Staff Picks: July 2023 (All Ages!)

Adult Books | Teen Books | Kid Books

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

Adult Books

Check out these Staff Recommendations for adult readers!

Book Cover
Biss, Eula

Having just purchased her first home, the author embarks on a self-audit of the value system she has bought into. The essays in this volume offer an interrogation of work, leisure, and the lived experience of capitalism.

Book Cover
Chikiamco, Paolo

An intrepid detective tracks a girl lost amidst Manila's many temptations. Can he crack the case and find the girl before the city erupts into violence? The story's hero, Carlos "Caloy" Loyzaga, a "Taga-Sagot" (literally translated to Person Who Answers ), is tasked with finding the runaway daughter of a small town Mayor. Caloy knows that there's more to the story -- but in a world where magic and modernity make for uneasy bedfellows, there are some secrets you simply can't prepare for. Especially secrets that involve a cast of nonhuman characters, such as one-eyed Yomaws (hybrid human-canines), Asu-Gamis (half Aswang, half Inugami) and slinky Silat immortals--the hated weapons of the tyrant God.

Book Cover
Crompton, Abigail

If anyone can teach us how to pursue the life and work of an artist, it is the artists in Truth Bomb. This compilation of pioneering and established women artists from around the world will motivate and empower you, challenge you to find solace in the shared human experiences of birth, death, love, anger, joy, sadness. Their sassiness will fire your spirit.Truth Bomb offers the very best commentary and insight into the incredible formation of diverse women artists while uncovering the power of taking a chance, pushing the envelope and ultimately not being shy when it comes to making a mark. It is a magical visual mash-up of images, memoirs, moments, interviews and inspirational beginnings as told by twenty-two leading women artists, including Beci Orpin, Mickalene Thomas, Kaylene Whiskey and Judy Chicago. Truth Bomb is an ode to art and artists and an attempt to decipher the mystery of creativity.

Book Cover
DiGregorio, Sarah

Nurses have always been vital to human existence. A nurse was likely there when you were born and a nurse might well be there when you die. Familiar in hospitals and doctors' offices, these dedicated health professionals can also be found in schools, prisons, and people's homes; at summer camps; on cruise ships, and even at NASA. Yet despite being celebrated during the Covid-19 epidemic, nurses are often undermined and undervalued in ways that reflect misogyny and racism, and that extend to their working conditions--and affect the care available to everyone. But the potential power of nursing to create a healthier, more just world endures. The story of nursing is complicated. It is woven into war, plague, religion, the economy, and our individual lives in myriad ways. In Taking Care, journalist Sarah DiGregorio chronicles the lives of nurses past and tells the stories of those today--caregivers at the vital intersection of health care and community who are actively changing the world, often invisibly. An absorbing and empathetic work that combines storytelling with nuanced reporting, Taking Care examines how we have always tried to care for each other--the incredible ways we have succeeded and the ways in which we have failed. Fascinating, empowering and significant, it is a call for change and a love letter to the nurses of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Book Cover
Felix, Camonghne

Dyscalculia is an exquisite and raw booklength essay that follows Camonghne Felix's journey to survey and reconfigure the pieces of a broken heart in order to rebuild one that is entirely her own. Felix uses her childhood "dyscalculia"-a disorder that makes it difficult to learn math-as a metaphor for the consequences of her miscalculations in intimacy. Dyscalculia negotiates the misalignments of perception and reality, love and harm, and the politics of heartbreak, both romantic and familial.

Book Cover
Grande, Reyna

A Long Petal of the Sea meets Luis Alberto Urrea's The House of Broken Angels in this epic historical romance about a Mexican woman and an Irish-American soldier who fall in love in the thick of the Mexican-American War.

Book Cover
Hakes, Jasmin ʻIolani

Hi'i is proud to be a Naupaka, a family renowned for its contributions to hula and her hometown of Hilo, Hawaii, but there's a lot she doesn't understand. She's never met her legendary grandmother and her mother has never revealed the identity of her father. Worse, unspoken divides within her tight-knit community have started to grow, creating fractures whose origins are somehow entangled with her own family history. In hula, Hi'i sees a chance to live up to her name and solidify her place within her family legacy. But in order to win the next Miss Aloha Hula competition, she will have to turn her back on everything she had ever been taught, and maybe even lose the very thing she was fighting for.

Book Cover
Hawks, Arlem

A soldier must choose between his heart's desire or his duty to country in this gripping novel of friendship and survival. Maxence Étienne believes fiercely in the Revolution and longs for his name to be listed among the heroes bringing liberty to France. It's been almost two years of non-stop war, but the monarchy has fallen, and he's beginning to see the changes so many of his countrymen have fought for. With war still raging, Maxence is transferred from Paris to the port city of Nantes, a hotbed of counterrevolutionaries, to help stamp out rebellion against the new republic. Maxence is called upon to settle a disturbance between a priest and a young counterrevolutionary woman--Armelle Bernard. The argument with the priest escalates, ending in an order for Armelle's immediate execution. Maxence has seen his share of violence and bloodshed, but he can't kill a woman whose only crime is taunting a clergyman. While helping her escape, he is forced to kill a fellow soldier and ends up imprisoned by the same revolutionaries he had sworn his allegiance to. When Armelle risks her life to free him, the two become fugitives. Now they must find a way to rise above their prejudices and learn to trust each other as they struggle to find a path to peace, and to freedom.

Book Cover
Henneman, Jennifer R (editor)

Through an examination of the influence of French Orientalism on representations of the American West during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, this volume considers how French artistic values informed the development of western American art and the ways that Orientalist aesthetics and ideology shaped both French and American colonialism and expansion.

Book Cover
Hochschild, Adam

A character-driven look at a pivotal period in American history, 1917-1920: the tumultuous home front during WWI and its aftermath, when violence broke out across the country thanks to the first Red Scare, labor strife, and immigration battles.

Book Cover
Jackson, K. M.

Each day is rinse and repeat for fireman Lucas Strong until a fateful run-in at his local laundromat. Hoping to attract more customers to his family's knitting shop, Lucas Strong participated in an FDNY charity calendar and accidentally became a local celebrity. The only place he can find solace is Scrubs-a 24/7 laundromat where he can disappear for a couple of hours. But Lucas's soapy sanctuary is shaken by an inquisitive little girl with a late-night interest in knitting whose mother is his old school crush. Sidney Harris-Hughes knows that Harlem is like any other small town, and everyone is probably whispering about how she left such a good man-and a good life-behind to wash and fold laundry by the pound. If only they knew the truth. But Sidney will always put her daughter's happiness first, even if that means moving back to Harlem and facing her past. What Sidney never expected was to see Lucas Strong again. A long-forgotten attraction kicks into high gear as Lucas and Sidney start to spend time together at the laundromat, and they must decide if this is true love or just an infatuation, thin and as fragile as a soap bubble.

Book Cover
Jenner, Natalie

Natalie Jenner, the internationally bestselling author of The Jane Austen Society, returns with a compelling and heartwarming story of post-war London, a century-old bookstore, and three women determined to find their way in a fast-changing world in Bloomsbury Girls. Bloomsbury Books is an old-fashioned new and rare book store that has persisted and resisted change for a hundred years, run by men and guided by the general manager's unbreakable fifty-one rules. But in 1950, the world is changing, especially the world of books and publishing, and at Bloomsbury Books, the girls in the shop have plans: Vivien Lowry: Single since her aristocratic fiance was killed in action during World War II, the brilliant and stylish Vivien has a long list of grievances--most of them well justified and the biggest of which is Alec McDonough, the Head of Fiction. Grace Perkins: Married with two sons, she's been working to support the family following her husband's breakdown in the aftermath of the war. Torn between duty to her family and dreams of her own. Evie Stone: In the first class of female students from Cambridge permitted to earn a degree, Evie was denied an academic position in favor of her less accomplished male rival. Now she's working at Bloomsbury Books while she plans to remake her own future. As they interact with various literary figures of the time--Daphne Du Maurier, Ellen Doubleday, Sonia Blair (widow of George Orwell), Samuel Beckett, Peggy Guggenheim, and others--these three women with their complex web of relationships, goals and dreams are all working to plot out a future that is richer and more rewarding than anything society will allow.

Book Cover
Jones, Quincy

12 Notes is a self-development guide that will affirm that creativity is a calling that can and should be answered, no matter your age or experience. Drawing from his own life, and those of his many creative collaborators past and present, Quincy Jones presents readers with lessons that are hardworking and accessible, yet speak to the passion of self-expression. He includes sections as deep as how to transform grief into power, and as practical as how to set goals and articulate intentions through daily affirmations. Weaving his story throughout, Jones lets readers in on his own creative process, as well as the importance of letting honesty, hard work, and good relationships drive your career.

Book Cover
Kingfisher, T.

From T. Kingfisher, the award-winning author of The Twisted Ones, comes What Moves the Dead, a gripping and atmospheric retelling of Edgar Allan Poe's classic "The Fall of the House of Usher." When Alex Easton, a retired soldier, receives word that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying, they race to the ancestral home of the Ushers in the remote countryside of Ruritania. What they find there is a nightmare of fungal growths and possessed wildlife, surrounding a dark, pulsing lake. Madeline sleepwalks and speaks in strange voices at night, and her brother Roderick is consumed with a mysterious malady of the nerves. Aided by a redoubtable British mycologist and a baffled American doctor, Alex must unravel the secret of the House of Usher before it consumes them all.

Book Cover
Leach, Samantha

In the tradition of Three Women, Bustle editor and writer Samantha Leach traces the lives of a trio of girls who met in the Troubled Teen Industry and went on to share the same tragic fate. Samantha and her best friend Elissa were typical privileged, rebellious, suburban girls. But after Elissa was kicked out of their private school, she soon disappeared. At fifteen years old, her parents quietly flew her from Providence, Rhode Island to a $10,000/month therapeutic boarding school in Nebraska. Ponca Pines Academy was part of the Troubled Teen Industry, a network of programs meant to reform wealthy, wayward teens. There she met two girls uncannily named Alissa and Alyssa, who had similar backgrounds and similar vices. In The Elissas, Samantha channels her personal grief and utilizes years of immersive research combined with her biting prose to reveal the cultural forces and systemic failings that contributed to the deaths of all three girls. In 2011, less than a year after graduating from Ponca Pines Academy, Elissa died of encephalitis. Four years later, Alyssa died of a heroin overdose. Another four years after that, Alissa died while battling an opioid addiction. Samantha endeavors to tell each of their stories, expanding on what shaped these young women before, during, and after their time in the Troubled Teen Industry. Based on interviews with other survivors, friends and family of the girls, educators, experts, and comprehensive reporting, The Elissas will challenge what you know about the opioid epidemic and the Troubled Teen Industry - and in doing so, will ultimately offer a window into the secret lives of young suburban women.

Book Cover
McManus, John C.

John C. McManus, one of our most highly-acclaimed historians of World War II, takes readers from Pearl Harbor--a rude awakening for a ragtag militia woefully unprepared for war--to Makin, a sliver of coral reef where the Army was tested against the increasingly-desperate Japanese. In between were nearly two years of punishing combat as the Army transformed, at times unsteadily, from an undertrained garrison force into an unstoppable juggernaut, and America evolved from an inward-looking nation into a global superpower.

Book Cover
Miller, Madeline

Patroclus, an awkward young prince, follows Achilles into war, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they have learned, everything they hold dear. And that, before he is ready, he will be forced to surrender his friend to the hands of Fate. Set during the Trojan War.

Book Cover
Moore, Wayétu

Three extraordinary people use their unusual powers to protect the fledgling state of Liberia.

Book Cover

Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead bullshit. Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, she is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and bone witch extraordinaire, has been summoned to a deadly trial of wits and skill. If Harrowhark succeeds she will become an immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection. Without Gideon's sword, Harrow will fail, and the Ninth House will die. Of course, some things are better left dead. 

Book Cover
Nguyen, Hoa

A new collection of poetry by Hoa Nguyen.

Book Cover
Ó Tuama, Padraig

In the tumult of our contemporary moment, poetry has emerged as an inviting, consoling outlet with a unique power to move and connect us, to inspire fury, tears, joy, laughter, and surprise. This generous anthology pairs fifty illuminating poems with poet and podcast host Pádraig Ó Tuama's appealing, unhurried reflections. With keen insight and warm personal anecdotes, Ó Tuama considers each poem's artistry and explores how its meaning can reach into our own lives. Focusing mainly on poets writing today, Ó Tuama engages with a diverse array of voices that includes Ada Limón, Ilya Kaminsky, Margaret Atwood, Ocean Vuong, Layli Long Soldier, and Reginald Dwayne Betts. Natasha Trethewey meditates on miscegenation and Mississippi; Raymond Antrobus makes poetry out of the questions shot at him by an immigration officer; Martín Espada mourns his father; Marie Howe remembers and blesses her mother's body; Aimee Nezhukumatathil offers comfort to her child-self. Through these wide-ranging poems, Ó Tuama guides us on an inspiring journey to reckon with self-acceptance, history, independence, parenthood, identity, joy, and resilience. For anyone who has wanted to try their hand at a conversation with poetry but doesn't know where to start, Poetry Unbound presents a window through which to celebrate the art of being alive.

Book Cover
PEN America and Caits Meissner (editors)

Provides a roadmap for incarcerated people and their allies to have a thriving writing life behind bars--and through walls--drawing on the unique insights of over 50 justice-involved contributors and their allies to offer advice, inspiration, and resources.

Book Cover
Rohrbach, John and Will Wilson

Reclaiming the a major new examination of contemporary Indigenous photography across the US This groundbreaking project summarizes how contemporary Indigenous photographers have taken over the conversation about how their cultures and lives are depicted through their dynamic embrace of three interwoven Survivance, Nation and Indigenous Visuality. These photographers enact a key shift away from privileging settler-colonialism, foregrounding instead an Indigenous sense of community and visuality. Speaking with Light reveals and examines these Indigenous artists’ explorations of themes such as identity, the contribution of customary practice to contemporary life, belonging and the assistance that Indigenous worldviews can provide to building healthier relationships with each other and the earth.
The book comprises four sections bridged by transitions and ending with a globalization of the discussion. Texts by key Indigenous scholars are followed by a series of plates illustrating many of the exhibition works. Speaking with Light is a summary statement about the preoccupations and dynamism of Indigenous photography today.

Book Cover
Sharpe, Christina Elizabeth

Told through a series of 248 notes, this volume explores profound questions about loss and the shapes of Black life that emerge in the wake of it, touching upon such themes as language, beauty, memory, history, and literature.

Book Cover
Steinbeck, John

Thirty-five years ago, when "searching for America" was not yet the cliche it has since become, Steinbeck hit the highways with his French poodle, Charley. In a custom-built camper he named Rosinante after Don Quixote's steed, the two traveled the country -- 10,000 miles and 34 states. Their varied experiences comprise several slices of small-town, back-roads Americana. Steinbeck laments the rise of plastic-covered everything, the vacuousness of "sad souls" he encounters, and the homogenization of local and regional culture. But bright spots abound, and Steinbeck rarely forsakes his humor and his hope in the human spirit. He reluctantly swings through the segregated Deep South before he concludes his trip. Here, the ugly specter of racism pervades all, and Steinbeck's chronicle is profoundly disturbing.

Book Cover
Sutanto, Jesse Q.

Vera Wong is a lonely little old lady--ah, lady of a certain age--who lives above her forgotten tea shop in the middle of San Francisco's Chinatown. Despite living alone, Vera is not needy--oh no. She likes nothing more than sipping on a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy detective work on the Internet about what her college-aged son is up to. Then one morning, Vera trudges downstairs to find a curious thing: a dead man in the middle of her tea shop. In his outstretched hand, a flash drive. Vera doesn't know what comes over her, but after calling the cops like any good citizen would, she sort of-- swipes the flash drive from the body and tucks it safely into the pocket of her apron.

Book Cover
Taylor, Sonya Renee

"To build a world that works for everyone, we must first make the radical decision to love every facet of ourselves. . . . 'The body is not an apology' is the mantra we should all embrace." -Kimberlé Crenshaw, legal scholar and founder and Executive Director, African American Policy Forum.

Book Cover
Woods, Baynard

In this gripping and perceptive memoir, Woods takes us along on his journey to understand how race has impacted his life. Unflinching and uninhibited, Inheritance explores what it means to reckon with whiteness in America today and what it might mean to begin to repair the past.

Book Cover
Zai, Alison

A collection of vibrantly colored yet darkly humorous comics for commiserating over the absurdity of existence. We've all felt the pain that comes from realizing a beautiful moment will soon become a distant memory. We're all guilty of avoiding deadlines by researching obscure facts about dirt or binging scary conspiracy videos. Inspired by these universal experiences and existential musings, Alison Zai walks the line between laughing so hard that you burst into tears and crying so hard that you break into laughter. Weird to Exist is divided into three intrinsic human acts--to exist, to love, to createƯ--and ultimately touches on how weird it is to do all of that. Also included is Zai's popular long-form comic Bee Real, which follows one little irritable bee's enlightening mission to extinguish the sun. With sharp levity and emotional complexity, this colorful collection finds the fun in life's hard truths.

Teen Books

Check out these Staff Recommendations for teen readers!

Book Cover
Ahanonu, Monica and Tamara Pizzoli

This beautifully illustrated book is a collection of quotes from 50 inspirational Black women who have shaped the world we live in, from Toni Morrison to Angela Davis, from Solange and Beyonce Knowles to Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex.

Book Cover
Bryon, Lucie

What happened last night? Ella can't seem to remember a single thing from the party the night before at a mysterious stranger's mansion, and she sure as heck doesn't know why she's woken up in her bed surrounded by a magpie's nest of objects that aren't her own. And she can't stop thinking about her huge crush on Madeleine, who she definitely can't tell about her sudden penchant for kleptomania... But does Maddy have secrets of her own? Can they piece together that night between them and fix the mess of their chaotic personal lives in time to form a normal, teenage relationship? That would be nice.

Book Cover
Drew, Kimberly

In this powerful and hopeful account, arts writer, curator, and activist Kimberly Drew reminds us that the art world has space not just for the elite, but for everyone.

Book Cover
Howard, Amalie

Lady Ela Dalvi knows the exact moment her life was forever changed--when her best friend, Poppy, betrayed her without qualm over a boy, the son of a duke. She was sent away in disgrace, her reputation ruined. Nearly three years later, eighteen-year-old Ela is consumed with bitterness and a desire for . . . revenge. Her enemy is quickly joining the cr̈me de la cr̈me of high society while she withers away in the English countryside. With an audacious plan to get even, Ela disguises herself as a mysterious heiress and infiltrates London's elite. But when Ela reunites with the only boy she's ever loved, she begins to question whether vengeance is still her greatest desire. In this complicated game of real-life chess, Ela must choose her next move: Finally bring down the queen or capture the king's heart?

Book Cover
Muniz, Deya

Cam disguises herself as a man to inherit her father's money and estate, and though she tries to keep a low profile, she ends up falling for Crown Princess Brie.

Book Cover
Steffan Ros, Manon

Winner of the 2018 National Eisteddfod Prose Medal and the 2019 Llyfr y Flwyddyn (Wales Book of the Year) After nuclear disaster, Rowenna and her young son, Dylan, are among the rare survivors in rural northwest Wales. Left alone in their isolated hillside cottage, after others have died or abandoned the towns and villages, they must learn new skills in order to remain alive. With no electricity or modern technology they must return to the old ways of living off the land, developing new personal resources. While they become more skilled and stronger, the relationship between mother and son changes in subtle ways, as Dylan must take on adult responsibilities, especially once his baby sister Mona arrives. Despite their close understanding, mother and son have their own secrets, which emerge as in turn they jot down their thoughts and memories in a found notebook. As each reflects on their old life and the events since the disaster which has brought normal, twenty-first century life to an end, their new-found maturity and sense of purpose contrast not only with their old selves but also with new emotional challenges when Mona sickens and dies. In this touching prize-winning and best-selling new novel, Manon Steffan Ros not only explores the human capacity to find new strengths when faced with the need to survive, but also questions the structures and norms of the contemporary world.

Book Cover
Thomas, Aiden

Transgender demigod Teo is unexpectedly selected for the Sunbearer Trials, a fierce competition among demigod heroes where the winner sacrifices the loser to Sol, their blood fueling the Sun Stones that protect Reino del Sol.

Book Cover
Watson, Renée

Twins Nikki and Maya Younger always agreed on most things, but as they head into their senior year they react differently to the gentrification of their Portland, Oregon, neighborhood and the new--white--family that moves in after their best friend and her mother are evicted.

Book Cover
White, Andrew Joseph

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

Kid Books

Check out these Staff Recommendations for kid readers!

Book Cover
Allen, Savannah

Connecting with his busy dad over their love of nature, Tim goes through his dad's old nature journals, which inspire him to go on adventures of his own and record all the things he finds to share with his dad.

Book Cover
Calì, Davide

After a month of pleading, Dad finally takes Owen and Zoey to the pet store to adopt a rabbit. Once there, a two-for-one special offer just cannot be ignored; so they take home two rabbits - one male, and one female. Two rabbits make more rabbits, who then make even more rabbits, and soon there are just too many of the sweet little creatures. So begins a hilarious counting adventure as Owen and Zoey find homes for all of the rabbits. Full of little 'easter eggs' hidden in the art, Too Many Rabbits is a mirthful reminder to be careful of what you wish for and a hilarious lesson in chaos control for young readers.

Book Cover
Cheng, Charlotte

While resting on a stoop, Gogo smells something sweet and spicy on the breeze. It leads him to a place he's never been--a bustling night market where vendors sell delicious treats. As he wanders, sniffing for scraps, GoGo discovers something else as well: a little girl who has gotten separated from her parents. He knows he can help and guides her through the market--to where her worried parents wait for her--with open arms for their daughter and GoGo, their new pet.

Book Cover
Dardik, Helen

An ode to the wonderful diversity of flowers (and their young admirers), this colorful, chunky board book is a work of art meant to be displayed face-out on nursery bookshelves. Every page turn of this chunky board book reveals a new layer of Helen Dardik's bright, graphic depiction of a garden in bloom. A gentle introduction to diversity and acceptance, this rhyming story reminds readers that every kind of flower needs its own mix of sunshine, water, and soil to blossom...and that each flower's unique beauty is an extraordinary delight. You're a perfect flower, blooming exactly as you should, adding your special color to the garden of the world! Grow Your Own Way is part of the LAYERED VIEW board book series celebrating the ways in which our differences make the world a diverse place. Whether examining the unique needs of every flower in a garden or the special qualities of every puppy in a dog park, every die-cut page of a LAYERED VIEW book adds a level to the story--all building to one gorgeous, multi-dimensional scene perfect for displaying on a bookshelf or a bedroom shelf. Rich with special effects like foil and embossing, LAYERED VIEW board books are a beautiful, playful way to introduce new perspectives to the little learners in your life.

Book Cover

A boy's mirror gives him a whole new way of seeing himself.

Book Cover
Doeringer, Carol

When a pair of campers stumble upon a skunk, they repeatedly dismiss its defensive warning signs. Includes fun facts about skunks.

Book Cover
Forrester, Amy Seto

Written by former DPL children's librarian is a choose your own path style story that guides the reader through the very real job of being a teuthologist. 

Book Cover
Kelkar, Supriya

On a hike with her grandparents, a young Indian-American girl makes note of all the things in the wilderness that are brown, too. Includes instructions on how to make a scrapbook.

Book Cover
Kraegel, Kenneth

On a cold winter's eve, deep in the woods, a mother shrew frets about her sick young son. His head is cold and his feet are hot, and there is only one thing that can cure him: wild honey from the moon. Mother Shrew does not stop to wonder how she will make such an impossible journey. Instead, she grabs her trusty red umbrella, gives her darling son a kiss, and sets out into the unknown. Along the way, Mother Shrew encounters one obstacle after another, from a malevolent owl to a herd of restless "night mares" to an island humming with angry bees. But each can prove no match for a mother on a mission. From the mind of the uniquely talented Kenneth Kraegel comes an utterly original ode to the limitlessness of maternal love. In an epic adventure like no other, an unflappable mother will stop at nothing to find a cure for her ailing young son -- even if it means traveling to the moon itself.

Book Cover
Lazowski, Anna

Abigail has a dark cloud. One day it appears and then it's always with her, taking different shapes. At school, it's a ball of worries following behind her. At ballet class, it's a fog that gets in the way of her grand jeťs. At a birthday party, it's a shadow that takes away her appetite. How can Abigail find a way to step outside her dark cloud when it's always there? And then one day, she has a bright idea. Learning to live with and understand her dark cloud, along with some support from her father and a friend, helps Abigail find moments of sunshine again. In this evocative picture book, written with compassion and care, a little girl visualizes her depression as a way of learning to cope. The compelling visual narrative and lyrical text combine to give kids tools they can use to understand and express their own feelings of sadness and depression as well as empathize with others. A hopeful but realistic approach to a difficult topic.

Book Cover
Marshall, Kate Alice

Neil Gaiman's Coraline meets Stranger things in a dark and twisted story about a sleepy town with a dark secret-and the three kids brave enough to uncover it.

Book Cover
Monsef, Kiyash

When fifteen-year-old Iranian American Marjan discovers her murdered father was secretly a veterinarian to magical creatures, she realizes she must take up his mantle, despite the many dangers.

Book Cover
Morpurgo, Michael

Master storyteller Michael Morpurgo has adapted his much-loved novel, War Horse, for a picture book audience. This powerful book for younger readers tells the enduring story of a friendship between a boy and his horse and is a gateway to help children understand the history and deadly chaos of the First World War. As we move beyond centenary commemorations and continue to strive for peace across the world, War Horse remains an important book for generations to come.

Book Cover
Moses, Shelia P.

Determined to stand up for their rights, eleven-year-old Rufus, a Black boy, and his friends participate in the 1963 civil rights protests in Birmingham, Alabama.

Book Cover
Niemann, Christoph

What can you do with a word? You can . . . Read it. Spell it. Imagine it. Act it. Learn it. Draw it. Say it out loud. Use it in a sentence or a story or a poem. Share it with a friend. What can you do with this book, which is full of more than 300 words? All of the above, and more!

Book Cover
Ogle, Rex

Sixth grade isn't as great as Rex thought it would be. He's the only kid who hasn't had a growth spurt, and the bullies won't let him forget it. His closest friend is unreliable, at best. And there's a cute girl in his class who he can't stop thinking about. With so much going on, everything is a blur -- including Rex's vision! So when he discovers that he needs glasses, and his family can only afford the ugliest pair in the store, any hope Rex had of fitting in goes completely out of focus.

Book Cover
Pearlman, Robb

Mr. Stephen is a great librarian, but when it comes to crafts and story time no one does it better than substitute librarian Ms. Stacks.

Book Cover
Prasad, Maya

When a storm threatens Diwali celebrations, eight-year-old Sejal Sinha, a spunky Indian-American girl with an active imagination, tries to use science to save her family's beloved holiday.

Book Cover
Runton, Andy, author

Best friends Owly and Wormy have days filled with adventure and hearts filled with kindness. And when they discover a bluebird family living in a damaged tree, they want to help out the best way they can: by building the birds a new home! But when Owly and Wormy share their gift, the birds don't welcome the new birdhouse quite as Owly and Wormy had hoped. With a big storm moving in, can Owly and Wormy help get the birds (and their chicks!) to safety before it's too late?

Book Cover
Seo, Emily

A little girl is determined to make perfect nigiri sushi for her grandmother, but her efforts only lead to frustration, until a surprising discovery helps her understand that cooking with love is more important than cooking perfect food.

Book Cover
Soh, Sarah

Tykotech City is a marvelous and peaceful place, filled with technology beyond anyone's wildest dreams. But as power cuts begin to plague the residents, and a sinister force infiltrates the city, the lives of the cityfolk are in terrible danger...​ It falls to Juniper Mae, a tiny, brave inventor, obsessed with the legends of the Guardian Knights, to overcome her fears and save her city. Can she embody the bravery of the Guardian Knights and invent some cool gadgets to save Tykotech City in time?​

Book Cover
Sooful, Prasha

Is your brain magic? Whether your brain buzzes around the room like a bee or tells you to be loud and roar like a lion, celebrate the many things that it can be! This sensory-seeking celebration shines a light on neurodiversity and sensory processing in a fun and action-packed way for all children to enjoy.

Book Cover
Vaicenavičienė, Monika

What Is a River? approaches the inquiry at its heart from all sides and angles, creating a richly imagined story woven of many answers, rather than a single explanation.