These titles were recently added to the collection of Yakima Valley Libraries
A founding mother : a novel of Abigail Adams
Dray, Stephanie, author.
In time for the 250th anniversary of the birth of the United States comes a sweeping, intimate portrayal of Abigail Adams -- wife of one president and mother to another -- whose wit, willpower, and wisdom helped shape the fledgling republic... In the heart of revolutionary Boston, Abigail Adams raises her children amid riots, blockades, and the outbreak of war. While her husband, John Adams, rises from country lawyer to nation-builder, often away for years at a time, Abigail builds her own independence -- managing their farm, making lucrative investments, amassing savings, battling plague and loss, and defending their home. Unafraid to speak her mind, she famously offers fearless political counsel, urging John to "remember the ladies" in the new government. Through it all, she becomes his most trusted confidante and indispensable ally. When peace is secured, Abigail steps onto the world stage -- exchanging ideas with Thomas Jefferson in the French countryside, navigating court life as the wife of the Minister to Great Britain, and presiding over the parlor politics of the early American republic in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC. Even after her husband's presidential administration, she continues battling political foes and working behind the scenes to advance her family, secure independence for the women in her life, and ensure a better life for the next generation of Americans. From war-torn streets to the chandeliered halls of power, A Founding Mother is the unforgettable story of a woman ahead of her time -- one whose voice, vision, and valor still resonate powerfully today.....
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Run on red : a thriller
Ihli, Noelle W., author.
A rural country road. No cell signal for miles. A terrifying game of cat-and-mouse. By the time Laura and Olivia notice the headlights tailing them through the hills, it's too late. What seems, at first, like a case of road rage quickly unfolds into a heart-pounding chase--and a battle for survival. Who are the men in the truck? What do they want? And can Laura and Olivia outrun--and outsmart--them long enough to call for help, even if it means taking their chances in the hills on foot? As their situation grows more perilous, the girls realize that the real terror has only just begun. But flight won't save them from their pursuers. If they're going to make it home alive, they'll have to fight.....
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These ancient bones
Graham, Heather, author
The case is sensational. Whistle-blower investigative journalist George Maynard has been killed in his St. Augustine home, his body so badly burned the morgue is needed to verify his identity. Paranormal investigator Shelly Mahoney has been transferred to a special unit to help law enforcement. Off the books, the unit is called the Krewe of Hunters and deals with "strange" cases. At the murder scene with federal agent Grant Markham, Shelly makes an odd discovery: a stone etched with what appears to be a curse that invokes flames. If Shelly can use her ability to summon the dead--providing they have remained behind--she may unearth what happened. Grant, too, has an unique ability. By holding the hand of the recently deceased, he can see what has happened to them. Yet in this case, neither of their gifts is of any help. As they set out to question those who might have had a motive, they also study ancient "curse tablets" --often used in the Greco-Roman world to cause death or warfare. What ensues is a shocking discovery by the medical examiner and a search that takes the team to Italy where a similar murder may reveal the creators of the mystical tablets--made deadly with a little human assistance. But soon, the danger is closer than ever--because the target is Shelly.....
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When Mikan Road was ours : a novel
Furutani, D. K., author.
When Murano receives a call from his cousin Kaiya that his great-uncle Benjiro has died, he isn't sure why he should care. After all, he's been estranged from that side of his family for more than a decade and would much rather be left alone to grade his high schoolers' English papers and cope with his recent cancer diagnosis all by himself. But, when a mysterious manuscript, Benjior's memoirs, is left in Murano's possession, he finds himself transported back to 1930s California, back to his family's now abandoned farm that he never knew existed, and faced with questions about his family that he had never before known to ask. Through Benjiro's memoirs, letters, and family artifacts, the intimate and sweeping stories of the Murano family are brought back from the dead. Benjiro takes Murano through his childhood that he shared with Murano's grandfather Tomoya on their parents' blackberry farm, to their internment during World War II and beyond. Rich with themes of belonging, shame, and tradition, the vibrant settings of California's agricultural heartlands and the crossroads of Japanese and American culture come into breathtaking focus. Lovingly crafted with poignant prose and profound attention to historical detail, When Mikan Road Was Ours seamlessly blends the complexities of heritage, the resilience of family bonds, and the struggle to reconcile a past filled with both pain and hope. This is a must-read for anyone seeking a profound meditation on family, memory, and survival.....
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The winds of Maracaibo : a novel
Morán, María Elena, 1985- author.
A propulsive multigenerational family drama about three women struggling to hold one another together across borders as Chávez’s Venezuela collapses around them... It was too late, y la ternura no basta--now that she'd tasted the gunpowder, and the gunpowder was bolivariano, revolutionary. And that unthinkable traitor Camilo was using it to blow up her life... 'Elisa left with Camilo.' 'Camilo took her out of the country.' These are the text messages Nina receives while living in the storage room of a university in Porto Alegre, Brazil, where she's cleaning houses to make money to send back home. Home is 4,500 miles away, in Maracaibo, Venezuela, where the water never runs on Mondays and there's yet another blackout. Where a trip to the grocery store costs 220 times the minimum wage. Home is Elisa, her thirteen-year-old daughter, who loves to run around the house and belt out Queen's 'Don't Stop Me Now.' Who should be growing when instead her waist is shrinking. Home is Graciela, her mother, who lately stays shut up in her room all day talking with her dead, most urgently her beloved husband Raùl (who's just as eager to talk back from the grave). And what the hell does Camilo think he's doing now, stealing off with their daughter to the United States of America-the one place Nina most assuredly never wants to call home? Narrated through the voices of Nina and her family, and through the voice of her treacherous ex, Camilo, The Winds of Maracaibo is the heart-racing tale of a mother fighting to get her daughter back across the border, at any cost-a brave and furious reversal of the American Dream and an ode to the Venezuelan women who gave their blood, sweat, and tears to a nation dismantled by the egos of men.....
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Desert heist : a novel
Dekker, Alex, author.
Former Green Beret Nate Wilde chooses to pursue his passion for history after leaving the military behind. When his dissertation proposal to search for the legendary lost city of Ubar is rejected by the Harvard examining committee and his expedition permit is denied by the Saudi government, he decides to continue his research by himself, entering Saudi Arabia's Empty Quarter through Yemen, the same sands where his team died years ago. Knowing he's putting himself in harm's way, he reaches out to a small group of trusted friends for help as he races to discover whether Ubar really existed, uncovering a deeper geopolitical mystery along the way.....
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The night hunter
Moss, Natalie, author.
When their conservationist mother passes, Danielle and her estranged sister Grace must return to their isolated family house nestled within a wild-game reserve. While Grace, their mother's favorite, clings to nostalgia, only Danielle carries the knowledge of her final request: "Find the storehouse... Burn everything inside." To ease the pain of their homecoming -- and the tension between them -- each sister invites two friends on the two-day journey into the bush. What starts as a safari adventure, turns into a nightmare when one of them is murdered the first morning at the campsite. In the chaos that follows, they crash their vehicle, stranding them, with no way to call for help. Now, with dwindling supplies and only one rifle, Danielle must lead them on foot across miles of merciless savannah. They have days of walking ahead... if they survive that long. As the group navigates land where every rustle could mean death, a truth emerges: someone is sabotaging their escape.....
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City of widows : a novel
Hashimi, Nadia, author.
In February 2020, the US began to withdraw troops from Afghanistan after nearly twenty years of occupation. A whole generation of Afghan women had been born during that time -- women who had grown up in relative peace, gone to school, entered the professions, even served in the army and Parliament. The women of Afghanistan watched as the Taliban filled the streets again. They knew everything was about to change. In the bustling, cosmopolitan city of Kabul, women are TV newscasters, shop owners, doctors, teachers, lawyers, even soldiers. They include Marjan, who fought with the Afghan army, and will risk everything to keep her daughter Hawa safe. In her earlier days Marjan was called Rahima and had lived the life of a bacha posh -- a girl raised as a boy until she came of age. Forced into an early marriage, Rahima took the name Marjan when she fled her warlord husband. She's created a whole new life for herself, one she will not give up easily. So has Soraya, who defiantly wore red lipstick as she led the army's all-female combat force over the objections of her upper-class family. Soraya's now a wanted woman whose brother may choose not to shelter her from the Taliban. What will become of her? Or Mina, a journalist and broadcaster whose beautiful face is known to everyone in Kabul -- including the new regime? Fight or flight? Or find a third way? One thing is for none of these women will meekly accept her fate.....
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Big little truths : a novel
Moriarty, Liane, author.
In this highly anticipated sequel, Liane Moriarty examines the complexities of modern women’s lives, shining light on family dynamics and long-hidden truths with wit and compassion... The last time we saw the women of Big Little Lies-Madeline, Celeste, Jane, Renata, and Bonnie-their children were five years old. If someone wasn't invited to a child's birthday party, feelings were hurt. But ten years have passed, and the kids are now in high school, with all of the drama that accompanies teendom (goodbye playdates, hello drugs, sex, and alcohol). When the high school principal receives a threatening package in the mail, word quickly spreads throughout the community and parents are in an uproar. But Madeline, Celeste, Jane, Renata, and Bonnie have other things to worry about. Celeste’s mother-in-law, Mary Louise, is behaving oddly — is it old-age forgetfulness and bluntness or something more sinister? Madeline is facing perhaps the biggest challenge of her life, Jane is at a dangerous fork in her marriage, Bonnie has realized there’s only so much solace in yoga. And Renata? Renata is living her best life — revenge is sweet. When a stranger begins lurking around the school asking supposedly innocent questions, this tightly connected group of women must finally face the full repercussions of the big little truths they have and haven’t shared with their kids. Because the stakes are now much higher than not being invited to an ice-skating party — and the ice has never been thinner for any of them.....
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Storm warning : a novel of suspense
Henderson, Alice, author.
Wildlife biologist Alex Carter jumps at the chance to work with hawksbill turtles in Hawaii, only to face an unthinkable threat that endangers countless lives... Alex Carter is thrilled to be in lush, tropical Hawaii for her new assignment: to study and protect hawksbill turtles. From global warming to poaching to the simple fragility of a turtle’s nest, these creatures are under constant threat. And as excited as Alex is to swim, explore, and relax, she’s also ready to be these turtles’ fiercest protector. Alex looks forward to a break from the danger of her past assignments, but soon finds that environmental crime can happen anywhere, even in a Hawaiian paradise. As a massive hurricane approaches, armed thieves storm onto the beach where Alex and her volunteers are desperately trying to move turtle eggs to safety out of the storm surge. When the gunmen take one of her volunteers hostage and Alex tracks them to a nearby paleontology museum, Alex suspects that there’s more to these mysterious criminals than meets the eye and that the repercussions of their success will extend far beyond the shores of the Big Island. Whatever their treacherous plot may be, Alex must scramble to protect the turtles, her friends, and the world at large… before irreversible damage is done. ....
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Keep them close : a novel
Ellis, David, 1967- author.
Two siblings. One murder. So many lies... Siblings Allison and Luke have been through a lot together. They’ve always stood by each other. They’d do anything for each other. Or so it seems. When Allison’s husband, Finley, is murdered, the investigation threatens to expose the siblings’ darkest secrets. An illicit affair. A decades-old accident. A stunning deception. How do these events explain Finley’s death? How far will Allison and Luke go to keep their secrets buried? And can the siblings even trust one another anymore? As the investigation winds tighter and past and present collide, the most shocking betrayal might lie a little too close to home…....
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Sunlight finds you
Moriarty, Laura, 1970- author.
A forbidden love blows open the world of a teenage girl, and alters the trajectory of the rest of her life... It’s 1949, early in the Cold War, but St. Petersburg, Florida is warm, lush, and booming with newcomers seeking sunshine and opportunity. For seventeen-year-old Nora, St. Pete feels like paradise, especially after she meets and wins over Leonard, the shy, brilliant son of transplanted New Yorkers. Nora and Leonard are soon spending balmy days and evenings together, and in her adoring, encouraging company, he grows more confident, even as he remains tender and caring. Leonard's sophisticated mother welcomes Nora into their lives, but his father distrusts her motives. When his suspicions are seemingly confirmed, Nora is forced to cut contact. In her longing and fear, she takes a chance that changes her life, exiling her from the family she loves and setting off a chain of secrets and betrayals that will follow her into adulthood. It is a mature Nora who tells the story of her turbulent past. Wiser and more worldly, she commits to an honest but compassionate account, and to a future based on trusting, first and foremost, herself.....
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The summer of the serpent : a novel
Eudave, Cecilia, 1968- author.
Guadalajara, Mexico, 1977. In a quiet residential neighborhood, children witness things they can never forget: a serpent girl weeping in a carnival glass box, a neighbor who dangles his dog from a tree, and a ghost who returns night after night, desperate to tell its story. Meanwhile, the grown-ups drift through the season half oblivious, their spirits eroding as the relentless summer wears on. Told in colliding voices — children and adults, ghosts and the haunted, the living and the almost-invisible — The Summer of the Serpent is a prismatic portrait of the past, where memory is shot through with myth. Each narrator offers a fragment of the truth, until the stories twist together into a shape as elusive and mesmerizing as the boa constrictor that winds its way through the neighborhood. Strange yet deeply human, this brilliantly fragmented novel captures the moment when childhood innocence begins to corrode — and how those memories can coil through a lifetime.....
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The true meaning of love : a novel
Steel, Danielle, author.
February 24 is the eighteenth birthday of a Ukrainian ballet school student named Vlad. It also happens to be the day that the first bombs of the 2022 Russian attack land on his homeland. As life for every person in the country is turned upside down in a moment, Vlad is immediately called up to serve in the military. But as much as he wants to defend his country, he is desperate to get his girlfriend, Tatyanna, an orphan whose only home has been the ballet school, out of the country. With their home under siege, Tatyanna tries to make her way to safety in Poland. Also joining the refugees is Yulya, who is torn between getting her young children across the border and staying at the side of her husband, Symon, and her elderly parents, Petro and Oxana, who refuse to abandon their home. As millions flee, Vlad and Symon join a volunteer civilians' unit to fight. Even elderly citizens like Petro and Oxana are given AK-47s, though soon starvation becomes as much of a threat as the encroaching troops. Sasha, an obstetrician, and Anton, a surgeon, who are secretly lovers, stay behind to treat the never-ending waves of wounded. When the Russians bomb hospitals, the heroic couple find themselves delivering babies in bomb shelters. Through the stories of Vlad, Tatyanna, Yulya, Symon, Sasha, and Anton -- each struggling to protect their loved ones and preserve their own humanity -- this is a gripping and deeply moving story of regular people surviving as war rages around them....
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Under the falls : a novel
Russo, Richard, 1949- author.
When Tyler Sinclair left Stone Mountain at eighteen, he had no plans of returning. With only a duffel bag full of clothes, a few bucks stolen from his father’s dresser, and a guitar, his most prized possession, Tyler disappeared without so much as a goodbye. Eighteen years later, Tyler, now the frontman of a famous band aptly named Stone Mountain, finds himself returning to his hometown for a one-night-only benefit concert to support his old friend, Doc, who lost feeling in his legs following a childhood accident. As Tyler ascends the mountain, memories of his childhood come rushing back—memories of his abusive father and despondent mother, of the friends he left behind—and he quickly learns that, for many people on Stone Mountain, the past does not feel like so long ago, and not everyone has been eagerly awaiting Tyler’s return. At the concert, resentment simmers just beneath the surface, and Tyler finds himself confronted with faces new and old: there’s Curt, Tyler’s childhood best friend, now Stone Mountain’s chief of police, and his star officer, Deb, an out-of-towner who may have bitten off more than she can chew by accepting a job in Stone Mountain. And then there’s Freddi, Curt’s wife and Tyler’s former lover, a woman whose questionable dealings and fraught history with Tyler will become the catalyst for a tragedy that will upend each of their lives and threaten to validate Tyler’s worst fear: that “Stone Mountain is the kind of place you might escape from once, if you’re lucky, but not twice.” Under the Falls is at once a propulsive thriller, a gut-wrenching portrait of a tight-knit rural community undone by the sins of its past, and an unflinchingly honest depiction of how porous the line between right and wrong, good versus evil, can become. ....
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