The Birth of Damnation

FIRST SECOND OF THE MONTH: NEVER LET ME GO

From the prize-winning author of The Remains of the Day comes a devastating new novel of innocence, knowledge, and loss. As children Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy were students at Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school secluded in the English countryside. It was a place of mercurial cliques and mysterious rules where teachers were constantly reminding their charges of how special they were.

Now, years later, Kathy is a young woman. Ruth and Tommy have re-entered her life. And for the first time she is beginning to look back at their shared past and understand just what it is that makes them special – and how that gift will shape the rest of their time together. Suspenseful, moving, beautifully atmospheric, Never Let Me Go administers its revelations as precisely as drops of acid.

AUTHOR: KAZUO ISHIGURO

Kazuo Ishiguro is the author of five previous novels, including The Remains of the Day, which won the Booker Prize and became an international bestseller. His work has been translated into twenty-eight languages. In 1995 he received an Order of the British Empire for service to literature, and in 1998 was named a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. He lives in London with his wife and daughter.

SECOND HALF OF THE MONTH: STARGIRL

From the day she arrives at quiet Mica High in a burst of color and sound, the hallways hum with the murmur of “Stargirl, Stargirl.” She captures Leo Borlock’s heart with just one smile. She sparks a school-spirit revolution with just one cheer. The students of Mica High are enchanted. At first.

Then they turn on her. Stargirl is suddenly shunned for everything that makes her different and Leo, panicked and desperate with love, urges her to become the very thing that can destroy her: normal. In this celebration of nonconformity, Newberry Medalist Jerry Spinelli weaves an emotional tale about the perils of popularity – and the thrill and inspiration of first love.

AUTHOR: JERRY SPINELI

Jerry Spinelli is the author of many books for young readers, including Loser; Maniac Magee, winner of the Newberry Medal; Wringer, winner of a Newberry Honor Award; Crash; and Knots in My Yo-Yo string, his autobiography. A graduate of Gettysburg College, Jerry Spinelli lives with his wife, Eileen in Pennsylvania.