New Books and Movies at the Library

Wowbrary.com lists the top new releases at libraries around the country. Here is a look at 10 new items you can now find at the .

1. The Great Muppet Caper - Kermit's 50th Anniversary Edition, from Universal Pictures. "The crime of the century has occurred and investigative reporters Kermit, Fozzie, and Gonzo are out to crack the case in this song-filled, star-studded extravaganza directed by the legendary Jim Henson. Our heroes arrive in London to interview Lady Holiday (Diana Rigg), a high-fashion designer whose priceless diamond necklace has just been stolen. But when Kermit mistakes lovely receptionist/would-be model Miss Piggy for her aristocratic employer, it's love at first sight. Unfortunately, Lady Holiday's scheming brother (Charles Grodin) is also wooing the sultry swine -- so he can frame her for another brazen jewel heist!"

2. Mexican Muralists: Orozco, Rivera, Siqueiros, by Desmond Rochfort. "In Mexico in the early 1920s, a growing, collective social  consciousness gave rise to a revolutionary furor focused on liberating  the country's workers from harsh conditions and poverty. In 1921, Mexican artists Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David  Alfaro Siqueiros were all commissioned by the government to create  educational paintings on the walls of public buildings."

3. Ben Behind His Voices: One Family's Journey from the Chaos of Schizophrenia to Hope, By Randye Kaye. A "gripping story of one family's challenging experience when their firstborn is gradually struck down by schizophrenia - and how they learned to love and support him throughout his eventual steps to recovery."

4. Happy Accidents, by Jane Lynch. "In the summer of 1974, a 14-year-old girl in Dolton, Ill., had a dream to become an actress, like her idols Ron Howard and Vicki Lawrence. But it was a long way from the South Side of Chicago to Hollywood ..."

5. Killing the Cranes: A Reporter's Journey Through Three Decades of War in Afghanistan, by Edward Girardet. "In a gripping, personal account, Girardet delivers a story of that nation's resistance fighters, foreign invaders, mercenaries, spies, aid workers, Islamic extremists, and others who have defined Afghanistan's last thirty years of war, chaos, and strife."

6. Muppet Treasure Island - Kermit's 50th Anniversary Edition, from Walt Disney Pictures. "Hilarity on the high seas with Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, and all the Muppets in this exciting first-ever action-adventure, inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's classic pirate tale. When young Jim Hawkins inherits a long-lost treasure map, he hires the great ship Hispaniola to seek his fortune. With the good Captain Smollett (Kermit the Frog) at the helm –- and greedy Long John Silver (Tim Curry) at the heart of a dastardly plot -- they set sail for adventure only to discover danger at every turn!"

7. Lincoln and the Border States: Preserving the Union, by William C. Harris. "Faced with a divided nation, Abraham Lincoln deemed the loyalty of the border slave states of Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri crucial to the preservation of the Union. But while most scholars contend that these states were secure by the end of 1861, award-winning historian William C. Harris argues that Confederate campaigns and guerrilla activities kept the border region in constant turmoil."

8. Death of an Empire: The Rise and Murderous Fall of Salem, America's Richest City, by Robert Booth. "Most readers know Salem only for the city’s notorious witch trials. But years later it became a very different city, one that produced America’s first millionaire ... Westward expansion and the industrial revolution would eventually erode Salem’s political importance, but it was a shocking murder and the scandal that followed which led at last to its fall from national prominence."

9. The Everything Guide to Writing Your First Novel: All the tools you need to write and sell your first novel (Everything Series), by Hallie Ephron. "This guide covers the entire novel-writing process--from polishing an idea to finding an agent and submitting to publishers."

10. The Ice Princess, by Camilla Läckberg. "Returning to her hometown after the funeral of her parents, writer Erica Falck finds a community on the brink of tragedy. The death of her childhood friend, Alex, is just the beginning."