Beneath a Meth Moon is the short but impactful story of Laurel, a fifteen year old meth addict.  Of course, Laurel wasn’t always a meth head and she never meant to be.  It just happened one day, when she went to a party and met T-Boom, the co-captain of the football team and he gave her a taste.  That taste was such a release for Laurel, a release from the pain of her mother and grandmother getting taken away by the flood, a release from leaving her home town, moving someplace new and more. After that Laurel just wanted to fly, just fly with the meth it made her feel free.  Except she wasn’t free at all she was a slave to her addiction.  As Laurel bounces back and forth between time periods and people in her life- you’ll see how much she lost and  gave up because of her addiction- her friends, her dad, her little brother- her mind.  You’ll keep reading because you want to know if Laurel makes it – or if she’ll end up like all the other teens that only exist in murals as a remembrance of their short meth filled lives in the town she ends up begging on the streets in because she just needs to a few dollars to feed her addiction. 

(Renee, the Loft)

"Around page 10 I wanted to live in this world.  By page 30 I was calling all my friends to read it and by page 100 U was staying up all night to finish.  If you love books you'll want to live there too."

Gifted with the ability to draw objects out of books, Isacc Vainio, a libriomancer, seeks assistance from a Harley-riding dryad after a number of vampire attacks are reported by other members of his secret, magic organization.

Find Libriomancer in the Loft.   

“My name is Tegan Oglietti, and on the last day of my first life, I was so, so happy.  I’ll tell you the whole story.”

So begins Tegan’s story in When We Wake. You’ll find yourself pulled in right away because this story has a twist right off the bat.  Tegan’s first life tragically ended in 2027 – at a time when everything was going almost perfectly with her friends and new boyfriend, Dalmar. 

Tegan’s next memory begins 100 years later in room with a doctor she’s never seen before.  She’s informed she was shot and because she had indicated on her license that she would donate her body to science she ended being part of a military research project where they were hoping to revive people who had been cryogenically frozen because of fatal injuries.  Tegan is the first person to successfully be revived.  She has become a “Living Dead Girl.” All of Tegan’s friends, families and loved ones are dead and their lives all went on without her. As Tegan struggles with her new reality, she also must grapple with being the poster child of the military’s new success, which they tote as a way to save soldiers that have been killed in battle.  It seems like a noble except the military wants to keep an eye on her at all times and control most aspects of her life.  As Tegan tries to restart her life by returning to school and making new friends, she also has to combat the many conspiracy theories the public has about her and the military’s project. She’s left with tough choices to make- whether she wants to try and live as normal a life as possible or if she wants to take on military and media make sure the real story about her and everyone else involved is known. 

Reading poetry can be a healing, peaceful act after shocking events leave us aching. This simple 1947 poem by Weldon Kees made me think about the dead, their families, and the grievously wounded after the Boston bombs on Monday. (Loft Jarrett)

Small Prayer

by Weldon Kees