The Midnight Orchestra

The Midnight Orchestra
Author: Jessica Khoury
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 319
Release: 2022-06-14
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0358665965

In this spellbinding sequel to The Mystwick School of Musicraft, Amelia must master the magic of Composing to help her school win a magic competition—and save her friends from a mysterious evil. Things are finally looking up for Amelia Jones: she's officially a Mystwick student, and she even has a teacher to help her learn how to use her rare Composing magic. When Mystwick enters an international magic competition, it’s Amelia's chance to Compose something that will help them win the day. The only problem is that she still doesn’t understand how her powers work. But then she hears about a super exclusive Midnight Orchestra—half performance, half magical black market—and Amelia is sure that’s where she’ll find the answer to her Composing problem. But the Midnight Orchestra is far more sinister than it initially appears and if Amelia can’t unlock her Composing powers, not only will Mystwick lose the musicraft competition, she won’t be able to rescue her friends from the danger unleashed in this thrilling adventure.

The Mystwick School of Musicraft

The Mystwick School of Musicraft
Author: Jessica Khoury
Publisher: Clarion Books
Total Pages: 373
Release: 2020
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 132862563X

Twelve-year-old Amelia gets the opportunity to attend a boarding school and learn how to use music to create magic, hoping to become a Maestro like her deceased mother.

Tempt Me at Midnight

Tempt Me at Midnight
Author: Maureen Smith
Publisher: Kimani Press
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2010-12-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1426876173

Lexi Austin is living a fantasy. At the stroke of midnight, in the most romantic country in the world, a masked stranger sweeps her into his arms. But when the man turns out to be Quentin Reddick, Lexi's best friend since college, the celebrity chef knows she's in trouble. He may be the most irresistible man on the planet, but the powerhouse attorney is also the world's hardest partying bachelor. The sensual woman he kissed on New Year's Eve is a world away from the fast-talking tomboy Quentin always thought of as a kid sister. Back home in Atlanta, he plans to show Lexi that he's a one-woman man. As desire reignites—even hotter than before—he'll tempt her with his passion. Seduce her with his love. And together, they'll ring in the new year—and every year—in each other's arms….

Good Morning, Midnight

Good Morning, Midnight
Author: Lily Brooks-Dalton
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2016-08-09
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0812998901

“A remarkable and gifted debut novel” (Colson Whitehead) about two outsiders—a lonely scientist in the Arctic and an astronaut trying to return to Earth—as they grapple with love, regret, and survival in a world transformed. THE INSPIRATION FOR THE NETFLIX ORIGINAL FILM THE MIDNIGHT SKY, DIRECTED BY AND STARRING GEORGE CLOONEY Augustine, a brilliant, aging astronomer, is consumed by the stars. For years he has lived in remote outposts, studying the sky for evidence of how the universe began. At his latest posting, in a research center in the Arctic, news of a catastrophic event arrives. The scientists are forced to evacuate, but Augustine stubbornly refuses to abandon his work. Shortly after the others have gone, Augustine discovers a mysterious child, Iris, and realizes that the airwaves have gone silent. They are alone. At the same time, Mission Specialist Sullivan is aboard the Aether on its return flight from Jupiter. The astronauts are the first human beings to delve this deep into space, and Sully has made peace with the sacrifices required of her: a daughter left behind, a marriage ended. So far the journey has been a success. But when Mission Control falls inexplicably silent, Sully and her crewmates are forced to wonder if they will ever get home. As Augustine and Sully each face an uncertain future against forbidding yet beautiful landscapes, their stories gradually intertwine in a profound and unexpected conclusion. In crystalline prose, Good Morning, Midnight poses the most important questions: What endures at the end of the world? How do we make sense of our lives? Lily Brooks-Dalton’s captivating debut is a meditation on the power of love and the bravery of the human heart. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY SHELF AWARENESS AND THE CHICAGO REVIEW OF BOOKS “Stunningly gorgeous . . . The book contemplates the biggest questions—What is left at the end of the world? What is the impact of a life’s work?”—Portland Mercury “A beautifully written, sparse post-apocalyptic novel that explores memory, loss and identity . . . Fans of Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven and Kim Stanley Robinson’s Aurora will appreciate the Brooks-Dalton’s exquisite exploration of relationships in extreme environments.”—The Washington Post

Vitro

Vitro
Author: Jessica Khoury
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 349
Release: 2014-01-14
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 1101604530

"Magnificent and unsettling." --Marie Lu, New York Times Bestselling author of the Legend Trilogy A death-defying tropical adventure delivers a frightening message about dabbling with creation, perfect for fans of Orphan Black. On a remote island in the Pacific, Corpus scientists have taken test tube embryos and given them life. These beings—the Vitros—have knowledge and abilities most humans can only dream of. But they also have one enormous flaw. Sophie Crue is determined to get to Skin Island and find her mother, a scientist who left Sophie behind years ago. She enlists hunky charter pilot Jim Julien to take her there. But once on the island, Sophie and Jim encounter more than they bargained for, including a charming, brilliant Vitro named Nicholas and an innocent, newly awoken one named Lux. In a race for their lives, Sophie and Jim are about to discover what happens when science stretches too far beyond its reach.

Sparrow Rising (Skyborn #1)

Sparrow Rising (Skyborn #1)
Author: Jessica Khoury
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2021-08-03
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1338652400

Jessica Khoury brings her masterful world-building and emotional depth to a brand-new fantasy series. In a world where everyone is born with wings, stone monsters prowl the skies, hunting those who dare to fly too high. In the Clandoms, everyone is born with wings, with tight-knit communities formed around bird types: Jay, Falcon, Crow.Ellie Meadows dreams of growing up to join the Goldwings -- the famed knights who defend all the people of the Clandoms. It was a Goldwing, after all, who saved her life on that terrible day her parents were killed. There's just one problem: Ellie is a Sparrow, and the Goldwings are almost invariably picked from the higher clans like Eagles and Ospreys. This rigid hierarchy means that Ellie is destined to become a farmer.Determined to honor her parents' memories and prove herself worthy of the Goldwings, Ellie sets out on her own for the capital. But her journey will be dangerous. Foul creatures called gargols lurk behind every cloud, ready to slay anyone unlucky enough to be caught outside in a storm -- just as Ellie's family was.Soon her path intertwines with a colorful band of fellow outcasts, each with their own aspirations... and their own secrets. Ellie's new friends offer not just roadside companionship. They'll challenge her ideas of right, wrong, and what truly makes a hero.

Midnight Hour Encores

Midnight Hour Encores
Author: Bruce Brooks
Publisher: Turtleback Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 1988
Genre:
ISBN: 9780833518521

At sixteen, Sibilance T. Spooner decides to see her mother, who gave her up at birth. As her father takes her, he tries to explain some of her mother's characteristics to prepare Sib. But Sib finds some surprises in her mother and in herself.

Moanin' at Midnight

Moanin' at Midnight
Author: James Segrest
Publisher: Pantheon
Total Pages: 585
Release: 2012-11-28
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0307831019

Howlin’ Wolf was a musical giant in every way. He stood six foot three, weighed almost three hundred pounds, wore size sixteen shoes, and poured out his darkest sorrows onstage in a voice like a raging chainsaw. Half a century after his first hits, his sound still terrifies and inspires. Born Chester Burnett in 1910, the Wolf survived a grim childhood and hardscrabble youth as a sharecropper in Mississippi. He began his career playing and singing with the first Delta blues stars for two decades in perilous juke joints. He was present at the birth of rock ’n’ roll in Memphis, where Sam Phillips–who also discovered Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis–called Wolf his “greatest discovery.” He helped develop the sound of electric blues and vied with rival Muddy Waters for the title of king of Chicago blues. He ended his career performing and recording with the world’s most famous rock stars. His passion for music kept him performing–despite devastating physical problems–right up to his death in 1976. There’s never been a comprehensive biography of the Wolf until now. Moanin’ at Midnight is full of startling information about his mysterious early years, surprising and entertaining stories about his decades at the top, and never-before-seen photographs. It strips away all the myths to reveal–at long last–the real-life triumphs and tragedies of this blues titan.

Midnight at the Barrelhouse

Midnight at the Barrelhouse
Author: George Lipsitz
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
Total Pages: 287
Release: 2010-03-03
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1452939292

Considered by many to be the godfather of R&B, Johnny Otis—musician, producer, artist, entrepreneur, pastor, disc jockey, writer, and tireless fighter for racial equality—has had a remarkable life by any measure. In this first biography of Otis, George Lipsitz tells the largely unknown story of a towering figure in the history of African American music and culture who was, by his own description, “black by persuasion.” Born to Greek immigrant parents in Vallejo, California, in 1921, Otis grew up in an integrated neighborhood and identified deeply with black music and culture from an early age. He moved to Los Angeles as a young man and submerged himself in the city’s vibrant African American cultural life, centered on Central Avenue and its thriving music scene. Otis began his six-decade career in music playing drums in territory swing bands in the 1930s. He went on to lead his own band in the 1940s and open the Barrelhouse nightclub in Watts. His R&B band had seventeen Top 40 hits between 1950 and 1969, including “Willie and the Hand Jive.” As a producer and A&R man, Otis discovered such legends as Etta James, Jackie Wilson, and Big Mama Thornton. Otis also wrote a column for the Sentinel, one of L.A.’s leading black newspapers, became pastor of his own interracial church, hosted popular radio and television shows that introduced millions to music by African American artists, and was lauded as businessman of the year in a 1951 cover story in Negro Achievements magazine. Throughout his career Otis’s driving passion has been his fearless and unyielding opposition to racial injustice, whether protesting on the front lines, exposing racism and championing the accomplishments of black Americans, or promoting African American musicians. Midnight at the Barrelhouse is a chronicle of a life rich in both incident and inspiration, as well as an exploration of the complicated nature of race relations in twentieth-century America. Otis’s total commitment to black culture and transcendence of racial boundaries, Lipsitz shows, teach important lessons about identity, race, and power while encapsulating the contradictions of racism in American society.