Every Sigh, the End

Every Sigh, the End
Author: Jason S. Hornsby
Publisher: Permuted Press
Total Pages: 389
Release: 2007-10
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0978970780

It¿s New Year¿s Eve of 1999, and while Millennium celebrations are planned and the clock ticks downward amid rising fears and misgivings, professional nobody Ross Orringer is coming to grips with the fact that, at some point, his life has become stagnant. He is twenty-six years old and attends the same meaningless college parties, peddles the same sleazy horror movies with his best friend Preston, lives in the shadow of his younger sister¿s constant achievements, and continues to date the same two-timing girlfriend while engaging in an affair of his own with one of her closest friends. And to make matters worse, Ross is being photographed and monitored everywhere he goes, and receives chilling glances from every stranger he encounters. The paranoia mounts when Ross¿s closest friends and family begin acting more and more suspiciously as the New Year¿and Preston¿s New Year¿s party¿approaches. In the last minutes before the clock strikes twelve, Ross realizes that the end of the world may be more ominous than anyone could have imagined, because the streets have been closed, the crews have set up their cameras and equipment, the gray makeup has been applied, and decisions have been made. In the next millennium, time will lose all meaning, reality television will take an all too terrifying turn, and the living dead will roam the streets in search of Ross and everyone that is important to him.

Sigh, Gone

Sigh, Gone
Author: Phuc Tran
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2020-04-21
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1250194725

For anyone who has ever felt like they don't belong, Sigh, Gone shares an irreverent, funny, and moving tale of displacement and assimilation woven together with poignant themes from beloved works of classic literature. In 1975, during the fall of Saigon, Phuc Tran immigrates to America along with his family. By sheer chance they land in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, a small town where the Trans struggle to assimilate into their new life. In this coming-of-age memoir told through the themes of great books such as The Metamorphosis, The Scarlet Letter, The Iliad, and more, Tran navigates the push and pull of finding and accepting himself despite the challenges of immigration, feelings of isolation, and teenage rebellion, all while attempting to meet the rigid expectations set by his immigrant parents. Appealing to fans of coming-of-age memoirs such as Fresh Off the Boat, Running with Scissors, or tales of assimilation like Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Displaced and The Refugees, Sigh, Gone explores one man’s bewildering experiences of abuse, racism, and tragedy and reveals redemption and connection in books and punk rock. Against the hairspray-and-synthesizer backdrop of the ‘80s, he finds solace and kinship in the wisdom of classic literature, and in the subculture of punk rock, he finds affirmation and echoes of his disaffection. In his journey for self-discovery Tran ultimately finds refuge and inspiration in the art that shapes—and ultimately saves—him.

Hero

Hero
Author: Michael Grant
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 378
Release: 2019-11-05
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 0062467921

The mind-blowing conclusion to the Monster trilogy and the final installment in the Gone series from science fiction and fantasy master Michael Grant is perfect for superhero and Stephen King fans alike. After the fall of Perdido Beach dome, a new set of humans developed mutant powers from the rock infected with alien virus. They are the Rockborn Gang: Dekka, Shade, Cruz, Malik, Armo, and Francis. With their superpowers, they have defended the earth from other rockborn who used their powers for evil, like Dillon Poe. When another rock carrying the virus strikes New York, a new foe, Bob Markovic, rises with a horrifying and nearly unstoppable ability. Markovic’s unending ambition and lack of a moral compass made him unbearable before the virus. And that was before he was a swarm of plague-ridden insects, with the power and means to take over the city—and maybe the world. As the Rockborn Gang try to defeat their latest villain, they will find themselves on morally gray grounds and have to make tough decisions if they want to save the world. In this pulse-pounding finale to the saga more than ten years in the making, Michael Grant delivers an unforgettable conclusion while asking: What does it take to be a hero? Praise for Monster: “Ratchets up the gore and action, and features a diverse cast of characters. An evocative, intricately plotted companion series.” –ALA Booklist Read the entire series: Gone Hunger Lies Plague Fear Light Monster Villain Hero

The Family

The Family
Author: Naomi Krupitsky
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2021-11-02
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0525541993

The Instant New York Times bestseller A TODAY Show Read with Jenna Book Club Pick A captivating debut novel about the tangled fates of two best friends and daughters of the Italian mafia, and a coming-of-age story of twentieth-century Brooklyn itself. Two daughters. Two families. One inescapable fate. Sofia Colicchio is a free spirit, loud and untamed. Antonia Russo is thoughtful, ever observing the world around her. Best friends since birth, they live in the shadow of their fathers’ unspoken community: the Family. Sunday dinners gather them each week to feast, discuss business, and renew the intoxicating bond borne of blood and love. But the disappearance of Antonia’s father drives a whisper-thin wedge between the girls as they grow into women, wives, mothers, and leaders. Their hearts expand in tandem with Red Hook and Brooklyn around them, as they push against the boundaries of society’s expectations and fight to preserve their complex but life-sustaining friendship. One fateful night their loyalty to each other and the Family will be tested. Only one of them can pull the trigger before it’s too late.

Of Enemies and Endings

Of Enemies and Endings
Author: Shelby Bach
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2015-06-30
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1442497890

Rory and her friends are determined to stop the Snow Queen once and for all in this thrilling conclusion to the Ever Afters series, which Kirkus Reviews calls a “fast-paced combination of middle school realism and fairy-tale fantasy.” How will this tale end? The whole fairy-tale world is on high alert. The Snow Queen and her minions are targeting Characters, and Ever After School is the only safe refuge left. Rory Landon knows a final confrontation is inevitable, and she worries about the safety of her family and friends—particularly Chase, who has been acting very strange lately. Will Rory be able to count on Chase when she needs him most? Is she strong enough to put an end to the Snow Queen’s terrible reign once and for all? Only one thing is certain: it’s time for Rory to find out if her tale ends in happily-ever-after.

The Undead

The Undead
Author: John Sunseri
Publisher: Permuted Press
Total Pages: 302
Release: 2008-02
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1934861006

Four novellas present different versions of the classic zombie invasion: a mob hitman in Aruba must hide from zombies, his fellow mobsters, and creatures in the water; a man awakens in a zombie-swarmed alley with no memory of his past; three art students are terrified by the legacy of what lives beneath a New England cemetary; and a CIA agent discovers that zombies are being controlled by someone with a new bio-weapon up for bid on the black market.

The End of Your Life Book Club

The End of Your Life Book Club
Author: Will Schwalbe
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2012-10-02
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0307961117

A profoundly moving memoir of caregiving, mourning, and love between a mother and her son—and about the joy of reading, and the ways that joy is multiplied when we share it with others. “A graceful, affecting testament to a mother and a life well lived.” —Entertainment Weekly, Grade A During her treatment for cancer, Mary Anne Schwalbe and her son Will spent many hours sitting in waiting rooms together. To pass the time, they would talk about the books they were reading. Once, by chance, they read the same book at the same time—and an informal book club of two was born. Through their wide-ranging reading, Will and Mary Anne—and we, their fellow readers—are reminded how books can be comforting, astonishing, and illuminating, changing the way that we feel about and interact with the world around us.

Empire

Empire
Author: David Dunwoody
Publisher: Permuted Press
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2008
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1934861022

The outbreak began in 2007. It¿s now 2112. The crippled U.S. government is giving up its fight against an undead plague. Military forces and aid have been withdrawn from the last coastal cities, leaving those who choose to stay in the ¿badlands¿ defenseless against hordes of zombified humans and animals. It¿s been a hopeless battle from the beginning. The undead, born of an otherworldly energy fused with a deadly virus, have no natural enemies. But they do have one supernatural enemy¿ Death himself. Descending upon the ghost town of Jefferson Harbor, Louisiana, the Grim Reaper embarks on a bloody campaign to put down the legions that have defied his touch for so long. He will find allies in the city¿s last survivors, and a nemesis in a man who wants to harness the force driving the zombies¿a man who seeks to rebuild America into an empire of the dead.

Thunder and Ashes (the Morningstar Strain)

Thunder and Ashes (the Morningstar Strain)
Author: Z. A. Recht
Publisher: Permuted Press
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2008-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1934861014

A lot can change in three months: wars can be decided, nations can be forged... or entire species can be brought to the brink of annihilation. The Morningstar Virus, an incredibly virulent disease, has swept the face of the planet, infecting billions. Its hosts rampage, attacking anything that remains uninfected. Even death can't stop the virus, which reanimates its victims as cannibalistic shamblers. Scattered across the world, embattled groups have persevered. For some, surviving is the pinnacle of achievement. Others hoard goods and weapons. And still others leverage power over the remnants of humanity in the form of a mysterious cure for Morningstar. Francis Sherman and Anna Demilio want only a vaccine, but to find it, they must cross a countryside in ruins, dodging not only the infected, but also the lawless living. The bulk of the storm has passed over the world, leaving echoing thunder and softly drifting ashes. But for the survivors, the peril remains, and the search for a cure is just beginning...