Staff Picks Young Adult

May 2021

Today Tonight Tomorrow

by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Rowan Roth and Neil McNair are both high school seniors vying for valedictorian. In fact, they have vied for every single thing for their entire high school careers. To say they are each other’s archnemesis is an understatement. During Howl, a senior specific game, they find out most of the senior class is ganging up on them. Rowan and Neil decide to team up with very interesting results.

This book is available in the library and on OverDrive/Libby as an ebook and e audio book.

Recommended by: Becky McCormack, Youth Services Assistant Manager

Posted in: Young Adult Fiction

The Dark Matter of Mona Starr

by Laura Lee Gulledge

When Mona’s best friend moves, her depression and social anxiety go into overdrive. She feels alone and insecure, and her mental illnesses (her Dark Matter) are crushing her. She internalizes the shame and fear, worrying deeply when she befriends a new girl at her school. Will that friend be able to handle all of her? Will Mona be able to come up with a solution to help with her dark matter? Or will it swallow her up? This graphic novel is beautiful and heart-wrenching and will especially resonate with artsy kids struggling with their mental health.

This book is available in the library and on OverDrive/Libby as an ebook.

Recommended by: Erin Faxel, Teen Librarian

Posted in: Young Adult Fiction

A Crash of Fate (Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, #1)

by Zoraida Córdova

Heading to Disney anytime soon? Pick this book up before you go and learn a bit about the planet that inspired Galaxy’s Edge.

Izzy and Jules were childhood friends, living amongst the spires of Batuu. Then, Izzy’s family left abruptly. Izzy’s life became one of constant motion, traveling from one world to the next, until her parents were killed and she became a low-level smuggler to make ends meet. Jules remained on Batuu, eventually becoming a farmer like his father, but always yearning for something more. Thirteen years later, Izzy returns to Batuu. She’s been hired to deliver a dangerous package, and she just wants to finish the job and leave. But upon arrival at Black Spire Outpost she runs smack into the one person who still means something to her after all this time: Jules. Will they fall in love and find a place where they both belong? But how could that happen when one lives the outlaw life of adventure, and the other has never left the safety of home?

This book is available at the library and on OverDrive/Libby as an ebook.

Recommended by: Erin Faxel, Teen Librarian

Posted in: Young Adult Fiction

The Curie Society

by Heather Einhorn

An action packed Young Adult graphic novel revolving around new recruits Simone, Maja, and Taj. When they become roommates at Edmond University, they think they are there as regular students. Almost immediately they are caught up in puzzles that lead them to become members of a secret society, the Curie Society. Their abilities at being brilliant with science have them on a mission to save the world! Scientific terms used in the book are explained in a glossary at the end of the book. An adventuresome way to learn STEM.

Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Services Reference Librarian I

Posted in: Young Adult Fiction

April 2021

If I Was Your Girl

by Meredith Russo

Amanda Hardy is starting over in a new town at a new school. Amanda has a secret that she’s reluctant to share with anyone least of all her new friends. As her life accelerates and she not only meets great new girlfriends but has a boyfriend as well, she decides to trust a certain someone with her secret.

This book is available in the library and on OverDrive/Libby as an ebook and e audiobook.

Recommended by: Becky McCormack, Youth Services Assistant Manager

Posted in: Young Adult Fiction

The Mary Shelley Club

by Goldy Moldavsky

Scream meets Gossip Girl in this twisty YA thriller. New girl Rachel Chavez is eager to make a new start at Manchester Prep and forget about the incident that happened last year. But when she gets caught up in a prank awry, she attracts the attention of a secret club known as The Mary Shelley Club. The group has one goal and that is to play pranks on other students based off of urban legends and horror movie tropes. But soon someone starts targeting members of the club and now it’s up to Rachel to unmask this creep even if it means the dark secret of her past has to come out. Filled to the brim with horror movie references and a wonderful cast of characters The Mary Shelley Club is a page turning read that you will not want to miss.

Recommended By: April Balasa, Patron Services Clerk

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

Marjorie and Wendell are back, but now Marjorie has new friends. She starts to neglect Wendell, which causes a strain on their relationship. Eliza is a new character. She’s an outsider who believes in ghosts and is labeled a freak by other kids. She gets bullied by kids and feels invisible to the point where she wants to give up. Will Marjorie share her secret with Eliza and become her friend? Or will it be too late? This is the second Young Adult graphic novel in the “Sheets” series. It describes what it means to fit in, and what it means if you don’t. It shows what it’s like to feel invisible, and the importance of feeling seen. It is a story of asking for help when all seems dark and bringing help and light to those who need it most.

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

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