If you love reading about friendship, mystery, and character growth, take a chance with Ember and the Island of Lost Creatures and Treasure in the Lake. Jason Pamment wrote both of these stand-alone books, and they convey a similar message. Both stories feature the main character learning something about themselves and how they perceive others. A lot of readers, including myself, recommend these titles for those who love the Aquicorn Cove and Tea Dragon Society series by Kay O’Neill.
In Treasure in the Lake, main character Iris and her best friend Sam have become distant over the years. They decide to reconnect but get trapped in the tiny town of Bugden…in the past. As they fight to return to their own time before a flood destroys them, they find themselves crossing paths with the young from long ago and learn about a long-lost friendship. They learn that you never know or appreciate what you have until it’s taken away.
In Ember and the Island of Lost Creatures, our main character lives in a world of giants. Ember is a tiny boy living among giants and it isn’t easy to fit in. With the help of his friend Lua, a kind turtle, he travels across the ocean to a school for little creatures, which is on an island filled with ferocious storms and strange cave dwellers. Ember has trouble here, too, as he tries to adapt and befriend his classmates. He stumbles upon a curious sea creature, and when it attacks, Ember and his classmates must band together to survive.
Monae is a Children’s Instructor and Research Specialist at HCLS East Columbia Branch.
Mystery, Adventure, and Friendship in Ira Marcks’ Graphic Novels: Shark Summer and Spirit Week
by Ahmad Ndir
Ira Marcks’ graphic novels Shark Summer and Spirit Week combine mystery, adventure, and friendship in different settings. Both books feature young protagonists who are drawn into solving a local legend or curse with the help of unlikely allies. The stories are fast-paced, engaging, and full of twists and turns that keep readers on the edge of their seats.
Shark Summer is set on Martha’s Vineyard, where a Hollywood film crew arrives with a mechanical shark and a youth film contest. Gayle, a disgraced pitcher, sees a chance to turn her bad season into the best summer ever by making a movie about the island’s phantom shark. Along the way, she teams up with Elijah, an aspiring cinematographer, and Maddie, a moody director. Together, they uncover the truth behind the shark and the history of the island. The book has a vivid sense of place and a nostalgic vibe that pays homage to classic movies like Jaws and The Goonies.
Spirit Week takes place in the Underlook Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, a famous landmark that belongs to the reclusive horror writer Jack Axworth. Suzy, an aspiring engineer, is invited to tutor Jack’s son, Danny, but instead she finds herself investigating a local curse that threatens the hotel. With the help of Elijah, an amateur filmmaker, and Rena, the hotel’s caretaker, Suzy tries to save the hotel and the town from the shadows of the past. The book has a creepy and dark tone that draws inspiration from horror stories like The Shining and The Haunting of Hill House.
Both books are well-written and illustrated, with expressive characters and colorful scenes. The themes of acceptance, belonging, and finding your family intertwine throughout the stories, as the characters overcome their personal challenges and grow closer to each other. The books are suitable for middle grade and young adult readers who enjoy graphic novels, mystery, and horror. I would recommend them to anyone who likes a good scare along with a good laugh.
Award-winning graphic novelist Ira Marcks visits HCLS on April 3 at 5 pm at Central Branch. He discusses how he plans, writes, and draws a long form comic story by engaging hands-on using the three essential elements of storytelling – characters, setting, and theme. Followed by book sales and signing.
Ahmad Ndir is a Teens’ Instructor & Research Specialist at the Central Branch at HCLS. Along with helping young learners discover new books, he is an avid reader of teen fiction and nonfiction titles on different aspects of psychology. He strives for positivity for himself and those around him, in both his personal and work life.
Some of you may have already collected your finisher prizes for our Summer Reading Adventure. If you have, congratulations! Great job reading and completing activities. It’s not too late to visit one of our branches to collect your prize if you haven’t. They are available through Thursday, August 31, as long as supplies last. If you’re still working on finishing those last few reads, I have a highlight for you from each of our elementary lists. This time, I’m focusing on friendship stories.
This book offers a beautiful beginning, showing ways to say “welcome” from around the world even before the title page. Amy is excited to see a new student join her class, but he doesn’t talk at all during the school day, even when she tries very hard to make him feel welcome. When she sees him light up and talk away to his little sister – in Chinese – she’s surprised to see how different he is! Amy thinks hard and comes up with an idea of another way to make him feel welcome. Check the book out to see if Amy succeeds, and be sure to explore the craft idea and note from the author.
How to Test a Friendship, the first title in the series Magnificent Makers, introduces readers to third graders Pablo and Violet, best friends who are looking forward to being in the same class and studying science, their favorite subject. When new student Deepak appears and starts making friends with Violet, Pablo is not very excited. But the three suddenly find themselves transported to the Maker Maze when they solve a riddle in science class. They must complete challenges to return to their world, but they will only finish in time if they work together. Can Pablo set aside his hard feelings toward Deepak so that they make it home in time? Do they know enough to solve the puzzles? If your young scientist is feeling inspired, be sure to take a look the STEM activities in the back to try at home!
Readers who enjoy fantasy will love The Witchlings, offering another unique view of magic and the world by the author of Ghost Squad. It’s the night of the Black Moon Ceremony, when Witchlings are placed in their covens, and twelve-year-old Seven Salazar knows exactly where she wants to be: House Hyacinth, with her best friend Poppy. Instead, Seven’s worst nightmare comes true. She’s named a Spare, one of the three witches left over at the end of the ceremony, along with Thorn, who is new to town, and Valley, Seven’s long-time enemy. Spares are stripped of their magic and treated poorly, but Seven invokes the rarely used Clause of the Impossible Task. If she and the other Spares can accomplish the Impossible Task, they will complete their circle and become a true coven. When they learn they need to find and defeat the dreaded Nightbeast, Seven and her coven wonder what they’ve gotten themselves into. Little do they know, Seven, Thorn, and Valley will uncover even darker and more mysterious things lurking in their town of Ravenskill. They need to work together and learn to trust each other if they have any chance of success. Check out The Witchlings to discover whether they manage the impossible and overcome their own pasts and fears, as well as the dark powers working against them.
Eliana is aChildren’s Research Specialist and Instructor at HCLS Elkridge Branch. She loves reading, even if she’s slow at it, and especially enjoys helping people find books that make them light up. She also loves being outside and spending time with friends and family (when it’s safe).
In Amy Schumer’s recent Netflix comedy special, Emergency Contact, she talks about getting married in terms of finding someone who can stand you. In Really Good, Actually, the debut novel by Monica Heisey, the struggle is indeed real.
Heisey, who has written for Schitt’s Creek, infuses her novel with laugh-out-loud moments from Maggie’s dating escapades and their quirky outcomes. Really Good, Actually reads like a more modern-day Sex and the City. Instead of Carrie and her straight friends wearing Jimmy Choos, Maggie and her more rainbow-minded friends have root beer and roommate-ready budget nights. Like SATC, friendships – including some refreshing intergenerational ones – remain supreme. And while relationships and finding “the one” are hugely entertaining, Maggie proves the relationship we have with ourselves is genuinely unmatched.
Carmen J. is a teen instructor at HCLS East Columbia Branch. Among her favorite things are great books, all things 80s, shamelessly watching The Bachelor, gardening, and drinking anything that tastes like coffee.
I attribute partial credit to Jojo Moyes for my job at the library. It was 2012 when I interviewed for Instructor and Research position at Miller Branch. One of the assignments was to present an author to the interview panel for a fictional author visit. I had just finished reading Me Before You by Moyes, and I did not hesitate for a moment to decide which author I would be presenting. I got the job. Since then, I have read almost all of her novels partly because I feel indebted but mostly because I love her style of writing and her stories. When I discovered her latest book, Someone Else’s Shoes was coming out, I put my name on the wait list early.
I was not sure I would like this book when I first started reading it. It seemed too predictable – a story of two middle-aged women, diametrically opposite in character, social standing, and circumstances. Nisha Cantor is the wife of a billionaire whose husband drops her like hot potato, leaving her penniless, for a younger woman. Nisha is relentless in her anger to get back what she has lost. She has no money, no prospects, and is on the verge of being homeless, yet she has her attitude, her brusqueness, her determination, her optimism, and her resilience. Despite her situation, she does not get my sympathy. I do not believe Moyes wanted the reader’s sympathy for Nisha Cantor. She is almost unlikeable, insensitive. She is forceful and not in a good way. A woman wronged, she will have her revenge. Love her or hate her, you cannot ignore her.
Samantha, the opposite of Nisha, is beaten down by life. Her husband, Phil, is severely depressed; her boss at work is a pathetic, misogynistic man who constantly disrespects Sam despite her excellent work. Sam, however, needs the job since Phil can hardly get up from the couch due to his mental health. She has arrived at that precarious age when women start becoming invisible. Sam holds up her family single-handedly yet slowly fades as an individual. She is bullied, ignored, taken for granted, and yet she sees no way out.
One day at the gym, Sam mistakenly takes Nisha’s bag instead of her own, which contains a pair of red Christian Louboutin shoes. Those shoes become a catalyst for many changes in this novel’s characters. The pair of Louboutin shoes not only changes lives, fosters friendships, and brings justice but it also serves as a double entendre to show what it means to step into other people’s shoes and see life through a different lens.
This book is a lighthearted read that explores various emotions – love, female friendship, empathy, humanity, to name a few. The readers will, perhaps, know that the end carries no surprises, but I did not mind. As I read on, I got deeply invested into the lives of the two protagonists. I started to care. If you are in between heavy books or going through a reading slump and need a light yet engaging read, this may be the book for you.
Piyali is an instructor and research specialist at HCLS Miller Branch, where she facilitates Light But Not Fluffy and co-facilitates Global Reads. She keeps the hope alive that someday she will reach the bottom of her to-read list.
In Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun, Julián Luna is determined to make the most of his senior year of high school. He has plans on how he’ll make that happen: spending as much time as possible with his best friends, playing soccer, graduating, getting into UCLA, and, oh – making sure no one finds out that he’s gay. Especially not his father. But despite this secret he’s keeping, he manages to make the most of things, spending time with his tight-knit friend group. Until, of course, one day, just scrolling through Twitter, he sees pictures of a boy. Immediately, there’s a connection, and when they start texting and speaking more, Julián finds himself falling for the boy, Mat. The issue, then? Well, other than the fact that Julián isn’t out, he’s also in Corpus Christi, Texas, and Mat lives in Los Angeles. Despite the distance, the two boys start learning about each other, falling for each other, and hoping for a future together. But time, distance, and unplanned coming-outs get in the way.
Garza Villa is honest about hardship from the start of the book, even writing in the dedication ““To all the queer brown boys still waiting for their chance to bloom. Quisieron enterrarnos, pero no sabían que éramos semillas.” They want to bury us, but they don’t know that we are seeds. That thread flows through the novel, including candid conversations about machismo in Latinx culture, religion’s intersection with homophobia, and conversations about bullying. And yet, despite the list of trigger warnings at the top of this review, the novel is intentionally not centering trauma in Julián’s life. Every moment of pain is followed by immediate love, support, and care. Garza Villa takes pains to ensure that joy is the central theme around which the rest of the story is built; of course Julián faces hardship, but he is never truly alone in how he responds to those traumatic moments. The idea presented in the dedication, “we are seeds”, is exactly how Julián responds to all the hardships in his life. He was buried deep, and with careful nurture, love, and support from his family and friends, he manages to bloom into something beautiful and loving, breaking the cycle of abuse.
This book was wonderfully illustrative. I lost myself in Julián’s friend group, found myself falling in love with Mat along with Julián, and waiting with bated breath for college acceptance letters. But most significantly, I was swept up in a celebration of culture, cuisine, friendship, and queer joy. There is real heart here; Garza Villa paints an honest picture of the ways falling in love and doing long distance just as easily as he manages to bring to life all of the different characters that make up Julián’s friend group, who each are so vivacious and full of life without becoming caricatures.
This book is perfect for any teens looking to find themselves, or adults who know that the blooming never stops. That if we are seeds, we will continue to grow, season after season.
Sahana is an Instructor and Research Specialist at the Savage Branch. She enjoys adding books to her “want to read” list despite having a mountain of books waiting for her already.
If you’re looking for a heartwarming read that is thought-provoking, discussable, and hilarious, look no further than Skye Fallingby Mia McKenzie.
Skye is an elder millennial who is quickly approaching her 40th birthday, and she has no interest in ‘settling down’ or having any deep sort of meaningful human connection. The successful founder of a small travel company, Skye has spent years adventuring around the world in the fleeting company of strangers… which has provided her the perfect opportunity to avoid lasting relationships of any kind.
In short, Skye has an impressive career but she is a hot mess when it comes to her personal life.
Her brief returns to her hometown, Philadelphia, usually consist of crashing at her friend’s B&B, dodging her brother’s calls about their chronically ill mother, and planning for upcoming trips she will lead for work. She typically does not spend this time reflecting on the past or dredging up emotions that she has long since buried.
So, when she finds that the egg she donated over a decade ago has actually developed into a real human child – now a twelve year old girl, to be exact – her initial reaction is to run. Literally. Skye tries to run and hide from this girl, Vicky, who introduces herself as “your egg.” But it turns out Vicky is actually pretty cool… so cool that Skye might want to stick around and try to be responsible for the first time in her life.
However, this is complicated by the fact that Vicky’s aunt and caretaker is not a big fan of Skye, at least not at first. But, as they get closer, let’s just say the tension between these two women isn’t solely about their different approaches to parenting…
In the interest of avoiding spoilers, believe me when I say McKenzie is a master of comedic writing. The outrageous situations she puts her characters in, and the figurative language she uses to describe them, is top tier. Not to mention her hilarious one-liners, too!
This novel isn’t just funny, though – it is emotionally rich and insightful about a range of issues from family trauma and fractured friendships to gentrification and policing. McKenzie creates an engaging balance between humor and tragedy, joy and anger, fear and love. The result is a feel-good, fun book that holds space and respect for serious topics that are part of everyday life.
This is ultimately what makes Skye Falling one of my favorite 2021 releases, and I believe it is also what makes it a great choice for book club discussions – which is why I included it on the HCLS 2022 Books for Discussion list (which you should take a look at for more reading suggestions).
While I think Skye Falling can appeal to a variety of readers, I would particularly recommend this title to lovers of Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers. Both novels center queer Black women who put pause on their careers in order to sort out personal relationships, figure out what they are doing with their lives, and eventually begin to process their complicated relationships with their parents. They each have rom-com elements without that being the entire plot, are full of millennial humor (albeit on different ends of the generation), and celebrate friendship and chosen family. I wholeheartedly recommend both!
Ash is an Instructor & Research Specialist at Central Branch and is a co-facilitator for Reads of Acceptance, HCLS’ first LGBTQ-focused book club. This time of year, they are especially fond of reading while cuddling with their golden retriever and sipping hot cocoa or tea.
Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, I haven’t had the desire nor the motivation to read. I know that’s a horrible thing to say as an employee of a library (a 5-Star Library system as a matter of fact), but it took me quite a while to get back into reading novels. So you know what I did? I did what I’ve suggested to many a parent who has come in trying to find something to get their child to like reading; I picked up a graphic novel.
Graphic novels can be about literally hundreds of subjects across any number of genres. Many authors have written wonderful original stories as well as graphic representations of classic novels. When a parent needs a suggestion for a book for their reluctant child or when someone wants something interesting to read, I almost always suggest a graphic novel. Why? Well, as a visual learner, I find myself more engaged with the story and with the characters when I see them visually represented, and it’s easier for my brain to follow along without distraction. Since the start of the pandemic, I’ve read graphic novels for adults, teens, tweens, and children. From the many I’ve recently read, here are six picks that teach everyone to be who you are unapologetically, and if you can, be a little magical, too.
What I loved about this book is that it challenges the gender norms in Aster’s family and society. In his family, the girls are raised as witches while the boys are raised as shape-shifters. But that isn’t who Aster is, and he practices in secret since it is forbidden for boys to study magic. He desperately wants to be a witch but is afraid of his family finding out. When trouble brews and his magical skills are what’s needed to help save the day, he has to find the courage within himself to be who he feels in his heart that he is meant to be.
Many will see the similarity between the events of the Salem witch trials and the events of Founder’s Bluff in this book. Moth has always loved all things witchy and magical, so when her powers emerge, she is immediately thrust into a world where the history of her hometown is intertwined with that of her own family. She discovers that her mother was once a member of a powerful coven of witches who separated from a world that despised them but broke away to live a life free of magic. As she discovers this history, she must come to terms with being a witch (which she finds kind of cool) along with the existence of people in town descended from those who discriminated and hated her family and those like her. What’s a fledgling young witch with a talking cat to do?
Beetle and the Hollowbones is a tale of outgrowing what society expects you to be, standing up for your friends even if it means standing up to them, and embracing and loving who you are. Much like the Witch Boy, Beetle is a goblin and goblins are only supposed to do a specific type of magic and none other. One day she meets Blob Ghost, a, well, ghost blob haunting the local mall that is inexplicably tied to its location. So when the mall is due to be demolished, it is up to Beetle to find out why he’s connected to the mall and rescue him. Along the way she reconnects with an old friend (and love interest) who needs to be reminded about their friendship, who they are, and to stand up to family even if they are family.
How would you feel if your life was turned upside down and inside out all of a sudden? That’s what happens to Effie. Having lost her mom and the only home she ever knew, she is suddenly taken to live with two estranged aunts. Once there, Effie learns more about her family than she ever thought possible, including the fact that they can do magic! This newfound knowledge and ability is almost too much for Effie, and it rears its ugly head at the worst of times. She soon starts to accept that this is her life now, that magic is a part of it, and that zany things are going to happen, including helping one of her favorite singers when she comes to Effie’s aunts for help with a nasty curse.
Snap’s town has a witch. Maybe. Possibly. At least that’s the rumor going around. When Snap needs help from the town “witch”, she learns that there’s more than meets the eye and discovers the power she has within herself. Aside from the super cool supernatural elements, the characters are all a delight to read. And especially the children. They’re the perfect example of prejudice being made, not born, because when given an upbringing that doesn’t include any of that, they can be perfectly accepting of everyone around them without thinking it’s “weird.” They celebrate and encourage uniqueness.
What happens when three friends are brought together by unforeseeable circumstances and their group, particularly young sand dancer Oona Lee, is what stands between saving the five worlds and their destruction? Oona must find the power within herself that she didn’t know she had, as well as the confidence to travel the five worlds, light all the beacons, and fend off attacks from the evil hiding in the shadows. Between all of this, she has to save her friend An Tzu, who also has mysterious origins and a tie to what can save everything, from a mysterious ailment. Beautiful art, rich characters, and full of world-building elements, you’ll love this series!
Disclaimer: There are a number of graphic novels on the same subject but these are only the most recent I’ve read. Please visit any Howard County Library branch to learn more!
Peter is an Instructor and Research Specialist at the Miller Branch and LOVES graphic novels and dogs. Especially fluffy dogs.
If I Had Your Face drew me in at the beginning, lost me a little bit in the middle, and captivated me again towards the end. Through the eyes of four narrators, Ara, Kyuri, Miho, and Wonna, Frances Cha brings us not only the personal stories of these women but also the social tapestry of modern South Korea in terms of beauty standards, feminism, women in the work force, a challenging economy, sexuality, matrimony, and societal expectations.
Kyuri works as a room salon girl – an opportunity afforded to only the “prettiest 10 percent.” She accompanies and caters to the sexual needs of rich men, who in turn ply her with designer bags and expensive makeup. Kyuri has surgically altered her entire face to attain the flawless beauty that is vital to her job and, ultimately, her prosperity. (Interestingly, according to businessinsider.com, “with the highest rate of cosmetic surgeries in the world and nearly 1 million procedures a year, South Korea is often called the world’s plastic surgery capital.”) Although her life seems enviable, Kyuri is in heavy debt and emotionally wrecked. On top of everything, she makes one bad decision that threatens her entire livelihood.
Ara has lost her voice due to some violence in the past. The author piques our interest, hinting about the violence throughout Ara’s narrative and disclosing the incident towards the end. She is a hair stylist and a huge K-Pop enthusiast. Ara’s K-Pop fantasy is her escape to a dreamworld that is very different from the harsh reality of her life.
Miho is an orphan who won a scholarship to study art in New York City, who obsessively creates art influenced by her friendship with a girl named Ruby. Ruby dazzled Miho with her personality, wealth, influence, and charisma. She also introduced Miho to the upper echelon of South Korean society. Miho, however, can simply look into the lives of the rich from the periphery. She is not allowed in.
Wonna, who lives in the same building as the young women, is trapped in an uninspiring marriage. She is pregnant and terrified of losing her baby. She has to hide her pregnancy for as long as she can so she does not lose her job. Moreover, she does not know how she and her husband will raise the baby in South Korea’s brutal economy with their combined meager salaries.
Then there is Sujin who works at a nail salon and yearns for Kyuri’s surgically altered, perfect jawline because her goal is to emulate Kyuri and become a room salon girl herself. She is willing to go through painful jaw surgery and subsequent complications from it if she can attain the beauty that society dictates women ought to strive for. She is Ara’s roommate, and we know about her mostly from the narratives of her friends, Ara and Kyuri.
All our protagonists come from impoverished backgrounds. They are desperate to leave their past behind and move up in life despite the barriers that society constructs for them. But when their friendship is put to test in their quest for upward mobility, what do they do? Does societal pressure shatter their tentative friendship, or will their friendship ultimately save them?
The book tells the unique story of these women and their relationship with one another. While each individual story is interesting, the picture of South Korean society that emerges from the collective stories and through the perspectives of these unique individuals is what makes If I Had Your Face a captivating read. Frances Cha, a former travel and culture editor for CNN in Seoul, writes her vivid and realistic debut novel which Publishers Weekly hails as, “an insightful, powerful story from a promising new voice… Cha navigates the obstacles of her characters’ lives with ease and heartbreaking realism.”
Piyali is an instructor and research specialist at the Miller Branch of HCLS, where she co-facilitates both Global Reads and Strictly Historical Fiction.
In a small, forgotten Mississippi town, a vicious crime and a missing girl are like déjà vu for hapless farmer and hermit, Larry Ott. Decades before, the man the whole town still calls ‘Scary Larry,’ took local girl Cindy Walker on his first and only date. The girl never came home, and her body was never found.
Blame fell on Larry Ott, and he became a pariah to everyone, including his parents. But the one person Larry could not bear to lose was his best friend from childhood, Silas Jones. Silas “32” Jones, a black man, once dirt poor, worked hard over the years to earn the respectability he covets as the town’s lawman.
Now another girl – a politician’s daughter – has gone missing. Once more, the town is certain Larry did it. The last thing Silas needs is anything to do with Larry Ott – until he responds to the 911 call: Larry Ott’s been shot by an intruder and is now in intensive care. It doesn’t look good.
Silas’s struggle to do the right thing is what makes this book a small gem. Readers will settle in to assume that this is another insignificant southern town, bristling with economic despair and racism, but they’ll be wrong. Sure, Franklin creates an oppressive atmosphere where heat and kudzu vines flourish, and neighbors get back at neighbors with the occasional cottonmouth snake in the mailbox. Urban legends, racism, ignorance, child abuse, and the small-town need for a whipping boy abound. We need a hero, and refreshingly, Franklin has given that role to Silas.
At the same time, any connection to Larry Ott could put Silas back on that precipice of racism. But as he investigates and pursues the perpetrator, unearthing the bones of an old crime, Silas’s conflicted emotions press to a breaking point. Will he admit to the complicated part he once played in the harrowing life he shared with Larry Ott? If only he could forget turning his back on Larry when Larry needed him most.
Part thriller, part literary fiction, Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter is still a book I want to press into everyone’s hands. I think it should also be part of the high school curriculum. An eloquent and tender story, it will shape any reader’s collective consciousness regarding race and what it means to be a friend.
Aimee Z. is part of the adult research staff at HCLS East Columbia Branch. She lives on a lake with her two labs, Dixie and Belle, who enthusiastically approved the content of this review in exchange for a peanut butter and jelly biscuit.
CHAPTER CHATS 