Time for our ‘weekly’ look at the new books we’ve purchased for the teens section.

Circle the Truth, by Pat Schmatz (188 pages) – A spiral staircase replaces the usual stairs, and Rith discovers another world. This is a book about truth, God, and identity, and reviews are very favourable. And the library’s copy is signed by the author!

Child of Dandelions, by Shenaaz Nanji (214 pages) – In 1972, the Ugandan president, Idi Amin, ordered all Indians in the country to leave. This book is about an Indian girl and her family, whose Ugandan citizenship was no protection from Idi Amin’s ruthless prosecution of ethnic groups.

Dinotopia : Journey to Chandara, by James Gurney (158 pages) – This is the fourth Dinotopia book. Dinotopia is a lost island where dinosaurs and humans co-exist; this particular book is presented as a nineteenth-century explorer’s journal. The illustrations (and it is full of paintings) are absolutely stunning, and the world this book depicts truly comes to life.

Doppelganger : The Bloodwater Mysteries, by Pete Hautman (159 pages) – What would you do if you discovered yourself on a missing-children website? It happened to Brian – and now his adopted parents aren’t talking. This mystery will keep you guessing, unless you flip to the end like I did.

Lamplighter : Book II of the Monster Blood Tattoo series, by D. M. Cornish (707 pages) – Rossamünd lives in the Half-Continent, a kind of magic-infused Victorian England, and is a prentice-lighter for the Imperial Lamplighters. This book is massive and finely illustrated.

The Stone Crown, by Malcolm Walker (509 pages) – King Arthur (“not the noble king of legend“) and his men threaten 21st-century Scotland.

Sovay, by Celia Rees (403 pages) – Sovay is a highway robber in England, 1794. She is also … well, a she. One day she lifts the wallet belonging to one of the most powerful and dangerous men in England, and soon Sovay is drawn into the perilous world of international intrigue.

Gool, by Maurice Gee (209 pages) – This is a sequel to Maurice Gee’s highly-acclaimed Salt. It is set sixteen years later; “Xantee and Lo embark on a quest through jungles, mountains, and ruined cities to defeat the evil gool. Set in a post-apocalyptic world of monsters and tyranny.”