Staff Picks: October 2023 (All Ages!)

Movies | Adult Books | Teen Books | Kid Books

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

Movies

Check out these Staff Recommendations!

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For ages, aliens have kept their prisoners locked inside human bodies, but the guard in charge opens a gate through time in an attempt to prevent their escape. The portal links to 630 years in the past, when a master swordsman and others try to seize a legendary sword. Chaos and confusion ensue when travelers from the present cross paths with those from the past, and all are trying to find the mystical divine blade that holds the key to everything.

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Madison is paralyzed by shocking visions of grisly murders, and her torment worsens as she discovers that these waking dreams are in fact terrifying realities.

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In hopes of reconciling with his orthodox father, the son of a Hasidic funeral director returns home with his pregnant wife in tow. But his intentions are put to the test when the family morgue receives the body of a mysterious corpse containing an ancient entity with a sinister plan for his unborn child.

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Miles Morales catapults across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. When the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles must redefine what it means to be a hero.

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Based on a character from the cult anthology, All Hallows Eve, the gory 80's slasher throwback takes place on Halloween night as the demented Art the Clown sets his sights on terrorizing two girls and anyone else that gets in his way.

Adult Books

Check out these Staff Recommendations for adult readers!

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Between Certain Death and a Possible Future: Queer Writing on Growing up with the AIDS Crisis offers crucial stories from this missing generation in AIDS literature and cultural politics. This wide-ranging collection includes 36 personal essays on the ongoing and persistent impact of the HIV/AIDS crisis in queer lives. Here you will find an expansive range of perspectives on a specific generational story—essays that explore and explode conventional wisdom, while also providing a necessary bridge between experiences. These essays respond, with eloquence and incisiveness, to the question: How do we reckon with the trauma that continues to this day, and imagine a way out?

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Adams, Erin E., author.

RECOMMENDED BY GILLIAN FLYNN ON THE TODAY SHOW • A young Black girl goes missing in the woods outside herwhite rust belt town. But she's not the first—and she may not be the last. . . .

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Ayase, Maru, 1986- author.

Nowatari Rui has long been the subject of her husband's novels, depicted as a pure woman who takes great pleasure in sex. With her privacy and identity continually stripped away, she has come to be seen by society first and foremost as the inspiration for her husband's art. When a decade's worth of frustrations reaches its boiling point, Rui consumes a bowl of seeds, and buds and roots begin to sprout all over her body. Instead of taking her to a hospital, her husband keeps her in an aquaterrarium, set to compose a new novel based on this unsettling experience. But Rui grows at a rapid pace and soon breaks away from her husband by turning into a forest-and in time, she takes over the entire city

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Berger, Lee R., author.

This thrilling book takes the reader into South African caves to discover fossil remains that reframe the human family tree

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Beukes, Lauren, author.

Twenty-four-year-old Bridge is paralyzed by choices: all the other lives she could have lived, the decisions she could have made. And now, who she should be in the wake of her mother's unexpected death. Jo was a maverick neuroscientist fixated on an artifact she called the "dreamworm" that she believed could open the doors to other worlds. It was part of Jo's grand delusion, her sickness, and it cost her everything, including her relationship with her daughter. But in packing up Jo's house, Bridge discovers Jo's obsession hidden amongst her things. And the dreamworm works, exactly the way it's supposed to, the way Bridge remembers from when she was a little girl. Suddenly Bridge can step into other realities, otherselves. In one of them, could she find out what really happened to her mother? What Bridge doesn't know is that there are others hunting for the dreamworm--who will kill to get their hands on it

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Brooks, Max.

We survived the zombie apocalypse, but how many of us are still haunted by that terrible time? We have (temporarily?) defeated the living dead, but at what cost? Told in the haunting and riveting voices of the men and women who witnessed the horror firsthand, World War Z is the only record of the pandemic.

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Carroll, Rory, author.

A race-against-the-clock narrative that finally illuminates a history-changing event: the IRA's attempt to assassinate Margaret Thatcher and the epic manhunt that followed

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Egan, Timothy, author.

A historical thriller by the Pulitzer and National Book Award-winning author that tells the riveting story of the Klan's rise to power in the 1920s, the cunning con man who drove that rise, and the woman who stopped them.

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Etter, Sarah Rose, author.

A surreal novel with “a dark, delicious edge” (Time) about a woman in Silicon Valley who must decide how much she’s willing to give up for success—from an award-winning writer whose work Roxane Gay calls “utterly unique and remarkable.”

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Foster, Kim

The Meth Lunches reveals stories of dysfunction intertwined with hope, of the insurmountable obstacles and fierce determination all playing out on the plates of ordinary people. It’s a bold invitation to pull up a chair and reconsider our responsibilities to the most vulnerable among us. Welcome to the table.

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Franz, Aisha, 1984- author, artist.

To achieve the proper work-life balance perhaps we just need the right therapist to coach us through our day-to-day. Anita, Sandra, and Dex have ambitions. Anita wants to move from making utility ceramics to fine-art sculpture but her pent-up dissatisfaction results in an outburst that puts her studio mate's work at risk. Sandra juggles her practical administrative day job at a startup with her wellness-influencer channel, finding both in jeopardy when a messy affair with a coworker comes to light. In another corner of the same startup, Dex's innovative ideas are rejected, leading him to spend his days hacking and working as a bike courier. All three are disillusioned with the daily grind. As the pressure for self-improvement builds, they end up looking to the same therapist for answers

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Gilmer, Benjamin, author.

NOW IN PAPERBACK WITH A NEW AFTERWORD: A "wrenching, maddening, compelling" (The New York Times Book Review) true story about a shocking crime and a mysterious illness that will forever change your notions of how we punish and how we heal

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Huang, S. L., author.

Lin Chong is an expert arms instructor, training the Emperor's soldiers in sword and truncheon, battle axe and spear, lance and crossbow. Unlike bolder friends who flirt with challenging the unequal hierarchies and values of Imperial society, she believes in keeping her head down and doing her job. Until a powerful man with a vendetta rips that carefully-built life away. Disgraced, tattooed as a criminal, and on the run from an Imperial Marshall who will stop at nothing to see her dead, Lin Chong is recruited by the Bandits of Liangshan. Mountain outlaws on the margins of society, the Liangshan Bandits proclaim a belief in justice--for women, for the downtrodden, for progressive thinkers a corrupt Empire would imprison or destroy. They're also murderers, thieves, smugglers, and cutthroats. Apart, they love like demons and fight like tigers. Together, they could bring down an empire

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Leeds, Scott, author.

After his estranged father's mysterious death, Charlie Remick returns to Seattle to help with the funeral. There, he discovers his father left him two parting gifts: the keys to the family record store and a strange black case containing four ancient records that, according to legend, can open a gate to the land of the dead. When Charlie, his sister, and their two friends play the records, they unwittingly open a floodgate of unspeakable horror. As the darkness descends, they are stalked by a relentless, malevolent force and see the dead everywhere they turn.With time running out, the only person who can help them is Charlie's resurrected father, who knows firsthand the awesome power the records have unleashed. But can they close the gate and silence Schrader's Chord before it's too late?

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Lingan, John, author.

The definitive biography of Creedence Clearwater Revival, exploring the band's legendary rise to fame and how their music embodied the cultural landscape of the late '60s and early '70s

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Lynn, Birdie, author.

Arthur's particular brew of perfectionism and anxiety has served him well, landing him at the top of his class. Almost. The number one spot belongs to Stonebury's most popular student, Mika Rivera-Arthur's sworn rival with a mirthful glint in his eye and an ever-present grin. But when Arthur's tuition check bounces, he must win the fellowship money granted to the top student in his class, or his future will come to a grinding halt. When a spell reveals that the only obstacle in Arthur's way-Mika-is his soulmate, they enter into a fake dating ploy to stop their classmates' ridicule. On their rollercoaster of falsified romance, Arthur finds himself shoved into more compromising situations with his rival than he ever imagined, and he's horrified to find that he even enjoys some of them. The real Mika-wickedly charismatic and earnest in equal parts-refuses to fit into the checkboxes on Arthur's meticulous to-do lists. Can Arthur put aside his pride to secure the future he has so desperately dreamed of? Or will his obsession with hating Mika cost him everything?

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Masumoto, David Mas, author.

A family separated by racism against Japanese Americans and the discrimination of people with developmental disabilities--reunited seventy years later, returning to their roots on a farm and bound by family secrets

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Miles, Tiya, 1970- author.

In 1850s South Carolina, just before nine-year-old Ashley was sold, her mother Rose gave her a sack filled with just a few things as a token of her love. Decades later, Ashley's granddaughter Ruth embroidered this history on the bag--including Rose's message that 'It be filled with my Love always.' Historian Tiya Miles carefully follows faint archival traces back to Charleston to find Rose in the kitchen where she may have packed the sack for Ashley. From Rose's last resourceful gift to her daughter, Miles then follows the paths their lives and the lives of so many like them took to write a unique, innovative history of the lived experience of slavery in the United States

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Newitz, Annalee, 1969- author.

From science fiction visionary Annalee Newitz comes The Terraformers, a sweeping, uplifting, and illuminating exploration of the future. Destry's life is dedicated to terraforming Sask-E. As part of the Environmental Rescue Team, she cares for the planet and its burgeoning eco-systems as her parents and their parents did before her. But the bright, clean future they're building comes under threat when Destry discovers a city full of people that shouldn't exist, hidden inside a massive volcano. As she uncovers more about their past, Destry begins to question the mission she's devoted her life to, and must make a choice that will reverberate through Sask-E's future for generations to come. A science fiction epic for our times and a love letter to our future, The Terraformers will take you on a journey spanning thousands of years and exploring the triumphs, strife, and hope that find us wherever we make our home. "Brilliantly thoughtful, prescient, and gripping."--Martha Wells, The Murderbot Diaries Also by Annalee Newitz Autonomous The Future of Another Timeline

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Nguyen, Lena, author.

The behavioral psychologist onboard a survey ship headed to a planet ripe for colonization, Dr. Grace Park must determine the origin of a strange phenomenon that is causing the crew to suffer mental breaks without losing her own mind in the process.

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Older, Malka, 1977- author.

A cozy gaslamp murder mystery and sapphic romance, set on Jupiter, by the author of the critically-acclaimed Centenal Cycle.

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Prendergast, Alan, author.

An award-winning journalist presents the story of Philip Van Cise, a rookie District Attorney who fought the KKK, organized crime, and government corruption in Denver in the 1920s and how his experiences still resonate one century later.

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Proulx, Annie, author.

From Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Proulx - whose novels are infused with her knowledge and deep concern for the earth - comes an urgent and riveting history of wetlands, their ecological role and how the loss of them threatens the planet. Fens, bogs, swamps and marine estuaries are the earth's most desirable and dependable resources, and in four illuminating parts Proulx documents the emergence of their systemic destruction in the pursuit of profit and the consequent release of their stored carbon. Wide-ranging and idiosyncratic, Proulx's explanation of wetlands takes readers to the fens of sixteenth-century England, Canada's Hudson Bay Lowlands, Russia's Great Vasyugan Mire, and America's Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, and introduces the nineteenth-century explorers who launched the ravaging of the Amazon rainforest. Proulx was born in the 1930s, a time, as she says, when 'in the ever-continuing name of progress, Western countries busily raped their own and other countries of minerals, timber, fish, and wildlife.' Fen, Bog & Swamp is both a revelatory history and an urgent plea for wetland reclamation from a writer whose passionate devotion to observing and preserving the environment is on glorious display.

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Rubio, Marytza K., author.

For fans of Kali Fajardo-Anstine and Lesley Nneka Arimah, a darkly funny and imaginative debut conjuring tales of Mexican American mystics and misfits. "The first witch of the waters was born in Destruction. The moon named her Maria." From former PEN America Emerging Voices Fellow Marytza K. Rubio comes Maria, Maria, an inimitable collection set across the tropics and megacities of the Americas. Readers will be enticed and infuriated as characters negotiate with nature to cast their desired ends-such as the enigmatic community college professor in "Brujeria for Beginners'; the disturbingly faithful widow in "Tijuca"; and the lonely little girl in "Burial," who awakens a sabretooth tiger. Brimming with sharp wit and ferocious female intuition, the book bubbles over into a novella of fantastical proportions-a "tropigoth" family drama set in a reimagined California micro-rainforest about the legacies of three Marias, possibly all Marias. Writing in prose so lush it threatens to creep off the page, Rubio emerges as a bold voice new voice in contemporary short fiction

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Simard, S. (Suzanne), author.

A personal and scientific work on trees, forests, and the author's profound discoveries of tree communication

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Solomon, Rivers, author.

Aster has little to offer folks in the way of rebuttal when they call her ogre and freak. She's used to the names; she only wishes there was more truth to them. If she were truly a monster, she'd be powerful enough to tear down the walls around her until nothing remains of her world. Aster lives in the lowdeck slums of the HSS Matilda, a space vessel organized much like the antebellum South. For generations, Matilda has ferried the last of humanity to a mythical Promised Land. On its way, the ship's leaders have imposed harsh moral restrictions and deep indignities on dark-skinned sharecroppers like Aster. Embroiled in a grudge with a brutal overseer, Aster learns there may be a way to improve her lot--if she's willing to sow the seeds of civil war

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Vara, Vauhini, 1982- author.

Will you, dear Shareholder, set Athena free? Athena Rao must reckon with the memory of her father, King Rao-literally. Through biotechnological innovation, he has given her his memories. His Dalit childhood on an Indian coconut plantation in the 1950s is as alive to her as her own existence in a prison cell, accused of her father's murder. Egocentric, brilliant, a little damaged, King Rao had a visionary idea: the personal computer known as the Coconut. His wife, Margie, was an artist with a marketing genius. Together they created a new world order, led by a corporate-run government. Athena's future is now in the hands of its Shareholders-unless she can rejoin the Exes, a resistance group sustaining tech-free lifestyles on low-lying islands. Lyrical, satirical, and profound, The Immortal King Rao obliterates genre to confront the digital age. This gripping, brilliant debut poses an urgent question: can anyone-peasant laborers, convention-destroying entrepreneurs, radical anarchists, social-media followers-ever get free?

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Wiest, Andrew A.

In his new book, The Boys of ’67, Andy Wiest, the award-winning author of Vietnam’s Forgotten Army and The Vietnam War 1956-1975, examines the experiences of a company from the only division in the Vietnam era to train and deploy together in similar fashion to WWII’s famous 101st Airborne Division.
 

Teen Books

Check out these Staff Recommendations for teen readers!

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Blake, Kendare, author.

In the late 1950s in the Midwest, a serial killer has been draining their victims of blood, leaving them otherwise undisturbed in their cars and homes. When a fifteen-year-old girl is found covered in blood amidst the latest corpses, she confides only in the sheriff's son but her story is unbelievable at best.

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Blake, Kendare, author.

Every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born: three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions. But becoming the Queen Crowned isn't solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it's not just a game of win or lose... it's life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins. The last queen standing gets the crown. If only it was that simple. Katharine is unable to tolerate the weakest poison, and Arsinoe, no matter how hard she tries, can't make even a weed grow. The two queens have been shamefully faking their powers, taking care to keep each other, the island, and their powerful sister Mirabella none the wiser. But with alliances being formed, betrayals taking shape, and ruthless revenge haunting the queens' every move, one thing is certain: the last queen standing might not be the strongest... but she may be the darkest.

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Carvalho, Rebecca, author.

Trust neither thin-bottomed frying pans nor Molinas. Lari Ramires has always known this to be true. Her family's bakery, Salt, has been at war with the Molinas' bakery across the street, Sugar, for generations. Slinging rumors, clashing at bake-offs, shouting insults in Olinda's streets--life may not be peaceful, but it's just the way things are. That is, until Lari's world turns upside down when her beloved grandmother passes away. On top of that, a big supermarket chain has moved to town, forcing many of the small businesses to close. But Lari refuses to lose her home in addition to her grandmother. Which means doing the unthinkable--working together with Pedro Molina to save both of their bakeries.

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De Leon, Jennifer, 1979- author.

Caught in the cross hairs of gang violence, seventeen-year-old fashion designer, Maya, and her mother set off on a perilous journey from Guatemala City to the US-Mexico border.

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Howard, Abby (Comic artist), author, illustrator.

In this collection of literary slice-of-life horror, five stories explore what happens when one is desperate enough to seek solace and connection in the world of monsters and darkness

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Mickelson, Marcia Argueta, author.

Following her mother's tragic death, seventeen-year-old Sarah takes on the role of caretaker to her grieving father and younger brother, which leaves little time and emotional energy for a relationship, but when a school project helps her rediscover her love of art, her perspective shifts.

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Novoa, Gabe Cole, author.

On Mar León de la Rosa's sixteenth birthday, el Diablo comes calling. Mar is a transmasculine nonbinary teen pirate hiding a magical ability to manipulate fire and ice. But their magic isn't enough to reverse a wicked bargain made by their father, and now el Diablo has come to collect his payment: the soul of Mar's father and the entire crew of their ship. When Mar is miraculously rescued by the sole remaining pirate crew in the Caribbean, el Diablo returns to give them a choice: give up their soul to save their father by the harvest moon, or never see him again. The task is impossible--Mar refuses to make a bargain, and there's no way their magic is a match for el Diablo. Then Mar finds the most unlikely allies: Bas, an infuriatingly arrogant and handsome pirate--and the captain's son; and Dami, a gender-fluid demonio whose motives are never quite clear. For the first time in their life, Mar may have the courage to use their magic. It could be their only redemption--or it could mean certain death.

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Summers, Courtney, author.

When sixteen-year-old Georgia Avis finds the dead body of thirteen-year-old Ashley James outside the gates of an exclusive resort, she teams up with Ashley's older sister Nora to find the killer, and she is thrown into a world of unimaginable wealth and privilege--and the fight for her life.

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Thomas, Aiden, author.

Yadriel, a trans boy, summons the angry spirit of his high school's bad boy, and agrees to help him learn how he died, thereby proving himself a brujo, not a bruja, to his conservative family.

Kid Books

Check out these Staff Recommendations for kid readers!

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Barry, Dave.

Soon after Peter, an orphan, sets sail from England on the ship Never Land, he befriends and assists Molly, a young Starcatcher, whose mission is to guard a trunk of magical stardust from a greedy pirate and the native inhabitants of a remote island.

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Bird, Daisy, author.

A humorous illustrated story about young mice learning about the world around them.

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Bolling, Valerie, author.

Told in rhyming text, a young boy learns to swim in a pool with the example and encouragement of his family.

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Burgess, Matthew, author.

Sylvester imaginatively creates a special letter full of loving memories and shared moments for his favorite person, his beloved grandmother, even though she is gone.

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Carr, Jan

It is the first day of second grade and already Buddy is disappointed because his class has a new teacher, not the one he wanted, and there is a new student, Bea, who is boisterous and much too pushy for the reserved Buddy--and who insists that they are friends.

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Carter, Caela, author.

Having shared so many foster homes that they are unable to trust that the family that has adopted them will last, Flora and her brother, Julian, are assisted by their new mother on a journey to resolve their past so that they can build a future.

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Cooper, Desiree, author.

"Six-year-old Jax can't wait to leave Detroit and spend a week with his grandparents in coastal Virginia, where he's sure he'll be spoiled with the kinds of special things he enjoys at home: toys, movies, and hamburgers. As he dreams of the adventures he'll have, his PopPop has other ideas. He fills their days with timeless summer fun-crabbing, shucking corn, and counting fireflies. Illustrated entirely of repurposed textiles, Nothing Special celebrates the enduring connection between the generations who stayed in the South and the millions of emigrants for whom it will always be home. Between 1910 and 1970, more than six million African Americans left the Jim Crow South, but they never forgot the culture, the land, and the family they left behind. In the decades since, it has become a summer ritual for many black families to reverse the journey and return South for a visit to their homeplaces.

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Cuevas, Adrianna, author.

A Cuban American boy must use his secret ability to communicate with animals to save the inhabitants of his town when they are threatened by a tule vieja, a witch that transforms into animals.

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Curran-Bauer, Christee, author, illustrator.

When someone slips into the precinct and steals Mama Pigeon's tarts, pigeon detectives Martin P. Sweets, Felix Danish, and Ralph Custard follow the clues to find out who stole the delicious treats.

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Dotlich, Rebecca Kai, author.

Illustrations and simple, rhyming text express siblings' enjoyment of a new baby, while still looking forward to their own one-on-one time with a loved one.

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Ehlert, Molli Jackson, author.

Everybody has a body. Whether you're short, tall, fat, thin, hairy, bald, whether you use a wheelchair or have a limb difference, we all rely on our bodies to take us through the world. From hiking a mountain to playing baseball to exploring an aquarium, debut author Molli Jackson Ehlert and illustrator Lorian Tu show us all the different ways that bodies can look and the things they can do, with representation of all different types of bodies.

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Eliot, Hannah, author.

Celebrates all the ways a young child is cared for by mothers, fathers, grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

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Gianferrari, Maria, author.

Follow the Satin Bowerbird as he searches for the perfect welcome mat for his new home.

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González, Xelena, author.

On Día de los Muertos, a family prepares an ofrenda for their favorite furry family member, remembering all the ways that their beloved pet brought love and comfort to their lives.

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Gravett, Emily, author, illustrator.

Bursting with energy and fun, young children will love to count the dogs and the sausages, as well as looking out for all the funny details on each page. The book explores numbers one going up to ten, and ten going down to zero, touching on several simple concepts like half, all, more, less along the way.

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Grimes, Nikki, author.

A grieving son follows a treasure map his late father left him through the woods they used to explore together.

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Gualinga, Patricia, author.

One activist's story shows how indigenous communities can fight to protect their sacred lands-and win.

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Henderson, Judith, author.

When a yellow envelope arrives at Hollyhock House addressed to the greatest grandmother in the world, it causes a disturbance among the grandmothers and great-grandmothers living there.

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Ho, Richard (Children's author), author.

A multicultural family celebrates the traditions of two New Years--the Jewish Rosh Hashanah in the autumn, and the Asian Lunar New Year several months later.

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Hoffmann, Jilanne, author.

A narrative nonfiction story detailing the long distance that dust from the Sahel in Africa travels across the Atlantic Ocean to replenish life in the Amazon Rainforest. Told from the perspective of dust, A River of Dust takes readers on a journey through vibrantly illustrated landscapes, celebrating the power and wonder of Earth's ecosystems, and showing how these tiny particles are in fact key to the health of our planet.

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Ishida, Sanae, author.

Meant for early learners, this board book features sumo wrestlers that introduce children to nine colors, and shares elements of Japanese culture that will enrich readers of all ages.

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Kurilla, Renée, author, illustrator.

From piles of leaves to fun Halloweens there are many reasons to celebrate the fall season.

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Lai, Remy, author, artist.

July Chen sees ghosts. But her dad insists ghosts aren't real. So she pretends they don't exist. Which is incredibly difficult now as it's Hungry Ghost month, when the Gates of the Underworld open and dangerous ghosts run amok in the living world. When July saves a boy ghost from being devoured by a Hungry Ghost, he becomes her first ever friend. Except William is not a ghost. He's a wandering soul wavering between life and death. As the new friends embark on an adventure to return William to his body, they unearth a ghastly truth--for William to live, July must die.

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Llanos, Mariana, author.

Creatures from Peruvian lore try to scare a child who's so absorbed in her bedtime reading that she comically rebuffs their attempts.

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Martin, Pedro, 1967- author, artist.

Pedro Martin's grown up in the U.S. hearing stories about his legendary abuelito, but during a family road trip to Mexico, he connects with his grandfather and learns more about his own Mexican identity in this moving and hilarious graphic memoir.

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Matsushita-Beal, Amy, author.

Aquí viene un niño, el 1. Después viene una niña, y juntos hacen 2. Una señora se les une, y ya son 3. ¡Entonces llega un perro! ¿Cuántos son ahora?

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McGhee, Alison, 1960- author.

Sister, who constantly feels overlooked, especially when the family gets a pet of Brother's choice, decides to send him letters expressing how she feels, and to her surprise, he thoughtfully responds.

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Melleby, Nicole, author.

Eleven-year-old Sam, who lives with her siblings and mothers in a house on Sunrise Lagoon, tries to come up with a plan to save the family's charter boat business before the summer is over.

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Messner, Kate, author.

A terrifying tome guaranteed to scare the stuffin' outta ya (not really). After a warning and a suggestion that readers find friendlier reading material about rainbows and such, the tale opens on a dismal, decrepit house (on a dark and stormy night, of course). Down a dim hallway sits a "ragged old door." "And SOMETHING WAS THUMPING BEHIND THAT DOOR." The door creaks open. A flash of lightning throws a menacing shadow across the floor--"Are you sure you want to turn the page?

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Ortiz, Amparo, author.

Violeta Rubio only has one goal in mind for her first-ever trip to Puerto Rico: help Abuelita reopen her beloved restaurant. The only problem is that Violeta's whole family thinks they can do it without her. Now Violeta doesn't have anyone to hang out with or anything to do. But when best friend duo Diego and Lorena need help capturing the rumored chupacabra, Violeta sees her chance to change all that. What she isn't expecting is to run straight into the beast! Only ... he isn't as monstrous as everyone assumes. Sure, he's got some scales and spikes, big red eyes, and pointy fangs--but he's totally a puppy and loyal to a fault. Violeta must find a way to keep Chupie hidden and convince her newfound friends that he isn't anything to be scared of.

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Pinkney, Andrea Davis, author.

A celebration of the extraordinary life of Ezra Jack Keats, creator of The Snowy Day.

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Raúl the Third, 1976- author, illustrator.

Little Lobo and his friends are excited for the out-of-this-world book festival the Guadalupian Library hosts every year! Everyone has a special book they're looking for, but there's so much to see and do first. From cookbook demonstrations and comics workshops to mask making and language classes, this library has something for everyone. Can Little Lobo, Bernabé, Kooky Dooky, Coco Rocho, and La Chida each find the book of their dreams?

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Rivera, Lilliam, author.

Twelve-year-old Natalia's dream of becoming a synchronized swimmer is in jeopardy when her parents decide they are against a sport that emphasizes looks, but Nat is determined to change their minds.

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Rosen, Michael, 1946- author.

Fizzing with rhythm, energy, and laughter, this perfect gift-book introduction to poetry celebrates the day-to-day routines of early childhood. From the rise-and-shine exuberance of "Up, up, uppity-up!" to the sweet lull of "Hush and a hush/soft and low," colorful pages abound with observations of ordinary moments, from brushing your teeth to digging in a sandbox, that mirror a childlike day-in-the-life. Poetic bounty at its best and brightest, this playful and affectionate read-aloud treasure will have toddlers clamoring for more, for the sheer fun of it.

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Rottmann, Markus, author.

Gladiators fought for glory. Ice harvesters chopped up lakes. In the USA, human computers, called rocket women, calculated the paths of spaceships with pen and paper. All these jobs really existed. Now they are gone. This is a book of extraordinary periods in history on six continents. It spans the centuries of the professional fartists and the walking toilets, of the brave riders of the Pony Express, and the lazy ornamental hermits. Marvel at Germany's feared coffee sniffers and London's dreaded executioners.

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Salmon, Caspar, 1981- author.

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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Shah, Varsha, author.

Ajay is a Mumbai railway kid, a newspaper seller, but his great dream is to be a journalist. His dream comes true when he and a gang of friends create their own newspaper, but what is the cost of uncovering the truth?

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Smith, Heather, 1968- author.

A little girl navigates her cat's bad day in this picture book about exploring sadness and how we find comfort

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Thomas, J. E. (Children's author), author.

The kids at Benjamin Banneker College Prep are a little... competitive. Okay. They're a LOT competitive. The minute Principal Yee announces an epic competition for the golden B-B trophy, seventh-grader Frederick Douglass Zezzmer knows he has to win. But it won't be easy. The competition doesn't just include science, technology, engineering and math. It also has arts and sports. Not Doug's best subjects... With only a week to go, Doug launches a quest to turn his team of outcasts into winners... and maybe even friends.

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Traoré, Efua, author.

"Simi is sent to stay with her long-lost grandmother in a remote Nigerian village. There's no TV, internet or phone. Not a single human sound can be heard at night, just the noise of birds and animals in the dark forest. Her grandmother makes herbal medicines for the villagers, but she won't talk to Simi about their family's past. Something bad must have happened, but what? To find out, Simi goes exploring. Caught in the sinking red quicksand of a forbidden lake, her extraordinary journey begins.

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Turner, Brook Sitgraves, author.

How do you like to go? The We Are Little Feminists series celebrates all of who we are. We created our On-the-Go book to help families & educators discuss mobility & ability.

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Underwood, Deborah, author.

A child lulls an attacking zombie with undead-themed fairy tales.

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Venkat, Srividhya, author.

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

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Wynter, Anne, author.

Combining lyrical text with vibrant artwork, this encouraging board book follows the first steps of a curious baby.

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Zollars, Jaime, author, illustrator.

A girl's frightening and exciting first day of school is full of prowling dragons that aren't quite what they seem.

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