Susan Choi

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

California

A Novel

WINNER OF THE 2019 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION “Electrifying” (People) • “Masterly” (The Guardian) • “Dramatic and memorable” (The New Yorker) • “Magic” (TIME) • “Ingenious” (The Financial Times) • "A gonzo literary performance” (Entertainment Weekly) • “Rare and splendid” (The Boston Globe) • “Remarkable” (USA Today) • “Delicious” (The New York Times) • “Book groups, meet your next selection" (NPR) In an American suburb in the early 1980s, students at a highly competitive performing arts high school struggle and thrive in a rarified bubble, ambitiously pursuing music, movement, Shakespeare, and, particularly, their acting classes. When within this striving “Brotherhood of the Arts,” two freshmen, David and Sarah, fall headlong into love, their passion does not go unnoticed—or untoyed with—by anyone, especially not by their charismatic acting teacher, Mr. Kingsley. The outside world of family life and economic status, of academic pressure and of their future adult lives, fails to penetrate this school’s walls—until it does, in a shocking spiral of events that catapults the action forward in time and flips the premise upside-down. What the reader believes to have happened to David and Sarah and their friends is not entirely true—though it’s not false, either. It takes until the book’s stunning coda for the final piece of the puzzle to fall into place—revealing truths that will resonate long after the final sentence. As captivating and tender as it is surprising, Susan Choi's Trust Exercise will incite heated conversations about fiction and truth, and about friendships and loyalties, and will leave readers with wiser understandings of the true capacities of adolescents and of the powers and responsibilities of adults.

Trust Exercise

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Maggie Ann Martin

A high school senior must live alone with her weight-obsessed mother after her older sister goes off to college in this YA contemporary novel from the author of The Big F.

To Be Honest

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Misa Sugiura

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

For fans of Jenny Han, Morgan Matson, and Sandhya Menon, critically acclaimed author Misa Sugiura delivers a richly crafted contemporary YA novel about family, community, and the importance of writing your own history. The author of the Asian Pacific American Award-winning It’s Not Like It’s a Secret is back with another smartly drawn coming-of-age novel that weaves riveting family drama, surprising humor, and delightful romance into a story that will draw you in from the very first page. Katsuyamas never quit—but seventeen-year-old CJ doesn’t even know where to start. She’s never lived up to her mom’s type A ambition, and she’s perfectly happy just helping her aunt, Hannah, at their family’s flower shop. She doesn’t buy into Hannah’s romantic ideas about flowers and their hidden meanings, but when it comes to arranging the perfect bouquet, CJ discovers a knack she never knew she had. A skill she might even be proud of. Then her mom decides to sell the shop—to the family who swindled CJ’s grandparents when thousands of Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps during WWII. Soon a rift threatens to splinter CJ’s family, friends, and their entire Northern California community; and for the first time, CJ has found something she wants to fight for.

This Time Will Be Different

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Jennifer Yu

Some love stories aren't meant to last Stella lives with depression, and her goals for junior year are pretty much limited to surviving her classes, staying out of her parents' constant fights and staving off unwanted feelings enough to hang out with her friends Lin and Katie. Until Kevin. A quiet, wry senior who understands Stella and the lows she's going through like no one else. With him, she feels less lonely, listened to--and hopeful for the first time since ever... But to keep that feeling, Stella lets her grades go and her friendships slide. And soon she sees just how deep Kevin's own scars go. Now little arguments are shattering. Major fights are catastrophic. And trying to hold it all together is exhausting Stella past the breaking point. With her life spinning out of control, she's got to figure out what she truly needs, what's worth saving--and what to let go.

Imagine Us Happy

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Adam Sass

SURRENDER YOUR SONS is an LGBTQ+ YA mystery / thriller that expertly blends together humor, horror, and heart, in a wholly unique read like no other. A blend of Lost and Lord of the Flies... just with gay teenagers taking the horrors of the world head on.

Surrender Your Sons

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Jennifer E. Smith

"Alice loves Teddy, her best friend, but has never told him. When she buys him a lottery ticket that turns out to be a winner, their lives are changed forever and their friendship is put to the ultimate test"--

Windfall

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Liara Tamani

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

“Calling My Name is a treasure.”—Nic Stone, New York Times–bestselling author of Dear Martin Calling My Name is a striking, luminous, and literary exploration of family, spirituality, and self—ideal for readers of Jacqueline Woodson, Jandy Nelson, Naomi Shihab Nye, and Sandra Cisneros. This unforgettable novel tells a universal coming-of-age story about Taja Brown, a young African American girl growing up in Houston, Texas, and deftly and beautifully explores the universal struggles of growing up, battling family expectations, discovering a sense of self, and finding a unique voice and purpose. Told in fifty-three short, episodic, moving, and iridescent chapters, Calling My Name follows Taja on her journey from middle school to high school. Literary and noteworthy, this is a beauty of a novel that captures the multifaceted struggle of finding where you belong and why you matter.

Calling My Name

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Suzanne Park

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)





From the author of the "genuinely funny" and "delightful" Loathe at First Sight (NPR) and "cinematic, charming" So We Meet Again (Emily Henry), a fun rom-com about a young Korean-American woman having to return to college after discovering she's a few credits shy of completing her degree--only to find one of her TAs is her old college boyfriend.

Bestselling author Lily Lee is on a short deadline to deliver her new career guide How to Land the Perfect Job, and she's been interviewing at all the top companies around town. But when she's offered a coveted position at her dream company, the employer's background check reveals she never actually finished her college degree. Unbelievably, her worst nightmare has come true.

Lily returns to her alma mater to relive her senior year of college, after walking across the stage at graduation a decade earlier. Just as she starts getting used to the idea of being a student again, things get even more weird and chaotic when she discovers her computer science TA is her old college boyfriend, Jake Cho.

As Lily and Jake reconnect, she sees that her late-blooming ex has done well for himself: the handsome, charming grad student appears to have his life together, while Lily's on the brink of losing her reputation and her book deal.  

Told in present day with glimpses of the past, The Do-Over is a delightfully warm and hopeful story about second chances in life and love, and how the future might not be a straight line, but we still end up exactly where we're supposed to be.

The Do-Over

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Maureen Johnson

Heavy Paperback (2 to 4 lbs)

A Mystery

New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson weaves a delicate tale of murder and mystery in the first book of a striking new series, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and E. Lockhart. Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont for the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists. It was founded by Albert Ellingham, an early twentieth century tycoon, who wanted to make a wonderful place full of riddles, twisting pathways, and gardens. “A place,” he said, “where learning is a game.” Shortly after the school opened, his wife and daughter were kidnapped. The only real clue was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed with the frightening pseudonym “Truly, Devious.” It became one of the great unsolved crimes of American history. True-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is set to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has an ambitious plan: She will solve this cold case. That is, she will solve the case when she gets a grip on her demanding new school life and her housemates: the inventor, the novelist, the actor, the artist, and the jokester. But something strange is happening. Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy. The past has crawled out of its grave. Someone has gotten away with murder. The two interwoven mysteries of this first book in the Truly Devious series dovetail brilliantly, and Stevie Bell will continue her relentless quest for the murderers in books two and three. Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2018 * Junior Library Guild Selection * 2019 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Nomination * 2019 ALA's Best Fiction for Young Adults Nomination * Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books 2018 * Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fiction 2018 * 2018 Nerdy Book Club Young Adult Winner * Seventeen Best YA Book of 2018

Truly Devious

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Queenie

Hannah Whitten

"As the only Second Daughter born in centuries, Red has one purpose-to be sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wood in the hope he'll return the world's captured gods. Red is almost relieved to go. Plagued by a dangerous power she can't control, at least she knows that in the Wilderwood, she can't hurt those she loves. Again. But the legends lie. The Wolf is a man, not a monster. Her magic is a calling, not a curse. And if she doesn't learn how to use it, the monsters the gods have become will swallow the Wilderwood-and her world-whole"--

For the Wolf

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Rebecca Makkai

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Named a Best Book of 2023 by People, USA Today, NPR, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Real Simple, The Boston Globe, CrimeReads and more “A twisty, immersive whodunit perfect for fans of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History.” —People "Spellbinding." —The New York Times Book Review "[An] irresistible literary page-turner." —The Boston Globe The riveting new novel — "part true-crime page-turner, part campus coming-of-age" (San Francisco Chronicle) — from the author of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist The Great Believers A successful film professor and podcaster, Bodie Kane is content to forget her past—the family tragedy that marred her adolescence, her four largely miserable years at a New Hampshire boarding school, and the murder of her former roommate, Thalia Keith, in the spring of their senior year. Though the circumstances surrounding Thalia’s death and the conviction of the school’s athletic trainer, Omar Evans, are hotly debated online, Bodie prefers—needs—to let sleeping dogs lie. But when the Granby School invites her back to teach a course, Bodie is inexorably drawn to the case and its increasingly apparent ﬂaws. In their rush to convict Omar, did the school and the police overlook other suspects? Is the real killer still out there? As she falls down the very rabbit hole she was so determined to avoid, Bodie begins to wonder if she wasn’t as much of an outsider at Granby as she’d thought—if, perhaps, back in 1995, she knew something that might have held the key to solving the case. In I Have Some Questions for You, award-winning author Rebecca Makkai has crafted her most irresistible novel yet: a stirring investigation into collective memory and a deeply felt examination of one woman’s reckoning with her past, with a transﬁxing mystery at its heart. Timely, hypnotic, and populated with a cast of unforgettable characters, I Have Some Questions for You is at once a compulsive page-turner and a literary triumph.

I Have Some Questions for You

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Shannon Messenger

Book One

A New York Times bestselling series A USA TODAY bestselling series A California Young Reader Medal–winning series In this riveting series opener, a telepathic girl must figure out why she is the key to her brand-new world before the wrong person finds the answer first. This special edition contains beautiful black-and-white illustrations and commentary from Shannon Messenger! Twelve-year-old Sophie has never quite fit into her life. She’s skipped multiple grades and doesn’t really connect with the older kids at school, but she’s not comfortable with her family, either. The reason? Sophie’s a Telepath, someone who can read minds. No one knows her secret—at least, that’s what she thinks… But the day Sophie meets Fitz, a mysterious (and adorable) boy, she learns she’s not alone. He’s a Telepath too, and it turns out the reason she has never felt at home is that, well…she isn’t. Fitz opens Sophie’s eyes to a shocking truth, and she is forced to leave behind her family for a new life in a place that is vastly different from what she has ever known. But Sophie still has secrets, and they’re buried deep in her memory for good reason: The answers are dangerous and in high-demand. What is her true identity, and why was she hidden among humans? The truth could mean life or death—and time is running out.

Keeper of the Lost Cities Illustrated and Annotated Edition

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Ruth Ware

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “A superb suspense writer…Brava, Ruth Ware. I daresay even Henry James would be impressed.” —Maureen Corrigan, author of So We Read On “This appropriately twisty Turn of the Screw update finds the Woman in Cabin 10 author in her most menacing mode, unfurling a shocking saga of murder and deception.” —Entertainment Weekly From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lying Game and The Death of Mrs. Westaway comes this thrilling novel that explores the dark side of technology. When she stumbles across the ad, she’s looking for something else completely. But it seems like too good an opportunity to miss—a live-in nannying post, with a staggeringly generous salary. And when Rowan Caine arrives at Heatherbrae House, she is smitten—by the luxurious “smart” home fitted out with all modern conveniences, by the beautiful Scottish Highlands, and by this picture-perfect family. What she doesn’t know is that she’s stepping into a nightmare—one that will end with a child dead and herself in prison awaiting trial for murder. Writing to her lawyer from prison, she struggles to explain the events that led to her incarceration. It wasn’t just the constant surveillance from the home’s cameras, or the malfunctioning technology that woke the household with booming music, or turned the lights off at the worst possible time. It wasn’t just the girls, who turned out to be a far cry from the immaculately behaved model children she met at her interview. It wasn’t even the way she was left alone for weeks at a time, with no adults around apart from the enigmatic handyman. It was everything. She knows she’s made mistakes. She admits that she lied to obtain the post, and that her behavior toward the children wasn’t always ideal. She’s not innocent, by any means. But, she maintains, she’s not guilty—at least not of murder—but somebody is. Full of spellbinding menace and told in Ruth Ware’s signature suspenseful style, The Turn of the Key is an unputdownable thriller from the Agatha Christie of our time.

The Turn of the Key

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Reni Amayo

The Return of the Earth Mother Series

'Daughters of Nri' is a young adult fantasy novel set after a gruesome war results in the old gods' departure from Earth. The only remnants of their existence lie in two girls. Twins, separated at birth. Goddesses who grow up believing that they are human. This novel explores their epic journey of self-discovery as they embark on a path back to one another.

Daughter of Nri

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Jessica Townsend

An instant New York Times bestseller! "A Harry Potter-esque adventure." --Time Magazine A breathtaking, enchanting new series by debut author Jessica Townsend, about a cursed girl who escapes death and finds herself in a magical world--but is then tested beyond her wildest imagination. Morrigan Crow is cursed. Having been born on Eventide, the unluckiest day for any child to be born, she's blamed for all local misfortunes, from hailstorms to heart attacks--and, worst of all, the curse means that Morrigan is doomed to die at midnight on her eleventh birthday. But as Morrigan awaits her fate, a strange and remarkable man named Jupiter North appears. Chased by black-smoke hounds and shadowy hunters on horseback, he whisks her away into the safety of a secret, magical city called Nevermoor. It's then that Morrigan discovers Jupiter has chosen her to contend for a place in the city's most prestigious organization: the Wundrous Society. In order to join, she must compete in four difficult and dangerous trials against hundreds of other children, each boasting an extraordinary talent that sets them apart--an extraordinary talent that Morrigan insists she does not have. To stay in the safety of Nevermoor for good, Morrigan will need to find a way to pass the tests--or she'll have to leave the city to confront her deadly fate. Perfect for fans of the Harry Potter series and Neil Gaiman, this fast-paced plot and imaginative world has a fresh new take on magic that will appeal to a new generation of readers.

Nevermoor: the Trials of Morrigan Crow

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Kingdom of Exiles

Isabel Wilkerson

The Epic Story of America's Great Migration

Presents an epic history that covers the period from the end of World War I through the 1970s, chronicling the decades-long migration of African Americans from the South to the North and West through the stories of three individuals and their families.

The Warmth of Other Suns

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Anita Dolce Vita

Ungendering Fashion

Foreword by famed genderfluid activist Desmond Is Amazing From the editor-in-chief of leading queer style magazine dapperQ, a bold, beautiful, and inclusive collection [LJ1] that encourages everyone to be comfortable expressing their own personal style however they choose. Fashion plays a significant role in the construction of identity. How we style our clothing and adorn our bodies sends a message not only about who we are as individuals, but the norms and values of communities, cultures, and societies across the world. For too long, mainstream Western fashion has promoted unattainable beauty standards and restrictive binaries as a means of social control. As editor-in-chief of leading queer style magazine dapperQ, Anita Dolce Vita has provided a platform that transcends these rigid, exclusionary, and oppressive fashion rules, inspiring people of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender presentations to think differently about both queer fashion and beauty as art and visual activism and ultimately have a deeper, more fulfilling relationship with style. She believes that fashion should reflect who we are and values such as visibility, belonging, and liberation. In this refreshing style book, she shows that, no matter your gender identity, race, body size, ability, age, or style, queer fashion is for everyone.

DapperQ Style

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Val Emmich

The Rosie Project meets Tell the Wolves I'm Home in this endearing debut about what happens when a girl who can't forget befriends a man who's desperate to remember. Grief-stricken over his partner's death, Gavin Winters sets fire to every physical reminder in the couple's home. A neighbor captures the ordeal on video, turning this unsung TV actor into a household name. Now Gavin is fleeing the hysteria of Los Angeles for New Jersey, hoping to find peace with the family of an old friend. Instead, he finds Joan. Joan, the family's ten-year-old daughter, was born with the rare ability to recall every day of her life in cinematic detail. In seconds, she can tell you how many times her mother has uttered the phrase "it never fails" in the last six months (twenty-seven) or what she was wearing when her grandfather took her fishing on a particular Sunday in June years ago (fox socks). Joan has never met Gavin until now, but she did know his partner, Sydney, and waiting inside her uncanny mind are a half dozen startlingly vivid memories to prove it. Gavin strikes a deal with Joan: in return for sharing all her memories of Sydney, Gavin will help Joan win a local songwriting contest she's convinced could make her unforgettable. The unlikely duo set off on their quest until Joan reveals unexpected details about Sydney's final months, forcing Gavin to question not only the purity of his past with Sydney but the course of his own immediate future. Told in the alternating voices of these two irresistible characters, The Reminders is a hilarious and tender exploration of loss, memory, friendship, and renewal.

The Reminders

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Sylvain Neuvel

In the gripping sequel to "Sleeping Giants, "which was hailed by Pierce Brown as a luminous conspiracy yarn . . . reminiscent of "The Martian "and" World War Z," Sylvain Neuvel s innovative series about human-alien contact takes another giant step forward. As a child, Rose Franklin made an astonishing discovery: a giant metallic hand, buried deep within the earth. As an adult, she s dedicated her brilliant scientific career to solving the mystery that began that fateful day: Why was a titanic robot of unknown origin buried in pieces around the world? Years of investigation have produced intriguing answers and even more perplexing questions. But the truth is closer now than ever before when a second robot, more massive than the first, materializes and lashes out with deadly force. Now humankind faces a nightmare invasion scenario made real, as more colossal machines touch down across the globe. But Rose and her team at the Earth Defense Corps refuse to surrender. They can turn the tide "if" they can unlock the last secrets of an advanced alien technology. The greatest weapon humanity wields is knowledge in a do-or-die battle to inherit the Earth . . . and maybe even the stars. Praise for Sylvain Neuvel s "Sleeping Giants" As high-concept as it is, "Sleeping Giants" is a thriller through and through. . . . One of the most promising series kickoffs in recent memory. NPR Neuvelweaves a complex tapestry with ancient machinery buried in the Earth, shadow governments, and geopolitical conflicts. But the most surprising thing about the book may just be how compelling the central characters are in the midst of these larger-than-life concepts. "Chicago Review of Books" This stellar debut novel . . . masterfully blends together elements of sci-fi, political thriller and apocalyptic fiction. . . . A page-turner of the highest order. " Kirkus Reviews "(starred review) "" Reminiscent of "The Martian "and" World War Z, Sleeping Giants" is a luminous conspiracy yarn that shoots for (and lands among) the stars. Pierce Brown, #1 "New York Times "bestselling author of" "the Red Rising trilogy First-time novelist Sylvain Neuvel does a bold, splashy cannonball off the high dive with "Sleeping Giants." It bursts at the seams with big ideas. This book is a sheer blast from start to finish. I haven t had this much fun reading in ages. Blake Crouch, author of "Dark Matter" and the bestselling Wayward Pines trilogy A remarkable debut. "Library Journal" (starred review) "

Waking Gods

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Julia Ember

Her voice was her prison... Now it’s her weapon. In a world where magic is sung, a powerful mage named Cadence must choose between the two. For years, she has been forced to torture her country’s disgraced nobility at her ruthless queen’s bidding. But when she is reunited with her childhood friend, a noblewoman with ties to the underground rebellion, she must finally make a choice: Take a stand to free their country from oppression, or follow in the queen’s footsteps and become a monster herself. In this dark and lush LGBTQ+ romantic fantasy, two young women from rival factions must work together to reunite their country, as they wrestle with their feelings for each other.

Ruinsong

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Here, There, Everywhere

Rocky Callen

For fans of Girl in Pieces, All the Bright Places, and Girl, Interrupted comes a haunting and breathtaking YA contemporary debut novel that packs a powerful message: hope can be found in the darkness.

"Raw, heartbreaking, and poignant." --New York Times-bestselling author Kathleen Glasgow

A Chicago Public Library and Kirkus Best Book of the Year!

Seventeen-year-old Ellie had no hope left. Yet the day after she dies by suicide, she finds herself in the midst of an out-of-body experience. She is a spectator, swaying between past and present, retracing the events that unfolded prior to her death.

But there are gaps in her memory, fractured pieces Ellie is desperate to re-assemble. There's her mother, a songbird who wanted to break free from her oppressive cage. The boy made of brushstrokes and goofy smiles who brought color into a gray world. Her brooding father, with his sad puppy eyes and clenched fists. And Ellie's determined to find out why a piece of her was left behind.

Told in epistolary-like style, Rocky Callen's deeply moving A Breath Too Late sensitively examines the beautiful and terrible moments that make up a life and the possibilities that live in even the darkest of places. Perfect for fans of the critically-acclaimed Speak, I'll Give You the Sun, and If I Stay.

"An exquisitely played love song to life, in all of its hurts, wonders, memories, and loves." -Jeff Zentner, Morris Award winning author of The Serpent King and Goodbye Days

"A haunting story, punctuated with brilliant points of hope and light. This is an important story. A necessary story . . . Callen's writing radiates with passion, honesty and love." --National Book Award finalist and Printz Award-winning author An Na

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