Staff Picks
March 2020
The Red Menace
by Lois Ruby
Marty Rafner’s life is pretty normal for a 13 year old kid growing up in a small Kansas town in 1953. He loves playing baseball, listening on his radio as his favorite player, Mickey Mantle, wins games for the New York Yankees, and nurses a crush for his friend and next door neighbor, Amy Lynn. Everything changes when some family friends, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, are accused of spying for the Russians and are sentenced to death. To make matters worse, Marty’s own mother is now under suspicion of not being a loyal US citizen. It’s not easy to keep friends and live a normal life when the FBI is watching your family’s every move. The only one who seems to not mind being around Marty is Luke, his neighbor who has recently returned home from fighting in the Korean War. But Luke isn’t the same since he’s been back from the war, and Marty is running out of ideas on how to help him. With the execution date of the Rosenbergs getting closer, Marty can’t help but worry about the fate of his own family, if his life will ever go back to being normal, or if he’ll always be seen as a traitor. For fans of historical fiction and suspense, Red Menace is a home run.
Recommended by: Stephanie Thomas, Preschool Services Coordinator
Posted in: Youth Fiction
Blue Skies
by Anne Bustard
An emotional read that keeps you caring about the characters until the very end. World War II is over and life is returning to normal in Texas. However, 10 year old Glory Bea is still waiting for her father to come home. She is sure he will and once again wake her up singing the song, “Blue skies”. Based on real events, the town begins to plan for a parade to welcome the Merci Train, one of 49 boxcars from France. Will her dad be part of that train?
Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Services
Posted in: Youth 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
The Newspaper Club
by Beth Vrabel
What’s a kid from a family of reporters to do when they move from a bustling city to a sleepy town? Use their reporting skills to get to the bottom of a string of vandalism cases at the local park, of course. And along the way maybe make a few friends and start their own newspaper. This novel is a quick read, full of great characters and a mystery waiting to be solved. I can’t wait for the sequel!
Recommended by: Kara DeCarlo, School Liaison
Posted in: Youth 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
I’m New Here
by Anne O'Brien
Fatima, Maria and Jin are new immigrant children to America. On the first day of elementary school, it was very scary for the 3 of them because they had trouble speaking and understanding the English language. However, their teachers and peers welcomed them and made them feel accepted in the new community without losing their identity. I highly recommend this book because it teaches our children how to accept people with different cultures, languages and beliefs.
Recommended by: Ghada Rafati, Patrons Services Clerk
Posted in: Youth Fiction
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