Staff Picks Youth
February 2021
If You Want a Friend in Washington: Wacky, Wild & Wonderful Presidential Pets
by Erin McGill
This is a funny and informative book about the variety of animals presidents have kept as pets at the White House. The animals range from the very small to huge, common and rare. A fun read with whimsical illustrations.
Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Services Reference Librarian I
Posted in: Youth Nonfiction
The Secret Life of Sam
by Kim Ventrella
Sam has been raised by a single father all his life. When his father dies, Sam is very unhappy to be placed with his father’s sister who has been absent from his life for the last four years. While planning on leaving this new home Sam discovers an eerie connection to his father through the spirit world. This title is available as an audiobook Playaway.
Recommended by: Becky McCormack, Youth Services Assistant Manager
Posted in: Youth Fiction
Echo Mountain
by Lauren Wolk
It’s 1934 and Ellie and her family have lost their house in town and now live on the side of a mountain. Life is a struggle and becomes even more so when Ellie’s father falls into a coma after getting hit in the head by a tree he was chopping down. Add in a mysterious dog, hidden wood carvings and an old hag and the intrigue begins in earnest. 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: Youth Fiction
Nikki Tesla and the Ferret-Proof Death Ray: Elements of Genius #1
by Jess Keating
After Nikki’s pet ferret accidently shoots off her death ray, she is sent to a school for brainy kids, the Genius Academy. Her fellow students are Charlotte Darwin and Leo da Vinci, smart kids too, but Nikki still doesn’t feel like she belongs or can be friends with them. However, when her death ray is stolen, they band together to get it back and the adventures begin. A hilarious and exciting new series, middle graders will be looking forward to reading the rest of the books in the series.
Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Services Reference Librarian I
Posted in: Youth Fiction
Ensnared in the Wolf’s Lair: Inside the 1944 Plot to Kill Hitler and the Ghost Children of His Revenge
by Ann Bausum
A heartbreaking and haunting account of the many immediate family members and relatives who were killed or imprisoned in camps when the plot to kill Hitler in an explosion failed. His revenge was swift and thorough, even sweeping up people who happened to share the same last name of some of the conspirators. Told from a diary secreted away by a daughter of one of the conspirator’s, this should rank with Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl to show the evilness of some men, who took no account of age or innocence.
Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Services Reference Librarian I
Posted in: Youth Nonfiction
Snapdragon
by Kat Leyh
Snapdragon, Snap for short, is struggling to make friends and feeling different from the other kids in her class. Once she confronts the ‘witch’ of the neighborhood and discovers she’s pretty nice her world slowly begins to change.
Recommended by: Becky McCormack, Youth Services Assistant Manager
Posted in: Youth Fiction
Chirp
by Kate Messner
Mia is moving, convalescing from a broken arm, hiding a secret and trying to make new friends all at the same time. Then her grandmother suspects that someone is sabotaging her cricket farm. Mia and her new friends attempt to solve that mystery while simultaneously working on a marketing plan for her grandmother’s business.
Recommended by: Becky McCormack, Youth Services Assistant Manager
Posted in: Youth Fiction
The Grand Escape: The Greatest Prison Breakout of the 20th Century
by Neil Bascomb
This book gives the reader a gripping description of the greatest prison breakout of the 20th century. 29 prisoners tunnel their way out of Holzminden prison in Germany during World War I. It’s replete with photographs, letters and maps.
Recommended by: Becky McCormack, Youth Services Assistant Manager
Posted in: Youth Nonfiction
January 2021
Clean Getaway
by Nic Stone
William “Scoob” Lamar is on a remarkably interesting and confusing RV trip with his grandmother. Between talking in her sleep, taking him to unusual places and telling him things she never had before, Scoob is confused and sometimes frightened but is ultimately enlightened. 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: Youth Fiction
Just Like That
by Gary D. Schmidt
Set in the 1960s just as earlier books such as The Wednesday Wars and Okay for Now, Schmidt has written another gem of a book with compassion and humor. Meryl Lee Kowalski and Matt Coffin meet at a Maine boarding school run by Mrs. Nora MacKnockater. Both are working through life events that have caused them unhappiness. As they work their way to growth and change, they find that they need help from each other and others to overcome the past.
Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Reference Librarian I
Posted in: Youth Fiction