Children & YA Staff Picks
This is pretty cool.
- Engel
This is the type of book that you give to a child and then 20 years later they spend a good chunk of time searching for it because all they remember about it is the beautiful illustrations and the fact that it was a staple in their reading every holiday season. (Am I saying this from personal experience? Maybe). Which is to say: Give any child in your life a gift for now AND for later!
With beautiful illustrations and interactive pop-ups, this book is about as magical as it gets. I remember getting a book like this for Christmas as a kid, and I wouldn’t open another gift for hours! This book is the perfect gift for any kid, or adult, who loves to keep magic alive all year!
- Emma
An phenomenal tale of visual storytelling. For those with active mind's eyes, every page explodes with possibility. As much a piece of artwork as a book.
- Stacey
Evie is at it again, adventuring out to rescue the ghosts of Blight Harbor- this time from the nefarious Nighthouse Keeper. With the help of Lark and a plump ghost spider, can she rescue her ghostly friends or will she, too, fall prey to the dark?
- Jen
If you are looking for the perfect dark academia read to cozy up with, look no further! Curious Tides has everything I have ever wanted in a book: split POVs, romance, unique magic, amazing characters, immaculate vibes, and a mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat. I fell in love with this book on the first page, and by the last, it had become one of my favorite books released this year!
- Emma
The Hunger Games meets The Bachelor in this dystopian YA romance. America Singer is forced to compete to become the next Princess of Illea, leaving her home & secret love behind. You'll fall head over heels in love with the first book in The Selection trilogy!
- Halle
You know a retelling is really outstanding when you forget while reading it that it's not, in fact, the original. A Bit of Earth preserves all the good from The Secret Garden while modernizing the tale. I especially loved Maria Latif, a hurt and angry and lost little girl who learns to open herself up again.
A sapphic detective agency is put to the test when a year's old small town murder raises suspicion once more. Written with the most sparkling wit, clever plot twists, and page-turning urgency, How To Find A Missing Girl takes readers on the investigation of a lifetime without sacrificing the laughs along the way.
- Cindy
15, Indigenous, and queer, Anequs must navigate the micro- and macroagressions against her and her misfit friends (Black, Indigenous, and autistic) at a 19th century boarding school for dragoneers. A little bit steampunk and very much anticolonialist, this book of alternate history features alchemy, poly romance, and lots of speaking truth to power.
- Rachael
Don't we all need solid reasons to defend our not-so-highly-regarded-but-it-just-happens-anyway habits?
Yes. And Shinsuke Yoshitake has all the best answers in these brilliant pages. Open me to see!!- Kai
Follow a tailoring squirrel as he fits out all his woodland friends when he should be getting ready for winter! Puns abound. The author also includes a note at the end, which offers subjects for discussion.
- James
How could someone steal the most famous painting in the world? Well as it turns out, it was easy; ridiculously, disapointingly, easy.
- John
It takes a lot of courage to do the things that scare us, but small victories are still victories.
- Jane
Joao uses the threads of his blanket and his fanciful imagination to conquer his fears of bedtime in this unique, shape-shifting dream of a picture book
- Wendy