JANUARY 2011

New Under the Sun -- Kevin Major

Shannon Carew has returned to Newfoundland after nearly 20 years away to work with Parks Canada on the revamping of three historical sites: L'anse Aux Meadows, L'anse Amour and the Basque site at Red Bay. Interspersed with Shannon's story, are the stories of Shanawdihit, the last Beothuk, William Cormack, the Scottsman who studied the Beothuks and Nonosa, a Beothuk leader.

Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief -- Wendelin Van Draanen
Samantha Keyes secretly lives with her grandmother in subsidized senior housing after her mother abandons her to pursue an acting career. Sammy witnesses a burglary in a hotel across the street and sets out to solve the crime. YA

Man in the Woods -- Scott Spencer

Paul, a talented and successful carpenter, takes an unplanned detour to a park off the Taconic Parkway. There, he encounters a man savagely beating a dog and before he knows it, he has killed the man. Paul attempts to continue his life unaffected by this, but it haunts him and his family in numerous ways.

Sweater Quest: My Year of Knitting Dangerously -- Adrienne Martini

Adrienne gives herself a year to knit Alice Starmore's Mary Tudor sweater, an out of print pattern with exceedingly difficult yarns to obtain. A fascinating look at the contemporary community of knitters and an inspiration to attempt more difficult projects.

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet -- David Mitchell

Jacob De Zoet, a company clerk, arrives at the Dutch East India outpost in feudal Japan in 1799, with the intention of returning to the Netherlands a wealthy man in five years time. He befriends a young interpreter, becomes enchanted with a Japanese midwife, and dramatically alters his future.

Essex County Vol. 1 -- Tales from the Farm -- Jeff Lemire

Ten year old Lester moves to his uncle's farm in rural Ontario after his mother dies. He wears a superhero mask and cape, and imagines he is supposed to save the world from alien invaders. Uncle Ken, a bachelor, doesn't know what to make of his nephew. Jimmy, the gas station attendant, a one time NHL hockey player, befriends the boy and assists in fighting the aliens. A beautifully depicted graphic novel.

Effigy -- Allisa York

Dorrie is the fourth wife of Hammer, a Morman farmer in mid=1880s Utah. He marries her solely for her taxidermy skills, so that she can create a lifelike archive his hunting prowess. Dorrie has no memory of her life before the age of seven, and through flashbacks of all the characters, the mystery of Dorrie's life and events of the Mountain Meadows Massacre unfold in a haunting way.