Fiction Pick of the Week: Unusual Uses for Olive Oil

Unusual Uses for Olive Oil by Alexander McCall Smith

In this story, von Igelfeld experiences a series of new adventures. First, he finds that his academic rival Detlev-Amadeus Unterholzer has been winning undeserved recognition, a situation that must be addressed. Then von Igelfeld stumbles toward a romance with Frau Benz, a charming widow who owns for very own Schloss and a fleet of handsome cars--that is, until a faux pas lands him on the curb. Later, while on the annual student study retreat in the Alps, von Igelfeld fearlessly plunges 3,000 feet into mountaineering history, and turns his survival into the subject of inspirational lectures. Finally, at a dinner party, he is the only kind soul who can aid an unfortunate dachshund whose sticky wheels are in need of lubrication.

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Teen Pick of the Week: Fuse

If you liked The Hunger Games....

Fuse by Julianna Baggott

To be a Pure is to be perfect, untouched by Detonations that scarred the earth and sheltered inside the paradise that is the Dome. But Partridge escaped to the outside world, where Wretches struggle to survive amid smoke and ash. Now, at the command of Partridge's father, the Dome is unleashing nightmare after nightmare upon the Wretches in an effort to get him back. At Partridge's side is a small band of those united against the Dome: Lyda, the warrior; Bradwell, the revolutionary; El Capitan, the guard; and Pressia, the young woman whose mysterious past ties her to Partridge in ways she never could have imagined. Long ago a plan was hatched that could mean the earth's ultimate doom. Now only Partridge and Pressia can set things right.

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Teen Pick of the Week: The Girl in the Park

The Girl in the Park by Mariah Fredericks

When Wendy Geller's body is found in New York's Central Park the morning after a rager, newspaper headlines scream: WHO WAS WENDY GELLER? Life of a Party Girl Ends in Violence
But Rain, once Wendy's best friend, knows Wendy wasn't just another wild girl from an elite prep school. Wendy was the girl with the great smile and the huge heart. The girl who ate unbaked cookie dough and faked a fainting spell in H&M as a prank. Who told quiet Rain not to be afraid to share her thoughts with the world. As Rain struggles to separate the girl she knew from the tangle of headlines and vicious gossip, she becomes determined to discover who killed her friend. But if Rain--always a listener, a bystander--really wants to help Wendy, she knows she'll have to speak up.

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Fiction Pick of the Week: As Sweet As Honey

As Sweet As Honey by Indira Ganesan

The island is filled with exotic flora and fauna and perfumed air. A large family compound is presided over by a benign, stalwart grandmother. There is a very tall South Asian heroine with the astonishing un-Indian name of Meterling, who has found love at last in the shape of a short, round, elegant Englishman who wears white suits. There are also numerous aunts, uncles, and young cousins--among them, Mina, grown now, and telling the story of a marriage ceremony that ends with a widowed bride who, in the midst of her grief, discovers she is pregnant. While enjoying their own games and growing pains, Mina and her young cousins follow every nuance of gossip, trying to puzzle out what is going on with their favorite aunt, particularly when the groom's cousin arrives from England and begins to woo her. As Meterling--torn between Eastern and Western ideas of love and family, duty and loyalty--struggles to make a new life, we become as entranced with this family, its adventures and complications, as Mina is.

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Teen Pick of the Week: The Boy on Cinnamon Street

The Boy on Cinnamon Street by Phoebe Stone

Seventh grader Louise Terrace has a secret admirer. He sends her notes when she needs cheering up, and draws chalk hearts on the sidewalk outside her apartment. It should be the perfect romance...but somehow they never meet up. It's the same with gymnastics. Louise is a natural champion. She can do cartwheels all day long and even backflips on the balance beam. She should be captain of the school team...but somehow it doesn't work out. There's something holding Louise back, a family secret from her past so heartbreaking that it's got her frozen inside. And it's going to take a miraculous spring to thaw her out again.

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Science Fiction Pick of the Week: A Memory of Light

A Memory of Light  by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

In the Field of Merrilor the rulers of the nations gather to join behind Rand al'Thor, or to stop his plan to break the seals on the Dark One's prison--which may be a sign of his madness, or the last hope for humankind. Egwene, the Amyrlin Seat, leans toward the former. All humanity is in perill--and the outcome will be decided in Shayol Ghul itself. The Wheel is turning, and the Age is coming to its end. The Last Battle will determine the fate of the world. For twenty years The Wheel of Time has enthralled more than forty million readers in over thirty languages. A Memory of Light brings this majestic fantasy creation to its richly satisfying conclusion.

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Teen Pick of the Week: The Mark of Athena

The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

Annabeth is terrified. Just when she's about to be reunited with Percy--after six months of being apart, thanks to Hera--it looks like Camp Jupiter is preparing for war. As Annabeth and her friends Jason, Piper, and Leo fly in on the Argo II, she can't blame the Roman demigods for thinking the ship is a Greek weapon. With its steaming bronze dragon figurehead, Leo's fantastical creation doesn't appear friendly. Annabeth hopes that the sight of their praetor Jason on desk will reassure the Romans that the visitors from Camp Half-Blood are coming in peace. And that's only one of her worries. In her pocket, Annabeth carries a gift from her mother that came with an unnerving command: Follow the Mark of Athena. Avenge me. Annabeth already feels weighed down by the prophecy that will send seven demigods on a quest to find--and close--the Doors of Death. What more does Athena want from her?

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