Staff Picks

Aref always has fun with his grandfather, Sidi. They sleep under the stars on Sidi’s rooftop. They have adventures in the desert. They visit the nesting grounds of giant sea turtles. But now Aref is moving from the beautiful deserts, beaches, and mountains of Oman to the unknown world of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Will he make friends in America? Who will take care of his cat, Mish-Mish? And how will he get by without his Sidi?

 

Publisher description:

When Aref, a third-grader who lives in Muscat, Oman, refuses to pack his suitcase and prepare to move to Michigan, his mother asks for help from his grandfather, his Sidi, who takes Aref around the country, storing up memories he can carry with him to a new home.

 

Hall brings forth a new take on the "enemies to lovers" and "fake dating" tropes in this gay romance novel. Readers will fall in love with both boys as they try to fall in love with each other and with themselves. Hall takes the reader on a journey through self-discovery and relationships of all kinds. Would recommend to anyone looking for a read-alike to Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston.

 

Publisher description:

Luc O'Donnell is tangentially--and reluctantly--famous. His rock star parents split when he was young, and the father he's never met spent the next twenty years cruising in and out of rehab. Now that his dad's making a comeback, Luc's back in the public eye, and one compromising photo is enough to ruin everything. To clean up his image, Luc has to find a nice, normal relationship...and Oliver Blackwood is as nice and normal as they come. He's a barrister, an ethical vegetarian, and he's never inspired a moment of scandal in his life. In other words: perfect boyfriend material. Unfortunately apart from being gay, single, and really, really in need of a date for a big event, Luc and Oliver have nothing in common. So they strike a deal to be publicity-friendly (fake) boyfriends until the dust has settled. Then they can go their separate ways and pretend it never happened. But the thing about fake-dating is that it can feel a lot like real-dating. And that's when you get used to someone. Start falling for them. Don't ever want to let them go.

 

This memoir by the author of the novel The Good Lord Bird was both an absorbing window into one man's search for

his identity and, as the subtitle states, a tribute to and biography of his indomitable mother, Ruth McBride Jordan, who grew up an Orthodox Jew in segregated Virginia and went on to raise twelve Black children during a time when her two interracial marriages could cause street riots (James was the eighth child). The title comes from her answer to a question James asked as a child, about what color God is. Both James and Ruth emerge as strong, compassionate people, role models more than 20 years after the book was published. I plan to read everything McBride has written.

 

Publisher description: 

An African American man describes life as the son of a white mother and Black father, reflecting on his mother's contributions to his life and his confusion over his own identity.

Find The Color of Water in our online catalog.

I rarely recommend a Caldecott Award winning book, because I see so many fabulous children's books that don't get the recognition they deserve. (Except David Weisner--I LOVE and promote many of his books.) But never before has the air been knocked out of me as it was when I experienced The Undefeated.  Now, I love Kadir Nelson's illustration, they blow me away, too. "Moses" is a beautiful retelling of Harriet Tubman's story. But with the paring of his drawings with the incredible poetry of Kwame Alexander, The Undefeated becomes a powerful anthem to all children. When I read it at storytime, I feel empowered by the text and illustrations. I am lifted up and humbled by those who have come before me, and when I read the last page with pictures of children with tears in their eyes and I say, "This is for the undefeated. This is for you. And you. And you. This is for us," I believe it.

 

I really enjoyed this zine-to-book creation filled with illustrations reminiscent of Amelia's Notebooks. I appreciate that Eleanor shared her (multiple) coming out stories, especially to readers who may have expectations of it being a grand, single-instance event. Oftentimes it's not, as Crewes' depicts throughout her story. It's worth noting that the author has supportive parents and friends in the book, but still struggled with their sexual identity for years. Sometimes we don't know how to own these things about ourselves until our hearts and minds are ready--even when it feels like everyone else knows, especially when growing up in heteronormative environments.

 

Publisher description:

Ellie always had questions about who she was and how she fit in. As a girl, she wore black, obsessed over Willow in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and found dating boys much more confusing than many of her friends did. As she grew older, so did her fears and a deep sense of un-belonging. From her first communion to her first girlfriend via a swathe of self-denial, awkward encounters, and everyday courage, Ellie tells her story through gorgeous illustrations--a fresh and funny self-portrait of a young woman becoming herself. The Times I Knew I Was Gay reminds us that people sometimes come out not just once but again and again; that identity is not necessarily about falling in love with others, but about coming to terms with oneself. Full of vitality and humor, it will ring true for anyone who has taken the time to discover who they truly are.

 

An exuberantly illustrated account of the Pendleton Round-Up in 1911, in which the audience disagreed with the judges' decision about who had ridden the best when the judges declared the only white finalist as the winner. George Fletcher was hailed as the People's Champion, and the audience raised money to award him a bigger purse than the official winnings. The author also included a glossary, photographs and further information about George Fletcher and the other main figures of the book, plus an excellent bibliography.

 

Publisher description: 

African American George Fletcher loved horses from an early age. When he unfairly lost the 1911 Pendleton Round-Up to a white man, the outraged audience declared him "people's champion".

 

The premise is bleak--the protagonist Nora is at the point of despair, contemplating suicide. When she takes that decisive act, she does not die but wakes to find herself in the in-between world of The Midnight Library. There she encounters Mrs. Elm, her grade school teacher, who guides Nora to select her next title. Every book in the library is a possible life she could live and stay in. The magical elements of this story are firmly rooted in Nora's self knowledge and her exploration of regret.

 

Publisher description:

While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better? In The Midnight Library, Nora Seed finds herself faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one: following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist. She must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

 

 

Héctor Tobar paints a picture of various U.S. immigrant situations around the main story of a privileged California family and what happens when their maid, Aracelli, is inadvertently left in charge of their two boys. This tale weaves through many character perspectives, from the Mexican maid to her employers and even their children. We get to see people discovering where they fit in the "pigmented pyramid of privilege" during this upended adventure.

 

Publisher description: 

After the husband and wife that she works for disappear, live-in maid Araceli takes their two boys on a journey through sprawling Los Angeles to locate their grandfather.

Find The Barbarian Nurseries in our online catalog.