Central Kansas Library System

"Velveteen Vargas is eleven years old, a Fresh Air Fund kid from Brooklyn. Her host family is a couple in upstate New York: Ginger, a failed artist and shakily recovered alcoholic, and her academic husband, Paul. Gaitskill illuminates their shifting relationships over several years, as well as Velvet's encounter with the horses at the stable down the road. Mare is the story of a girl and a horse, joined with a story of people from different races...

“Extremely intense and powerfully intriguing.”
—Waterstone’s

“[Ashworth] Evokes a damaged mind with the empathy and confidence of Ruth Rendell.”
—The Times (London)

Cold Light by Jenn Ashworth is a hauntingly beautiful and shocking psychological thriller in the vein of the bestselling novels of Tana French—a darkly compelling story of secrets between two

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The words have sent chills down Tally's spine since her days as a repellent, rebellious Ugly. Back then Specials were a sinister rumor, frighteningly beautiful, dangerously strong, breathtakingly fast. Ordinary Pretties might live their whole lives without meeting a Special. But Tally's never been ordinary and now she's been turned into one of them. A superamped fighting machine, engineered to keep the Uglies down and the Pretties stupid. The strength,...

When all the inhabitants of Pingaree are kidnapped by the mongrel hordes of twin island kingdoms, Prince Inga and his friend King Rinkitink decide to go to the rescue.

A teenaged Nigerian girl and her older brother struggle to cope with life in their tense, stifling household--caused by their father's demands for perfection--after getting a taste of freedom during a visit to their aunt's home.

Although disappointed at not being chosen to be the flower girl in her best adult friend's wedding, third-grader Grace plans a special surprise for the big day.

"You won't find a more hardcore eighties slasher fan than high school senior Jade Daniels. And you won't find a place less supportive of girls who wear torn T-shirts and too much eyeliner than Proofrock, nestled eight thousand feet up the mountain in Idaho, situated in Pleasant Valley right alongside Indian Lake, home to both Camp Blood -- site of a massacre fifty years ago --and, as of this summer, Terra Nova, a second-home celebrity Camelot being...

After being away for fifteen years, photojournalist Jesse Ryder returns to her childhood home in Texas to finally meet the daughter she gave up for adoption, but secrets from her past threaten to destroy their newfound friendship.

"Meet Elizabeth. She's got an excellent pet duck, a loving granddad and a first name that's just awesome. After all, she's got a queen named after her! So she's really not amused when people insist on using nicknames like "Lizzy" and "Beth." She bears her frustration in silence until an otherwise ordinary autumn day, when she discovers her power to change things once and for all. In the process, Elizabeth learns about communication and respect --...

"Yaqui Delgago wants to kick your ass. That's what some girl tells Piddy Sanchez one morning before school. Too bad Piddy doesn't even know who Yaqui Delgado is, let alone what she's done to piss her off. All Piddy knows is that Yaqui hates her-- and she better watch her back because Yaqui isn't kidding around. At first Piddy just focuses on trying to find out more about the father she's never met and how to balance honors courses with her weekend...