Cathy recommends: Do Fish Sleep? by Jens Raschke, illustrated by Jens Rassmus
Genre: Fiction
Reading Level: Early chapter book
Summary: One child’s journey through her changing feelings about her little brother, who has leukemia.
Cathy says: Simple language dealing with a complicated and highly emotional situation.
This title is available at Tyler Free Library.
Cathy recommends: Stop and Smell the Cookies by Gibson Frazier
Genre: Picture book
Reading level: Age 4-8
Summary: A young boy suffers from lack of impulse control and learns to deal with it.
Cathy says: Many young children act out inappropriately from time to time. This sweet book gives children a positive way to control the impulses.
This title is available at Tyler Free Library.
Audrey recommends: We Play Ourselves by Jen Silverman
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Reading level: Adult
Summary: Cass, an up-and-coming playwright, moves across the country to reinvent herself after her latest flop leads to a social media implosion.
Audrey says: This book is all about the complicated relationships between artists: infatuation, jealousy, pity, worship, betrayal. Cass idolizes an older director, demonizes her younger-but-more-successful colleague, obsesses over her filmmaker neighbor, dismisses the teens acting in the film. By the end of the story, all these relationships have flipped around, and Cass’s truest friend might be her agent’s secretary, who she only knows in the form of brief phone conversations. This novel untangles the conflated webs of fame, love, success, and happiness. I find it a must-read for creative types.
Cathy recommends: The Promise by Bobby DePalo
Genre: Fiction
Reading level: Adult
Summary: One man’s journey to complete a promise decades old.
Cathy says: The adage ‘What goes around, comes around’ is perfectly exemplified here. This novella is so concisely written that it packs an emotional punch with almost every turn of a page. At the end of the book, the reader is left asking oneself, “What just happened?!” Of interest, Mr. DePalo, the author, was Foster’s Citizen of the Year in 2019.
This title is available at Tyler Free Library and Foster Public Library.
Audrey recommends: The Blue House by Phoebe Wahl
Genre: Picture book
Reading level: Age 4-8
Summary: Leo and his dad are forced to move out of their beloved neighborhood when the cranes come to knock it down.
Audrey says: There’s nothing more difficult than going through a huge unexpected life transition. I love the way Leo’s single-parent household channels their big emotions into music and art. Not to mention, Wahl’s illustrations are beautiful. Her intricate paintings are littered with little Easter eggs to favorite albums and musicians, plus a cat hiding on every spread. You can easily find yourself lingering on a single image for several minutes.
This title is available at Tyler Free Library.
Kylie recommends: None of the Above by I. W. Gregorio
Genre: Contemporary
Reading Level: YA
Summary: A teenage girl finds out she was born intersex and everything she knew about herself changes in an instant.
Kylie says: This was an eye-opening story about a intersex person and how that diagnosis impacts her relationships in high school.
Kylie recommends: Yellowface by R. F. Kuang
Genre: Literary fiction
Reading Level: Adult
Summary: Author June witnesses the freak accident death of her friend and best-selling author, Athena, and steals her unpublished work and passes it off as her own under the name Juniper Song. “So what if June edits Athena’s novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song–complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn’t this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? That’s what June claims, and the New York Times bestseller list seems to agree.”
Kylie says: This was a very compelling and thought provoking story. You read from June’s perspective and see her rationale for everything she does, you feel conflicted as a reader. I also really liked the inside look at the publishing world and how it discussed topics like racism, diversity, cultural appropriation, and ethics.
This title is available at Foster Public Library.
Audrey recommends: The Haymeadow by Gary Paulsen
Genre: Western adventure
Reading Level: Middle grade
Summary: 14-year-old John Barron is tasked with herding his family’s 6000 sheep up to a grazing meadow high in the mountains, all by himself, for an entire summer.
Audrey says: Most people my age read Hatchet in school when they were in 5th or 6th grade. The Haymeadow is a much less famous book, but it has the exact same emotional core. Nobody writes loneliness like Paulsen; though this survival story is packed with action, there are also plenty of quiet moments for John to reflect on how to live up to his family legacy of rugged pioneers and lone cowboys. I was surprised and delighted at the ways this book challenged the myths of masculinity. By the end, John and the reader realize that independence is a great skill to learn, but true strength comes from making connections. Whether you loved Hatchet as a child or not, this is an impactful story for readers of all ages.
This book is available at Tyler Free Library.
Audrey recommends: Answers in the Pages by David Levithan
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Reading Level: Middle grade
Summary: Donovan’s mom leads a crusade to ban a fifth-grade book assignment that features LGBTQ+ themes… but Donovan finds himself on the opposing side to fight back against censorship.
Audrey says: This is one of my favorite new releases of 2022! The story follows three interconnected storylines, following unwitting community leader Donovan, gay student Gideon, and the text of the banned book itself. Each storyline is fascinating on its own, and watching them all click together is so satisfying. Everyone in the book had their own voice and opinion, creating a whole fleshed-out community. Even the characters who I thought would never be redeemed were given the time and sympathy to explain their motivations, which made them less “villain” and more “human.” I was pleasantly surprised to find myself forgiving them. And I can’t even describe how much the romance made me smile! Add this to your to-read shelf if you have an interest in contemporary issues, want to teach a lesson on censorship, or just want a really enjoyable short read.
This title is available at Foster Public Library.
