Ernest Cline
Ready Player One

An SLJ Top Ten Back-To-School Adult Title "This adrenaline shot of uncut geekdom, a quest through a virtual world, is loaded with enough 1980s nostalgia to please even the most devoted John Hughes fans… sweet, self-deprecating Wade, whose universe is an odd mix of the real past and the virtual present, is the perfect lovable/unlikely hero."—Publishers Weekly, Pick of the Week

Erin Morgenstern
The Night Circus

An SLJ Top Ten Back-To-School Adult Title "To enter the black-and-white-striped tents of Le Cirque des Rêves is to enter a world where objects really do turn into birds and people really do disappear…Debut novelist Morgenstern has written a 19th-century flight of fancy that is, nevertheless, completely believable. The smells, textures, sounds, and sights are almost palpable. A literary Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, this read is completely magical."
—Library Journal (starred review)

Carol Birch
Jamrach's Menagerie

An SLJ Top Ten Back-To-School Adult Title "[An] almost unbearably suspenseful story of adventure and survival....as the story advances, a powerfully pervasive sense of melancholy takes hold of the reader, much as the tiger did young Jaffy, and one wonders if it will ever let go. Though Mr. Jamrach is based on a real historical figure, and Jaffy's voyage on that of the ill-fated whaler Essex, the story is entirely Birch's, and her principal characters are her own wonderful invention. She is, moreover, a brilliant stylist; reader her is like Christmas, every word being a gift to the reader." —Booklist (starred review)

Sandra Beasley
Don't Kill the Birthday Girl

An SLJ Top Ten Back-To-School Adult Title "Poet Sandra Beasley offers a memoir about living with severe allergies during every stage of her life, including as a teen and college student. 'Despite living in a world in which just about everything seems to want to kill her, she writes with a sense of humor that sustains her insights and abundant research.'"
—School Library Journal

Marzena Sowa
Marzi

Told from a young girl's perspective, Marzena Sowa's memoir of a childhood shaped by politics feels remarkably fresh and immediate. Structured as a series of vignettes that build on one another, MARZI is a compelling and powerful coming-of-age story that portrays the harsh realities of life behind the Iron Curtain while maintaining the everyday wonders and curiosity of childhood.

Vanessa Diffenbaugh
The Language of Flowers

An SLJ Top Ten Back-To-School Adult Title �Enchanting, ennobling, and powerfully engaging, Diffenbaugh�s artfully accomplished debut novel lends poignant testimony to the multitude of mysteries held in the human heart.��Booklist (starred review)

�Fans of Janet Fitch�s White Oleander will enjoy this solid and well-written debut, which is also certain to be a hit with book clubs.��Library Journal (starred review)

Helen Grant
The Glass Demon

An SLJ Top Ten Back-To-School Adult Title "A spectacular mix of history and horror that expertly draws from numerous genres….Skillfully mixing the strains of a dysfunctional family with the rising terror of the supernatural, Grant has produced a mesmerizing page-turner that brilliant depicts the claustrophobic fear of a young woman grappling with the deadly secrets of the forest and the demonic nightmare lurking within."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Caroline Alexander
Lost Gold of the Dark Ages

National Geographic, and New York Times bestselling author Caroline Alexander, reveal the crucible of England's creation--the mysterious Dark Ages--through a fascinating tale of war, religion, and an unprecedented hoard of golden artifacts that promise to shed new light on the Anglo Saxons in England.