Staff Picks Young Adult
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
Fever Year: The Killer Flu of 1918: A Tragedy of Three Acts
by Don Brown
This nonfiction graphic novel describes the panic in 1918 – 1920 when the Spanish flu killed hundreds of thousands of people. This book is available in the library and on Hoopla as an ebook.
Recommended by: Becky McCormack, Youth Services Assistant Manager
Posted in: Young Adult Nonfiction
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
December 2020
They Called Us Enemy
by George Takei
George Takei of Star Trek fame tells the story of how his Japanese/American family was forced into internment camps during World War II. The story begins when the author is a young boy and continues up to the present day. This title is also available on OverDrive and Hoopla.
Recommended by: Becky McCormack, Youth Services Assistant Manager
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
Admission
by Julie Buxbaum
Straight from current headlines, this novel centers on the college admissions bribery scandal. Chloe Berringer is excited about getting into her dream college until the FBI show up at her door. Then she becomes entangled in her parents’ deceit, her possible own involvement, and the impact of learning that others don’t believe you can be successful without their help. Emotions run high between family and friends as they try to come to terms with the legal, ethical, and emotional issues the scandal has triggered.
Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Reference Librarian I
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
November 2020
City of Ghosts
by Victoria Schwab
Cassidy has the ability to ‘lift’ the veil between the living and the dead. When her parents take her to Edinbugh to research ghosts, she and her best friend, Jacob, find out how dangerous it is to slip back and forth between the veil. This title is also available on OverDrive.
Recommended by: Becky McCormack, Youth Services Assistant Manager
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
Truly Devious
by Maureen Johnson
Stevie Bell is obsessed with solving crimes and the 80-year-old unsolved Ellingham murders/kidnapping are on the top of her list. Millionaire Albert Ellingham left behind a school for gifted students high up in the mountains of Vermont and Stevie was accepted. Knowing that this could be her only chance to solve the Ellingham murders, Stevie gets right to work collecting any information she can. When danger comes back to the Ellingham estate, Stevie now has two mysteries to solve. Johnson reveals details from Ellingham’s story with flashbacks to his life and police interviews after the Ellingham kidnapping. Truly Devious is the first book in this teen mystery series and is available in hardcover and on OverDrive as an ebook and e audiobook.
Recommended by: Brandi Smits, Youth Services Manager
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction