Staff Picks
November 2021
Long Distance
by Whitney Gardner
A graphic novel which starts with Vega’s dads deciding to move to Seattle from Portland, so she has to leave her BFF behind. Then her dads decide to send her to summer camp where she can work on making new friends. Her steps in the process are the titles of the chapters. When her cellphone quits and things at camp get stranger and stranger, Vega has to team up with her fellow campers to figure out what’s going on! What is going on is nothing ordinary and out of this world.
Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Services Reference Librarian I
Posted in: Youth Fiction
The List of Things That Will Not Change
by Rebecca Stead
Bea’s parents have divorced and, as Bea navigates living in two separate places, her father announces he’s remarrying. Part of the remarriage comes with a new sister for Bea which she’s thrilled about since she’s an only child. As the wedding gets closer, Bea realizes that blending a new family isn’t always as easy as it appears.
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
In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers: The Seconds, Minutes, Hours, Days, Weeks, Months, and Years after the 9/11 Attacks
by Don Brown
A deeply moving graphic novel that depicts the events of 9/11 and the personal stories of many involved due only to being in the wrong place or going to rescue those in the wrong place. The ongoing ramifications from that day are told here in the U.S. and abroad. As in Drowned City, Don Brown meticulously researches his topic…7 pages of citations in Bibliography.
Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Services Reference Librarian I
Posted in: Young Adult Nonfiction
The Downstairs Girl
by Stacey Lee
Can you imagine living in a family’s basement for years without them knowing ? In The Downstairs Girl, by Stacey Lee the main character, Jo Kuan , does just that. As a Chinese woman living in the late 1800’s she has every reason to not stand out. She tries to live a quiet life in her cozy basement. Although many Chinese people immigrated to the American south to become a source of labor once slavery was abolished, they also became outcasts who seemed to live on the outskirts of a society more interested in black and white issues. Despite this, Jo’s personality and opinions may very well be the traits that change her life.
This book is available in the library and OverDrive/Libby and an ebook and e audiobook
Recommended by: Darnetta Bolton, Youth Services Reference Librarian I
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
October 2021
Set Me Free
by Ann Clare LeZotte
Mary Lambert loves her island home on Martha’s Vineyard in the early 1800s, but she’s eager to explore beyond her comfort zone. When she gets a letter from a past acquaintance asking for her help, Mary knows this is the adventure she’s been waiting for. Mary, like many people in her hometown, is deaf. Everyone in her town uses sign language, and now it will be Mary’s job to teach a young girl how to use sign language as well. But when Mary arrives and discovers her young pupil is a prisoner in the house, she does everything she can to help the young girl escape. A companion book to LeZotte’s first book, Show Me a Sign, Set Me Free is a historical drama, mystery, and adventure mixed into one story.
Recommended by: Stephanie Thomas, Youth Services Preschool Services Coordinator
Posted in: Youth Fiction
Sir Simon: Super Scarer
by Cale Atkinson
Simon the ghost got transferred to his first ever haunted house. He is a professional scarer, but he knows a haunted house comes with a lot of ghost chores. Like many of us, Simon wishes he had more time for other things he also enjoys. When a new family moves in, he seizes the opportunity to trick little Chester into doing his ghost chores. After getting to know Chester better, he realizes how much they have in common and how he’s not being fair. Sir Simon Spookington experiences the feeling of empathy and a new beautiful friendship is born. A super scarer duo of “ghotests with the mostests”. Cale Atkinson’s illustrations are captivating. Both kids and adults will truly appreciate the wittiness of the storyline, as well as the hilarious and authentic expressions on the characters.
Recommended by: Fanny Camargo, Youth Services Reference Librarian I
Posted in: Youth Fiction
The Girl in the Headlines
by Hannah Jayne
Eighteen-year-old Andrea lives a comfortable, suburban life. Except that she is the number one suspect in her father’s murder, the horrific attack of her mother, and the disappearance of her little brother. Andrea has no recollection of the night these events took place, but she knows she would never hurt her family. From the motel room where she was dumped, Andrea must find her missing little brother, while avoiding the police and trying to piece together a night she cannot remember. Was she set up? If so, by who and why? Could she have snapped? How did she get to the motel room? Is there a reason she cannot remember? So many questions that all eventually get pieced together. This book will keep you interested and wanting to read one more chapter.
This book is available in the library and on Hoopla as an ebook.
Recommended by: Malorie Carpenter, Youth Services Assistant
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
The Lincoln Highway
by Amor Towles
An incredible read by the author of A Man in Moscow. In June, 1954, Emmett is released from a work farm ready to pick up his little brother, Billy, and head to California to restart his life. Unknown to him, Duchess and Woolly, a fast talker and a neurodivergent, have hidden themselves in the trunk. Soon, they find themselves heading to New York City instead for various spoken and unspoken reasons. The subplots are deftly woven together to make a story that covers a variety of human emotions, wants, and needs.
This book is available in the library and on OverDrive/Libby as an ebook and e audiobook.
Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Services Reference Librarian I
Posted in: Adult Fiction
The Raven Heir
by Stephanie Burgis
A fast-paced fantasy story where triplets Cordelia, Giles, and Rosiland have lived in an enchanted forest with their sorceress mother in order to be saved from claiming the Raven throne. The mother refuses to tell which triplet was born first. When the barons and their knights break through the protection, Cordelia must use her shape shifting abilities and her new found connection to the desolate landscape to save not only her family but the earth itself.
Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Services Reference Librarian I
Posted in: Youth Fiction
The Edge of Strange Hollow
by Gabrielle K. Byrne
A fantasy book where Poppy Sunshine, though well protected and banned from entering the Grimwood, a place where shapeshifters and fairies and other magical creatures live, decides she must go there after her parents disappear in it searching for magical objects. She and her friends, Mack and Nula, leave Strange Hollow willing to break every rule to save them. The never-ending deadly dangers in the forest include thorn trees, trolls, unicorns, Valkyries, and in the middle the Holly Oak, which just might hold the key to the Grimwood’s mysteries. What is it about the Grimwood that pulls Poppy to enter the forest where she feels she can finally breathe? And who are really the “monsters”?
Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Services Reference Librarian I
Posted in: Youth Fiction