Blog Post
Staff Picks: Superhero Fiction for Teens
by nicole
Superhero stories have become so popular that they're expanding outside of the world of comics into full-length novels. These books are perfect for readers who want to explore the multiverse or learn the origin stories of their favorite superheroes.
Storm: Dawn of a Goddess by Tiffany D. Jackson| Request Now
Before she was the super hero Storm of Marvel's X-Men, she was Ororo of Cairo--a teenaged thief on the streets of Egypt, until her growing powers catch the eye of a villain who steals people's souls. Few can weather the storm. As a thief on the streets of Cairo, Ororo Munroe is an expert at blending in--keeping her blue eyes low and her white hair beneath a scarf. Stealth is her specialty . . . especially since strange things happen when she loses control. Lately, Ororo has been losing control more often, setting off sudden rainstorms and mysterious winds . . . and attracting dangerous attention. When she is forced to run from the Shadow King, a villain who steals people's souls, she has nowhere to turn to but herself. There is something inside her, calling her across Africa, and the hidden truth of her heritage is close enough to taste. But as Ororo nears the secrets of her past, her powers grow stronger and the Shadow King veers closer and closer. Can she outrun the shadows that chase her? Or can she step into the spotlight and embrace the coming storm?
Faith: Taking Flight by Julie Murphy | Request Now
Meet Faith, a groundbreaking, plus-sized superhero from Valiant comics, and learn her origin story in this two-part book series. When she's not hanging out with her two best friends, Matt and Ches, Faith Herbert is volunteering at the local animal shelter or obsessing over the long-running teen drama The Grove. So far, her senior year has been spent trying to sort out her feelings for her maybe-crush Johnny and making plans to stay close to Grandma Lou after graduation. And there's the small matter of recently discovering she can fly. Then the fictional world of The Grove relocates to her town, and TV heroine Dakota Ash takes a romantic interest in Faith. But when animals, then people, begin to vanish, only Faith seems able to connect the dots to a new designer drug infiltrating her high school. If you enjoy Faith's story, you can find the second book in the duology here.
Miles Morales: Suspended by Jason Reynolds | Request Now
Miles Morales is just your average teenager. He has unexpectedly become totally obsessed with poetry and can never seem to do much more than babble around his crush. Nothing too weird. Oh! Except, just yesterday, he used his superpowers to save the world (no big deal) from an evil mastermind called The Warden. And the grand prize Miles gets for that is...a suspension. But what begins as a long boring day of in-school suspension is interrupted by a little bzzz in his mind. His Spidey sense is telling him there’s something not quite right here, and soon he finds himself in a fierce battle with an insidious...termite?! His unexpected foe is hiding a secret, one that could lead to the destruction of the world’s history — especially Black and Brown history — and only Miles can stop him. It's just a typical day in the life of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
Superman: Dawnbreaker by Matt de la Peña | Request Now
For as long as he can remember, Clark Kent has always been faster, stronger, and, well...better than everyone else around him. But lately it's been difficult to hold back and keep his heroics in the shadows. In Clark's opinion, he hasn't even earned his powers...at least, not yet. When Clark follows the sound of a girl crying, he comes across Gloria Alvarez and learns that people are disappearing from the Mexican-American and undocumented worker community in Smallville. Teaming up with his best friend, Lana Lang, Clark discovers that before he can save the world, he has to save his own hometown.
Blog Post
Staff Picks: Firsts in Fantasy Series
by ohheyitselle
It's time for starting fresh and new beginnings... why not embark on a journey with one of these fantasy series firsts?
Jade City by Fonda Lee | Request Now
This award-winning family saga is a great entry not only for this series, but into the fantasy genre too! The story follows the three Kaul siblings: Lan, Hilo, and Shae as they struggle to find their place at the head of the clan during the health decline of their warhero grandfather. As if a disruption in the clan's hierarchy isn't enough... a war with the other clan is brewing over the management of the country's magical resource: jade. If you struggle with magic systems, have no fear! This universe operates on a low magic system that is easy to follow with the only magical element being jade. In all sincerity, Jade City reads more like a 1950's mob family drama than a fantasy novel mainly because of how character driven it is. The book is FLUSHED with well-written characters and makes you feel like you're a part of the Kaul family. It is easily one of my favorite fantasy novels I've read this year and am eagerly awaiting my hold on the rest of the series!
The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemision | Request Now
Every few centuries, the inhabitants of The Stillness endure catastrophic climate change called a Fifth Season (roll credits!) The powerful earthquake-controlling magic users of this world, orogenes, are feared among the people of the Stillness and taken as children so they can be trained and kept contained by trained assassins called guardians. The guardians are meant to keep the orogenes in check, but there wouldn't be much of a story if everything went as it was meant to.
The Fifth Season follows three female orogenes (Essun, Damaya, and Syenite) at different stages of life from across the Stillness and as the worst Fifth Season in recorded history unfolds. The Fifth Season is a home run of a series starter and certainly a must read for someone trying to break into the Fantasy genre!!
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao | Request Now
Is that a sneaky lil Sci-Fi amid a bunch of Fantasy?? IT IS! Iron Widow is a reimagining of the historical Wu Zetian's rise to power mixed with female rage, giant mecha, action, polyamory, and some wild twists and turns along the way! Our story takes place in a man-centric world where women are used as disposable energy for men to utilize in the fight against alien creatures, Hunduns. Our protagonist, Wu Zetian, enlists as a concubine to enact revenge on the mecha pilot who killed her sister despite that fact that it will likely mean her own death.
This first of its series is phenomenal but be forewarned that it certainly starts with a bang and is not for the faint of heart! It tackles a lot of serious issues while also being very violent. Wu Zetian is lead by her rage and it shows time and time again throughout the book. While the rest of the series is unfinished, I can't wait to see how the story unfolds!
The Final Empire (Mistborn #1) by Brandon Sanderson | Request Now
Okay... buckle up! Brandon Sanderson is a big name in the Fantasy world and quite frankly stepping into his universe, the Cosmere, can be DAUNTING! But if you want to dip your toes into the Cosmere, a perfect place to start is book one of the Mistborn Trilogy! Our protagonist, Vin, is a young woman who realizes she is a Mistborn, a magic user who can "burn" ingested metals and turns them into supernatural abilities. Vin joins forces with a fellow Mistborn and mentor, Kelsier, in hatching a plan to overthrow the tyrannous Lord Ruler and steal his stores of metals by infiltrating the nobility. Only not everything goes exactly according to plan... shocking, I know. The Mistborn series, as well as Sanderson's other books, operates under a hard magic system, but there are helpful resources in the book to help the reader keep track of everything! If you end up enjoying The Final Empire then you can make your way to the rest of the trilogy* and perhaps even further into the Cosmere!
*Pro Tip: There are TWO Mistborn series that take place on the same planet! The first series is books 1-3 and is considered Era One, meanwhile Era Two contains books 4-7.
Blog Post
Staff Picks: Great Baking Books
by eapearce
Any time of year is a great time to bake, but baking just as the weather starts to turn cold might be the best time of all. Bake for yourself, bake for your family and friends, bake for the holidays! Bake breads, bake cookies, bake cakes or pies, bake whatever floats your boat. Need some inspiration for what to pop in the oven? Read on!
Delectable: Sweet & Savory Baking, by Claudia Fleming | Request Now
You might recognize the name of Chef Claudia Fleming for several reasons: she’s the author of the best-selling 2001 cookbook The Last Course and her dessert menus have reigned supreme for many years at the beloved Gramercy Tavern in New York City. Fans long wondered if Fleming would ever publish a second cookbook, but the 20+ year wait was worth it when she released Delectable in 2022. Despite being a wildly talented James Beard Award-winning chef with (presumably) any ingredient she needs at her fingertips, you don’t need to be a world class baker yourself to make use of Delectable. There are very few hard-to-find ingredients, and her recipes are straightforward and detailed, making even the more complicated ones to follow easy if you go step-by-step. What’s particularly nice about this book is that it contains recipes for both sweet bakes and savory ones, so it can be used for more than just dessert. Along with recipes for Devil’s food cake cookies and rhubarb scones, you’ll find ones for chickpea crackers, gruyere and onion biscuits, and eggplant tart. Yum!
A Good Day to Bake: Simple Baking Recipes for Every Mood, by Benjamina Ebuehi | Request Now
2016 Great British Bakeoff contestant Benjamina Ebuehi loves the ritual of baking. In her book, she encourages readers take time to enjoy the baking process and perhaps even find it therapeutic. “Going through the ritual of bringing out the measuring scales, pouring out flour, whipping up the eggs, stirring the batter and impatiently slicing up warm cake is a beautiful thing that deserves to be enjoyed all year round, no matter the day, season, or occasion,” she says. Her recipes reflect this belief: they’re very seasonal and down-to-earth and are often quite simple, perhaps with a small unexpected twist that elevate them above other routine bakes. She arranges her cookbook (her sophomore effort; her first was A New Way to Cake) by ingredient and introduces each recipe with tips, flavor notes and an explanation of how she developed it. The clean, peaceful images that accompany the recipes will aid readers who are using baking as a mindfulness practice or way to relax.
More Than Cake: 100 Baking Recipes Built for Pleasure and Community, by Natasha Pickowicz | Request Now
Pickowicz has won awards for her baking at Altro Paradiso and Flora Bar, but is especially renowned for how she uses her baking skills for good. She’s raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for causes that she cares about through her community bake sales and taught hundreds of people how to bake along the way. Though she’s certainly capable of making the most complicated baked creation, she typically prefers to keep her recipes unfussy (chocolate mousse in a blender) and to experiment with flavors that honor her Chinese heritage (red bean and brown butter pie, scallion pancake biscuits and black sesame fortune cookies, to name a few). She adheres to the “no occasion is too small an occasion to bake for” mentality and includes recipes perfect for baking just for your partner or recipes that scale up well to create for your entire office. Included in the book is an essay for tips on how to hold a successful bake sale and suggestions for baked goods that perform particularly well in a bake sale setting.
Baking Yesteryear: the Best Recipes from the 1900s to the 1980s, by B. Dylan Hollis | Request Now
The back cover of this fun cookbook touts it as “a decade-by-decade collection of wild, wacky and wonderful recipes from the 20th century,” and that’s truly what it is! You can travel back in (culinary) time aided by B. Dylan Hollis, who has selected a unique assortment of popular recipes from days of old. He mainly used antique cookbooks to compile the recipes in this collection and—purposefully—they’re not all winners. While some are just as delicious today as they probably were in 1934, others are delightfully strange and still others might make you question what people were eating back then! Some of Hollis’ favorites include cornflake macaroons from 1909, mayonnaise cake from 1956 and potato chip cookies from the 1970s. Others, like chocolate sauerkraut cake from the 1940s, are a bit of a stretch. Hollis accompanies all the recipes with witticisms and humorous commentary. This book is great fun.
Blog Post
Staff Picks: Hot off the Press–New Releases from Fifth Avenue Press
by emjane
One of the neatest things about this collection of books is that ALL of them are available for you to read digitally RIGHT NOW, and the only ticket for entry is your AADL Library Card! You can read them directly in your browser from AADL’s catalog or download the PDFs to read from other devices.
The Twin Panthers by Héctor Fox | Request Now
Fox’s short pitch of his debut novel is “Game of Thrones done Mesoamerican style,” and I couldn’t say it any better! If that draws you in, this book is for you! The Twin Panthers centers on Itza’ and Chanil, the two daughters of the king in a region facing unrest from a neighboring kingdom and foreign invaders. Both sisters struggle with the expectations put upon them, as they attempt to figure out who they are within (and outside of) their role in their community. Fox excels at character development, and though I’m often skeptical of men writing women characters, his voice reads authentically. As someone who is NOT a typical fantasy reader and one who frequently gets bored during battle scenes, I was stunned to find that The Twin Panthers was absolutely my jam—including the battles! I can’t wait to read what Fox comes up with next!
The Northeast Corner by Colby Halloran | Request Now
Set in Ann Arbor in the late 1950s-late 1960s, this auto-fiction (Halloran states that 95% of the book actually happened), tracks the coming of age of a precocious protagonist. Finding comfort in rules and patterns, the young narrator’s worldview begins to crumble when she starts to uncover a secret that her idolized father may not be the man she thought he was. Health challenges further mar the family dynamic, necessitating a move and forcing both the narrator and her mother to change their roles in the family. Despite these serious circumstances, The Northeast Corner is filled with humor and moments of lightness, giving the book a balanced feel. And, oh, the ending! Don’t flip ahead, but, gee…that last line of the book.
Peri Peri Paprika by Leanne Su | Request Now
This page-turner is an utter delight from beginning to end! A cozy sci-fi filled with humor, heart, and a dash of legitimate science (Su is a aerospace engineer focusing on propulsion), Peri Peri Paprika is a book I could recommend to just about anybody! Moss, a disenchanted pilot on an interstellar trash collection ship, is simply existing until she is technically legally kidnapped by Turnip, the ship’s janitor, and taken on a galactic adventure that completely reframes her life. The reader is taken along on Moss and Turnip’s journey, meeting various lifeforms, evading law enforcement, and, of course, becoming friends along the way. The small twist made me cackle with glee, and in the short nine chapters, I found myself truly loving Turnip and Moss. I got to read this book pre-publication, and am so pleased it’s finally out in the world so that I can give it to all my friends who I told “I read this book you’re going to EAT UP! Just you wait until November!”
A2Z: An Ann Arbor Alphabet by Bettina Senga | Request Now
A2Z is truly an alphabet book for all ages, and one particularly enhanced by passing (or intimate) familiarity with key places in Ann Arbor. Charming linocuts of iconic Ann Arbor artifacts and landmarks set alongside brightly colored letters, reminiscent of classic letter blocks, make each page turn a delight. Senga’s detailed art makes the familiar reader’s mind jump straight to location: my personal favorite is H for Huron River, but maybe, for you, it’ll be F for the Fleetwood, M for Mastodon, or Z for Zingerman’s. Only one way to find out: treat yourself to the read!
And THAT'S NOT ALL! Here are some other amazing releases from 2024:
Zmagria: Poems by Moana Ammar | Request Now
Field Guide to Ambiguity by Hannah Burr | Request Now
Family Foundations: Four Stories of Black Washtenaw County Community Building: 1850-1950 | Request Now
Ripple Effects: A Northern Woods Romance by Amy Hepp | Request Now
Zaftig by Molly Pershon Raynor | Request Now
Blog Post
Staff Picks: Poetry Anthologies
by walkerk
Poetry is a personal experience, and it can be overwhelming to find what you like when you're exploring or just starting out. Luckily, anthologies expose us to a variety of writers and poems we might not have otherwise heard of, giving us the chance to experience something new and figure out what we enjoy. Here are four poetry anthologies to check out if you're looking to expand your palate:
Living Nations, Living Words: An Anthology of First Peoples Poetry, collected by Joy Harjo | Request Now
Living Nations, Living Words is a powerful and moving anthology that celebrates the breadth of Native poets writing today. Joy Harjo, the first Native poet to serve as U.S. Poet Laureate, gathers the work of contemporary Native poets into a national, fully digital map of story, sound, and space, celebrating their vital and unequivocal contributions to American poetry. Featuring work from Natalie Diaz, Ray Young Bear, Craig Santos Perez, Sherwin Bitsui, Layli Long Soldier, among others, this companion anthology offers readers a chance to hold the wealth of poems in their hands.
This is the Honey: An Anthology of Contemporary Black Poets, edited by Kwame Alexander | Request Now 
This is the Honey is a breathtaking poetry collection on hope, heart, and heritage. It features work from promising and well-loved Black poets and writers, such as Rita Dove, Jericho Brown, Warsan Shire, Ross Gay, Tracy K. Smith, Terrance Hayes, Morgan Parker, and Nikki Giovanni. Edited by Kwame Alexander, author of Why Fathers Cry at Night and a New York Times bestselling author, this collection of contemporary anthems, with tender threads and poignant imagery, contains poems exploring joy, love, origin, race, resistance, praise, and music.
The Wonder of Small Things: Poems of Peace and Renewal, edited by James Crews | Request Now
The Wonder of Small Things is a collection of accessible and uplifting poetry celebrating moments of wonder and peace in everyday life. James Crews, editor of How to Love the World and The Path to Kindness, curates a selection of poems from a diverse range of authors, as well as emerging poets. Readers are guided in exploring the meaning of poems through a series of reflective pauses and reading questions in the back of the book. This anthology is perfect for anyone interested in mindful living and bringing poetry into their everyday lives.
Queer Nature: a Poetry Anthology, edited by Michael Walsh | Request Now
Queer Nature centers LGBTQIA+ voices and perspectives in a collection of contemporary nature poetry. Showcasing over two hundred queer writers from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century, it expands upon the canon of nature poetry while also offering new lenses to view queerness and the natural world. Edited by Michael Walsh, this anthology features poets such as Elizabeth Bishop, Richard Blanco, Kay Ryan, Jericho Brown, Allen Ginsberg, Natalie Diaz, and June Jordan.
Blog Post
Staff Picks: Horror Movie Highlights
by lucroe
Halloween may have come and gone, but there is always time for a good scary movie as the nights grow longer and the cozy season is upon us. Here are some recommendations for some recent horror movies in our expansive collection.
Late Night with the Devil directed by the Cairnes Brothers | Request Now
This innovative horror movie takes place in 1977 on the set of a late- night variety show, Night Owls, in direct competition with Johnny Carson. The host, Jack Delroy (David Dasmtalchian) needs to move up in the ratings to keep his job and become king of late-night television. A special Halloween episode might just do the trick (no pun intended). His guests include a medium Christou (Fayssal Bazzi) who does some semi-successful cold readings with the audience; a professional skeptic Carmichael Haig (Ian Bliss), who makes a living debunking charlatans who squeeze money out of well-meaning people while pretending to reach across to the “other side;” and a parapsychologist June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon) and her mysterious client, a young girl named Lilly (Ingrid Torelli), who claims to be possessed by a demon. The night starts smoothly as many good horror movies do, but gradually something eerie and menacing creeps into the show. Both the studio audience and we as the viewers begin to question the nature of what we are seeing and wonder where it will all take us.
Exhuma directed by Jang Jae-Hyun | Request Now
Exhuma starts off by introducing Shaman Hwa-rim (Kim Go-eun) and her close protégé Bong-gil (Lee Do-hyun) as they arrive in Los Angeles. They've been summoned by the ultra-rich Park Ji-yong (Kim Jae-cheol) for a well-paying gig to help rid his infant son of a supernatural curse. Hwa-rim traces the curse back to South Korea and enlists colleague and geomancer Sang-deok (Choi Min-sik) and mortician Young-geun (Yoo Hae-jin) for assistance. The group's investigation leads them to an unmarked grave on an isolated mountainside, despite some reservations from Sang-deok. Despite the ill omens, Hwa-rim convinces the group to proceed with the job, which ultimately leads to the unleashing of an unforeseen, unstoppable evil. Exhuma’s story of ghosts, colonialism, curses, and the legacy of war slowly unveils itself.
Oddity directed by Damian McCarthy | Request Now
Dani (Carolyn Bracken) moves into a very remote house in the Irish countryside with her husband Ted (Gwilym Lee), a doctor at the nearby mental asylum. One night while Ted is at work, a creepy stranger (Tadhg Murphy) knocks on the door and tells Dani that he saw someone, or something, enter the house and that she is in grave danger. Dani must decide whether to trust him. The story cuts to a year later where we learn that Dani was killed that night. Ted has a new girlfriend, Yana (Caroline Menton) and they are living together in that same house. Dani's vision-impaired twin sister, Darcy soon arrives with a wooden homunculus to investigate her sister's death. Darcy, who owns a shop of occult items, aims to uncover the truth. Oddity is a unique horror film that doesn't follow typical movie stories, keeping you guessing and building tension. It mixes natural and supernatural elements, making it unpredictable yet satisfying. The movie surprises you, not in a bad way, but in a way that fits its title.
Longlegs directed by Oz Perkins | Request Now
Maika Monroe plays FBI Agent Lee Harker, who is tasked with a seemingly impossible job, track down a serial killer who doesn’t appear to be physically present at the scene of their crimes. The movie’s unnerving mood may be off putting to some viewers, but Nicolas Cage’s role as the eponymous Longlegs is reason enough to stick around and see this one through to the end.
Blog Post
Staff Picks: Graphic Novels on Mental Health
by nicole
These thought-provoking graphic novels depict the ups and downs of dealing with mental illness and the effects our mental health can have on our minds, bodies, and day-to-day lives.
Seek You: A Journey through American Loneliness by Kristen Radtke | Request Now
When Kristen Radtke was in her twenties she learned that back when he was growing up, her father would crawl onto his roof in rural Wisconsin and send signals out on his ham radio. Those CQ calls were his attempt to reach somebody--anybody--who would respond. In Seek You, Radtke uses this image as her jumping off point into a piercing exploration of loneliness and the ways in which we attempt to feel closer to one another. She looks at the very real current crisis of loneliness through the lenses of gender, violence, technology, and art. Ranging from the invention of the laugh-track to Instagram to Harry Harlow's experiments in which infant monkeys were given inanimate surrogate mothers, Radtke uncovers all she can about how we engage with friends, family, and strangers alike, and what happens--to us and to them--when we disengage.
Just Peachy: Comics About Depression, Anxiety, Love, and Finding the Humor in Being Sad by Holly Chisholm | Request Now
Just Peachy is a comic series that explores what the day-to-day is like with depression and/or anxiety. The all-too-real cartoon protagonist gives readers a character to empathize with, and helps explain some of the not often talked about consequences and symptoms of having depression. The comics also explore the themes of heartbreak, finding love, dealing with stress, and capturing the magical moments in life that keep us going. Through dark humor and cute illustrations, the subject matter becomes a bit more bearable, allowing for honest discussion about things like treatment and getting through anxiety attacks and providing some comfort in times of struggle. For anyone affected by mental illness, Just Peachy shows that you are not alone. Simply put, this is an encouraging collection of comics about being just okay sometimes.
Anxiety is Really Strange by Steve Haines | Request Now
What is the difference between fear and excitement and how can you tell them apart? How do the mind and body make emotions? When can anxiety be good? This science-based graphic book addresses these questions and more, revealing just how strange anxiety is, but also how to unravel its mysteries and relieve its effects. Understanding how anxiety is created by our nervous system trying to protect us, and how our fight-or-flight mechanisms can get stuck, can significantly lessen the fear experienced during anxiety attacks. In this guide, anxiety is explained in an easy-to-understand, engaging graphic format with tips and strategies to relieve its symptoms, and change the mind's habits for a more positive outlook. Readers who enjoy this title can find additional comics in this series, including Trauma is Really Strange, in the AADL collection.
Bird Brain: Comics About Mental Health, Starring Pigeons by Chuck Mullin | Request Now
Some mental health books can be a heavy read, so here's a collection of comics that take a more light-hearted approach. Bird Brain is a collection of brutally honest, brilliantly weird comics exploring what it's like to live with mental illness...using pigeons. When Chuck Mullin began experiencing anxiety and depression as a teenager, she started drawing comics to help her make sense of the rollercoaster. Eventually, she found that pigeons--lovably quirky, yet universally reviled creatures--were the ideal subjects of a comic about mental illness. Organized in three sections--"Bad Times," "Relationships," and "Positivity"--and featuring several short essays about the author's experiences, Bird Brain is a highly relatable, chuckle-inducing, and ultimately uplifting collection of comics for anyone who has struggled to maintain their mental health.
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Staff Picks: New Fiction by Indigenous Authors
by eapearce
Check out these new fiction titles by Indigenous authors that span a range of fictional genres!
Wandering Stars, by Tommy Orange | Request Now
This buzzed-about title is the sequel to Orange’s 2018 book, There, There. In this follow-up, Orange brings back some of the familiar characters from the first in the series, and also takes readers back in time to the legacy of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and the Carlisle Industrial School for Indians. The stories of three generations of a family are traced, and Orange deftly demonstrates the pain of generational trauma along with the stunning measures that his characters have taken to heal themselves and their loved ones. If you missed There, There back in 2018, pick that one up first—you won’t be able to put it down once you’ve cracked it open!—and then move on to Wandering Stars. They are a pair of novels not to be missed.
Indian Burial Ground, by Nick Medina | Request Now
If horror is a genre you like to dip your toes into, you may want to put this new novel from Nick Medina on your “to read” list Things are finally looking up for Noemi Broussard. After a tough childhood and rough teenage years, she’s finally found herself Roddy, a boyfriend who treats her right, and she’s made a plan to move with him away from the reservation that she grew up on. Inspired by her Uncle Louie, who did the same thing and forged a new life for himself, she has hope for the first time in a long time. But when Roddy commits suicide, Noemi cannot believe it. As she learns more about the circumstances surrounding his death, the facts just don’t add up and Noemi begins to wonder if their tribal lands contain a menacing secret. When Uncle Louie returns to the reservation after over a decade away, he teams up with Noemi to try and determine what really happened to Roddy. But as they learn more about a past of secrets, horror and death on the reservation, Noemi begins to think that it might be best for some secrets to remain buried….
The Truth According to Ember, by Danica Nava | Request Now
If you’re looking for a lighter read, you might enjoy this contemporary romance about a Native American woman who tells a little white lie… that snowballs into something much bigger. When Ember Cardinal’s resume is rejected for the thirty-seventh time, she finds herself becoming desperate. Though she’s never thought of herself as a liar, she can’t help but wonder if her heritage has something to do with it. So, instead of listing herself as Indigenous on job applications, she starts listing herself as white… and immediately lands her dream job in a corporate accounting firm. She thrives in the fast-paced environment, and even starts secretly dating the IT guy and fellow Native American, Danuwoa. But when they’re caught by a mid-level executive on a work trip, he threatens to expose them both unless Ember manipulates the books for him. Desperate to save both her and Danuwoa’s jobs, she follows his orders, and the lies continue to grow. Ultimately, Ember must make the difficult choice to tell the truth—and potentially lose everything, or lead a life as someone she isn’t.
A Constellation of Minor Bears, by Jen Ferguson | Request Now
Teens—or fans of YA literature in general—may want to checkout the latest from Jen Ferguson, author of The Summer of Bitter and Sweet. In this new novel, three friends: brother and sister Hank and Molly, and their friend Tray are planning a post-graduation hike of the Pacific Crest Trail. But when Hank suffers a traumatic brain injury after an indoor climbing incident, Molly and Hank are devastated and Molly is filled with anger. Even though she knows the accident wasn’t Tray’s fault, she’s furious at him for being there and not being able to stop Hank from falling. Determined to go on the hike, even without Hank, Molly packs her bags, prepared to hike solo and grieve the loss of her brother as she knew him. But her parents force Tray to go along, too, so that Molly has a buddy. Tray is the last person she wants to be around, but if she wants to complete the hike, she has no choice. Readers will root for the two teens, both struggling with their own grief and anger, but both with very big hearts.
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Staff Picks: Mythological Fiction
by walkerk
Mythological fiction (or mythic fiction) is a genre that draws heavily from the themes, symbolism, and tropes of mythology, folklore, legend, and fable. These stories sometimes adapt old myths into modern retellings, using and exploring the culture they originate from, and some stories include mythological figures as characters and/or focus on their descendants, like in Percy Jackson. Here are four adult titles to explore if you love a good mythic tale:
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia | Request Now
The Jazz Age is in full swing, but Casiopea Tun is too busy cleaning the floors of her wealthy grandfather's house to listen. She dreams of a life far from her dusty small town in southern Mexico. A life she can call her own. This new life seems distant until, one day, she opens a curious wooden box in her grandfather's room and accidentally frees the spirit of the Mayan god of death, who requests her help in recovering his throne from his treacherous brother. Failure will mean Casiopea's demise, but success could make her dreams come true.
Described by readers as a modern fairytale, this title is filled with layered characters, nuanced narrative, quiet moments of vulnerability, a tragically poetic relationship, and lyrical writing. It is both a heartbreaking and heartmending tale.
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse | Request Now
Inspired by the civilizations of the Pre-Columbian Americas, Black Sun takes place in the holy city of Tova, where this year's winter solstice coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world. Meanwhile, a ship is bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. Its captain, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind. Her ship carries one supposedly harmless passenger: Serapio, a young man, blind, scarred, and cloaked in destiny. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as harmless, he usually ends up being a villain.
This title is a queer epic fantasy that skillfully balances the perspectives of its four main characters and richly examines topics such as generational trauma and feelings of not belonging. Readers have described this as an engrossing book with lush magic and vivid world-building.
River Mumma by Zalika Reid-Benta | Request Now
Alicia has been out of grad school for months. She has no career prospects and lives with her mom. But, one evening, the Jamaican water deity, River Mumma, appears to her, telling her that she has twenty-four hours to scour the city for her missing comb. Alicia doesn’t understand why River Mumma would choose her—she can’t remember all the legends her relatives told her, unlike her retail co-worker, Heaven, who can reel off Jamaican folklore by heart. But when Alicia and her friends are chased down by malevolent spirits, they realize their tenuous bonds to each other may be their only lifelines.
River Mumma is an exhilarating and vibrant exploration of diasporic community and ancestral ties, and it includes the cool use Jamaican patois. Readers describe this title as a fast-paced and magical page-turner that explores kinship, friendship, identity, and creativity.
Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel | Request Now
Written as a "what-if" style alternative of the Hindu epic Ramayana, Patel's reimagining follows Kaikeyi, the only daughter of the kingdom of Kekaya, and one of the most villainized figures in Hindu Mythology, as she seeks independence. Kaikeyi turns to the texts she once read with her mother and discovers a magic that is hers alone. With it, Kaikeyi transforms herself from an overlooked princess into a warrior, diplomat, and most favored queen. But the path she has forged clashes with the destiny the gods have chosen for her family. And Kaikeyi must decide if resistance is worth the destruction it will wreak.
Captivating from start to finish with rich settings, bright and vivid storytelling, and elegant writing, readers often describe Kaikeyi as an empowering, feminist retelling with complex familial relationships as the story's highlight.
Blog Post
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #845, Odd Jobs
by muffy
Odd adj. strange or unexpected (OED)
Five-Star Stranger * * by Kat Tang (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook) is a “moving and offbeat debut.” (Publishers Weekly)
For a decade our unnamed narrator offers his services on the Rent-a-Stranger app., ever so conscious of maintaining his hard-earned 5-star rating. He has been hired as a pretend fiance, a mourner at a funeral, as a drugged out brother to an aspiring writer looking for authenticity. But the most important and emotionally engaging gig for the past 8 years had been to pose as 10 year-old Lily’s father, as a long-distance truck driver in town once a week to spend time with her.
As Lily grows more inquisitive of her “father” and the family he never mentions, our stranger breaks the strict rules of maintaining a professional distance from his clients and puts his career in jeopardy. His backstory also slowly emerges - of a childhood interrupted by a cross-country move, a single mother who committed suicide in his teens, shedding light on his needs to be love and be loved.
“Provocative, self-assured…Tang plays deftly with the conventions of romantic comedy, tempting the reader to long for the promise of happy endings and then throwing cold water on those hopes and embedding sharp ethical dilemmas in a cocoon of diverting dialogue. A smart look at people-pleasing taken to its illogical extreme.” (Kirkus Reviews)
Wordhunter * the debut novel by true-crime author Stella Sands (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook) is a gritty buddy-cop mystery that pairs two unlikely individuals.
21 year-old, tattooed, pierced, hard-drinking, motorcycle-riding Maggie Moore, raised in ”the poverty-stricken armpit of rural central Florida", is a graduate student in forensic linguistics, a savant who has the uncanny ability to analyze words and speech patterns. Recommended by her professor, she successfully deciphers notes left by a stalker-turned-rapist to help the local police in identifying the pert.
When Heidi, the young daughter of the mayor in the near-by town has been kidnapped, the Police Chief is eager to get Maggie involved. Paired with Silas Jackson, the gruff, seasoned detective who harbors his own secrets, the duo begin to analyze the texts, emails, and verbal tics of various suspects. The case triggers traumatic memories for Maggie whose best friend Lucy Tidwell went missing 7 years ago.
“The more Maggie and Jackson dig, the more they worry that the culprit might be too powerful to touch--and that they've unwittingly affixed targets to their own backs. Sands nails the genius investigator formula on her first try, spinning Maggie into a memorable heroine and handing her an enthralling first case. This transfixes from the first page. “ (Publishers Weekly)
** = 2 Starred Reviews
*= Starred Review