Our teen book spotlight this week is on books that are some of my all time favorite authors!!! These are the authors that as soon as they have a new book out, it is an immediate must read and I already know that I am going to be reading till 3:00 in the morning (we have all been there before), may leave me speechless and filled with emotions (including some crying on the couch), wanting to talk about it with someone instantly, and then telling everyone else they have to read it! There is some nonfiction, graphic novelists, and a mix of historical and realistic; this was such a hard list to make. These books and more can be found by searching the catalog using the search tag #elyse’sfavorites as well as on Libby and Hoopla. Check back next week for a new teen book spotlight and if you have any book suggestions, please let us know!!
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys--In 1941, during WWII and Joseph Stalin's reign, Soviet officers arrest a gifted artist, fifteen-year-old Lina and her family. While her father faces the death camp, Lina, her mother and younger brother get shoved onto a crowded, dirty boxcar and are deported to a Siberian work camp. Lina and her fellow prisoners must endure many difficulties -- the harsh climate, unsanitary conditions, disease and hunger. At great risk, Lina documents her experiences through her meticulous drawings and passes them along to other deportees, hoping they'll reach her father in his Soviet prison.
Most Dangerous by Steve Sheinkin--Over a period of seven years, a nerdy analyst named Daniel Ellsberg, working for Rand Corp., became “the most dangerous man in America,” as designated by the media. He exposed the existence of some 7,000 pages of documents, which became known as the Pentagon Papers, detailing a secret history of the Vietnam War. Ellsberg showed the American people that over the course of 23 years and four presidencies, their government lied to them about its involvement and actions in Vietnam, calling into question the trust people place in their government.
The Girl In the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse--In 1943 Amsterdam, things are not as bad for Hanneke as they could be. An "Aryan poster girl," her appearance allows her to move freely throughout the Nazi-occupied city. She uses that freedom to get back at the Germans for what they've done to her country and to her, killing her boyfriend on the Dutch front lines. Hanneke, under cover of night, finds and delivers black market goods to paying customers. One night, Hanneke is asked to find not an item but a person, a Jewish teen one of her customers had been hiding who has now disappeared. Investigating, Hanneke finds herself drawn into the Danish resistance and risking her own life.
The Boy In the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds--Soon after his mother's death, Matt takes a job at a funeral home in his tough Brooklyn neighborhood and, while attending and assisting with funerals, begins to accept her death and his responsibilities as a man.
More Deadly Than War by Kenneth C. Davis--The Spanish flu broke out 100 years ago during the first world war. This global epidemic is described through the words of people who experienced it. Caught up in the war, military and government officials ignored the advice of doctors and scientists, making the flu deadlier than the fighting.
Dragon Hoops by Gene Yuen Lang--Gene Luen Yang, a graphic novelist and math teacher in Oakland, California, follows his Catholic high school's men's varsity basketball team, the Dragons, over the course of one season. Interviews Coach Lou and his players on their lives, the team's mysterious past, and its quest for the state championship.