Geekerella by Ashley Poston

Part romance, part love letter to nerd culture, and all totally adorbs, Geekerella is a fairy tale for anyone who believes in the magic of fandom. Geek girl Elle Wittimer lives and breathes Starfield, the classic sci-fi series she grew up watching with her late father. So when she sees a cosplay contest for a new Starfield movie, she has to enter. The prize? An invitation to the ExcelsiCon Cosplay Ball, and a meet-and-greet with the actor slated to play Federation Prince Carmindor in the reboot. With savings from her gig at the Magic Pumpkin food truck (and her dad’s old costume), Elle’s determined to win…unless her stepsisters get there first.
 
Teen actor Darien Freeman used to live for cons—before he was famous. Now they’re nothing but autographs and awkward meet-and-greets. Playing Carmindor is all he’s ever wanted, but the Starfield fandom has written him off as just another dumb heartthrob. As ExcelsiCon draws near, Darien feels more and more like a fake—until he meets a girl who shows him otherwise.

Why you should read this book:

• It's a modern-day Cinderella story, wicked stepmother and all.
• Embrace your inner geek.
• If you don't know what Cosplay is, Google it (I had too!)
• I am a sucker for books where a famous person/prince/billionaire falls for a normal person.

Find Geekerella in our library at: ROMANCE F POS

Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch

(Amazon.com)

A New York Times bestseller

A summer in Italy turns into a road trip across Tuscany in this sweeping debut novel filled with romance, mystery, and adventure.

Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. But what kind of father isn’t around for sixteen years? All Lina wants to do is get back home.

But then Lina is given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in Italy. Suddenly Lina’s uncovering a magical world of secret romances, art, and hidden bakeries. A world that inspires Lina, along with the ever-so-charming Ren, to follow in her mother’s footsteps and unearth a secret that has been kept for far too long. It’s a secret that will change everything Lina knew about her mother, her father—and even herself.

People come to Italy for love and gelato, someone tells her, but sometimes they discover much more.

Why you should read this book:

• The characters go to an International School; you will make connections between this story and your international life.
• It has been on the YALSA Teen Top Ten List.
• Italy and Ice Cream....need I say more?
• I am a sucker for a good romance book and this is a good YA romance.

Find Love & Gelato in our library at: ROMANCE F WEL

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

A Newbery Honor Book
A Coretta Scott King Honor Book
A Printz Honor Book
A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner for Young Adult Literature
Longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature
Winner of the Walter Dean Myers Award
An Edgar Award Winner for Best Young Adult Fiction
Parents’ Choice Gold Award Winner
An Entertainment Weekly Best YA Book of 2017
A Vulture Best YA Book of 2017
A Buzzfeed Best YA Book of 2017

An ode to Put the Damn Guns Down, this is National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestseller Jason Reynolds’s fiercely stunning novel that takes place in sixty potent seconds—the time it takes a kid to decide whether or not he’s going to murder the guy who killed his brother.

A cannon. A strap.
A piece. A biscuit.
A burner. A heater.
A chopper. A gat.
A hammer
A tool
for RULE

Or, you can call it a gun. That’s what fifteen-year-old Will has shoved in the back waistband of his jeans. See, his brother Shawn was just murdered. And Will knows the rules. No crying. No snitching. Revenge. That’s where Will’s now heading, with that gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, the gun that was his brother’s gun. He gets on the elevator, seventh floor, stoked. He knows who he’s after. Or does he? As the elevator stops on the sixth floor, on comes Buck. Buck, Will finds out, is who gave Shawn the gun before Will took the gun. Buck tells Will to check that the gun is even loaded. And that’s when Will sees that one bullet is missing. And the only one who could have fired Shawn’s gun was Shawn. Huh. Will didn’t know that Shawn had ever actually USED his gun. Bigger huh. BUCK IS DEAD. But Buck’s in the elevator? Just as Will’s trying to think this through, the door to the next floor opens. A teenage girl gets on, waves away the smoke from Dead Buck’s cigarette. Will doesn’t know her, but she knew him. Knew. When they were eight. And stray bullets had cut through the playground, and Will had tried to cover her, but she was hit anyway, and so what she wants to know, on that fifth floor elevator stop, is, what if Will, Will with the gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, MISSES.

And so it goes, the whole long way down, as the elevator stops on each floor, and at each stop someone connected to his brother gets on to give Will a piece to a bigger story than the one he thinks he knows. A story that might never know an END…if WILL gets off that elevator.

Told in short, fierce staccato narrative verse, Long Way Down is a fast and furious, dazzlingly brilliant look at teenage gun violence, as could only be told by Jason Reynolds.

Why you should read this book:

• This book is out of my "comfort zone."  I normally am not drawn to books in verse. Push yourself out of your comfort zone
• It's on the YALSA Teen Top Ten List for this year.
• I wonder what this life would be like?
• A quote that stuck with me:

but if the blood

inside you is  on the inside

of someone else,

you never want to 

see it on the outside of 

them.

Find Long Way Down in our library at: REALISTIC F REY

Mitali Perkins Visit

Grades 4-8 attended a wonderful presentation with Mitali Perkins this morning.  We are thankful to the PTA for sponsoring a visit to the school.  Her presentation entitled Stories on the Fire Escape  was about growing up and writing "between cultures" and the power of stories to keep us balanced.  It was very relevant for our diverse student population.  Thank you Ms. Perkins for taking the time to visit us!
If you missed seeing Mitali Perkins today or want to learn more, see her again tomorrow at the Dhaka Lit Fest!

Being in Grade 7 was hard!

The first books...11 years apart!

Rickshaw Girl is becoming a movie and was published in Bangla today!

Thank you PTA for sponsoring the visit!

Love, Life, and the List by Kasie West

Seventeen-year-old Abby Turner’s summer isn’t going the way she’d planned. She has a not-so-secret but definitely unrequited crush on her best friend, Cooper. She hasn’t been able to manage her mother’s growing issues with anxiety. And now she’s been rejected from an art show because her work “has no heart.” So when she gets another opportunity to show her paintings, Abby isn’t going to take any chances.

Which is where the list comes in.

Abby gives herself one month to do ten things, ranging from face a fear (#3) to learn a stranger’s story (#5) to fall in love (#8). She knows that if she can complete the list, she’ll become the kind of artist she’s always dreamed of being.

But as the deadline approaches, Abby realizes that getting through the list isn’t as straightforward as it seems . . . and that maybe—just maybe—she can’t change her art if she isn’t first willing to change herself.

Why you should read this book:

• The list Abby makes would be fun to try- what can you do to get "more depth" out of life?
• A love story about falling in love with your best friend- I love a good romance novel!
• Thinking about what makes good art.  Can you make good art without intense feelings?
• I have liked all the books I've read by Kasie West; our library has most of them.

Find Love, Life, and the List in our library at: ROMANCE F WES

YALSA Teens' Top Ten List

Find the titles in our library!

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green                                    Call Number: REALISTIC F GRE
One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus                                   Call Number: MYSTERY F MCM
Warcross by Marie Lu. G. P.                                                          Call Number: SCI-FI F GRE
Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo                           ON ORDER
Caraval by Stephanie Garber                                                         Call Number: FANTASY F GAR
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds                                             Call Number: REALISTIC F REY
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez  Call Number: REALISTIC F SAN

Paper Hearts by Ali Novak                                                             ON ORDER
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor                                             Call Number: FANTASY F TAY
Once and For All by Sarah Dessen                                               Call Number: ROMANCE F DES

Saints and Misfits by S.K. Ali

There are three kinds of people in my world: 

1. Saints, those special people moving the world forward. Sometimes you glaze over them. Or, at least, I do. They're in your face so much, you can't see them, like how you can't see your nose.

2. Misfits, people who don't belong. Like me--the way I don't fit into Dad's brand-new family or in the leftover one composed of Mom and my older brother, Mama's-Boy-Muhammad.
Also, there's Jeremy and me. Misfits. Because although, alliteratively speaking, Janna and Jeremy sound good together, we don't go together. Same planet, different worlds.
But sometimes worlds collide and beautiful things happen, right? 

3. Monsters. Well, monsters wearing saint masks, like in Flannery O'Connor's stories. 

Like the monster at my mosque. People think he's holy, untouchable, but nobody has seen under the mask. 

Except me.

Why you should read this book:

• It may put you outside your comfort range.
• Saints and Misfits reinforces that though we are all different, we are also alike in many ways
• I wonder if all Muslim communities are like the one in the book.  Do Muslim communities in the US function differently from the Muslim countries I've lived in? I wonder what the differences and similarities are.
• It's full of "real-world" issues like bullying, friendship, growing up, racism and religion.

Find Saints and Misfits in our library at: REALISTIC F ALI

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

Ernt Allbright, a former POW, comes home from the Vietnam war a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision: he will move his family north, to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in America’s last true frontier. 

Thirteen-year-old Leni, a girl coming of age in a tumultuous time, caught in the riptide of her parents’ passionate, stormy relationship, dares to hope that a new land will lead to a better future for her family. She is desperate for a place to belong. Her mother, Cora, will do anything and go anywhere for the man she loves, even if means following him into the unknown. 

At first, Alaska seems to be the answer to their prayers. In a wild, remote corner of the state, they find a fiercely independent community of strong men and even stronger women. The long, sunlit days and the generosity of the locals make up for the Allbrights’ lack of preparation and dwindling resources. 

But as winter approaches and darkness descends on Alaska, Ernt’s fragile mental state deteriorates and the family begins to fracture. Soon the perils outside pale in comparison to threats from within. In their small cabin, covered in snow, blanketed in eighteen hours of night, Leni and her mother learn the terrible truth: they are on their own. In the wild, there is no one to save them but themselves. 

In this unforgettable portrait of human frailty and resilience, Kristin Hannah reveals the indomitable character of the modern American pioneer and the spirit of a vanishing Alaska―a place of incomparable beauty and danger. The Great Alone is a daring, beautiful, stay-up-all-night story about love and loss, the fight for survival, and the wildness that lives in both man and nature.   

Age Range: Adult

Why you should read this book:

• This book made me want to move to Alaska, though I doubt that I am cut-out to survive in the wilderness.  Maybe I'll just go visit...
• The Great Alone is a lot of sad, but it is also a bit of happy too.  I was not depressed after reading the final pages.
• The character "Large Marge" is one of my favorite characters in the book.
• My book club read this book last month. It is written for adults.

Find The Great Alone in our library at: REALISTIC F HAN

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr. 

But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.

Why you should read this book:

• Starr is a strong female lead character.
• It was an interesting look into race and racism in the United States.
• It made me wonder what it would be like to be of a different race in the United States.  Is this book is an accurate account?  I wonder not because I disbelieve it, but because I have never experienced it.
• I thought about protests and why they work, or don't work.  What makes an effective protest?

Find The Hate U Give in our library at: REALISTIC F THO

When Dimple me Rishi by Sandy Menon

Dimple Shah has it all figured out. With graduation behind her, she’s more than ready for a break from her family, from Mamma’s inexplicable obsession with her finding the “Ideal Indian Husband.” Ugh. Dimple knows they must respect her principles on some level, though. If they truly believed she needed a husband right now, they wouldn’t have paid for her to attend a summer program for aspiring web developers…right?

Rishi Patel is a hopeless romantic. So when his parents tell him that his future wife will be attending the same summer program as him—wherein he’ll have to woo her—he’s totally on board. Because as silly as it sounds to most people in his life, Rishi wants to be arranged, believes in the power of tradition, stability, and being a part of something much bigger than himself.

The Shahs and Patels didn’t mean to start turning the wheels on this “suggested arrangement” so early in their children’s lives, but when they noticed them both gravitate toward the same summer program, they figured, Why not?

Dimple and Rishi may think they have each other figured out. But when opposites clash, love works hard to prove itself in the most unexpected ways.

Why you should read this book:

• Dimple is a strong female character with an even stronger personality.
• There are lots of parts in the story that made me laugh out loud.
• The two main characters make each other better people.
• It's a love story...I love a good romance!

Find When Dimple met Rishi in our library at: ROMANCE F MEN

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

(Amazon.com)

OMG!  I never use that acronym, but that's how much I loved One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus.  I finished it in two days, staying up late and getting up early to see what happened next.  

Here's part of the blurb from Amazon.com: 

On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.

Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule. 

Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess. 

Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.

Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.

And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app.

Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention Simon's dead. 

One reason I liked this book is that usually, I can guess the ending very soon after the book started.  I didn't guess this ending until over halfway through the book and even then, I wasn't entirely correct.  A great mystery told from four different viewpoints.  Who's lying?

Find One of Us Is Lying in the library at: MYSTERY F MCM

Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett

Image from: Amazon.com

Alex, Approximately is a modern teen take on the movie "You've Got Mail."  (If you haven't seen it, you should!) Every chapter starts with a quote from a classic movie, which is fun.
Bailey moves across the country to the same California town as her online crush and fellow movie buff, Alex.  In order to scope him out first, Bailey doesn't tell him she's moving to his town and proceeds to spend the summer searching for him using clues from his messages.
Then, Bailey meets irritating surfer-boy Porter at her summer job and slowly begins to fall for him.
Now she has to decide between Porter, who is hiding a secret of his own, and Alex.  But...things aren't always as they seem because Porter is Alex!  (This is not a spoiler because it says so on the book jacket!)
I finished this book in 2 days.  It's an easy, fun summer read.   Find it on my recommendation shelf or in the library at: ROMANCE F BEN

Flying Lessons and other stories edited by Ellen Oh

Image from Amazon.com

This is a great collection of short stories  by very popular authors. All are diverse stories with a wide variety of characters facing many different personal struggles.  Most students will find a story in here that "speaks to them."
Short stories are often overlooked, but Flying Lessons and other stories is great choice because:
1. You can finish a story in one night.

AND

2. You may be inspired to read some of the longer novels by these authors.  We have works by them all in the library!

Try out Flying Lessons and other stories.  Find it on my recommendation shelf or at: SHORT F FLY

Stranger Than Fanfiction by Chris Colfer

 Stranger Than Fanfiction by Chris Colfer was my first spring break read and one of our new books to arrive in the mid-year library order. 

I am admitting my age, and lack of TV series knowledge, by saying I did not know Chris Colfer was an actor in Glee until I conducted a quick Google search about him.

I picked up this book because I  have a weakness for books about famous people and thought: "TV star on a road trip...sounds fun!"  Plus, it had just arrived in the mid-year order and I love new books.

Stranger Than Fanfiction was a fun book and the best part about it were following the storylines/lives of all five characters.  The stories of each character are a bit over-the-top but that is what makes it fun and also thought-provoking because I think all readers can find something relevant to their life in the life stories of the characters.

Try this book out for a fun read!

Find Stranger Than Fanfiction in our library at: REALISTIC F COL

Dumplin' by Julie Murphy

(Amazon.com)

I've been walking by Dumplin' on the library shelf for awhile wondering if I should read it.  Then, I pre-ordered the upcoming sequel, Puddin', and wondered some more.  Finally, someone returned it to me in the library and I took the book home with me.
I am glad I did!  This book made me laugh and it made me cry.  I stayed up extra-late just to finish it.

A teaser from the Amazon.com blurb:

"Dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom, Willowdean has always been at home in her own skin...With her all-American-beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked . . .  until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.  Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Teen Blue Bonnet Pageant"

Find Dumplin' in our library at: REALISTIC F MUR

The Flip Side by Shawn Johnson

(Amazon.com)

I've always been a fan of gymnastics and ordered this book last year when it was reviewed in School Library Journal.  The Flip Side was written by  olympic gold-medalist, Shawn Johnson.

Gymnastics is a topic that's been in the news a lot lately so I picked it up off our Realistic Fiction shelf when I was looking for something new to read.  

I enjoyed the first half of the book, but ended up not finishing it; the book felt predictable and it made me lose interest.  So, I admit it....I just skipped to the last chapter to make sure it ended like I thought it would.

But, as we all know, just because it wasn't my favorite book doesn't mean it won't be yours!  Try this book out if you like professional sports, want a look "behind the scenes" of the gymnastics world and/or like a bit of romance in your books.

Find this book in our library at: REALISTIC F JOH

Turtles All The Way Down by John Green

Believe it or not, due to only being able to order once per yer, our library did not have Turtles All The Way Down yet.  So, I picked it up when I went back home because so many students are requesting it.  My sister-in-law, also a librarian, said it wasn't her favorite work of his so I didn't start it with high hopes.  BUT...this is now my favorite John Green book!  I finished it in a day.  Those of you who know me know that I am an extremely slow reader so the fact that it only took me a day to read is amazing.

I won't give too much away but this book is about love, friendship, mental illness and resilience.  There is a billionaire, good friends, and a bit of mystery.  The ending, though not what I expected/hoped, is typical John Green.

Find Turtles All The Way Down in our library at: REALISTIC F GRE

Or, put a hold on it...it's already checked out! 😁

The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle

(Amazon.com)

The Great American Whatever was the first book I read over the holiday break.  I wasn't sure I'd like it after reading the "blurb" but I ended up loving it.

Quinn had always wanted to be a Hollywood writer.  That was before the death of his sister and then his father leaving.  Now, Quinn doesn't leave his house. Luckily, his best friend drags him out to a party where he meets a very cute guy, his first love interest. Through his friendships and his new relationship, Quinn starts to accept his grief and start living life again.

This is a funny, uplifting story that I think will appeal to many of our avid readers!

Tim Federle also wrote the Better Nate Than Ever series if you remember that from elementary school.  This is his first YA novel.

Find The Great American Whatever in our library at: REALISTIC F FED

Asking For It by Louise O'Neill

(Image from: Amazon.com)

Asking For It won the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature and I'd been looking forward to reading it for awhile.

Emma is a beautiful eighteen year old in Ireland.  After a party, Emma's parents discover her on the steps of their house bleeding and disoriented.  Emma can't remember what happened the night before and then pictures of the evening start emerging on social media and a criminal investigation is launched.  This story digs into the effects of rape and public shaming.

Asking For It made me think about these issues from multiple viewpoints.  I found the main character in the story unlikeable, which made me question a lot of things that happened in the story.  It was an interesting read.

A word of warning for those considering reading Asking For It: this is a disturbing book with mature situations/subject matter.

Find Asking For It in our library at: REALISTIC F ONE

Wonder...THE MOVIE!

I am very excited for the movie version of the book Wonder by R.J. Palacio to come out next November!  Watch the trailer below and if you haven't yet read Wonder or the companion novels, find them in our library.

REALISTIC F PAL

REALISTIC F PAL

808.88 PAL

*Images from Amazon.com

Movie Trailer: