Staff Picks: September 2023 (All Ages!)

Movies | Adult Books | Teen Books | Kid Books

Find out what Denver Public Library staff are reading this month!

Movies

Check out these Staff Recommendations!

All Quiet on the Western Front Movie Cover

"This story is neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped its shells, were destroyed by the war. . ." Title screens. 1914. War has broken out in Europe. A group of German college students are convinced to enlist after their teacher, Professor Kantorek, gives an impassioned speech about the honor of dying for their Fatherland. Paul Bäumer--sent to the Western Front where the fighting is most severe--is soon stripped of illusions about war being glorious. There is nothing but fear, pain, and the randomness of death. Paul is the sole survivor of his group and when he returns home, he denounces the war and his professor. Returned to the action, Paul tries to cope with the incessant fear that eats away at a soldier's insides, turning them hollow and empty.

The Boy in the Bubble Movie Cover

Rupert, a ten year old boy, falls hopelessly in love for the first time. When it all goes terribly wrong, he wishes never to experience heartache again. Turning to a book of magic, he invokes a spell to shield him from emotion forever. Winner of Best Animation and nominated for Best Short Film at the 2012 **Irish Film and Television Awards**.

The Covenant Movie Cover

Guy Ritchie's The Covenant follows US Army Sergeant John Kinley (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Afghan interpreter Ahmed (Dar Salim). After an ambush, Ahmed goes to Herculean lengths to save Kinley's life. When Kinley learns that Ahmed and his family were not given safe passage to America as promised, he must repay his debt by returning to the war zone to retrieve them before the Taliban hunts them down first.

Everything Everywhere All at Once Movie Cover

An aging Chinese immigrant is swept up in an insane adventure, where she alone can save the world by exploring other universes connecting with the lives she could have led.

The French Chef with Julia Child Movie Cover

Chefs of all ages and abilities can share Julia's love of fine French food and learn to cook some of her most-loved dishes with this collection of 18 episodes from her original 1960s series. Includes downloadable recipes and a bibliography.

The Great Muslim American Road Trip Movie Cover

In this three-part travelogue, a young Muslim American couple discovers America's Muslim roots on Route 66. From Chicago to St. Louis to Amarillo, Texas, and across the Southwest, rap-star Mona Haydar and husband Sebastian Robins enjoy the iconic highway's well-known roadside attractions, and along the way discover its overlooked Muslim American story. Who knew that Muslims arrived in the 1500s, or that a Civil War-era Syrian camel driver helped survey the original Route 66? The couple stops to visit local Muslims on the way, gaining a better understanding of themselves as individuals, as a couple, and as Muslims.

Inu-oh = Inuō Movie Cover

Born to an esteemed family, Inu-oh is afflicted with an ancient curse that has left him on the margins of society. When he meets the blind musician Tomona, a young biwa priest haunted by his past, Inu-oh discovers a captivating ability to dance. The pair quickly become inseparable friends as crowds flock to their electric, larger-than-life concerts. But when those in power threaten to break up the band, Inu-oh and Tomona must dance and sing to uncover the truth behind their creative gifts.

Kubo and the Two Strings Movie Cover

A young boy named Kubo must locate a magical suit of armor worn by his father in order to defeat a vengeful spirit from the past.

A Monster Calls Movie Cover

Twelve-year-old Conor, dealing with his mother's illness, a less-than-sympathetic grandmother, and bullying classmates, finds a most unlikely ally when a monster appears at his bedroom window. Ancient, wild, and relentless, the monster guides Conor on a journey of courage, faith, and truth.

Nam June Paik: Moon is the Oldest TV Movie Cover

A chronicle of the life and times of Nam June Paik, a pillar of the American avant-garde in the 20th century, widely regarded as the father of video art, who coined the phrase "Electronic Superhighway," and is arguably the most famous Korean artist in modern history. Features readings of the artist's writings by Executive Producer Steven Yeun (Minari, Nope).

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Movie Cover

The epic coming-of-age tale of Nausicaa, a compassionate princess warrior striving to negotiate peace between kingdoms battling over the last of the planet's precious natural resources.

Nothing Compares Movie Cover

An exploration of Sinead O'Connor's rise and fall and her enduring cultural impact. By the age of 20, O'Connor was one of Ireland's brightest rising stars but her decision to use her fame as a platform to speak out on several controversial issues shifted her narrative from global stardom to worldwide condemnation. In a new interview, O'Connor reveals the abusive upbringing that left her feeling betrayed by both church and community and ultimately led her to find the therapeutic power of music.

Nova Cat and Dog tales Movie Cover

Cat tales: They may have stolen many hearts, and the internet, but cats can be perplexing pets. As much cuddly and playful as they are aloof and uncaring, they've often raised the question: Did humans ever really domesticate felines? And what more can science tell us about a relationship that predates history?

Paris, Texas Movie Cover

After having been missing for four years and presumed dead, Travis emerges from the desert near the Texas-Mexico border and collapses at a gas station. His younger brother, Walt, a billboard artist, takes him to Walt's Los Angeles home where Travis' son, Hunter, has lived with Walt and Walt's wife, Anne, since Travis and his wife, Jane, disappeared. Travis reestablishes a relationship with Hunter, finds Jane and brings about a reunion between Jane and Hunter before leaving again. Loosely based on Sam Shepard's Motel Chronicles.

Philosophy of Film with the Coens Movie Cover

Fargo: A midwestern policewoman investigates a series of brutal and interconnected crimes. Steadily, she tightens the net on the killers and their accomplices in a kidnapping scheme gone wildly wrong.

The Player Movie Cover

"I was just thinking what an interesting concept it is to eliminate the writer from the artistic process. If we could just get rid of these actors and directors, maybe we've got something here."--Griffin Mill. Griffin is a slick, successful film studio vice president whose primary duty is to listen to story pitches from a constant stream of writers. Like all Hollywood producers, he's always looking over his shoulder, and he thinks up-and-comer Larry Levy is after his job. Along with power lunches, corporate in-fighting, and bottom-line priorities, a mysterious someone--probably an ignored and angry screenwriter--has been leaving him threatening postcards. When he finally takes action, his cool aplomb deserts him, things go seriously sideways, and Griffin's world begins falling apart.

The Silent Twins Movie Cover

Based on the lives of June and Jennifer Gibbons, real-life identical twins who grew up in Wales and became known as "the silent twins" because of their refusal to communicate with anyone but each other.

Your name = Kimi no na wa Movie Cover

Mitsuha and Taki are two total strangers living completely different lives. But when Mitsuha makes a wish to leave her mountain town for the bustling city of Tokyo, they become connected in a bizarre way. She dreams she is a boy living in Tokyo while Taki dreams he is a girl from a rural town he's never been to. What does their newfound connection mean? And how will it bring them together?

Adult Books

Check out these Staff Recommendations for adult readers!

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Inspired by the global #MeToo Movement, Drawing Power: Women's Stories of Sexual Violence, Harassment, and Survival is a collection of original, nonfiction comics drawn by more than 60 female cartoonists from around the world. Featuring such noted creators as Emil Ferris, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, MariNaomi, Liana Finck, and Ebony Flowers the anthology's contributors comprise " a diverse group of many ages, sexual orientations, and races--and their personal stories convey the wide spectrum of sexual harassment and abuse that is still all too commonplace. With a percentage of profits going to RAINN, Drawing Power is an anthology that stokes the fires of progressive social upheaval, in the fight for a better, safer world.

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Adkins, Mary

After PR power Iris Massey dies from a terminal illness at age 33, friend and colleague Smith learns that in her final months she created a blog full of acute observations on a life cut short. He wants to publish it, but that will require the cooperation of Iris's despairing chef sister, Jade.

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Agitogi, Akumi

Considered nigh worthless for having failed to inherit the superhuman powers of the bloodlines into which she was born, Miyo Saimori lives her days unwanted and unloved. Her stepmother and her very own father have little time or affection for her, and Miyo must suffer being treated as a servant by her half sister who, unlike Miyo, is blessed with the unusual powers of their blood. Ultimately seen as nothing more than a nuisance and a drain on the family wealth, Miyo is packed off to the Kudo house as a bridal candidate for its heir, Kiyoka Kudo. Whispers abound about the Kudo clan, the most powerful in all the land, but will the allegedly cold and cruel house into which Miyo aims to marry prove much warmer than the family she left behind?

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Aoki, Ryka

Good Omens meets The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet in Ryka Aoki's Light From Uncommon Stars, a defiantly joyful adventure set in California's San Gabriel Valley, with cursed violins, Faustian bargains, and queer alien courtship over fresh-made donuts. Shizuka Satomi made a deal with the devil: to escape damnation, she must entice seven other violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. She has already delivered six. When Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender runaway, catches Shizuka's ear with her wild talent, Shizuka can almost feel the curse lifting. She's found her final candidate. But in a donut shop off a bustling highway in the San Gabriel Valley, Shizuka meets Lan Tran, retired starship captain, interstellar refugee, and mother of four. Shizuka doesn't have time for crushes or coffee dates, what with her very soul on the line, but Lan's kind smile and eyes like stars might just redefine a soul's worth. And maybe something as small as a warm donut is powerful enough to break a curse as vast as the California coastline. As the lives of these three women become entangled by chance and fate, a story of magic, identity, curses, and hope begins, and a family worth crossing the universe for is found.

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Ashing-Giwa, Kemi

A diverse, exciting debut space opera about a young tea expert who is taken as a political prisoner and recruited to spy on government officials-a role that may empower her to win back her nation's independence. The dust may have just settled in the failed war of conquest between the Holy Vaalbaran Empire and the Ominirish Republic, but the last Emperor's surrender means little to a lowly scribe like Enitan. All she wants is to quit her day job and expand her fledgling tea business. But when her lover is assassinated and her sibling is abducted by Imperial soldiers, Enitan abandons her idyllic plans and weaves her tea tray up through the heart of the Vaalbaran capital. There, she will learn just how far she is willing to go to exact vengeance, free her sibling, and perhaps even secure her homeland's freedom.

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Battle, Myisha

Modern dating can feel overwhelming, with so many online dating apps offering a seemingly endless sea of possible matches. Ghosting, outdated assumptions about relationships, and a massive assortment of dating platforms have obscured the point of all of it: this is supposed to be fun. Enter professional sex and dating coach Myisha Battle. Over the course of a decade as a licensed clinical sexologist, she's developed a set of tools that allow singles to bypass the games. This Is Supposed to Be Fun presents a guide to every step of the relationship process, from creating the perfectly imperfect dating profile, to staying true to your authentic self on dates, to breaking up with compassion. More so than any other previously written, this book is radically inclusive-tackling issues confronting different racial, sexual, and gender identities, and body types.

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Bazterrica, Agustina María

A novel about a dystopian world in which animals have been wiped out, humans are being harvested for food, and society has been divided into those who eat and those who are eaten.

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Bechdel, Alison

From the author of Fun Home, a profoundly affecting graphic memoir of Bechdel's lifelong love affair with exercise, set against a hilarious chronicle of fitness fads in our times.

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Blackgoose, Moniquill

A young, Indigenous woman enters a colonizer-run dragon academy after bonding with a hatchling--and quickly finds herself at odds with the 'approved' way of doing things--in the first book of a brilliant new fantasy series. The remote island of Masquapaug has not seen a dragon in many generations--until fifteen-year-old Anequs finds a dragon's egg and bonds with its hatchling. Her people are delighted, for all remember the tales of the days when dragons lived among them and danced away the storms of autumn, enabling the people to thrive. To them, Anequs is revered: a Person Who Belongs to a Dragon. Unfortunately for Anequs, the Anglish conquerors of her land have a quite different opinion. They have a very specific idea on how a dragon should be raised--and who should be doing the raising--and Anequs does not meet any of their requirements. Only with great reluctance do they allow Anequs to enroll in a proper Anglish dragon school on the mainland. If she cannot succeed there, then her dragon will be destroyed. For a girl with no formal schooling, a non-Anglish upbringing, and a very different understanding of the history of her land challenges abound--both socially and academically. But Anequs is smart and determined, and resolved to learn what she needs to help her dragon, even if it means teaching herself. The one thing she refuses to do, however, is become the meek Anglish miss that everyone expects. For the world needs changing--and Anequs and her dragon are less coming of age in this bold new world than coming to power.

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Bookman, Terry

From expulsions, exiles, and even genocide, for the past two millennia, the Jewish people have become expert survivors. Author Terry Bookman discusses the challenges today's post-modern Jewish community faces, and the ways in which it must develop a new agenda to change from merely surviving to thriving.

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Chang, Leah L.

The boldly original, dramatic, intertwined story of three queens exercising power in a world dominated by men.

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Chun, Ye

A harrowing and redemptive immigrant story for readers of Pachinko, Straw Dogs of the Universe follows a Chinese railroad worker and his young daughter--sold into servitude--in 19th century California as they search for family, fulfillment, and belonging in a violent new land

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Dickey, Colin

In a world where rational, scientific explanations are more available than ever, belief in the unprovable and irrational--in fringe--is on the rise: from Atlantis to aliens, from Flat Earth to the Loch Ness monster, the list goes on. It seems the more our maps of the known world get filled in, the more we crave mysterious locations full of strange creatures. Enter Colin Dickey, Cultural Historian and Tour Guide of the Weird. With the same curiosity and insight that made Ghostland a hit with readers and critics, Colin looks at what all fringe beliefs have in common, explaining that today's Illuminati is yesterday's Flat Earth: the attempt to find meaning in a world stripped of wonder. Dickey visits the wacky sites of America's wildest fringe beliefs--from the famed Mount Shasta where the ancient race (or extra-terrestrials, or possibly both, depending on who you ask) called Lemurians are said to roam, to the museum containing the last remaining "evidence" of the great Kentucky Meat Shower--investigating how these theories come about, why they take hold, and why as Americans we keep inventing and re-inventing them decade after decade. The Unidentified is Colin Dickey at his best: curious, wry, brilliant in his analysis, yet eminently readable.

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Dickie, Gloria

A global exploration of the eight remaining species of bears-and the dangers they face.

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Diop, David

A Sengalese soldier loses his mind in the trenches of World War I.

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Ford, Ashley C.

One of the most prominent voices of her generation debuts with [a] ... powerful memoir: the story of a childhood defined by the ever looming absence of her incarcerated father and the path we must take to both honor and overcome our origins.

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Fountain, Ben

Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide has been toppled in a violent coup d'aetat, bringing to power a brutal military dictatorship. With turmoil in the streets and an international embargo threatening to destroy even the country's most powerful players, some are looking to gain an advantage in chaos--and others are just looking to make it through another day. American expat Matt Amaker, forced out of his beachfront scuba shop by a drug-smuggling operation, turns to hunting colonial Spanish treasure off a remote section of Haiti's southern coast. Misha Variel, a Haitian-American scholar, returns to Haiti to care for her aging parents, and soon stumbles onto an arms-trafficking ring masquerading as a U.S.-government humanitarian aid office. Rookie CIA case officer Audrey O'Donnell finds herself managing a grabbag of intelligence assets in an assignment more difficult and more dubious than she could have imagined. All are embroiled in a game of deceit that culminates in a vicious, zero-sum scramble for survival. Devil Makes Three's depiction of blood politics, the machinations of power, and, most of all, a country in the midst of upheaval is urgently and insistently resonant.

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Guillory, Jasmine

Margot Noble needs some relief from the stress of running the family winery with her brother. Enter Luke: sexy, charming, and best of all in the too-small world of Napa, a stranger. The chemistry between them is undeniable, and Margot is delighted that she lucked into the perfect one-night stand she'll never have to see again. That is, until the winery's newest hire, Luke, walks in the next morning. Margot is determined to keep things purely professional, but when their every interaction reminds her of the attraction still bubbling between them, it proves to be much more challenging than she expects. Luke Williams had it all, but when he quits his high-salary tech job in Silicon Valley in a blaze of burnout and moves back to Napa to help a friend, he realizes he doesn't want to tell the world--or his mom--why he's now working at a winery. His mom loves bragging about her successful son--how can he admit that the job she's so proud of broke him? Luke has no idea what is next for him, but one thing is certain: he wants more from the incredibly smart and sexy woman he hooked up with--even after he learns she's his new boss. But even if they can find a way to be together that wouldn't be an ethical nightmare, would such a successful woman really want a tech-world dropout?

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Guillory, Jasmine

Ben Stephens has never bothered with serious relationships. He has plenty of casual dates to keep him busy, family drama he's trying to ignore, and his advertising job to focus on. When Ben lands a huge ad campaign featuring movie star Anna Gardiner, however, it's hard to keep it purely professional. Anna is not just gorgeous and sexy, she's also down-to-earth and considerate, and he can't help flirting a little. . . . Anna Gardiner is on a mission: to make herself a household name, and this ad campaign will be a great distraction while she waits to hear if she's booked her next movie. However, she didn't expect Ben Stephens to be her biggest distraction. She knows mixing business with pleasure never works out, but why not indulge in a harmless flirtation? But their lighthearted banter takes a turn for the serious when Ben helps Anna with a family emergency, and they reveal truths about themselves to each other, truths they've barely shared with those closest to them. When the opportunity comes to turn their real-life fling into something more for the Hollywood spotlight, will Ben be content to play the background role in Anna's life and leave when the cameras stop rolling? Or could he be the leading man she needs to craft their own Hollywood ending?

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Harris, Zakiya Dalila

Get Out meets The Devil Wears Prada in this electric debut about the tension that unfurls when two young Black women meet against the starkly white backdrop of New York City book publishing. Twenty-six-year-old editorial assistant Nella Rogers is tired of being the only Black employee at Wagner Books. Fed up with the isolation and microaggressions, she's thrilled when Harlem-born and bred Hazel starts working in the cubicle beside hers. They've only just started comparing natural hair care regimens, though, when a string of uncomfortable events elevates Hazel to Office Darling, and Nella is left in the dust. Then the notes begin to appear on Nella's desk: LEAVE WAGNER. NOW. It's hard to believe Hazel is behind these hostile messages. But as Nella starts to spiral and obsess over the sinister forces at play, she soon realizes that there's a lot more at stake than just her career. A whip-smart and dynamic thriller and sly social commentary that is perfect for anyone who has ever felt manipulated, threatened, or overlooked in the workplace, The Other Black Girl will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last twist.

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Huang, Ling Ling

In this sly, surprising, and razor-sharp debut novel, a virtuoso pianist gives up her future as a musician to work at a high-end wellness store in New York City where the pursuit of beauty comes at a staggering cost. Our narrator is the youngest student at the Conservatory. She produces a sound from the piano no one else does, employing a special technique she learned from her parents-also stunningly talented musicians-who fled China in the wake of the Cultural Revolution. But when an accident leaves her parents debilitated, she abandons her future as a pianist and accepts a job at a high-end beauty and wellness store in New York City. Holistik is known for its remarkable products and outrageous procedures: remoras that suck cheap Botox from the body, eyelash extensions made of spider silk, emotional support ducklings bred to imprint on their owners. Every product is ethically sourced and made with nothing but the highest quality ingredients. Our narrator's new job is a coveted one among New York's beauty-obsessed, and it affords her entry into a new world of privilege. She becomes transfixed by Helen-a model, and the niece of Holistik's charismatic owner-and the two strike up a close friendship that hazily veers into more. All the while, Holistik plies our narrator with products that slim her thighs, smooth her skin, lighten her hair, and change her eye color. But beneath these fancy creams and tinctures lies a terrible truth that threatens to consume her. After all, beauty is nothing without ugliness. 

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Jackson, Regina

It's no secret that white women are conditioned to be nice, but did you know that the desire to be perfect and to avoid conflict at all costs are characteristics of white supremacy culture? As the founders of Race2Dinner, an organization which facilitates conversations between white women about racism and white supremacy, Regina Jackson and Saira Rao have noticed white women's tendency to maintain a veneer of niceness, and strive for perfection, even at the expense of anti-racism work. In this book, Jackson and Rao pose these urgent questions: how has being nice helped Black women, Indigenous women and other women of color? How has being nice helped you in your quest to end sexism? Has being nice earned you economic parity with white men? Beginning with freeing white women from this oppressive need to be nice, they deconstruct and analyze nine aspects of traditional white woman behavior--from tone-policing to weaponizing tears--that uphold white supremacy society, and hurt all of us who are trying to live a freer, more equitable life. White Women is a call to action to those of you who are looking to take the next steps in dismantling white supremacy. Your white supremacy. If you are in fact doing real anti-racism work, you will find few reasons to be nice, as other white people want to limit your membership in the club. If you are not ticking white people off on a regular basis, you are not doing it right.

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Jones, Stephen Graham

Peter Straub's Ghost Story meets Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies in this American Indian horror story of revenge on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. Four American Indian men from the Blackfeet Nation, who were childhood friends, find themselves in a desperate struggle for their lives, against an entity that wants to exact revenge upon them for what they did during an elk hunt ten years earlier by killing them, their families, and friends.

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Kang, Myŏng-sŏk

After taking their first step into the world on June 13, 2013, BTS will celebrate the 10th anniversary of their debut in June 2023. They have risen to the peak as an iconic global artist and during this meaningful time, they look back on their footsteps in the first official book. In doing so, BTS nurtures the power to build brighter days and they choose to take another step on a road that no one has gone before. BTS shares personal, behind-the-scenes stories of their journey so far through interviews and more than three years of in-depth coverage by Myeongseok Kang, who has written about K-pop and other Korean pop culture in various media. Presented chronologically in seven chapters from before the debut of BTS to the present, their vivid voices and opinions harmonize to tell a sincere, lively, and deep story. In individual interviews that have been conducted without a camera or makeup, they illuminate their musical journey from multiple angles and discuss its significance.

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Karunatilaka, Shehan

Winner of the 2022 Booker Prize, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida is a searing satire set amid the mayhem of the Sri Lankan civil war. olombo, 1990. Maali Almeida--war photographer, gambler, and closet queen--has woken up dead in what seems like a celestial visa office. His dismembered body is sinking in the serene Beira Lake and he has no idea who killed him. In a country where scores are settled by death squads, suicide bombers, and hired goons, the list of suspects is depressingly long, as the ghouls and ghosts with grudges who cluster round can attest. But even in the afterlife, time is running out for Maali. He has seven moons to contact the man and woman he loves most and lead them to the photos that will rock Sri Lanka. Ten years after his prize-winning novel Chinaman established him as one of Sri Lanka's foremost authors, Shehan Karunatilaka is back with a "thrilling satire" (Economist) and rip-roaring state-of-the-nation epic that offers equal parts mordant wit and disturbing, profound truths.

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Keefe, Patrick Radden

Twelve enthralling stories of skulduggery and intrigue by one of the most decorated journalists of our time. Patrick Radden Keefe has garnered prizes ranging from the National Magazine Award to the Orwell Prize to the National Book Critics Circle Award for his meticulously-reported, hypnotically-engaging work on the many ways people behave badly. [This work] brings together a dozen of his most celebrated articles from The New Yorker ... Keefe brilliantly explores the intricacies of forging $150,000 vintage wines, examines whether a whistleblower who dared to expose money laundering at a Swiss bank is a hero or a fabulist, spends time in Vietnam with Anthony Bourdain, chronicles the quest to bring down a cheerful international black market arms merchant, and profiles a passionate death penalty attorney who represents the 'worst of the worst,' among other bravura works of literary journalism. The appearance of his byline in The New Yorker is always an event, and collected here for the first time readers can see his work forms an always enthralling but deeply human portrait of criminals and rascals, as well as those who stand up against them.

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Kelly, Anita

When Alexei Lebedev finally comes out to his conservative community, it does not go well. That's how he ended up on the rugged Pacific Crest Trail, hoping he can figure out a new life plan in the thousands of miles it'll take to walk the famed hike. He's prepared for rattlesnakes, blisters, and months of solitude. What he's not prepared for is the ray of sunshine named Ben Caravalho. Charismatic and outgoing, Ben's personality and infectious laughter is a stark opposite to Alexei's quiet, reserved demeanor. But no matter how determined Alexei is to hike the trail alone, it seems he and Ben can't avoid being drawn to each other. Through snow crossings and close calls with coyotes, Alexei inches closer to letting Ben in. As Alexei learns of Ben's loving family and supportive friends, he begins to get a taste of what found family and belonging could truly feel like. But just as Alexei starts to let down his defenses, a sudden change in plans reawakens his fears-and he must discover if he has the courage to face something even scarier than the trail less traveled: letting himself fall in love.

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Klune, TJ

New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune invites you deep into the heart of a peculiar forest and on the extraordinary journey of a family assembled from spare parts. In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots--fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They're a family, hidden and safe. The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled 'HAP,' he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio--a past spent hunting humans. When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio's former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic's assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming. Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached? Inspired by Carlo Collodi's The Adventures of Pinocchio, and like Swiss Family Robinson meets Wall-E, In the Lives of Puppets is a masterful stand-alone fantasy adventure from the beloved author who brought you The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door.

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Lacey, Catherine

A roaring epic chronicling the life, times, and secrets of a notorious artist.

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Laurain, Antoine

When the manuscript of a debut crime novel arrives at a Parisian publishing house, everyone in the readers' room is convinced it's something special. And the committee for France's highest literary honour, the Prix Goncourt, agrees. But when the shortlist is announced, there's a problem for editor Violaine Lepage: she has no idea of the author's identity. As the police begin to investigate a series of murders strangely reminiscent of those recounted in the book, Violaine is not the only one looking for answers. And, suffering memory blanks following an aeroplane accident, she's beginning to wonder what role she might play in the story.

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Love, Bettina L.

In Punished for Dreaming Dr. Bettina Love argues forcefully that Reagan’s presidency ushered in a War on Black Children, pathologizing and penalizing them in concert with the War on Drugs. New policies punished schools with policing, closure, and loss of funding in the name of reform, as white savior, egalitarian efforts increasingly allowed private interests to infiltrate the system. These changes implicated children of color, and Black children in particular, as low performing, making it all too easy to turn a blind eye to their disproportionate conviction and incarceration. Today, there is little national conversation about a structural overhaul of American schools; cosmetic changes, rooted in anti-Blackness, are now passed off as justice.

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Ly, Doan

Still Life is a photographic celebration of the work of New York City-based florist, artist, and photographer Doan Ly. Through her studio, a.p. bio, Ly focuses on elevating floral design to art. While Ly's stunning photographs of her floral vignettes are reminiscent of old masters' paintings, her playful and innovative use of color and lighting are decidedly contemporary.

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Mandel, Emily St. John

The author of Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel returns with a novel of art, time, love, and plague that takes the reader from an island off Vancouver in 1912 to a dark colony of the moon three hundred years later, unfurling a story of humanity across centuries and planets.

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March, Nev

Captain Jim Agnihotri and his new bride, Diana Framji, return in Nev March's Peril at the Exposition, the follow up to March's award-winning, Edgar finalist debut, Murder in Old Bombay. 1893: Newlyweds Captain Jim Agnihotri and Diana Framji are settling into their new home in Boston, Massachusetts, having fled the strict social rules of British-ruled Bombay. It's a different life than what they left behind, but theirs is no ordinary marriage: Jim, now a detective at the Dupree Agency, is teaching Diana the art of deduction he's learned from his idol, Sherlock Holmes. Everyone is talking about the preparations for the World's Fair in Chicago: the grandeur, the speculation, the trickery. And Jim will experience it first-hand: he's being sent to Chicago to investigate the murder of a man named Thomas Grewe. As Jim probes the underbelly of Chicago's docks, warehouses, and taverns, he discovers deep social unrest and some deadly ambitions. When Jim goes missing, Diana must venture to Chicago's treacherous streets to learn what happened, and prevent disaster. Readers can be sure that another exciting adventure is at hand for Lady Diana and Captain Jim. Award-winning author Nev March mesmerized readers with her debut novel, Murder in Old Bombay. Now, in Peril at the Exposition, she wields her craft against the glittering landscape of the Gilded Age with spectacular results.

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Marcus, Leonard S.

In Pictured Worlds , renowned historian Leonard S. Marcus shares his incomparable knowledge of illustrated children’s books, which came of age in the 18th century when John Newbery set a model for tailoring books to the interests and capabilities of young readers and went on to become a global cultural phenomenon. The author of more than 25 award-winning books, Marcus here highlights an international roster of 101 artists of the past 200 years whose touchstone achievements collectively chart the major trends and turning points in the history of children’s book illustration. While some illustrators explored in this lively volume (John Tenniel, Maurice Sendak) have become household names, Marcus’s wide-ranging survey also shines a light on several lesser-known figures whose unique contributions merit a closer look. The result is a sweeping chronicle of a vibrant art form and cultural driver that has touched the lives of literate peoples everywhere.

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Massey, Sujata

India, 1922: Perveen Mistry is the only female lawyer in Bombay, a city where child mortality is high, birth control is unavailable and very few women have ever seen a doctor. Perveen is attending a lavish fundraiser for a new women's hospital specializing in maternal health issues when she witnesses an accident. The grandson of an influential Gujarati businessman catches fire-but a servant, his young ayah, Sunanda, rushes to save him, selflessly putting herself in harm's way. Later, Perveen learns that Sunanda, who's still ailing from her burns, has been arrested on trumped-up charges made by a man who doesn't seem to exist. Perveen cannot stand by while Sunanda languishes in jail with no hope of justice. She takes Sunanda as a client, even inviting her to live at the Mistry home in Bombay's Dadar Parsi colony. But the joint family household is already full of tension. Perveen's father worries about their law firm taking so much personal responsibility for a client, and her brother and sister-in-law are struggling to cope with their new baby. Perveen herself is going through personal turmoil as she navigates a taboo relationship with a handsome former civil service officer. When the hospital's chief donor dies suddenly, Miriam Penkar, a Jewish-Indian obstetrician, and Sunanda become suspects. Perveen's original case spirals into a complex investigation taking her into the Gujarati strongholds of Kalbadevi and Ghatkopar, and up the coast to Juhu Beach, where a decadent nawab lives with his Australian trophy wife. Then a second fire erupts, and Perveen realizes how much is at stake. Has someone powerful framed Sunanda to cover up another crime? Will Perveen be able to prove Sunanda's innocence without endangering her own family?

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McCurdy, Jennette

Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother's dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called "calorie restriction," eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, "Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn't tint hers?" She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income. In I'm Glad My Mom Died, Jennette recounts all this in unflinching detail--just as she chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. Cast in a new Nickelodeon series called iCarly, she is thrust into fame. Though Mom is ecstatic, emailing fan club moderators and getting on a first-name basis with the paparazzi ("Hi Gale!"), Jennette is riddled with anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifest into eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy relationships. These issues only get worse when, soon after taking the lead in the iCarly spinoff Sam & Cat alongside Ariana Grande, her mother dies of cancer. Finally, after discovering therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she really wants.

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McGill, C. E.

Mary is the great-niece of Victor Frankenstein. She knows her great uncle disappeared under mysterious circumstances in the Arctic, but she doesn't know why or how... The 1850s are a time of discovery, and London is ablaze with the latest scientific theories and debates, especially when a spectacular new exhibition of dinosaur sculptures opens at the Crystal Palace. Mary is keen to make her name in this world of science alongside her geologist husband, Henry--but despite her sharp mind and sharper tongue, without wealth and connections their options are limited. When Mary discovers some old family papers that allude to the shocking truth behind her great-uncle's past, she thinks she may have found the key to securing her and Henry's professional and financial future. Their quest takes them to the wilds of Scotland; to Henry's intriguing but reclusive sister, Maisie; and to a deadly chase with a rival who is out to steal their secret.

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McNamara, Luna

A prophecy claims that Psyche, princess of Mycenae, will defeat a monster feared even by the gods. Rebelling against her society's expectations for women, Psyche spends her youth mastering blade and bow, preparing to meet her destiny. When Psyche angers the love goddess Aphrodite, she sends Eros, god of desire, to deliver a cruel curse. After eons watching humanity twist his gifts, the last thing Eros wants is to become involved in the chaos of the mortal world. But when he pricks himself with the arrow intended for Psyche, Eros finds himself doomed to yearn for a woman who will be torn from him the moment their eyes meet. Thrown together by fate, headstrong Psyche and world-weary Eros will face challenges greater than they could have ever imagined. And as the Trojan War begins and divine powers try to keep them apart, the pair must determine if the curse could become something more ... before it's too late.

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Mosco, Rosemary

Amusing science cartoons about the natural world including animal dating profiles, wildlife wine pairings, threat displays of completely non-threatening animals, why hammerhead sharks have hammer heads, and much more. Birding is My Favorite Video Game is a collection of fun, quasi-educational comics combining weird science, cute visuals, sweet wit, and a strong environmental message. Based on the popular webcomic Bird and Moon, this collection brings facts about birds, bees, and insects to life in the quirkiest, most wonderful way.

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Payne, Les

An epic biography of Malcolm X finally emerges, drawing on hundreds of hours of the author's interviews, rewriting much of the known narrative. Les Payne, the renowned Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, embarked in 1990 on a nearly thirty-year-long quest to interview anyone he could find who had actually known Malcolm X-all living siblings of the Malcolm Little family, classmates, street friends, cellmates, Nation of Islam figures, FBI moles and cops, and political leaders around the world. His goal was ambitious: to transform what would become over a hundred hours of interviews into an unprecedented portrait of Malcolm X, one that would separate fact from fiction. The result is this historic biography that conjures a never-before-seen world of its protagonist, a work whose title is inspired by a phrase Malcolm X used when he saw his Hartford followers stir with purpose, as if the dead were truly arising, to overcome the obstacles of racism. Setting Malcolm's life not only within the Nation of Islam but against the larger backdrop of American history, the book traces the life of one of the twentieth century's most politically relevant figures "from street criminal to devoted moralist and revolutionary." 

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Quintanilha, Marcello

Listen, Beautiful M̀arcia is a gripping story about a family pushed to the brink. M̀rcia is a nurse in a hospital near Rio and lives in a favela with her boyfriend, Aluisio, and her daughter, Jaqueline, whom she had very young with another man. Jaqueline, a troubled young adult, makes life difficult for her mother and Aluisio and rebelliously hangs out with members of a neighborhood gang, leading to violent altercations between mother and daughter. The situation degenerates even more when Jaqueline is arrested. M̀rcia and Aluisio, distraught, realize that Jaqueline is in deeper trouble than they ever thought. Listen, Beautiful M̀rciais a fast-paced, flamboyantly colorful new graphic novel by one of the most important Brazilian graphic novelists working today. Marcello Quintanilha's first English-language graphic novel is a tour de force -- a tightly wound drama filled with masterful suspense and a deep love for family and character.

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Rothschild, Mike

With the current rise of antisemitism, this important book looks at how one Jewish family —the Rothschilds—became a lightning rod for the conspiracy theories of the last two centuries, and how those theories are still very much alive today.

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Saltz, Jerry

Irreverent and inspiring advice for awakening your creative potential, from the Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic. This beautiful and useful small-format hardcover-teeming with full-color art, sidebars, and contributions from art-world legends and everyday creatives-How to Be an Artist is a book for anyone who's ever yearned to make the arts a part of their life.

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Scales, Helen

Dive beneath the waves to meet 80 of the ocean's strangest and most surprising inhabitants. This beautifully illustrated aquatic world tour tells the fascinating stories of beguiling sea creatures and their ingenious feats of survival - from producing anti-freeze to enduring boiling temperatures - revealing the ways in which these seemingly remote creatures have shapes our own lives, whether through medicine, culture or folklore.

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Schwab, Victoria

From V.E. Schwab, the critically acclaimed author of Vicious, comes a new universe of daring adventure, thrilling power, and parallel Londons, beginning with A Darker Shade of Magic. Kell is one of the last Travelers--magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel universes--as such, he can choose where he lands. There's Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, ruled by a mad King George. Then there's Red London, where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London, ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne--a place where people fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. And once upon a time, there was Black London...but no one speaks of that now. Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between the royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see--a dangerous hobby, and one that has set him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations, first robs him, then saves him from a dangerous enemy, and then forces him to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure. But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive--and that is proving trickier than they hoped.

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Shields, Aomawa

This memoir charts the life of Dr. Aomawa Shields as an astronomer, classically-trained actor, mother, and Black woman in STEM as she searches for life in the universe while building a meaningful life here on Earth.

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So, Anthony Veasna

A debut story collection about Cambodian-American life-immersive and comic, yet unsparing-that marks the arrival of an indisputable new talent in American fiction.

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Tingle, Chuck

A searing and earnest horror debut about the demons the queer community face in America, the price of keeping secrets, and finding the courage to burn it all down. Welcome to Neverton, Montana: home to a God-fearing community with a heart of gold. Nestled high up in the mountains is Camp Damascus, the self-proclaimed 'most effective' gay conversion camp in the country. Here, a life free from sin awaits. But the secret behind that success is anything but holy. And they'll scare you straight to hell.

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Tolkien, J. R. R.

After discovering the true nature of the one ring, Bilbo Baggins entrusts it to the care of his young cousin, Frodo, who is charged with bringing about its destruction and thus foiling the plans of the Dark Lord.

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Walker, Nico

Jesus' Son meets Reservoir Dogs in a breakneck-paced debut novel about love, war, bank robberies, and heroin. Cleveland, 2003. A young man is just a college freshman when he meets Emily. They share a passion for Edward Albee and ecstasy and fall hard and fast in love. But soon Emily has to move home to Elba, New York, and he flunks out of school and joins the army. Desperate to keep their relationship alive, they marry before he ships out to Iraq. But as an army medic, he is unprepared for the grisly reality that awaits him. His fellow soldiers smoke; they huff computer duster; they take painkillers; they watch porn. And many of them die. He and Emily try to make their long-distance marriage work, but when he returns from Iraq, his PTSD is profound, and the drugs on the street have changed. The opioid crisis is beginning to swallow up the Midwest. Soon he is hooked on heroin, and so is Emily. They attempt a normal life, but with their money drying up, he turns to the one thing he thinks he could be really good at--robbing banks. Hammered out on a typewriter, Cherry marks the arrival of a raw, bleakly hilarious, and surprisingly poignant voice straight from the dark heart of America.

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Waters, Sarah

One postwar summer in his home of rural Warwickshire, Dr. Faraday, the son of a maid who has built a life of quiet respectability as a country physician, is called to a patient at lonely Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for over two centuries, the Georgian house, once impressive and handsome, is now in decline, its masonry crumbling, its gardens choked with weeds, the clock in its stable yard permanently fixed at twenty to nine. Its owners—mother, son, and daughter—are struggling to keep pace with a changing society, as well as with conflicts of their own. But are the Ayreses haunted by something more sinister than a dying way of life? Little does Dr. Faraday know how closely, and how terrifyingly, their story is about to become intimately entwined with his.

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Westerhausen Worcel, Shelly

Every day is a good day for soup! From broths and gazpachos to chowders and chilis, this flexible cookbook is overflowing with scrumptious soups for every season. These simple base recipes for healthy, yummy soups are easy to prepare and so satisfying. And the best part? You can riff on them endlessly with toppings and fixings—add mini meatballs, grilled cheese croutons, or a handful of grains. Or transform yesterday’s soup into an entirely new Carrot-Orange-Ginger Soup becomes a savory breakfast oatmeal; leftover Tomato-Watermelon Gazpacho makes a pitcher of Bloody Marias; French Onion Soup is reinvented as a bubbling, golden strata!

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Wilding, Rose

New Year's Eve, 1999. Seven women are gathered in a hotel room at midnight; a man's head sits in the center of the floor. They all had a motive to kill Jamie Spellman. They all swear they didn't. But in order to protect each other, they have to find out who did.

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Wilsner, Meryl

As the World Cup approaches, and Grace works her way back from injury, the women decide to find a way they can play together instead of vying for the same position. Except, when they are off the field, Grace is worried she’s catching feelings while Phoebe thinks they are dating. As the tension between them grows, will both players realize they care more about their relationship than making the roster?

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Zeineddine, Ghassan

A sharp, tender, and uproariously funny portrait of the lives of Arab American community members in Dearborn, Michigan.

Teen Books

Check out these Staff Recommendations for teen readers!

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Bailey, J. Leigh

Openly gay sixteen-year-old Ben must make difficult decisions when his experiment to prove he is gay leads to his best friend Maxie becoming pregnant.

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Bargiela, Sarah

Autism in women and girls is still not widely understood, and is often misrepresented or even overlooked. This graphic novel offers an engaging and accessible insight into the lives and minds of autistic women, using real-life case studies. The charming illustrations lead readers on a visual journey of how women on the spectrum experience everyday life, from metaphors and masking in social situations, to friendships and relationships and the role of special interests.

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Deonn, Tracy

To discover the truth behind her mother's mysterious death, a teen girl infiltrates a magical secret society claiming to be the descendants of King Arthur and his knights.

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Emmerichs, Sharon

Both epic and intimate, Sharon Emmerichs's extraordinary debut novel reimagines  Beowulf  from the perspective of a young woman reclaiming her power. All her life, Fryda has longed to be a shield maiden, an honor reserved for Geatland’s mightiest warriors. When a childhood accident leaves her tragically injured and unfit for the battlefield, her dreams are dashed—or so she thinks. But a strange, unfathomable power is awakening within her, a power that will soon be put to the test.

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Galadima, Issaka

Clock Striker follows Shonen manga's first Black female lead hero, Cast, in her quest to become a member of the SMITHS, the legendary warrior engineers. Cast dreams of being a SMITH, and though she's rather handy with her tools, no one in her small town ever realizes their dreams. Besides, these legendary warrior engineers haven't been seen in years and were never known for having female members. Fortunately, Cast meets one surviving member named Ms. Philomena Clock, who agrees to take her on as her apprentice, or striker. Now Cast is thrust into one deadly adventure after another! From cybernetic desperadoes to technology thieves and more, Cast has to use her mind and her remodeled robotics-lab prosthetic hand, which offers unfathomable offensive power in the form of scientific experiments. Need lightning? Cast can generate it from her hand! Cast's mentor seeks to uncover an ominous mystery that explains what happened to the SMITHS and shines a light on a hidden power that may be within Cast herself. Can Cast become a new member of the SMITHS? More importantly, can Cast survive the process to become a SMITH?

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Gillman, Melanie

In this new feminist, queer fairy tale collection, the princesses, mermaids, barmaids, children, and wise old women who have been forced to sit on the sidelines in classic stories take center stage to fulfill their own dreams and find the love, power, and happiness they deserve.

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LambCat

Gwendolyn, the youngest of the King's three daughters, is living proof that princesses don't always have it all. She isn't like a typical fairy-tale princess, or other princesses in the Pastel Kingdom. Gwendolyn, with her big heart and love of baking, isn't particularly attractive. Unlike her sisters who have woodland creatures do their hair and makeup, or have flowers blossom wherever they sleep, Gwendolyn is a bit...different. So when her father proposes marriage for her and her sisters to make an alliance with the Plaid Kingdom, it breaks Gwendolyn's heart to hear that Prince Fredrick thinks she's "really ugly." Overwhelmed and ashamed, she runs away into the forest and encounters the twisted world of the Cursed Princess Club, where her life will never be the same.

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McWilliams, Kelly

High school senior Harriet is still grappling with her mother's death when an unwanted property sale causes her to join forces with her new neighbor to stop Belle Grove Plantation from turning into a wedding venue.

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Ryan, Tom

Seventeen-year-old Dee secretly hosts a popular true-crime podcast but when a missing child seems linked to the disappearance of her best friend ten years ago, she considers revealing her identity to uncover the truth.

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Schwab, Victoria

Olivia Prior has grown up at the grim Merilance School for Girls with no no past except for her one treasure, her mother's journal, so when a letter arrives inviting her to come home to ruinous manor, Gallant, she seizes the chance to find out about her family.

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Stone, Nic

Since Shelbi enrolled at Windward Academy as a senior and won't be there very long, she hasn't bothered making friends. What her classmates don't know about her can't be used to hurt her--you know, like it did at her last school. Andy Criddle is not okay. At all. He's had far too much to drink. Again. Which is bad. And things are about to get worse. When Shelbi sees Andy at his lowest, she can relate. So she doesn't resist reaching out. And there's no doubt their connection has them both seeing stars... but the closer they get, the more the past threatens to pull their universes apart. #1 New York Times bestselling author Nic Stone delivers a tour de force about living with grief, prioritizing mental health, and finding love amid the chaos.

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Templer, Hannah

Pan has finally escaped her dead-end planet, piecing together a new sort of family with the rebel gladiators Bee and Cass and the mysterious hacktivist Kate. They've even rescued a princess... But what if this princess has her own ideas? Whatever happened to Pan's childhood friend Tara? And if Pan and the others become galactic fugitives, will the immense pressure of life on the run threaten to tear them apart just in time for the biggest heist of their lives?

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Walden, Tillie

A chance encounter sends runaway Bea on a journey through West Texas with Lou, who Bea must trust as she is driven to confront buried truths about loss and heartbreak.

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Watters, Shannon

Isabel "Izzy" Crane and her family have just relocated to Sleepy Hollow, the town made famous by--and obsessed with--Washington Irving's legend of the Headless Horseman. But city slicker-skeptic Izzy has no time for superstition as she navigates life at a new address, a new school, and, with any luck, with new friends. Ghost stories aren't real, after all... Then Izzy is pulled into the orbit of the town's teen royalty, Vicky Van Tassel (yes, that Van Tassel) and loveable varsity-level prankster Croc Byun. Vicky's weariness with her family connection to the legend turns to terror when the trio begins to be haunted by the Horseman himself, uncovering a curse set on destroying the Van Tassel line. Now, they have only until Halloween night to break it--meaning it's a totally inconvenient time for Izzy to develop a massive crush on the enigmatic Vicky. Can Izzy's practical nature help her face the unknown--or only trip her up? As the calendar runs down to the 31st, Izzy will have to use all of her wits and work with her new friends to save Vicky and uncover the mystery of the legendary Horseman of Sleepy Hollow--before it's too late. New York Times-bestselling writer Shannon Watters (Lumberjanes) and debut author Branden Boyer-White are joined by artist Berenice Nelle (Wanderlicht) in this coming-of-age tale, homage, and a spin-off of the classic Legend of Sleepy Hollow and everyone's favorite headless specter.

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White, Andrew Joseph

Set in an alternate Victorian England where mediums control the dead, sixteen-year-old autistic transgender boy Silas must expose a power-hungry secret society while confined to a cruel finishing school designed to turn him into the perfect wife.

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Winters, Julian

Bloomington High School Lions' star goalie Sebastian Hughes should be excited about his senior year: His teammates are amazing, and he's got a coach who doesn't ask anyone to hide their sexuality. But when his estranged childhood-best-friend Emir Shah shows up at summer training camp, Sebastian realizes the team's success may end up in the hands of the one guy who hates him. Determined to reconnect with Emir for the sake of the Lions, he sets out to regain Emir's trust. But to Sebastian's surprise, sweaty days on the pitch, wandering the town's streets, and bonding on the weekends spark more than just friendship between them.

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Zoboi, Ibi Aanu

Zuri Benitez has pride. Brooklyn pride, family pride, and pride in her Afro-Latino roots. But pride might not be enough to save her rapidly gentrifying neighborhood from becoming unrecognizable. When the wealthy Darcy family moves in across the street, Zuri wants nothing to do with their two teenage sons, even as her older sister, Janae, starts to fall for the charming Ainsley. She especially can't stand the judgmental and arrogant Darius. Yet as Zuri and Darius are forced to find common ground, their initial dislike shifts into an unexpected understanding. But with four wild sisters pulling her in different directions, cute boy Warren vying for her attention, and college applications hovering on the horizon, Zuri fights to find her place in Bushwick's changing landscape, or lose it all.

Kid Books

Check out these Staff Recommendations for kid readers!

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Adeola, Dapo

Addresses -- honestly, yet hopefully -- the experiences Black children face growing up with systemic racism, as well as providing hope for the future and delivering a message of empowerment to a new generation of dreamers.

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Annable, Graham

School is tough. School is scary. School is EERIE. No one knows this better than Davis and Emily. But they're not scared of school because of tough tests or merciless vice-principals. No, they're scared because their teacher wants her students to present the class with the spookiest, most chilling stories they can think of.

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Becker, Helaine

Young Wendy had a rare eye for unusual. She was always on the hunt for anything and everything -- gnarly rocks, buds and burrs, the brilliant blue of a jay's feather. When a class trip takes her to Alberta's amazing bonebed, a place known for its dinosaur fossils, twelve-year-old Wendy makes her first major discovery: a piece of fossilized coral from 100 million years ago! From then on, Wendy spends her time among the windswept hoodoos, searching for more treasures from the past. With her rare eye, she has the uncanny ability to see what others miss and eventually travels the world as a preeminent fossil hunter, known as the "fossil whisperer." But it's back home, near Alberta's Milk River, that Wendy makes her most important discovery: an entirely new dinosaur species! This is the remarkable true story of how fossil whisperer Wendy Sloboda discovered Wendiceratops, a dinosaur that would provide a fascinating missing link in history.

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Bergame, Cécile

When a little pea escapes a girl who is shelling peas, it rolls off the kitchen table, onto the floor, and an adventure begins. The runaway pea rolls passed several hungry animals. It manages to evade a mouse, a cat, a rabbit, a hen, a pig, and a wolf, finally resting in the perfect place. The girl will find it again after some time has passed for a surprise conclusion. This circular story, told with repetition, predictive vocabulary, and bright colorful art, delivers a natural history lesson about plant life for the youngest of readers. They will enjoy repeated readings as they join in the telling of this sweet pea of a tale.

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Bunten, Alexis C.

Pia rushes over to the Indigenous community center after school. It's where she goes every day to play outside with friends and work on her homework. But today--March 18, 2021--is special: Auntie Autumn gathers all the children around their television to witness Secretary Deb Haaland in her ribbon skirt at the White House as she becomes the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary. Pia and the other kids behold her Native pride on an international stage. Together with their parents and Elders, the children explore the values woven into their own regalia, land, community, and traditions, making precious memories on this day they won't soon forget.

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Burgess, Tamika

Sixth-grader Sicily Jordan learns to use her voice and to find joy in who she is--a Black Panamanian fashionista who rocks her braids with pride--while confronting prejudice both in the classroom and at home.

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Carboneill, Benedicte

On her eighth birthday her father gives Nola a music box that belonged to her late mother--and discovers that inside it is the magical world of Pandorient, and a pair of siblings named Andrea and Igor who need her help for their sick mother.

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Cooper, Jay

Styx and Scones are a cat and a dog who live with two friendly witches. When the witches leave, Scones finds what looks like a stick and wants to play with it. Styx wants to play too. Soon, magic is everywhere!

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Creech, Sharon

Mr. Keene runs a fine, fine school. He encourages his students to express themselves through the creative arts: drawing, painting, reading, and singing. Then Mr. Keene's appendix bursts, and he's rushed to the hospital. A new principal named Mr. Tatters arrives to take his place, and he is a serious man. He does not smile, he does not laugh, [he] disapproves of their creative methods of learning, and [he] immediately implements a policy of daily tests, banning songs, flowers, art, and fun.

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Dickson, Kristen

When Fiona has the idea to build her very own fairy house, she gets to work right away foraging for supplies, scouting for the perfect location, and recruiting some magical friends. Building a fairy house isn't as easy as you might think!

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Dyball, Rennie

Letter by letter, B Is for Bellies is a joyous picture book celebration of every body from A to Z! This ode to self-love and kindness encourages us to remember that every body is worthy of respect, whether it be letting go on the dance floor or engaging in peaceful rest.

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Dyson, DK

Amir bonds with Rudeday, his downstairs artist neighbor, over a game they invented.

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Fliess, Sue

There are about three thousand different kinds of cicadas but only the males make the sound we know. Some cicadas appear every year but other kinds only show up every seventeen years, but no one knows why. And there can be trillions of them! Interesting facts and a rhythmic, rhyming verse combine with colorful illustrations to portray one of the most fascinating insects in the world.

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Gaiman, Neil

Looking for excitement, Coraline ventures through a mysterious door into a world that is similar, yet disturbingly different from her own, where she must challenge a gruesome entity in order to save herself, her parents, and the souls of three others.

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Gutierrez Hernandez, Beatriz

A fascinating picture book biography of Benito Juárez, president of Mexico during its tumultuous time of Liberal Reform.

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Hale, Shannon

On her way to marry a prince she's never met, Princess Anidori is betrayed by her guards and her lady-in-waiting and must become a goose girl to survive until she can reveal her true identity and reclaim the crown that is rightfully hers.

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Harris, Chris

A witty, illustrated collection of humorous (and sometimes even heartwarming) poems and nonsense inspired by the absurdities of everyday life.

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Hussain, Salma

Mona Hasan is a young Muslim girl growing up in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, when the first Gulf War breaks out in 1991. The war isn't what she expects--especially when the ground offensive is over so quickly...Over the course of one year, Mona falls in love, speaks up to protect her younger sister, loses her best friend to the new girl at school, has summer adventures with her cousins in Pakistan, immigrates to Canada, and pursues her ambition to be a feminist and a poet.

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Johnson, Mat

The Delany, captained by a swashbuckling capitalist named Bob, is circling Europa--one of the moons of Jupiter--studying its atmosphere, but inside, the ship is divided into two warring camps. First there are the group of "Bobs" who slavishly follow the ship's vain, ignorant captain and who antagonize the two crew members who've run afoul of the Bobs: Dwayne and Nalani, who are studying the surface of the moon itself. But it is Dwayne and Nalani who make the ship's one and only discovery--and it's a doozy: One of their drones returns pictures of what appears to be a normal American city enclosed in a dome with a crack in its roof. When the Delany crew steers their ship closer to investigate they find themselves pulled into the domed city: New Roanoke, a city made up of generations of UFO abductees from earth, whose society is a funhouse mirror of the United States. Nalani, Dwayne, and the Bobs find themselves in the middle of an election in New Roanoke--one that hinges on the question of whether or not its inhabitants should return to Earth. The planet's dome has been cracked and is likely to crumble, its residents are terrorized by "invisible things" that toy with them--slapping them, dragging their bodies around, and sometimes smashing their skulls--and their whole society is haunted by a central mystery: Why are they there? We follow Nalani through this mirror world of our own and into the same questions of polarized politics, existential crisis, and environmental omens that obsess and divide our own. Will New Roanoke survive? Will we?

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King, A. S.

When sixth-grader Mac discovers several words of his classroom copy of Jane Yolen's The Devil's Arithmetic are blacked out he is outraged, so he, his friends, and his eccentric family set out to do something about the censorship imposed by one teacher and the school board.

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Lin, Grace

Alice can go anywhere in the magical pages of her favorite book. So when it flaps its pages and invites her in, she is swept away to a world of wonder and adventure. But at the end of her imaginative journey, she yearns for the place she loves best of all.

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Middaugh, Dallas

In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions.

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O'Neill, Kay

After discovering a lost Tea Dragon in the marketplace, apprentice blacksmith Greta learns about the dying art form of Tea Dragon caretaking from the kind tea shop owners.

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Ransome, Lesa

Examines the life of the legendary baseball player, who was the first African-American to pitch in a Major League World Series.

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Ray, Mary Lyn

A picture book biography of the four Moody sisters who designed and built fairy tale-like cottages in Santa Barbara in the 1930s and 1940s.

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Rotner, Shelley

This photo picture book looks at differences in bodies, with photos of children with many different challenges including various physical disparities, learning differences, and medical conditions.

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Royce, Eden

From the award-winning author of Root Magic comes the story of a girl forced to spend the summer with a great-grandmother she's never met--only to discover she runs a school for Southern conjure magic.

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Salmon, Caspar

Get ready to show off your skills in this fun new counting book! But not everything is as it seems . . . is this book really only about counting to "ONE?" Because there are SO MANY fun things that you could count. But wait --maybe there's a way to outsmart the book . . . and count all the way up to 100!

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Tang, Betty C.

Feng-Li can’t wait to discover America with her family! But after an action-packed vacation, her parents deliver shocking news: They are returning to Taiwan and leaving Feng-Li and her older siblings in California on their own. Suddenly, the three kids must fend for themselves in a strange new world--and get along. Starting a new school, learning a new language, and trying to make new friends while managing a household is hard enough, but Bro and Sis's constant bickering makes everything worse. Thankfully, there are some hilarious moments to balance the stress and loneliness. But as tensions escalate--and all three kids get tangled in a web of bad choices--can Feng-Li keep her family together?

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Venkat, Srividhya

Follows three friends who support one another through the ups and downs of learning to skateboard.

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Welch, Erin

In this illustrated picture book, a young boy asks his grandmother to knit him a sweater, which he wears as he grows up and travels the world, before returning to his seaside village.

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Wilson-Trudeau, Marty

Phoenix loves to play with dolls and marvel at pretty fabrics. Most of all, he loves to dance--ballet, Pow Wow dancing, of just swirling and twirling around his house. Sometimes Phoenix gets picked on and he struggles with felling different, but his mom and brother are proud of him. With their help, Phoenix learns about Two Spirit/Niizh Manidoowag people in Anishinaabe culture and just how special he is.

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Worms, Penny

A teacher challenges her class to decide which is the most important animal of all. Seven children champion a different animal for the top spot. Is it bees as master pollinators, or bats who are night-time predators as well as pollinators? Is it elephants who shape their landscapes and spread seeds, or beavers, who create watery habitats? Is it tigers or sharks who keep populations in balance so there is food for all? Is it tiny krill, food for so many whales and sea creatures? [Here] is lots of information about them--and other keystone species--plus photographs to see them up close and in their habitats.

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Zsako, Balint

Bunny and Tree first meet when the tree observes a ferocious wolf threatening the bunny and comes to its protection. From that moment on, there is a bond of trust between the two, which flowers not only into friendship, but amazingly, into a road trip adventure, when Bunny, who's looking for his rabbit friends, convinces Tree that it's time to uproot and see the world. Compelled by sympathy and a shared purpose, Bunny and Tree hit the road, becoming another tremendous and memorable picture book odd couple.

Summaries provided by DPL's catalog unless otherwise noted. Click on each title to view more information.