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Solis / Paola Mendoza & Abby Sher / Book Review

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SOLIS Tensions are rising on a planet where water is growing scarce. The New American Republic government has turned against immigrant populations, both legal and illegal, as a drain on dwindling resources. The undocumented and the non-citizens have been rounded up and forced into labor camps to pay their dues. For seventeen-year-old Rania, a Lebanese teen from the Midwest, this means hard labor in the aqualinium mine. The scientific community hopes to harness this rare earth mineral to revitalize the world's water supply, but in its raw state, aqualinium is toxic. Rania is lucky to have survived as long as she has, breathing in the fumes every day and spending her nights crammed in a holding cage. She doesn't have much to hope for. But not everyone agrees with the harsh rule of the New American Republic. And not everyone wants this government to harness the potential of aqualinium--or keep hold of the only aqualinium mine known acro
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All the Truth I Can Stand / Mason Stokes / Book Review

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ALL THE TRUTH I CAN STAND Ash has never been more alone in the world. Reeling from the loss of his mother, ostracized by his former friends, and not exactly on friendly terms with his remaining family, Ash has nobody. Until his father signs him up to be stage crew for the local college's production of Oklahoma!  Ash didn't really think he'd find a home in the theatre, but that's exactly what he's found. At least with Jenna and Shane. A student reporter, Jenna knows just how to draw Ash out of his shell, and Shane... Well, how could anyone not be drawn to the talented and magnetic star of the show? Of course, Ash's own inclination toward Shane might be a little bit more than starstruck awe. But it's 1990s Wyoming, and coming out isn't exactly easy. Or safe. When Shane's brutal murder rocks the community (and the nation), Ash finds himself reeling again. But the Shane he knew might not be the real Shane. And the real Sh
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A Constellation of Minor Bears / Jen Ferguson / Book Review

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A CONSTELLATION OF MINOR BEARS This summer was supposed to be the start of the rest of their lives, a grand kick-off to their bright futures. This summer was supposed to be about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, accomplishing something incredible, and doing it together. But that was before the accident. In the wake of that awful Saturday, everything is different. Molly, Hank, and Tray used to be inseparable. But now Hank is wrestling with a traumatic brain injury that's upended his life. Tray is wrestling with the guilt of being there, on belay, when the accident happened. And Molly is wrestling with the fact that she wasn't there at all, even when she should have been. These days, they barely speak at all. Yet Molly's still determined to go on their hike, even if it means hiking solo. But her parents don't trust her on the trail alone. Which is how she finds herself boarding a plane with Traylor, a boy she hasn't been able to
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Till the Last Beat of My Heart / Louangie Bou-Montes / Book Review

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TILL THE LAST BEAT OF MY HEART Jaxon isn't a stranger to death. He grew up in a funeral home, after all. He's been seeing dead bodies since he was a kid. But it's different when the body in your mother's basement morgue is, well, a kid you know. A kid you were friends with, until very recently. A kid you had a crush on, once upon a time. A kid who didn't survive the car wreck--DOA at the hospital, before they turned his body over to the funeral home. Jaxon's mom warns him to stay away from the morgue, but he can't help but venture down there. He has to see with his own eyes. He has to know for sure that Christian Reyes is gone. But Jaxon won't just be inheriting a funeral home from his parents. When he slips up and touches Christian's hand in the morgue, Christian suddenly wakes up, screaming and confused. And that's how Jaxon finds out he might just be a necromancer... and he might not have brought C
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The Hollow and the Haunted / Camilla Raines / Book Review

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THE HOLLOW AND THE HAUNTED Miles Warren knows two things for certain: he'll be doing this job for the rest of his life, and he'll never get along with the Hawthornes. The family business might not be exactly profitable, but somebody has to commune with the dead, undo curses, and banish malignant spirits for the townies. At this point, Miles is used to digging up graves late on a school night. That's just part of the gig. But Miles's world is thrown for a loop when he gets a bloody premonition. At first, he thinks the face he saw in the mirror is a spirit that followed him home from the cemetery. He's an empath, after all, not a seer. But the visions grow more violent, and then... Then he meets Gabriel Hawthorne. The Warrens and the Hawthornes have always been at odds. The Hawthornes are snobbish, rude, and above it all. They're definitely not banishing spirits for whatever price the locals can pay. But now that Mile
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Don't Let the Forest In / CG Drews / Book Review

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DON'T LET THE FOREST IN Andrew Perrault would do anything for Thomas Rye. He lives and breathes for Thomas Rye. He would die for Thomas Rye. So when Andrew returns to Wickwood Academy for senior year and his twin sister decides to cut both Andrew and Thomas out of her life, Andrew knows he has to be there for Thomas more than ever before. Thomas needs him--and he needs Thomas. But something strange is happening at Wickwood. Something to do with Thomas. Something Thomas won't tell him. When the police arrive on campus with questions about Thomas's parents, rumors start flying that Thomas murdered them. Thomas won't say a word, not to anyone. Not even to Andrew. When Andrew catches Thomas sneaking out, he follows him into the off-limits forest on the edge of campus. Andrew expects to confront Thomas, to comfort him, to support him. Whatever happened, Andrew knows the truth: Thomas did what he had to do. But the forest isn't
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The Dividing Sky / Jill Tew / Book Review

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THE DIVIDING SKY Liv Newman is tired of living for other people. Well, she's tired of living for richer people. She'll do whatever it takes to drag herself and the kids she calls family out of the slum where they're living, and if that means picking up a few illegal clients here and there on top of selling her best memories to the wealthy, so be it. That's what being a Proxy is all about. But when her richest client asks for a memory she doesn't (read: she can't) have, Liv has a choice to make. She could leave the city, risking her life to raiders in the wild, to get a glimpse of the stars like her client wants. Or she could stay in the city and keep working for scraps--scraps that will never amount to the sum she's been offered. The choice isn't all that hard. But Liv doesn't know she's got a rookie Forceman on her tail. Adrian Rao believes he's on the tail of a newdrug  dealer, someone messing w
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