Staff Picks Youth

September 2020

Before the Ever After

by Jacqueline Woodson

A powerful novel in verse written by Woodson depicting the range of emotions characters feel as a former football player and father descends into the symptoms of the unknown disease called CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy. This degenerative brain disease affects boxers and football players and has led to improvements in football helmets. ZJ has to come to grips that his dad will not get better, may continue to get worse, as his dad’s memory of friends and even ZJ fails. And anger takes the place of memories.

Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Services Reference Librarian 1

Posted in: Youth Fiction

Your Place in the Universe

by Jason Chin

By the author of Grand Canyon, Jason Chin has once again created a book that has magnificent illustrations to go along with text that makes size and distance very understandable. Starting out with the idea that most eight-year-olds are about five times as tall as the book and continuing comparisons on and on into the universe. This is an engaging way to grasp perspectives of things on earth and in space. There is more information found in the back of the book. This is a mind boggling book and a must see to believe.

Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Services Reference Librarian I

Posted in: Youth Nonfiction

Owly: Just a Little Blue

by Andy Runton

Second book in the Owly graphic novel series. Owly and Wormy try to help a bluebird family whose tree has been damaged. The daddy bluebird does not trust Owly and refuses the new house that they built out of their wheelbarrow. The following spring after a huge storm, Owly and Wormy save the baby birds and bring out the tree house once more for the bluebird family. The cute illustrations and sparse text still gets across the meaning of sacrifice, friendship, and trying again to reach out to others.

Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Services Reference Librarian I

Posted in: Youth Fiction

Little Wise Wolf

by Gijs Van Der Hammen

Little Wise Wolf earns his name because he reads every big book he can find and knows so much about everything. Unfortunately he never shares his knowledge with his animal friends when they come to him with questions. All that changes after he is asked to help the King feel better and has to undertake a hard, long journey, which he can only do with a little help from his friends. Little Wise Wolf learns knowledge is power only when it is shared with others.

Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Services Reference Librarian I

Posted in: Youth Fiction

Sweet Child o’Mine

by Guns n' Roses

Using some of the lyrics from the Guns n’ Roses song of the same name, this picture book illustrates the words showing two little girls seeing a world full of music and love. The girls are Maya and Natalie Rose, who toured with the band growing up.

Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Services Reference Librarian I

Posted in: Youth Fiction

The Murderer’s Ape

by Jakob Wegelius

Sally Jones is a gorilla but she’s also an engineer and a very good friend. When her chief engineer friend is wrongfully accused of murder she does her best to find out what happened so he can be set free. This book is an adventure, a mystery and a really fun read with lots of characterization and plot.

Recommended by: Becky McCormack, Youth Services Assistant Manager

Posted in: Youth Fiction

Camp Murderface

by Josh Berk and Saundra Mitchell

Camp Sweetwater is finally reopening after it mysteriously shut down three decades earlier. Campers Corryn Quinn and Tez Jones are ready to leave their normal lives behind for the summer and take their new camp by storm. But after a fellow camper tells them a spooky campfire story strange things start to happen. Can Corryn and Tez figure out what is happening at their summer camp? Or will the camp close for good this time, with them still inside?

Recommended by: April Balasa, Patron Services Clerk

Posted in: Youth Fiction

The Girl and the Witch’s Garden

by Erin Bowman

A story that calls masterpieces like Howl’s Moving Castle and Kiki’s Delivery Service to mind. Eric Bowman weaves an enchanting tale about a grand old house and it’s garden that hold many secrets. Twelve-year-old Piper finds herself at her wealthy grandmother’s estate for the summer due to her father taking ill. Piper never liked Mallory Estate much: the grounds were always cold, the gardens dead, a mysterious group of children call the property their home and there are rumors that Piper’s grandmother might be a witch. But what if the secrets that the Estate holds are the only things that can save her father? Now Piper along with her new friends must unlock the secrets before it’s to late.

Recommended by: April Balasa, Patron Services Clerk

Posted in: Youth Fiction

August 2020

Kiki’s Delivery Service

by Eiko Kadono

This fantasy story blended with the charm of everyday life will please the die hard fans of Miyazaki’s film. Half-witch Kiki never runs from a challenge. So when her thirteenth birthday arrives she is more then ready to follow the old witch tradition of choosing a new town to call home for one year. Even though Kiki is brimming with confidence, gaining the trust of the towns people in her new home is not as easy as she originally thought. But with her companion, the wise cracking Jiji, Kiki discovers that magic can be found even in the most ordinary places.

Recommended by: April Balasa, Patron Services Clerk

Posted in: Youth Fiction

The Witch’s Hand: The Montague Twins Series; Volume 1

by Nathan Page and Drew Shannon

After a strange storm erupts on their visit to the beach Pete and Alastair Montague find out that their is more to their mystery solving skills then what they originally thought. Turns out their guardian is keeping secrets about their parents and what the boys are truly capable of. At the same time three girls go missing after casting a mysterious spell. In order to solve this mystery they are going to need help from their guardian’s daughter Charlie, but the forces at work are not like anything they have ever seen before and the chain of events taking place will impact their lives forever.

Recommended by: April Balasa, Patron Services Clerk

Posted in: Youth Fiction

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