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Staff Picks (Fiction's Version)
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Not Like Other Girls
“Powerful, brilliantly plotted, voicey, gripping, beautiful, heart-wrenching, hilarious . . . Read this book.” -Liz Lawson, New York Times bestselling author of The Agathas
When Jo-Lynn Kirby 's former best friend-pretty, nice Maddie Price-comes to her claiming to be in trouble, Jo assumes it's some kind of joke. After all, Jo has been an outcast ever since her nude photos were leaked-and since everyone decided she deserved it. There's no way Maddie would actually come to her for help.
But then Maddie is gone.
Everyone is quick to write off Maddie as a runaway, but Jo can't shake the feeling there's more to the story. To find out the truth, Jo needs to get back in with the people who left her behind-and the only way back in is through Hudson Harper-Moore. An old fling of Jo's with his own reasons for wanting to find Maddie, Hudson hatches a fake dating scheme to get Jo back into their clique. But being back on the inside means Jo must confront everything she'd rather forget: the boys who betrayed her, the whispers that she had it coming, and the secrets that tore her and Maddie apart. As Jo digs deeper into Maddie's disappearance, she's left to wonder who she's really searching for: Maddie, or the girl she used to be.
Not Like Other Girls is a stunning debut that takes a hard look at how we treat young women and their trauma, through the lens of a missing girl and a girl trying to find herself again. -
The Champions
From the author of The Cheerleaders comes another dark YA thriller set in the same town of Sunnybrook. When a mysterious accident befalls a member of the all-star high school football team, the town's deadly history stands to repeat itself—and the price of discovering the truth is higher than anyone could imagine.
It was the deaths of five cheerleaders that made the town of Sunnybrook infamous. Eleven years later, the girls' killer has been brought to justice, and the town just wants to move on. By the time Hadley moves to Sunnybrook, though, the locals are more interested in the Tigers, the high school's championship-winning football team. The Tigers are Sunnybrook’s homegrown heroes--something positive in a town with so much darkness in its past.
Hadley could care less about football, but shortly after she gets assigned to cover the team's latest championship bid for the school newspaper, one of the Tigers is poisoned at a party, and almost immediately after, Hadley starts getting strange emails warning her to stay far away from the football team.
It's becoming clear Sunnybrook's golden boys have secrets, and after a second player is mysteriously killed, Hadley’s beginning to suspect that someone wants the team to pay for their sins. Or does this new target on the football team have something to do with what happened to the cheerleaders all those years ago?
As an outsider in Sunnybrook, Hadley feels like she's the only one who can see the present clearly, but it looks like she’s going to have to dig up the darkness of the past to get to the bottom of what’s happening now. Luckily, there are still some Sunnybrook High grads who never left--people who were around eleven years ago—and if she can just convince them to talk, she might be able stop a killer before another Tiger dies. -
Our Shouts Echo
From the author of There Goes the Neighborhood, winner of the 2024 Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe New Talent Award, comes an unforgettably powerful coming-of-age story about a 16-year-old LA transplant whose plans to build a doomsday shelter in her backyard collide with an unexpected summer romance.
Survival Tip #1: The world is going to shit. Whatever you do, don't fall in love.
Sixteen-year old Niarah Holloway's only goal in life is to get through it unnoticed. That, and to spend her first summer in LA building a doomsday bunker in her backyard. Because if the past few years have taught Niarah anything, it's that the ocean levels are rising, minimum wage is a scam, and the people who are supposed to protect you will hurt you. Now the only thing that helps Niarah stay afloat amidst the constant waves of anxiety and dread that threaten to drag her under is her new mantra: Be prepared.
But Niarah wasn't prepared for Mac Torres. Not for his disarmingly cute face, or for his surfer lifestyle, or for the way his smile resuscitates her heart. Mac is a bomb that blows Niarah's world to pieces, but instead of disaster, he fills it with sunset bonfires, breakfast burritos, and new friends.
For years, Niarah's life has revolved around ignoring the demons of her past, avoiding the problems of her present, and preparing for the catastrophes of the future. Now Mac--with his sunshine laugh and infectious optimism-- is determined to show her another way to be. But in a world where the worst feels inevitable, can one summer be enough to light the way to a hopeful future? Can one summer be enough to fall in love? -
Libertad
A queer YA coming-of-age set during the rigged Honduran presidential election about a young poet discovering the courage it takes to speak her truth about the people and country she loves.
As the contentious 2017 presidential election looms and protests rage across every corner of the city, life in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, churns louder and faster. For her part, high school senior Libertad (Libi) Morazán takes heart in writing political poetry for her anonymous Instagram account and a budding romance with someone new. But things come to a head when Mami sees texts on her phone mentioning a kiss with a girl and Libi discovers her beloved older brother, Maynor, playing a major role in the protests. As Libertad faces the political and social corruption around her, stifling homophobia at home and school, and ramped up threats to her poetry online, she begins dreaming of a future in which she doesn’t have to hide who she is or worry about someone she loves losing their life just for speaking up. Then the ultimate tragedy strikes, and leaving her family and friends—plus the only home she’s ever known—might be her only option.
*Two starred reviews!*
*“An emotionally charged must-read.”—Kirkus Reviews -
Murder on a School Night
A hilarious murder mystery-rom-com from author and comedian Kate Weston investigates the sinister side of social media when bullying turns bloody--and a string of classmate deaths by menstrual cup and sanitary pad sets amateur sleuth Kerry hot on the trail of a menstrual murderer. Perfect for fans of Truly Devious and Fleabag.
There's never a good time to find a dead body, sure. But what about finding a dead body while you're trying to kiss your crush?
Kerry had different plans for her first high school party--like not going. All she wanted to do was stay home in the safety of retro rom-coms and her strict retainer schedule. Instead her BFF, fiercely outgoing mystery-fanatic Annie, has roped her into going to the party to investigate who's cyberbullying Heather, the most popular girl in school.
Finding herself getting close with her dreamy crush is odd enough, but when the two of them discover Heather's second in command, Selena, suffocated with a menstrual cup, things get really weird.
And when a second student turns up dead, this time with a sanitary pad across the eyes, Annie and Kerry--no matter how much she resists--are officially on the case to stop the menstrual murderer . . . period.
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Practical Rules for Cursed Witches
From the New York Times bestselling author of My Dearest Darkest comes a cozy fantasy romance about a teen witch who must complete her magical training by breaking a powerful family’s curse. But her own affliction—to never find true love—gets in the way when she falls for the girl she’s trying to save.
Magic is in Delilah Bea’s blood. Her absentee father is the world’s most famous cursebreaker, while all the women in her family are fated to never find true love. So when Delilah sets out to complete her magical Calling and gain her full powers as a witch, she has the perfect task in mind—breaking the Bea family curse.
But Delilah’s Calling is hijacked by Kieran Pelumbra, the spoiled son of the most powerful family in the country, and breaking his curse suddenly becomes her official assignment. Every generation, a pair of Pelumbra twins is doomed, with one twin draining the other of their life and magic. Kieran grows weaker while his sister, Briar, becomes…something monstrous.
As Delilah and the twins set out on their quest, they quickly realize that breaking the Pelumbra curse isn’t going to be simple. For one thing, the rest of the Pelumbra family doesn’t actually want their curse broken—and they’ve sent hunters after the trio to ensure they fail. For another, something about Briar gets under Delilah’s skin, distracting her and making her want to kiss the perpetually grumpy look off her face. But with time running out for the twins and Delilah’s own true love curse getting in the way, they may not stand a chance of finding their happily ever after. -
The Other Ones
A beautiful and unputdownable story about love, friendship, and the ghosts that grief can leave behind, The Other Ones is a heartfelt, contemporary romance with a haunting twist...
Salem Amani is a world-weary sixteen-year-old living with his mother and older sister in a haunted house. But all Sal really wants is to be ordinary, which is hard to do when you live in a house full of ghosts. And when a strange boy arrives on his doorstep asking more questions than he's at all comfortable with, Sal's efforts to be ordinary are put under even greater strain. Until Pax makes his offer: "I could help you with the hauntings...I'm good with ghosts."
But despite his initial dislike of Pax, Sal can't help but find himself unexpectedly drawn to the boy. And as the two grow closer, and Pax offers to help Sal scare away his ghosts for good, Sal finds himself sinking deeper into a lie concealing the truth about his family.
When the true nature of the "hauntings" is revealed, Sal must confront reality - or risk losing Pax for good.
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Pick the Lock
From Michael L. Printz Award winner A.S. King, a weird and insightful new novel about a girl intent on picking the lock of her toxic family.
Jane Vandermaker-Cook would like her mother back. As Jane's mother tours the world to support the family, Jane lives and goes to school in a Victorian mansion with her younger brother and their mendacious father who confines Jane’s mother to a system of pneumatic tubes whenever she’s at home. And then there's weirdly ever-present Aunt Finch, Milorad the gardener, and his rat, Brutus. For Jane, this all seems normal until she suddenly gains access to the files for a lifetime of security-camera videos—her lifetime.
A.S. King's latest surrealist masterpiece follows Jane’s bizarre and brilliant journey to reconnect with her mother by breaking out of her shell and composing a punk opera. -
Pick the Lock
From Michael L. Printz Award winner A.S. King, a weird and insightful new novel about a girl intent on picking the lock of her toxic family.
Jane Vandermaker-Cook would like her mother back. As Jane's mother tours the world to support the family, Jane lives and goes to school in a Victorian mansion with her younger brother and their mendacious father who confines Jane’s mother to a system of pneumatic tubes whenever she’s at home. And then there's weirdly ever-present Aunt Finch, Milorad the gardener, and his rat, Brutus. For Jane, this all seems normal until she suddenly gains access to the files for a lifetime of security-camera videos—her lifetime.
A.S. King's latest surrealist masterpiece follows Jane’s bizarre and brilliant journey to reconnect with her mother by breaking out of her shell and composing a punk opera. -
The Other Ones
A beautiful and unputdownable story about love, friendship, and the ghosts that grief can leave behind, The Other Ones is a heartfelt, contemporary romance with a haunting twist...
Salem Amani is a world-weary sixteen-year-old living with his mother and older sister in a haunted house. But all Sal really wants is to be ordinary, which is hard to do when you live in a house full of ghosts. And when a strange boy arrives on his doorstep asking more questions than he's at all comfortable with, Sal's efforts to be ordinary are put under even greater strain. Until Pax makes his offer: "I could help you with the hauntings...I'm good with ghosts."
But despite his initial dislike of Pax, Sal can't help but find himself unexpectedly drawn to the boy. And as the two grow closer, and Pax offers to help Sal scare away his ghosts for good, Sal finds himself sinking deeper into a lie concealing the truth about his family.
When the true nature of the "hauntings" is revealed, Sal must confront reality - or risk losing Pax for good.
Staff Picks (Non Fiction's Version)
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What's the T?
Discover what it means to be a young transgender and/or non-binary person in the twenty-first century in this candid and funny guide for teens from the bestselling author of This Book is Gay.
In What's the T? Stonewall ambassador and bestselling author Juno Dawson is back again, this time with everything you've wanted to know about labels and identities and offering uncensored advice on coming out, sex, and relationships with her trademark humor and lightness of touch. It is informative, helpful, optimistic, and funny but with a good dose of reality and some of the things that can downright suck too.
The companion title to the groundbreaking This Book Is Gay, What's the T? tackles the complex realities of growing up trans with honesty and humor and is joyfully illustrated by gender non-conforming artist Soofiya.
This book is for:
- Anyone with questions
- Parents of trans and/or non-binary kids
- Educators looking for advice about the transgender community
Praise for This Book is Gay:
A Guardian Best Book of the Year
2018 Garden State Teen Book Award Winner
"The book every LGBT person would have killed for as a teenager, told in the voice of a wise best friend. Frank, warm, funny, USEFUL."--Patrick Ness, New York Times bestselling author
"This egregious gap has now been filled to a fare-thee-well by Dawson's book."--Booklist *STARRED REVIEW*
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Money Out Loud
So no one taught you about money, either Let's figure this me$$ out together.
In this illustrated, deeply unserious guide to money, Berna Anat--aka the Financial Hype Woman--freaks out her immigrant parents by doing the unthinkable: Talking about money. Loudly.
Because we're done staying silent, anxious, and ashamed about our money. It's time to join the party and finally learn about all the financial stuff that always felt too confusing. Stuff like:
- How to actually budget, save, and invest (but also make it fun)
- How our traumas shape our most toxic money habits, and how to create new patterns
- How to build wealth in a system designed to keep us broke
- How to use money to fund our biggest dreams--and change the world
No more keeping our money on mute. It's time to grab the mic.
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The Disability Experience
People with disabilities (PWDs) have the same aspirations for their lives as you do for yours.
The difference is that PWDs don't have the same access to education, employment, housing, transportation and healthcare in order to achieve their goals. In The Disability Experience you'll meet people with different kinds of disabilities, and you'll begin to understand the ways PWDs have been ignored, reviled and marginalized throughout history. The book also celebrates the triumphs and achievements of PWDs and shares the powerful stories of those who have fought for change.
The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.
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Fighting in a World on Fire
An argument for bold action to halt climate destruction, adapted for young people from Andreas Malm’s best-selling book
Young people are inheriting a world of climate catastrophe. Young people are also one of the strongest forces leading movements for climate justice, and to halt the fossil fuel emissions that are making our Earth unlivable.
As Greta Thunberg and the Fridays for the Future movement have made clear, solutions offered by adults are far too little, far too late: the measures in unenforceable international agreements won’t halt our reliance on fossil fuels, or take the drastic steps humans need to take in order to keep our planet livable.
What kinds of drastic steps are needed? What kind of bold actions can the climate justice movement begin using to bring a stop to climate destruction, and that can be employed alongside existing strategies of mass protest, awareness, and legal appeals? Why does our society consider profit for oil companies more important than the future of young people and the health of our shared environment?
In this adaptation of Andreas Malm’s best-selling book on the need for a bolder, more confrontational climate justice movement, these urgent questions are brought to the most important audience of all: those who are growing up in a world on fire. -
Black Birds in the Sky
A searing new work of nonfiction from award-winning author Brandy Colbert about the history and legacy of one of the most deadly and destructive acts of racial violence in American history: the Tulsa Race Massacre. Winner, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award.
In the early morning of June 1, 1921, a white mob marched across the train tracks in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and into its predominantly Black Greenwood District--a thriving, affluent neighborhood known as America's Black Wall Street. They brought with them firearms, gasoline, and explosives.
In a few short hours, they'd razed thirty-five square blocks to the ground, leaving hundreds dead. The Tulsa Race Massacre is one of the most devastating acts of racial violence in US history. But how did it come to pass? What exactly happened? And why are the events unknown to so many of us today?
These are the questions that award-winning author Brandy Colbert seeks to answer in this unflinching nonfiction account of the Tulsa Race Massacre. In examining the tension that was brought to a boil by many factors--white resentment of Black economic and political advancement, the resurgence of white supremacist groups, the tone and perspective of the media, and more--a portrait is drawn of an event singular in its devastation, but not in its kind. It is part of a legacy of white violence that can be traced from our country's earliest days through Reconstruction, the Civil Rights movement in the mid-twentieth century, and the fight for justice and accountability Black Americans still face today.
The Tulsa Race Massacre has long failed to fit into the story Americans like to tell themselves about the history of their country. This book, ambitious and intimate in turn, explores the ways in which the story of the Tulsa Race Massacre is the story of America--and by showing us who we are, points to a way forward.
YALSA Honor Award for Excellence in Nonfiction
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National Geographic Photo Basics
For digital camera and smartphone users, this easy how-to guide, written by an experienced National Geographic photographer, imparts the essentials of taking great pictures.
This entertaining book from beloved National Geographic photographer and Photo Ark founder Joel Sartore shows aspiring photographers how to take great pictures, from framing and F-stops to editing and archiving. Whether you're using your phone or a DSLR camera, you'll learn the fundamentals of photography--and how to put them to work every day.
In a series of short lessons, Sartore explains the basics, from choosing a camera and gear to understanding focus, exposure, composition, and lighting. Using examples from his own work, he applies the basic rules of photography to family, pet, travel, nature, and street photos, and how to get a great shot with the camera on your smartphone.
Throughout the book you'll find pro tips, quick assignments, and the behind-the-camera stories of great photographs; helpful notes clarify how to use every piece of advice with your smartphone camera.
Fun and informative, this practical book will be your gateway to taking great pictures.
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The United States of Cryptids
Meet the monsters in our midst, from bigfoot to Mothman and beyond!
Welcome to the United States of Cryptids, where mysterious monsters lurk in the dark forests, deep lakes, and sticky swamps of all fifty states. From the infamous Jersey Devil to the obscure Snallygaster, travel writer and chronicler of the strange J. W. Ocker uncovers the bizarre stories of these creatures and investigates the ways in which communities embrace and celebrate their local cryptids. Readers will learn about:
• Batsquatch of Washington, a winged bigfoot that is said to have emerged from the eruption of Mount Saint Helens
• Nain Rouge of Michigan, a fierce red goblin that has been spotted before every major city disaster in Detroit
• Flatwoods Monster of West Virginia, a robotic extraterrestrial that crash-landed in rural Appalachia
• Lizard Man of South Carolina, a reptilian mutant that attacked a teenager in the summer of 1988
• Glocester Ghoul of Rhode Island, a fire-breathing dragon that guards a hoard of pirate treasure
• And many more!
Whether you believe in bigfoot or not, this fully illustrated compendium is a fun, frightening, fascinating tour through American folklore and history, exploring the stories we tell about monsters and what those stories say about us. -
Stuff Matters
New York Times Notable Book 2014
Winner of the Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books
"Miodownik, a materials scientist, explains the history and science behind things such as paper, glass, chocolate, and concrete with an infectious enthusiasm."--Scientific American
Why is glass see-through? What makes elastic stretchy? Why does any material look and behave the way it does? These are the sorts of questions that renowned materials scientist Mark Miodownik constantly asks himself. Miodownik studies objects as ordinary as an envelope and as unexpected as concrete cloth, uncovering the fascinating secrets that hold together our physical world. In Stuff Matters, Miodownik explores the materials he encounters in a typical morning, from the steel in his razor to the foam in his sneakers. Full of enthralling tales of the miracles of engineering that permeate our lives, Stuff Matters will make you see stuff in a whole new way.
"Stuff Matters is about hidden wonders, the astonishing properties of materials we think boring, banal, and unworthy of attention . . . It's possible this science and these stories have been told elsewhere, but like the best chocolatiers, Miodownik gets the blend right." --New York Times Book Review
Mark Miodownik is a professor of materials and society at University College London. He is the director of the Institute of Making, which is home to a materials library containing some of the most wondrous matter on earth. He lives in London. -
Heads Up
★ "Informative, diverse, and highly engaging; a much-needed addition to the realm of mental health."--Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Featuring real-life stories of people who have found hope and meaning in the midst of life's struggles, Heads Up: Changing Minds on Mental Health is the go-to guide for teenagers who want to know about mental health, mental illness, trauma and recovery. For too long, mental health problems have been kept in the shadows, leaving people to suffer in silence, or worse, to be feared, bullied or pushed to the margins of society where survival is difficult.
This book shines a light on the troubled history of thinking about and treating mental illness and tells the stories of courageous pioneers in the field of psychiatry who fought for more compassionate, respectful and effective treatments. It provides a helpful guide to the major mental health diagnoses along with ideas and resources to support those who are suffering. But it also moves beyond a biomedical focus and considers the latest science that shows how trauma and social inequality impact mental health. The book explores how mental health is more than just "in our heads" and includes the voices of Indigenous people who share a more holistic way of thinking about wellness, balancing mind, body, heart and spirit. Highlighting innovative approaches such as trauma-informed activities like yoga and hip-hop, police mental health teams, and peer support for youth, Heads Up shares the stories of people who are sparking change.
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Chess for Beginners
Sharpen your chess skills with winning tactics and strategies
The skill and strategy required to win at chess can feel intimidating, but Chess for Beginners breaks it down into manageable lessons to help new players up their game. Start with a rundown of the basic game mechanics, then explore clear and concise guidance for the strategies and tactics that will help you achieve consistent success.
Learn to position your pieces and coordinate your attack with:- A comprehensive overview—Find clear illustrations and directions that show you all the components of a chessboard, how each piece moves, and how to read chess notation.
- 10 Powerful short-term tactics—Practice shorter sequences of chess moves—like deflections, sacrifices, and forks—that help you put your strategy in play and take control of the board.
- 10 Essential long-game strategies—Learn how to activate your pieces, keep track of the whole board, think several moves ahead, go for a quick checkmate, and more.
From your first move to your last, Chess for Beginners shows you how to play a better game.
Reader’s Advisory Resources
Book Riot: Young Adult Literature
Looking for the best young adult books, new YA books for your pre-order list, or young adult fiction for yourself or to give to the teens in your life? We’ve got all the bases (and genres) covered.
BookBrowse
BookBrowse is an online magazine and website that provides book reviews, author interviews, book previews, and reading guides.
