Easy picture
books (E)
If Rocks
Could Sing
by Leslie McGuirk
McGuirk
spent over a decade searching for rocks in the shapes of the letters of the
alphabet. Adorable and amazing.
My Dad is Big
and Strong, But…A Bedtime Story by Coralie Saudo
Every
night a little boy has to send his reluctant father to bed, but he begs for
stories and fights going to sleep. Funny
for both parents and kids.
Don’t
Forget, God Bless Our Troops by Jill Biden
Those
in the military make a huge sacrifice, leaving their families behind as they
defend the United States. Five-year-old
Natalie misses her dad who is off to war.
She sends him her artwork, packages of treats, and prays for him.
Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett,
illustrations by Jon Klassen
In
a cold, colorless town, Annabelle finds a box filled with yarn of every color.
She knits sweaters or hats for everyone and everything and still doesn’t run out of yarn. When the archduke tries to
buy Annabelle's box of yarn, he learns that taking away her happiness--and her
yarn--isn't so easy. Cute, plus it has a
cameo by the characters of I Want My Hat
Back by Jon Klassen.
Young adult (YA)
City
of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare (#5 in the Mortal Instruments series)
When
Jace vanishes with Sebastian, Clary and the Shadowhunters struggle to piece
together their shattered world and Clary infiltrates the group planning the
world's destruction. So intense I couldn’t
put this book down. This series is
phenomenal.
Insurgent by Veronica Roth
(#2 in Divergent series)
For
those of you who have read The Hunger
Games and are craving another addictive series, I highly recommend this one
from Roth. When teens turn 16, they must
choose one of four factions to join for the rest of their lives. Roth keeps the action moving in this second
installment, as the factions move toward war.
Monument 14 by Emmy
Laybourne
With
the recent tsunamis, the nuclear meltdown in Japan and earthquakes, this book
capitalizes on the question of how to survive in the face of catastrophic
disasters. Giant hail drives fourteen
kids and teens into a superstore, where they take refuge while the world
outside gets torn apart by a series of escalating disasters. Great characterizes, surprisingly
plausible. A very good read.
Dreamland by Sarah Dessen
Ever
since Caitlin started dating Rogerson Briscoe, she seems to have fallen into a
semiconscious dreamland where nothing is quite real. Rogerson is different than
anyone Caitlin has ever known. He's magnetic. He's dangerous. Being with him
makes Caitlin forget about her life--her missing sister, her withdrawn mother,
her boring life. But when Rogerson becomes abusive, Caitlin's dreamlike haze
keeps her numb as their relationship spirals out of control.
Sarah
Dessen excels at writing books with characters that seem to live and breathe
off the page. She captures the secrecy and shame of abusive relationships. Rogerson
chips away at Caitlin’s self esteem--her entire sense of self--and it will take
drastic action to keep her from drowning. Sad, powerful, and very real.
Hero by Perry Moore
Thom,
the teenage son of a fallen superhero who seems to be linked to his mother's
disappearance, joins the League and finds himself dealing with confusing sexual
feelings for the hero Uberman while learning to
use his powers and moving toward the truth about his mother's disappearance. An interesting twist on the superhero genre,
with a sympathetic lead character.
The
Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Budding
cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town
school where the only other Native American is the school mascot. This book made me laugh, cry and cheer for
Junior.
The List by Siobhan Vivian
Eight
high school girls struggle with the way they see themselves and the way others
see them after a list ranking the prettiest and
ugliest girls is posted. Heart-breaking
and compelling.
