Staff Picks: November 2025 (All Ages!)

Movies | Adult Books | Teen Books | Kids Books

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

Movies

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A 2021 American sports film which was directed by Ty Roberts from a screenplay by Roberts, Lane Garrison and Kevin Meyer. It is based upon the non-fiction book Twelve Mighty Orphans: The Inspiring True Story of the Mighty Mites Who Ruled Texas Football by Jim Dent. The book is based on the Masonic School for Orphans in Fort Worth, Texas.

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The film centers around a group of Black friends who reunite for a Juneteenth weekend getaway only to find themselves trapped in a remote cabin with a twisted killer. Forced to play by his rules, the friends soon realize this ain't no motherf****** game. Directed by Tim Story (Ride Along, Think Like a Man, Barbershop), this film skewers genre tropes and poses the sardonic question: if the entire cast of a horror movie is Black, who dies first?

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The future is nothing like you've imagined. Neither are its heroes.

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Family man Marlon Villar is the long-time driver of Manuel Chango, a corrupt Filipino politician. While he and his daughter accompany his boss' preteen daughter home, Marlon is ambushed and the wrong girl is kidnapped. The driver's life takes a sudden, terrifying turn which propels him into a horrifying downward spiral and, as events in his life unravel, Marlon, Changho, and their families become entangled in a game of deceit and betrayal that will leave no one innocent.

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A family fights for survival as a planet-killing comet races to Earth. John Garrity, his estranged wife Allison, and young son Nathan make a perilous journey to their only hope for sanctuary.

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Teenager Owen is just trying to make it through life in the suburbs when his classmate introduces him to a mysterious late-night TV show, a vision of a supernatural world beneath their own. In the pale glow of the television, Owen's view of reality begins to crack.

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Céline Sciamma's follow-up to Portrait of a Lady on Fire transcends time and space to weave a delicately emotional fable about grief, family, and connection across generations. In the wake of her grandmother's death, eight-year-old Nelly accompanies her distraught mother to her childhood home. There, Nelly's encounter with another young girl brings mother and daughter together in a way neither could have ever imagined. Evoking childhood's perpetual state of wonder through luminous, richly textured images, Petite Maman takes viewers on a journey inward for a quietly miraculous tale of emotional time travel. Includes My Life as a Zucchini (2016), an Oscar-nominated stop-motion animated film directed by Claude Barras and cowritten by Sciamma.

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Steve Martin and John Candy star in John Hughes' classic tale of holiday travel gone awry.

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Long the woman-behind-the-man, Bernadette Chirac arrives at France's presidential Elysee Palace in 1995 frustrated, and all but cast off by her newly elected husband, Jacques. Having worked in his shadow during his ascent to the presidency, Madame Chirac now expects to finally get the place in the political elite she believes she deserves.

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Originally recorded and filmed during Waters' concert at the O2 Arena in the Czech Republic on May 25, 2023, this deluxe set captures Waters' widely praised live show, featuring iconic tracks like "Us & them," "Comfortably numb," "Wish you were here," and "Is This The Life We Really Want?." Additionally, Waters performs his highly acclaimed new song, "The Bar". Filmed live in Prague, this high-definition DVD captures the immersive visuals and sonic brilliance of the This Is Not A Drill tour.

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Two friends, one an unhappy housewife the other a wise-cracking waitress, decide to take a vacation from their lives, but things soon get out of control after an incident at a roadside café.

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One man discovers that aliens are masquerading as humans while they lull the public into submission through subliminal advertising messages. Only specially made sunglasses make the deadly truth visible.

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When Flynn, the world's greatest video game creator, sends out a secret signal from an amazing digital realm, his son discovers the clue and embarks on a personal journey to save his long-lost father. With the help of the fearless female warrior Quorra, father and son venture through an incredible cyber universe and wage the ultimate battle of good versus evil.

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Through intimate cinema vérité, Union chronicles the extraordinary efforts of an unlikely group of warehouse workers as they launch a grassroots union campaign at an Amazon fulfillment center in Staten Island, New York. Filmmakers Brett Story (The Prison in Twelve Lanscapes, The Hottest August) and Stephen Maing (Crime + Punishment) document the struggle from day one, offering a gripping human drama about the fight for power and dignity in today's globalized economic landscape.

Adult Books

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Balle, Solvej

Solvej Balle’s seven-volume novel wrings enthralling and magical new dimensions from time and its hapless, mortal subjects.  As one Danish reviewer beautifully put it, Balle’s fiction consists of writing that listens. “Reading her is like being caressed by language itself.”

 

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Charles, KJ

A genre-bending Gothic mystery with a strong LGBTQIA+ romance from beloved, award-winning author KJ Charles.

 

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Delisle, Guy

How do you capture a changing world in the blink of an eye?
 

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Emezi, Akwaeke

A tender, potent, and compulsively readable novel of a Nigerian-Indian family and the deeply held secret that tests their traditions and bonds.

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Ephron, Nora

Is it possible to write a sidesplitting novel about the breakup of the perfect marriage? If the writer is Nora Ephron, the answer is a resounding yes. In this inspired confection of adultery, revenge, group therapy, and pot roast, the creator of Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally... reminds us that comedy depends on anguish as surely as a proper gravy depends on flour and butter.
 

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Gaffney, Ginger

This riveting memoir follows professional horse trainer Ginger Gaffney’s year-long odyssey to train a herd of neglected horses at an alternative prison ranch in New Mexico. Working with her is a small team of ranch “residents,” men and women who are each uniquely broken by addiction and incarceration. Gaffney forms a bond with them as profound as the kinship and trust the residents discover among the troubled horses. Through these unforgettable characters—both animal and human—Half Broke tells a new kind of recovery story and speaks to the life-affirming joy of finding a sense of belonging.

 

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Guillory, Jasmine

A captivating and sizzling new queer romance by New York Times bestselling author Jasmine Guillory.
 

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H, Lamya

This searingly intimate memoir in essays, spanning Lamya’s childhood to her arrival in the United States for college through early-adult life in New York City, tells a universal story of courage, trust, and love, celebrating what it means to be a seeker and an architect of one’s own life.
 

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Harris, Kamala

For the first time, and with surprising and revealing insights, former Vice President Kamala Harris tells the story of one of the wildest and most consequential presidential campaigns in American history.
 

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Haushofer, Marlen

Never before in English, a gripping, razor-sharp novella of a fractured marriage, by the ferociously talented author of THE WALL
 

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Holmberg, Charlie N.

Wall Street Journal bestselling author Charlie N. Holmberg returns to the enchanting world of The Paper Magician.

 


 

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Jaramillo, Luis

If you call to the witches, they will come.
 

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Jeffers, Honorée Fanonne

The New York Times bestselling, National Book Critics Circle Award–winning author of The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois and The Age of Phillis makes with this personal, thought-provoking work of nonfiction that explores the journeys and possibilities of Black women throughout American history and today.

 

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Kidd, Jess

The first in a new mystery series “that will delight traditional and cozy readers alike” (firstCLUE) about a former nun who searches for answers in a small seaside town after her pen pal mysteriously disappears, from bestselling author Jess Kidd.
 

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Kimmerer, Robin Wall

A bold and inspiring vision for how to orient our lives around gratitude, reciprocity, and community, based on the lessons of the natural world.

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Kirk, Jason

Rarely has an Evangelical upbringing been depicted with the relentless honesty, wide-ranging empathy, and Superbad-meets-Siddhartha playfulness ... During the time of Pizza Hut buffets, 9/11, and all-night Mario Kart parties, a grieving teenager faces a mortal crossroads: fire-and-brimstone certainty vs. forbidden love. And whether or not you've ever begged God to delay the Rapture (so you could have time to lose your virginity), that kid's story is about you.

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Ko, Lisa

One morning, Deming Guo's mother, an undocumented Chinese immigrant named Polly, goes to her job at the nail salon and never comes home. With his mother gone, eleven-year-old Deming is left with no one to care for him. He is eventually adopted by two white college professors who move him from the Bronx to a small town upstate. Set in New York and China, the Leavers is the story of how one boy comes into his own when everything he's loved has been taken away--and how a mother learns to live with the mistakes of her past.

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Kukla, Quill R

Philosopher Quill R Kukla questions traditional notions of consent in this honest, humanistic reimagining of what it means to have pleasurable, ethical, and respectful sex.

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Le Guin, Ursula K

When the Athsheans, the inhabitants of a peaceful world, are conquered by the bloodthirsty Yumens, they retaliate against their captors, abandoning their rules against violence and endangering the very foundations of their society.

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Leckie, Ann

Journey across the stars of the Imperial Radch universe. Listen to the words of the Old Gods that ruled The Raven Tower. Learn the secrets of the mysterious Lake of Souls. And so much more, in this masterfully wide-ranging and immersive short fiction collection from award-winning author Ann Leckie.

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Liu, Ken

Ken Liu returns with his first scifi thriller in a brand-new series following a former "orphan hacker" as she is thrust into a high-stakes adventure where she must use her AI-whispering skills to unravel a virtual reality mystery.

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Lutes, Jason

Berlin is one of the high-water marks of the comics medium. For twenty years, Jason Lutes toiled on this intimate, sweeping epic before the collected Berlin was published in 2018 to widespread acclaim, including rave reviews in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Nation, Vulture, The Washington Post, and many other outlets.
 

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Lutz, Tom

A Spanish woman trying to retire as an assassin, a French Foreign Legion deserter from Madagascar, a mysterious (perhaps CIA) woman from America, a billionaire military contractor, and a man wandering the seas alone on a sailing ship bump into each other in the Indian Ocean, and not all of them survive.

 

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McAllister, Gillian

From the author of Reese’s Book Club Pick and New York Times bestseller Wrong Place Wrong Time comes an addictive thriller about a new mother’s world upended when her husband commits a terrifying crime. How well does she truly know the man she loves? And what danger does she face if her entire life has been built on a lie?

 

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Murphy, Julie

Cowritten by #1 New York Times bestselling author Julie Murphy and USA Today bestselling author Sierra Simone--a steamy plus-size holiday rom-com about an adult film star who is semi-accidentally cast as a lead in a family-friendly Christmas movie, and the former bad-boy pop star she falls in love with.

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Perrin, Kristen

A dual narrative, feel good mystery in which a woman, Frances, spends a lifetime trying to prevent her murder as predicted by a fortune teller at a country fair when she was just 17. When she is in fact murdered nearly 60 years later, her great niece Annie must solve the crime to avenge her great aunt's death, and in so doing uncovers the dark heart of the quaint English village of Castle Knoll, where she might just find herself in the path of the killer.

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Rebanks, James

A work of nonfiction in which James Rebanks reflects on a life-changing summer spent on a remote island off the coast of Norway, where his only [companions were two women] who practiced the ancient tradition of collecting eiderdown from birds that nest on this remarkable landscape each year.

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Sevigny, Melissa L.

The riveting tale of two pioneering botanists and their historic boat trip down the Colorado River and through the Grand Canyon.
 

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Soltani, Simone

A marriage of convenience threatens to go off track in this steamy Formula 1 romance from the USA Today bestselling author of Cross the Line.
 

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Szamałek, Jakub

American and Russian astronauts are trapped together in the International Space Station as war breaks out in Ukraine and life support functions begin to fail in this action-packed debut technothriller that ripples with the tension and danger of Solaris and Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary.

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Toews, Miriam

Based on real events and told through the "minutes" of the women's all-female symposium, Toews's masterful novel uses wry, politically engaged humor to relate this tale of women claiming their own power to decide.
 

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Utomi, Moses Ose

Moses Ose Utomi's debut novella, The Lies of the Ajungo, follows one boy’s epic quest to bring water back to his city and save his mother’s life. Prepare to enter the Forever Desert.
 

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Waldman, Adelle

From the best-selling author of The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. comes a funny, eye-opening tale of work in contemporary America.
 

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Wells, Martha

A compelling fantasy adventure from the author of Murderbot.
One part Tomb Raider, one part Dune, all parts classic Martha Wells.

Before Martha Well captured the hearts of MILLIONS with her Murderbot series, there was Khat, Sagai, and Elen, and a city risen out of death and decay…

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Winik, Jay

From an award-winning historian and New York Times bestselling author, a gripping, fly-on-the-wall account of the weeks leading up to Abraham Lincoln's decision to go to war against the Confederacy.
 

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Young, Skottie

An artist named Ro retreats from the grind of the city to an old house in a small town, hoping to find solace and inspiration--only to realize that the muse she finds within may not be what she expected.

Teen Books

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For too long, "holiday story" has been synonymous with "Christmas story." But from Lunar New Year to Solstice, Día de los Muertos to Juneteenth, and all the incredible days in between, it's clear that Americans don't just have one holiday.

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Cooper, Emily

In a village where women feed their fear to a protective saint, eighteen-year-old Isle, a girl with no fear, braves a haunted forest to save her sister, only to discover a deeper darkness within herself.

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Emezi, Akwaeke

Teenage Sọmadịna searches for her missing twin brother Jayaike in the Sacred Forest while learning to navigate her frightening new magical ability.

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Henry, April

After discovering a camera memory card with hundreds of photos of teenage girls, seventeen-year-olds Willow and Dare set out fine some of them who have gone missing.

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La Sala, Ryan

From Ryan La Sala, author of the tantalizingly twisted The Honeys and riotously imaginative Reverie, comes a chilling new contemporary fable about art, aesthetic obsession, and the gaze that peers back at us from behind our reflections.

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Maldonado, Crystal

Seventeen-year-old Kat Sanchez uses photos of a friend to create a fake Instagram account, but when one of her posts goes viral and exposes Kat's duplicity, her entire world--both real and pretend--comes crashing down around her.

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Mann, Lonnie

A coming-of-age graphic novel memoir about a young man who, growing up in an Orthodox Jewish community, realizes he's gay and struggles to reconcile his faith with who he is.

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Muñoz, Lauren

At the Dr. James Everett School of Criminology, a murder mystery game goes wrong when the student playing the victim is actually murdered, and soon junior Dulce Castillo sets out to find the culprit.

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Reyes, Sonora

A poignant and searingly honest companion novel to the multi-award-winning The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes, The Golden Boy's Guide to Bipolar follows beloved character Cesar Flores as he comes to terms with his sexuality, his new bipolar diagnosis, and more mistakes than he can count.

 

Kids Books

Berlin, Ethan T.

A "How to Draw" lesson spins hilariously out of control when Cat just won't stay happy! This relatable madcap read-aloud is immense fun, and perfect for fans of Dragons Love Tacos.
 

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Cannon, Janell

Pinduli, a young striped hyena, is hurt by the unkind words of Dog, Lion, and Zebra, but her clever trick in return promotes her clan's survival and spreads harmony throughout the savannah. Includes backmatter notes about hyenas and other animals of the African savannah.

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Corrigan, Sophie

Pugtato babysits the Brussel snouts and thinks watching them will be a breeze, but the small snouts drag him all about reminding him, "we are not babies!"

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Downing, Erin Soderberg

Wild meets Gilmore Girls on the Trail, Just Keep Walking is a story of resilience and the healing and restorative power of wilderness and nature from acclaimed middle-grade and chapter-book author Erin Soderberg Downing.
 

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Fang, X.

When three mysterious visitors from 'Europe' crash-land in Mr. Li's field, he does what any good host would: he invites them back to his farmhouse and offers to help fix up their 'car.' No, there's nothing strange about these guests at all. Just like other humans, they 'make business,' 'play sportsball,' and 'wear hat.' As the townsfolk also come to the aid of the visitors and the gathering turns into a little party, interplanetary relations reach an all-time high.

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Gopo, Patrice

A young girl waits with growing anticipation for plantains to ripen so her mother can prepare them for Sunday dinner.

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Hice, Makenzie

Angel just arrived at a new school and is having trouble making friends. He finds a mysterious note inside a book at the library and sets off to find out who wrote it. Pretty soon, he finds himself surrounded by new friends who are all keen on deciphering the mystery as well!

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Kimmerer, Robin Wall

When young Bud sees people bustling around, intent on their chores and their screens, she is certain they must be doing important things--and she wants to be included. But wise Nokomis, her grandmother, shows her that there is a different way to find belonging, one that relies on stillness and observing the natural world. As Bud discovers the freely given gifts of the Earth, she wonders if she has something important to give back. What is her gift?

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Kraegel, Kenneth

This morning a little girl wakes up with a chicken on her head. (Ouch.) Then she finds worms in her cereal (after she's had a few bites--yuck!). Then she realizes, too late, that her boots are full of mud. Ack! Then her best friend ignores her, a big hole appears where it wasn't yesterday, and it starts to rain--cold rain, of course. Could this day get any worse? When a mysterious gift shows up out of nowhere, wrapped in a bow, the girl dares to wonder if it could finally be something good.

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Ludwig, Sidura

A child and a mother measure, mix, knead, shape, and tuck their dough under a towel like a sleeping baby. Then, as they do every week, they wait while their dough rises, soon to be baked and gratefully shared at a Shabbat gathering with loved ones. Author Sidura Ludwig's poetic narration captures the experience of a Jewish family as they make challah--a lesson in patience, slowing down, faith, and family.

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McGowan, Anthony

Chernobyl, 1986. Without humans, how will dogs survive? As humans fled the nuclear disaster, they were forced to leave their pets behind. Without people, nature began to return to the woods surrounding the power plant--lynx, bear, and wolves. But the overgrown forest is no place for dogs. Can Zoya, and her pups Misha and Luka, learn to survive in the deadlands? And will Zoya ever find her way home to her beloved owner?

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Moscardó, Júlia

When Theo and his mother join Lula's family, the new siblings navigate the challenges and joys of forming new relationships while building sandcastles.

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O'Neill, Kay

Kit is excited to prove her worth as a Moth-Keeper, a protector of the lunar moths that allow the Night-Lily flower to bloom once a year, but she quickly finds that life as a Moth-Keeper is not what she imagined it would be.

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Otis, Chad

A girl learns that people are a mix of different emotions after studying dogs in a park.

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Payne, Rachel

A trio of energetic and imaginative siblings safely engage in rough-and-tumble play.

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Pilutti, Deb

Henry tackles his first-day-of-school nerves by donning his beloved sparkly fish costume, but as the day progresses and he becomes more comfortable, Henry takes off different parts of his costume.

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Rex, Michael

A penguin in a hardhat digs in a tunnel, popping up in different places, visiting a gardener, a farmer, a banker and others until he and everybody along the way reach a surprise ending.

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Rozakis, Caitlin

The New York Times-bestselling sharp-witted, debut high fantasy farce featuring killer moat squid, toxic masculinity, evil wizards and a garlic festival - all at once. Perfect for fans of T. Kingfisher, K. J. Parker and Travis Baldree.
 

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Singh, Rina

In this nonfiction picture book, the tiny village of Janwaar in Madhya Pradesh, India, gets a new skatepark, which inspires Ramkesh and all the local kids to learn how to skateboard, putting them on the map and uniting their community.

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Smith, Sherri L.

Thirteen-year-old Candace discovers a portal in her locker that connects her across time and space with two other women who also had the same locker as girls, and the three go on to investigate the origins of the portal.

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VanSickle, Vikki

An ode to Christina Rossetti's classic poem and [an] homage to familiar fairy tale villains, this story of two sisters will enthrall readers with its ... detailed art and enchanting writing.

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Williams, Alby C.

When eleven-year-old Glory leaves her family inn in the Seam, a monster-filled land, for a secret journey across time and space with a mysterious boy, she discovers something is dangerously amiss in the Outersphere.

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Xiao, Forest

One Thursday morning, a box of babies arrived at this door. What do you do when a box of seven irresistibly plump babies appears on your doorstep? Do you invite them in? Of course you do! But seven babies turn out to be a lot of work: feeding, changing, wrangling, entertaining, bathing, so much laundry . . . Good thing babies love watching the washing machine spin around and around.

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Yum, Hyewon

Honoring the tradition of serving miyeokguk on birthdays and inspired by the lives of Korea’s haenyeo, this lovely picture book celebrates the bond between mothers and daughters.
 

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