A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones

Title: A Bad Day for Sunshine

Author: Darynda Jones

Genre: Mystery

Sunshine Vicram and her daughter Aurora (Auri) Vicram have just moved back to Del Sol, New Mexico, where Sunshine has been elected Sheriff (thanks to her parents entering her in the running – without her knowledge!) When a classmate of Auri’s goes missing, both Sunshine and (unofficially) Auri are on the case. Sybil St. Aubin is a shy, sweet girl who had a premonition that she would be abducted before her 15^th birthday, and after reading her diary, Sunshine is convinced that Sybil’s disappearance is not a hoax. While Sunshine and her team rush to locate Sybil and reveal the identity of her kidnapper, Auri helps to investigate by questioning classmates and unearthing clues at the high school. When a secret about Sunshine’s past comes to light, Sunshine and Auri must deal with the fallout on top of everything else going on; old flames, new crushes, school bullies, secret liaisons, and the quirky residents of Del Sol.

- Desirae

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The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

Title: The Personal Librarian

Author: Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

Genre: Historical Fiction

The Personal Librarian is a fictionalized telling of the life of J.P. Morgan's real-life librarian, Belle da Costa Greene. Greene curates Morgan's collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork, and in the process becomes one of the New York art world's most well-respected and powerful selectors and negotiators. She does this all while keeping a secret, a secret that if it ever got out would end not only her career, but that of her family's as well. Belle da Costa Greene was born Belle Marion Greener, and she, her mother, and siblings are a fair skinned Black family passing as white.

Librarians are usually eager to read any story about our profession but knowing that Belle da Costa Greene was a real librarian who rose to the top of the profession made this one particularly interesting. The book includes both Historical Notes and Authors' Notes that further explain fact from fiction in this extraordinary story.

- Beth

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The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

Title: The Vanishing Half

Author: Brit Bennett

Genre: Historical Fiction

Told from multiple perspectives, this novel follows two sisters who choose different paths. One returns to their small Louisiana town to raise her daughter and eventually take care of the mother she left as a teen. The other sister marries a white man and passes as white, keeping her family history a secret. Years later their daughters meet by chance in California, and one of them discovers the truth about their connection. Beautifully told and bittersweet, this story examines how our choices, more than our circumstances at birth, can inform who we are.

- Sarah

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Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

Title: Klara and the Sun

Author: Kazuo Ishiguro

Genre: Science Fiction

Klara is an AF (Artificial Friend) waiting in a store front to be purchased, so she can be a child's companion. She depends on the sun for nourishment (recharging) and sees it as a godlike figure. When Klara is purchased by a sick child named Josie, she has the opportunity to observe and learn what it is to be human. Klara’s job is to be a good AF to Josie, but she must also navigate the people in Josie’s life and the parts they play.

Klara and the Sun takes place in the future but how far in the future is up for debate. Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro leaves many questions unanswered but gives a bittersweet story that seems all too plausible.

- Beth

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