FRENCHMAN'S BAY LIBRARY
Route 1, Sullivan, in the Sullivan-Sorrento Recreation Center (0.2 miles north of the Hancock-Sullivan bridge)
PO BOX 215
1776 US Highway 1
Sullivan, ME 04664
fbaylibrary2017@gmail.com
207-422-2307
NEW BOOKS
JANUARY 2021
The Last of the Moon Girls Barbara Davis fiction paperback
A novel of secrets, memory, family, and forgiveness by the bestselling author of When Never Comes. Lizzy Moon never wanted Moon Girl Farm. Eight years ago, she left the land that nine generations of gifted healers had tended, determined to distance herself from the whispers about her family's strange legacy. But when her beloved grandmother Althea dies, Lizzy must return and face the tragedy still hanging over the farm's withered lavender fields: the unsolved murders of two young girls, and the cruel accusations that followed Althea to her grave. Lizzy wants nothing more than to sell the farm and return to her life in New York, until she discovers a journal Althea left for her, a Book of Remembrances meant to help Lizzy embrace her own special gifts. When she reconnects with Andrew Greyson, one of the few in town who believed in Althea's innocence, she resolves to clear her grandmother's name. But to do so, she'll have to decide if she can accept her legacy and whether to follow in the footsteps of all the Moon women who came before her.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life Jane Sherron DeHart bio paperback
In this comprehensive, revelatory biography—fifteen years of interviews and research in the making—historian Jane Sherron De Hart explores the central experiences that crucially shaped Ginsburg’s passion for justice, her advocacy for gender equality, and her meticulous jurisprudence.
At the heart of her story and abiding beliefs is her Jewish background, specifically the concept of tikkun olam, the Hebrew injunction to “repair the world,” with its profound meaning for a young girl who grew up during the Holocaust and World War II.
Ruth’s journey begins with her mother, who died tragically young but whose intellect inspired her daughter’s feminism. It stretches from Ruth’s days as a baton twirler at Brooklyn’s James Madison High School to Cornell University to Harvard and Columbia Law Schools; to becoming one of the first female law professors in the country and having to fight for equal pay and hide her second pregnancy to avoid losing her job; to becoming the director of the ACLU’s Women’s Rights
Project and arguing momentous anti-sex discrimination cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.
All this, even before being nominated in 1993 to become the second woman on the Court, where her crucial decisions and dissents are still making history. Intimately, personably told, this biography offers unprecedented insight into a pioneering life and legal career whose profound mark on American jurisprudence, American society, and our American character and spirit will reverberate deep into the twenty-first century and beyond.
An Indigenous People’s History of the U.S. Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne YA nonfiction paperback
Going beyond the story of America as a country discovered by a few brave men in the New World. Indigenous human rights advocate Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz reveals the roles that settler colonialism and policies of American Indian genocide played in forming our national identity. The original academic text is fully adapted by renowned curriculum experts Debbie Reese and Jean Mendoza, for middle-grade and young adult readers to include discussion topics, archival images, original maps, recommendations for further reading, and other materials to encourage students, teachers, and general readers to think critically about their own place in history.
The Sentinel Lee Child mystery hardcover
As always, Reacher has no particular place to go, and all the time in the world to get there. One morning he ends up in a town near Pleasantville, Tennessee. But there’s nothing pleasant about the place. In broad daylight Reacher spots a hapless soul walking into an ambush. “It was four against one” . . . so Reacher intervenes, with his own trademark brand of conflict resolution.
The man he saves is Rusty Rutherford, an unassuming IT manager, recently fired after a cyberattack locked up the town’s data, records, information . . . and secrets. Rutherford wants to stay put, look innocent, and clear his name. Reacher is intrigued. There’s more to the story. The bad guys who jumped Rutherford are part of something serious and deadly, involving a conspiracy, a cover-up, and murder—all centered on a mousy little guy in a coffee-stained shirt who has no idea what he’s up against.
FEBRUARY 2021
This Is Your Time Ruby Bridges (juvenile)
Civil rights icon Ruby Bridges shares her story for children.
The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop Fannie Flag (fiction)
Bud Threadgoode returns to his home town of Whistle Stop, home of the
famous "Fried Green Tomatoes." He makes some new discoveries about his town and sets off a series of events that change his life and the life of those around him. The story leads you to wonder: can you go home again?
Wild Flowers of Maine Islands Mittelhauser, Glen (non-fiction)
A guide to identifying local wild flowers, researched and written by a local author and scientist. Great photos and descriptions.
MARCH 2021
Caste: The Origins of our Discontent Isabel Wilkerson (non-fiction)
Examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions.
The Hidden Life of Trees Peter Wohleben (non-fiction)
Are trees social beings? The author convincingly makes the case
that, yes, the forest is indeed a social network. He draws on groundbreaking scientific discoveries to prove his case.
The Road Back to Sweetgrass Linda LeGarde Grover (fiction)
Set in northern Minnesota, this story follows the lives of three Native American women observing their coming of age as they navigate love,
economic hardship, loss, and changing family dynamics.
The Vanishing Half Brit Bennett (historical fiction)
A stunning new novel about twin sisters, inseparable as children, who
ultimately choose to live in two very different worlds, one black and one white.
Ghetto Cowboy Neri, G. Juvenile Fiction
From a Coretta Scott King Author Award Honor winner comes a street- smart tale about a displaced teen who learns to defend what's right & the Cowboy Way. Inspired by the little- known urban riders of Philly and Brooklyn, this compelling tale of latter- day cowboy justice champions a world where your friends always have your back, especially when the chips are down.
The Consequences of Fear Winspear, Jacqueline Mystery
As Europe buckles under Nazi occupation, Maisie Dobbs investigates a possible murder that threatens devastating repercussions for Britain's war efforts in this latest installment in the New York Times bestselling mystery series.
October 1941. While on a delivery, young Freddie Hackett, a message runner for a government office, witnesses an argument that ends in murder. Crouching in the doorway of a bombed-out house, Freddie waits until the coast is clear. But when he arrives at the delivery address, he’s shocked to come face to face with the killer.
Dismissed by the police when he attempts to report the crime, Freddie goes in search of a woman he once met when delivering a message: Maisie Dobbs. While Maisie believes the boy and wants to help, she must maintain extreme caution: she&;s working secretly for the Special Operations.
Dead By Dawn Doiron, Paul Mystery
Mike Bowditch is fighting for his life. After being ambushed on a dark winter road, his Jeep crashes into a frozen river. Trapped beneath the ice in the middle of nowhere, having lost his gun and any way to signal for help, Mike fights his way to the surface. But surviving the crash is only the first challenge. Whoever set the trap that ran him off the road is still out there, and they’re coming for him.
The Four Winds Hannah, Christie Fiction
The Four Winds seems eerily prescient in 2021 . . . Its message is galvanizing and hopeful: We are a nation of scrappy survivors. We’ve been in dire straits before; we will be again. Hold your people close.”—The New York Times
Barkskins Proulx, Annie Fiction
From the Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Shipping News and Brokeback Mountain comes the New York Times bestselling epic about the demise of the world's forests: Barkskins is grand entertainment in the tradition of Dickens and Tolstoy, the crowning achievement of Annie Proulx's distinguished career, but also perhaps the greatest environmental novel ever written (San Francisco Chronicle).
In the late seventeenth century two young Frenchmen, René Sel and Charles Duquet, arrive in New France. Bound to a feudal lord for three years in exchange for land, they become wood-cutters and barkskins. René suffers extraordinary hardship, oppressed by the forest he is charged with clearing. He is forced to marry a native woman and their descendants live trapped between two cultures. But Duquet runs away, becomes a fur trader, then sets up a timber business. Annie Proulx tells the stories of the descendants of Sel and Duquet over three hundred years and their travels across North America, to Europe, China, and New Zealand and the revenge of rivals, accidents, pestilence, Indian attacks, and cultural annihilation. Over and over, they seize what they can of a presumed infinite resource, leaving the modern-day characters face to face with possible ecological collapse.
A stunning, bracing, full-tilt ride through three hundred years of US and Canadian history with the type of full-immersion plot that keeps you curled in your chair, reluctant to stop reading; (Elle), Barkskins showcases Proulx's inimitable genius of creating characters who are so vivid that we follow them with fierce attention.
This is Proulx at the height of her powers as an irreplaceable American voice. (entertainment Weekly, Grade A), Barkskins is an awesome monument of a book (Washington Post), the masterpiece she was meant to write (Boston Globe). As Anthony Doerr says, "This magnificent novel possesses the dark humor of The Shipping News and social awareness of Brokeback Mountain.
MAY 2021
Elephant in Belfast Walsh, Kirk Historical Fiction
Inspired by true events, this vivid and moving story of a young woman zookeeper and the elephant she's compelled to protect through the German blitz of Belfast during WWll speaks to not only the tragedy of the times, but also to the ongoing sectarian tensions that still exist in Northern Ireland today--perfect for readers of historical and literary fiction alike.
In October 1940, twenty-year-old zookeeper Hettie Quin meets Violet, a three-year-old elephant arriving at the Belfast docks from Ceylon. Soon, she becomes Violet's dedicated zookeeper at the Bellevue Zoo. While she is mourning for the recent loss of her sister and the abandonment of her father, she finds contentment in her relationships with Violet and her fellow zookeepers.
The Phantom Tollbooth Juster, Norton Juvenile Fiction
Discovering a large toy tollbooth in his room, bored ten-year-old Milo drives through the tollbooth's gates and begins a memorable journey to the Kingdom of Wisdom with a watchdog named Tuck.
The Plot Korelitz Jean Hanff Fiction
Hailed as "breathtakingly suspenseful," Jean Hanff Korelitz’s The Plot is a propulsive read about a story too good not to steal, and the writer who steals it.
Jacob Finch Bonner was once a promising young novelist with a respectably published first book. Today, he’s teaching in a third-rate MFA program and struggling to maintain what’s left of his self- respect; he hasn’t written—let alone published—anything decent in years. When Evan Parker, his most arrogant student, announces he doesn’t need Jake’s help because the plot of his book in progress is a sure thing, Jake is prepared to dismiss the boast as typical amateur narcissism. But then . . . he hears the plot.
Jake returns to the downward trajectory of his own career and braces himself for the supernova publication of Evan Parker’s first novel: but it never comes. When he discovers that his former student has died, presumably without ever completing his book, Jake does what any self-respecting writer would do with a story like that—a story that absolutely needs to be told.
In a few short years, all of Evan Parker’s predictions have come true, but Jake is the author enjoying the wave. He is wealthy, famous, praised and read all over the world. But at the height of his glorious new life, an e-mail arrives, the first salvo in a terrifying, anonymous campaign: You are a thief, it says. As Jake struggles to understand his antagonist and hide the truth from his readers and his publishers, he begins to learn more about his late student, and what he discovers both amazes and terrifies him. Who was Evan Parker, and how did he get the idea for his “sure thing” of a novel? What is the real story behind the plot, and who stole it from whom?
On Juneteenth Gordon-Reed, Annette History
The essential, sweeping story of Juneteenth’s integral importance to American history, as told by a Pulitzer Prize–winning historian and Texas native.
On Juneteenth Schroder, Mark Juvenile Non-fiction
Describes how the holiday of Juneteenth began and discusses its traditions, symbols, how the holiday has changed and and how it is observed today.
JUNE 2021
The Personal Librarian Marie Benedict biographical fiction
The remarkable, little-known story of Belle da Costa Greene, J. P. Morgan's personal librarian—who became one of the most powerful women in New York despite the dangerous secret she kept in order to make her dreams come true, from New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict and acclaimed author Victoria Christopher Murray.
In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. Pierpont Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture on the New York society scene and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps build a world-class collection.
The Other Black Girl Zakiya Dalila Harris fiction
Twenty-six-year-old editorial assistant Nella Rogers is tired of being the only Black employee at Wagner Books. Fed up with the isolation and microaggressions, she’s thrilled when Harlem-born and bred Hazel starts working in the cubicle beside hers. They’ve only just started comparing natural hair care regimens, though, when a string of uncomfortable events elevates Hazel to Office Darling, and Nella is left in the dust.
Then the notes begin to appear on Nella’s desk: LEAVE WAGNER. NOW.
It’s hard to believe Hazel is behind these hostile messages. But as Nella starts to spiral and obsess over the sinister forces at play, she soon realizes that there’s a lot more at stake than just her career.
A whip-smart and dynamic thriller and sly social commentary that is perfect for anyone who has ever felt manipulated, threatened, or overlooked in the workplace, The Other Black Girl will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last twist.
JULY 2021
Hollywood Spy MacNeal, Susan Elia mystery (continuing the series)
In 1943 Los Angeles, American-born secret agent and British spy Maggie Hope comes to the aid of her old flame after his fiancé is murdered, and soon discovers that things aren’t always the way they appear in movies.
Exiles Kline Christina Baker fiction
The author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Orphan Train returns with an ambitious, emotionally resonant novel about three women whose lives are bound together in nineteenth-century Australia and the hardships they weather together as they fight for redemption and freedom in a new society.
We Begin at the End Whitaker, Chris fiction
Right. Wrong. Life is lived somewhere in between.
Duchess Day Radley is a thirteen-year-old self-proclaimed outlaw. Rules are for other people. She is the fierce protector of her five-year- old brother, Robin, and the parent to her mother, Star, a single mom incapable of taking care of herself, let alone her two kids.
Walk has never left the coastal California town where he and Star grew up. He may have become the chief of police, but he’s still trying to heal the old wound of having given the testimony that sent his best friend, Vincent King, to prison decades before. And he's in overdrive protecting Duchess and her brother.
Now, thirty years later, Vincent is being released. And Duchess and Walk must face the trouble that comes with his return. We Begin at the End is an extraordinary novel about two kinds of families—the ones we are born into and the ones we create.
AUGUST 2021
The Hill We Climb Gorman, Amanda poem
"On January 20, 2021, Amanda Gorman became the sixth and youngest poet to deliver a poetry reading at a presidential inauguration. Taking the stage after the 46th president of the United States, Joe Biden, Gorman captivated the nation and brought hope to viewers around the globe. Including an enduring foreword by Oprah Winfrey, this keepsake celebrates the promise of America and affirms the power of poetry"--
Night Music Moyes, Jojo fiction
After her husband dies, leaving her with a mountain of debt, classical violinist Isabel Delancey and her children are forced to move to a now- dilapidated manor she inherited in the English countryside where she fights to make her house a home as passions and lives collide. .
Downeast: Five Maine Girls and the Story of Rural America Georges, Gigi social science
Nestled in Maine's far northeast corner, Washington County sits an hour's drive from the heart of famed and bustling Acadia National Park. Yet it's a world away. For Willow, Vivian, Mckenna, Audrey, and Josie'five teenage girls caught between tradition and transformation in this remote region'it is home. Downeast follows their journeys of heartbreak and hope in uncertain times, creating a nuanced and unique portrait of rural America with women at its center.
Willow lives in the shadow of an abusive, drug-addicted father and searches for stability through photography and love. Vivian, a gifted writer, feels stifled by her church and town, and struggles to break free without severing family ties. Mckenna is a softball pitching phenom whose passion is the lobster-fishing she learned at her father's knee. Audrey is a beloved high school basketball star who earns a coveted college scholarship but questions her chosen path. Josie, a Yale-bound valedictorian, is determined to take the world by storm.
All five girls know the pain and joy of life in a region whose rugged beauty and stoicism mask dwindling populations, vanishing job opportunities, and pervasive opioid addiction. As the girls reach adulthood, they discover that despite significant challenges, there is much to celebrate in 'the valley of the overlooked.' Their stories remind us of the value of timeless ideals: strength of family and community, reverence for nature's rule, dignity in cracked hands and muddied shoes, and the enduring power of home.
Revealed through the eyes of Willow, Vivian, Mckenna, Audrey, and Josie, Downeast is based on four years of intimate reporting. The result is a beautifully rendered, emotionally startling, and vital book. Downeast will break readers' hearts yet offer them hope, providing answers to what the future may hold for rural America.
Son Lowry, Lois juvenile fiction completes the series
Slow Fire Burning Hawkins, Paula hardcover mystery
Three women unknown to each other are each questioned in connection with the gruesome murder of a young man found on a London houseboat in the new novel by the New York Times best-selling author of The Girl on the Train.