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Staff Picks

The Littlest Drop

Colorful bird with a water droplet, title "The Littlest Drop" by Sascha Alper. Pink background with yellow circle.

Sascha Alper

Picture Book 

When a fire starts near their home, all of the animals—from the largest elephant to the smallest ant—are too scared to do anything but watch. All, that is, except for one tiny hummingbird. She knows she must do something to save her nest. She must do what she can. This empowering picture book celebrates the idea that every one of us—from the smallest to the largest—has something to offer, and if we all work together, we can make the world a better, greener place.

- Anne Schwartz Books

 

Isle of Ever

Book cover for "Isle of Ever" by Jen Calonita, featuring golden objects against a blue backdrop with the subtitle, "Some secrets won't stay buried."

Jen Calonita

Juvenile Fiction 

Everly "Benny" Benedict and her mom have always managed to get by, though they're broke most of the time. But all that could change. Benny's just learned she's the sole heir to the vast fortune of Evelyn Terry, a mysterious ancestor from the 1800s! There's a catch, though. First Benny needs to play―and win―a game: following clues that are more than a century old, she must find her way to the tiny island Evelyn wrote about in her diary. It was somewhere off the shoreline of Evelyn's home town, but according to legend, it vanished long ago and hasn't appeared on maps for hundreds of years. Yet Benny has only a couple weeks to locate it. If she's successful, she'll collect the inheritance. But what if there's more than a fortune at stake in this game? What if Benny has to break an ancient curse to win?

-Sourcebooks Young Readers

The Middle School Survival Guide for Girls

Book cover: "The Middle School Survival Guide for Girls" by Geraldine O'Sullivan, focuses on school, friendships, and emotions.

Geraldine O'Sullivan

Young Adult Non-Fiction 

Written by a teen mental health expert, The Middle School Survival Guide for Girls is packed with tips and tools to help you adjust to the pressures of middle school—as well as to your changing mind and body. With this fun and engaging guide, written just for girls ages 11 to 13, you’ll learn to build the resilience needed to thrive personally, socially, and academically, and gain a greater understanding of yourself as you face new challenges.

Instant Help

 

The Striker

Ana Huang

Book cover: "The Striker" by Ana Huang, featuring a scoreboard and soccer themes.

Adult Fiction 

Asher Donovan is a living legend―the darling of the Premier League, the (arguably) greatest footballer in the world. But his reckless antics and recent team transfer have caused much controversy, and when his feud with his rival-turned-teammate costs them a championship, they're forced to "bond" during off-season cross-training. Surviving the summer shouldn't be hard…until Asher meets their new trainer. She's beautiful, talented, and no matter how hard he tries, he can't take his mind off her. The only problem? She's his rival's sister―and completely off limits.

-‎ Bloom Books

 

I Will Do Better: A Father's Memoir of Heartbreak, Parenting, and Love

Charles Bock 

Book cover: "I Will Do Better" by Charles Bock, featuring a father holding a child's hand and balloons, with a memoir theme.

Adult Non-Fiction 

The novelist Charles Bock was a reluctant parent, tagging along for the ride of fatherhood, obsessed primarily with his dream of a writing career. But when his daughter Lily was six months old, his wife, Diana, was diagnosed with a complex form of leukemia. Two and half years later, when all treatments and therapies had been exhausted, Bock found himself a widower—devastated, drowning in medical bills, and saddled with a daunting responsibility. He had to nurture Lily, and, somehow, maybe even heal himself. I Will Do Better is Charles’s pull-no-punches account of what happened next. Playdates, music classes, temper tantrums, oh-so-cool babysitters, first days at school, family reunions, single-parent dating, and a citywide crippling natural disaster—were minefields especially treacherous for Charles and Lily because of their preexisting vulnerability: their grief.

-‎  Harry N. Abrams 

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