Staff Picks Young Adult
March 2020
The Astonishing Color of After
by Emily X.R. Pan
This is a novel rich with characterization and imagery. Lee, the main female character, is in high school with a guy best friend, a love of art and a mother from Taiwan with secrets. When tragedy strikes, secrets are uncovered and parts of the past are revealed. Read this for a strong, poignant coming of age story.
Recommended by: Becky McCormack, Youth Services Assistant Manager
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
Grenade
by Alan Gratz
Set on the island of Okinawa as the Americans are starting their invasion during WW II, this action packed story will keep readers turning the pages. Told from the points of view of an American soldier and an 11 year old Okinawan boy, their lives will collide with a bang. The boy has been given two grenades, one to use to kill an American soldier. By the author of Refugee, the 2020 Caudill winner.
Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Services Reference
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
Bloom
by Kenneth Oppel
This is book 1 in the series The Overthrow. Once again Oppel delivers a book that is full of action, suspense, and surprises as the pace quickens with every turn of the page. It starts with what seems like a normal rain on Salt Spring Island in Vancouver, but then black grass begins to grow—everywhere. Then allergy producing pollen is released and the plants seem to change into meat-eaters. Three teens are immune to the plants and must find out why before humanity is wiped out. In Fall 2020, the second book, Hatch, will be available.
Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Services
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
Shout
by Laurie Halse Anderson
For anyone who hasn’t read Speak, Shout is a must read. Written in verse, Anderson has given voice to the sorrow, despair and rage that occurs after sexual assault. She has made a difficult topic not only very readable but empowering.
Recommended by: Becky McCormack, Youth Services Assistant Manager
Posted in: Young Adult
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder
by Holly Jackson
Five years ago high school student Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend Sal Singh and everyone knows it. Even though the case is “closed” senior Pipa Fitz-Amboi is not so sure. And she is more then ready to prove it when she chooses the case as the topic for her final year project. But if the real killer is still out there and Pip starts to discover the truth about what really happened to Andie Bell. Just how far will the killer be willing to go to make sure the truth stays hidden?
Recommended by: April Balasa, Patron Services Clerk
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
The Raven and the Dove
by Kaithyln Davis
This epic fantasy novel follows one of the greatest love stories ever told. Four fates-collide in the avian-inspired retelling of Tristan and Isolde. A princess longing for freedom and a bastard aching to be belong fate brings them together but now destiny will tear them apart. This beautifully written story will take you on a magical adventure. As a legend that is as old as time is ready to be told again.
Recommended by: April Balasa, Patron Services Clerk
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
A man and his cat volume 1
by Umi Sakuari
Posted in: Young Adult
Seven Deadly Shadows
by Courtney Alameda and Valynne E. Maetani
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
Red Hood
by Elana K. Arnold
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
January 2020
Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All
by Laura Ruby
Frankie feels like she’s living a life decided by others. Her father has placed Frankie and her siblings in an orphanage while he starts a life with his new wife and her children. Frankie’s brother, her secret boyfriend, and all the boys at the orphanage are sent off to fight in Europe after Pearl Harbor is bombed. Life outside the orphanage seems like a million years away. The ghost of a teenage girl who died in 1918 visits the orphanage and becomes interested in Frankie. The ghost moves from watching Frankie to making friends with another spirit and learning her story. Ruby presents stories within stories, rarely revealing the truth until the end. A gripping read that allows a rare opportunity to show ghosts being haunted by their pasts.
Recommended by: Brandi Smits, Youth Services Manager
Posted in: Young Adult