugs and the Institute.  He gives her directions to the tree, and disappears.

Snow escapes from Whittaker and works her way up to the mysterious tree that has been haunting her dreams.  Once she passes through the tree, she finds herself in a magical land where anything is possible, and she has unlimited power at her disposal. While she's learning to navigate this strange new world and her magical power, she must quickly learn who she can and can not trust.

When Snow finds out the horrifying truth about herself, the future of a world hangs in the balance.  What will she choose?


Author Website: http://daniellepaigebooks.com/

Find this book in your local public library: https://www.worldcat.org/title/stealing-snow-stealing-snow-vol-1/oclc/960288849&referer=brief_results

Bone Gap

Ruby, Laura.  Bone Gap.  2015.  Harper's Collins Children's Books, a division of Harper Collins, New York, NY.


Finn O'Sullivan lives in Bone Gap along with his brother, Sean.  They have gotten used to the fact that people will disappear and never return.  Their father died when Finn was very young.  Their mother left them on their own several years ago after she met an orthodontist from Oregon online.  The orthodontist was not interested in having children, so the kids were left behind to fend for themselves.

When a mysterious young woman named Roza appears in their barn battered and bruised one morning, the young men considered it to be a little odd, but they helped her out and she moved into an empty apartment in their house and settled into life on the farm with them.

When Roza goes missing - Finn finds himself at the center of controversy as people begin to blame him for her disappearance.  He describes a strange man who looks and moves like a scarecrow as the person who took Roza, but nobody believes his wild story, and Finn finds himself ostracized by everyone.

But when the strange man appears again and begins following Finn around, and threatening those that he loves, Finn decides enough is enough.  When he decides to follow the man, Finn finds an entirely new world that is entered through the rustling cornstalks in the fields that surround the town.  Is this where Roza was taken?  Will Finn be able to find the man who looks like a scarecrow and rescue Roza?

Find this book in your local public library:  https://www.worldcat.org/title/bone-gap/oclc/988938136&referer=brief_results