Reviews

The Devlin Diary

by Christi Phillips

Adult Mystery/Historical Fiction

Due May 2009

Finally, the sequel to The Rossetti Letter! As much as I loved the first book, this one was easily my favorite of the two. Claire Donovan is back--now a visiting lecturer at Cambridge University, she stumbles across a coded diary while attempting to find a subject for her next paper. As before, she gets caught up in some academic intrigue while she tries to decode the book. Meanwhile, we are learning the story of Hannah Devlin, a female physician in Restoration-era London. Phillips's writing has improved tremendously between books, making this one of the best historical novels I've read in a long time.

Blade: Playing Dead

by Tim Bowler

Young Adult Fiction

Due May 2009

This book is full of non-stop action. Blade is not your ordinary fourteen-year-old street urchin. He does just enough pickpocketing to stay fed, and sleeps wherever there's an empty home. Everyone thinks he's just another homeless kid--until some thugs come after him and an old woman is caught in the crossfire. Suddenly Blade is on the run. A member of a hostile girl gang becomes an unexpected ally, and the reader is left wondering who Blade used to be. The lingo is very street and very British. The action never slows down. Watch for this in May.