Looking for something new or different to read? We asked our Children’s staff for their recent favorites and here are a few of their picks!
The Deceivers by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Until their mother vanished, the Greystone kids–Chess, Emma, and Finn–knew nothing about the other world. Everything is different there. It’s a mirror image, except things are wrong. Evil. Their mother tried to fix it, but she got trapped there along with Ms. Morales.
Now the four kids–brave Chess, smart Emma, kind Finn, and savvy Natalie–are determined to rescue everyone. To do so, they have to go back: into the other world, where even telling the truth can be illegal.
Staff comment: “The Deceivers keeps you in suspense from the first page to the last and is filled with secrets that the reader must try to uncover.”
The Last Kids on Earth and the Skeleton Road by Max Brallier
Now wielding the Midnight Blade, Jack Sullivan and the gang are furiously searching for the villainous Thrull and his skeleton army. The clock is ticking: the enemy has begun constructing the Tower–a portal with the power to bring Rezzoch the Ancient, Destructor of Worlds, to our dimension. Equipped with a crucial clue discovered by June on her Wild Flight, the group does the once-unthinkable: they leave Wakefield behind and embark on an . . . EPIC ROAD TRIP!
Staff comment: “The characters are relatable and hilarious! My son and I love to point out the references to each other as we read it.”
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC-Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape–until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus.
A flying demon feeding on human energies. A secret society of so called “Legendborn” students that hunt the creatures down. And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin” and who attempts–and fails–to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw.
The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates.
Staff comment: “Phenomenal, you don’t often get YA Fantasy of this caliber.”
As Far as You’ll Take Me by Phil Stamper
Marty arrives in London with nothing but his oboe and some savings from his summer job, but he’s excited to start his new life–where he’s no longer the closeted, shy kid who slips under the radar and is free to explore his sexuality without his parents’ disapproval.
From the outside, Marty’s life looks like a perfect fantasy: in the span of a few weeks, he’s made new friends, he’s getting closer with his first ever boyfriend, and he’s even traveling around Europe. But Marty knows he can’t keep up the facade. He hasn’t spoken to his parents since he arrived, he’s tearing through his meager savings, his homesickness and anxiety are getting worse and worse, and he hasn’t even come close to landing the job of his dreams. Will Marty be able to find a place that feels like home?
Staff comment: “This is such a great book about finding your place in the world and true friends. I really recommend it if you were a band geek like me!”
Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas
If there’s one thing seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter knows, it’s that a real man takes care of his family. As the son of a former gang legend, Mav does that the only way he knows how: dealing for the King Lords. With this money he can help his mom, who works two jobs while his dad’s in prison.
Life’s not perfect, but with a fly girlfriend and a cousin who always has his back, Mav’s got everything under control.
Until, that is, Maverick finds out he’s a father.
Suddenly he has a baby, Seven, who depends on him for everything. But it’s not so easy to sling dope, finish school, and raise a child. So when he’s offered the chance to go straight, he takes it. In a world where he’s expected to amount to nothing, maybe Mav can prove he’s different.
Staff comment: “A great read for anyone, but especially fans of The Outsiders!”
