Request Book Bundles
Book Bundles are multiple copies of the same book that have been donated to CKBB. You can request these books in increments of 5 to use for classroom curriculum, gifts for students, book clubs or small reading groups. Please note that titles and quantities are limited. Book Bundle Requests must be picked up within 30 days of fulfillment.
Book Bundles
A Scarlet's Secret to a Sensational Afterlife
By Kendall Kulper
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 14 - 17 years
Eighteen-year-old Henrietta arrives in Los Angeles in 1934 with dreams of trading her boring life for stardom.
She’s determined to make it as an actress, despite her family’s doubts and rumors of would-be starlets gone missing. And by the skin of her teeth, she pulls it off! A serendipitous job offer arrives and Henrietta finds herself on a whirlwind publicity tour for a major film role—with a vexingly unpleasant actor tapped by the studio to be her fake boyfriend.
But fierce Henrietta has more in common with brooding Declan than she realizes. They both have gifts that they are hiding, for fear of being labeled strange: he is immune to injury and she can speak to ghosts. When the co-stars get tangled up in the disappearance of a beautiful young actress, they go from bitter enemies and pretend lovers to reluctant partners—and possibly even friends.
Together, they might be the only people in Hollywood who can do something about these poor missing girls. And in doing so . . . they might just fall in love for real.
This whip smart, seductive caper by the author of Murder for the Modern Girl has the perfect combination of romance, vengeance, and a hint of the supernatural, set in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Hand to fans of These Violent Delights and My Lady Jane.
And Then There Was Us
By Kern Carter
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 13 - 17 years
A mother's death forces a teen girl to reevaluate their tumultuous relationship in this powerful coming-of-age novel for teens. For fans of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter. After years of physical and verbal abuse from her mother, fourteen-year-old Coi moved in with her father, and together they created a peaceful life. But now, four years later, that peace is shattered when her mother dies. While Coi struggles to find kindness in her heart for the woman who did nothing but hurt her, her mother's passing does help reopen the door to her mother's side of the family. It's only through reconnecting with her estranged family members, especially her younger half-sister Kayla, that Coi's long-held views about her mother are challenged. And when Coi begins to see visions of her mother in her dreams, she is forced to ask herself what it means to forgive and be forgiven, and, most importantly, what it means to be family.
Arya Khanna's Bollywood Moment
By Arushi Avachat
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 13 - 17 years
Save the Date meets Never Have I Ever in this sparkling debut rom-com about a high school senior whose life suddenly gets a Bollywood spin when her sister gets engaged. Shaadi preparations are in full swing, which means lehenga shopping, taste testing, dance rehearsals, and best of all, Arya’s sister Alina is home. The Khannas are together again, finally, and Arya wants to enjoy it. So she stifles her lingering resentment towards Alina, plays mediator during her sister’s fights with their mother, and welcomes her future brother-in-law with open arms. (Okay, maybe enjoy isn't exactly right.) Meanwhile at school, Arya’s senior year dreams are unraveling. In between class and her part-time gig as a bookshop assistant, Arya struggles to navigate the aftermath of a bad breakup between her two best friends and a tense student council partnership with her rival, the frustratingly attractive Dean Merriweather. Arya is determined to keep the peace at home and at school, but this shaadi season teaches Arya new realities: Alina won’t always be in the bedroom down the hall, Mamma’s sadness isn’t mendable, friendships must evolve, and life doesn’t always work out like her beloved Bollywood movies. But sometimes, the person you least expect will give you a glimpse of your dream sequence just when you need it most. Structured like a Bollywood film (entertaining intermission included!) Arya Khanna’s Bollywood Moment will make you swoon, laugh, cry, think, nod your head in agreement, and quite possibly make you get up and dance.
Cam's Quest: The Continuing Story of Princess Nevermore and the Wizard's Apprentice
By Dian Curtis Regan
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 9 - 12 years
Seventeen-year-old Cam realizes that to plan his future, he must untangle the mysteries of his past. For as long as he can remember, he has served as the apprentice to Melikar, the wizard. Now released from Melikars service, its time to seek out the truth of his birth. In the meantime, Princess Quinn-his princess-must choose a husband. Because of his station, Cam can only stand by and watch-or seek his future in the outer world. In this sequel to Princess Nevermore, secrets are revealed that ensure a future that neither Quinn nor Cam had dared to imagine.
Cassie and the Spectral Shade: Book One of the Chronicles of Eridul
By Daniel M Nichols
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 15 - 18 years
Cassie, a 16 year old girl, has a whole new lease on life after being accepted into the prestigious Governor's School for the Arts at Walnut Grove on full scholarship. As an older first year student, Cassie finds herself stuck between younger students with wealthy pedigrees and upperclass students who want little to do with her. Cobbling together a loose set of friends from other misfits like herself, Cassie soon discovers that there is much more going on at the school than she first imagined as her unique talents catapult her into an envious position with the faculty. Too late, Cassie realizes that her artistic talents have an otherworldly source that the school has been trying to tap for decades. When it becomes clear that her vivid dreams are much more than dreams, Cassie finds herself in the middle of a complex nexus of intrigue and danger. More importantly, Cassie discovers a deeper truth about herself and the students around her that will either break all of reality or restore what has been lost.
Champion of Fate
By Kendare Blake
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 14 - 17 years
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Kendare Blake comes a new epic duology following a young woman’s training to shepherd a princely hero to victory. Perfect for fans of Alexandra Bracken and Stephanie Garber. The Aristene are an elusive order of immortal female warriors. To be championed by them is to become a legend. They are the Heromakers. As an orphan raised by the order, Reed has always dreamed of taking her place beside her sisters-in-arms. To do that, she must to guide her first hero to victory. Nothing is going to stop Reed. Until, that is, she meets her assigned hero – the fiery and infuriating Hestion. But what begins as a strategic alliance turns into something more and she starts to question the true cost of becoming an Aristene. With battle looming, Reed must make an impossible choice – her hero or her order.
Diet Soda Club
By Chaz Hayden
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 13 - 17 years
null
Does this Book Make Me Look Fat?
By Marissa Walsh
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 12 - 17 years
How often do you find yourself looking in the mirror? And smiling at what you see? More likely, you're thinking what you see is: Fat, Ugly, Skinny, Round, Stacked or Flat, Bad or Good. From reality television to tabloid headlines, we're all surrounded by weight and discussion of weight. In this collection, a stellar lineup of YA writers sound off on body image., self-esteem, diets, eating disorders, boys, fashion magazines, and why trying on jeans is a bad experience for everyone. There are eight powerful short stories and six moving personal essays from authors whose works include two New York Times bestsellers, a Los Angeles TImes Book Prize, and a Printz Honor; an appendix offers book, movie, and music recommendations. (And in case you're still wondering, No this book does not make you look fat.)
Ellie Haycock Is Totally Normal
By Gretchen Schreiber
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 12 - 18 years
The Breakfast Club meets Five Feet Apart in this big-hearted novel from debut author Gretchen Schreiber. Ellie Haycock has always separated her life into sections: Ellie at home and Ellie at the hospital. At home, Ellie is a proud member of her high school’s speech and debate team alongside her best friend and her boyfriend. At the hospital, Ellie has a team of doctors and a mom who won’t stop posting about the details of her illness online. It’s not hard for Ellie to choose which of the two she prefers. But this latest hospital stay is different. Ellie becomes close with a group of friends, including Ryan, a first-timer who’s still optimistic about the doctors that Ellie stopped trusting years ago. Despite their differences, she can’t seem to keep him out of her head. Ellie’s life has never been ordinary—but maybe this time it will be extraordinary.
Enola Holmes and the Mark of the Mongoose
By Nancy Springer
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 12 - 17 years
In May of 1890, Enola Holmes is finally fully on her own and, no longer hiding from her older brothers Sherlock and Mycroft, attending classes and occasionally pursuing her chosen profession as a scientific perditorian, a finder of lost things and people.
Wolcott Balestier, the representative of an American book publisher, arrived in London on a singular mission―to contract with English authors for their latest works. When Balestier disappears on the streets of London one day, his great friend―Rudyard Kipling―bursts into Enola's office looking for help in finding him. Brash and unwilling to hire a young woman, instead he turns to Sherlock Holmes. Convinced that evil has befallen Balestier, at the hands of rival American publishers who pirate the works of English authors, he sets the elder Holmes on the trail.
But Enola is not one to accept defeat, especially not to her brother, and sets off on her own―determined to learn the truth behind the disappearance of the young American. Can book publishing truly be so ruthless and deadly or can the missing man be rescued from his apparent fate and returned to his friends and loved ones?
The redoubtable Enola is determined to do just that, even if it means working with her brother Sherlock!
Gwen and Art are Not in Love
By Lex Croucher
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 15 - 18 years
An Instant New York Times Bestseller!
"A total, rollicking delight. Gwen & Art gave me the same cheeky, swoony, giddy, irresistible high of the first time I saw A Knight’s Tale. Lex Croucher is one of my favorite romcom authors, and they should be yours, too." - Casey McQuiston, #1 New York Times bestselling author of I Kissed Shara Wheeler
Heartstopper meets A Knight’s Tale in this queer medieval rom com YA debut about love, friendship, and being brave enough to change the course of history.
It’s been hundreds of years since King Arthur’s reign. His descendant, Arthur, a future Lord and general gadabout, has been betrothed to Gwendoline, the quick-witted, short-tempered princess of England, since birth. The only thing they can agree on is that they despise each other.
They’re forced to spend the summer together at Camelot in the run up to their nuptials, and within 24 hours, Gwen has discovered Arthur kissing a boy and Arthur has gone digging for Gwen's childhood diary and found confessions about her crush on the kingdom's only lady knight, Bridget Leclair.
Realizing they might make better allies than enemies, they make a reluctant pact to cover for each other, and as things heat up at the annual royal tournament, Gwen is swept off her feet by her knight and Arthur takes an interest in Gwen's royal brother. Lex Croucher's Gwen & Art Are Not in Love is chock full of sword-fighting, found family, and romantic shenanigans destined to make readers fall in love.
"In this frivolous medieval romp of a queer rom-com, Lex Croucher toys with Arthurian legend to delightful effect." - Entertainment Weekly
“Fun and genuinely funny, with lovely friendships and first-rate dialogue. Gwen and Art may not be in love, but I fell for both of them.” - Rainbow Rowell, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Simon Snow trilogy
“Gwen & Art Are Not in Love was exactly what I needed right now―a delightful, heart-warming, hilarious historical romp, overflowing with queer panic and terrible jokes. I loved it.” - Alice Oseman, New York Times bestselling author of the Heartstopper series
Halfway There: A Graphic Memoir of Self-Discovery
By Christine Mari
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 13 - 17 years
A poignant young adult graphic memoir that follows one teen's year abroad in Japan, as she seeks to reconcile both sides of her biracial identity. Christine has always felt she is just half: Half American, half Japanese. As a biracial Japanese American who was born in Tokyo but raised in the US, she knows all too well what it’s like to be a part of two different worlds but never feeling as though you belong to either. Now on the brink of adulthood, Christine decides it’s time to return to the place she once called home. So she sets forth on a year abroad in Tokyo, believing that this is where she truly belongs. After years of feeling like an outsider, now she will finally be complete. Except…Tokyo isn’t the answer she thought it would be. Instead of fitting in, Christine finds herself a fish out of water, as being half of two cultures isolates her in ways she'd never imagined. All she can do is try to stay afloat for the rest of the year—still figuring out who she is, what she wants in life, and whether she’ll ever truly be more than halfway there. Author-illustrator Christine Mari explores what it means to lose and find yourself in this moving narrative of belonging and home.
Heir (A Good Morning America YA Book Club Pick)
By Sabaa Tahir
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 14 - 18 years
**A Good Morning America YA Book Club Pick** "Heir is a tour de force of fantasy that will leave readers breathless and boneless and aching for more." – Stephanie Garber, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Once Upon A Broken Heart Prepare for a ruthless and romantic new fantasy from #1 New York Times bestselling and National Book Award winning author Sabaa Tahir that introduces a new generation of characters set in the same world as the unforgettable An Ember in the Ashes series. An orphan. An outcast. A prince. And a killer who will bring an empire to its knees. Growing up in the Kegari slums, AIZ has seen her share of suffering. An old tragedy fuels her need for vengeance, but it is love of her people that propels her. Until one hotheaded mistake lands her in an inescapable prison, where the embers of her wrath ignite. Banished from her people for an unforgivable crime, SIRSHA is a down-on-her-luck tracker who uses magic to trace her marks. Destitute, she agrees to hunt down a killer who has murdered children across the Martial Empire. All she has to do is carry out the job and get paid. But when a chance encounter leads to an unexpected attraction, Sirsha learns her mission might cost her far more than she’s willing to give up. QUIL is the crown prince of the Empire and nephew of a venerated empress, but he’s loath to take the throne when his aunt steps down. As the son of a reviled emperor, he, better than anyone, understands that power corrupts. When a vicious new enemy threatens the survival of the Empire, Quil must ask himself if he can rise above his tragic lineage and be the heir his people need. Beloved storyteller Sabaa Tahir interweaves the lives of three young people as they grapple with power, treachery, love, and the devastating consequences of unchecked greed, on a journey that may cost them their lives—and their hearts. Literally.
Hungry Bones
By Louise Hung
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
By touching the belongings of people who have died, she gets brief glimpses into the lives they lived. Sometimes the “zaps” are funny or random, but often they leave her feeling sad, drained, and lonely.
The last thing Jade remembers from life is dying. That was over one hundred years ago. Ever since then she’s been trapped in the same house watching people move in and out. She’s a ‘hungry ghost’ reliant on the livings’ food scraps to survive. To most people she is only a shadow, a ghost story, a superstition.
Molly is not most people. When she moves into Jade’s house, nothing will ever be the same―for either of them. After over a century alone, Jade might finally have someone who can help her uncover the secrets of her past, and maybe even find a way out of the house―before her hunger destroys them both.
I Hope This Doesn't Find You
By Ann Liang
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 14 - 18 years
An instant New York Times bestseller! Snarky and romantic, I Hope This Doesn't Find You is Never Have I Ever meets To All the Boys I've Loved Before if Lara Jean wrote hate emails instead of love letters. Sadie Wen is perfect on paper: school captain, valedictorian, and a "pleasure to have in class." It's not easy, but she has a trick to keep her model-student smile plastered on her face at all times: she channels all her frustrations into her email drafts. She'd never send them of course -- she'd rather die than hurt anyone's feelings -- but it's a relief to let loose on her power-hungry English teacher or a freeloading classmate taking credit for Sadie's work. All her most vehemently worded emails are directed at her infuriating cocaptain, Julius Gong, whose arrogance and competitive streak have irked Sadie since they were kids. "You're attention starved and self-obsessed and unbearably vain . . . I really hope your comb breaks and you run out of whatever expensive hair products you've been using to make your hair appear deceptively soft . . ." Sadie doesn't have to hold back in her emails, because nobody will ever read them . . . that is, until they're accidentally sent out. Overnight, Sadie's carefully crafted, conflict-free life is turned upside down. It's her worst nightmare -- now everyone at school knows what she really thinks of them, and they're not afraid to tell her what they really think of her either. But amidst the chaos, there's one person growing to appreciate the "real" Sadie -- Julius, the only boy she's sworn to hate . . . .
I Survived Capitalism and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt: Everything I Wish I Never Had to Learn About Money
By Madeline Pendleton
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 17+ years
“Move on, Jim Cramer. Here’s the real deal—smart, undaunted, and eminently wise.”—Kirkus Reviews *starred review* A big-hearted, no-bullshit memoir from the TikTok superstar about her journey from living paycheck to paycheck to creating a multi-million-dollar business that offers a compassionate alternative to capitalism • Plus no-nonsense life and money advice, from negotiating pay and building credit to putting home ownership within reach Imagine a job where you work four days a week and earn as much as the CEO. You also get full benefits, a gym membership, free lunch, and unlimited time off, no questions asked. Hard-won profits don’t just end up in the CEO’s pocket—they’re distributed equally among all employees. The company even buys you your very own car. It sounds too good to be true, but this is the reality at Tunnel Vision, the clothing company that Madeline Pendleton built from the ground up. Like so many Americans, Madeline used to struggle to make ends meet. Raised by a punk dad and a goth mom in Fresno, California, she spent her teens intermittently homeless, relying on the kindness and spare couches of the local punk community to get by. By her twenties, she was drowning in student loans and credit card debt, working long hours and sick of her bosses treating her as disposable. Then her boyfriend, struggling with financial stress, died by suicide. Capitalism was literally killing her loved ones—she knew there must be a better way. Madeline decided to study the rules of capitalism, the game everyone is forced to play. She used what she learned to build a new kind of business, one rooted in an ethos of community care. Millennials and Gen Zers like Madeline are facing an unprecedented financial reality: Stagnant wages, skyrocketing housing costs, a student debt crisis. I Survived Capitalism is essential reading for anyone searching for hope and stability in an unjust world.
I Will Never Leave You
By Kara A. Kennedy
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 12 - 17 years
This emotional debut thriller follows a teen girl being haunted by the ghost of her toxic ex-girlfriend, who gives her a chilling ultimatum—help her possess another girl or go down for her murder. "A blistering exploration of the ugliest and tenderest parts of love, Kennedy turns the classic ghost story on its head."—Courtney Gould, author of The Dead and the Dark Maya has always belonged to Alana. After four years of dating, and on the precipice of graduating high school, Maya has been too terrified to consider the idea of life outside of their volatile relationship. Until she finds the courage to break up with Alana while they’re hiking in Southern California. Then Alana goes missing. As the police get involved and the media run wild with the story, everyone seems to think that Maya is lying about Alana’s disappearance. Secretly, Maya knows they’re right: if Alana’s dead, she’s the one to blame. But that’s not Maya’s only secret. Alana isn’t gone, not really—and she isn’t going to let Maya go so easily…
Immortal Dark
By Tigest Girma
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 17+ years
Nineteen-year-old orphan Kidan Adane, heiress to a fallen House of humans tethered to vampiric creatures called draniacs, navigates her duty to foster human-draniac relations, but when her sister is kidnapped, Kidan suspects a draniac and will do anything to find her.
My Father's Words
By Patricia MacLachlan
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
Patricia MacLachlan, beloved author of the Newbery Medal-winning Sarah, Plain and Tall, has crafted another lyrical and touching novel for young readers about finding hope after the loss of a loved one. This middle grade novel is an excellent choice for tween readers in grades 5 to 6, especially during homeschooling. It’s a fun way to keep your child entertained and engaged while not in the classroom. Declan O’Brien always had a gentle word to share, odd phrases he liked to repeat, and songs to sing while he played basketball. His favorite song was "Dona Nobis Pacem," “Grant Us Peace.” His family loved him deeply and always knew they were loved in return. But a terrible accident one day changes their lives forever, and Fiona and Finn O’Brien are left without a father. Their mother is at a loss. What words are there to guide them through such overwhelming grief? At the suggestion of their friend Luke, Fiona and Finn volunteer at an animal rescue shelter, where they meet two sweet dogs who are in need of comfort, too. Perhaps with time, patience, and their father’s gentle words in their hearts, hope will spark once more. * Junior Library Guild Selection * Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year 2019 (9-12) *
Nick & Slim: The Legend of the Falcon Mine
By Pamela Henn
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 12 - 17 years
For ages 12+. In a new home, a new town, and a new school, Nick feels more alone than ever. His father has buried himself in his job, and his mother isn't around to help. It seems like things can't get much worse, but then his class goes on a field trip to the Silverado Ghost Town. With no friends to vouch for him, Nick is framed for stealing a museum artefact -- the journal of the notorious Slim Marano, who was hanged for murder over 100 years ago. Just when he is sure that no one will believe him, Nick comes face-to-face with Slim's spirit and discovers that they have something in common -- they were both set up. Soon Nick is travelling through time to the Old West to help Slim prove his innocence. Working with Slim's band of friends, both spirits and mortals, they unearth a conspiracy of vengeance, greed, and murder fuelled by dark forces. With danger building and time running out, Nick must discover the truth to save innocent lives... and change his own forever.
Night Owls
By A. R. Vishny
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 12 - 17 years
In this thrilling paranormal YA romance debut steeped in folklore, two estries—owl-shifting female vampires from Jewish tradition—face New York's monstrous underworld to save the girl one of them loves with help from the boy one of them fears before they are, all of them, lost forever. Clara loves rules. Rules are what have kept her and her sister, Molly, alive—or, rather, undead—for over a century. Work their historic movie theater by day. Shift into an owl under the cover of night. Feed on men in secret. And never fall in love. Molly is in love. And she’s tired of keeping her girlfriend, Anat, a secret. If Clara won’t agree to bend their rules a little, then she will bend them herself. Boaz is cursed. He can’t walk two city blocks without being cornered by something undead. At least at work at the theater, he gets to flirt with Clara, wishing she would like him back. When Anat vanishes and New York’s monstrous underworld emerges from the shadows, Clara suspects Boaz, their annoyingly cute box office attendant, might be behind it all. But if they are to find Anat, they will need to work together to face demons and the hungers they would sooner bury. Clara will have to break all her rules—of love, of life, and of death itself—before her rules break everyone she loves. In this stand-alone debut, A. R. Vishny interweaves mystery, romance, and lore to create an unputdownable story about those who have kept to the shadows for far too long.
Nothing Like the Movies
By Lynn Painter
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 14 - 18 years
#1 New York Times Bestseller In this highly anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestselling Better Than the Movies, Wes and Liz struggle to balance their feelings for each other with the growing pains of being a college student. For a few beautiful months, Wes had his dream girl: strong-willed girl-next-door Liz. But right as the two were about to set off to UCLA to start their freshman year together, tragedy struck. Wes was left dealing with the fallout, which ultimately meant losing Liz in the process. Flash forward months and months later and Wes and Liz find themselves in college, together. In a healthier place now, Wes knows he broke Liz’s heart when he ended things, but he is determined to make her fall back in love with him. Wes knows Liz better than anyone, and he has a foolproof plan to win her back with the rom-com worthy big gestures she loves. Only…Liz will have none of it. Wes has to scheme like a rom-com hero to figure out how to see her. Even worse, Liz has a new friend…a guy friend. Still, Wes won’t give up, adapting his clever plans and going hard to get Liz’s attention and win back her affection. But after his best efforts get him nowhere, Wes is left wondering if their relationship is really over for good.
One Kid's Trash
By Jamie Sumner
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 10 - 14 years
From the acclaimed author of Roll with It and Tune It Out comes a funny, moving, and “not to be missed” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) middle grade novel about a boy who uses his unusual talent for decoding people’s trash to try to fit in at his new school. Hugo is not happy about being dragged halfway across the state of Colorado just because his dad had a midlife crisis and decided to become a ski instructor. It’d be different if Hugo weren’t so tiny, if girls didn’t think he was adorable like a puppy in a purse and guys didn’t call him “leprechaun” and rub his head for luck. But here he is, the tiny new kid on his first day of middle school. When his fellow students discover his remarkable talent for garbology, the science of studying trash to tell you anything you could ever want to know about a person, Hugo becomes the cool kid for the first time in his life. But what happens when it all goes to his head?
Princess Nevermore
By Dian Curtis Regan
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 9 - 12 years
As living in an underground kingdom has become predictable and boring, Princess Quinn of Mandria dreams of visiting the upper Earth-which she can see via a magic pond, the only portal of light and outer life in Mandria. Cam, the wizard's apprentice, tries to use his magic ring to transport them to upper Earth, but the spell only works on Quinn. Is Princess Quinn lost forever in the outer world? Or will the desires of her heart bring her home again?
Pritty
By Keith F. Miller, Jr.
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 13 - 17 years
Concrete Rose meets Things We Couldn’t Say in Pritty, a debut novel by Keith F. Miller Jr.—the inspiration behind the forthcoming animated short film of Kickstarter fame—that follows two boys who get caught in the crossfire of a sinister plot that not only threatens everything they love but may cost them their own chance at love. On the verge of summer before his senior year, Jay is a soft soul in a world of concrete. While his older brother is everything people expect a man to be—tough, athletic, and in charge—Jay simply blends into the background to everyone, except when it comes to Leroy. Unsure of what he could have possibly done to catch the eye of the boy who could easily have anyone he wants, Jay isn’t about to ignore the surprising but welcome attention. But as everything in his world begins to heat up, especially with Leroy, whispered rumors over the murder of a young Black journalist and long-brewing territory tensions hang like a dark cloud over his neighborhood. And when Jay and Leroy find themselves caught in the crossfire, Leroy isn’t willing to be the reason Jay’s life is at risk. Dragged into the world of the Black Diamonds—whose work to protect the Black neighborhoods of Savannah began with his father and now falls to his older brother—Leroy knows that finding out who attacked his brother is not only the key to protecting everyone he loves but also the only way he can ever be with Jay. Wading through a murky history of family trauma and regret, Leroy soon discovers that there’s no keeping Jay safe when Jay’s own family is in just as deep and fighting the undertow of danger just as hard. Now Jay and Leroy must puzzle through secrets hiding in plain sight and scramble to uncover who is determined to eliminate the Black Diamonds before someone else gets hurt—even if the cost might be their own electric connection.
Ruin Road
By Lamar Giles
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 12 - 17 years
"My twin, Lamar, is a phenomenal innovative storyteller... A true king!" -- Tiffany D. Jackson, New York Times bestselling author of Grown and The Weight of Blood Sometimes a little fear is a good thing... Cade Webster lives between worlds. He's a standout football star at the right school but lives in the wrong neighborhood--if you let his classmates tell it. Everywhere but home, people are afraid of him for one reason or another. Afraid he's too big, too fast, too ambitious, too Black. Then one fateful night, to avoid a dangerous encounter with the police, he ducks into a pawn shop. An impulse purchase and misspoken desire change everything when Cade tells the shopkeeper he wishes people would stop acting so scared around him, and the wish is granted... At first, it feels like things have taken a turn for the better. But it's not just Cade that people no longer fear--it's everything. With Cade spreading this newfound "courage" wherever he goes, anything can happen. Fearless acts of violence begin to escalate in both his neighborhood and at school. With the right moves, and brave friends, Cade might have one -- and only one -- chance to save all he loves. But at what cost? After all, the devil's in the details.
Saturn (Exploring Our Solar System)
By Susan Ring and Alexis Roumanis
Category: Picture
Reading Level: 9 - 12 years
The sixth planet from the Sun, Saturn is known for its rings. These rings can be seen from Earth using a telescope. Saturn also has dozens of moons, including the only moon in the solar system known to have a thick atmosphere. Learn these facts and more in Saturn, an Exploring Our Solar System book.
Seven Minutes in Candyland
By Brian Wasson
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 13 - 17 years
"A debut with razor-sharp wit and irresistible charm. Get ready to be swept off your feet by this heart-stopping rom-com that will have you falling head over heels with Wasson's fresh voice." —Kim Johnson, author of This Is My America This multilayered YA rom-com about follows Kalvin, a guy navigating his parents’ impending separation, racial dynamics in his mostly white high school, and a side hustle as a relationship therapist who also sells candy to his patients in need…one of whom is his crush. Sophomore Kalvin Shmelton has finally perfected his underground candy-selling hustle at school. He keeps his prices reasonable, his inventory fresh, and himself out of the drama. But when a heartbroken Sterling Glistern—Kal’s longtime crush—barges into the storage closet where he keeps his candy supply, a new source of income unexpectedly presents itself: relationship therapist. He only meant to help Sterling realize she’s dating a jerk—and maybe win her over—but news spreads fast that Kalvin’s not just the master of sweets…but hearts, too! And as the son of two famous therapists, he leans into this newfound reputation and the money that comes with it. The truth, however, is that Kalvin’s parents’ “perfect” marriage is crumbling. He was supposed to woo the girl of his dreams, fix his parents’ relationship, and lend a listening ear to a school full of heartbroken teens. But a jealous boyfriend, a vengeful competitor, and Kalvin’s own growing ego threaten those plans, forcing Kal to rethink all he thought he knew about friendship, family, and love.
Shock the Monkey
By Neal Shusterman, Eric Elfman
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 8 - 12 years
Noah Prime must set out to save his friends and the universe once again in this jaw-dropping sequel to the New York Times bestselling novel, I Am the Walrus. Noah Prime never expected to wind up a fugitive hunted by aliens. To be honest, he had never even believed in aliens…until a team of them blew up his house. He escaped—and managed to save the world—by using his mysterious ability to harness the traits of every animal on earth. Now he’s in hiding, and thinks all is well.… …Until his friend Ogden buys a star for Claire, the most popular girl in school. However, instead of a quaint romantic notion, it turns out to be an actual real estate deal—and aliens from that star system abduct Claire to take her to the nasty, trash-filled planet she now owns. It’s up to Noah, Sahara, and Ogden to cross the cosmos in search of Claire to save her and her strange new world from the evilest body-snatching worms in the galaxy. This time it’s going to take a lot more than walrus blubber, cheetah speed, or skunk funk to save the day…it’s going to take friendship of the most extraordinary and extraterrestrial variety. Critically acclaimed authors Neal Shusterman and Eric Elfman are back with an action-packed, laugh-out-loud sequel to the New York Times bestselling novel I Am the Walrus, perfect for fans of Eoin Colfer and Rick Riordan.
Sociopath: A Memoir
By Patric Gagne
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 17+ years
The acclaimed New York Times bestselling memoir of the author’s struggle to understand her own sociopathy and shed light on the often maligned and misunderstood mental disorder. “A cross between a podcast by relationship therapist Esther Perel and a salacious tell-all.” —San Francisco Chronicle Patric Gagne realized she made others uncomfortable before she started kindergarten. Something about her caused people to react in a way she didn’t understand. She suspected it was because she didn’t feel things the way other kids did. Emotions like fear, guilt, and empathy eluded her. For the most part, she felt nothing. And she didn’t like the way that “nothing” felt. She did her best to pretend she was like everyone else, but the constant pressure to conform to a society she knew rejected anyone like her was unbearable. So Patric stole. She lied. She was occasionally violent. She became an expert lock-picker and home-invader. All with the goal of replacing the nothingness with...something. In college, Patric finally confirmed what she’d long suspected. She was a sociopath. But even though it was the very first personality disorder identified—well over 200 years ago—sociopathy had been neglected by mental health professionals for decades. She was told there was no treatment, no hope for a normal life. She found herself haunted by sociopaths in pop culture, madmen and evil villains who are considered monsters. Her future looked grim. But when Patric reconnects with an old flame, she gets a glimpse of a future beyond her diagnosis. If she’s capable of love, it must mean that she isn’t a monster. With the help of her sweetheart (and some curious characters she meets along the way) she embarks on a mission to prove that the millions of Americans who share her diagnosis aren’t all monsters either. This is the inspiring story of her journey to change her fate and how she managed to build a life full of love and hope.
Story of a Heart: Two Families, One Heart, and the Medical Miracle that Saved a Child's Life
By Rachel Clarke
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 17+ years
A riveting and inspiring true story of two families linked by one heart—written by a bestselling author and palliative care doctor. The first of our organs to form and the last to die, the heart is both a simple pump and the symbol of what makes us human; as long as it continues to beat, there is hope. In The Story of a Heart, Dr. Rachel Clarke interweaves the history of medical innovations behind transplant surgery with the story of two children—one of whom desperately needs a new heart. One summer day, nine-year-old Keira Ball was in a terrible car accident and suffered catastrophic brain injuries. As the rest of her body began to shut down, her heart continued to beat. In an act of extraordinary generosity, Keira’s parents and siblings immediately agreed that she would have wanted to be an organ donor. Meanwhile nine-year-old Max Johnson had been in a hospital for nearly a year, valiantly fighting the virus that was causing his young heart to fail. When Max’s parents received the call they had been hoping for, they knew it came at a terrible cost to another family—in what Clarke calls “the brutal arithmetic of transplant surgery.” The act of Keira’s heart resuming its rhythm inside Max’s body was a medical miracle. But this was only part of the story. While waiting on the transplant list, Max had become the hopeful face of a campaign to change the UK’s laws around organ donation. Following his successful surgery, Keira’s mother saw the little boy beaming on the front page of the newspaper and knew it was the same boy whose parents had recently sent her an anonymous letter overflowing with gratitude for her daughter’s heart. The two mothers began to exchange messages and eventually decided to meet. This is the unforgettable story of how one family’s grief transformed into a lifesaving gift. Clarke relates the urgent journey of Keira’s heart and explores the history of the remarkable surgery that made it possible, stretching back over a century and involving the knowledge and dedication not just of surgeons but of countless nurses and technicians, immunologists and paramedics. The Story of a Heart is a testament to compassion for the dying, the many ways we honor our loved ones, and the tenacity of love.
Tangleroot
By Kalela Williams
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 14 - 17 years
The INDIES INTRODUCE and INDIE NEXT debut YA novel about blood and family that is both history and mystery. Noni Reid has grown up in the shadow of her mother, Dr. Radiance Castine, renowned scholar of Black literature, who is alarmingly perfect at just about everything. When Dr. Castine takes a job as the president of the prestigious Stonepost College in rural Virginia, Noni is forced to leave her New England home and, most importantly, a prime internship and her friends. She and her mother move into the “big house” on Tangleroot Plantation. Tangleroot was built by one of Noni’s ancestors, an enslaved man named Cuffee Fortune—who Dr. Castine believes was also the original founder of Stonepost College, and that the school was originally formed for Black students. Dr. Castine spends much of her time trying to piece together enough undeniable truth in order to change the name of the school in Cuffee’s honor—and to force the university to reckon with its own racist past. Meanwhile, Noni hates everything about her new home, but finds herself morbidly fascinated by the white, slaveholding family who once lived in it. Slowly, she begins to unpeel the layers of sinister history that envelop her Virginia town, her mother’s workplace, her ancestry—and her life story as she knew it. Through it all, she must navigate the ancient prejudices of the citizens in her small town, and ultimately, she finds herself both affirming her mother’s position and her own—but also discovering a secret that changes everything.
Teen Killers At Large
By Lily Sparks
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 13 - 17 years
The Teen Killers Club faces the end in the final installment of this “sick, twisted, fast-paced” (Kendare Blake, #1 New York Times bestselling author) series. With authorities revisiting her conviction for the brutal murder of her best friend, Signal Deere awaits her fate with the Class A killers she calls her closest friends. When the footage that proves her innocence is wiped, it’s clear someone she trusts is sabotaging her case—and Signal is headed back to jail if she can’t figure out who. Signal desperately needs help from someone as obsessed with the truth as he is with her: Erik. But after the Bonnie-and-Clyde act that made them a viral sensation, Erik is a wanted man. Camp wants to kill him, the police want to put him away, and more than one fan wants to claim his black heart. All Erik wants is the freedom he’s never had. Can Signal convince the Teen Killers Club member with the highest body count to turn himself in and testify? Being with Erik will put a target on her back but losing him just might kill her. As the Teen Killers Club faces its final trial, Signal discovers her options may be narrowing—to life behind bars or till death do us part.
The Battle of Jericho
By Sharon M. Draper
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 12 - 18 years
Sixteen-year-old Jericho is awaiting initiation to the Warriors of Distinction, the oldest and most exclusive club in school—but how high a price will he have to pay to belong? Find out in this first novel in Sharon M. Draper’s Jericho Trilogy.
When Jericho is invited to pledge for the Warriors of Distinction, he thinks his life can’t get any better. As the most exclusive club in school, the Warriors give the best parties, go out with the hottest girls, and great grades are a given. When Arielle, one of the finest girls in his class, starts coming on to him once the pledge announcements are made, Jericho is determined to do anything to become a member…
But as the initiation week becomes progressively harrowing, Jericho is forced to make choices he’s not entirely comfortable with. And one member seems to have it in for the sole female pledge in the group…a pledge who will stop at nothing to show she can handle the pressure. But when is she being pushed too far, and when should Jericho and his friends step in and risk losing their places in the pledging process? As Jericho becomes increasingly uneasy, his cousin Joshua breezes through the initiation, never thinking of the consequences, even when the fine line between fun and games, and life and death is crossed.
The Boyfriend Wish
By Swati Teerdhala
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 13 - 17 years
A charming romantic comedy about a South Indian American teen girl who makes a wish upon a flower for her perfect boyfriend…and then a new boy moves in right next door. With love triangles, prank wars, and a sizzling sweet romance—this is perfect for fans of Sandhya Menon and Jenny Han. There’s only one item left on Deepa Josyula's high school bucket list: finding the perfect boyfriend. But when her meticulously planned Homecoming proposal crashes and burns thanks to Vik Mehta—both neighbor and long-term nemesis ever since he started their neighborhood prank war—she’s not sure how she’s going to finish the list. To make things even worse, she’s stuck working with Vik on a Student Council committee. So when her grandmother gifts her a jasmine flower and tells her to make a wish, Deepa doesn’t see the harm. She wishes for her dream boyfriend, just like she had imagined when she was younger. The next morning a new neighbor moves into their cul-de-sac, and Rohit D’Souza crosses off everything on her ideal boyfriend wish list down to a tee: thoughtful, handsome, and romantic as hell. She can hardly believe it. But according to her grandmother, the wish is only the beginning. To earn it, to complete it, the wish must be sealed with a kiss. But Rohit is quickly becoming the most popular new guy both in school and in her friend group, and Deepa hasn’t kissed a boy since freshman year. The more Deepa plans the perfect kiss with Rohit, the less sure she is of what her heart truly wants. Is it the perfect boy brought by magic—or the uncertainty of the boy who’s always been next door?
The Curse of Compassion
By Stephen Alexander Hammett
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 9 - 12 years
After losing consciousness in a car accident, geeky high school freshman Stanley Maxell wakes up deep in the forest with a talking owl, and he soon realizes that he is no longer a teenage boy, but a fully grown red fox. He learns that this predicament was caused by events that occurred before he was born, and that the only way he can become human again is by performing three difficult tasks.
The Getaway List: A Novel
By Emma Lord
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 12 - 17 years
Inescapably romantic and brimming with New York Times bestselling author Emma Lord’s signature cheer, The Getaway List is an uplifting and romantic read that will settle into your heart and never leave. The day of her high school graduation, Riley realizes two things: One, that she has spent the last four years trying so hard to be a Good Kid for her mom that she has no idea who she really is anymore, and two, she has no idea what she wants because of it. The solution? Pack her bags and move to New York for the summer, where her childhood best friend Tom and co-creator of The Getaway List — a list of all the adventures they’ve wanted to do together since he moved away — will hopefully help her get in touch with her old adventurous self, and pave the road to a new future. Riley isn’t sure what to expect from Tom, who has been distant since his famous mom’s scriptwriting career pulled him away. But when Riley arrives in the city, their reconnection is as effortless as it was when they were young―except with one, unexpected complication that will pull Riley’s feelings in a direction she didn’t know they could take. As she, Tom, and their newfound friends work their way through the delightfully chaotic items on The Getaway List, Riley learns that sometimes the biggest adventure is not one you take, but one you feel in your heart.
The Girl Who Sang: A Holocaust Memoir of Hope and Survival
By Estelle Nadel, Sammy Savos, Bethany Strout
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 10 - 14 years
GRAPHIC NOVEL: A heartrending graphic memoir about a young Jewish girl's fight for survival in Nazi occupied Poland, The Girl Who Sang illustrates the power of a brother's love, the kindness of strangers, and finding hope when facing the unimaginable. Born to a Jewish family in a small Polish village, Estelle Nadel—then known as Enia Feld—was just seven years old when the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939. Once a vibrant child with a song for every occasion, Estelle would eventually lose her voice as, over the next five years, she would survive the deaths of their mother, father, their eldest brother and sister, and countless others. A child at the mercy of her neighbors during a terrifying time in history, The Girl Who Sang is an enthralling first-hand account of Estelle's fight for survival during World War II. She would weather loss, betrayal, near-execution, and spend two years away from the warmth of the sun—all before the age of eleven. And once the war was over, Estelle would walk barefoot across European borders and find remnants of home in an Austrian displaced persons camp before finally crossing the Atlantic to arrive in New York City—a young woman carrying the unseen scars of war. Beautifully rendered in bright hues with expressive, emotional characters, debut illustrator Sammy Savos masterfully brings Estelle story of survival during the Holocaust to a whole new generation of readers. The Girl Who Sang is perfect for fans of March, Maus, and Anne Frank's Diary.
The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky
By Josh Galarza
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 15 - 18 years
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST Perfect for fans of Mark Oshiro and Adam Silvera comes a fiercely funny and hopeful story of one boy's attempts to keep everything under control while life has other plans. Ever since cancer invaded his adoptive mother’s life, Brett feels like he’s losing everything, most of all control. To cope, Brett fuels all of his anxieties into epic fantasies, including his intergalactic Kid Condor comic book series, which features food constellations and characters not unlike those in his own life. But lately Brett’s grip on reality has started to lose its hold. The fictions he’s been telling himself – about his unattractive body, the feeling that he’s a burden to his best friend, that he’s too messed up to be loved – have consumed him completely, and Brett will do anything to forget about the cosmic-sized hole in his chest, even if it's unhealthy. But when Brett’s journal and deepest insecurities are posted online for the whole school to see, Brett realizes he can no longer avoid the painful truths of his real-life narrative. As his eating disorder escalates, Brett must be honest with the people closest to him, including his new and fierce friend Mallory who seems to know more about Brett’s issues than he does. With their support, he just might find the courage to face the toughest reality of all.
The Grimoire of Grave Fates
By Hanna Alkaf and Margaret Owen
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 12 - 17 years
Crack open your spell book and enter the world of the illustrious Galileo Academy for the Extraordinary. There's been a murder on campus, and it's up to the students of Galileo to solve it. Follow 18 authors and 18 students as they puzzle out the clues and find the guilty party.
Professor of Magical History Septimius Dropwort has just been murdered, and now everyone at the Galileo Academy for the Extraordinary is a suspect.
A prestigious school for young magicians, the Galileo Academy has recently undergone a comprehensive overhaul, reinventing itself as a roaming academy in which students of all cultures and identities are celebrated. In this new Galileo, every pupil is welcome—but there are some who aren't so happy with the recent changes. That includes everyone's least favorite professor, Septimius Dropwort, a stodgy old man known for his harsh rules and harsher punishments. But when the professor's body is discovered on school grounds with a mysterious note clenched in his lifeless hand, the Academy's students must solve the murder themselves, because everyone's a suspect.
Told from more than a dozen alternating and diverse perspectives, The Grimoire of Grave Fates follows Galileo's best and brightest young magicians as they race to discover the truth behind Dropwort's mysterious death. Each one of them is confident that only they have the skills needed to unravel the web of secrets hidden within Galileo's halls. But they're about to discover that even for straight-A students, magic doesn't always play by the rules. . . .
Contributors include: Cam Montgomery, Darcie Little Badger, Hafsah Faizal, Jessica Lewis, Julian Winters, Karuna Riazi, Kat Cho, Kayla Whaley, Kwame Mbalia, L. L. McKinney, Marieke Nijkamp, Mason Deaver, Natasha Díaz, Preeti Chhibber, Randy Ribay, Tehlor Kay Mejia, Victoria Lee, and Yamile Saied Méndez
The Heart of Terrenon
By Kimberly Briggs
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 14 - 17 years
Kennah Brenner is ready to begin her adult life starting with a weekend alone while her parents are on their month-long anniversary trip. All is going according to plan until she finds out that her parents will not be coming home. Devastation and confusion are not the only feelings Kennah will experience now that her parents have gone missing. Kennah’s aunt and uncle drop the biggest bombshell of a secret that she has ever received: she was not born on Earth. Nor is she anywhere close to ordinary. Kennah's magicless days are about to end. On the day she turns eighteen, she will be gifted the power to control one of the four elements and be sent to her home world. The story of Terrenon is one that will pull at the minds of young adult readers, give a voice to those who are far from neurotypical, and give readers a place to explore something new.
The Hunting Moon
By Susan Dennard
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 13 - 17 years
The Invocations
By Krystal Sutherland
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 13 - 17 years
From the author of New York Times bestseller House of Hollow comes a darkly seductive witchy thriller where, though both men and demons lurk in shadows, girls refuse to go quietly into the night. Three girls, one supernatural killer on the loose . . . Zara Jones believes in magic because the alternative is too painful to consider—that her murdered sister is gone forever and there is nothing she can do about it. Rather than grieving and moving on, Zara decides she will do whatever it takes to claw her sister back from the grave—even trading in the occult. Jude Wolf may be the daughter of a billionaire, but she is also undeniably cursed. After a deal with a demon went horribly wrong, her soul has been slowly turning necrotic. It’s a miserable existence marred by pain, sickness, and monstrous things that taunt her in the night. Now that she’s glimpsed what’s beyond the veil, Jude’s desperate to find someone to undo the damage she’s done to herself. Enter Emer Byrne, an orphaned witch with a dark past and a deadly power, a.k.a. the solution to both Zara’s and Jude’s problems. Though Emer lives a hardscrabble life, she gives away her most valuable asset—her invocations—to women in desperate situations who are willing to sacrifice a piece of their soul in exchange for a scrap of power. Zara and Jude are willing, but they first have to find Emer. When Emer’s clients start turning up dead all over London, a vital clue leads Zara and Jude right to her. If a serial killer is targeting her clients, Emer wants to know why—and to stop them. She strikes a tenuous alliance with Zara and Jude to hunt a killer before they are next on his list, even if she can’t give them in return what Zara and Jude want most: a sister and a soul.
The Narrow
By Kate Marshall
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 17+ years
A deliciously terrifying novel about a ghost who uncovers a teen girl's best kept secrets while haunting her boarding school, perfect for fans of Lost in the Never Woods and The Haunting of Bly Manor.
Everyone has heard the story of the Narrow. The river that runs behind the Atwood School is only a few feet across and seemingly placid, but beneath the surface, the waters are deep and vicious. It’s said that no one who has fallen in has ever survived.
Eden White knows that isn’t true. Six years ago, she saw Delphine Fournier fall into the Narrow—and live.
Delphine now lives in careful isolation, sealed off from the world. Even a single drop of unpurified water could be deadly to her, and no one but Eden has any idea why. Eden has never told anyone what she saw or spoken to Delphine since, but now, unable to cover her tuition, she has to make a deal: her expenses will be paid in return for serving as a live-in companion to Delphine.
Eden finds herself drawn to the strange and mysterious girl, and the two of them begin to unravel each other’s secrets. Then Eden discovers what happened to the last girl who lived with Delphine: she was found half-drowned on dry land. Suddenly Eden is waking up to wet footprints tracking to the end of her bed, the sound of rain on the windows when the skies are clear, and a ghostly silhouette in her doorway. Something is haunting Delphine—and now it’s coming for Eden, too.
The Night Hunt
By Alexandra Christo
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 13 - 17 years
From Alexandra Christo, the author of To Kill a Kingdom, comes The Night Hunt, a dark fantasy romance about a monstrous girl who feeds on fear and the Gods-cursed boy who falls in love with her. Atia is a monster who feeds on fear. As the last of her kind, she hides in the shadows of the world to escape the wrath of the unpredictable Gods. Silas is a Herald, carrying messages and ferrying the dead as punishment for a past he can’t remember. Stripped of his true name, he yearns to recover his identity. Atia would never dream of allying with someone like him, but when she breaks a sacred law and the Gods send monsters to hunt her, Silas offers an irresistible deal: he’ll help avenge her family and take on the Gods who now hunt her, if she helps him break his curse and restore his humanity. All they need to do is kill three powerful creatures: a vampire, a banshee, and one of the very Gods who destroyed both their lives. Only together can they finally rewrite their destinies.
The Other Lola: A Novel
By Ripley Jones
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 14 - 18 years
The sequel to Ripley Jones's unforgettable YA thriller Missing Clarissa, The Other Lola is about what happens when the people you love the most are the people you can trust the least. In the months after Cam and Blair broke their small hometown’s legendary missing-girl story and catapulted to accidental fame, they vowed never to do it again. No more mysteries, no more podcasts, and no more sticking their heads where they don’t belong. Until Mattie Brosillard, a freshman at their high school, shows up on their doorstep, begging Cam and Blair for help. Mattie's sister Lola disappeared mysteriously five years ago. No trace of her was ever found. Now, she's back--but Mattie is convinced the girl who returned is an impostor. Nobody believes Mattie's wild story--not Mattie's brother, not Mattie's mother, and not even Cam and Blair. But something is definitely wrong in the Brosillard family. And Blair has her own reasons for wanting to know what really happened to Lola while she was gone. With Cam and Blair still struggling with the aftermath of their first mystery—and with new secrets swirling between them—the stakes are higher than ever in this can’t-miss sequel to Missing Clarissa.
The Reappearance of Rachel Price
By Holly Jackson
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 13 - 17 years
From the author of the multimillion-copy bestselling A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series and Five Survive comes a gripping mystery thriller following one teen’s search for the truth about her mother’s shocking disappearance—and even more shocking reappearance—during the filming of a true crime documentary. Lights. Camera. Lies. Eighteen-year-old Bel has lived her whole life in the shadow of her mom’s mysterious disappearance. Sixteen years ago, Rachel Price vanished and young Bel was the only witness, but she has no memory of it. Rachel is gone, long presumed dead, and Bel wishes everyone would just move on. But the case is dredged up from the past when the Price family agrees to a true crime documentary. Bel can’t wait for filming to end, for life to go back to normal. And then the impossible happens. Rachel Price reappears, and life will never be normal again. Rachel has an unbelievable story about what happened to her. Unbelievable, because Bel isn’t sure it’s real. If Rachel is lying, then where has she been all this time? And—could she be dangerous? With the cameras still rolling, Bel must uncover the truth about her mother, and find out why Rachel Price really came back from the dead . . . From world-renowned author Holly Jackson comes a mind-blowing masterpiece about one girl’s search for the truth, and the terror in finding out who your family really is.
The Running Dream
By Wendelin Van Draanen
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 10 - 14 years
When Jessica is told she’ll never run again, she puts herself back together—and learns to dream bigger than ever before. The acclaimed author of Flipped delivers a powerful and healing story. Jessica thinks her life is over when she loses a leg in a car accident. She’s not comforted by the news that she’ll be able to walk with the help of a prosthetic leg. Who cares about walking when you live to run? As she struggles to cope, Jessica feels that she’s both in the spotlight and invisible. People who don’t know what to say act like she’s not there. Jessica’s embarrassed to realize that she’s done the same to a girl with CP named Rosa. A girl who is going to tutor her through all the math she’s missed. A girl who sees right into the heart of her. With the support of family, friends, a coach, and her track teammates, Jessica may actually be able to run again. But that’s not enough for her now. She doesn’t just want to cross finish lines herself—she wants to take Rosa with her. “Inspirational. The pace of Van Draanen’s prose matches Jessica’s at her swiftest. Readers will zoom through the book just as Jessica blazes around the track. A lively and lovely story.” —Kirkus Reviews
The Scarlett Alchemist
By Kylie Lee Baker
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 17+ years
"Visceral to the core." —Chloe Gong, New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights
New from the author of The Keeper of Night comes a YA fantasy duology set in an alternate Tang Dynasty China, where a poor biracial girl with the ability to raise the dead gets caught up in the dangerous political games of the royal family.
Zilan dreams of becoming a royal alchemist, of providing for her family by making alchemical gold and gems for the wealthy to eat in order to stay young forever. But for now, she’s trapped in her impoverished village in southern China, practicing an illegal form of alchemy to keep food on the table—resurrecting the dead, for a price.
When Zilan finally has the chance to complete her imperial exams, she ventures to the capital to compete against the best alchemists in the country in tasks she’ll be lucky to survive, let alone pass. On top of that, her reputation for raising the dead has followed her to the capital, and the Crown Prince himself seeks out her help, suspecting a coming assassination attempt.
The more Zilan succeeds in her alchemy, the more she gets caught in the dangerous political games of the royal family. There are monsters lurking within the palace walls, and it’s only a matter of time before they—and secrets of Zilan’s past—catch up with her.
The Shakespeare Stealer
By Gary Blackwood
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 10 - 14 years
A delightful adveture full of humor and heart set in Elizabethan England! Widge is an orphan with a rare talent for shorthand. His fearsome master has just one demand: steal Shakespeare's play "Hamlet"--or else. Widge has no choice but to follow orders, so he works his way into the heart of the Globe Theatre, where Shakespeare's players perform. As full of twists and turns as a London alleyway, this entertaining novel is rich in period details, colorful characters, villainy, and drama. * "A fast-moving historical novel that introduces an important era with casual familiarity." --School Library Journal, starred review "Readers will find much to like in Widge, and plenty to enjoy in this gleeful romp through olde England" --Kirkus Reviews "Excels in the lively depictions of Elizabethan stagecraft and street life." --Publishers Weekly An ALA Notable Book
The Summer Queen
By Rochelle Hassan
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 15 - 18 years
This captivating sequel to The Buried and the Bound draws readers into the twisted and irresistible world of the Fair Folk—perfect for fans of The Cruel Prince and The Hazel Wood. As a new coven, Aziza, Leo, and Tristan faced evil and triumphed. All that’s left is to put their lives back together, a process complicated by the fallout from painful secrets, the emotional and physical scars they now carry, and the mysteries that still haunt them. But with the approach of the solstice comes the arrival of strange new visitors to Blackthorn: the Summer Court, a nomadic community of Fair Folk from deep in Elphame. They’ve journeyed to the border between the human world and fairyland, far from their usual caravan route, to take back something that belongs to them—something Leo’s not willing to lose. Refusing to give up without a fight, he makes a risky deal with the Summer Court’s princess and regent. The challenge she proposes sends Coven Blackthorn into the farthest, wildest reaches of Elphame. But when you play games with the Fair Folk, even winning has a cost.
The Wish
By Gail Carson Levine
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 9 - 12 years
There's nothing wrong with Wilma Sturtz. She's perfectly nice. But nobody cares about nice at Claverford, her middle school. Wilma is left out, forgotten, ignored -- until she meets an extraordinary old lady who grants a wish: for Wilma to be the most popular kid in school. Presto! Everything changes. Now Wilma has more best friends than she can keep track of and forty dates to the Graduation Night Dance; and someone is writing her love poetry. What more could she want? Nothing! But will it last? How can Wilma make sure she is never unpopular again? From Gail Carson Levine, author of the Newbery Honor book Ella Enchanted, this modern-day fairy tale shows a very real girl in a very unusual predicament, and along the way it reveals some painful truths about whether or not we really want to be liked for who we are.
Thief of the Heights
By Son M.
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 13 - 17 years
GRAPHIC NOVEL: A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection Enter the world of Muqadas, where the climb to the top of this vertically stacked city—away from disease-ridden waters of the lower levels—is paved with betrayal, secrets, and rebellion in this debut graphic novel from author Son M. and artist Robin Yao. Lifelong friends Basem, Mustafa, and Aarfah have carved out a place for themselves in their corner of Muqadas, where they dream of climbing from their place in the city’s lowest level, above the limb-snatching, disease-infested waters, to the very top of their vertical city. Young inventors who’ve seen firsthand the havoc the Habar infection causes set out to dazzle the masses with their innovative prosthetics and escape the dangers of Lake Saha. When their inventions catch the eye of a scout who is on the hunt for new talent to bring to the higher tiers, their dreams are suddenly within reach. But as the wonders of the upper tiers enchant, Basem, Mustafa, and Aarfah begin to question why the bounty of Muqadas falls short of reaching Lake Saha's inhabitants. Behind the beauty of the city's upper tiers lie dark and dangerous secrets—ones that threaten not only everything they’ve worked for but everyone they love. And when Mustafa and Aarfah are cast away for their allegiance to Lake Saha, Basem is faced with the difficult choice: Fight to bring justice to all of Muqadas? Or abandon his friends and fall in line to achieve everything he’s ever dreamed of?
Thief of the Heights
By Son M.
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 13 - 17 years
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection Enter the world of Muqadas, where the climb to the top of this vertically stacked city—away from disease-ridden waters of the lower levels—is paved with betrayal, secrets, and rebellion in this debut graphic novel from author Son M. and artist Robin Yao. Lifelong friends Basem, Mustafa, and Aarfah have carved out a place for themselves in their corner of Muqadas, where they dream of climbing from their place in the city’s lowest level, above the limb-snatching, disease-infested waters, to the very top of their vertical city. Young inventors who’ve seen firsthand the havoc the Habar infection causes set out to dazzle the masses with their innovative prosthetics and escape the dangers of Lake Saha. When their inventions catch the eye of a scout who is on the hunt for new talent to bring to the higher tiers, their dreams are suddenly within reach. But as the wonders of the upper tiers enchant, Basem, Mustafa, and Aarfah begin to question why the bounty of Muqadas falls short of reaching Lake Saha's inhabitants. Behind the beauty of the city's upper tiers lie dark and dangerous secrets—ones that threaten not only everything they’ve worked for but everyone they love. And when Mustafa and Aarfah are cast away for their allegiance to Lake Saha, Basem is faced with the difficult choice: Fight to bring justice to all of Muqadas? Or abandon his friends and fall in line to achieve everything he’s ever dreamed of?
This is How You Fall in Love
By Anika Hussain
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 15 - 18 years
Best friends Zara and Adnan must navigate the twists and turns of fake dating, family dynamics and cultural stereotypes in this swoon-worthy YA Desi rom-com. Zara loves love in all forms: rom-coms and romance novels and grand sweeping gestures. She's desperate to have her own great love story-a real one. Everyone thinks Zara and her best friend, Adnan, obviously belong together. And they do love each other-just not like that. So when Adnan begs Zara to help cover his new, secret relationship by pretending to be his girlfriend, she doesn't really hesitate. How difficult can it be? It isn't the kind of great romance she had in mind, but with fake dating comes fake hand-holding and fake kissing and . . . real feelings? And when a new, exciting boy arrives in Zara's life, things get more confusing than ever. Her fake romance might be making everyone around her happy, but should it be real, and can Zara and Adnan really be in love if they both have real feelings for somone else? Anika Hussain's hilarious and heartfelt debut follows best friends as they fall through the twists and turns of fake dating, family dynamics, and friendship in this swoon-worthy young adult rom-com.
To the Bone
By Alena Bruzas
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 13 - 17 years
This gripping, shocking, and exquisitely crafted survival story reveals the truth of America's colonial history in a powerful new way—visceral and breathtaking. After the long journey from England, Ellis arrives in America full of hope. James Fort is where a better life will begin for her: where she will work as an indentured servant to Henry Collins and his pregnant wife, gain financial security, and fall deeply in love with bold, glorious Jane Eddowes. But as summer turns to fall, Ellis begins to notice the cracks in this new life—the viciousness of the colonists toward the Indigenous people and the terrifying anger Henry uses to control his wife and Ellis—leaving her to wonder if she has sentenced herself to a prison rather than a new home. Then winter arrives and hunger grips the Fort. Ellis is about to learn that people will do whatever it takes to survive. To the Bone is a riveting story of survival and horror that forcefully overturns the mythos of the American settler. It will stay with you, forever.
Trajectory
By Cambria Gordon
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 13 - 17 years
Seventeen-year-old Eleanor is nothing like her hero Eleanor Roosevelt. She is timid and all together uncertain that she has much to offer the world. And as World War II rages overseas, Eleanor is consumed with worry for her Jewish relatives in Europe. When a chance encounter proves her to be a one-in-a-generation math whiz--a fact she has worked hard all her life to hide--Eleanor gets recruited by the US Army and entrusted with the ultimate challenge: to fine-tune a top-secret weapon that will help America defeat its enemies in World War II and secure the world’s freedom. This could be her chance to help save her family in Poland.
Soon, she’s swept from the basement of an Ivy League engineering school, to the desert of California, to an Army Air Corps base at Pearl Harbor, and finally she takes to the skies above the South Pacific.
But before she can solve this complicated problem, she must learn to unlock a bigger mystery: herself.
Critically acclaimed author of The Poetry of Secrets, Cambria Gordon weaves an extraordinary story of remarkable courage and the will to unearth our deepest secrets, based on previously undiscovered true events.
Advance praise for Trajectory:
"Cambria Gordon's careful attention to setting and detail brings an unknown and surprising history vividly to life―and draws thought-provoking parallels to the present." ―Amanda McCrina, author of Traitor and The Silent Unseen
"Hidden Figures meets Code Name Verity in Trajectory, a richly detailed historical novel about Eleanor, a gifted female mathematician under pressure to get the results of her calculations right at the height of World War II. With members of her own Jewish family suffering a terrible fate in Europe, Eleanor is determined to make a difference―even if it means facing her fears head-on. I couldn’t put this down!” ―Kip Wilson, award-winning author of White Rose and The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin
“Well-paced and immersive, Trajectory takes readers on an exciting journey from Philadelphia to the California desert to the skies over the Pacific theater in the Second World War. Equally powerful is Eleanor’s journey from timid high school senior hiding her math ability to problem solver unafraid to stand up to superiors and skeptics in pursuit of the Allies’ victory. Gordon’s novel honors the long-ignored women who helped make that victory happen.” ―Lyn Miller-Lachmann, author of Torch, winner of the 2023 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for YA Literature.
Vilest Things: A Novel
By Chloe Gong
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 17+ years
Chloe Gong returns with power plays, spilled blood, and lethal romance in the thrilling fantasy sequel to New York Times and USA TODAY bestseller Immortal Longings, inspired by Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. Calla Tuoleimi has succeeded in the impossible. Despite the odds, she has won San-Er’s bloody games and eliminated King Kasa, her tyrant uncle and the former ruler of Talin. She now serves as royal advisor to Kasa’s adopted son, August Shenzhi, who has risen to the throne. Only Calla knows it isn’t really August. Anton Makusa is still furious about Calla’s betrayal in the final round of the games. In an impossible feat, he took over August’s body to survive and has no intention of giving up this newfound power. But when his first love, the beautiful, explosive Otta Avia, awakens from a yearslong coma and reveals a secret that threatens the monarchy’s authority over Talin, chaos erupts. As tensions come to a boiling point, Calla and Anton must set their conflicts aside and head to the kingdom’s far reaches to prevent anarchy...even if their empire might be better off burning.
We Do Not Welcome Our Ten-Year-Old Overlord
By Garth Nix
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 9 - 12 years
From master storyteller Garth Nix, the chilling story of a strange object that falls into the wrong hands and has the potential to destroy the world. Perfect for fans of STRANGER THINGS and Neil Gaiman. It's not fair. Kim's always lived in the shadow of his younger sister, Eila - which is not how it's supposed to be. Eila is a prodigy, and everyone talks about how smart she is but, in Kim's eyes, she has no common sense. One day Kim and Eila are walking in the woods, and Eila finds an enigmatic, otherworldly object. Kim thinks it's bad news . . . but Eila begins to commune with it. Kim has every reason to be worried, because soon Eila is able to control the minds of everyone around her - in ways she says is the best for everyone. Kim needs to put his problem-solving mind to the ultimate test. How can he save his sister, and also save the world from the thing his sister has become and the forces she has unleashed?
We Got the Beat
By Jenna Miller
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 13 - 17 years
"Charmingly wry and sharply perceptive. An ode to first love, complicated friendships, and the messy joy of rewriting your own story." —Becky Albertalli, New York Times bestselling author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
Jordan Elliott is a fat, nerdy lesbian and the first junior to be named editor in chief of the school newspaper. Okay, that last part hasn’t happened yet, but it will. It’s positive thinking that has gotten Jordan this far. Ever since Mackenzie West, her friend-turned-enemy, humiliated her at the start of freshman year, Jordan has thrown herself into journalism and kept her eyes trained on the future.
So it’s a total blow when Jordan discovers that she not only didn’t get the editor in chief spot, but she’s been assigned the volleyball beat instead. And who is the star and newly crowned captain of the volleyball team? Mackenzie West. But words are Jordan’s weapon, and she has some ideas about how to exact a long-awaited revenge on her nemesis. Then things get murky when forced time together has Mack and Jordan falling back into their friendship and into something more. And when Mack confesses the real reason she turned on Jordan freshman year, it has Jordan questioning everything—past, present, and future.
If Jordan lets her guard down and Mack in, will she get everything she wants, or will she be humiliated all over again?
What Is Anti-Racism?
By Hedreich Nichols, Kelisa Wing
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 10 - 14 years
Race in America has been avoided in children's education for too long. What Is Anti-Racism? explores the idea of actively working against racism in a comprehensive, honest, and age-appropriate way. Developed in conjunction with educator, advocate, and author Kelisa Wing to reach children of all races and encourage them to approach race issues with open eyes and minds. Includes 21st Century Skills and content, as well as a PBL activity across the Racial Justice in America series. Also includes a table of contents, glossary, index, author biography, sidebars, educational matter, and activities.
What the River Knows: A Novel
By Isabel Ibañez
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 13 - 17 years
The Mummy meets Death on the Nile in What the River Knows, Isabel Ibañez's lush, immersive historical fantasy set in Egypt and filled with adventure, a rivals-to-lovers romance, and a dangerous race. Bolivian-Argentinian Inez Olivera belongs to the glittering upper society of nineteenth century Buenos Aires, and like the rest of the world, the town is steeped in old world magic that’s been largely left behind or forgotten. Inez has everything a girl might want, except for the one thing she yearns the most: her globetrotting parents—who frequently leave her behind. When she receives word of their tragic deaths, Inez inherits their massive fortune and a mysterious guardian, an archeologist in partnership with his Egyptian brother-in-law. Yearning for answers, Inez sails to Cairo, bringing her sketch pads and a golden ring her father sent to her for safekeeping before he died. But upon her arrival, the old world magic tethered to the ring pulls her down a path where she soon discovers there’s more to her parent’s disappearance than what her guardian led her to believe. With her guardian’s infuriatingly handsome assistant thwarting her at every turn, Inez must rely on ancient magic to uncover the truth about her parent’s disappearance—or risk becoming a pawn in a larger game that will kill her. What the River Knows is the first book in the thrilling Secrets of the Nile duology. "Expertly plotted, explosively adventurous, and burning with romance." - Stephanie Garber #1 New York Times bestselling author "Take a plucky heroine, a historically grounded Indiana Jones-esque adventure through Ancient Egypt, and add a surprising dollop of magic — it’s a recipe for a delightful read." - Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author *Book 1 in the Secrets of the Nile duology*
When Among Crows
By Veronica Roth
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 17+ years
An emotionally-charged contemporary fantasy of love, sacrifice and ancient enchantments as Polish folklore thrives in today's Chicago, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Divergent, Chosen Ones and Arch-Conspirator. Step into a city where monsters feast on human emotions, knights split their souls to make their weapons, and witches always take more than they give. Pain is Dymitr's calling. To slay the monsters he's been raised to kill, he had to split his soul in half to make a sword from his own spine. Every time he draws it, he gets blood on his hands. Pain is Ala's inheritance. When her mother died, a family curse to witness horrors committed by the Holy Order was passed onto her. The curse will claim her life, as it did her mother's, unless she can find a cure. One fateful night in Chicago, Dymitr comes to Ala with a bargain: her help in finding the legendary witch Baba Jaga in exchange for an enchanted flower that just might cure her. Desperate, and unaware of what Dymitr really is, Ala agrees. But they only have one day before the flower dies, and Ala's hopes of breaking the curse along with it.
When the Vibe is Right
By Sarah Dass
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 13 - 17 years
From the author of Where the Rhythm Takes You comes a delightful enemies-to-lovers, contemporary romance set during Trinidad’s Carnival celebration.
There are two things Tess Crawford knows for sure:
- She’s destined to be a great Trinidadian Carnival costume designer like her renowned uncle, Russel Messina, and will one day inherit leadership of the family’s masquerade band, Grandeur.
- Her classmate, the popular social media influencer, Brandon Richards, is the bane of her existence. Everything about him irks her, from his annoying nickname for Tess (“Boop”) to his association with David, her awful ex.
But when the future of Grandeur nears the brink of collapse in the face of band rivalry, Tess finds to her chagrin that she must team up with Brandon in a desperate attempt to revive the company.
As Tess and Brandon spend more time together, Tess begins to wonder if everything she thought she knew might not be so certain after all….
Set in lush, gorgeous Trinidad, this is a novel about finding love in the most unexpected places.
When the World Tips Over
By Jandy Nelson
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 14 - 17 years
* An Instant New York Times Bestseller * "Jandy Nelson is a true virtuoso . . . I am fervently in love with this brave, funny, tender, exuberant beating heart of a book." —Becky Albertalli, author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and Imogen, Obviously The explosive new novel that brims with love, secrets, and enchantment by Jandy Nelson, Printz Award–winning and New York Times bestselling author of I’ll Give You the Sun The Fall siblings live in hot Northern California wine country, where the sun pours out of the sky, and the devil winds blow so hard they whip the sense right out of your head. Years ago, the Fall kids’ father mysteriously disappeared, cracking the family into pieces. Now Dizzy Fall, age twelve, bakes cakes, sees spirits, and wishes she were a heroine of a romance novel. Miles Fall, seventeen, brainiac, athlete, and dog-whisperer, is a raving beauty, but also lost, and desperate to meet the kind of guy he dreams of. And Wynton Fall, nineteen, who raises the temperature of a room just by entering it, is a virtuoso violinist set on a crash course for fame . . . or self-destruction. Then an enigmatic rainbow-haired girl shows up, tipping the Falls’ world over. She might be an angel. Or a saint. Or an ordinary girl. Somehow, she is vital to each of them. But before anyone can figure out who she is, catastrophe strikes, leaving the Falls more broken than ever. And more desperate to be whole. With road trips, rivalries, family curses, love stories within love stories within love stories, and sorrows and joys passed from generation to generation, this is the intricate, luminous tale of a family’s complicated past and present. And only in telling their stories can they hope to rewrite their futures. "Splendid and complex . . . Satisfying and soul-thrilling." —SLJ (starred review) "Transcendently beautiful.” —Nina LaCour, author of We Are Okay “Jandy Nelson is a rare, explosive talent.” —Tahereh Mafi, author of the Shatter Me series “Sumptuous . . . Captivating . . . Luscious, start to finish.” —Shelf Awareness (starred review) “A technicolor fever dream offering readers a sensory feast.” —Kirkus "A gloriously intricate and expansive YA/adult crossover . . . Stunningly generous." —Just Imagine “Sublime, intricate, and dazzling.” —Helena Fox, author of How It Feels to Float "A complex, seductive YA heartbreaker.” —The Guardian “Intoxicating. [Destined to] firmly lodge itself within many, many hearts.” —The Irish Times "Magical and moving." —Common Sense Media "Beautiful.” —Booklist "Unforgettable." —The Observer "Profound." —PW (starred review)
Where the Dark Stands Still
By A. B. Poranek
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 14 - 18 years
A girl with dangerous magic makes a risky bargain with a demon to be free of her monstrous power in this young adult fantasy perfect for fans of An Enchantment of Ravens and House of Salt and Sorrows.
Liska knows that magic is monstrous, and its practitioners are monsters. She has done everything possible to suppress her own magic, to disastrous consequences. Desperate to be free of it, Liska flees her small village and delves into the dangerous, demon-inhabited spirit-wood to steal a mythical fern flower. If she plucks it, she can use its one wish to banish her powers. Everyone who has sought the fern flower has fallen prey to unknown horrors, so when Liska is caught by the demon warden of the wood—called The Leszy—a bargain seems better than death: one year of servitude in exchange for the fern flower and its wish.
Whisked away to The Leszy’s crumbling manor, Liska soon makes an unsettling discovery: she is not the first person to strike this bargain, and all her predecessors have mysteriously vanished. If Liska wants to survive the year and return home, she must unravel her taciturn host’s spool of secrets and face the ghosts—figurative and literal—of his past. Because something wakes in the woods, something deadly and without mercy. It frightens even The Leszy…and cannot be defeated unless Liska embraces the monster she’s always feared becoming.
Whose Right Is It? The Fourteenth Amendment and the Fight for Equality
By Hana Bajramovic
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 12 - 18 years
Discover the truth about the Fourteenth Amendment, civil rights, and the United States’ continued fight for equality in this singular nonfiction book for young readers. Since the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, Americans have been guaranteed equal protection under the law. But these protections haven’t always been inclusive. In 2022, we saw the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade–a decision made in 1973 that guaranteed abortion as a fundamental right. Other critical Supreme Court decisions regarding affirmative action, immigration, and LGBTQ+ rights have been hotly debated as culture has shifted over the last several years. With the Supreme Court’s narrow interpretations of the “equality amendment”–disregarding what the drafters of the amendment said it was meant to do–the Fourteenth Amendment has shaped the conversation and legislation of civil rights and liberties in America for decades. Hana Bajramovic’s Whose Right Is It? The Fourteenth Amendment and the Fight for Equality explores how one amendment became the focus for many of today’s most important constitutional debates. Featuring historical photos and informative graphics, this book shows a new generation of aspiring activists what the fight for equality across race, sexuality, gender, and citizenship looks like.
Witch Hunt: The Cold War, Joe McCarthy, and the Red Scare
By Andrea Balis, Elizabeth Levy
Category: Chapter
Reading Level: 10 - 14 years
A cutting-edge look into a pivotal moment in US history: McCarthy's infamous "witch hunt" for communists during the 1950's Red Scare. At the cusp of the Cold War, Americans were so afraid of communists living among them that they began to hunt them like witches. As Senator Joe McCarthy took up this mantle to hunt down “communists” in the US, citizens grew terrified of being accused, so they turned on each other - pointing fingers at neighbors, friends, and even family. Told through a unique and inviting screenplay-format, brought to life with dozens of illustrations by Tim Foley, and comprised almost entirely of quotes derived from primary sources, Witch Hunt recounts the political craze that gripped America during the Red Scare when McCarthyism forced people to go to extraordinary lengths to keep themselves and their families safe from persecution against their own government.
With Love, Echo Park
By Laura Taylor Namey
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 13 - 17 years
From the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, this novel follows two Cuban teens in LA’s Echo Park neighborhood who clash over their visions for the future, the secrets between their families…and the sparks flying between them.
Seventeen-year-old Clary is set to inherit her family’s florist shop, La Rosa Blanca—one of the last remnants of the Cuban business district that once thrived in Los Angeles’s Echo Park neighborhood. Clary knows Echo Park is where she’ll leave a legacy, and nothing is more important to her than keeping the area’s unique history alive.
Besides Clary’s florist shop, there’s only one other business left founded by Cuban immigrants fleeing Castro’s regime in the sixties and seventies. And Emilio, who’s supposed to take over Avalos Bicycle Works one day, is more flight risk than dependable successor. While others might find Emilio appealing, Clary can see him itching to leave now that he’s graduated, and she’ll never be charmed by a guy who doesn’t care if one more Echo Park business fades away.
But then Clary is caught off guard when an unexpected visitor delivers a shocking message from someone she thought she’d left behind. Meanwhile, Emilio realizes leaving home won’t be so easy—and Clary, who has always been next door, is who he confides in. As the summer days unfold, they find there’s something stronger than local history tying them together.
With or Without You
By Eric Smith
Category: Teen/Young Adult
Reading Level: 13 - 17 years
New from Eric Smith comes a delightful YA rom-com about two teens caught in the middle of their families’ orchestrated rivalry between their Philly cheesesteak food trucks.
All’s fair in love and (food truck) war.
Everyone knows Jordan Plazas and Cindy Ortiz hate each other.
According to many viral videos of their public shouting matches, the Plazas and Ortiz families have a well-known food truck rivalry. Jordan and Cindy have spent all of high school making cheesesteaks and slinging insults at each other across their shared Philadelphia street.
But the truth? They’re in love, and it’s all just an act for the tourists.
When the fake feud lands them a reality tv show pilot, Jordan and Cindy find themselves having to lie on a much bigger scale. Trapped between pursuing their dreams or their love, can they find a way to have their cheesesteak and eat it too?