Staff Picks

September 2020

One Time

by Sharon Creech

Who are you? Who could you be? These are the two questions Gina Filomena ponders the year she is in Miss Lightstone’s class. Labeled as a child with an overactive imagination, Gina befriends her new neighbor, Antonio, in whom she finds a kindred spirit. With the encouragement and guidance of Miss Lightstone, Gina, Antonio, and their classmates discover the wonders of writing. They soon find that writing is not just about telling stories, but also helps them process their world- and there’s a lot going on in Gina’s world. An enormous amount of pasta, porcupines eating licorice, the shenanigans of Angel Lucia, the suddenness of change, the perfection found in words like mangata and komorebi. One Time is a thoughtful read that weaves together imagination, expression, and becoming one’s true self.

Recommended by: Stephanie Thomas, Youth Services Preschool Services Coordinator

Posted in: Youth Fiction

Little Bookshop of Murder: Beach Reads Mystery, #1

by Maggie Blackburn

Summer Merriweather’s career as a Shakespeare professor is hanging by a thread. But soon that no longer seems to be a problem when she is called back home to Brigid’s Island when her mom shuffles off the mortal coil from what appears to be a heart attack. But when Summer finds a note in her mother’s bookshop that say “Sell the bookstore or die.” It’s clear that someone helped her mother leave this world and now it’s up to Summer to find out who wanted her mother dead and why. Also available on OverDrive.

Recommended by: April Balasa, Patron Services Clerk

Posted in: Adult Fiction

For Whom the Book Tolls: An Antique Bookshop Mystery, #1

by Laura Gail Black

Trouble seems to follow Jenna Quinn. Fleeing some unsavory doings in her hometown, Jenna thinks going to visit her Uncle might do her some good. Soon after she arrives, Jenna finds him dead at the bottom of the stairs and now Jenna who is his primary beneficiary has now become the prime suspect.

Recommended by: April Balasa, Patron Services Clerk

Posted in: Adult Fiction

Don’t Turn Out the Lights: A Tribute to Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

by Jonathan Maberry

This collection of 35 chilling stories is just the thing to get you in the spirit just in time for the spooky season.

Recommended by: April Balasa, Patron Services Clerk

Posted in: Youth Fiction

Booked for Death: a Book Lover’s B&B Mystery

by Victoria Gilbert

Widow and former schoolteacher Charlotte Reed inherits the Chapters Bed and Breakfast from her great aunt Isabella. This reader’s paradise is nestled in the historic waterfront town of Beaufort, North Carolina. But soon the peaceful B&B becomes the scene of a grisly murder and with the victim’s daughter pointing the finger at Charlotte, she is more than ready to find the real killer before it’s too late.

Recommended by: April Balasa, Patron Services Clerk

Posted in: Adult Fiction

The Serpent King

by Jeff Zentner

The three main characters in this book, Dill, Lydia and Travis are best friends who are also outcasts. Each has their own personal struggles and strengths. As they all near college age they must make decisions that will affect their futures. Then the unthinkable happens. Will they have the strength to get through it? Also available on OverDrive.

Recommended by: Becky McCormack, Youth Services Assistant Manager

Posted in: Young Adult Fiction

Genesis Begins Again

by Alicia D. Williams

This story begins with Genesis getting evicted from yet another home. What is wrong with her parents? Why can’t they ever stay in one place? As the plot evolves, the reader discovers some of the long-held beliefs on Genesis’ father’s side of the family. Genesis struggles to come to terms with those beliefs and make new friends in yet another new school. Also available on OverDrive.

Recommended by: Becky McCormack, Youth Services Assistant Manager

Posted in: Youth Fiction

Obsessed: a memoir of my life with OCD

by Allison Britz

This memoir is intense. If you have no experience with or knowledge of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) then you’ll expand your know-how significantly in reading this book. Allison has sudden onset OCD in her sophomore year of high school. The struggles she details will both fill you with sympathy and make you cringe in disbelief. Also available on OverDrive.

Recommended by: Becky McCormack, Youth Services Assistant Manager

Posted in: Youth Nonfiction

Before the Ever After

by Jacqueline Woodson

A powerful novel in verse written by Woodson depicting the range of emotions characters feel as a former football player and father descends into the symptoms of the unknown disease called CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy. This degenerative brain disease affects boxers and football players and has led to improvements in football helmets. ZJ has to come to grips that his dad will not get better, may continue to get worse, as his dad’s memory of friends and even ZJ fails. And anger takes the place of memories.

Recommended by: Joan Stoiber, Youth Services Reference Librarian 1

Posted in: Youth Fiction

Even If We Break

by Marieke Nijkamp

This YA suspense novel takes you on a trip to a cabin with five friends. Four of them are hiding secrets, three years of history bind them, two of them are doomed from the start, one person wants to end this and it’s safe to say no one is safe. Seeing the events from all five characters perspectives adds to the unsettling feeling that this is not just going to be another game session for the group. Especially when a note is found that reads: If you break the rules, you will die. Are you ready to play?

Recommended by: April Balasa, Patron Services Clerk

Posted in: Young Adult Fiction

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