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It’s that lovey dovey day of the year again --- Valentine’s Day. If you’re celebrating, books always make great last-minute gifts. There are more than plenty to pick from, and if you’re buying for your S.O., chances are you already know what he/she likes. If you’re on your own for this one, how about finally giving in to that specialty cookbook you’ve been eyeing or that latest release you just haven’t had time to pick up? Ultimately, this day is about you and celebrating love in whatever form that manifests. I’m of the mindset that every day is a good day to be kind to yourself, but this one’s just a little more special. So treat yourself and never look back.
Speaking of love, this past weekend was the Grammys, and while I didn’t get to watch the whole thing, I saw many tidbits here and there that were so delightful. Alicia Keys hosted and did not disappoint. Her opener with M. Obama, J. Lo, Lady Gaga and Jada Pinkett Smith was a truly special moment. Cardi B’s performance gave me life as did Lady Gaga’s. And when Diana Ross came out, I honestly asked myself what we did to deserve this. I’m slightly upset that Ariana Grande did not make an appearance despite it being a pipe dream after last week’s newsworthy controversy. That said, I spent a fair amount of hours with her new album this past weekend, which I’m fully loving. It’s hard to pick just one, but I think “bloodline” is currently my top song and it’s singlehandedly forcing me to reconsider my Coachella 2019 absence (she’s headlining!)
I’ve been getting back into full album listening recently (as in, listening to an artist’s entire album when it comes out as opposed to one or two songs), and it’s been such a refreshing return. Listening to just one song off an album is very much like reading only one chapter of a book...you only get a vague sense of the author and the story. I can only think of a handful of albums that have come out within the past few years that I took the time to listen to front to back. Beyoncé’s 2016 Lemonade is one, and more recently, James Blake’s Assume Form, which I am completely obsessed with. I used to listen to albums in full when I was kid...probably more so because going out and buying the CD the first day it was released was a trek and a treat. The anticipation would build as my dad drove me to the store, and then I’d spend the rest of the day (and days to follow) locked in my room listening over and over and over again. I have entire periods of my life defined by albums...I’m sure many of you do, tool. Listening to these old albums now brings back such intense memories, some wonderful and some sad, and returning to this way of listening is bringing me a sense of comfort and rediscovered joy.
Talking about other things that bring me joy, the Oscars are coming up! On Sunday, February 24th, some of the movie industry’s finest will be in attendance. The ceremony will mark the end of awards season, which seemed to go on for entirely too long this year. I have one more movie to watch for the “Best Picture” category and then I’ll feel like I can finally wrap it up and give all my attention to what’s coming out. Jordan Peele’s Us, Tim Burton’s Dumbo and The Aftermath, based on the book by the same name by Rhidian Brook, are on my radar for spring. Summer will bring the movie adaptation of Nicola Yoon’s THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR and Richard Linklater’s Where'd You Go, Bernadette, based on the book by the same name by Maria Semple. One movie that I’m super hyped on for summer is Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. The movie is based on the book that many of us read as kids. See the cover here to jog your memory. The trailer first premiered during the Super Bowl and was by far one of the better things to happen during that painfully dull event. Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water) helped write the screenplay for the movie, so you know it’s going to be slightly strange, a little fantastical and actually scary. I have really high hopes for this one, and it will definitely appeal to the millennial set.
Here are a few gift-worthy books to check out now:
In THE AU PAIR by Emma Rous, Seraphine Mayes and her twin brother, Danny, were born in the middle of summer at their family's estate on the Norfolk coast. Within hours of their birth, their mother threw herself from the cliffs, the au pair fled, and the village thrilled with whispers of dark cloaks, changelings, and the aloof couple who drew a young nanny into their inner circle. Now an adult, Seraphine mourns the recent death of her father. While going through his belongings, she uncovers a family photograph that raises dangerous questions. It was taken on the day the twins were born --- and in the photo, their mother, surrounded by her husband and her young son, is smiling serenely and holding just one baby. Who is the child, and what really happened that day?
Anna Roux was a professional dancer who followed the man of her dreams from Paris to Missouri in THE GIRLS AT 17 SWANN STREET by Yara Zgheib. There, alone with her biggest fears --- imperfection, failure, loneliness --- she spirals down anorexia and depression until she weighs a mere 88 pounds. Forced to seek treatment, she is admitted as a patient at 17 Swann Street, a peach pink house where pale, fragile women with life-threatening eating disorders live. Women like Emm, the veteran; quiet Valerie; Julia, always hungry. Together, they must fight their diseases and face six meals a day. Every bite causes anxiety. Every flavor induces guilt. And every step Anna takes toward recovery will require strength, endurance and the support of the girls at 17 Swann Street.
THE SILENT PATIENT by Alex Michaelides tells the story of Alicia Berenson, a famous painter, who shoots her husband Gabriel, an in-demand fashion photographer, five times in the face one evening. Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander --- a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London. Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations --- a search for the truth that threatens to consume him.
5 Things To Obsess About This Very Moment, in no particular order:
1. The season three trailer for "The Handmaid's Tale"
2. "Bachelor in Paradise" couple wrote a children's book
3. The final installment of "Game of Thrones" will premiere on April 14th
4. DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY is getting TV treatment from two mega stars
5. The trailer for HBO's "Case Against Adnan Syed"
Happy reading,
Nicole Sherman
ADÈLE written by Leila Slimani, translated by Sam Taylor (Fiction)
Adèle appears to have the perfect life: She is a successful journalist in Paris who lives in a beautiful apartment with her surgeon husband and their young son. But underneath the surface, she is bored --- and consumed by an insatiable need for sex. Driven less by pleasure than compulsion, Adèle organizes her day around her extramarital affairs, arriving late to work and lying to her husband about where she's been, until she becomes ensnared in a trap of her own making. Reviewed by Rachel McConnell.
THE AU PAIR by Emma Rous (Mystery)
Seraphine Mayes and her twin brother, Danny, were born in the middle of summer at their family's estate on the Norfolk coast. Within hours of their birth, their mother threw herself from the cliffs, the au pair fled, and the village thrilled with whispers of dark cloaks, changelings, and the aloof couple who drew a young nanny into their inner circle. Now an adult, Seraphine mourns the recent death of her father. While going through his belongings, she uncovers a family photograph that raises dangerous questions. It was taken on the day the twins were born --- and in the photo, their mother, surrounded by her husband and her young son, is smiling serenely and holding just one baby. Who is the child, and what really happened that day? Reviewed by Rebecca Munro.
BOWLAWAY by Elizabeth McCracken (Historical Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Kate Reading
From the day she is discovered unconscious in a New England cemetery at the turn of the 20th century, Bertha Truitt is an enigma to everyone in Salford, Massachusetts. She has no past to speak of, or at least none she is willing to reveal, and her mysterious origin scandalizes and intrigues the townspeople, as does her choice to marry and start a family with Leviticus Sprague, the doctor who revived her. But Bertha is plucky, tenacious and entrepreneurial, and the bowling alley she opens quickly becomes Salford’s most defining landmark. When Bertha dies in a freak accident, her past resurfaces in the form of a heretofore-unheard-of son, who arrives in Salford claiming he is the heir apparent to Truitt Alleys. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
THE CROOKED STREET by Brian Freeman (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
Audiobook available, read by Joe Barrett
San Francisco homicide detective Frost Easton hadn’t seen his estranged friend Denny in years. Not until he dies in Frost’s arms uttering a final inexplicable word: Lombard. Denny appears to be the latest victim in a string of murders linked by a distinctive clue: the painting of a spiraled snake near the crime scenes. Is it the work of a serial killer? Or is Denny’s death more twisted and personal? To find the answer, Frost reaches into a nest of vipers --- San Francisco’s shady elite --- where the whispered name of Lombard is just one secret. Now, drawn into a cat-and-mouse game with an enemy who knows his every move, Frost finds that there is no one he can trust. Reviewed by Ray Palen.
THE FALCONER by Dana Czapnik (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Candace Thaxton
New York, 1993. Seventeen-year-old Lucy Adler, a street-smart, trash-talking baller, is often the only girl on the public courts. At turns quixotic and cynical, insecure and self-possessed, Lucy is in unrequited love with her best friend and pick-up teammate Percy, scion to a prominent New York family who insists he wishes to resist upper crust fate. As she navigates this complex relationship with all its youthful heartache, Lucy is seduced by a different kind of life --- one less consumed by conventional success and the approval of men. A pair of provocative female artists living in what remains of New York’s bohemia invite her into their world, but soon even their paradise begins to show cracks. Reviewed by Benny Regalbuto.
THE GIRL IN THE GLASS BOX: A Jack Swyteck Novel by James Grippando (Legal Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Jonathan Davis
Julia Rodriguez and her teenage daughter, Beatriz, escaped bloodthirsty gangs, random violence and Julia's abusive husband back in El Salvador. Arriving in Miami, mother and daughter struggled to carve their own piece of the American dream. While life in the States is hard, it is safer, until Julia rejects her boss's unwanted sexual advances. Suddenly --- thanks to an "anonymous" tip to U.S. immigration authorities --- she is arrested, locked in detention with criminals and slated for deportation. Miami attorney Jack Swyteck’s only viable legal move to save her is asylum --- a long shot that’s become nearly impossible in today’s charged political climate. Reviewed by Ray Palen.
THE GIRLS AT 17 SWANN STREET by Yara Zgheib (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Saskia Maarleveld
Anna Roux was a professional dancer who followed the man of her dreams from Paris to Missouri. There, alone with her biggest fears --- imperfection, failure, loneliness --- she spirals down anorexia and depression until she weighs a mere 88 pounds. Forced to seek treatment, she is admitted as a patient at 17 Swann Street, a peach pink house where pale, fragile women with life-threatening eating disorders live. Women like Emm, the veteran; quiet Valerie; Julia, always hungry. Together, they must fight their diseases and face six meals a day. Every bite causes anxiety. Every flavor induces guilt. And every step Anna takes toward recovery will require strength, endurance and the support of the girls at 17 Swann Street. Reviewed by Rebecca Munro.
GOLDEN CHILD by Claire Adam (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Obi Abili
Rural Trinidad: a brick house on stilts surrounded by bush; a family, quietly surviving, just trying to live a decent life. Clyde, the father, works long, exhausting shifts at the petroleum plant in southern Trinidad; Joy, his wife, looks after the home. Their 13-year-old sons wake early every morning to travel to the capital, Port of Spain, for school. They are twins but nothing alike: Paul has always been considered odd, while Peter is widely believed to be a genius, destined for greatness. When Paul goes walking in the bush one afternoon and doesn't come home, Clyde is forced to go looking for him. As the hours turn to days, and Clyde begins to understand Paul’s fate, his world shatters --- leaving him faced with a decision no parent should ever have to make. Reviewed by Megan Elliott.
THE GOLDEN TRESSES OF THE DEAD: A Flavia de Luce Novel by Alan Bradley (Historical Mystery)
Audiobook available, read by Jayne Entwistle
Although it is autumn in the small English town of Bishop’s Lacey, the chapel is decked with exotic flowers. Yes, Flavia de Luce’s sister, Ophelia, is at last getting hitched. An expert in the chemical nature of poisons, Flavia has solved many mysteries, sharpening her considerable detection skills to the point where she had little choice but to turn professional. So Flavia and dependable Dogger, estate gardener and sounding board extraordinaire, set up shop at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, eager to serve. Little does she know that their first case will be extremely close to home, beginning with an unwelcome discovery in Ophelia’s wedding cake: a human finger. Reviewed by Roz Shea.
GOOD RIDDANCE by Elinor Lipman (Romantic Comedy)
Audiobook available, read by Mia Barron
Daphne Maritch doesn't quite know what to make of the heavily annotated high school yearbook she inherits from her mother. The late June Winter Maritch was the teacher to whom the class of '68 had dedicated its yearbook, and in turn she went on to attend every reunion, scribbling notes and observations after each one --- not always charitably --- and noting who overstepped boundaries of many kinds. In a fit of decluttering, she discards it when she moves to a small New York City apartment. But when it's found in the recycling bin by a busybody neighbor/documentary filmmaker, the yearbook's mysteries --- not to mention her own family's --- take on a whole new urgency, and Daphne finds herself entangled in a series of events both poignant and absurd. Reviewed by Lorraine W. Shanley.
HERE AND NOW AND THEN by Mike Chen (Science Fiction/Adventure)
Audiobook available, read by Cary Hite
Kin Stewart is an everyday family man. But his current life is a far cry from his previous career…as a time-traveling secret agent from 2142. Stranded in suburban San Francisco since the 1990s after a botched mission, Kin has kept his past hidden from everyone around him, despite the increasing blackouts and memory loss affecting his time-traveler’s brain. Until one afternoon, his “rescue” team arrives --- 18 years too late. Their mission: return Kin to 2142, where another family is waiting for him. A family he can’t remember. Torn between two lives, Kin is desperate for a way to stay connected to both. But when his best efforts threaten to destroy the agency and even history itself, his daughter’s very existence is at risk. Reviewed by Maya Gittelman.
I OWE YOU ONE by Sophie Kinsella (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Fiona Hardingham
Since Fixie Farr's dad passed away, she spends all her time picking up the slack from her siblings. When a handsome stranger in a coffee shop asks her to watch his laptop for a moment, she not only agrees, but ends up saving it from certain disaster. To thank Fixie, the computer’s owner, Sebastian, an investment manager, scribbles an IOU on a coffee sleeve and attaches his business card. But then Fixie’s childhood crush, Ryan, comes back into her life. His lack of a profession pushes all of Fixie’s buttons, and she’d love Seb to give Ryan a job. No sooner has Seb agreed than the tables are turned once more and a new series of IOUs between Seb and Fixie ensues. Soon Fixie, Ms. Fixit for everyone else, is torn between her family and the life she really wants. Reviewed by Amie Taylor.
IN AN ABSENT DREAM by Seanan McGuire (Fantasy)
Audiobook available, read by Cynthia Hopkins
This fourth entry in the Wayward Children series is a prequel that tells the story of Lundy, a very serious young girl who would rather study and dream than become a respectable housewife and live up to the expectations of the world around her. As well she should. When she finds a doorway to a world founded on logic and reason, riddles and lies, she thinks she's found her paradise. Alas, everything costs at the goblin market, and when her time there is drawing to a close, she makes the kind of bargain that never plays out well. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.
JUDGMENT by Joseph Finder (Legal Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by January LaVoy
Juliana Brody, a judge in the Superior Court of Massachusetts, is rumored to be in consideration for the federal circuit, maybe someday the highest court in the land. At a conference in a Chicago hotel, she meets a gentle, vulnerable man and has an unforgettable night with him. But back home in Boston, Juliana realizes that this was no random encounter. The man from Chicago proves to have an integral role in a sex-discrimination case she's presiding over. Juliana discovers that she's been entrapped, her night of infidelity captured on video. It soon becomes clear that personal humiliation, even the possible destruction of her career, are the least of her concerns, as her own life and the lives of her family are put in mortal jeopardy. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE NOWHERE CHILD by Christian White (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
Audiobook available, read by Katherine Littrell
Kimberly Leamy is a photography teacher in Melbourne, Australia. Twenty-six years earlier, Sammy Went, a two-year-old girl, vanished from her home in Manson, Kentucky. An American accountant who contacts Kim is convinced she was that child, kidnapped just after her birthday. On April 3, 1990, Jack and Molly Went’s daughter, Sammy, disappeared from their Kentucky home. Jack did his best to raise and protect his other daughter and son while Molly found solace in her faith. The Church of the Light Within, a Pentecostal fundamentalist group, provided that faith. Now, with proof that she and Sammy are in fact the same person, Kim travels to America to reunite with a family she never knew she had. Reviewed by Kate Ayers.
ONCE A LIAR by A.F. Brady (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Adam Verner
Peter Caine, a cutthroat Manhattan defense attorney, worked ruthlessly to become the best at his job. On the surface, he is charming and handsome, but inside he is cold and heartless. He fights without remorse to acquit murderers, pedophiles and rapists. When Charlie Doyle, the daughter of the Manhattan DA --- and Peter’s former lover --- is murdered, Peter’s world is quickly sent into a tailspin. He becomes the prime suspect as the DA, a professional enemy of Peter’s, embarks on a witch hunt to avenge his daughter’s death, stopping at nothing to ensure Peter is found guilty of the murder. But the truth of who killed Charlie is more twisted and sinister than anyone could have imagined. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
OUT OF THE DARK: An Orphan X Novel by Gregg Hurwitz (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Scott Brick
Someone at the very highest level of government has been trying to eliminate every trace of the Orphan Program by killing all the remaining Orphans and their trainers. After Evan Smoak's mentor and the only father he ever knew was killed, he decided to strike back. His target is the man who started the Program and who is now the most heavily guarded person in the world: the President of the United States. But President Bennett knows that Orphan X is after him, and, using weapons of his own, he's decided to counter-attack. Bennett activates the one man who has the skills and experience to track down and take out Orphan X --- the first recruit of the Program, Orphan A. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
RUPTURE: An Ari Thor Thriller written by Ragnar Jonasson, translated by Quentin Bates (Mystery/Thriller)
Young policeman Ari Thór tries to solve a 50-year-old murder when new evidence surfaces. But the case proves difficult in a town where no one wants to know the truth, where secrets are a way of life. He's assisted by Ísrún, a news reporter in Reykjavik who is investigating an increasingly chilling case of her own. Things take a sinister turn when a child goes missing in broad daylight. With a stalker on the loose, and the town in quarantine, the past just might come back to haunt them. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE SILENT PATIENT by Alex Michaelides (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Jack Hawkins and Louise Brealey
One evening, Alicia Berenson, a famous painter, shoots her husband Gabriel, an in-demand fashion photographer, five times in the face. Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander --- a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London. Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations --- a search for the truth that threatens to consume him. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
STALKER written by Lars Kepler, translated by Neil Smith (Mystery/Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Saul Reichlin
The Swedish National Crime Unit receives a video of a young woman in her home, clearly unaware that she's being watched. Soon after the tape is received, the woman's body is found horrifically mutilated. With the arrival of the next, similar video, the police understand that the killer is toying with them, warning of a new victim, knowing there's nothing they can do. Detective Margot Silverman is put in charge of the investigation, and soon asks Detective Joona Linna for help. Linna, in turn, recruits Erik Maria Bark, the hypnotist and expert in trauma, with whom Linna has worked before. Bark is leery of forcing people to give up their secrets. But this time, Bark is the one hiding things. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE STRANGER INSIDE by Laura Benedict (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Therese Plummer
There's a stranger living in Kimber Hannon's house. He tells the police that he has every right to be there, and he has the paperwork to prove it. But Kimber definitely didn't invite this man to move in. He tells her that he knows something about her, and he wants everyone else to know it too. "I was there. I saw what you did." These words reveal a connection to Kimber's distant past, and dark secrets she'd long ago left buried. This trespasser isn't after anything as simple as her money or her charming Craftsman bungalow. He wants to move into her carefully orchestrated life --- and destroy it. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE WINTER SISTER by Megan Collins (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Rebekkah Ross
Sylvie’s sister, Persephone, was killed 16 years ago, yet her murder remains unsolved. In the present day, Sylvie returns home to care for her estranged mother, Annie, as she undergoes treatment for cancer. Their once-close bond dissolved in the weeks after their loss, making for an uncomfortable reunion all these years later. Worse, Persephone’s former boyfriend, Ben, is now a nurse at the cancer center where Annie is being treated. Sylvie has always believed Ben was responsible for the murder, though she also carries her own guilt about that night. As she navigates the complicated relationship with her mother, Sylvie begins to uncover the secrets that fill their house --- and what really happened the night Persephone died. Reviewed by Megan Elliott.
BLOOM written by Kevin Panetta with illustrations by Savanna Ganucheau (Graphic Novel/Contemporary Romance)
Now that high school is over, Ari is dying to move to the big city with his ultra-hip band --- if he can just persuade his dad to let him quit his job at their struggling family bakery. Though he loved working there as a kid, Ari cannot fathom a life wasting away over rising dough and hot ovens. But while interviewing candidates for his replacement, Ari meets Hector, an easygoing guy who loves baking as much as Ari wants to escape it. As they become closer over batches of bread, love is ready to bloom...that is, if Ari doesn’t ruin everything. Reviewed by Marco M., Teen Board Member.
A CURSE SO DARK AND LONELY by Brigid Kemmerer (Fantasy)
Cursed by an enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, Prince Rhen knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the end of each autumn, he would turn into a vicious beast. Meanwhile, with Harper's mother dying and her brother underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, she learned to be tough enough to survive. Then Harper is somehow sucked into Rhen's world. As she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what's at stake. As Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against them...and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen and his people from utter ruin. Reviewed by Grace P., Teen Board Member.
THE GIVER (Graphic Novel) (Giver Quartet) written by Lois Lowry with illustrations by P. Craig Russell (Graphic Novel/Classics)
In this new graphic novel edition of THE GIVER, readers experience the haunting story of 12-year-old Jonas and his seemingly ideal, if colorless, world of conformity and contentment, through the brilliant art of P. Craig Russell that truly brings THE GIVER to life. Witness Jonas's assignment as the Receiver of Memory, watch as he begins to understand the dark secrets behind his fragile community, and follow the explosion of color into his world like never before. Reviewed by Ansley K., Teen Board Member.
KING OF SCARS by Leigh Bardugo (Fantasy)
Audiobook available, narrated by Lauren Fortgang
No one knows what Nikolai endured in his country’s bloody civil war --- and he intends to keep it that way. As enemies gather at his weakened borders, he must find a way to refill Ravka’s coffers, forge new alliances and stop a rising threat to the once-great Grisha Army. Yet with every day a dark magic within him grows stronger. With the help of a young monk and a legendary Grisha Squaller, Nikolai will journey to the places in Ravka where the deepest magic survives to vanquish the terrible legacy inside him. But some secrets aren’t meant to stay buried --- and some wounds aren’t meant to heal. Reviewed by Caitlyn K., Teen Board Member.
LADY SMOKE by Laura Sebastian (Fantasy)
Audiobook available, narrated by Saskia Maarleveld
Theo no longer wears a crown of ashes. She has taken back her rightful title, and a hostage --- Prinz Soren. But her people remain enslaved under the Kaiser, and now she is thousands of miles away from them and her throne. To get them back, she will need an army. Only, securing an army means she must trust her aunt, the dreaded pirate Dragonsbane. According to Dragonsbane, an army can only be produced if Theo takes a husband. Theo knows that freedom comes at a price, but she is determined to find a way to save her country without losing herself. Reviewed by Isabel Coyne.
ON THE COME UP by Angie Thomas (Contemporary Fiction)
Audiobook available, narrated by Bahni Turpin
Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. As the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri’s got massive shoes to fill. Then her first song goes viral for all the wrong reasons and Bri finds herself at the center of a controversy, portrayed by the media as more menace than MC. But with an eviction notice staring her family down, Bri doesn’t just want to make it --- she has to. Even if it means becoming the very thing the public has made her out to be. Reviewed by Ryan H., Teen Board Member.
SHADOWSONG by S. Jae-Jones (Fantasy)
Audiobook available, narrated by Eva Kaminsky
Six months after the end of WINTERSONG, Liesl is working toward furthering both her brother’s and her own musical careers. Her younger brother Josef is cold, distant and withdrawn, while Liesl can’t forget the austere young man she left beneath the earth, and the music he inspired in her. When troubling signs arise that the barrier between worlds is crumbling, Liesl must return to the Underground to unravel the mystery of life, death and the Goblin King --- who he was, who he is, and who he will be. What will it take to break the old laws once and for all? What is the true meaning of sacrifice when the fate of the world --- or the ones Liesl loves --- is in her hands? Reviewed by Maddy F., Teen Board Member.
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