Teen Reads

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Now, conjurers

Author(s):

Kölsch, Freddie,

Description:

November 1999. North Dana, Massachusetts. Nesbit Nuñez discovers the partially devoured body of Bastion Attia: star quarterback, secret witch, and Nesbit's even-more-secret boyfriend. No one knew why brilliant, gentle Bastion lived his life by a seemingly arcane set of rules, including a strange manner of speech and an inability to say his own name. Now the remaining members of North Coven--Nesbit, Dove, Drea, and Brandy--vow to get answers. Nothing can prepare them for what they uncover: Bastion had been locked in a terrifying battle of wits and wills with something living deep beneath an ancient mausoleum in the local cemetery. North Coven must confront the red-gloved monster that took piece after piece of Bastion, that he fought until his last breath. Not knowing that Bastion left behind the key to its destruction. 7/1

Format:

Book

Call Number:

YA FIC Kol

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Sleep like death

Author(s):

Bayron, Kalynn

Description:

Princess Eve was raised with one purpose: to destroy the Knight. Far too many of subjects of Queen's Bridge have been devastated by this evil sorcerer's trickery. Eve's own unique magic--the ability to conjure weapons from nature--makes her a worthy adversary. As she approaches her seventeenth birthday, Eve is ready to battle. But her mother, Queen Regina, has been acting bizarrely, talking to a strange mirror alone every night. Then a young man claiming to be the Knight's messenger appears and shares a shocking truth about Eve's past. Unsure of who to trust, Eve must find the courage to do what she's always done: fight. But will it be enough to save her family and her queendom? 7/1

Format:

Book

Call Number:

YA FIC Bay

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The summer love strategy

Author(s):

Stoeve, Ray

Description:

Hayley always has a crush. The problem is her crushes never like her back. After her latest unrequited love--a girl from her basketball team--gets a boyfriend, she decides she's done falling for girls who are unavailable. Her best friend, Talia, wants romance, too, but rarely gets crushes on anyone, and she's tired of watching Hayley get her heart stomped on over and over. So the two girls make a pact: They'll help each other find summer love by putting themselves in situations that always lead to romance in movies.To help carry out their summer love strategy, they make a list of all the places they could find their real-life rom-com: the beach, the Pride parade, the pool, a MUNA concert, and a party. But as they go to each place and try to find the one, it seems like they just can't catch a break--they don't know how to talk to cute strangers, someone mistakes Hayley as straight, and Hayley does a truly unfortunate DIY haircut (that she cannot be held responsible for--it was a crisis!). But when Talia and Hayley finally manage to score dates, will they be able to get out of their own way and really dive into the romances they deserve? Or is summer love not as far off as Hayley thought? 7/1

Format:

Book

Call Number:

YA FIC Sto

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The color of a lie

Author(s):

Johnson, Kim, 1979-

Description:

Calvin knows how to pass for white. He's done it plenty of times before. For his friends in Chicago, when they wanted food but weren't allowed in a restaurant. For work, when he and his dad would travel for the Green Book. This is different. After a tragedy in Chicago forces the family to flee, they resettle in an idyllic all-white suburban town in search of a better life. Calvin's father wants everyone to embrace their new white lifestyles, but it's easier said than done. Hiding your true self is exhausting--which leads Calvin across town where he can make friends who know all of him... and spend more time with his new crush, Lily. But when Calvin starts unraveling dark secrets about the white town and its inhabitants, passing starts to feel even more suffocating--and dangerous--than he could have imagined. 7/1

Format:

Book

Call Number:

YA FIC Joh

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Don't be a drag

Author(s):

Quinlan, Skye

Description:

When eighteen-year-old Briar Vincent's mental health takes a downward turn, her parents send her to spend the summer in New York City with her older brother, Beau, also known as the drag queen Bow Regard. Backstage at the gay bar where Beau performs, Briar just wants to be a fly on the wall, but she can't stand by when the cute but conceited drag king Spencer Read tries to put down another up-and-coming performer. To prove to him that even a brand-new performer could knock him off his pedestal, Briar signs up for the annual drag king competition. There's just one flaw in her plan: Briar has never done drag before. With the help of her brother and a few new friends, Briar becomes Edgar Allan Foe, a drag king hellbent on taking Spencer down. But unless she can learn how to shake her anxiety and perform, she doesn't stand a chance of winning Drag King of the Year, overcoming her depression and inner demons, or avoiding falling for her enemy, who might not be so bad after all. 6/24

Format:

Book

Call Number:

YA FIC Qui

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The lamplighter

Author(s):

Bell, Crystal J., 1988-

Description:

The nineteenth-century whaling village of Warbler is famous for its lucky ship figureheads--and infamous for people disappearing into the nightly fog. In this murky locale, the lamplighter is synonymous with safety and protection, and it’s a position Temperance assumes when her father is found hanging from one of the lampposts. Though Tempe proves competent, the town is still hesitant to let a woman handle this responsibility. When a girl disappears after two lamps go out, Tempe’s ability to provide for her mother and younger sister hangs in the balance. She scrambles for answers, hindered at every turn by the village authorities’ call for her removal. As more villagers vanish under her watch, Tempe discovers unsettling truths about the famous Warbler figureheads and her own beloved father. But her warnings of a monster are ignored, even by her own family. Now she must follow the light out of her own fog of despair, as she faces the choice to look the other way or risk speaking out and possibly dooming herself and her sister to be among the lost. 6/24

Format:

Book

Call Number:

YA FIC Bel

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Prom babies

Author(s):

Magoon, Kekla

Description:

Mina, Penny, and Sheryl have the typical expectations of prom night in 2005: dresses, dancing, and of course some coming of age moments. None of them plans to get pregnant, but when all three do, they band together as they face decisions that have the power to shape the rest of their lives. In 2024, their three children--Blossom, Amber, and Cole--are high school seniors, gearing up to go to prom and facing some big decisions of their own. As they seek to understand who they are and who they want to be, they grapple with issues that range from consent to virginity, gendered dress codes, and the many patriarchal, heteronormative expectations that still come along with prom. A generation later, will this prom night change lives too? 6/24

Format:

Book

Call Number:

YA FIC Mag

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The redemption of Daya Keane

Author(s):

Gordon, Gia

Description:

"The end of Daya Keane's junior year in Escondido, Arizona, is anything but expected. And it starts when her longtime swoon-worthy crush, Beckett Wild, actually talks to her at a party neither of them should've been at. But as Daya's best friends, Stella and B'Rad, are quick to point out, smart, cute, artistic Beckett is also the poster girl for the wildly popular youth group at Grace Redeemer, the megachurch Daya's mom prays at and pushes her daughter to attend. Amid the concert-worthy light shows, high-energy live band, and pastor preaching to love thy neighbor so long as thy neighbor "gets right with God" first, Daya struggles to find her place in a house of worship that doesn't seem to create space for someone like her. Then again, she never planned to fall this hard for a girl like Beckett Wild. Now Daya has to decide how far she's willing to surrender to Beckett's world of Grace Redeemer, and who she's willing to become to be with her" 6/24

Format:

Book

Call Number:

YA FIC Gor

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If you can't take the heat

Author(s):

Ruhlman, Michael, 1963-

Description:

When high school football star Theo Claverback breaks his leg just weeks after a devastating break-up, he’s forced to cancel his summer plans and put his college ones on hold. He soon finds himself in the most unlikely of places for a jock on crutches: the kitchen of an upscale French restaurant, where he’ll work as a prep cook while his heart and leg heal. But it’s in the kitchen where Theo finds new purpose and a new romance. As he becomes a trusted employee to Chef and is welcomed into his inner circle, Theo begins to discover the true costs of running a restaurant--and what happens when you get into hot water with the wrong people. 6/18

Format:

Book

Call Number:

YA FIC Ruh

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If you knew my name

Author(s):

Carter, Lisa Roberts

Description:

Mason Tyndall is an aspiring rap artist whose mother is a BLM activist. She saw fatal officer-involved shootings as senseless tragedies. He viewed them as trending hashtags--that is, until he almost became one. Mason has big dreams. Dreams of sick beats, epic mic-drops, sold out stadiums. Mason's going to be a rap star--and you don't become a rap star by hitting up BLM protests with your mom or sitting at a desk. Mason wants to get out there and make a name for himself, but he'll have to graduate high school first. And he can't do that if he fails his senior year. Convinced his poetry class is a waste of time, Mason's teacher helps him see just how valuable a couplet and a rhyme can be. But when an unarmed Black man is killed by the police in his city, tensions start to rise--among the cops, the community, and even Mason's peers. Caught in the middle of increasingly violent conflicts, Mason will have to find a way to use his voice for change...and fast. 6/18

Format:

Book

Call Number:

YA FIC Car

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Keepers of the stones & stars

Author(s):

Barakiva, Michael

Description:

Reed is leading his best life: he's just kissed the boy of his dreams, his band is finally taking off, and he's a shoo-in to getting elected as next year's Student Council president. But he's ready to give it all up when his suspiciously artistocratic guidance counselor tells him he has been chosen to go on the adventure of a lifetime. Because Reed is the first of five Stone Bearers to be chosen by magical gems and granted extraordinary powers. All he has to do is unite all five and lead them to seal a portal that will release an onslaught of uncontrollable chaotic magical energies and destroy the world as they know it. It's up to the ruby, sapphire, topaz, emerald, and amethyst Bearers to save the world, fulfilling their roles in a centuries-old cycle that dates back to seventeenth-century Mughal India and the first Keepers of the Stones and Stars. 6/18

Format:

Book

Call Number:

YA FIC Bar

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The deep dark

Author(s):

Ostertag, Molly Knox

Description:

Magdalena Herrera is about to graduate high school, but she already feels like an adult with serious responsibilities: caring for her ailing grandmother; working a part-time job; clandestine makeouts with a girl who has a boyfriend. And then there’s her secret, which pulls her into the basement each night, drains her of energy, and leaves her bleeding. A secret that could hurt and even kill if it ever got out -- like it did once before. So Mags keeps her head down, isolated in her small desert community. That is, until her childhood friend Nessa comes back to town, bringing vivid memories of the past, an intoxicating glimpse of the future, and a secret of her own. Mags won’t get attached, of course. She’s always been strong enough to survive without anyone’s help. But when the darkness starts to close in on them both, Mags will have to drag her secret into the daylight, and choose between risking everything...or having nothing left to lose. 6/18

Format:

Book

Call Number:

YA FIC Ost

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This book won't burn

Author(s):

Ahmed, Samira (Fiction writer)

Description:

After her dad abruptly abandons her family and her mom moves them a million miles from their Chicago home, Noor Khan is forced to start the last quarter of her senior year at a new school, away from everything and everyone she knows and loves. Reeling from being uprooted and deserted, Noor is certain the key to survival is to keep her head down and make it to graduation. But things aren’t so simple. At school, Noor discovers hundreds of books have been labeled “obscene” or “pornographic” and are being removed from the library in accordance with a new school board policy. Even worse, virtually all the banned books are by queer and BIPOC authors. Noor can’t sit back and do nothing, because that goes against everything she believes in, but challenging the status quo just might put a target on her back. Can she effect change by speaking up? Or will small-town politics--and small-town love--be her downfall? 6/10

Format:

Book

Call Number:

YA FIC Ahm

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The wilderness of girls

Author(s):

Franklin, Madeline Claire

Description:

"After being placed in foster care, Rhi is hungry for a fresh start and begins working at the Happy Valley Wildlife Preserve. While in the woods, she stumbles upon a surreal sight: a pack of wolves guarding four feral and majestic girls. After Rhi gains their trust, they reveal that they're princesses from another land, raised by a magical prophet they call Mother--and they're convinced Rhi is their lost fifth sister. Unsure what to believe, Rhi ushers the girls to civilization, where they're met with societal uproar and scrutiny, dubbed by the ravenous media and true crime junkies as "The Wild Girls of Happy Valley." Desperate to return to their kingdom, the girls look to Rhi for help. Rhi knows the girls are deluded, but at the same time she's drawn in by their boldness and authenticity--traits she is afraid she has lost within herself. And when Rhi witnesses strange phenomena she can't quite explain, the line between fantasy and reality blurs. As the hunt for answers intensifies, Rhi must make a decision that will change the course of her life and the lives of her Wild Girls forever" 6/10

Format:

Book

Call Number:

YA FIC Fra

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Four Eids and a funeral

Author(s):

Àbíké-Íyímídé, Faridah
Jaigirdar, Adiba,

Description:

These days, Said Hossain spends most of his time away at boarding school. But when his favorite hometown librarian, Ms. Barnes, dies, he must return to New Crosshaven for her funeral and for the summer. Too bad being home makes it a lot harder to avoid facing his ex-best friend, Tiwa Olatunji, or facing the daunting task of telling his Bangladeshi parents that he would rather be an artist than a doctor. Tiwa doesn’t understand what made Said start ignoring her, but it’s probably that fancy boarding school of his. Though he’s unexpectedly staying at home through the summer, she’s determined to take a page from him and pretend he doesn’t exist. Besides, she has more than enough going on anyway, between grieving her broken family and helping her mother throw the upcoming Eid celebration at the Islamic Center--a place that means so much to Tiwa. But when the Islamic Center accidentally catches fire, it turns out the mayor plans to demolish the center entirely. Things are still tense between the ex-friends, but Tiwa needs Said’s help if there’s any hope of changing the mayor’s mind, and on top of everything, Said needs a project to submit to art school (unbeknownst to anyone). Will all their efforts be enough to save the Islamic Center, save Eid, and maybe even save their relationship? 6/10

Format:

Book

Call Number:

YA FIC Abi

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Girls night

Author(s):

Belle, I. S.

Description:

Gossip queen Alex longs to be seen. Cheerleader Tulsi is sick of cutting people on her sharp heart. New kid Clementine can't escape the violence inside. And wallflower Sunju is tired of keeping quiet. When a twist of fate brings this unlikely quartet together, sparks and punches fly. They call it 'Girls Night,' an underground fight club that's girls only. Soon every girl at Sterling High is showing up to class with bruised knuckles and split lips. Alex, Tulsi, Clementine, and Sun have never felt more alive. Until demonic head cheerleader, Quentin Scarhill, steps in the ring with her eyes on Alex. As Quentin's hold over Alex tightens, Girls Night spirals out of control. Can they take back the reins before things turn deadly? And if Girls Night ends will they throw in the towel on their newfound friendships? 6/10

Format:

Book

Call Number:

YA FIC Bel

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Where was goodbye?

Author(s):

Mather, Janice Lynn

Description:

Karmen is about to start her last year of high school, but it’s only been six weeks since her brother, Julian, died by suicide. How is she supposed to focus on school when huge questions loom: Why is Julian gone? How could she have missed seeing his pain? Could she have helped him? When a blowup at school gets Karmen sent home for a few weeks, life gets more complicated: things between her parents are tenser than ever, her best friend’s acting like a stranger, and her search to understand why Julian died keeps coming up empty. New friend Pru both baffles and comforts Karmen, and there might finally be something happening with her crush, Isaiah, but does she have time for either, or are they just more distractions? Will she ever understand Julian’s struggle and tragedy? If not, can she love--and live--again? 6/3

Format:

Book

Call Number:

YA FIC Mat

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The vanishing station

Author(s):

Ellickson, Ana

Description:

Eighteen-year-old Filipino American Ruby Santos has been unmoored since her mother’s death. She can’t apply to art school like she’s always dreamed, and she and her father have had to move into the basement of their home and rent out the top floor while they work to pay back her mother’s hospital bills. Then Ruby finds out her father has been living a secret life as a delivery person for a magical underworld--he “jumps” train lines to help deliver packages for a powerful family. Recently, he’s fallen behind on deliveries (and deeper into alcoholism), and if his debts aren’t satisfied, they’re going to take her mother’s house. In an effort to protect her father and save all that remains of her mother, Ruby volunteers to take over her dad’s station and start jumping train lines. But this is no ordinary job. Ruby soon realizes that the trains are much more than doors to romance and adventure: they’re also doors to trafficking illicit goods and fierce rivalries. As she becomes more entangled with the magical underworld and the mysterious boy who’s helped her to learn magic, she realizes too late that she may be in over her head. Can she free her father and save her mother’s house? Or has she only managed to get herself pulled into the dangerous web her father was trapped in? --6/3

Format:

Book

Call Number:

YA FIC Ell

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Dead girls walking

Author(s):

Ellis, Sami

Description:

"Temple Baker knows that evil runs in her blood. Her father is the North Point Killer, an infamous serial killer known for branding his victims. He was the talk of countless true crime blogs for years. Some say he was possessed by a demon. Some say they never found all his victims. Some say that even though he's now behind bars, people are still dying in the woods. Despite everything, Temple never believed that her dad killed her mom. But when he confesses to that crime while on death row, she has no choice but to return to his old hunting grounds and try to find the body to prove it. Turns out, the farm that was once her family's home has been turned into an over-night camp for queer, horror-obsessed girls. So Temple poses as a camp counselor to go digging in the woods. She tries her best to fit in and keep her true identity hidden. Then a girl turns up dead in the woods, and Temple fears that one of her father's "fans" might be mimicking his crimes. As she tries to uncover the truth and keep the campers safe, she realizes that there may be something stranger and more sinister at work--and that her father may not have been the only monster in these woods" 6/3

Format:

Book

Call Number:

YA FIC Ell

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No escape

Author(s):

Stoffels, Maren
Watkinson, Laura,

Description:

"Time for a little escape? When Lexi receives an invitation to participate in a brand-new escape room, along with her fest friend, Tess, she's thrilled. After a recent tragedy, they could use the distraction. But once inside, they learn that they must compete against each other. What do you do when your best friend suddenly becomes your biggest adversary, and every choice you make puts her in danger?" 6/3

Format:

Book

Call Number:

YA FIC Sto