The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec

Title: The Witch's Heart

Author: Genevieve Gornichec

Genre: Fantasy, Norse Mythology

I did not expect to enjoy this book as much as I did! I have an interest in mythology and the way Gornichec weaved together stories was seamless. The book is from the viewpoint of a not so well known witch who can see the future. With knowing what is to come she struggles with submitting to the inevitable or fighting for her family. The love and loss brought forth in the story was a constant rollercoaster.

- Gina

Check out The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec @ the library!

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

Title: Every Heart a Doorway

Author: Seanan McGuire

Genre: YA Fantasy

There are many stories about children who come upon strange doorways and step through, only to find themselves in new, unfamiliar worlds that seem primed for an adventure. This is not one of those stories. Instead, this is a story about those that return from those alternate worlds, changed in so many ways by their adventures, but assumed by all of those that they left behind to be the same person that disappeared however long ago. Every Heart a Doorway takes place in a boarding school that has been specially set up to help those children as they adjust to having lost something that they valued in these worlds that they have somehow been sent home from.

- Katrina

Check out Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire @ the library!

Committed by Adam Stern

Title: Committed: Dispatches from a Psychiatrist in Training 

Author: Adam Stern 

Genre: Non-fiction

I thoroughly enjoyed this memoir of the author's residency in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He writes compassionately and honestly about his patients, his experiences feeling lost and unworthy of being at Harvard, and how he learns so much about our need for human connection. If you enjoy getting an insider's view of the medical world, and are even vaguely interested in psychiatry, this is one for you!

- Elizabeth

Check out Committed by Adam Stern @ the library!

By Your Side by Kasie West

Title: By Your Side

Author: Kasie West

Genre: YA Realistic Fiction

Have you ever imagined spending the night in an empty building that is supposed to be closed for the day? This story begins with two teenagers - classmates, who barely knew of each other - who are locked in the library during a long holiday weekend. What they learn about themselves, each other, and the circumstances that surrounded both students' disappearance for those three days, just might change the decisions they make once they return to school, surrounded once again with their friends and the consequences of their weekend.

- Katrina

Check out By Your Side by Kasie West @ the library!

Mistborn Saga - Original Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson

Title: Mistborn Saga - Original Trilogy

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Genre: Fantasy

A strong female lead in a fantasy series that was well actualized? Sign me up! The world building and magic that Sanderson created was really intriguing. It had all the elements of the hero's journey but didn't seem cliché in any way. If you like reading high fantasy and haven't read this one yet put it on hold right away! The full series is made up of 3 different sets of stories. I really enjoyed the original trilogy and can't wait to read more!

- Gina

Check out the first book in the series, Mistborn: The Final Empire @ the library!

The Happiest Girl in the World by Alena Dillon

Title: The Happiest Girl in the World

Author: Alena Dillon

Genre: Sports Fiction

An inside (fictional) look at the world of elite gymnastics. Sera has been practically cast aside, due to injuries and the cost of success, but scrounges and digs deep in order to push just a little harder. Sera watches as her best friend, who she has always dreamt of sharing an Olympic team with, speaks up against a highly recommended doctor that makes her feel uncomfortable, and who chooses to quit gymnastics and give up on that dream. A fascinating peek behind the scenes through the experience of a single family who lives through multiple Olympic cycles, always just balancing on that edge of possibly having all of their dreams come true.

- Katrina

Check out The Happiest Girl in the World by Alena Dillon @ the library!

The Beatryce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo

Title: The Beatryce Prophecy

Author: Kate DiCamillo 

Genre: Children's Fiction

Brother Edik finds a girl curled up with a devil-goat in a stable stall at Order of the Chronicles of Sorrowing. She is filthy, sick, and has no memory of how she got there or who she is, just her first name: Beatryce. The monks take her in a learn a dangerous secret about the girl: Beatryce can read and write, an ability that very few people, and only men, are permitted. The monks believe she may be the subject of a prophecy about “a girl child who will unseat a king."

This may be the best children's book of the year. Author Kate DiCamillo already has an impressive resume, but she knocks it out of the park with this timeless fairytale. The Beatryce Prophecy is a short read that might only take you an afternoon but will be worth every second. Give this book all the awards.

- Beth

Check out The Beatryce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo @ the library!