If you enjoyed A Snake Falls to Earth
These two books have teen LGBTQ+ representation and you get to experience other worlds, but things aren’t always easygoing.
MADreads for Teens
Teens posts by Jody M
Two worlds connected in the Big Library Read
Overdrive (Libby) has announced its next Big Library Read, A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger. From November 2-16 readers around the world will have simultaneous access to the title and can use the hashtag #biglibraryread on social media to share their thoughts with other readers.
The need to belong
Belonging is a common theme in many young adult stories. Graphic novels provide an excellent visual of capturing the experiences and emotions as characters grow and find themselves. It’s as if we’re dropping in or hovering over a character’s shoulder to see a slice of their life. Here are three insightful and at times, humorous graphic novels to check out:
Este cuento entró por un caminito plateado, y salió por uno dorado / This story entered through a silver path and left on a golden one
It’s not very often a science fiction book wins the Newbery Award and the Pura Belpré Award but The Last Cuentista did this year. The Last Cuentista is a dystopian story with tales of Mexican folklore woven within. ‘Cuentista’ in Spanish means storyteller and the main character, Petra Peña, is truly the only cuentista left in the world.
Fresh and favorites
In the Young Adult book world, there are many new, fresh voices being represented as well as more titles from favorite YA authors. Here are some YA books that have left an impression on me this past year. They made me stay up way too late or were a treat to listen to as I mowed the lawn or drove around town.
Opening the floodgates about PTSD
Somewhere in the Nevada desert, Rose Colter hears her best friend’s last voicemail message broadcasted on the radio. With her car broken down, she runs towards the broadcast tower into a town called Lotus Valley. The townspeople have been waiting for her; in fact, she was prophesied to arrive and in doing so would bring about a great flood within the next three days. Is Rose the cause of the flood and if so, why?
Everyone should have an EDC (Emergency Day Carry) Bag
How would you, a college freshman with little social skills, get the attention of the hot, tattooed baker/barista with an equally hot-but-manipulative ex-girlfriend with an enviable Insta feed named MsLOLAXO?Answer: Save his life with your EDC (Every Day Carry) bag of emergency items and become each other’s emergency contact (cause you know, the baker/barista is bare bones making it in life and can’t afford healthcare).
2020 Newbery Award Winner
New Kid by Jerry Craft is the first graphic novel to win the Newbery Award. Craft also won the Coretta Scott King Author award. He stated in a Publisher’s Weekly article that he wrote books he wished a 10-year-old Jerry Craft could have had that might have made him read at an early age. At that young age, there weren’t any books that were right for him or had a character that looked like him.