Fast Five Fiction: New Releases

It's FRIDAY! Which means it's time for Fast Five Fiction. Each week I'll be sharing 5 fiction books: new books, notable books, books around a common theme. This week I'm featuring 5 of my most anticipated books new to our shelves. Click the title to be directed to the books in the library's catalog. Book descriptions are from Goodreads.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Deep End by Jeff Kinney

In The Deep End, book 15 of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Greg Heffley and his family hit the road for a cross-country camping trip, ready for the adventure of a lifetime.

But things take an unexpected turn, and they find themselves stranded at an RV park that’s not exactly a summertime paradise. When the skies open up and the water starts to rise, the Heffley's wonder if they can save their vacation—or if they’re already in too deep.

Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation by Stuart Gibbs

The world’s youngest and smartest genius is forced to use her unbelievable code-breaking skills to outsmart Einstein.

Charlie Thorne is a genius.
Charlie Thorne is a thief.
Charlie Thorne isn’t old enough to drive.

And now it’s up to her to save the world…

Decades ago, Albert Einstein devised an equation that could benefit all life on earth—or destroy it. Fearing what would happen if the equation fell into the wrong hands, he hid it.

But now, a diabolical group known as the Furies are closing in on its location. In desperation, a team of CIA agents drags Charlie into the hunt, needing her brilliance to find it first—even though this means placing her life in grave danger.

In an adventure that spans the globe, Charlie must crack a complex code created by Einstein himself, struggle to survive in a world where no one can be trusted, and fight to keep the last equation safe once and for all.

The sequel, Charlie Thorne and the Lost City comes out March 2, 2021. 

Hello Future Me by Kim Ventrella

Eleven-year-old June is a problem-solver. Some people might call her a busybody, but that's okay. Just look at all the couples she helped find love! (Grateful newlyweds Marlene and Big Vic have even promised June free hot chocolate for life at their café.)

However, when June learns that her parents are getting divorced, she has to face the fact that there are some problems too big even for her. At least, that's what the adults in her life keep saying.

But June's convinced there's a way to make her parents fall back in love. While brainstorming ideas on her new secondhand laptop -- purchased from a mysterious store in town called The Shop of Last Resort -- June gets a strange IM from someone named JuniePie28 . . . someone who claims to be an older version of June messaging her from the future.

At first, she assumes it's a prank. But JuniePie28 knows too much about June's life to be a fraud, and future June warns her against interfering with her parents' marriage. But June can't just sit around and watch her parents' marriage dissolve, not when there's a magical shop in town that could be the answer to all her problems! Will June prove her older self wrong and stop the divorce? Or will she have to accept that there are some things she can't control?

Curse of the Night Witch by Alex Aster

On Emblem Island all are born knowing their fate. Their lifelines show the course of their life and an emblem dictates how they will spend it.

Twelve-year-old Tor Luna was born with a leadership emblem, just like his mother. But he hates his mark and is determined to choose a different path for himself. So, on the annual New Year's Eve celebration, where Emblemites throw their wishes into a bonfire in the hopes of having them granted, Tor wishes for a different power.

The next morning Tor wakes up to discover a new marking on his skin...the symbol of a curse that has shortened his lifeline, giving him only a week before an untimely death. There is only one way to break the curse, and it requires a trip to the notorious Night Witch.

With only his village's terrifying, ancient stories as a guide, and his two friends Engle and Melda by his side, Tor must travel across unpredictable Emblem Island, filled with wicked creatures he only knows through myths, in a race against his dwindling lifeline.

All He Knew by Heen Frost

Henry has been deaf from an early age—he is intelligent and aware of language, but by age six, he has decided it's not safe to speak to strangers. When the time comes for him to start school, he is labeled ""unteachable."" Because his family has very little money, his parents and older sister, Molly, feel powerless to help him. Henry is sent to Riverview, a bleak institution where he is misunderstood, underestimated, and harshly treated.

Victor, a conscientious objector to World War II, is part of a Civilian Public Service program offered as an alternative to the draft. In 1942, he arrives at Riverview to serve as an attendant and quickly sees that Henry is far from unteachable—he is brave, clever, and sometimes mischievous. In Victor's care, Henry begins to see how things can change for the better.

Heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful, Helen Frost's All He Knew is inspired by true events and provides sharp insight into a little-known element of history."

Happy Friday, and happy reading!