LGBTQ+ Halloween Reads for October

Are you excited for Halloween? For my October book display, I want to highlight spooky and thrilling reads with LGBTQ+ characters. So without further ado, here are ten of the books I will have on display throughout the month:

Burn Down, Rise Up / Vincent Tirado: When an urban legend rumored to trap people inside subway tunnels seems to be behind mysterious disappearances in the Bronx, sixteen-year-old Raquel and her friends team up to save their city–and confront a dark episode in its history in the process.

Cemetery Boys / Aiden Thomas: Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him. When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his true gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free. However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie off some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.

Dead Flip / Sara Farizan: Growing up, Cori, Maz, and Sam were inseparable best friends, sharing their love for Halloween, arcade games, and one another. Now it’s 1992, Sam has been missing for five years, and Cori and Maz aren’t speaking anymore. How could they be, when Cori is sure Sam is dead and Maz thinks he may have been kidnapped by a supernatural pinball machine?   These days, all Maz wants to do is party, buy CDs at Sam Goody, and run away from his past. Meanwhile, Cori is a homecoming queen, hiding her abiding love of horror movies and her queer self under the bubblegum veneer of a high school queen bee. But when Sam returns-still twelve years old while his best friends are now seventeen- Maz and Cori are thrown back together to solve the mystery of what really happened to Sam the night he went missing. Beneath the surface of that mystery lurk secrets the friends never told one another, then and now. And Sam’s is the darkest of all. . . 

Hell Followed With Us / Andrew Joseph White: Sixteen-year-old trans boy Benji is on the run from the cult that raised him–the fundamentalist sect that unleashed Armageddon and decimated the world’s population. Desperately, he searches for a place where the cult can’t get their hands on him, or more importantly, on the bioweapon they infected him with. But when cornered by monsters born from the destruction, Benji is rescued by a group of teens from the local Acheson LGBTQ+ Center, affectionately known as the ALC. The ALC’s leader, Nick, is gorgeous, autistic, and a deadly shot, and he knows Benji’s darkest secret: the cult’s bioweapon is mutating him into a monster deadly enough to wipe humanity from the earth once and for all. Still, Nick offers Benji shelter among his ragtag group of queer teens, as long as Benji can control the monster and use its power to defend the ALC. Eager to belong, Benji accepts Nick’s terms … until he discovers the ALC’s mysterious leader has a hidden agenda, and more than a few secrets of his own.

Howl by Shaun David Hutchinson: When no one in the small town of Merritt, Florida, believes that he was attacked by a monster, fifteen-year-old Virgil Knox fears the monster will return to finish him off, or worse–that he is becoming a monster himself.

Over My Dead Body / Sweeney Boo: One day, everything was exactly as it was supposed to be. And the next, the closest thing Abby ever had to a sister, Noreen, was just… gone. Distracted by the annual preparations for the Samhain festival, Abby’s classmates are quick to put Noreen’s disappearance aside. The Coven will find her, Abby’s friends say. They have it under control. But Abby can’t let it go. Soon a search for answers leads her down a rabbit hole that uncovers more secrets than Abby can handle. As mounting evidence steers her toward the off-limits woods that surround the academy, she begins to see that Noreen’s disappearance mysteriously has a lot in common with another girl who went missing all those years ago…

The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould: The Dark has been waiting–and it won’t stay hidden any longer. Something is wrong in Snakebite, Oregon. Teenagers are disappearing, some turning up dead, the weather isn’t normal, and all fingers point to TV’s most popular ghost hunters who have just come to town. Logan Ortiz-Woodley, daughter of TV’s Para Spectors, has never been to Snakebite before. But the moment she and her dads arrive, she starts to get the feeling that there’s more than ghosts plaguing this small town. Ashley Barton’s boyfriend was the first teen to go missing, and she’s felt his ghost following her ever since. Although everyone shuns the Ortiz-Woodleys, the mysterious Logan may be the only person who can help Ashley get some answers. When Ashley and Logan team up to figure out who–or what–is haunting Snakebite, their investigation reveals truths about the town, their families, and themselves that neither of them are ready for. As the danger intensifies, they realize that their growing feelings for each other could be a light in the darkness.

The Honeys / Ryan La Sala: Mars has always been the lesser twin, the shadow to his sister Caroline’s radiance. But when Caroline dies under horrific circumstances, Mars is propelled to learn all he can about his once-inseparable sister who’d grown tragically distant. Mars’s gender fluidity means he’s often excluded from the traditions — and expectations — of his politically-connected family. This includes attendance at the prestigious Aspen Conservancy Summer Academy where his sister poured so much of her time. But with his grief still fresh, he insists on attending in her place. What Mars finds is a bucolic fairytale not meant for him. Folksy charm and sun-drenched festivities camouflage old-fashioned gender roles and a toxic preparatory rigor. Mars seeks out his sister’s old friends: a group of girls dubbed the Honeys, named for the beehives they maintain behind their cabin. They are beautiful and terrifying — and Mars is certain they’re connected to Caroline’s death. But the longer he stays at Aspen, the more the sweet mountain breezes give way to hints of decay. Mars’s memories begin to falter, bleached beneath the relentless summer sun. Something is hunting him in broad daylight, toying with his mind. If Mars can’t find it soon, it will eat him alive.

The Taking of Jake Livingston / Ryan Douglass: Sixteen-year-old Jake Livingston sees dead people everywhere. But he can’t decide what’s worse: being a medium forced to watch the dead play out their last moments on a loop or being at the mercy of racist teachers as one of the few Black students at St. Clair Prep. Both are a living nightmare he wishes he could wake up from. But things at St. Clair start looking up with the arrival of another Black student–the handsome Allister–and for the first time, romance is on the horizon for Jake. Unfortunately, life as a medium is getting worse. Though most ghosts are harmless and Jake is always happy to help them move on to the next place, Sawyer Doon wants much more from Jake. In life, Sawyer was a troubled teen who shot and killed six kids at a local high school before taking his own life. Now he’s a powerful, vengeful ghost and he has plans for Jake. Suddenly, everything Jake knows about dead world goes out the window as Sawyer begins to haunt him. High school soon becomes a different kind of survival game–one Jake is not sure he can win.

These Fleeting Shadows / Kate Alice Marshall: Helen Vaughan doesn’t know why she and her mother left their ancestral home at Harrowstone Hall, called Harrow, or why they haven’t spoken to their extended family since. So when her grandfather dies, she’s shocked to learn that he has left everything-the house, the grounds, and the money-to her . The inheritance comes with one condition: she must stay on the grounds of Harrow for one full year, or she’ll be left with nothing.   There is more at stake than money. For as long as she can remember, Harrow has haunted Helen’s dreams-and now those dreams have become a waking nightmare. Helen knows that if she is going to survive the year, she needs to uncover the secrets of Harrow. Why is the house built like a labyrinth? What is digging the holes that appear in the woods each night? And why does the house itself seem to be making her sick?  With each twisted revelation, Helen questions what she knows about Harrow, her family, and even herself. She no longer wonders if she wants to leave…but if she can.

Reading Around the World: Books Set on Each Continent

Many of the people I know enjoy traveling, but I do not. Instead of packing, flying, booking hotel rooms, and sleeping in a bed that’s not my own, I like to visit new places through books. Whether you love or hate traveling, there’s something to be said for books with vivid or unique-to-you settings. Those are the types of books I’m sharing today. These books would make for a great display or might be just the thing to hand to that teen who can’t wait to get on a plane and never look back.

Books Set in Africa

This Book Betrays My Brother by Kagiso Lesego Molope: Naledi has always looked up to her brother Basi, but when she witnesses him committing a horrific act, she is torn between exposing the truth and being loyal to her sibling.

City of Saints and Thieves by Natalie C. Anderson: Sixteen-year-old Tina and two friends leave Kenya and slip into the Congo, from where she and her mother fled years before, seeking revenge for her mother’s murder but uncovering startling secrets.

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor: Twelve-year-old Sunny Nwazue, an American-born albino child of Nigerian parents, moves with her family back to Nigeria, where she learns that she has latent magical powers which she and three similarly gifted friends use to catch a serial killer.

The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney: After her tribal village is attacked by militants, Amira, a young Sudanese girl, must flee to safety at a refugee camp, where she finds hope and the chance to pursue an education in the form of a single red pencil and the friendship and encouragement of a wise elder.

War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi: In 2172, when much of the world is unlivable, sisters Onyii and Ify dream of escaping war-torn Nigeria and finding a better future together but are, instead, torn apart.

 

Books Set in Antarctica

Up to This Pointe by Jennifer Longo: Devastated when her dream of becoming a professional ballerina falls through, seventeen-year-old Harper Scott takes a job as a research assistant, wintering over at McMurdo, a U.S. science station at the tip of Antarctica where, for the first time, she considers other possible futures.

The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean: When her uncle takes her on a dream trip to the Antarctic wilderness, Sym’s obsession with Captain Oates and the doomed expedition becomes a reality as she herself is soon in a fight for her life in some the harshest terrain on the planet.

Into the White: Scott’s Antarctic Odyssey by Joanna Grochowicz: The enthralling and harrowing true story of Robert Falcon Scott’s ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, with evocative photographs, and illustrations by Sarah Lippett.

Books Set in Asia

Flame in the Mist by Renée Ahdieh: The daughter of a prominent samurai in feudal Japan is targeted by a dangerous gang of bandits who want to prevent her political marriage, a situation that compels her to disguise herself as a boy and infiltrate the gang’s ranks in order to stop the individual behind the plot.

Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine: In this loose retelling of The Phantom of the Opera, set in a reimagined industrial Asia, a ghost becomes obsessed with sixteen-year-old Wen, the daughter of a staff doctor in a slaughterhouse, who falls in love with one of the Noor, a despised group of men, racially different, hired as cheap factory labor.

A Thousand Beginnings and Endings edited by Ellen Oh and Elsie Chapman: Fifteen authors of Asian descent reimagine the folklore and mythology of East and South Asia, in short stories ranging from fantasy to science fiction to contemporary, from romance to tales of revenge.

Wicked Fox by Kat Cho: After eighteen-year-old Gu Miyoung, a nine-tailed fox surviving in modern-day Seoul by eating the souls of evil men, kills a murderous goblin to save Jihoon, she is forced to choose between her immortal life and his.

A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena: In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, sixteen-year-old half-Hindu/half-Parsi Zarin Wadia is the class troublemaker and top subject for the school rumor blogs, regularly leaving class to smoke cigarettes in cars with boys, but she also desperately wants to grow up and move out of her aunt and uncle’s house, perhaps realizing too late that Porus, another non-Muslim Indian who risks deportation but remains devoted to Zarin, could help her escape.

Books Set in Australia

Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde: Three friends go to a convention and find love–and themselves.

Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley: Teenagers Rachel and Henry find their way back to each other while working in an old bookstore full of secrets and crushes, love letters and memories, grief and hope.

The Lines We Cross by Randa Abdel-Fattah: A story about the power of choosing tolerance by the award-winning author of Does My Head Look Big in This? finds basketball enthusiast Michael attending anti-immigration rallies with his parents until a friendship with a Muslim refugee newcomer from Afghanistan compels him to question his family’s politics.

White Night by Ellie Marney: In Bo Mitchell’s country town, a ‘White Night’ light-show event has the potential to raise vital funds to save the skate park. And out of town, a girl from a secretive off-the-grid community called Garden of Eden has the potential to change the way Bo sees the world. But are there too many secrets in Eden? As Bo is drawn away from his friends and towards Rory, he gradually comes to believe that Eden may not be utopia after all, and that their group leader’s goal to go off the grid may be more permanent – and more dangerous – than anyone could have predicted.

Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak: Upon their father’s return, the five Dunbar boys, who have raised themselves since their mother’s death, begin to learn family secrets, including that of fourth brother Clay, who will build a bridge for complex reasons, including his own redemption.

Books Set in Europe

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi: Keeping close secrets in the wake of the Exposition Universelle in 1889 Paris, a wealthy hotelier and treasure-hunter is tapped by a powerful order to lead an elite team on a quest to track down an ancient artifact of world-changing significance.

The Summer of Us by Cecilia Vinesse: Told from two viewpoints, Rae, Aubrey, Clara, Jonah, and Gabe travel through Europe by train for ten days, working through their relationships just before setting off in different directions for college.

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzie Lee: Two friends on a Grand Tour of 18th-century Europe stumble across a magical artifact that leads them from Paris to Venice in a dangerous manhunt shaped by pirates, highwaymen and their growing attraction to one another.

White Rose by Kip Wilson: Tells the story of Sophie Scholl, a young German college student who challenges the Nazi regime during World War II as part of the White Rose, a non-violent resistance group.

Love & Luck by Jenna Evans Welch: In order to fix their shattered sibling relationship–and Addie’s broken heart–Addie and Ian take a road trip across Ireland filled with unexpected detours and a stop at a major music festival.

Books Set in North America

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline: In this futuristic dystopian novel for teens, the Indigenous people of North America are on the run in a fight for survival.

Disappeared by Franciso X. Stork: Four months ago Sara Zapata’s best friend, Linda, disappeared from the streets of Juarez, and ever since Sara has been using her job as a reporter to draw attention to the girls who have been kidnapped by the criminals who control the city, but now she and her family are being threatened–meanwhile her younger brother, Emiliano, is being lured into the narcotics business by the promise of big money, and soon the only way for both of them to escape is to risk the dangerous trek across the desert to the United States border.

The Go-Between by Veronica Chambers: Both of sixteen-year-old Cammi’s parents are stars in Mexico, but everything changes when her mother accepts a role in an American sitcom.

Color Me In by Natasha Diaz: A coming-of-age story of friendship, first romance and religious intolerance finds a 16-year-old girl in an affluent New York City suburb confronting her biracial identity for the first time when she relocates to her divorced mom’s family home in Harlem.

All the Days Past, All the Days to Come by Mildred D. Taylor: A long-awaited conclusion to the story that began in the Newbery Medal-winning Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry finds young adult Cassie Logan searching for a sense of belonging before joining the civil rights movement in 1960s Mississippi.

Books Set in South America

The Speed of Falling Objects by Nancy Richardson Fischer: When her dad calls with an offer to join him to film the next episode of his popular survivalist show, Danny jumps at the chance to prove she’s not the disappointment he left behind. Being on set with the hottest teen movie idol of the moment, Gus Price, should be the cherry on top. But when their small plane crashes in the Amazon, and a terrible secret is revealed, Danny must face the truth about the parent she worships and falling for Gus, and find her own inner strength and worth to light the way home.

An Uninterrupted View of the Sky by Melanie Crowder: When his father is sent to jail after being falsely convicted of a crime in 1999 Bolivia, teen Francisco is forced to choose between living with his father in prison and relocating to the mountains, where people have lived for centuries without education or modern conveniences.

The Queen of Water by Laura Resau and María Virginia Farinango: Living in a village in Ecuador, a Quechua Indian girl is sent to work as an indentured servant for an upper class “mestizo” family.

The Head of the Saint by Socorro Acioli: Having arrived in Candeia, Brazil, starving and footsore, after walking sixteen days to fulfill his dying mother’s last wishes, young Samuel takes up residence in an enormous, broken statue of Saint Anthony and finds that he can hear the prayers of the townspeople, despite his lack of faith.

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What books would you add to this list? Leave a comment and let us know!

9 Books for Foodies

Photo by Katie Smith on Unsplash

In one of the school libraries where I work, we offer snacks to students. I learned very quickly that teenagers love snacks and are prone to heartbreak when the only choices left are plums or pears. Food is delicious to eat, can be fun to cook, and can serve as a unifier between families and friends.  Food is something we all need, so it’s no surprise that it appears in so many books as a central theme. Today I’m sharing nine of those books with you with the hope that you’ll find a title or two to whet your appetite for a good read.

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo 

Navigating the challenges of finishing high school while caring for a daughter, talented cook Emoni Santiago struggles with a lack of time and money that complicate her dream of working in a professional kitchen. 

Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley 

Lucy Knisley loves food. The daughter of a chef and a gourmet, this talented young cartoonist comes by her obsession honestly. In her forthright, thoughtful, and funny memoir, Lucy traces key episodes in her life thus far, framed by what she was eating at the time and lessons learned about food, cooking, and life. Each chapter is bookended with an illustrated recipe– many of them treasured family dishes, and a few of them Lucy’s original inventions 

Hungry Hearts: 13 Tales of Food & Love edited by Elsie Chapman and Caroline Tung Richmond 

Presents interconnected stories where food goes beyond nourishment to reflect love, grief, family, and culture in the lives of thirteen teens. 

The Music of What Happens by Bill Konigsberg  

A cool and popular gay teen who harbors a secret, intense crush and a poetic youth who is looking for Mr. Right in spite of his troubled family weigh what they are willing to risk while working together at an organic food truck during a blistering Arizona summer. 

Love à la Mode by Stephanie Kate Strohm 

High school juniors Rosie Radeke and Henry Yi, both enrolled in an elite cooking program in Paris, must balance rivalry and romance. 

The Way You Make Me Feel by Maureen Goo 

Clara Shin lives for pranks and disruption. When she takes one joke too far, her dad sentences her to a summer working on his food truck, the KoBra, alongside her uptight classmate Rose Carver. Not the carefree summer Clara had imagined. But maybe Rose isn’t so bad. Maybe the boy named Hamlet (yes, Hamlet) crushing on her is pretty cute. Maybe Clara actually feels invested in her dad’s business. What if taking this summer seriously means that Clara has to leave her old self behind? 

Sweet Revenge: Passive-Aggressive Desserts for Your Exes & Enemies by Heather Kim 

Dumped by your beefcake boyfriend? BFF steal your one-and-only? Lab partner a more-than-periodic no-show? Get out your heaviest rolling pins, sharpest cleavers, and kill your enemies and exes– with kindness. Bake that loser ex a pan of Go Fudge Yourself. Gift your former friend a You’re the Devil Cake. Let them taste you’re over them as Kim serves up sinfully delicious recipes and bittersweet advice.  

The Teen Kitchen: Recipes We Love to Cook by Emily and Lyla Allen 

A colorful and engaging cookbook, written by teenage media stars The Kitchen Twins, with more than 75 accessible, fun, healthy, and delicious recipes for everyday cooking. 

Hungry by S. A. Swain 

A tale set in a future world where food is no longer necessary and famine and food-related illnesses no longer exist, Thalia begins to feel hunger when the appetite-suppressing medicine her parents’ employers created stops working 

Summaries are from NoveList. 

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What are some of your favorite food-related books? Share with us in the comments! 

YA for Bastille Day

Every 14th of July the French commemorate the storming of the Bastille, a prison that came to symbolize absolute monarchy in the 18th century. This event helped usher in the French Revolution. The first Bastille Day was celebrated in 1790. Today, much like the Fourth of July in the US, Bastille Day (known in France as la Fête nationale or le 14 juillet) is a public holiday, celebrated with festivities like fireworks and parades. Grab yourself a baguette and some strong cheese or a pain au chocolate, and celebrate liberté, egalité, fraternité today by checking out one of these novels that takes place in France!

In Paris with You – Clementine Beauvais
Ten years ago Eugene and Tatiana fell in love at age 14 over the summer. A series of unfortunate events and misunderstandings separated them, but now, at age 24, they bump into each other on the metro. The encounter prompts Eugene and Tatiana to mull what happened that summer, and wonder if there is a chance their romance could be rekindled. In Paris with You is a novel in verse that could technically be classified as “New Adult” and is definitely more suited for older teens.

Rook – Sharon Cameron
Rook is a post-apocalyptic retelling of The Scarlet Pimpernel. In the Sunken City that was once Paris, the guillotine rules again. Sophia tries to rescue as many of the revolution’s victims as she can smuggle out. Some prisoners disappear from their cells, with a red-tipped rook feather left in their place–but who is the mysterious Red Rook?

Revolution – Jennifer Donnelly
After the death of her younger brother two years ago, Andi is still full of grief and rage. She’s on the verge of being expelled from her exclusive prep school when her distant father forces Andi to accompany him on a trip to Paris. In Paris, Andi finds the diary of Alexandrine, a young woman who lived during the French Revolution. She becomes obsessed with Alexandrine’s life and the historical mystery it could solve

The Book of Pearl – Timothée De Fombelle
The Book of Pearl is a beautiful blend of historical fiction and magical realism. In France between the first and second World Wars, Monsieur Jacques Pearl rescues and adopts a lost boy he finds caught alone in a terrible storm. It soon becomes apparent that the boy is not of this world. In fact, he’s been banished from the fairy world, cursed to have lost the memory of his soulmate. Will he be able to make it back to her before time runs out?

Two Summers – Aimee Friedman
When Summer Everett makes a split-second decision, her summer divides into two parallel worlds. In one, she travels to be with her father in Provence, France, where she uncovers family secrets and meets a cute boy. In the other, she remains home with her mom in her ordinary suburb in New York, where she expects her ordinary life to continue — but nothing is as it seems (and hint: romance is involved!).

The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid – Colin Meloy
Set in Marseilles, France in 1961, The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid, features Charlie, the privileged but lonely son of an American consul. When Charlie meets a group of young pickpockets, he seeks to become one himself.

Anna and the French Kiss – Stephanie Perkins
In this modern classic YA rom com, Atlanta-native Anna spends her senior year at a boarding school in Paris. France takes some getting used to for Anna, but meeting the charming and handsome Etienne St. Clair sure does help matters. Unfortunately, Etienne has a girlfriend. Will these two ever get together or is it just not meant to be?

Die for Me – Amy Plum
Nothing, not even moving to Paris, can lighten Kate’s grief over her parents’ recent deaths. Nothing, that is, until she meets gorgeous, enigmatic Vincent, and learns his secret–though he seems human, he’s actually a reanimated, immortal revenant dedicated to dying over and over again to save the lives of humans. But just as Kate and Vincent’s smoldering romance ignites, it’s threatened by Vincent’s undead enemies. Die for Me is the first book in the Revenants trilogy.

Love à la Mode – Stephanie Kate Strohm
With the competitive cookery of Chopped combined with the cozy camaraderie of The Great British Bake-Off, Love à la Mode is a sweet romance for fans of food and Paris. High school juniors Henry and Rosie both get accepted to an elite summer cooking program in Paris. They immediately hit it off, but the challenges of the program keep preventing sparks from flying. Do they have what it takes to succeed as chefs? And will they ever get over themselves enough to realize their romantic potential?

Enchantée – Gita Trelease
Set in 18th century France during the reign of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, Enchantée offers a fantastic twist on the story of the French Revolution. Camille and her sister have been struggling to survive since the deaths of their parents and her brother’s subsequent alcohol and gambling addictions nearly destroyed them all. When Camille realizes that she possesses magical powers (she can transform her appearance and manipulate cards) she attempts to make a name for herself playing cards at the elaborate parties of Versailles.

Awesome Audiobooks for Families with Tweens and Teens

Once Memorial Day hits and family vacation officially begins, my audiobook collection really starts popping. I rarely get asked for audiobook advice throughout the school year, but come summer, patrons start asking for recommendations and I have to pull out my audio RA skills.

The vast majority of the time, parents are looking for audiobooks that the whole family can listen to and enjoy. I’d say my number one question tends to be “What audiobooks will be appropriate for my younger tween, but still appeal to my older teen?”

Here are some of my top picks that have high appeal to a wide age range without being overly risqué:

Not if I Save You First – Ally Carter (narrated by Brittany Pressley)
After six years with no word from Maddie’s best friend, Logan, he shows up on the doorstep of the remote Alaskan cabin where she and her father live…with a murderer in pursuit.

Girl in the Blue Coat – Monica Hesse (narrated by Natalia Payne)
In 1943 Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, Hanneke–a ‘finder’ of black market goods–is tasked with finding a Jewish girl a customer had been hiding, who has seemingly vanished into thin air.

The Parker Inheritance – Varian Johnson (narrated by Cherise Boothe)
Candice is spending the summer in the house that belonged to her grandmother, who was fired from her job as city manager for digging up up city tennis courts looking for buried treasure. When Candice finds the letter that sent her grandmother on the treasure hunt, she finds herself caught up in the mystery. She sets out to find the treasure and exonerate her grandmother.

Warcross – Marie Lu (narrated by Nancy Wu)
After hacking into the Warcross Championships’ opening game, bounty hunter Emika Chen is asked by the game’s creator to go undercover to investigate a security problem, and she uncovers a sinister plot.

Moxie – Jennifer Mathieu (narrated by Suzy Jackson)
In a small Texas town where high school football reigns supreme, Viv starts a feminist revolution using anonymously-written zines.

From Twinkle with Love – Sandhya Menon (narrated by Soneela Nankani and Vikas Adam)
Told through letters, aspiring filmmaker and wallflower Twinkle Mehra learns a lesson about love while directing a movie for the Midsummer Night arts festival, in which her longtime crush and his twin brother are also participating.

Renegades – Marissa Meyer (narrated by Dan Bittner and Rebecca Soler)
In a ruined world where humans with extraordinary abilities have become the world’s champions of justice, a vengeance-seeking girl and a justice-seeking boy team up against a villain who has the power to destroy everything they have worked to protect.

Akata Witch – Nnedi Okorafor (narrated by Yetide Badaki)
Sunny, an American-born albino child of Nigerian parents, moves with her family back to Nigeria, where she learns that she has latent magical powers which she and three similarly gifted friends must use to catch a serial killer. This is a great readalike for Harry Potter fans.

La Belle Sauvage – Philip Pullman (narrated by Martin Sheen)
When Malcolm finds a secret message inquiring about a dangerous substance called Dust, he finds himself embroiled in a tale of intrigue featuring enforcement agents from the Magisterium, a woman with an evil monkey dæmon, and a baby named Lyra. This is a prequel to The Golden Compass.

Ghost – Jason Reynolds (narrated by Guy Lockard)
Ghost, a naturally talented runner and troublemaker, is recruited for an elite middle school track team. He must stay on track, literally and figuratively, to reach his full potential.

The Rithmatist – Brandon Sanderson (narrated by Michael Kramer)
Rithmatists have the power to infuse life into two-dimensional figures known as Chalklings. Rithmatists are humanity’s only defense against the Wild Chalklings that threaten all of the American Isles. As the son of a lowly chalkmaker at Armedius Academy, Joel can only watch as Rithmatist students learn the magical art that he would do anything to practice. Then students start disappearing. Assigned to help the professor who is investigating the crimes, Joel and his friend Melody find themselves on the trail of an unexpected discovery—one that will change Rithmatics—and their world—forever.

Dry – Neal Shusterman (narrated by a full cast)
The drought has been going on for a while now. Everyone’s lives have become an endless list of don’ts: don’t water the lawn, don’t fill up your pool, don’t take long showers. Until the taps run dry. Suddenly, Alyssa’s quiet suburban street spirals into a warzone of desperation; neighbours and families turned against each other on the hunt for water. Alyssa has to make impossible choices if she’s going to survive.

Dear Martin – Nic Stone (narrated by Dion Graham)
Writing letters to the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., college-bound Justyce McAllister struggles to face how the reality of race relations today are shaping him.

The Screaming Staircase – Jonathan Stroud (narrated by Miranda Raison)
When London is overrun by malevolent spirits, a talented group of young psychic detectives compete against other ghostbusting agencies in the debut of a new series that finds three intrepid colleagues investigating one of England’s most haunted houses.

Leviathan – Scott Westerfeld (narrated by Alan Cumming)
In an alternate 1914 Europe, Austrian Prince Alek is on the run from the Clanker Powers, who are attempting to take over the globe using mechanical machinery. Alek forms an uneasy alliance with Deryn who, disguised as a boy to join the British Air Service, is learning to fly genetically-engineered beasts.

 

**Summaries modified from Novelist.

Let’s Get Mathematical: Math-centric YA Novels

Did you know that April is Mathematics and Statistics Awareness Month? I sure didn’t. In libraries, we encourage patrons to develop their STEM skills through library programming, but math tends to be the toughest STEM category to promote. Many patrons and librarians alike are intimidated by math (myself included!), and often mathematics and creative writing are considered to be opposing forces. This doesn’t have to be the case though. Why not try to warm patrons up to math with a nice display of some amazing novels featuring math and mathematicians? Here are a few titles worth considering:

An Abundance of Katherines – John Green
Self-proclaimed washed up child prodigy, Colin Singleton, has somehow gotten himself 19 ex-girlfriends named Katherine. After the latest Katherine breakup, Colin and his friend Hassan go on a road trip and end up in Tennessee where they are persuaded to stay. Colin spends his time there working on a mathematical theorem intended to predict the duration of romantic relationships.

Chasing Vermeer – Blue Balliett
Sixth grade classmates Petra and Calder are sucked into the mystery of a missing Vermeer painting. The pair follows a series of mathematical clues including secret codes and pentominoes (math tools with alphabetic correspondences). Some of the codes are even left for readers to decipher themselves. This a great choice for the middle school crowd.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – Mark Haddon
When his neighbor’s dog is viciously killed, Christopher Boone, a math genius with autism, decides to use the deductive reasoning favored by his idol, Sherlock Holmes, to find the killer. This book is probably the most math-centric title on this list. Christopher comforts himself by doing math, the appendix includes a proof of Christopher’s favorite math problem, and the chapter numbers reflect his penchant for prime numbers.

A Girl Named Digit – Annabel Monaghan
After spending most of her life trying to hide the fact that she’s a math whiz, the secret comes out when high school senior, Farrah, breaks a terrorist group’s secret code. When the group comes after her, the FBI assigns her a handsome protector named John. As the two work to catch the criminals using Farrah’s math skills, sparks fly. This fast-paced action-romance is perfect for fans of Ally Carter.

The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl – Stacy McAnulty
Lightning struck Lucy when she was young, and ever since, she’s been a homeschooled math genius. Now at age 12, Lucy’s ready for college, but her Nana thinks she needs more time with kids her own age. The two strike a deal: If Lucy goes to middle school for a year, she can apply to college. While this is technically a middle-grade novel, it’s sure to find middle school fans.

The Square Root of Summer – Harriet Reuter Hapgood
Physics prodigy Gottie is dealing with the a lot. First there was the loss of her grandfather, and subsequent ghosting by her first love. Now, she’s experiencing “screenwipes” that propel her backward and forward in time. Gottie tries to understand what’s going on using her physics background. Like a fictional club from a Stefan bit on SNL, this YA contemporary has everything: Romance, grief, time travel, and two-way wormholes.

2019 Top Ten Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults

This past year I was lucky enough to serve on YALSA’s Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults Blogging Team. Throughout the year, my fellow committee members and I listened to over 300 audiobooks with teen appeal, nominating 62 titles, and writing blog posts about many of them over on YALSA’s blog, The Hub. At the end of the year, we honed the list down to 39 that we felt truly earned the title of “amazing.” The top 10 titles received the highest number of votes from the committee, and they are some truly stellar titles. Read more about them below, and please make sure to stock up your collection with these awesome picks!*

• Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor, read by Yetide Badaki.
  Sunny, an Albino Nigerian-American girl, who feels she belongs nowhere discovers she belongs to an ancient world of magical people. She and her friends must use their magic to save the world from an evil that threatens to destroy it. Badaki’s delivery of this story is mesmerizing.
• Educated by Tara Westover, read by Julia Whelan.
  Tara Westover grew up in isolation with six siblings, an herbalist mother, and a devout Mormon father, and at seventeen, she begins to fight for her education. Whelan gives an understated performance for the narration, which has enough dramatic action, such as the harrowing accidents the family experiences, to compel the story.
• I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Forman, read by Nicole Lewis, Michael Crouch, and Sunil Malhotra.
  Three young adults accidentally collide in New York City and embark on a single day of adventure, friendship, secrets, and loss that will change their lives forever. Lewis, Crouch and Malhotra are equally exemplary in portraying the characters in happiness, retrospection, growth, and sorrow.
• Lu by Jason Reynolds, read by Guy Lockard.
  Lucky Lu (the one and only, the kid, the guy) struggles to figure out where he fits in both on the track team, quite literally jumping hurdles, and in life, with a new sibling on the way. Guy Lockard concludes his flawless narration of the Track series with swagger, heart, and humility.
• Quidditch Through the Ages by J.K. Rowling and Kennilworthy Whisp, read by Andrew Lincoln.
  Re-released with additional content, Quidditch Through The Ages takes a look at the most popular wizarding sport from the Harry Potter series. Andrew Lincoln charms audiences with his narration of the history and early origins of Quidditch.
• Sadie by Courtney Summers, read by Rebecca Soler, Fred Berman, Dan Bittner, Gabra Zackman, and a Full Cast.  When Mattie is found dead, her older sister and caretaker Sadie has only one goal; track down her killer. West McCray, a radio personality starts a podcast about Sadie’s disappearance, becoming obsessed with finding her before it’s too late. The full cast nail the intriguing premise and make this audio a nail-biting edge of your seat thriller.
• Sunny by Jason Reynolds, read by Guy Lockard.
  Sunny’s passion is dancing, but he runs to please his father. Then Sunny’s coach finds a way for him to “dance” on the track by throwing discus instead of running. Narrator Guy Lockhard perfectly captures Sunny’s fresh, distinctive voice, creating an authentic character that readers will adore.
• The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge by MT Anderson and Eugene Yelchin, read by Gildart Jackson.
  Elfin historian Brangwain Spurge is sent on a diplomatic mission to the goblin kingdom, and his host, goblin Archivist Werfel is thrilled about the potential to ease tensions between the elves and goblins. Gildart Jackson’s voice is perfect for this biting satire as he gives life to each character in this hilarious, unique tale.
• The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo, read by Elizabeth Acevedo.
  Xiomara Batista needs an outlet from her mother, who insists Xiomara attend confirmation classes, help around the house based on her gender, and never speak to boys. Author Acevedo narrates her own novel in verse in such a way that you feel more like you’re in the audience at a poetry slam than listening to a mere audiobook.
• Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman, read by Greg Trembley.
  Rowan and Citra continue to challenge the Scythedom, but in very different ways. The Thunderhead watches to learn, evolve, and find loopholes in its own rules. Greg Trembley finds a fitting and unique voice for each main character, voicing the level of authority a Scythe and the Thunderhead feel they have.

*Note: Annotations taken from here.

2018 Rainbow List: Tweens and Teens

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Every year the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table (GLBT-RT) of the ALA presents the Rainbow List, a curated bibliography of the best QUILTBAG/ GLBTQI books for ages birth though 18. Reading through hundreds of books each year, the committee selects books aiming to help youth find books best reflecting significant GLBTQI content. It is also an excellent resource for librarians and library specialists in adding books to your collections. Within each list, the committee also highlights 10 books that are the best throughout the list. We’ve highlighted the tween and teen books for you below.

Booklist: 8 Great Titles for Middle School/Younger YAs

The start of the new school year is always filled with opportunity. 6th graders, freed at last from the bonds of their elementary school library, are ready, willing and able to **FINALLY!** move on from chapter books and middle grade novels and get to “the good stuff”. (Case in point, the first book checked out this year by a 6th grader was Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight.) In middle school, the books are a bit more edgy. The plot lines a bit more complex. Characters experience unrequited love (and maybe even some mutual affection). All this without the explicit language, sexuality and violence found in titles geared for more mature YAs! Here are eight of my most favorite tried and true books to introduce to middle schoolers to YA.

Etiquette and Espionage (Finishing School Series) by Gail Carriger

Steampunk wrapped in feminism with a bow full of humor!

Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz

A moving, fast-paced story based on the life of Holocaust survivor Jack Gruener.

I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest

They’ll come for the mixed text/graphic novel format, but the suspense will keep them on the edge of their seat. (Last year my 7th grade girls, 7th grade boys AND 6th grade co-ed book clubs ALL begged to read this and were obsessed.)

The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds

Family trauma and first love. Authentic characters to boot.

Drama by Raina Telgemeier

What word described middle school better than “drama?”

Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool

History, mystery, and grappling with loss on an into-the-woods adventure and exquisite writing.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Twelve years after its original publication, this is the dystopia that has never stopped circulating.

The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon

Two teenagers. One day. Longing. Love. Loss.