Staff Picks - LibGuides at Boulder Public Library

Henry Denton has been kidnapped by aliens again. One of many abductions for this teenage boy who cannot see what in the world makes him so special. The "sluggers" have no discernable features and do not speak or communicate in anyway a human would understand and perform unspeakable experiments before returning him to earth, sometimes days later, almost always without his clothing. But then they reveal to him that he is given the power to make a choice. In 144 days the world will end. But if he pushes a red button he can save the Earth. That's all well and good, except Henry isn't sure it should be saved.

Things in Henry's world are not so great. Still unable to cope with his boyfriend's suicide a year earlier, he cannot see much good in anything. Kids at school humiliate him, calling him "Space Boy" after he accidentally let slip that he had been abducted by aliens. He is tormented and abused by a "popular" boy who is hiding his homosexuality and is using Henry's vulnerable state to satisfy his own needs. At home, his brother, Charlie, who has always found horrible ways to torture Henry, has gotten his girlfriend pregnant and is the worst candidate for becoming a decent father. Their mother is a very talented chef but is languishing in a horrible job as a waitress trying to support the family and reeling from Charlie's announcement. She is also overwhelmed with taking care of her own mother who is gradually succumbing to Alzheimer's losing those most precious memories who make her who she is and is not safe to be left alone in the house.

But then his world is turned upside down by the arrival of Diego: a new student who is drop dead gorgeous and enigmatic and giving him far more attention than Henry believe he deserves. Things start to change in complicated and insightful ways. Henry discovers there might be some good out there but doesn't trust it. Everything he loves always is stripped away from him, but is there hope? Will things get better? Is wiping the slate clean by letting the Earth end maybe not the best thing for humanity? Truly creative storytelling, character development, and cynical dark humor dealing with issues of severe depression, bullying, loss, love, friendship and family.

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Shannon recommends The Raven Boys: The Graphic Novel by Maggie Stiefvater

Four teenagers are on a quest to find Glendower, an ancient Welsh king, and the magical reward that comes with the discovery. On their search, they encounter secret forests that stop time, fanciful legends that began in truth, and unsavory characters that will do anything to find Glendower first. While the book version of The Raven Boys is lyrical and beautifully written, the graphic novel version brings the story and characters to life with expressive artwork.Publisher's description:Blue Sargent comes from a family of psychics. Only, she has never had the same clairvoyant abilities they had and has always felt too ordinary within the magic that surrounded her. Enter Gansey, a rich student from Aglionby, the town's all-boys private school teeming with wealth, privilege, and trouble. Blue's always made it a point to stay away from its students, the Raven Boys. But when Gansey asks her to join him and three other Raven Boys on his quest to find a long-forgotten Welsh king rumored to be sleeping beneath the mountains of their quiet Virginia town, Blue doesn't hesitate. She jumps at the chance to finally be a part of something real and full of magic, a world she was born into yet one that always stood just out of reach. Soon enough, she's swept into a strange and shifting world woven into theirs, one far more dangerous than anything they could have dreamt up.Find The Raven Boys in our online catalog...

Sveva recommends Animal Farm by George Orwell

Animal Farm is a novella about rebellion where all the animals of the farm rebel from their human owner and take over the farm. But afterwards, the same animals become like their owner. The pigs, who are considered the “bosses”, take control, change the rules and treat the other animals as inferior, just like humans do. With this story, Orwell wants to show how power can be abused and how inequality persists. This book gives you a “reality check” on politics and gives a clear and powerful message about how power can be easily corrupted, manipulated and abused....

Monnie recommends Buckeye by Patrick Ryan

This big, beautifully-written book follows two couples through the decades from WWII to Vietnam. The story creates a genuine feel for middle-America during those eras and covers serendipitous meetings, closely-hidden personal secrets, and how they weave misunderstandings into family lore. It covers tradition and the breaking of tradition, mediums and belief, childhood friendships, and what it means to be parents, partners, and friends through life's trials. A wonderful, warm, and thoughtful novel.Publisher description:In Bonhomie, Ohio, a stolen moment of passion, sparked in the exuberant aftermath of the Allied victory in Europe, binds Cal Jenkins, a man wounded not in war but by his inability to serve in it, to Margaret Salt, a woman trying to obscure her past. Cal’s wife, Becky, has a spiritual gift: She is a seer who can conjure the dead, helping families connect with those they’ve lost. Margaret’s husband, Felix, is serving on a Navy cargo ship, out of harm’s way—until a telegram suggests that the unthinkable might have happened. Later, as the country reconstructs in the postwar boom, a secret grows in Bonhomie—but nothing stays buried forever in a small town. Against the backdrop of some of the most transformative decades in modern America, the consequences of that long-ago encounter ripple through the next generation of both families, compelling them to reexamine who they thought they were and what the future might hold.Find Buckeye in our online catalog...

Bergen recommends One day, everyone will have always been against this by Omar El Akkad

Omar El Akkad writes with a strong sense of moral clarity about the fight to maintain one's humanity in the face of state-sanctioned violence. His background as a writer shines through each meticulously crafted sentence. The blend of memoir, journalism, and call to action gives the reader a sense of urgency to do what's right when it counts. This book is upsetting, yes, but also moving. It gives the courage to find hope amid so much loss.Publisher's Description:From award-winning novelist and journalist Omar El Akkad comes a powerful reckoning with what it means to live in the heart of an empire that doesn't consider you fully human. On October 25th, 2023, after just three weeks of the bombardment of Gaza, Omar El Akkad put out a tweet: "One day, when it's safe, when there's no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it's too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this." This tweet was viewed more than ten million times. One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This chronicles the deep fracture that has occurred for Black, brown, Indigenous Americans, as well as the upcoming generation, many of whom had clung to a thread of faith in Western ideals, in the idea that their countries, or the countries of their adoption, actually attempted to live up to the values they espouse.Find One day, everyone will have always been against this in our online catalog ...

Theresa recommends We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson