Staff Picks 2010
Staff Picks Hall of Fame
Picture Book Favorites
Books for Middle Readers & Young Adults
Outside a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside a dog, it's too dark to read.
--Groucho Marx
A suspenseful, can't put it down dystopian thriller. The main character confronts large moral questions while trying to stay alive.
(teen)
Donnelly writes page-turning historical fiction for both adults & young adults. The revolution of the title is the French Revolution, and the story of two girls, two centuries apart in Paris. The connection between the two may be more than just the diary Andi finds and the catacombs under the city.
Carol & Hannah
(older teen)
Harry Potter was a world-wide phenomenom that led to a major increase in both the number of young adult readers and in the number and richness of the books published for them. A treat for readers of all ages.
The first in the wonderful 5-part Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, featuring the children of Greek gods. Rick Riordan has started a follow-up series, starting with Lost Hero.
(middle)
The Hunger Games Trilogy is impossible to put down. Catching Fire and Mockingjay are also available.
Excellent historical fiction and a mystery.
By store employee Eva Apelqvist. High school student Calista spends a year abroad in Sweden. Part of the Students Across the Seven Seas series.
Sixth graders Petra and Calder try to solve an art scandal. Blue Balliet has written two more fun books featuring the pair from the University of Chicago Laboratory School.
Laurel knew she was adopted, but when a flower blooms on her back, she discovers her true identity. The next books in the series are Spells and Illusions.
In the Beaumont family, each member learns what their supernatural power, or savvy, is when they turn 13. Scumble is the follow-up book.
Wolf Brother is the first in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series, set 6,000 years ago, in which Torak and his wolf pup must battle evil in their land.
In the first of the Underland Chronicles, Gregor follows his little sister through a grate in the basement of their New York apartment building, only to discover another world below.
Green and Levithan are both great authors in their own rights. In Will Grayson, they come together and create a wonderful book about teen angst in two distinct voices. The teen feel is unmistakable and the emotional roller coaster keeps us reading.
Eva
Travis enters 8th grade in a new school. Much has gone wrong in his life, but things start turning around when he meets assertive and very spunky Velveeta, the girl with the scarves. This book does not shy away from strong emotions. It is very high on my list of middle grade favorites.
(middle reader)
Raine and her mother leave their Milwaukee home to work at a summer artists' colony. Raine and the quirky residents solve the mystery of her father's indentity and of the old orphanage in which the colony is located.
Carol
