Awake in the World, by Jason Gurley

As the sun sets off the coast of the small California town of Orilla del Cielo, the silhouettes of oil rigs loom.

Their shadows mar the serene backdrop, their sharpness a reminder of unfulfilled promises. To Zach, they are also a reminder of loss―his father, an oil worker, drowned years earlier. With his family struggling to make ends meet, Zach feels he’s destined for a bleak future.

Until he meets Vanessa. She's an optimistic girl from a wealthy family whose sights are literally set on the stars. Inspired by her idol, Carl Sagan, she plans on studying astronomy at Cornell. But as oil prospectors in search of black gold know, the future is uncertain . . . and fortunes can always be flipped.

“More than a love story, this novel is a timely, moving statement about income inequity and the plight of the working poor. And yet while it is about seeming opposites. . . Gurley persistently reminds readers that pain is pain; that everyone struggles.” ―Horn Book

“Buoyed by strong, likable characters and superb writing, this coming-of-age tale cuts to the core.” ―Kirkus Reviews

Teen Game Days at the Visalia Branch this Summer

Got game? So do we. Loads of them. So join us for our free & fun gaming get-togethers this summer. Gamers from noob to Deity level are welcome. If you have your own games you would like to share, bring them! --Carrie

Ship of Smoke and Steel, by Django Wexler

In the lower wards of Kahnzoka, the great port city of the Blessed Empire, eighteen-year-old ward boss Isoka enforces the will of her criminal masters with the power of Melos, the Well of Combat. The money she collects goes to keep her little sister living in comfort, far from the bloody streets they grew up on. When Isoka's magic is discovered by the government, she's arrested and brought to the Emperor's spymaster, who sends her on an impossible mission: steal Soliton , a legendary ghost ship―a ship from which no one has ever returned. If she fails, her sister’s life is forfeit. On board Soliton , nothing is as simple as it seems. Isoka tries to get close to the ship's mysterious captain, but to do it she must become part of the brutal crew and join their endless battles against twisted creatures. She doesn't expect to have to contend with feelings for a charismatic fighter who shares her combat magic, or for a fearless princess who wields an eve

New Books!

New Books Red Hood Arnold, Elana Elana K. Arnold, author of the Printz Honor book Damsel, returns with a dark, engrossing, blood-drenched tale of the familiar threats to female power-and one girl's journey to regain it. You are alone in the woods, seen only by the unblinking yellow moon. Your hands are empty. You are nearly naked. And the wolf is angry. Since her grandmother became her caretaker when she was four years old, Bisou Martel has lived a quiet life in a little house in Seattle. She's kept mostly to herself. She's been good. But then comes the night of homecoming, when she finds herself running for her life over roots and between trees, a fury of claws and teeth behind her. A wolf attacks. Bisou fights back. A new moon rises. And with it, questions. About the blood in Bisou's past, and on her hands as she stumbles home. About broken boys and vicious wolves. About girls lost in the woods-frightened, but not alone. The Lucky Ones Lawson, L

Tulare County Teens

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