Staff Picks
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Libertad
A queer YA coming-of-age set during the rigged Honduran presidential election
As the contentious 2017 presidential election looms and protests rage across every corner of the city, life in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, churns louder and faster. For her part, high school senior Libertad (Libi) Morazán takes heart in writing political poetry for her anonymous Instagram account and a budding romance with someone new. But things come to a head when Mami sees texts on her phone mentioning a kiss with a girl and Libi discovers her beloved older brother, Maynor, playing a major role in the protests. As Libertad faces the political and social corruption around her, stifling homophobia at home and school, and ramped up threats to her poetry online, she begins dreaming of a future in which she doesn’t have to hide who she is or worry about someone she loves losing their life just for speaking up. Then the ultimate tragedy strikes, and leaving her family and friends—plus the only home she’s ever known—might be her only option. -
Banned Book Club
A Junior Library Guild Selection
"Highly recommended for readers passionate about activism." -- SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, Starred Review
"Sure to inspire today's youthful generation of tenacious changemakers." -- BOOKLIST, Starred Review
"The messages of hope are universal." -- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, Starred Review
"A timely read about friendship amid chaos." -- NPR
"It's hard to imagine a world where Banned Book Club could be more relevant than it is right now." -- A.V. CLUB
When Kim Hyun Sook started college in 1983 she was ready for her world to open up. After acing her exams and sort-of convincing her traditional mother that it was a good idea for a woman to go to college, she looked forward to soaking up the ideas of Western Literature far from the drudgery she was promised at her family's restaurant. But literature class would prove to be just the start of a massive turning point, still focused on reading but with life-or-death stakes she never could have imagined.
This was during South Korea's Fifth Republic, a military regime that entrenched its power through censorship, torture, and the murder of protestors. In this charged political climate, with Molotov cocktails flying and fellow students disappearing for hours and returning with bruises, Hyun Sook sought refuge in the comfort of books. When the handsome young editor of the school newspaper invited her to his reading group, she expected to pop into the cafeteria to talk about Moby Dick, Hamlet, and The Scarlet Letter. Instead she found herself hiding in a basement as the youngest member of an underground banned book club. And as Hyun Sook soon discovered, in a totalitarian regime, the delights of discovering great works of illicit literature are quickly overshadowed by fear and violence as the walls close in.
In BANNED BOOK CLUB, Hyun Sook shares a dramatic true story of political division, fear-mongering, anti-intellectualism, the death of democratic institutions, and the relentless rebellion of reading.
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Youth to Power
Climate change activist and Zero Hour founder Jamie Margolin offers the essential guide to changemaking for young people.
The 1963 Children's March in Birmingham, Alabama. Tiananmen Square, 1989. The 2016 Dakota Access Pipeline protests. March for Our Lives, and School Strike for Climate. What do all these social justice movements have in common?
They were led by passionate, informed, engaged young people.
Jamie Margolin has been organizing and protesting since she was fourteen years old. Now the co-leader of a global climate action movement, she knows better than most how powerful a young person can be. You don't have to be able to vote or hold positions of power to change the world.
In Youth to Power, Jamie presents the essential guide to changemaking, with advice on writing and pitching op-eds, organizing successful events and peaceful protests, time management as a student activist, utilizing social media and traditional media to spread a message, and sustaining long-term action. She features interviews with prominent young activists including Tokata Iron Eyes of the #NoDAPL movement and Nupol Kiazolu of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, who give guidance on handling backlash, keeping your mental health a priority, and how to avoid getting taken advantage of.
Jamie walks readers through every step of what effective, healthy, intersectional activism looks like. Young people have a lot to say. Youth to Power gives you the tools to raise your voice.
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Bruised
“A searing portrait of self-discovery; soulful and captivating.” —Kirkus Reviews
Whip It meets We Are Okay in this vibrant coming-of-age story about a teen girl navigating first love, identity, and grief as she immerses herself in the colorful, brutal, beautiful world of roller derby—from the acclaimed author of Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens.
To Daya Wijesinghe, a bruise is a mixture of comfort and control. Since her parents died in an accident she survived, bruises have become a way to keep her pain on the surface of her skin so she doesn’t need to deal with the ache deep in her heart.
So when chance and circumstances bring her to a roller derby bout, Daya is hooked. Yes, the rules are confusing and the sport seems to require the kind of teamwork and human interaction Daya generally avoids. But the opportunities to bruise are countless, and Daya realizes that if she’s going to keep her emotional pain at bay, she’ll need all the opportunities she can get.
The deeper Daya immerses herself into the world of roller derby, though, the more she realizes it’s not the simple physical pain-fest she was hoping for. Her rough-and-tumble teammates and their fans push her limits in ways she never imagined, bringing Daya to big truths about love, loss, strength, and healing. -
Don't Read the Comments
Divya Sharma is a queen. Or she is when she's playing Reclaim the Sun, the year's hottest online game. Divya--better known as popular streaming gamer D1V--regularly leads her #AngstArmada on quests through the game's vast and gorgeous virtual universe. But for Divya, this is more than just a game. Out in the real world, she's trading her rising-star status for sponsorships to help her struggling single mom pay the rent.
Gaming is basically Aaron Jericho's entire life. Much to his mother's frustration, Aaron has zero interest in becoming a doctor like her, and spends his free time writing games for a local developer. At least he can escape into Reclaim the Sun--and with a trillion worlds to explore, disappearing should be easy. But to his surprise, he somehow ends up on the same remote planet as celebrity gamer D1V.
At home, Divya and Aaron grapple with their problems alone, but in the game, they have each other to face infinite new worlds...and the growing legion of trolls populating them. Soon the virtual harassment seeps into reality when a group called the Vox Populi begin launching real-world doxxing campaigns, threatening Aaron's dreams and Divya's actual life. The online trolls think they can drive her out of the game, but everything and everyone Divya cares about is on the line...
And she isn't going down without a fight.
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Big Jim and the White Boy
A thrilling graphic novel reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn that follows Jim, an enslaved man on a journey towards freedom, and his sidekick, Huck, in the antebellum South—from the team behind the Eisner Award–winning The Black Panther Party.
WINNER OF THE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION’S ALEX AWARD • A BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, School Library Journal, Library Journal
“A brilliant remix of history, politics, satire, and passion filtered through the comics medium by two masters of storytelling.”—John Jennings, Hugo Award–winning comics creator
Commonly regarded as one of the great American novels, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has captured the hearts and imaginations of readers since 1885. But since its publication, critics have rightfully condemned Mark Twain’s troubling portrayal of Black Americans as stereotypes and caricatures, with contemporary fans searching for a modern update to this iconic tale.
Big Jim and the White Boy is a radical retelling of this American classic, centering the experiences of Jim, an enslaved Black man in search of his kidnapped wife and children, along with his cheeky sidekick, Huckleberry Finn. Jim and Huck’s high-stakes adventures take them on an epic voyage across the antebellum South and Midwest, through Confederate war camps and runaway safe houses, into Old West standoffs, and on the road as covert Underground Railroad agents. Intertwined into the story of Jim and Huck are the stories of Jim’s descendants in the 1930s, 1980s, and 2020s, making this a multigenerational family epic as well as an adventure story. Big Jim and the White Boy takes readers on a journey through Jim and Huck’s past, present, and future, delving into their incredible friendship and years of adventures—a bond that transcends the gruesome racism of the Civil War era.
With compelling artwork and riveting storytelling, David F. Walker and Marcus Kwame Anderson push the boundaries of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in this incredible graphic novel, exploring the triumphs and tribulations of Jim and his family, and finally giving his due as a hero of American literature. -
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A “stunning” (America Ferrera) YA novel about a teenager coming to terms with losing her sister and finding herself amid the pressures, expectations, and stereotypes of growing up in a Mexican American home.
“Alive and crackling—a gritty tale wrapped in a page-turner. ”—The New York Times
Perfect Mexican daughters do not go away to college. And they do not move out of their parents’ house after high school graduation. Perfect Mexican daughters never abandon their family.
But Julia is not your perfect Mexican daughter. That was Olga’s role.
Then a tragic accident on the busiest street in Chicago leaves Olga dead and Julia left behind to reassemble the shattered pieces of her family. And no one seems to acknowledge that Julia is broken, too. Instead, her mother seems to channel her grief into pointing out every possible way Julia has failed.
But it’s not long before Julia discovers that Olga might not have been as perfect as everyone thought. With the help of her best friend Lorena, and her first love, first everything boyfriend Connor, Julia is determined to find out. Was Olga really what she seemed? Or was there more to her sister’s story? And either way, how can Julia even attempt to live up to a seemingly impossible ideal? -
The Incredible Story of Cooking
For the first time, a graphic novel tells the story of humanity through the evolution of cuisine. From the discovery of fire to organic cooking, this book is aimed at all curious people and foodies. By the authors of Wine, A Graphic History. As soon as humans mastered fire, they invented cooking. Did you know that Sapiens invented steam cooking and freezing? That the Mesopotamians created soups, bread, beer, ovens? That gastronomy and tableware have been symbols of political power? These great discoveries changed the world, but also the way we eat. From America, the conquistadors brought spices, peppers, potatoes... Portuguese missionaries brought the frying technique to distant samurai who made the first tempuras. These are the beginnings of globalization. In the 19th century with the industrial revolution, " capitalist" cuisine emerged: it was the beginning of the food industry. In the 21st century, the organic and buy local movements are shown as a reaction against the harmful effects of this culinary and gastronomic standardization. To finish in style, find twenty-two recipes for dishes mentioned throughout our story that you can make at home!
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The House on Mango Street
In celebration of the tenth anniversary of its initial publication, and with a new introduction by the author, here is Sandra Cisnero's greatly admired and best-selling novel of a young girl growing up in the Latino section of Chicago. Acclaimed by critics, beloved by children and their parents and grandparents, taught everywhere from inner-city grade schools to universities across the country, and translated all over the world, The House on Mango Street has entered the canon of coming-of-age classics even as it depicts a new American landscape. Sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous, The House on Mango Street tells the story of Esperanza Cordero, whose neighborhood is one of harsh realities and harsh beauty. Esperanza doesn't want to belong - not to her run-down neighborhood, and not to the low expectations the world has for her. Esperanza's story is that of a young girl coming into her power, and inventing for herself what she will become. The San Francisco Chronicle has called The House on Mango Street "marvelous ... spare yet luminous. The subtle power of Cisnero's storytelling is evident. She communicates all the rapture and rage of growing up in a modern world." It is an extraordinary achievement that will live on for years to come.
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Drifting Dragons 1
A Great Graphic Novels for Teens selection by the Young Adult Library Services Association!
Take to the skies with the scrappy crew of the airship Quin Zaza, as they hunt the fantastical giants that rule their world... DRAGONS!
LIFE IN THE CLOUDS
Mika is a draker on the airship Quin Zaza. He earns his livelihood hunting the whales of the sky--dragons! The beautiful beasts are flying treasure troves, providing food and materials, and the Quin Zaza is among the last draking vessels. Mika's not just a talented hunter; he's also a gourmand with a refined palette and a taste for the exotic. Between his duties aboard the ship, his ambitions as an eater, and his new job training the rookie dragon hunter Takita, Mika's days are never boring. But even with the lively crew of the Quin Zaza as his family, the nomadic life of a draker can be lonely and dangerous... -
Killer House Party
★ "A hauntingly beautiful take on a classic horror story that will leave readers’ skin crawling in the best way possible." –Kirkus, starred review
★"There’s a compelling, critical undercurrent here that encourages readers to think about how ghost stories begin and what keeps them alive in cultural memory, but at its core, this is pure fun for horror fans, with sharply drawn teen characters, lively banter, and a deft balance between moments of comedy and genuine scares."–Booklist, starred review
From Printz Honor winning author Lily Anderson comes a young adult horror that follows Arden and her friends as their graduation party at an abandoned mansion turns into a bloody fight for survival.
Red Solo cups? Check. Snacks? Check. Abandoned mansion full of countless horrors that won’t let you leave? Check.
The Deinhart Manor has been a looming shadow over town for as long as anyone can remember, and it's been abandoned for even longer. When the final Deinhart descendent passes, the huge gothic manor is up for sale for the first time ever. Which means Arden can steal the keys from her mom’s real estate office . . . It’s time for a graduation party that no one will ever forget.
Arden and her friends each have different reasons for wanting to throw the party to end all parties. But when the manor doors bar everyone inside and the walls begin to bleed, all anyone wants to do is make it out alive. -
The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School
A sharply funny and moving debut novel about a queer Mexican American girl navigating Catholic school, while falling in love and learning to celebrate her true self. Perfect for fans of Erika L. Sánchez, Leah Johnson, and Gabby Rivera.
Sixteen-year-old Yamilet Flores prefers to be known for her killer eyeliner, not for being one of the only Mexican kids at her new, mostly white, very rich Catholic school. But at least here no one knows she’s gay, and Yami intends to keep it that way.
After being outed by her crush and ex-best friend before transferring to Slayton Catholic, Yami has new priorities: keep her brother out of trouble, make her mom proud, and, most importantly, don’t fall in love. Granted, she’s never been great at any of those things, but that’s a problem for Future Yami.
The thing is, it’s hard to fake being straight when Bo, the only openly queer girl at school, is so annoyingly perfect. And smart. And talented. And cute. So cute. Either way, Yami isn’t going to make the same mistake again. If word got back to her mom, she could face a lot worse than rejection. So she’ll have to start asking, WWSGD: What would a straight girl do?
Told in a captivating voice that is by turns hilarious, vulnerable, and searingly honest, The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School explores the joys and heartaches of living your full truth out loud.
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X-Men: The Manga: Remastered, Vol. 1
A deluxe manga take on your favorite X-Men stories!
Jubilation Lee is a teenager with a secret: she’s a mutant, the next level of human evolution, and has fantastic powers. All she wants is a normal life with trips to the mall to get away from her parents, but when the mutant-hunting robots known as Sentinels come after her, that normal life is pushed out of her reach! Discover the X-Men—mutant heroes hated and feared by a world they’re sworn to protect—alongside Jubilee in this classic manga series!
X-Men: The Animated Series was a global sensation and the perfect introduction to Marvel’s mutants! The classic manga adaptation, unavailable for years, now finally returns to print! Newly remastered and presented in a deluxe edition, this is the ultimate X-Men collector’s item! -
The Harrowing
In award-winning author Kristen Kiesling and illustrator Rye Hickman's YA graphic novel The Harrowing, a psychic teen hunts potential killers until she discovers the boy she loves is her next target.
Rowan Sterling should be worrying about normal teenage things like attending college and whether her best friend Lucas is maybe more than a friend. . . . Instead, she's having terrifying visions of blood and violence. As the premonitions increase in number and intensity, Rowan seeks her father's help, but instead finds herself drugged, kidnapped, and sent to a mysterious facility called Rosewood. It isn't long before Rowan discovers Rosewood isn't a boarding school or an asylum: it's a training center for teens with special abilities who are known as Harrows.
Harrows can view the actions of would-be murderers before they commit crimes, and the scientists at Rosewood believe it is their duty to use the Harrows' powers to make the world a safer place. When they are apprehended by a Harrow, imminent criminals, known as imcrims, are captured and indefinitely detained in a state of sedation. At Rosewood, the Harrows are taught how to identify, track, and apprehend imcrims.
Rowan is immediately drawn to Rosewood's mission; after all, she lost her mother to a random act of violence two years prior. However, some of the other Harrows question the treatment of imcrims--how can it be ethical to imprison people who haven't actually done anything yet?
Empowered by the skills she's acquired and ready to change the world, Rowan returns home, but when she reunites with Lucas, she has a vision of him shooting a man in cold blood. Now Rowan is questioning everything she learned at Rosewood--she refuses to believe Lucas is capable of murder--and sets out to protect him from the Harrows. -
My Two Border Towns
A picture book debut by an award-winning author about a boy's life on the U.S.-Mexico border, visiting his favorite places on The Other Side with his father, spending time with family and friends, and sharing in the responsibility of community care.
Early one Saturday morning, a boy prepares for a trip to The Other Side/El Otro Lado. It's close--just down the street from his school--and it's a twin of where he lives. To get there, his father drives their truck along the Rio Grande and over a bridge, where they're greeted by a giant statue of an eagle. Their outings always include a meal at their favorite restaurant, a visit with Tío Mateo at his jewelry store, a cold treat from the paletero, and a pharmacy pickup. On their final and most important stop, they check in with friends seeking asylum and drop off much-needed supplies.
My Two Border Towns by David Bowles, with stunning watercolor illustrations by Erika Meza, is the loving story of a father and son's weekend ritual, a demonstration of community care, and a tribute to the fluidity, complexity, and vibrancy of life on the U.S.-Mexico border.
New York Times Bestsellers
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Cher: Part One
***The Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller***
***The Global #1 Bestseller***
The extraordinary life of Cher can be told by only one person . . . Cher herself.
After more than seventy years of fighting to live her life on her own terms, Cher finally reveals her true story in intimate detail, in a two-part memoir.
Her remarkable career is unique and unparalleled. The only woman to top Billboard charts in seven consecutive decades, she is the winner of an Academy Award, an Emmy, a Grammy, and a Cannes Film Festival Award, and an inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame who has been lauded by the Kennedy Center.
She is a lifelong activist and philanthropist.
As a dyslexic child who dreamed of becoming famous, Cher was raised in often-chaotic circumstances, surrounded by singers, actors, and a mother who inspired her in spite of their difficult relationship.
With her trademark honesty and humor, Cher: The Memoir traces how this diamond in the rough succeeded with no plan and little confidence to become the trailblazing superstar the world has been unable to ignore for more than half a century.
Cher: The Memoir, Part One follows her extraordinary beginnings through childhood to meeting and marrying Sonny Bono--and reveals the highly complicated relationship that made them world-famous, but eventually drove them apart.
Cher: The Memoir reveals the daughter, the sister, the wife, the lover, the mother, and the superstar.
It is a life too immense for only one book.
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The Serviceberry
An Instant New York Times Bestseller
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Braiding Sweetgrass, a bold and inspiring vision for how to orient our lives around gratitude, reciprocity, and community, based on the lessons of the natural world.
As Indigenous scientist and author of Braiding Sweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer harvests serviceberries alongside the birds, she considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy. How, she asks, can we learn from Indigenous wisdom and the plant world to reimagine what we value most? Our economy is rooted in scarcity, competition, and the hoarding of resources, and we have surrendered our values to a system that actively harms what we love. Meanwhile, the serviceberry’s relationship with the natural world is an embodiment of reciprocity, interconnectedness, and gratitude. The tree distributes its wealth—its abundance of sweet, juicy berries—to meet the needs of its natural community. And this distribution ensures its own survival. As Kimmerer explains, “Serviceberries show us another model, one based upon reciprocity, where wealth comes from the quality of your relationships, not from the illusion of self-sufficiency.”
As Elizabeth Gilbert writes, Robin Wall Kimmerer is “a great teacher, and her words are a hymn of love to the world.” The Serviceberry is an antidote to the broken relationships and misguided goals of our times, and a reminder that “hoarding won’t save us, all flourishing is mutual.”
Robin Wall Kimmerer is donating her advance payments from this book as a reciprocal gift, back to the land, for land protection, restoration, and justice. -
Patriot
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The powerful and moving memoir of a fearless political opposition leader who paid the ultimate price for his beliefs.
"Patriot is by turns funny, fiery, reflective and tragic, laced with Navalny’s trademark wry humor and idealism....a gutting personal account from a husband and father facing the reality that he will never be with his family again."—The New York Times
"Honest"—The Washington Post • "Shocking"—The Atlantic • "Uplifting." —Vanity Fair
"A testament to resilience" —Associated Press • "Will be seen as a historic text."—The Economist
Alexei Navalny began writing Patriot shortly after his near-fatal poisoning in 2020. It is the full story of his life: his youth, his call to activism, his marriage and family, his commitment to challenging a world super-power determined to silence him, and his total conviction that change cannot be resisted—and will come.
In vivid, page-turning detail, including never-before-seen correspondence from prison, Navalny recounts, among other things, his political career, the many attempts on his life, and the lives of the people closest to him, and the relentless campaign he and his team waged against an increasingly dictatorial regime.
Written with the passion, wit, candor, and bravery for which he was justly acclaimed, Patriot is Navalny’s final letter to the world: a moving account of his last years spent in the most brutal prison on earth; a reminder of why the principles of individual freedom matter so deeply; and a rousing call to continue the work for which he sacrificed his life.
“This book is a testament not only to Alexei’s life, but to his unwavering commitment to the fight against dictatorship—a fight he gave everything for, including his life. Through its pages, readers will come to know the man I loved deeply—a man of profound integrity and unyielding courage. Sharing his story will not only honor his memory but also inspire others to stand up for what is right and to never lose sight of the values that truly matter." —Yulia Navalnaya -
The Message
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The renowned author of Between the World and Me journeys to three resonant sites of conflict to explore how the stories we tell—and the ones we don’t—shape our realities.
“Ta-Nehisi Coates always writes with a purpose. . . . These pilgrimages, for him, help ground his powerful writing about race.”—Associated Press
“Coates exhorts readers, including students, parents, educators, and journalists, to challenge conventional narratives that can be used to justify ethnic cleansing or camouflage racist policing. Brilliant and timely.”—Booklist (starred review)
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, NPR, Vanity Fair, Town & Country, Electric Lit
Ta-Nehisi Coates originally set out to write a book about writing, in the tradition of Orwell’s classic “Politics and the English Language,” but found himself grappling with deeper questions about how our stories—our reporting and imaginative narratives and mythmaking—expose and distort our realities.
In the first of the book’s three intertwining essays, Coates, on his first trip to Africa, finds himself in two places at once: in Dakar, a modern city in Senegal, and in a mythic kingdom in his mind. Then he takes readers along with him to Columbia, South Carolina, where he reports on his own book’s banning, but also explores the larger backlash to the nation’s recent reckoning with history and the deeply rooted American mythology so visible in that city—a capital of the Confederacy with statues of segregationists looming over its public squares. Finally, in the book’s longest section, Coates travels to Palestine, where he sees with devastating clarity how easily we are misled by nationalist narratives, and the tragedy that lies in the clash between the stories we tell and the reality of life on the ground.
Written at a dramatic moment in American and global life, this work from one of the country’s most important writers is about the urgent need to untangle ourselves from the destructive myths that shape our world—and our own souls—and embrace the liberating power of even the most difficult truths. -
Revenge of the Tipping Point
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Most Anticipated in:
AARP Associated Press Time Magazine Oprah Daily Chicago Tribune Literary Hub
Publishers Weekly Publishers Lunch
Twenty-five years after the publication of his groundbreaking first book, Malcolm Gladwell returns with a brand-new volume that reframes the lessons of The Tipping Point in a startling and revealing light.Why is Miami...Miami? What does the heartbreaking fate of the cheetah tell us about the way we raise our children? Why do Ivy League schools care so much about sports? What is the Magic Third, and what does it mean for racial harmony? In this provocative new work, Malcolm Gladwell returns for the first time in twenty-five years to the subject of social epidemics and tipping points, this time with the aim of explaining the dark side of contagious phenomena.
Through a series of riveting stories, Gladwell traces the rise of a new and troubling form of social engineering. He takes us to the streets of Los Angeles to meet the world's most successful bank robbers, rediscovers a forgotten television show from the 1970s that changed the world, visits the site of a historic experiment on a tiny cul-de-sac in northern California, and offers an alternate history of two of the biggest epidemics of our day: COVID and the opioid crisis. Revenge of the Tipping Point is Gladwell's most personal book yet. With his characteristic mix of storytelling and social science, he offers a guide to making sense of the contagions of modern world. It's time we took tipping points seriously.
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The Waiting
AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
LAPD Detective Renée Ballard tracks a serial rapist whose trail has gone cold, and enlists a new volunteer to the Open-Unsolved Unit: patrol officer Maddie Bosch, Harry's daughter.
Renée Ballard and the LAPD's Open-Unsolved Unit get a hot shot DNA connection between a recently arrested man and a serial rapist and murderer who went quiet two decades ago. The arrested man is only twenty-four, so the genetic link must be familial: His father was the Pillowcase Rapist, responsible for a five-year reign of terror in the City of Angels. But when Ballard and her team move in on their suspect, they encounter a baffling web of secrets and legal hurdles.
Meanwhile, Ballard's badge, gun, and ID are stolen--a theft she can't report without giving her enemies in the department ammunition to end her career as a detective. She works the burglary alone, but her mission draws her into unexpected danger. With no choice but to go outside the department for help, she knocks on the door of Harry Bosch.
At the same time, Ballard takes on a new volunteer to the cold case unit: Bosch's daughter Maddie, now a patrol officer. But Maddie has an ulterior motive for getting access to the city's library of lost souls--a case that may be the most iconic in the city's history. Complex, satisfying, and full of dexterous twists, The Waiting demonstrates once more that "you can't do better than Michael Connelly" (Forbes).
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In Too Deep
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The gripping new Jack Reacher thriller from the bestselling authors Lee Child and Andrew Child
Reacher had no idea where he was. No idea how he had gotten there. But someone must have brought him. And shackled him. And whoever had done those things was going to rue the day. That was for damn sure.
Jack Reacher wakes up alone, in the dark, handcuffed to a makeshift bed. His right arm has suffered some major damage. His few possessions are gone. He has no memory of getting there.
The last thing Reacher can recall is the car he hitched a ride in getting run off the road. The driver was killed.
His captors assume Reacher was the driver’s accomplice and patch up his wounds as they plan to make him talk.
A plan that will backfire spectacularly . . . -
The Grey Wolf
INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
The 19th mystery in the #1 New York Times-bestselling Armand Gamache series.
Relentless phone calls interrupt the peace of a warm August morning in Three Pines. Though the tiny Québec village is impossible to find on any map, someone has managed to track down Armand Gamache, head of homicide at the Sûreté, as he sits with his wife in their back garden. Reine-Marie watches with increasing unease as her husband refuses to pick up, though he clearly knows who is on the other end. When he finally answers, his rage shatters the calm of their quiet Sunday morning.
That's only the first in a sequence of strange events that begin THE GREY WOLF, the nineteenth novel in Louise Penny's #1 New York Times-bestselling series. A missing coat, an intruder alarm, a note for Gamache reading "this might interest you", a puzzling scrap of paper with a mysterious list—and then a murder. All propel Chief Inspector Gamache and his team toward a terrible realization. Something much more sinister than any one murder or any one case is fast approaching.
Armand Gamache, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, his son-in-law and second in command, and Inspector Isabelle Lacoste can only trust each other, as old friends begin to act like enemies, and long-time enemies appear to be friends. Determined to track down the threat before it becomes a reality, their pursuit takes them across Québec and across borders. Their hunt grows increasingly desperate, even frantic, as the enormity of the creature they’re chasing becomes clear. If they fail the devastating consequences would reach into the largest of cities and the smallest of villages.
Including Three Pines. -
To Die for
From a #1 New York Times bestselling author, the 6:20 Man returns, this time sent to the Pacific Northwest to aid in a complicated FBI case--and he's about to come face-to-face with his nemesis, the girl on the train.
Travis Devine has become a pro at accomplishing any mission he's given. But this time it's not his skills that send him to Seattle to aid the FBI in escorting orphaned, twelve-year-old Betsy Odom to a meeting with her uncle, who's under federal investigation. Instead, he's hoping to lay low and keep off the radar of an enemy-the girl on the train.
But as Devine gets to know Betsy, questions begin to arise around the death of her parents. Devine digs for answers, and what he finds points to a conspiracy bigger than he could've ever imagined.
It might finally be time for Devine and the girl on the train to come face-to-face. Devine is going to find out the difference between his friends and his enemies-and in some cases, they might well be both. -
Master of Me
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
From the award-winning, multihyphenate global entertainer Keke Palmer comes the inspiring true story of her journey to understanding her genuine value.
A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF FALL 2024: Bookshop, Apple Books, People, BookRiot, and more!!
Keke Palmer thought she knew who she was. What it means to be a good person and what it takes to be a success. It all seemed so simple, until she realized the challenges she would have to face to prove to herself who she wanted to be. From feeling alienated to having to restart her career after ten years in to becoming a single mother just months after her son was born—everything she worked for in life that she felt granted her what she wanted now also reminded her that “life is going to life” and throw curveballs regardless of what you deserve. She found herself asking, Where do I find my power? How do I master myself?
In her own raw and intimate words, Keke talks about everything from her struggles with boundaries to unconditional love, forgiveness, and worthiness. “Don’t block your blessings and potential opportunities by allowing the voices of other people to influence your actions,” she says. “How you’re choosing to set yourself up for success is between you and the person looking back at you in the mirror.”
Throughout the book, Keke also poses readers with the questions needed to get them through their own challenging times by sharing personal stories and lessons she’s learned along the way. She gets candid about the tools she’s developed to take the reins, harness her vulnerability, and recognize ownership in the narrative of her life—which allowed her to turn personal power into major power.
In this exhilarating, deeply poignant, and often laugh-out-loud book, Lauren Keyana Palmer gets real about life, work, love, and belief. These pages will encourage readers to empower themselves with the truth, leverage their currency, and find the keys to master themselves and the art of alchemy. Keke writes, “You are not on anyone else’s timeline, only your own.”
The result is a tour de force.
They said, “Jack of all Trades, Master of None.”
She said, “No, I am the Master. Of Me.” -
The Mirror
In need of an escape from her ex-fiance's betrayal, and the lucky recipient of a surprise inheritance, Sonya MacTavish leaves behind her life in the city and moves to a Victorian mansion on the coast of Maine. The house is beautiful but comes with surprises - footsteps in the night, doors slamming, music playing - and in her dreams Sonya sees glimpses of the past and the brides who once lived there. As the house reveals more of its history and the sad stories of the brides murdered there, Sonya discovers an antique mirror. She finds herself drawn to the mirror, sensing it holds dark secrets. What can the mirror tell her? Can it help her to understand how the seven brides died? Sonya will need the help of her friends and family if she has any chance of breaking the curse and making this house her home.
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Counting Miracles
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the acclaimed author of The Longest Ride and The Notebook comes an emotional, powerful novel about wondering if we can change—or even make our peace with—the path we’ve taken.
“Sparks is superb at what he does. The setting is postcard perfect. The characters are immensely likable. . . . This is a tidy miracle you can count on.”—The Washington Post
Tanner Hughes was raised by his grandparents, following in his grandfather’s military footsteps to become an Army Ranger. His whole life has been spent abroad, and he is the proverbial rolling stone: happiest when off on his next adventure, zero desire to settle down. But when his grandmother passes away, her last words to him are find where you belong. She also drops a bombshell, telling him the name of the father he never knew—and where to find him.
Tanner is due at his next posting soon, but his curiosity is piqued, and he sets out for Asheboro, North Carolina, to ask around. He’s been in town less than twenty-four hours when he meets Kaitlyn Cooper, a doctor and single mom. They both feel an immediate connection; Tanner knows Kaitlyn has a story to tell, and he wants to hear it. To Kaitlyn, Tanner is mysterious, exciting—and possibly leaving in just a few weeks.
Meanwhile, nearby, eighty-three-year-old Jasper lives alone in a cabin bordering a national forest. With only his old dog, Arlo, for company, he lives quietly, haunted by a tragic accident that took place decades before. When he hears rumors that a white deer has been spotted in the forest—a creature of legend that inspired his father and grandfather—he becomes obsessed with protecting the deer from poachers.
As these characters’ fates orbit closer together, none of them is expecting a miracle . . . but that may be exactly what is about to alter their futures forever. -
Now Or Never
"She said yes to Morelli. She said yes to Ranger. Now Stephanie Plum has two fiancâes and no idea what to do about it. But the way things are going, she might not live long enough to marry anyone. While Stephanie stalls for time, she buries herself in her work as a bounty hunter, tracking down an unusually varied assortment of fugitives from justice. There's Eugene Fleck, a seemingly sweet online influencer who might also be YouTube star Robin Hoodie, masked hero to the homeless, who hijacks delivery trucks and distributes their contents to the needy. She's also on the trail of Bruno Jug, a wealthy and connected man in the wholesale produce business who is rumored to traffic young girls alongside lettuce and tomatoes. Most terrifying of all is Zoran--a laundromat manager by day and self-proclaimed vampire by night with a taste for the blood of pretty girls. When he shows up on Stephanie's doorstep, it's not for the meatloaf dinner. With timely assists from her stalwart supporters Lula, Connie, and Grandma Mazur, Stephanie uses every trick in the book to reel in these men. But only she can decide what to do about the two men she actually loves. She can't hold Ranger and Morelli at bay for long, and she's keeping a secret from them that is the biggest bombshell of all. Now or never, she's got to make the decision of a lifetime."--Provided by publisher.
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Confronting the Presidents
Instant #1 New York Times and USA Today nonfiction bestseller!
Every American president, from Washington to Biden: Their lives, policies, foibles, and legacies, assessed with clear-eyed authority and wit.
Authors of the acclaimed Killing books, the #1 bestselling narrative history series in the world, Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard begin a new direction with Confronting the Presidents.
From Washington to Jefferson, Lincoln to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Kennedy to Nixon, Reagan to Obama and Biden, the 45 United States presidents have left lasting impacts on our nation. Some of their legacies continue today, some are justly forgotten, and some have changed as America has changed. Whether famous, infamous, or obscure, all the presidents shaped our nation in unexpected ways.
The authors' extensive research has uncovered never before seen historical facts based on private correspondence and newly discovered documentation, such as George Washington's troubled relationship with his mother.
In Confronting the Presidents, O’Reilly and Dugard present 45 wonderfully entertaining and insightful portraits of each president, with no-spin commentary on their achievements—or lack thereof. Who best served America, and who undermined the founding ideals? Who were the first ladies, and what were their surprising roles in making history? Which presidents were the best, which the worst, and which didn’t have much impact? How do decisions made in one era, under the pressure of particular circumstances, still resonate today? And what do presidents like to eat, drink, and do when they aren’t working—or even sometimes when they are?
These and many more questions are answered in each fascinating chapter of Confronting the Presidents. Written with O’Reilly and Dugard’s signature style, authority, and eye for telling detail, Confronting the Presidents will delight all readers of history, politics, and current affairs, especially during the 2024 election season. -
Framed
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - "The master of the legal thriller" (Associated Press) teams up with "the godfather of the innocence movement" (Texas Monthly) to share ten harrowing true stories of wrongful convictions.
"Each of these stories is told with astonishing power."--David Grann, author of Killers of the Flower Moon
"Gripping . . . compelling . . . What makes [Framed] important reading isn't the shock value advertised in the title. It's the exposure of the infuriating, recurrent factors involved in so many unrighteous convictions."--The Washington Post
John Grisham is known worldwide for his bestselling novels, but it's his real-life passion for justice that led to his work with Jim McCloskey of Centurion Ministries, the first organization dedicated to exonerating innocent people who have been wrongly convicted. Together they offer an inside look at the many injustices in our criminal justice system.A fundamental principle of our legal system is a presumption of innocence, but once someone has been found guilty, there is very little room to prove doubt. These ten true stories shed light on Americans who were innocent but found guilty and forced to sacrifice friends, families, and decades of their lives to prison while the guilty parties remained free. In each of the stories, John Grisham and Jim McCloskey recount the dramatic hard-fought battles for exoneration. They take a close look at what leads to wrongful convictions in the first place and the racism, misconduct, flawed testimony, and corruption in the court system that can make them so hard to reverse.
Impeccably researched and told with page-turning suspense as only John Grisham can deliver, Framed is the story of winning freedom when the battle already seems lost and the deck is stacked against you.
Small Press Books
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Scattered All Over the Earth
Welcome to the not-too-distant future: Japan, having vanished from the face of the earth, is now remembered as "the land of sushi." Hiruko, its former citizen and a climate refugee herself, has a job teaching immigrant children in Denmark with her invented language Panska (Pan-Scandinavian): "homemade language. no country to stay in. three countries I experienced. insufficient space in brain. so made new language. homemade language."
As she searches for anyone who can still speak her mother tongue, Hiruko soon makes new friends. Her troupe travels to France, encountering an umami cooking competition; a dead whale; an ultra-nationalist named Breivik; unrequited love; Kakuzo robots; red herrings; uranium; an Andalusian matador. Episodic and mesmerizing scenes flash vividly along, and soon they're all next off to Stockholm.
With its intrepid band of companions, Scattered All Over the Earth (the first novel of a trilogy) may bring to mind Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or a surreal Wind in the Willows, but really is just another sui generis Yoko Tawada masterwork.
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After the Flare
A catastrophic solar flare reshapes our world order as we know it--in an instant, electricity grids are crippled, followed by devastating cyberattacks that paralyze all communication. With America in chaos, former NASA employee Kwesi Bracket works at the only functioning space program in the world, which just happens to be in Nigeria. With Europe, Asia, and the U.S. knocked off-line, and thousands of dead satellites about to plummet to Earth, the planet's only hope rests with the Nigerian Space Program's plan to launch a daring rescue mission to the International Space Station. Bracket and his team are already up against a serious deadline, but life on the ground is just as disastrous after the flare. Nigeria has been flooded with advanced biohacking technologies, and the scramble for space supremacy has attracted dangerous peoples from all over Africa. What's more: the militant Islamic group Boko Haram is slowly encroaching on the spaceport, leaving a trail of destruction, while a group of nomads has discovered an ancient technology more powerful than anything Bracket's ever imagined. With the clock ticking down, Bracket--helped by a brilliant scientist from India and an eccentric lunar geologist--must confront the looming threats to the spaceport in order to launch a harrowing rescue mission into space
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My Darling Dreadful Thing
If the dead can wake and walk among us, how can we know what is truly real? Roos Beckman has a spirit companion only she can see. Ruth-strange, corpse-like, and dead for centuries-is the light of Roos' life. That is, until the wealthy young widow Agnes Knoop visits one of Roos' backroom seances, and the two strike up a connection. Soon, Roos is whisked away to the crumbling estate Agnes inherited upon the death of her husband, where an ill woman haunts the halls, strange smells drift through the air at night, and mysterious stone statues reside in the family chapel. Something dreadful festers in the manor, but still, the attraction between Roos and Agnes is undeniable. Then, someone is murdered. Poor, alone, and with a history of 'hysterics', Roos is theobvious culprit. With her sanity and innocence in question, she'll have to prove who-or what-is at fault or lose everything she holds dear
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Here I Am!
MyMum said sometimes refugees don't eat anything for days and days. Sometimes weeks and months so I am really lucky. I think she exaggerates. But I think she is right about the lucky bit. Or maybe not. Sometimes I forget that MyMum is dead. But that is probably better than remembering.
When Frankie's mother dies, he tells his teacher, of course. But he can't seem to get anyone at his school in southern England to listen to him. So the six-year-old comes up with a plan: go to France, find a police station, and ask the officers to ring his father. Thus a stowaway's view of the sea opens Giller-nominated Pauline Holdstock's eighth novel, narrated in turns by Frankie--who likes cheese, numbers, the sea when it's pink and "smooth like counting," and being alone when he feels bad--and a cast of characters that includes his worried Gran, his callous teacher, and his not-so-reliable father. Set in the summer of Annichka the Soviet space dog, Here I Am! is a mesmerizing story about the lucidity of children and the shortsightedness of adults.
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Binary Star
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The Deadly Hours
"Charming... Four interconnected visits to a world of danger, wit, beauty and genuine romance. Treat yourself!"--ANNE PERRY, internationally bestselling author
A stellar line-up of historical mystery novelists weaves the tale of a priceless and cursed gold watch as it passes through time wreaking havoc from one owner to another. As the hours and years pass, the characters are irrevocably linked by fate, each playing a key role in breaking the curse and destroying the watch once and for all.
From 1733 Italy to Edinburgh in 1831 to a series of chilling murders in 1870 London, and a lethal game of revenge decades later, the watch touches lives with misfortune, until it comes into the reach of one young woman who might be able to stop it for good.
As much a book of curses as a book of destinies, The Deadly Hours is a breathtaking anthology rich with atmosphere and intrigue that encapsulates the exquisite destruction, heartbreak, and redemption wrought by fate.
This outstanding collaboration of authors includes:
- Susanna Kearsley - New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of compelling time slip fiction.
- C.S. Harris - USA Today bestselling author of the Sebastian St. Cyr Regency mystery series.
- Anna Lee Huber - award-winning author of the national bestselling Lady Darby Mysteries.
- Christine Trent - author of the Lady of Ashes Victorian mystery series.
More praise for The Deadly Hours:
"A fantastic read."--Tasha Alexander, New York Times bestselling author
"What a treat!"--Victoria Thompson, USA Today bestselling author
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Homesick
Dark, irreverent, and truly innovative, the speculative stories in Homesick meditate on the theme of home and our estrangement from it, and what happens when the familiar suddenly shifts into the uncanny. In stories that foreground queer relationships and transgender or nonbinary characters, Cipri delivers the origin story for a superhero team comprised of murdered girls; a housecleaner discovering an impossible ocean in her least-favorite clients' house; a man haunted by keys that appear suddenly in his throat; and a team of scientists and activists discovering the remains of a long-extinct species of intelligent weasels.
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The Loved Ones
In this masterful novel of inheritance and loss, Sonya Chung (Long for This World) proves herself a worthy heir to Marguerite Duras, Hwang Sun-won, and James Salter. Spanning generations and divergent cultures, The Loved Ones maps the intimate politics of unlikely attractions, illicit love, and costly reconciliations. Charles Lee, the young African American patriarch of a biracial family, seeks to remedy his fatherless childhood in Washington, DC, by making an honorable choice when his chance arrives. Years later in the mid-1980s, uneasy and stymied in his marriage to Alice, he finds a connection with Hannah Lee, the teenage Korean American caregiver whose parents' transgressive flight from tradition and war has left them shrouded in a cloud of secrets and muted passion. A shocking and senseless death will test every familial bond and force all who are touched by the tragedy to reexamine who their loved ones truly are--the very meaning of the words. Haunting, elliptical, and powerful, The Loved Ones deconstructs the world we think we know and shows us the one we inhabit.
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Organ Meats
“In the phenomenal Organ Meats, two friends are bound by a red string, dog bloodlines, and the violence that is being a girl” (Ms. magazine)—from the National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree and author of Gods of Want.
“Organ Meats possesses something of the febrile intensity of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels, their laser focus on female friendship, but instead of Naples, K-Ming Chang’s wild girls inhabit a magical universe of talking dogs and shape-shifting body parts.”—The New York Times (Editors’ Choice)
LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD FINALIST • AN AUTOSTRADDLE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
Best friends Anita and Rainie find refuge by an old sycamore tree with its neighboring lot of stray dogs who have a mysterious ability to communicate with humans. The girls learn that they are preceded by generations of dog-headed women and woman-headed dogs whose bloodlines bind them together. Anita convinces Rainie to become a dog with her, tying a collar of red string around each of their necks to preserve their kinship forever. But when the two girls are separated, Anita sinks into a dreamworld that only Rainie knows how to rescue her from. As Anita’s body begins to rot, it is up to Rainie to rebuild Anita’s body and keep her friend from being lost forever.
Filled with ghosts and bodily entrails, this is a story about the horror and beauty of intimacy, written in K-Ming Chang’s signature poetic and visceral lore. -
The Night of the Moths
He's finally letting go of the memory of his murdered girlfriend. Then he sees her texts.
Alice was a hopeful young graduate student when, on a beautiful August night, her body was found in the woods. She'll always remember the night she was murdered. And she still suffers the grief and rage that destroyed her family.
But what Alice regrets most is the last fight she had with her boyfriend, Enrico--and the fact that she never had the chance to tell him something that would have changed everything.
A decade later, Enrico has returned to the provincial town where Alice lived and died, to sell his family home. All he wants is to forget. But then, among the things he left behind, he finds an old cell phone...and unread texts sent from Alice's phone.
Now, her terrible secrets are about to swallow up everyone she knew, loved, and trusted. For Enrico, discovering them is his only chance to put his lost love--and the demons of his past--to rest.
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Before Us Like a Land of Dreams
"This masterwork flouts expectations."
--FOREWORD REVIEWS, starred review
Before Us Like a Land of Dreams follows a disheartened mother traveling an evocative route through the arid West. As her narration fades, the ancestral dead speak directly: a ragged Mormon boy yearns after a Shoshone family. A defeated polygamous wife shuts her mouth for good. A hoarder's queer son demolishes the artifacts of his lonely Idaho childhood. Descendants of British squatters sustain family delusions until a devastating suicide shatters their royal dreams. An elite colonial clan gradually awakens to the stark blue of the Great Salt Lake. The dead yield no answers, but they conjure vivid mortal moments set in iconic--and diminishing--American places.
KARIN ANDERSON is a gardener, writer, mother, wanderer, heretic, and English professor. She hails from the Great Basin of Utah.
Storytime Favorites
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The Great Indoors
When the humans head out to go camping, the animals settle in for a relaxing holiday of their own! Teen bear takes over the bathroom with her curling iron, the beavers prepare their fanciest recipes, and the deer kick up their feet for a dance party. What starts as a little unwinding soon escalates to a big mess, just in time for everyone to head home. . . .
Julie Falatko and Ruth Chan's quirky humors shine in this hilarious take on family trips that will have kids wondering what exactly goes on back at home when they're on vacation. -
Farmhouse
Two-time Caldecott Medalist Sophie Blackall invites readers to peek through windows that shine like real glass on this lavish book's cover, and explore the dollhouse-like world of a beloved farmhouse where twelve children were born and raised.
Over a hill, at the end of a road, by a glittering stream that twists and turns stands a farmhouse.
Step inside the dollhouse-like interior of Farmhouse and relish in the daily life of the family that lives there, rendered in impeccable, thrilling detail. Based on a real family and an actual farmhouse where Sophie salvaged facts and artifacts for the making of this spectacular work, page after page bursts with luminous detail and joy. Join the award-winning, best-selling Sophie Blackall as she takes readers on an enchanting visit to a farmhouse across time, to a place that echoes with stories. -
A Spoonful of Frogs
Frogs are the most important ingredient in a witch's favorite treat--but they are also the hardest to get into the cauldron! From acclaimed author Casey Lyall and Caldecott Honor artist Vera Brosgol, A Spoonful of Frogs is a humorous and wholly original picture book--and a winning recipe for readers who loved Dragons Love Tacos and Room on the Broom.
A witch's favorite treat is frog soup. Luckily, it's healthy and easy to make. To give it that extra kick and a pop of color, the key ingredient is a spoonful of frogs. But how do you keep the frogs on the spoon? They hop, they leap, they hide . . . and they escape. What is a poor witch to do?
Casey Lyall is a master of comedic timing with her deceptively simple and energetic text, and Caldecott Honor winnerVera Brosgol's vibrant, hilarious illustrations make the witch--and the frogs!--practically leap off the page. The solution to the witch's dilemma will surprise and delight young readers and their parents alike.
Teeming with laugher and hijinks, A Spoonful of Frogs is pure fun from beginning to end. A must-have for young readers, parents, witches, frog-lovers, and aspiring chefs.
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Paradise Sands
A captivating tale of eerie places and mystical bargains, sumptuously illustrated by Kate Greenaway Medalist Levi Pinfold
Washed clean in his pool, we fall under his rule . . .
Away from what is, we all are now his.
When a young girl and her older brothers step into the ghostly Paradise Sands hotel, they fall under the rule of the mysterious Teller. The girl makes a deal with the commanding creature to free them all from his haunting paradise—and let them return to their mother, white roses in hand. But can the girl, determined as she is, hold up her side of the bargain? A contemporary story with the feel of a classic fairy tale, Levi Pinfold’s Paradise Sands is lush with enchanting illustrations, rendered in a muted palette with the artist’s distinctive stylistic realism. -
Pina
Pina explores the haunted country of the imagination where children struggle to place themselves in the big scary world. Pina's fear to venture out of his little house into the wide world will resonate with timid kids.The techniques he uses to overcome his fear--mindful breathing, thinking of his favorite things, carrying a familiar, comforting object with him when he leaves the house--will prove useful to many children. It took the author two years to sculpt little Pina (named after the author's cat, which she named after German-born choreographer Pina Bausch), build his shadow-box home, photograph the book's scenes, and add Photoshop layers to create the book's arresting illustrations. Pina offers safe access for young readers to the scary territory explored by Coraline, The Night Gardener, and other stories for older kids.
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The Dark
Laszlo is afraid of the dark.
The dark lives in the same house as Laszlo. Mostly, though, the dark stays in the basement and doesn't come into Lazslo's room. But one night, it does.
This is the story of how Laszlo stops being afraid of the dark.
With emotional insight and poetic economy, two award-winning talents team up to conquer a universal childhood fear.
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Lou
Don't miss this humorous and heartwarming picture book by debut creator Breanna Carzoo about an unlikely everyday hero: a fire hydrant! Perfect for fans of The Good Egg and The Bad Seed.
Meet Lou. Lou has an important job . . . as the neighborhood toilet for dogs on their walks.
Useful as he may be, he gets the feeling that deep down inside, there might be more to him than that. He just doesn't seem to know exactly what yet. When disaster strikes, will Lou find out what he's made of and save the day?
From debut creator Breanna Carzoo comes a charming and funny story that reminds us to never let anyone--including yourself--hold you back from sharing your gifts with the world.
Kids will fall in love with Lou and his journey of self-discovery as he saves the day from a fire that breaks out in an apartment building nearby. You'll never be able to look at a fire hydrant the same way again!
- A BARNES AND NOBLE CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARDS SHORTLIST PICK!
- A KIRKUS BEST PICTURE BOOK OF 2022!
- A 2024 COLORADO CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARD NOMINEE!
- THE NORTH CENTRAL MICHIGAN COLLEGE CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023!
- A MISSOURI BUILDING BLOCK PICTURE BOOK AWARD NOMINEE!
- CHOSEN FOR THE 2022 SOCIETY OF ILLUSTRATORS ORIGINAL ART SHOW!
- A 2024 DONNA NORVELL OKLAHOMA BOOK AWARD NOMINEE!
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Crunch the Shy Dinosaur
From Cirocco Dunlap (This Book Will Not Be Fun) and Theodor Seuss Geisel Award winner Greg Pizzoli (The Watermelon Seed) comes a charming, giggly read-aloud that illustrates the particular art of making a friend!
Crunch is a lovely and quiet brontosaurus who has hidden himself in some shubbery and is rather shy. He would like to play, but it will require some gentle coaxing from you! If you are patient and encouraging, you will find yourself with a new friend!
This picture book is a warm, funny example of how to engage with someone new, who is perhaps a bit different from you. Lessons in friend-making (such as minding personal space and demonstrating interest in another's hobbies) are delivered so subtly that children will absorb them unconsciously as they delight in Crunch's silly hat and dance moves!
Cirocco Dunlap (This Book Will Not Be Fun) and Greg Pizzoli (The Watermelon Seed) enchant and surprise us with their first collaboration.
A Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2018! -
Jump!
When a bug sleeping on a jug is chased by a frog, he has to jump to get away. But then that frog (who’s sleeping on a log) is in for a similar surprise! He’s attacked by a cat…who needs to jump away from a dog…and on it goes, until not even a shark is free from getting a little fright! Building on repetition that’s fun to read and fun to listen to, Jump! is a rip-roaring, read-aloud with simple rhymes and lively illustrations that leap off the pages.
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Something's Wrong!
A hilarious picture book from #1 New York Times bestselling author Jory John, paired with new illustrator Erin Kraan, about a bear whose friends help him make it through a bad day!
Jeff the bear has definitely forgotten something. He ate his breakfast, he watered his plant, he combed his fur...what could it be? Why does he feel so oddly off? So he asks his friend Anders the rabbit what could possibly be wrong. It couldn't have anything to do with the fact that he's wearing underwear...over his fur...could it?
Something's Wrong! is another read-out-loud, laugh-out-loud picture book from bestselling and beloved author Jory John, about that horrible nagging feeling that it just might not be your day—but you know you have a friend to support you no matter what. -
The Pigeon Will Ride the Roller Coaster!
From #1 New York Times best-selling, award-winning author and illustrator Mo Willems!
Buckle up for twists, turns, and emotional loop-de-loops in the most roller coaster-y Pigeon book ever! The Pigeon WILL be ready. Will YOU!? -
Creepy Carrots!
In this Caldecott Honor–winning picture book, The Twilight Zone comes to the carrot patch as a rabbit fears his favorite treats are out to get him.
Jasper Rabbit loves carrots—especially Crackenhopper Field carrots.
He eats them on the way to school.
He eats them going to Little League.
He eats them walking home.
Until the day the carrots start following him...or are they?
Celebrated artist Peter Brown’s stylish illustrations pair perfectly with Aaron Reynold’s text in this hilarious picture book that shows it’s all fun and games…until you get too greedy. -
Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons
Pete the Cat is wearing his favorite shirt—the one with the four totally groovy buttons. But when one falls off, does Pete cry? Goodness, no! He just keeps on singing his song—after all, what could be groovier than three groovy buttons? Count down with Pete in this rocking new story from the creators of the bestselling Pete the Cat books.
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Mama Cat Has Three Kittens
Some kittens march to the beat of a different drummer.
Mama Cat has three kittens, Fluffy, Skinny, and Boris. Where Mama Cat leads, Fluffy and Skinny follow. But what about Boris-- will he ever stop napping and join the fun?
Young children will love Mama Cat and her three kittens. They'll also enjoy looking for three other creatures hidden in every scene. But they'll have to count carefully -- Mama Mouse has a surprise.
Using her own cats as models, Denise Fleming has captured the moods, expressions, and antics of a mother cat and her kittens. But there is a rebel in every crowd, and Boris is sure to charm readers who will recognize themselves in his contrary ways.
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Can I Be Your Dog?
The New York Times bestseller featured on THE TODAY SHOW!
A heart-tugging dog adoption story told through letters--deeply sincere and almost desperate pleas for a forever home--from the dog, himself!
This picture book shares the tale of Arfy, a homeless mutt who lives in a box in an alley. Arfy writes to every person on Butternut Street about what a great pet he'd make. His letters to prospective owners share that he's house broken! He has his own squeaky bone! He can learn to live with cats! But, no one wants him. Won't anyone open their heart--and home--to a lonesome dog? Readers will be happily surprised to learn just who steps up to adopt Arfy.
Troy Cummings's hilarious and touching story is a perfect gift for a child wanting a dog, and for pet adoption advocates. It also showcases many different styles of letter writing, making it appealing to parents and teachers looking to teach the lost art of written communication.
"It's an instant classic in our household." --#1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas
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