Staff Picks for July

Beach Reading June 21 marks the first day of summer, the season to relax at the beach or another vacation spot and enjoy a good, long read! A great beach book means different things to different readers--you might prefer a crime thriller, a tender romance or a heart-wrenching tale of friendship and family. For those searching for a literal beach book, Folly Beach by Dorothea Benton Frank arrives this month, just in time for a sandy getaway. Frank captures the lowcountry scene like no one else in the tale of one woman who finds sanctuary and rebirth in the South Carolina waters of her childhood. With a cast of charming characters and Frank's signature wit, Folly Beach is the perfect combination of breeze and passion.

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Wild Orchid By Brenna, Beverley 2006-03 - Red Deer Press 9780889953307 Check Our Catalog "Shortlisted for Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book of the Year Award 2007 Manitoba Young Readers_ Choice Award nominee 2007 Saskatchewan Young Readers' Choice Willow Awards nominee Canadian Children's Book Centre Our Choice Starred Selection" McNally Robinson announced that "Wild Orchid" was one of the top five best selling books in Saskatechewan in 2006. Taylor Jane Simon is 18 years old and spending the summer with her mother in Prince Albert National Park. The holiday has been planned so Taylor's mother can spend time with her latest boyfriend, Danny, and work in the pizza restaurant near the park that Danny runs. Taylor would just as soon stay at home in Saskatoon, but because she suffers from an autistic condition called Asperger's Syndrome, she can't stay on her own. Taylor's mother encourages her daughter to explore the park's possibilities on her own. For Taylor, whose life experience has been seriously limited, this means facing the test of meeting new people who work in the park's nature center - and facing it alone. Summer also holds out the possibility of finding her own boyfriend, though Taylor isn't quite sure what that may involve. What she discovers will change her life forever. Written as an epistolary novel, "Wild Orchid" is frank but optimistic, literal yet innocent. A courageous wit attends Taylor's gradual emergence as her own person, and the reader will find the exploration of Taylor's mind a revealing and heartwarming encounter. …More

Mollie's Prince By Carey, Roa Nouchette 2010-02 - Nabu Press 9781145170506 Check Our Catalog This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. …More

Execution, Texas: 1987 By Scott, D. Travers 1999-01 - Stonewall Inn Editions 9780312198787 Check Our Catalog During the sweltering summer of 1987 in Execution, Texas, 17-year-old Seeger King realizes that his life is changing rapidly. Negotiating his relationship with his girlfriend and best friend, Cordelia, and trying to understand his crush on sophomore wrestler Kent, Seeger is trying to come to terms with the end of high school, his parents, and the future that looms before him. While his friends escape into drugs and fantasy, Seeger must decide who to love, what to believe, and what action to take. Defying the expectations of both the coming-of-age and coming-out novel, Execution, Texas: 1987 is an innovative, compelling, and witty look at teenage life from a startlingly original new voice. …More

The Cypress House By Koryta, Michael 2011-01 - Little Brown and Company 9780316053723 Check Our Catalog A journey to Florida's coast becomes an inescapable nightmare in the newest supernatural thriller from international bestseller Koryta ("So Cold the River"). …More

Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food By TerKeurst, Lysa 2010-12 - Zondervan 9780310293262 Check Our Catalog Just because a woman finally fits into her skinny jeans doesn't mean she's won her battle with food. Too often, women overlook the spiritual component to their physical struggle with healthy eating. Made to Crave taps into the desires God gave you to consume food without letting food consume you! …More

That Old Cape Magic By Russo, Richard 2009-08 - Knopf Publishing Group 9780375414961 Check Our Catalog In this follow-up to "Bridge of Sighs," Russo delivers a novel of deep introspection and every family feeling imaginable, with a middle-aged man confronting his parents and their failed marriage, his own troubled one, his daughter's new life and, finally, what it is he thought he wanted and what in fact he has. …More

The Original Argument: The Federalists' Case for the Constitution, Adapted for the 21st Century By Beck, Glenn 2011-06 - Threshold Editions 9781451650617 Check Our Catalog …More

American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America By Hedges, Chris 2007-01 - Free Press 9780743284431 Check Our Catalog From the celebrated author of "War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning" comes a startling expos of the political ambitions of the Christian Right--a clarion call for everyone who cares about freedom. …More

Kat, Incorrigible By Burgis, Stephanie 2011-04 - Atheneum Books 9781416994473 Check Our Catalog In 19th-century England, 12-year-old Kat Stephenson knows she was born to be a magical Guardian and protector of Society--if she can find true acceptance in the secret order that expelled her mother. She's ready to upend the rigid Order of the Guardians, whether the older members like it or not. …More

The Keeper of Lost Causes By Adler-Olsen, Jussi 2011-08 - Dutton Books 9780525952480 Check Our Catalog "The Keeper of Lost Causes" features a deeply flawed chief detective who's been selected to run Department Q, a new special investigations division that turns out to be a department of one. With a stack of Copenhagen's coldest cases to keep him company, Carl's been put out to pasture. So he's as surprised as anyone when a case actually captures his interest. …More