Our teen book spotlight this week is all about Tales That Inspire!!! This is the final week for the 2021 Summer Reading Program and we are using this week as a launching point for you all to be inspired going into the new school year! Inspiration means something different to everyone; some people will want to try new things while others may take on a challenge to better themselves and the world around them or maybe you just need some encouragement to get you through the day or even as you look down the road into the future. These titles are ones that you can use to find inspiration to launch whatever dreams you may have. We have a great selection this week of poetry, story collections, essays, nonfiction, and graphic novels. These books and more can be found by searching the catalog using the search tag #yainspire as well as on Libby and Hoopla.
The 2021 Summer Reading Program takes place from June 5th-August 11th with a new theme and badge activities every week. Make sure to watch the Teen Book Spotlight book talk video for this week as it counts towards your badge activities for the week; if you read one of the titles featured or on the tagged list, that counts as another activity as well!!! Earn the weekly themed badges to get your virtual tickets which can be turned into opportunities to win prizes! For more information--such as to sign up or to sign in to your account in order to track your books and activities--visit our Summer Reading page and click “LOG IN NOW”.
Check back next week for a new teen book spotlight and if you have any book suggestions, please let us know!!
Hope Nation by Rose Brock--A collection of over twenty essays by contemporary young adult authors sharing their personal experiences of resilience, loss, love, acceptance, and hope.
The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater--Explores the fateful 2013 interaction between Sasha and Richard, two teens from Oakland, California, who never would have met if not for the 57 bus which they both were taking home from school one day. Richard, an African American boy, had a lighter; Sasha, a white agender teen, wore a skirt. A dare to use the lighter changed the teens' lives forever.
For Every One by Jason Reynolds--Presents a poem written by the author encouraging teens to be courageous.
Cinderella Man by Jeremy Schapp--Presents the true story of a depression-era boxer, James Braddock, who with his manager, Joe Gould, staged the greatest comeback in fighting history.
Light It Up by Kekla Magoon--Told from multiple viewpoints, relates how Shae Tatum, an unarmed, thirteen-year-old black girl, is shot by a white police officer, throwing their community into upheaval and making it a target of demonstrators.
Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang--When a Chinese-American family moves to the suburbs of Metropolis, children Roberta and Tommy Lee struggle to fit in among their white neighbors. Tension escalates from racial slurs to a wooden cross set afire in their front yard by the Klan of the Fiery Kross. Superman steps in to put a stop to the crime, and teaches Roberta and Tommy to be proud of their heritage.