Staff Picks Young Adult Fiction
April 2021
The Mary Shelley Club
by Goldy Moldavsky
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
Concrete Rose
by Angie Thomas
If you enjoyed reading about Starr Carter in The Hate U Give, you need to pick up Concrete Rose. In this prequel, we follow the life of Maverick Carter, Starr’s dad. Maverick’s got a lot on his plate. He’s trying to graduate high school while being a member of the King Lords gang and help out his mom since his dad has been in jail since Maverick was a kid. Maverick’s world is completely changed when he finds out that his one-night stand resulted in a son and the mother wants nothing else to do with the baby. Now he’s a single dad and providing for his son Seven is the most important thing in the world. But how can he graduate school, get a job, and stay involved in the gang? Thomas explores what it means to be there for family and what sacrifices should and shouldn’t be made. Set in the late 90s, Thomas references the style and music of the time for a short jump to the past.
This book is available in the library and on OverDrive/Libby as an ebook and e audiobook.
Recommended by: Brandi Smits, Youth Services Manager
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
Delicates, Volume 2
by Brenna Thummler
Recommended by: Erin Faxel, Teen Librarian
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
Sheets
by Brenna Thummler
This is a touching Young Adult graphic novel. Marjorie lost her mom, and her dad is still in morning almost a year later. Because of this, Marjorie is in charge of her family laundry business, where she is just trying to keep her family afloat despite Mr. Saubertuck who is trying to destroy everything her family owns. Wendell is a ghost who isn’t happy in the ghost world and decides to visit the human world. When their two worlds collide, Marjorie is confronted by unexplainable disasters as Wendell transforms her laundry store into his midnight playground. Will the two be able to help each other and save what’s left of Marjorie’s family?
Recommended by: Erin Faxel, Teen Librarian
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree
by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani
This book is a fictionalized account of the kidnapping of 276 girls from a school in Nigeria in 2014. The author has done extensive research interviewing both the girls who escaped and their parents. This story tells of survival, betrayal and indoctrination by an extremist group.
Recommended by: Becky McCormack, Youth Services Assistant Manager
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
March 2021
Fadeaway
by E. B. Vickers
Jake, basketball star, friend, and brother disappears the night of winning the big game. Told in flashbacks and from various points of view by his friends and family, the police try to unravel who Jake really was and what is really going on now. He seemed to have it all together. He also had many secrets. As Jake’s secrets begin to come to light, so, to the surprise of many, do those of the people closest to him. A grab your interest from the first page and keep it to the end.
Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Services Reference Librarian I
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
What Big Teeth
by Rose Szabo
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
What I Carry
by Jennifer Longo
Muiriel, named after John Muir, had been in the foster care system her entire life. After being rejected for adoption when she was four years old, Muiriel refuses to set down roots anywhere. When she reaches her last placement, before she ages out of the system at age eighteen, a number of separate incidents come together to make her consider a different life choice.
Recommended by: Becky McCormack, Youth Services Assistant Manager
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
February 2021
Teen Killers Club
by Lily Sparks
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
January 2021
None Shall Sleep
by Ellie Marney
After narrowly escaping a vicious serial killer, Emma is desperately trying to find normalcy in her life. That normalcy is pushed aside when Agent Cooper from the FBI approaches her to join a new task force of teens assigned to interview teen serial killers in hopes of getting insight adults are not privy to. Emma teams up with Travis Bell, the son of a US Marshall killed by a suspect who hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps and join the FBI. Their assignments begin as busy work, but soon the duo is right in the middle of an ongoing investigation regarding a spree of murders. There is a surprise asset to this case. The serial killer that killed Travis’s dad has inside information and it’s up to Emma to get him to share what he knows before someone else dies. This book may seem a bit unbelievable at times, but it is a thrilling and exciting story. This book is available in the library and on Overdrive/Libby as an ebook and e audiobook.
Recommended by: Brandi Smits, Youth Services Manager
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction