The Case of the Deadly Desperados by Caroline Lawrence

It's 1862 in the tiny town of Temperance in Wild West Nevada territory.  P.K. Pinkerton feels detective work is in his blood.  He's been told that he is the nephew of the famous train detective, Allan Pinkerton.  But on his 12th birthday he discovers his foster parents murdered and three deadly desperados, Whittlin Walt and his cut-throat gang, are in hot pursuit of P.K.!  Clinging to the top of a stage-coach, he makes it to Virginia City where he will try to escape them.  But why are they after him?  This case has something to do with the  white paper deed his Lakota birth mother left him, which he keeps in his ever-present medicine bag hanging from his neck, along with a $20 gold piece and some items that he keeps to remember his parents.  But hanging on to money, or important deeds to silver mine land,  is next to impossible in Virginia City, where everyone is trying to get rich quick and no one can be trusted.  This is a lesson P.K. quickly learns as he is rescued, conned and robbed by a beautiful "Soiled Dove" named Belle Donne.  Then he is befriended by a Chinese boy who will  lead him to a place of safety if he will give him $500 when he recovers his deed.  After hiding all night in a photographer's studio, he disguises himself as a girl and continues to search for  Belle to try to recover his deed while avoiding Whittlin Walt and his gang.   P.K. is befriended by Sam Clemens, a newspaper reporter new to town in need of a scoop for the morning edition, and many other colorful characters.  But will he get his deed back and notarized before Whittlin Walt finds him?  This book will keep you on the edge of your seat from one twist and turn to another!  There is adventure, mystery and many funny situations in every chapter.

Check out this book in the Teen Room!

The Silent Wife : a Novel by A. S. A. Harrison

Jodi Brett lives a quiet, peaceful existence with her companion of 20 years, Todd Gilbert. Together the two are quite comfortable; one being a psychotherapist and the other working as an independent developer/renovator of properties. But that comfort is soon jarred and set askew when Todd becomes entangled with a friend's coed daughter and a tawdry affair erupts between the two.

Natasha, the coed, becomes pregnant and demands that Todd step up to the plate by leaving Jodi, which pushes the quiet and careful Jodi completely out of her comfort zone.

Taking matters into her own hands, Jodi ventures into a new world portraying the dark side of relationships and how they occasionally spiral into something sinister and unnerving.

My Story My Song

A delightful book sure to inspire, by Lucimarian Roberts, mother to Good Morning America's Robin Roberts. 

Her Story: Lucimarian, 87, shares her story of growing up in the segregated South, traveling around the world with a military husband, losing much to hurricane Katrina, and the plight of aging and succumbing to declining health. You will appreciate that she shares the wisdom she reaped from her loved mother, the wisdom she taught her own children, and her faith which shines in every facet of her being!

Her Song: As you read you will find how much Lucimarian loves music and singing. Throughout her life special hymns never failed to minister to her loneliness and the difficulties. She shares those spiritual songs along with the stories.

Daughter Robin responds after each chapter and letters from her other children close the book. You will respect and love Lucimarian for her story, her faith, and that positive attitude that overcomes any despair. 

This book is the July 2013 Faith Book Club selection at Delphi Public Library.

LOST by S.J. Bolton

    S.J. Bolton, an award-winning author of five novels, Dead Scare, Now You See Me, Blood Harvest, Awakening, and Sacrifice, writes her most compelling novel to date, in which a fragile police detective and a courageous, lonely eleven-year-old boy must work together to unmask a killer.   11-year-old Barney Roberts knows the killer will strike again soon. The victim will be another boy, just like him. The body will be drained of blood, and left somewhere on a Thames.
     Det. Constable Lacey Flint befriends 11-year-old Barney Roberts, who lives with his father next door to her in South London.
     Four ten-year-old boys have been murdered in London in two months and another is missing. None of the victims has been tortured or assaulted, but all have had their blood almost completely drained.  Barney aches to find his lost mother, who has been missing since he was four, and increasingly fears that his father may be a serial killer who’s slain a number of neighborhood boys his age in recent weeks.
    Lacey Flint colleagues suspect that she might be the killer, she suspects Barney, and Barney suspects his father—and then Barney vanishes. VERDICT Realistic fear, heart-stopping suspense, and jolting plot twists keep one almost frantically turning pages as Bolton grabs us from the beginning and leaves us shaken at the end.
   

The Fault in Our Stars

The 2013 Carroll County on the Same Page selection is John Green's The Fault in Our Stars. This "young adult" novel has great cross-over appeal for adults and teens alike. It is the story of two teens, Hazel and Augustus, who meet and fall in love. Not my kind of story, you think? Not into romances, especially those of the teenage variety, you say? Think again. Hazel and Augustus's story is special in many ways: (1) Hazel and Augustus meet at a Kids with Cancer support group. (2) Hazel and Augustus have not had the "normal" school experiences most kids their age have had. (3) Hazel and Augustus have to deal with oxygen carts, a prosthetic leg, pic lines, and fear and other side effects of cancer. (4) Hazel and Augustus are incredibly smart and funny. As Augustus always says, "Life is not a wish-giving factory." Their tenderness and love for each other is a joy to witness. This is not a cancer book, even though cancer plays a big role. It is a story of how two people can find each other and connect in wonderful ways. It is a celebration of life. Read it and then join us for a lively discussion on Wednesday, July 24, at 7 pm at the Camden Jackson Township Public Library, or on Friday, July 26, at 9 am at the Delphi Public Library.