Staff Picks

Stamped

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Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning Cover Image

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning (Hardcover)

By Jason Reynolds, Ibram X. Kendi
$18.99
ISBN: 9780316453691
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers - March 10th, 2020

Jason Reynold's "Stamped Jr" is a great resource for kids and adults who want to talk to kids about the systemic racism rooted in our country's history. Reynolds weaves together historical moments (some that students may have studied in other contexts, others totally new) in a way that connects them to a larger picture and to today. His playful asides make it feel far from textbook reading; perfect for at-home study. Highly recommend the audiobook from Libro.fm - you'll really feel like you're hanging out with Jason Reynolds in your living room!

Leila

If I Had Your Face

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If I Had Your Face: A Novel Cover Image

If I Had Your Face: A Novel (Hardcover)

By Frances Cha
$27.00
ISBN: 9780593129463
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Ballantine Books - April 21st, 2020

Frances Cha's debut is completely transporting. Featuring four women who live in the same building in Seoul, it's a glimpse into four very different lives intertwining as each faces the challenges and expectations of social and economic hierarchy in modern Korean culture. Fascinating and vivid.

Leila

 

 

everyone's a aliebn...

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Everyone's a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too: A Book Cover Image

Everyone's a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too: A Book (Hardcover)

By Jomny Sun
$15.99
ISBN: 9780062569028
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Harper Perennial - June 27th, 2017

I turn to this book whenever I need to be comforted or inspired, to laugh or cry, to feel understood and be reminded that we are not alone. Every time I pick it up, I find something new in it, and it's always what I need most to hear at the time. In fact, I've already staff picked it! But I'd like for you all to have the chance to have a copy with you right now. Plus.... if you want..... it can double as a quarantine coloring book.

Kate

 

 

Field Guide to the North American Teenager

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The Field Guide to the North American Teenager Cover Image

The Field Guide to the North American Teenager (Paperback)

By Ben Philippe
$10.99
ISBN: 9780062824127
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Balzer + Bray - January 7th, 2020

Much like me, the last thing Norris wanted was to move across the country, leaving his friends (and his hockey team) behind to go to high school in Texas. It's hot, it's sticky, and it might as well be another planet. Guess he better find a way to make the best of it...or escape. This book charmed me, in spite of my resistance to go back to the land where football and church are the same thing. 

Caleb

My Friend Earth

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My Friend Earth: (Earth Day Books with Environmentalism Message for Kids, Saving Planet Earth, Our Planet Book) Cover Image

My Friend Earth: (Earth Day Books with Environmentalism Message for Kids, Saving Planet Earth, Our Planet Book) (Hardcover)

By Patricia MacLachlan, Francesca Sanna (Illustrator)
$17.99
ISBN: 9780811879101
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Chronicle Books - February 25th, 2020

With its tender, lyrical text, gorgeous illustrations, and fun die-cut windows on each page, this book is the perfect reminder that the earth keeps turning and spring will come again. Send it as an Earth Day present to someone you love, or pick it up for yourself and let it transport you to prairies, mountains, forests, and oceans.

Kate

Brown Girl Ghosted

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Brown Girl Ghosted Cover Image

Brown Girl Ghosted (Hardcover)

By Mintie Das
$17.99
ISBN: 9780358128892
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Versify - March 24th, 2020

Violet Choudbury sees dead people, and in particular the recently murdered queen bee of her cheerleading squad. For one of a handful of brown girls in a small Illinois town, who wants only to blend in, this is not working well. I thoroughly enjoyed this original, fun, and fast-paced story.

Robin

Postcolonial Love Poem

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Postcolonial Love Poem: Poems Cover Image

Postcolonial Love Poem: Poems (Paperback)

By Natalie Diaz
$16.00
ISBN: 9781644450147
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Graywolf Press - March 3rd, 2020

 

You'll want to eat these poems in heaping spoonfuls so they fill your mouth and also nibble at them in delicate bits so they last as long as possible. A gasping collection. A sighing collection. A singing collection. Diaz should clear space on her mantle for the awards she is sure to win.

Josh

Author in Chief

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Author in Chief: The Untold Story of Our Presidents and the Books They Wrote Cover Image

Author in Chief: The Untold Story of Our Presidents and the Books They Wrote (Hardcover)

By Craig Fehrman
$30.00
ISBN: 9781476786391
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster - February 11th, 2020

 

Author in Chief is for every American history aficionado. Imagine spending 10 years to collect the facts and details behind many presidential publications which Craig Fehrman has done. He recounts untold stories and fits them into a fascinating retelling of presidential lives and publications. 

 

Megan

Oona Out of Order

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Oona Out of Order: A Novel Cover Image

Oona Out of Order: A Novel (Hardcover)

By Margarita Montimore
$26.99
ISBN: 9781250236609
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Flatiron Books - February 25th, 2020

 

On her 19th birthday, Oona begins experiencing her life out of chronological order, leaping to a random year each New Year’s Eve. Though Oona’s situation is extreme, anyone can relate to her struggle to live in the moment and accept whatever comes next. I looked forward to seeing what each new leap would bring.

Katie 

The Splendid and the Vile

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The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz Cover Image

The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz (Hardcover)

By Erik Larson
$32.00
ISBN: 9780385348713
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Crown - February 25th, 2020

 

Award-winning author Eric Larson, author of the bestselling The Devil in the White City and Dead Wake among others, tells the fascinating story of the first year of the Battle of Britain and how Winston Churchill rose to the occasion, stood firm and convinced the world the British would stay calm and carry on.

Nathan

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