Science For Adults

Most of us remember The Wizard of Oz as the film starring Judy Garland and Bert Lahr. But the film was based on an immensely popular early 20th century Oz series. In these novels, Oz is the utopian land beyond the rainbow where threats are turned back with valor and ingenuity. Their success is due to the way they induce children to look for the element of wonder in the world around them.

Darren Shan and his best friend, Steve, get tickets to the Cirque du Freak, a wonderfully gothic freak show featuring weird, frightening half human/half animals who interact terrifyingly with the audience. In the midst of the excitement, true terror raises its head when Steve recognizes that one of the performers - Mr. Crepsley - is a vampire! Steve confronts the vampire after the show finishes - but his motives are surprising!

Lexi is a survivor; she has spent her whole life moving from one abusive foster home to the next, until she decided to take charge of her own life. Living in abandoned buildings, couch surfing, and working at a strip clubs were a huge improvement on what she had before. All she needs is enough money to feed herself, finish high school, and hopefully go to college. She has a plan. That is until she is caught and sent to live with a strange foster family upstate.

The year 1866 was marked by a unique incident, a mysterious and inexplicable phenomenon, and rumors agitated the maritime population and excited the public mind, especially seafaring men. Merchants, common sailors, captains of vessels, skippers, both of Europe and America, naval officers of all countries, and the governments of several states on the two continents, were deeply interested in the matter.

Koren Bladewell now knows he is a wizard, but he is lost in the wilderness, cut off from help, and unable to use his powers. The enemy is poised at the border with an overwhelming invasion force, and it will take wizards, soldiers and a young, untested princess to hold off defeat long enough for Koren to be trained and grow into his power. But he might not wish to help those who deceived him and destroyed his life.

Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school...again. No matter how hard he tries, he can't seem to stay out of trouble. But can he really be expected to stand by and watch while a bully picks on his scrawny best friend? Or not defend himself against his pre-algebra teacher when she turns into a monster and tries to kill him? Of course, no one believes Percy about the monster incident; he's not even sure he believes himself.

In the future, mankind has learned to manipulate their DNA, harnessing only the good genes, like intelligence, strength, and height. They called this prime DNA and humans rushed to get these new pDNA injections, which gave them superhuman-like qualities. Centuries later, however, their DNA became so engineered that humans rarely lived past the age of 30, thanks to a new deadly disease called the Kiss. The only cure is to receive an injection of oDNA, DNA from an Original human that hasn't been genetically altered. Problem is there aren't many Originals left.

From the New York Times, USA Today, and international best-selling author of the Iron Fey and the Blood of Eden series comes the fiery, hugely anticipated finale of the Talon Saga. What if dragons walked among us in human form? Enter a modern fantasy of heroes, sacrifice, forbidden love, and enemies turned allies who have no choice but to fight side by side. Don't miss the epic conclusion as Ember, Riley, and Garrett face off against Dante and the Talon dragon clones.

Hunting monsters was supposed to be the hard part. When Joy came to Apex City, all she cared about was protecting the Cits from the dangers lurking outside protective barriers. She understood the need for the secrecy surrounding her hunts - no need to cause a panic by announcing just how real of a threat the Othersiders pose. But as she quickly discovered, the conspiracies of the city run much deeper. And a dangerous new covert mission leaves Joy with a target on her back once more.

Laz is a side-stepper: a teen with the incredible power to jump his consciousness to alternate versions of himself in parallel worlds. All his life, there was no mistake that a little side-stepping couldn’t fix. Until Laz wakes up one day in a cloning facility on a seemingly abandoned Earth. Laz finds himself surrounded by hundreds of other clones, all dead, and quickly realizes that he too must be a clone of his original self.

On one dark and windy night, Ozzy steps out of bed, jumps out his window, and walks straight into the ocean. It's as if someone is controlling Ozzy's mind. He's saved by Sigi - Rin's daughter - and Clark, a mechanical robot bird. More than ever, Ozzy could really use the services of Rin, the Wizard for Hire. When a mysterious package arrives in the mail containing a plane ticket and a thumb drive, Ozzy is certain it's from Rin. But when Ozzy, Sigi, and Clark arrive in New York, Rin isn't there.

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the 10th annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to out charm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute. The odds are against him. He’s been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low.

The nightmare continues for the new vampire's assistant in the second installment of the New York Times best-selling Saga of Darren Shan.

Darren Shan was just an ordinary schoolboy until his visit to the Cirque du Freak. Now, as he struggles with his new life as a vampire's assistant, he tries desperately to resist the one temptation that sickens him, the one thing that can keep him alive. But destiny is calling. The Wolf Man is waiting.

Bayern has triumphed in its war with Tira. But though the war is over, simmering anger remains among the Tirans and new hostilities could erupt at any moment. In a desperate attempt to maintain the peace, King Geric sends an ambassador to the Tiran capitol. Of course, an ambassador needs a military guard. Razo - short, impish, and not at all skilled at combat - longs to be among those selected to go, but thinks he has no chance. So he is astounded when Captain Talone taps him to join the group. He’s even more astounded when he discovers the secret reason for Talone’s decision.

This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of Underland, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers - precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

After surviving the Purging Trials, Ordinary-born Paedyn Gray has killed the King and kickstarted a Resistance throughout the land. Now she’s running from the one person she had wanted to run to. Kai Azer is now Ilya’s Enforcer, loyal to his brother Kitt, the new King. He has vowed to find Paedyn and bring her to justice. Across the deadly Scorches, and deep into the hostile city of Dor, Kai pursues the one person he wishes he didn’t have to. But in a city without Elites, the balance between the hunter and hunted shifts—and the battle between duty and desire is deadly.

When Alice tumbles down, down, down a rabbit-hole one hot summer's afternoon in pursuit of a White Rabbit, she finds herself in Wonderland. And there begin the fantastical adventures that will see her experiencing extraordinary changes in size, swimming in a pool of her own tears, and attending the very maddest of tea parties.

In Israel and the West, it is called the Six Day War. In the Arab world, it is known as the June War or, simply, as "the Setback". Never has a conflict so short, unforeseen, and largely unwanted by both sides so transformed the world. The Yom Kippur War, the war in Lebanon, the Camp David accords, the controversy over Jerusalem and Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the intifada, and the rise of Palestinian terror are all part of the outcome of those six days.

Seventeen-year-old Josephine Jagger is a talented writer with special abilities she doesn't fully understand. Over the years she has developed methods to cope with the voices she hears in her head, but the old house her family has inherited in Vermont makes Josephine question what's real and what's not more than anything she's ever encountered before. It's filled with shadows, and whispers, and the unshakable feeling of being watched. Josephine then catches her first glimpse of a shadowy woman with long hair, pale skin, an impossibly wide smile and hollow pits for eyes.

Something is happening to Morgan that she doesn’t understand. She sees things, feels things in a new way. She can do things normal people can’t do. Powerful things. Magical things. And it scares her. She never chose to learn witchcraft, but she’s starting to wonder if witchcraft is choosing her.