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Rebecca's Picks

Rebecca is a math and literacy teacher who has recently left the classroom to tutor kids by night and sell books by day.  Her favorite things are learning, music, and delight; her favorite books are non-fiction science and nature, memoir, and kids' fiction.  Her pets are a cat named Tigger, and (of late) a mud-dauber wasp and two cribellate orb-weaver spiders.

The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow

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Rebecca
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The Other Bennet Sister: A Novel Cover Image

The Other Bennet Sister: A Novel (Hardcover)

By Janice Hadlow
$27.99
ISBN: 9781250129413
Availability: Click Title to See Location Inventory
Published: Henry Holt and Co. - March 31st, 2020
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The Other Bennet Sister, with its intelligence, pitch-perfect prose, and insight, rises above other world-of-Jane-Austen novels. The author doesn't twist Austen; rather, she picks up something Austen left aside and makes something lovely with it. Mary Bennet, the one-dimensional middle sister from Pride and Prejudice, finally gets her due in this sympathetic, masterful story.
 


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The Holdout by Graham Moore

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Rebecca
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The Holdout: A Novel Cover Image

The Holdout: A Novel (Hardcover)

By Graham Moore
$28.00
ISBN: 9780399591778
Availability: Click Title to See Location Inventory
Published: Random House - February 18th, 2020
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The Holdout is an intelligent, fast-paced, character-driven legal thriller / murder mystery. It delivers both a riveting story and food for thought about the American justice system.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


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The Clergyman's Wife: A Pride & Prejudice Novel By Molly Greeley

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Rebecca
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The Clergyman's Wife: A Pride & Prejudice Novel (Paperback)

By Molly Greeley
$15.99
ISBN: 9780062942913
Availability: Not in stock. At Our Partner Warehouse: Usually Ships in 4-7 Days.
Published: William Morrow Paperbacks - December 3rd, 2019
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In Pride and Prejudice, Charlotte Lucas chooses with her eyes wide open to marry Mr. Collins, the unctuous clergyman who has nothing to recommend him but the ability to provide her with a household of her own.  In The Clergyman's Wife, Molly Greeley pauses to consider the backstory and consequences of this choice.  The is a gentle story, notable for the author's clear, lyrical writing and consideration of the real financial challenges facing women in Jane Austen's day, as well as her empathy for the characters - especially, and perhaps surprisingly, Mr. Collins - without letting them off the hook for their moral choices.  With a light touch, wisdom, and care, Greely explores questions that provide a richer understanding of history and of our own lives. 


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Where is Bear - Lesléa Newman

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Rebecca
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Where Is Bear? (padded board book) (Board book)

By Lesléa Newman, Valeri Gorbachev (Illustrator)
$8.99
ISBN: 9781328918918
Availability: Click Title to See Location Inventory
Published: HMH Books for Young Readers - July 10th, 2018
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Normally I wouldn't have paid much attention to this cute little story about a game of hide and seek. Here's why I point it out to customers: a) the story specifically refers to three animals as "she" even as b) the illustrations are 100% ungendered. 

This makes this book unique in my experience. What -- female animals exist? But no pink, no bows, no lipstick, no long eyelashes?? Just a bunch of (anthropomorphized) animals playing together? Yes, please! 

Where is Bear is high-quality in every aspect, even its binding and materials. The rhyming story is simple and appealing to young children. And the illustrations are really great. 
 


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Becoming Superman - Joe Straczynski

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Rebecca
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Becoming Superman: My Journey From Poverty to Hollywood Cover Image

Becoming Superman: My Journey From Poverty to Hollywood (Hardcover)

By J. Michael Straczynski, Neil Gaiman (Introduction by)
$28.99
ISBN: 9780062857842
Availability: Not in stock. At Our Partner Warehouse: Usually Ships in 4-7 Days.
Published: Harper Voyager - July 23rd, 2019
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I love this memoir because it is so much more than "How I survived my horrific childhood." While the evil and depravity of Joe Straczynski's father and other family members curdles the blood, that isn't the point of his book. Instead, Straczynski fearlessly and clearly examines the course of his incredible life and how he became a writer. Here is a boy whose only positive role model was Superman, who grows up to write Superman comics and create multiple groundbreaking TV series (among other accomplishments). This is a many-layered, riveting, inspiring read, told in a straightforward and relatable style devoid of melodrama, about the life-saving craft that is writing.


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The Cruel Prince, Holly Black

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Rebecca
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The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1) (Hardcover)

By Holly Black
$19.99
ISBN: 9780316310277
Availability: Not in stock. At Our Partner Warehouse: Usually Ships in 4-7 Days.
Published: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers - January 2nd, 2018
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Here is a wonderful tale of family, politics, love, and betrayal, masterfully written by the “Queen of Faerie,” Holly Black.

Jude, raised in Faerie by the man who murdered her parents, is determined to navigate the inhuman world in which she now lives. This is one heck of a story. It is dark and surprising, with some of the richest characterizations I’ve ever read in YA. Its elements are all familiar, but oh, how they are twisted! In Faerie, no one can be trusted - not even Jude.      


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An Unkindness of Ghosts, Rivers Solomon

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Rebecca
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An Unkindness of Ghosts (Paperback)

By Rivers Solomon
$15.95
ISBN: 9781617755880
Availability: Click Title to See Location Inventory
Published: Akashic Books - October 3rd, 2017
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If you are trying to decide whether to read An Unkindness of Ghosts, look at the cover.  Would you like to get to know the woman pictured there? She is not going to entertain you, and if her look is too intense, better stay away. But she will speak truth to you, a difficult, messy truth. This book is more than ambitious; it is the debut of the year. The author is absolutely certain of every step, every risk. It's strange, raw, a little mad, harshly sane.

Aster lives on a generational spaceship en route to a promised new planetary home. The decks of the Matilda are segregated in every way, with each deck virtually sealed off from the others, with its own dialect, customs, and knowledge; the upper decks are populated by the wealthy and pale, and each deck lower becomes progressively poorer and populated by darker-skinned people. Aster, a denizen of Q deck, is the assistant to the ship's surgeon, which gives her much more freedom than most to move between decks, while her deckmates are slaves in the great fields that feed the entire ship. When Aster discovers clues to her mother's suicide, her quest to understand what happened leads her to realizations that will  alter the course of history. With parallels to today's world by turns uncomfortable, illuminating, painful, and hopeful, Aster's tale is full of metaphor and meaning.


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In Other Lands, Sarah Rees Brennan

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Rebecca
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In Other Lands (Hardcover)

By Sarah Rees Brennan, Carolyn Nowak (Illustrator)
Email or call for price.
ISBN: 9781618731203
Availability: Special Order - Subject to Availability.
Published: Big Mouth House - August 15th, 2017

"So far magic school was total rubbish."

Do you want something different? Something wickedly funny? Something that grinds up YA tropes and serves up delicious rainbow meatloaf?

With minimalist worldbuilding and maximum subversiveness, it is billed as a young adult book, but I think it might be even more enjoyed by old adults.  Like all the best satire, it has an earnest heart, as does Elliot, the oft-obnoxious main character.  And did I say that it is FUNNY?  Because I'm trying to think of adjectives and all I can come up with is hahahahaha!  (shriek) ahahaha!


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Feed, M.T. Anderson

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Rebecca
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Feed Cover Image

Feed (Paperback)

By M.T. Anderson
$9.99
ISBN: 9780763662622
Availability: Click Title to See Location Inventory
Published: Candlewick - July 17th, 2012
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Savagely skewering consumerist culture, frenetically funny, M.T. Anderson gives us the mother of all dystopian futures in this compelling satire.  About a hundred years from now, most people have the Internet right in their brains (the feed) and are accustomed to a constant onslaught of marketing tailored to their own emotions and experiences.  It's an intense story that will stick with you.
 


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The Wee Free Men, Terry Pratchett

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Rebecca
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The Wee Free Men (Tiffany Aching #1) Cover Image

The Wee Free Men (Tiffany Aching #1) (Paperback)

By Terry Pratchett
$10.99
ISBN: 9780062435262
Availability: Not in Stock. Backordered at the Warehouse.
Published: HarperCollins - September 1st, 2015
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A 9-year-old witch rescues her brother with the aid of a band of 6-inch-tall blue men called Pictsies. The girl, Tiffany, doesn't know any magic. Armed only with a frying pan, her power comes from using her brain - learning, thinking, seeing, and reflecting. An awesome heroine in a funny, smart, creative, thought-provoking book!


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