New for Children
Stardines Swim High Across the Sky and Other Poems
by Jack Prelutsky
The poet, author, and indomitable naturalist Jack Prelutsky, having returned from far-flung places with an extensive collection of unique creatures that are a blending of the animate and inanimate, has worked in close collaboration with the artist Carin Berger. While many creatures—two dozen species in all—were discovered and recorded and their precise qualities examined, this book presents 16 of them for the first time.
New for Young Adults
The Feros
by Wesley King
Wesley King follows up his darkly funny debut, “The Vindico,” with this high-octane sequel, delivering even more humor and action. James, Hayden, Sam, Emily, and Lana are finally ready to join the League of Heroes. Their new powers have made them stronger than ever (Hayden has perfected some particularly useful tricks for doing housework from the sofa), and the friends even gave themselves a name: the Feros. But as their induction into the League approaches, they are ambushed and arrested by a group of rogue Heroes. The only one who can clear their name is the League’s leader, Thunderbolt—but he’s gone missing. The Feros manage to escape, but with Thunderbolt gone and several League members defecting, there is no one left to trust.
Confident they can overcome anything together, the group’s security is shaken when Emily is mysteriously abducted. Without their computer genius or telepathic shield, how will the Feros find Emily and keep themselves—and their families—safe?
New for Adults
The Cartographer of No Man’s Land
by P. S. Duffy
In the tradition of Robert Goolrick’s “A Reliable Wife” and Karl Marlantes’ “Matterhorn,” P. S. Duffy’s debut showcases a rare and instinctive talent emerging in midlife. Her novel leaps across the Atlantic, between a father at war and a son coming of age at home without him.
When his beloved brother-in-law goes missing at the front in 1916, Angus defies his pacifist upbringing to join the war and find him. Assured a position as a cartographer in London, he is instead sent into battle. Meanwhile, at home, his son Simon Peter must navigate escalating hostility in a fishing village torn by grief.
With the intimacy of “The Song of Achilles” and the epic scope of “The Invisible Bridge,” “The Cartographer of No Man’s Land” offers a soulful portrayal of World War I and the lives that were forever changed by it.
Chaser: Unlocking the Genius of the Dog Who Knows a Thousand Words
by John W. Pilley with Hilary Hinzmann
This is the amazing story of a very smart border collie who redefines animal intelligence. Chaser knows over a thousand words—more than any other animal of any species except humans. In addition to common nouns like house, ball, and tree, she has learned the names of more than one thousand toys and can retrieve any of them on command. Based on that learning, Chaser and her owner and trainer, retired psychologist John Pilley, have moved on to more impressive feats, demonstrating her ability to understand sentences with multiple elements of grammar and to learn new behaviors by imitation.
Pilley’s ingenuity and tenacity as a researcher are as impressive as Chaser’s accomplishments. Astonishingly, Chaser isn’t unique. The author’s training methods can be adopted by any dog lover. Through the poignant story of how he trained Chaser, raised her as a member of his family, and proved her abilities to the scientific community, he reveals the positive impact of incorporating learning into play and more effectively channeling a dog’s natural drives
