Archives for staff picks

Cowboy Carter & Black Country Artists

Cowboy Carter & Black Country Artists

Have you been listening to Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter on repeat since it dropped? Are you interested in learning more about the history of Black Country music and those that inspired Beyoncé to make this album – and in some cases are even featured on it? Then check out our staff-curated list of books, music, and film on the musicians that inspired Cowboy Carter. BOOKS:  ADULT My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music's Black Past, Present, and Future by Alice Randall Black Country Music: Listening for Revolutions by Francesca Royster Country Soul: Making Music and Making Race in the American
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April 23, 2024 2:25 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, and Library News.
Tags: Beyonce, Black Country music, Cowboy Carter, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

New Books in the Edge: April 2024

New Books in the Edge: April 2024

One of the best parts of my job is ordering new books for the Edge–reading the reviews, seeing what popular authors come up with next, or finding out about an upcoming sequel to an old favorite. Read on to find out about some of the new YA fiction titles coming to our shelves this month. Ellie Haycock Is Totally Normal by Gretchen Schreiber Grades 7 and up Library Catalog “A teen with a rare illness struggles to bridge her hospital and school relationships. Ellie Haycock insists that her high school friends—especially her boyfriend, Jack—never know how thoroughly VACTERLs affects her
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April 22, 2024 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: new books, new in the Edge, staff picks, staff recommendations, YA Fiction, and YA literature.

April Middle Grade Pick of the Month

April Middle Grade Pick of the Month

Middle grade is a term that refers to books written for readers between the ages of eight and twelve. In this column, Erica will recommend great books for children in this age group! Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow All available formats here Simon is probably the only tween in existence to be actually sort of excited to be moving into a town where technology and Internet access is limited – but then again, he and his family are hoping for a fresh start. Simon relaxes into making friends out of the shadows of his past and figuring out
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April 21, 2024 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: middle grade, middle grade fiction, Middle Grade Pick of the Month, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

Good Trouble: Environmental Activism

Good Trouble: Environmental Activism

Earth Day takes place annually on April 22.  We’ve created many Earth Day related blog posts, reading lists and activities over the past several years and I urge you to look through them for some great ideas and great reads. Below find some reads related to the formation of Earth Day and climate and environmental activism.   The Day the River Caught Fire: How the Cuyahoga River Exploded and Ignited the Earth Day Movement by Barry Wittenstein, art by Jessie Hartland Library Catalog A shockingly true story about how on a day in the summer of 1969 the Cuyahoga River
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April 12, 2024 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, and Library News.
Tags: activism, climate activism, environmental activism, environmentalism, Good Trouble, greta thunberg, John Lewis, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

Beautiful Bilingual Books, Part 19

Beautiful Bilingual Books, Part 19

BEAUTIFUL BILINGUAL BOOKS, Part 19 LINDOS LIBROS BILINGÜES, Parte 19 The Library has a lovely collection of bilingual Spanish/English books. To celebrate reading in two languages, we are featuring our beautiful new books in a monthly blog – so enjoy practicing your Spanish and English skills with these picture books. La Biblioteca tiene una colección hermosa de libros bilingües en inglés/español. Para celebrar leyendo en dos idiomas, le presentamos nuestros lindos libros aquí. Así que disfrute practicando sus destrezas en ambos idiomas con estos libros ilustrados. Children’s Day/Book Day is celebrated nationwide on April 30th. To celebrate this day, the
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April 8, 2024 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Español, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: Bilingual, Bilingual books, books for children, picture books, spanish books, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

New Books in the Trove: April 2024

New Books in the Trove: April 2024

We have new books coming in all the time with them on display right as you enter the Trove.  Here’s some of our recent favorite new titles! For Wee Ones Eyes, Ears, Nose and Toes by Sophie Aggett (Birth to 3 Years-Old) Library Catalog “Yeah, I admit it. I’m pretty easy. You slap some big old baby faces in a board book and then add an element like soft felt flaps? Instant inclusion on this list! What’s funny is that so few board book creators have ever thought to do this. There are only so many different elements you can
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March 26, 2024 10:57 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: books for children, children's book, new books, new books in the trove, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

New Books in the Trove

New Books in the Trove

We have new books coming in all the time with them on display right as you enter the Trove.  Here’s some of our recent favorite new titles! For Wee Ones Global Baby Grandparents by Maya Ajmira (Birth to 3 Years-Old) Library Catalog “I’m sorry, but do I even have to make a write-up for this book? If you know any of the ‘Global Baby’ books in the series then you know they pretty much sell themselves. The only mystery surrounding this particular title comes in wondering how they held off from doing a grandparents book before now. As per usual
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March 24, 2024 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: books for children, children's book, new books, new books in the trove, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

New Books in the Edge: March 2024

New Books in the Edge: March 2024

One of the best parts of my job is ordering new books for the Edge–reading the reviews, seeing what popular authors come up with next, or finding out about an upcoming sequel to an old favorite. Read on to find out about some of the new YA fiction titles coming to our shelves this month. Four Letter Word by Gretchen McNeil Grades 9 and up Library Catalog “An Italian foreign exchange student comes to stay with her family, and Izzy hopes it will brighten up her home life. Her mom's mental health struggles have worn on Izzy over the years,
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March 22, 2024 11:41 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: new books, new in the Edge, staff picks, staff recommendations, YA Fiction, and YA literature.

March Middle Grade Pick of the Month

March Middle Grade Pick of the Month

Middle grade is a term that refers to books written for readers between the ages of eight and twelve. In this column, Erica will recommend great books for children in this age group! Ellie Engle Saves Herself by Leah Johnson All available formats here Ellie Engel is completely fine existing in the shadow of her amazing best friend Abigail; she has her comics, she has Abigail, she has her fish and her mom – that’s all she needs. Everything starts to change when she and Abigail begin middle school, but everything *really* changes when she wakes up with superpowers. Her
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March 21, 2024 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: middle grade, middle grade fiction, Middle Grade Pick of the Month, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

Creepy Chronicles: March 2024

Creepy Chronicles: March 2024

For the kids looking for more dark and twisted tales, Erika is here to bring you a middle grade scare! The Radium Girls: Young Reader’s Edition by Kate Moore All available formats After the discovery of the Radium element by the Curies in 1898, America was eager to find a use of it to gain as much profit as possible. From paint to beauty products, radium was soon added as a ‘cure all’ ingredient. When the United States Radium Corporation opened its doors for women to work as watch dial painters in 1917, they assured the women the paint was
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March 16, 2024 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: books for kids, Creepy Chronicles, middle grade, middle grade fiction, Spooktober, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

YA Graphic Novel Picks

YA Graphic Novel Picks

Graphic novels are so much fun to read. Here at some of new available titles: Tamon's B-Side, Vol. 1 by  Yuki Shiwasu Library Catalog Gr 8 Up—Utage's obsession with her favorite boy band F/ace may be to an unhealthy level, but her part-time job as a housekeeper ensures she has the income to support expensive albums and meet-and-greets. However, her latest client happens to be the object of her obsession: sexy bad-boy front man, Tamon! At home though, Tamon is depressive, antisocial, and anxious. Utage finds her job is not only to clean his house and get him on a
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March 12, 2024 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: books for teens, graphic novels, manga, staff picks, staff recommendations, YA Graphic Novel Pick of the Month, and YA Graphic Novels.

Good Trouble: Amanda Gorman

Good Trouble: Amanda Gorman

On January 20, 2021, I watched Joe Biden’s inauguration. Perhaps, like me, you were feeling hopeful and optimistic, that democracy was working, that positive change was taking place – the country had survived January 6, we had a new President, and for the first time a female Vice President. Perhaps, also like me, all of that became secondary as you were transfixed by the young woman who took the podium – Amanda Gorman, only the sixth poet to read at an inauguration, and by far the youngest. As she stood there reading, Amanda Gorman seemed far older than her 22
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March 12, 2024 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: activism, Amanda Gorman, Good Trouble, John Lewis, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

Beautiful Bilingual Books, Part 18

Beautiful Bilingual Books, Part 18

BEAUTIFUL BILINGUAL BOOKS, Part 18  LINDOS LIBROS BILINGÜES, Parte 18 The Library has a lovely collection of bilingual Spanish/English books. To celebrate reading in two languages, we are featuring our beautiful new books in a monthly blog – so enjoy practicing your Spanish and English skills with these picture books. La Biblioteca tiene una colección hermosa de libros bilingües en inglés/español. Para celebrar leyendo en dos idiomas, le presentamos nuestros lindos libros aquí. Así que disfrute practicando sus destrezas en ambos idiomas con estos libros ilustrados. The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s 100 First Words / Primeras palabras, by Eric Carle. Library
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March 8, 2024 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Español, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: Bilingual, Bilingual books, books for children, picture books, spanish books, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

New Books in the Edge: February 2024

New Books in the Edge: February 2024

One of the best parts of my job is ordering new books for the Edge–reading the reviews, seeing what popular authors come up with next, or finding out about an upcoming sequel to an old favorite. Read on to find out about some of the new YA fiction titles coming to our shelves this month. Sky’s End by Marc J. Gregson Grades 9 and up Library Catalog “To save his younger sister from their villainous uncle, a 16-year-old enters a perilous contest that involves killing massive sky serpents. Anyone living on the socially stratified floating islands can rise in status
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February 27, 2024 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: new books, new in the Edge, staff picks, staff recommendations, YA Fiction, and YA literature.

New Books in the Trove

New Books in the Trove

We have new books coming in all the time with them on display right as you enter the Trove.  Here’s some of our recent favorite new titles! For Babies My Hair is Like the Sun by St. Clair Detrick-Jules & Tabitha Brown (Birth to 3 Years-Old) Library Catalog “I ask you, one and all, to take a good, long, hard look at this cover. This, my friends, is my perpetual frustration. This cover is not overly complicated and yet it is, in essence, incredibly well made. It’s beautiful, the colors are fantastic, and look at how well the photo itself
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February 26, 2024 3:26 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: books for children, children's book, new books, new books in the trove, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

New Books in the Edge: Nonfiction Edition

New Books in the Edge: Nonfiction Edition

One of the best parts of my job is ordering new books for the Edge–reading the reviews, seeing what popular authors come up with next, or finding out about an upcoming sequel to an old favorite. Usually this post is about fiction, but this month, I'm featuring a roundup of the nonfiction titles we've added to the Edge collection over the past few months. A Long Time Coming: A Lyrical Biography of Race in America from Ona Judge to Barack Obama by Ray Anthony Shepard Grades 7 and up Library Catalog “A collective biography of six major Black resistance leaders,
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February 22, 2024 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: new books, new in the Edge, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

February Middle Grade Pick of the Month

February Middle Grade Pick of the Month

Middle grade is a term that refers to books written for readers between the ages of eight and twelve. In this column, Erica will recommend great books for children in this age group! All You Knead is Love by Tanya Guerrero All available formats here Alba feels abandoned when her mother ships her off to live with her Abuela Lola in Barcelona, but it doesn’t take long for her to find all the good in her new life – a new hobby, new friends, and the unconditional love from her abuela that she’s never felt from either of her parents.
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February 21, 2024 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: middle grade, middle grade fiction, Middle Grade Pick of the Month, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

Creepy Chronicles: February 2024

Creepy Chronicles: February 2024

For the kids looking for more dark and twisted tales, Erika is here to bring you a middle grade scare! The Skull by Jon Klassen All available formats Otilla is a young girl running away from a very bad place. As she is escaping her past, she comes across a house in the woods, and in the house resides a skull. No body, just skull! As Otilla and the skull befriend each other, we learn the skull has a secret. Can Otilla and the skull survive the night? This story will leave you lingering with some questions including what could
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February 16, 2024 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: books for kids, Creepy Chronicles, middle grade, middle grade fiction, Spooktober, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

Beautiful Bilingual Books, Part 17

Beautiful Bilingual Books, Part 17

BEAUTIFUL BILINGUAL BOOKS, Part 17 LINDOS LIBROS BILINGÜES, Parte 17 The Library has a lovely collection of bilingual Spanish/English books. To celebrate reading in two languages, we are featuring our beautiful new books in a monthly blog – so enjoy practicing your Spanish and English skills with these picture books. La Biblioteca tiene una colección hermosa de libros bilingües en inglés/español. Para celebrar leyendo en dos idiomas, le presentamos nuestros lindos libros aquí. Disfrute practicando sus destrezas en ambos idiomas con estos libros ilustrados. Twice as Many Friends / ¡El doble de amigos!, by Brian Amador. Library Catalog A bilingual
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February 8, 2024 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Español, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: Bilingual, Bilingual books, books for children, picture books, spanish books, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

Good Trouble: Music and Protest

Good Trouble: Music and Protest

This installment of Good Trouble features a few books about the strong connections between music and activism, as well as individual artists who have made an impact. Nina: A Story of Nina Simone by Traci N. Todd, art by Christian Robinson Library Catalog Discover some of Nina Simone’s music  Born Eunice Kathlyn Wayman, the artist who would become known as Nina Simone was a musical prodigy whose dreams were smashed against the walls of racism and prejudice. As her career finally began to flourish, not in the music halls where her classical piano training would have taken her otherwise, but
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February 5, 2024 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.
Tags: activism, Good Trouble, John Lewis, staff picks, and staff recommendations.