Waiting on Wednesday: Sign Language by Amy Ackley

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine to spotlight an upcoming release that we're excited about.  This week I'm waiting on Sign Language by Amy Ackley.

 Twelve-year-old Abby North’s first hint that something is really wrong with her dad is how long it’s taking him to recover from what she thought was routine surgery. Soon, the thing she calls “It” has a real name: cancer. Before, her biggest concerns were her annoying brother, the crush unaware of her existence, and her changing feelings for her best friend, Spence, the boy across the street. Now, her mother cries in the shower, her father is exhausted, and nothing is normal anymore. Amy Ackley’s impressive debut is wrenching, heartbreaking, and utterly true.

I wonder why it's called Sign Language?  I'll have to wait to find out.  This sounds like a realistic look at how hard illness can be on an entire family.  It's not just that someone you love is sick, but all the effects of that as well.

Sign Language will be available August 18th.

The Eternal Ones by Kristen Miller

With a title like the eternal ones, I was expecting another vampire novel and wasn't all that excited about reading it. Then I realized it was by Kirsten Miller, the Kristen Miller, as in the Kristen Miller who wrote the Kiki Strike books, which I loved. Speaking of which, Kristen Miller, when is the next Kiki Strike book coming out? It's been forever since The Empress's Tomb.

So the eternal ones. Haven has been having visions of another life since she was a little girl. She remembers places she's never been and people she's never met and can't shake an unnaturally strong desire to find someone named Ethan who she's sure is in New York. Getting to New York isn't so easy. Haven is now 17 and her small town in Tennessee is convinced she's possessed by a demon. Haven sees a boy on TV and she knows he's Ethan. Haven runs away to New York to find him, and discovers she's remembering a past life, and Iain (the guys she saw on TV) was Ethan, her true love. Maybe. In Haven's past life, both she and Ethan died in a fire and Haven can't remember who set it. Was it Ethan himself? Is Haven destined to live out life after life betrayed by the one she loves?

The Thin Executioner by Darren Shan

Jebel Rum is the runt of his family, and has been publicly shamed by his father, the much honored executioner of Wadi. Jebel wants to compete in the competition to become the next executioner, but knows he has no chance of winning. Jebel decides to set out on a quest to ask the high god Sabbah Eid for invincibility. The quest will be long and hard and take many months. Not only that, but Jebel must find a slave that will go with him, and then allow himself to be sacrificed to the high god.

Jebel finds Tel Hesani, who is willing to sacrifice his own life in return for his family's freedom, and the two set off. Things do not go as planned.

No and Me by Dephine de Vigan

No and Me isn't actually a new book, but it's new in America. It was written in 2005, but it has now been translated from the French by George Miller and will be available this month.

Lou is only 13, but already she's in high school. Lou feels apart from almost everyone else in her class because she so young, and because she's always thinking. Her thoughts are never quiet. For a class presentation, Lou decides to look at the topic of homelessness. She will follow the journey of a homeless girl, and how she ended up on the street.

The Toymaker by Jeremy de Quidt

Mathias does not know that soon he is going to be running for his life after being tortured and beaten. Mathias has not met the only two people that he can trust in the world. Mathias does not realize that he is going to have the capability of taking down an empire. All Mathias knows is that his grandfather had a secret, and that secret is now his whether he wants it or not.

First off I would like to say that the cover that I have posted is not the one I had. This book was originally published in the UK in 2008, and is finally making its way to America with a different cover. I found the cover that I had a better representation of the book, but I couldn't find a free-standing image. But here's a link to it in case you want to see what it's going to look like for its Aug. 10 release.

On with the actual review:

Bone: Tall Tales by Jeff Smith and Tom Sniegoski

Smiley Bone is "leading" a camping trip with the Bone Scouts. The scouts ask for a campfire story, and Smiley tells them tales of Big Johnson Bone, who founded Boneville.

This is a typical Bone graphic novel, but it's separate from the Bone cousin wandering in the woods series. Big Johnson Bone is a Davy Crockeresq character, who goes on adventures and fights bears and saves small woodland creatures from harm all the while telling tales of his heroics. We also see the first fight with the rat creatures and learn why they don't have long, rat-like tails. Lots of fun. The lovers of Bone will enjoy this companion graphic.

Bone: Tall Tales is available in August.

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Tessa Gray is sixteen and heading to Victorian England to meet her brother after the death of her aunt and guardian. Once she arrives, she is kidnapped from the docks, the life of her beloved brother is threatened, and Tessa is tortured until she can control a power she never knew she had: the ability to transform into another person and retain their thoughts and emotions. She soon learns that her abilities are to be harnessed by the evil Magister and it is only by marrying him that she can save her brother. At her darkest hour she is rescued and introduced to the world of demons, angels, Downworlders and Shadowhunters. It is in the safety of the Institute that Tessa tries to understand this new culture with the help of dark Will, gentle Jem, self-absorbed Jessamine, motherly Charlotte, and absent-minded Henry; but is distracted by anxiety for her brother and the growing attraction she has for Jem and Will. Unfortunately her own emotions and confusion must be put aside as the Magister sets a trap and all that Tessa holds dear is put at risk.