Friday Finds #39

Friday Finds is hosted by Should Be Reading. Each Friday, you share the great books you heard about or discovered over the past week: "books you were told about, books you discovered while browsing blogs/bookstores online, or books that you actually purchased."



Another Faust
by Daniel Nayeri & Dina Nayeri

Available as: hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, ebook, audiobook
Pages: 387
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Publication date: August 25, 2009
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, retellings



First in The Marlowe School series. From Goodreads:

"A devilish debut by a brother-sister team invites us into the world of the elite Marlowe School, where some gifted students are having a hell of a year.

One night, in cities all across Europe, five children vanish — only to appear, years later, at an exclusive New York party with a strange and elegant governess. Rumor and mystery follow the Faust teenagers to the city’s most prestigious high school, where they soar to suspicious heights with the help of their benefactor’s extraordinary "gifts." But as the students claw their way up — reading minds, erasing scenes, stopping time, stealing power, seducing with artificial beauty — they start to suffer the sideeffects of their own addictions. And as they make further deals with the devil, they uncover secrets more shocking than their most unforgivable sins. At once chilling and wickedly satirical, this contemporary reimagining of the Faustian bargain is a compelling tale of ambition, consequences, and ultimate redemption."

Dream Factory
by Brad Barkley & Heather Hepler

Available as: hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 256
Publisher: Speak
Publication date: May 17, 2007
Suggested tags: young adult, realistic fiction, contemporary



From Goodreads:

"When the Disney World character actors go on strike, teens are hired as replacements. Ella is assigned the role of Cinderella simply because the shoes fit. And every afternoon at three o'clock she gets married to Prince Charming. A perfect dream come true-except Ella doesn't believe in dreams anymore. Meanwhile, Luke is one of the fur characters (Dale, the chipmunk), and his girlfriend, Cassie, plays his counterpart, Chip. Cassie is perfect in every way, so why does Luke want to be with Cinderella? Then Luke and Ella are brought together during a scavenger hunt, and as they uncover the Magic Kingdom?s hidden treasures, they discover an undeniable magic between them. Perhaps dreams really can come true after all?"

Gilda Joyce: Psychic Investigator
by Jennifer Allison

Available as: hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, ebook, audiobook
Pages: 336
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Publication date: July 28, 2005
Suggested tags: middle grade, mystery, paranormal



First in the Gilda Joyce series. From Goodreads:

"Ever since her father died, kooky Gilda Joyce has been working hard to sharpen her psychic skills. She's determined to communicate with spirits from the Other Side and become a crack investigator of spooky, twisted mysteries. After wrangling an invitation to visit San Francisco relatives, Gilda discovers just how much her dreary, tight-lipped uncle and his strange, delicate daughter need her help to uncover the terrible family secret that has a tortured ghost stalking their home.

From poignant to hair-raising and hilarious, this is a behind-the-scenes, tell-all account of the very first case in the illustrious career of Gilda Joyce, Psychic Investigator."

Newes from the Dead
by Mary Hooper

Available as: hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, ebook, audiobook
Pages: 272
Publisher: Square Fish
Publication date: April 29, 2008
Suggested tags: young adult, historical fiction, 17th century



From Goodreads:

"WRONGED. HANGED. ALIVE? (AND TRUE!) Anne can't move a muscle, can't open her eyes, can't scream. She lies immobile in the darkness, unsure if she'd dead, terrified she's buried alive, haunted by her final memory—of being hanged. A maidservant falsely accused of infanticide in 1650 England and sent to the scaffold, Anne Green is trapped with her racing thoughts, her burning need to revisit the events—and the man—that led her to the gallows. Meanwhile, a shy 18-year-old medical student attends his first dissection and notices something strange as the doctors prepare their tools . . . Did her eyelids just flutter? Could this corpse be alive? Beautifully written, impossible to put down, and meticulously researched, Newes from the Dead is based on the true story of the real Anne Green, a servant who survived a hanging to awaken on the dissection table. Newes from the Dead concludes with scans of the original 1651 document that recounts this chilling medical phenomenon."