Grades 3-6
This book is set in Harlem in the 1950s, and Art Kane, a graphic designer, decided to invite as many jazz musicians as he could to take a photograph for the Esquire magazine. Intriguing poems tell the story of how Kane did just that.
Month: December 2016
Ideas Are All Around by Philip C. Stead
Grades 1-3
The main character, an author, and his dog Wednesday take a long walk through the town and greet many people and animals along the way. They notice a train rumbling by as well as admire sunflowers that are growing. They realize that there are lots of things to think and write about in everyday life.
Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm
Grades 3-6
From the author who brought you The Fourteenth Goldfish comes this historical fiction story about a boy named Beans and his group of friends. It’s 1934 in Key West, Florida, and they’re living in the middle of the Great Depression. The adults in his life lie to survive, but Beans isn’t a fool. He has survival plans of his own.
Dork Diaries: Tales From A Not-So-Friendly Frenemy by Rachel Renee Russell
Grades 3-5
Nikki is leaving Westchester Country Day School for a short time to attend the student exchange program at North Hampton Hills. Finally some time away from her arch-enemy MacKenzie! Or will she be so lucky? Find out when you read the 11th book in the Dork Diaries series!
9th Judgement by James Patterson
Ages 18+
In the ninth installment of the Women’s Murder Club series, Detective Lindsay Boxer and her partner Rich Conklin work tirelessly together on the latest crimes they’re faced with solving: a young mother and her baby who were gunned down in a shopping mall parking lot and actor Marcus Dowling’s wife who ends up dead after she comes face to face with a burglar who robs her of millions of dollars in jewels. The people of San Francisco are thrown into a panic at the news of these two horrific crimes, but rest assured that Boxer and Conklin can get their jobs done.
If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo
Grades 9-12
Amanda is the new girl at her high school. As if being the new girl isn’t hard enough, she’s keeping a secret from her new classmates. In fact, that secret is the exact reason she transferred schools in the first place. She becomes close to Grant and starts to open up to him, but she fears that he will ultimately reject her when he finds out her secret: that she used to be Andrew.
My (Underground) American Dream: My True Story As An Undocumented Immigrant Who Became a Wall Street Executive by Julissa Arce
Ages 16+
This was an excellent immigrant story that was gripping from beginning to end. Although it was hard to root for the protagonist towards the end of the book after the way she “beat the system,” it was a book worth reading for sure.
Thanks to Netgalley.com for a review copy of this book.
The New Guy (And Other Senior Year Distractions) by Amy Spalding
Grades 9-12
Jules McCallister-Morgan is your quintessential over-achiever. She is a senior in high school who dreams about becoming editor of the school newspaper and getting accepted into her first-choice Ivy-league college. She already has the all-important job of being on the welcoming committee and is responsible for showing new students around the school. Jules is stopped in her tracks, however, when the new kid just so happens to be Alex Powell, a super-cute former teen heartthrob. Does she let on that she knows who he is? Does she pretend he wasn’t famous for being in the boy band Chaos 4 All? And, worst of all, does she ignore the fact that she can totally tell he’s into her?
Blink by Malcom Gladwell
Ages 16+
Blink is a book that examines how we analyze and make decisions in an instant – in the blink of an eye. We are thinking without thinking, but are things really as simple as they seem? There is a cast of characters in Blink who are able to understand and predict things about people while only having assessed the situation for a few seconds. How are they able to do this? Gladwell explains that it has to do with the art of “thin-slicing,” or picking the variables that matter from the ones that don’t.
Vivien: The Life of Vivien Leigh by Alexander Walker
Ages 14+
Vivien Leigh is perhaps most famous for her portrayal of Scarlett O’Hara in the movie adaptation of Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind. She was an actress who found herself in her roles. She immersed herself so much into them that she began to take on the characteristics of the person she was depicting on the silver screen. The book is based on interviews of Leigh’s family, friends, colleagues and Leigh herself.
The Bookish Librarian 