New Voices in Young Adult Literature

It’s always exciting to discover new books and authors and, as usual, some of the freshest voices can be found in young adult publishing.   Here are three debut titles that have quickly become librarian favorites around here.

Melissa Albert writes with an authority that belies her status as a first-time author in the deliciously creepy The Hazel Wood.  Bad luck has followed Alice every one of her 17 years and no matter how many times she and her mother, Ella, move to a new town, disaster always catches up.  When Alice’s grandmother, the reclusive author of the cult fairy-tale classic Tales of the Hinterland, dies it seems their luck has finally turned.  But bad things continue to lurk around the edges of their lives and it isn’t long before Ella goes missing.  All signs of the abduction point to the The Hazel Wood, her grandmother’s rundown impenetrable estate.  Dark, eerie, and deeply atmospheric, author Melissa Albert mines the darker side of fairy tales in this unsettling

New Nonfiction Roundup – September 2018

What a month for nonfiction! Investigative reports on politics and sports, reflections on art and fashion, calls to arms from activists, historical assessments and books about books await you this September. Happy reading!

9/4: 21 Lessons for the 21st Century – Yuval Noah Harari. The author of Sapiens addresses the most urgent and complex issues we face today.

9/4: Big Game – Mark Leibovich. An immersive look at current state of the NFL.

9/4: Call Them By Their True Names – Rebecca Solnit. New essays from the feminist firebrand and author of Men Explain Things to Me. 

9/4: The Coddling of the American Mind – Greg Lukianoff. A controversial assessment of the climate on college campuses.

New Nonfiction Roundup – August 2018

What’s new in August? Incisive books about the brain, reflections on “adulting” and parenthood, challenges to the concept of identity, and much more!

8/7: Chinese Street Food – Howie Southworth & Greg Matza. A pair of food authors share authentic recipes for small bites from the streets of China.

8/7: Dopesick – Beth Macy. An overview of America’s opioid crisis implicates “Big Pharma” while profiling those who have become addicted.

8/7: Everything Trump Touches Dies – Rick Wilson. An indictment of the Trump administration from a Republican strategist.

8/7: Fly Girls – Keith O’Brien. Five women, including Amelia Earhart, who competed in the national air races of the 1920s and 1930s.

8/7: Maeve in America – Maeve Higgins. An Irish comedian leaves her homeland to find herself in America.

#BookBingoNW2018: Award-Winning Authors

I’m sure you have heard of the Newbery Medal, Man Booker Prize, Hugo Award, and many, many other author awards. In addition to these well-known awards, let me introduce you to a few newer ones and their winning authors.

Black Caucus American Library Association (BCALA) Literary Award, established in 1994, recognizes African American authors in both fiction and nonfiction. Some of these outstanding works are listed below:

Grace by Natashia Deon follows the life of a runaway slave and her daughter. Deon’s writing is beautiful and gives you an intense conclusion. This won the Fiction Award in 2017.

The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore was the Nonfiction winner in 2011. This fascinating book is a memoir of the author and also the story of another boy who grew up in a neighborhood nearby with the same name.

Chasing Utopia by Nikki Giovanni won the 2014 literary award by using simplicity and humor in this collection of poems that are part memoir.

  

The Power of Stones

There is a little shop near my neighborhood in Tacoma that is such a magical place. As soon as you walk in you are transported to another world. I took a close friend of mine who suggested burning some sage after moving into a new home since smudging as a ritual has been said to be a spiritual cleansing and blessing — and luckily I knew right where to find that. She ended up getting pulled in by their assortment of stones and crystals and together we read about the qualities each one had. She purchased a small bag of stones and crystals that called to her and I got my sage. Having both gone through a roller coaster of a year, it was nice to have this time together to do something that felt very therapeutic for both of us. 

Interested in the power of stones? Here are a few books in our collection to get you started (book descriptions courtesy of the publishers):