Title: This Is Not the Jess Show
Author: Anna Carey
Genre: YA, Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
Jess is just a normal teen growing up in the 90s, her life is full of drama as any other. However, when she notices that her family dog has a different pattern and doesn't recognize her, everyone acts like she is making it up. She begins to then unravel a mystery nearly 18 years in the making.
- Gina
Check out This Is Not the Jess Show by Anna Carey @ the library!
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Title: Because of Mr. Terupt
Author: Rob Buyea
Genre: Midde Grade Fiction, School Stories
Hopefully everyone has at least one memorable teacher from their time spent in school. This fifth-grade class has just met theirs! Mr. Terupt immediately brings challenges and projects for his students to explore, but also helps students learn the powerful lessons about being a good friend, a trustworthy person, and a kind classmate. Told from the points of view of 7 different students, as each take over the story for a chapter, this story explores how the students grow, learn, and expand their own worldviews over the course of a year. But what happens when their time with Mr. Terupt is cut short, abruptly and unexpectedly? Does he still have things to teach them even when he is no longer the person at the front of their classroom?
- Katrina
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Title: Shubeik Lubeik
Author: Deena Mohamed
Genre: Graphic novel, Fantasy, Magical Realism
Shubeik Lubeik means "Your Wish is My Command" in Arabic. This heavy graphic novel depicts how the world might look if wishes really did come true. In this story the characters navigate a world where they can buy wishes on the street but the saying be careful what you wish for has never been more true. Read this book if you're interested in magical realism stories!
- Gina
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Title: This Bird Has Flown
Author: Susanna Hoffs
Genre: Romantic Comedy; Romance; Fiction
This romantic comedy filled with fun music references follows Jane, a one-hit wonder who is struggling to match her early success. A recent breakup leaves her bereft, and her agent/best friend offers to let her stay in her London apartment for a change of scenery. On the plane ride, Jane hits it off with a charming Oxford literature professor. When she visits him in Oxford, they spend a lot of time together, and she does little songwriting. But their budding romance hits a snag when past relationships catch up with them. Written by a co-founder of The Bangles, this breezy novel is perfect for the warmer weather ahead.
- Sarah
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Title: Scythe
Author: Neal Shusterman
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
In a world where people have overcome death through mastery of resurrecting people no matter how they may have died, the world changes in many ways. Age becomes a number. They develop a way to "reset" people so that they can look the age that they want to, even hundreds of years in. Family structure is different, as parents can have generations of their own children. But this also leads to a population explosion, so society realizes that death is still necessary, even if they know how to over come it. Scythes are chosen who are given the task of killing people according to the statistics of how often people died in past societies. Can you imagine being chosen, as a teen, to be the one to kill people for the rest of your life? Even worse, in this story, two teens are chosen to be trained for a singular position, forcing them to compete for a job neither of them are convinced they want! But when death is what your are training in, and death awaits the loser, it is pretty good motivation to excel no matter the cost.
- Katrina
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Title: What Moves the Dead
Author: T. Kingfisher
Genre: Gothic, light sci-fi, horror
An interesting and engaging update to Edgar Allen Poe's Fall of the House of Usher. While the overall plot doesn't stray too far from the original the fresh, or more accurately mouldy, additions to the story only add to the atmosphere. The protagonist Alex Easton is highly likeable thanks to a good sense of humor and common sense to spare. Kingfisher (pen name for accomplished writer Ursula Vernon) paints a vivid and uncomfortable picture of the Usher house and it's inhabitants. Something is affecting everything from the walls, to the pond, to the local hare population (oh boy, those hares). The physically unwell Madeline and her equally as mentally unwell brother Roderick are clearly doomed from the start. While the culprit is really no secret, there is one final revolting twist that will leave you squirming in your seat. Following along with the mini language lesson in the beginning only serves to make the reveal even worse.It's an easy read in the sense that it's under 200 pages, but the overall grimy vibes may have you pausing to wash your hands or do a little deep cleaning...
- Kate
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Title: Where She Went
Author: Gayle Forman
Genre: Young Adult; Contemporary Fiction
This book is a sequel to If I Stay. I try to refrain from recommending a book that is a sequel, but there is something incredibly special about this book that both brings me back to read it again, and to tell others about it. Where She Went is about meeting someone who once was the very center of your existence after they have faded out of your life for an extended period of time. Adam and Mia were high school sweethearts, and depended on each other to get through every hardship that life threw their way - and these hardships were considerable!
Inexplicably, as both teens move on into life after high school, Mia slowly cuts off all communication with Adam. Adam is left to pursue his dreams of musical stardom without Mia by his side, and he is still able to find fame and share his art, but his own dreams seem to stutter and falter.
One night, by pure coincidence, Adam discovers himself outside of a concert hall where Mia is currently performing. He can't resist strolling in - but what happens when you go looking for the answers that someone else is so reluctant to provide? This story is an incredible exploration of love, and grief, and family, and just what it means to include someone else when building your own life's purpose.
- Katrina
Check out Where She Went by Gayle Forman @ the library!