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Roland Park Country School: Upper School Summer Reading 2021

RPCS Libraries

Assigned Summer Reading

Welcome to Roland Park Country School's Summer Reading LibGuide for Upper School students!

Upper School students will read one or two designated titles for their RPCS English classes, plus one free choice book from this LibGuide. Scroll down below the English titles to see covers, titles and descriptions for choice book options.
Find the titles required for English classes at RPCS in the table below. Reading guides are linked below many titles.
Respond to your choice book with one of the options listed in this reading response assignment. Your choice reading assignment is due on Friday, September 10 in your advisory.
Many of the choice titles on this LibGuide were recommended by RPCS Upper School students and are available through our SORA eBook and digital audio collection. Look for "available on SORA" in the details below each book.
The AP Course Summer Reading Assignments LibGuide provides information for the required summer work for RPCS's AP Courses in English, history, mathematics science, visual arts, world languages, and the Integrated Studies courses.
Students taking courses at Bryn Mawr and Gilman should check the following links for additional requirements: Bryn Mawr School's Summer Reading and Gilman School's Summer Reading Letter and Gilman School's Summer Work website.

Required Titles for English Classes at RPCS

English 9:

Escape from Aleppo by N.H. Senzai (Available in SORA)

Click here for the reading guide for Escape from Aleppo

Plus one free choice book from this LibGuide

English 9 Honors:

Escape from Aleppo by N.H. Senzai (Available in SORA)

Click here for the reading guide for Escape from Aleppo

Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (Available in SORA)

Click here for the reading guide for Poet X

Plus one free choice book from this LibGuide

English 10:
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

Click here for the reading guide for Wide Sargasso Sea

Plus one free choice book from this LibGuide

English 10 Honors:
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
Click here for the reading guide for Wide Sargasso Sea

Trick Mirror (selected essays) by Jia Tolentino (Available in SORA)
Click here for the reading guide for Trick Mirror

Plus one free choice book from this LibGuide

English 11 at RPCS:

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz (Available in SORA)
Click here for the reading guide for Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Plus one free choice book from this LibGuide

12th Grade English Courses at RPCS:

Honors Research Seminar: Profiles in Leadership:

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou (Available in SORA)

Plus one free choice book from this LibGuide

Honors Research Seminar: Telling African Stories:

The Bright Continent: Breaking Rules and Making Change in Modern Africa by Dayo Olopade (Available in SORA)

Plus one free choice book from this LibGuide

Literature of the Caribbean:

In the Castle of My Skin by George Lamming (Available in SORA)

Plus one free choice book from this LibGuide

Disabilities in Literature:

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Plus one free choice book from this LibGuide

AP English Literature and Composition:

Passing by Nella Larsen (Available in SORA)

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

(Available in SORA)

Plus one free choice book from this LibGuide

Young Adult Fiction

10 Things I Hate about Pinky by Sandhya Menon
Call Number: J FIC MEN
ISBN: 9781534416819
Publication Date: 2020-07-21
(available on SORA) When Samir’s internship falls through, leaving him with an unplanned summer, he gets a text from Pinky asking if he’ll be her fake boyfriend in exchange for a new internship. He jumps at the opportunity; Pinky’s a weirdo, but he can survive a summer with her if there’s light at the end of the tunnel. As they bicker their way through lighthouses and butterfly habitats, sparks fly, and they both realize this will be a summer they'll never forget.
Admission by Julie Buxbaum
Call Number: J FIC BUX
ISBN: 9781984893628
Publication Date: 2020-12-01
Lie. Cheat. Bribe. How far would you go to get into your dream school? How far would your parents go? Inspired by the recent college admissions scandal, this ripped-from-the-headlines YA novel by the New York Times bestselling author of Tell Me Three Things sees one teenage girl's privileged world shatter when her family's lies are exposed.
All Out: the No-Longer-Secret Stories of Kick-Ass Queer Teens by Saundra Mitchell
Call Number: SS ALL
ISBN: 9781335470454
Publication Date: 2018-02-27
(Available in SORA) Take a journey through time and genres to discover stories where queer teens live, love and shape the world around them.
All the Things We Never Knew by Liara Tamani
Call Number: J FIC TAM
ISBN: 9780062656919
Publication Date: 2020-06-09
(available on SORA) A glance was all it took. That kind of connection, the immediate and raw understanding of another person, just doesn't come along very often. And as rising stars on their Texas high schools' respective basketball teams, destined for bright futures in college and beyond, it seems like a match made in heaven. But Carli and Rex have secrets. As do their families.
Amelia Unabridged by Ashley Schumacher
Call Number: J FIC SCH
ISBN: 9781250253026
Publication Date: 2021-02-16
Sparks fly between two teens as they grapple with grief, love, and the future in this unforgettable debut novel sure to entice fans of Jandy Nelson and Jennifer E. Smith .
American Betiya by Anuradha D. Rajurkar
Call Number: J FIC RAJ
ISBN: 9781984897152
Publication Date: 2021-03-09
A luminous story of a young artist grappling with first love, family boundaries and the complications of a cross-cultural relationship. Perfect for fans of Sandhya Menon, Erika Sanchez and Jandy Nelson.
The Best Lies by Sarah Lyu
Call Number: J FIC LYU
ISBN: 9781481498838
Publication Date: 2019-07-02
Told in alternating timelines, this twisted psychological thriller explores the dark side of obsessive friendship.
The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed
Call Number: J FIC HAM
ISBN: 9781534462724
Publication Date: 2020-08-04
(Available on SORA) Perfect for fans of The Hate U Give, this unforgettable coming-of-age debut novel explores issues of race, class, and violence through the eyes of a wealthy black teenager whose family gets caught in the vortex of the 1992 Rodney King Riots.
Bruised by Tanya Boteju
Call Number: J FIC BOT
ISBN: 9781534455023
Publication Date: 2021-03-23
Whip It meets We Are Okay in this vibrant coming-of-age story about a teen girl navigating first love, identity, and grief as she immerses herself in the colorful, brutal, beautiful world of roller derby—from the acclaimed author of Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens.
Burn by Patrick Ness
Call Number: J FIC NES
ISBN: 9780062869494
Publication Date: 2020-06-02
(Available on SORA) On a cold Sunday evening in early 1957, Sarah Dewhurst waited with her father in the parking lot of the Chevron gas station for the dragon he’d hired to help on the farm…But the dragon knows something she doesn’t. He has arrived at the farm with a prophecy on his mind. A prophecy that involves a deadly assassin, a cult of dragon worshippers, two FBI agents in hot pursuit—and somehow, Sarah Dewhurst herself.
By the Book by Amanda Sellet
Call Number: J FIC SEL
ISBN: 9780358156611
Publication Date: 2020-05-12
In this clever YA rom-com debut perfect for fans of Kasie West and Ashley Poston, a teen obsessed with nineteenth-century literature tries to cull advice on life and love from her favorite classic heroines to disastrous results—especially when she falls for the school’s resident Lothario.
Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas
Call Number: J FIC
ISBN: 9780062846716
Publication Date: 2021-01-12
(available on SORA) Thomas delivers a poignant prequel to The Hate U Give, with Concrete Rose, set 17 years prior. Seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter is the son of a former gang member who, nevertheless, follows the same path, selling drugs for the King Lords to help his mom with bills while his dad is in jail. He thinks he has everything figured out until fatherhood stares him in the face in the form of baby Seven.
A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey
Call Number: J FIC NAM
ISBN: 9781534471245
Publication Date: 2020-11-10
(Available on SORA) Love & Gelato meets Don’t Date Rosa Santos in this charming, heartfelt story following a Miami girl who unexpectedly finds love—and herself—in a small English town.
Daughters of Jubilation by Kara Lee Corthron
Call Number: J FIC COR
ISBN: 9781481459501
Publication Date: 2020-10-13
(Available in SORA) From the award-winning author of The Truth of Right Now comes a stunning, grounded fantasy in the vein of Dread Nation that follows a black teen as she finds her place among a family of women gifted with magical abilities.
Dig by A. S. King
Call Number: FIC KIN
ISBN: 9781101994917
Publication Date: 2019-03-26
(Available in SORA) "Only a generation removed from being simple Pennsylvania potato farmers, Gottfried and Marla Hemmings managed to trade digging spuds for developing subdivisions and now sit atop a seven-figure bank account, wealth they've declined to pass on to their adult children or their teenage grand children. Now the five teenagers are lost in a tangled maze of family secrets. One of the teens sells pot; one has cancer; all are estranged from the family. As they come together for Easter dinner, will they be able to find their ways back to each other?"--OCLC.
Disappeared by Francisco X. Stork
Call Number: J FIC STO
ISBN: 9781338312829
Publication Date: 2019-10-01
(available on SORA) A missing girl, a determined reporter, and a young man on the brink combine for a powerful story of choices, suspense, and survival.
Even If We Break by Marieke Nijkamp
Call Number: J FIC NIJ
ISBN: 9781492636113
Publication Date: 2020-09-15
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Marieke Nijkamp comes a shocking new thriller about a group of friends who go to a cabin to play a murder mystery game...only to have the game turned against them.
Fatal Throne: the Wives of Henry VIII Tell All by Candace Fleming; M. T. Anderson; Stephanie Hemphill; Lisa Ann Sandell; Jennifer Donnelly; Linda Sue Park; Deborah Hopkinson
Call Number: J FIC AND
ISBN: 9781984830333
Publication Date: 2020-02-18
(Available in SORA) This is an edge-of-your-seat reimagining of the romance and tragedy that defined the six wives of Henry VIII, told from multiple points of view by award-winning and bestselling authors.
Fat Chance, Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado
Call Number: J FIC MAL
ISBN: 9780823447176
Publication Date: 2021-02-02
(Available on SORA) Coming of age as a fat, brown girl in a white Connecticut suburb is hard...Harder when your whole life is on fire, though.
Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
Call Number: J FIC CAL
ISBN: 9780062820259
Publication Date: 2020-05-05
Felix Love, a transgender seventeen-year-old, attempts to get revenge by catfishing his anonymous bully, but lands in a quasi-love triangle with his former enemy and his best friend.
Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
Call Number: J FIC BOU
ISBN: 9781250766564
Publication Date: 2021-03-16
(Available on SORA) With four starred reviews, Angeline Boulley's debut novel, Firekeeper's Daughter, is a groundbreaking YA thriller about a Native teen who must root out the corruption in her community, perfect for readers of Angie Thomas and Tommy Orange.
The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur
Call Number: J FIC HUR
ISBN: 9781250229588
Publication Date: 2021-04-20
A historical mystery that takes readers on a breathtaking journey through 1400s Korea. In 1426 in Joseon, a year after her father vanishes while investigating the disappearance of thirteen girls, eighteen-year-old Min Hwani returns to the island of Jeju to pick up his trail with the help of her estranged sister.
The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys
ISBN: 9780399160318
Publication Date: 2019-10-01
(Available in SORA) From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Salt to the Sea and Between Shades of Gray comes a gripping, extraordinary portrait of love, silence, and secrets under a Spanish dictatorship.
Fragile Remedy by Maria Ingrande Mora
Call Number: J FIC MOR
ISBN: 9781635830569
Publication Date: 2021-03-09
Sixteen-year-old Nate is a GEM--a Genetically Engineered Medi-tissue--created by Gathos City scientists as a cure for the elite from the fatal lung rot ravaging the population...With time running out, Nate is left with only two options: work for a shadowy terrorist organization that has the means to keep him alive, or stay--and die--with the boy he loves.
The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna
Call Number: J FIC FOR
ISBN: 9781984848697
Publication Date: 2021-02-09
(Available in SORA) The most anticipated fantasy of 2021. In this world, girls are outcasts by blood and warriors by choice. Get ready for battle.
Happily Ever Afters by Elise Bryant
Call Number: J FIC BRY
ISBN: 9780062982834
Publication Date: 2021-01-05
Jane the Virgin meets To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before in this charming debut romantic comedy filled with Black Girl Magic. Perfect for fans of Mary H. K. Choi and Nicola Yoon, with crossover appeal for readers of Jasmine Guillory and Talia Hibbert romances.
Heiress Apparently (Daughters of the Dynasty) by Diana Ma
Call Number: J FIC MA
ISBN: 9781419749964
Publication Date: 2020-12-01
(Available on SORA) "More than a cute rom-com, this novel highlights LGBTQ+ rights, contemporary attitudes held by Chinese citizens, Chinese history, Hollywood’s ethnic prejudices, and pride in culture and family. . . this is a fun start to a promising series."
How to Build a Heart by Maria Padian
Call Number: J FIC PAD
ISBN: 9781616208493
Publication Date: 2020-01-28
A Kirkus Reviews Best Young Adult Book of 2020. Family isn't something you're born into — it's something you build. One young woman’s journey to find her place in the world as the carefully separated strands of her life — family, money, school, and love — begin to overlap and tangle.
I'll Be the One by Lyla Lee
Call Number: J FIC LEE
ISBN: 9780062936929
Publication Date: 2020-06-16
(Available in SORA) Skye Shin has heard it all. Fat girls shouldn’t dance. Wear bright colors. Shouldn’t call attention to themselves. But Skye dreams of joining the glittering world of K-Pop, and to do that, she’s about to break all the rules that society, the media, and even her own mother, have set for girls like her.
If It Makes You Happy by Claire Kann
Call Number: J FIC KAN
ISBN: 9781250250872
Publication Date: 2021-06-08
Claire Kann's If It Makes You Happy is a coming-of-age novel about a young girl learning to embrace her cultural and sexuality identity.
Into the Real by Z. Brewer
Call Number: J FIC BRE
ISBN: 9780062691385
Publication Date: 2020-10-06
(available on SORA) In this gripping, genre-defying YA novel from New York Times bestselling author Z Brewer, three teens—one who presents as genderqueer, one who presents as female, and one who presents as male—are caught up in three very different stories of survival. But those stories intersect as the teens start to realize that they might in fact be a single, singular “they,” alternating among worlds—and that accepting themself might be the key to defeating the monsters that plague them in all three.
Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera
Call Number: J FIC RIV
ISBN: 9780593108192
Publication Date: 2021-05-11
(available on SORA) Juliet Milagros Palante is a self-proclaimed closeted Puerto Rican baby dyke from the Bronx. Only, she's not so closeted anymore. Not after coming out to her family the night before flying to Portland, Oregon, to intern with her favorite feminist writer--what's sure to be a life-changing experience. And when Juliet's coming out crashes and burns, she's not sure her mom will ever speak to her again.
The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
Call Number: J FIC DIM
ISBN: 9781770864863
Publication Date: 2017-09-01
(Available in SORA) "The indigenous people of North America are being hunted and harvested for their bone marrow, which carries the key to recovering something the rest of the population has lost: the ability to dream. In this dark world, Frenchie and his companions struggle to survive as they make their way up north to the old lands. For now, survival means staying hidden... but what they don't know is that one of them holds the secret to defeating the marrow thieves"--Back cover.
Meet Cute by Jennifer L. Armentrout; Julie Murphy; Meredith Russo; Sara Shepard; Nicola Yoon; Ibi Zoboi; Huntley Fitzpatrick; Sona Charaipotra; Dhonielle Clayton; Katie Cotugno; Jocelyn Davies; Nina Lacour; Emery Lord; Katharine McGee; Kass Morgan
Call Number: SS MEE
ISBN: 9781328759870
Publication Date: 2018-01-02
Whether or not you believe in fate, or luck, or love at first sight, every romance has to start somewhere. Meet Cute is an anthology of original short stories featuring tales of “how they first met” from some of today’s most popular YA authors.
Night Shine by Tessa Gratton
Call Number: J FIC GRA
ISBN: 9781534460775
Publication Date: 2020-09-08
(available on SORA) "Dedicated to gender-fluid teens, this edgy, riveting fantasy of bone-deep love, acceptance, and betrayal will speak to all readers. What starts out as a classic heroic quest slowly evolves, then turns inside out and back again. Written in almost poetic language, both story and characters grow from earnest naivety to fascinating, sensual, and extraordinary."
Permanent Record by Mary H. K. Choi
ISBN: 9781534445970
Publication Date: 2019-09-03
From the New York Times bestselling author of Emergency Contact, which Rainbow Rowell called “smart and funny,” comes an unforgettable new romance about how social media influences relationships every day.
Private Lessons by Cynthia Salaysay
Call Number: J FIC SAL
ISBN: 9781536209600
Publication Date: 2020-05-12
In a standout debut for the #MeToo era, a young pianist devotes herself to her art — and to the demanding, charismatic teacher she idolizes.
Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi; Yusef Salaam
Call Number: J FIC ZOB
ISBN: 9780062996480
Publication Date: 2020-09-01
(available on SORA) From award-winning, bestselling author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist Yusef Salaam of the Exonerated Five comes a powerful YA novel in verse about a boy who is wrongfully incarcerated. One of the most acclaimed YA novels of the year, this New York Times and USA Today bestseller is a must-read for fans of Jason Reynolds, Walter Dean Myers, and Elizabeth Acevedo.
She's Too Pretty to Burn by Wendy Heard
Call Number: J FIC HEA
ISBN: 9781250246752
Publication Date: 2021-03-30
An electric romance set against a rebel art scene sparks lethal danger for two girls in She's Too Pretty to Burn, an expertly plotted YA thriller by Wendy Heard.
Someday We Will Fly by Rachel DeWoskin
Call Number: J FIC DEW
ISBN: 9780147508911
Publication Date: 2020-01-21
(available on SORA) During WWII, teenage Lillia and her circus acrobat family flee Poland for Shanghai, joining a large Jewish refugee community from both Europe and America. Although Lillia's father gets Lillia and her developmentally disabled baby sister, Naomi, out of Poland before they end up in concentration camps, father and daughters are separated from mother Alenka. Once safely in Shanghai, they find that nothing is easy. Eventually Lillia takes a job (without her father's knowledge or permission) as a hostess-dancer at a gentleman's club, bringing in money for food and medicine—she also develops a romantic relationship with a Chinese boy.
Some Kind of Animal by Maria Romasco-Moore
Call Number: J FIC MOO
ISBN: 9781984893543
Publication Date: 2020-08-04
For fans of Sadie comes a new story about two girls with a secret no one would ever believe, and the wild, desperate lengths they will go to protect each other from the outside world.
A Song below Water by Bethany C. Morrow
Call Number: J FIC MOR
ISBN: 9781250315328
Publication Date: 2020-06-02
(Available on SORA) Bethany C. Morrow's A Song Below Water is the story for today’s readers — a captivating modern fantasy about Black sirens, friendship, and self-discovery set against the challenges of today.
A Taste for Love by Jennifer Yen
Call Number: J FIC YEN
ISBN: 9780593117521
Publication Date: 2021-02-02
(available on SORA) For fans of Jenny Han, Jane Austen, and The Great British Baking Show, A Taste for Love, is a delicious rom com about first love, familial expectations, and making the perfect bao.
Tell Me My Name by Amy Reed
Call Number: J FIC REE
ISBN: 9780593109724
Publication Date: 2021-03-09
We Were Liars meets Speak in this haunting, mesmerizing psychological thriller—a gender-flipped YA Great Gatsby—that will linger long after the final line
Thirty Talks Weird Love by Alessandra Narvaez Varela
Call Number: J FIC VAR
ISBN: 9781947627499
Publication Date: 2021-10-12
A 13-year-old girl growing up in Mexico is visited by her 30-year-old future self in this powerful Young Adult novel in verse about accepting yourself.
Unscripted by Nicole Kronzer
Call Number: J FIC KON
ISBN: 9781419740848
Publication Date: 2020-04-21
"Kronzer deftly combines what it means to be a female in comedy with a story of contemporary resonance that evokes the #MeToo movement." — Booklist
Untwine by Edwidge Danticat
Call Number: J FIC DAN
ISBN: 9780545423045
Publication Date: 2017-01-31
A haunting and mesmerizing story about sisterhood, family, love, and loss by literary luminary Edwidge Danticat.
Watch over Me by Nina LaCour
Call Number: J FIC LAC
ISBN: 9780593108970
Publication Date: 2020-09-15
A modern ghost story about trauma and survival, Watch Over Me is the much-anticipated new novel from the Printz Award-winning author of We Are Okay.
We Are Not Free by Traci Chee
Call Number: J FIC CHE
ISBN: 9780358131434
Publication Date: 2020-09-01
From New York Times best-selling and acclaimed author Traci Chee comes We Are Not Free, the collective account of a tight-knit group of young Nisei, second-generation Japanese American citizens, whose lives are irrevocably changed by the mass U.S. incarcerations of World War II.
What Big Teeth by Rose Szabo
Call Number: J FIC SZA
ISBN: 9780374314309
Publication Date: 2021-02-02
Rose Szabo's thrilling debut is a dark fantasy novel about a teen girl who returns home to her strange, wild family after years of estrangement, perfect for fans of Wilder Girls. This exquisitely terrifying and beautiful tale will sink its teeth into you and never let go.
Wings of Ebony by J. Elle
Call Number: J FIC ELL
ISBN: 9781534470675
Publication Date: 2021-01-26
In this riveting, keenly emotional debut fantasy, a Black teen from Houston has her world upended when she learns about her godly ancestry and must save both the human and god worlds. Perfect for fans of Angie Thomas, Tomi Adeyemi, and The Hunger Games!
Zara Hossain Is Here by Sabina Khan
Call Number: J FIC KHAN
ISBN: 9781338580877
Publication Date: 2021-04-06
(Available on SORA) Zara's family has waited years for their visa process to be finalized so that they can officially become US citizens. But it only takes one moment for that dream to come crashing down around them.

Adult Fiction

American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson
Call Number: FIC WIL
ISBN: 9780812998955
Publication Date: 2019-02-12
Marie Mitchell, an FBI agent whose career has become stagnated, is given an opportunity to join a task force aimed at undermining Thomas Sankara, the revolutionary president of Burkina Faso whose communist ideology has made him a target for American intervention.
B, Book, and Me by Sagwa Kim; Sunhee Jeong (Translator)
Call Number: FIC SAG
ISBN: 9781931883962
Publication Date: 2020-02-11
In a piercing, heartbreaking, and astonishingly honest voice, Kim Sagwa's b, Book, and Me walks the precipice between youth and adulthood, reminding us how perilous the edge can be.
Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James
Call Number: FIC JAM
ISBN: 9780735220188
Publication Date: 2020-02-04
In the first novel in Marlon James's Dark Star trilogy, myth, fantasy, and history come together to explore what happens when a mercenary is hired to find a missing child.
Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi
Call Number: FIC DOS
ISBN: 9781419752926
Publication Date: 2021-01-26
Shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize, a searing literary debut novel set in India about mothers and daughters, obsession and betrayal.
The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin
Call Number: FIC JEM
ISBN: 9780316509848
Publication Date: 2020-03-24
Three-time Hugo Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author N.K. Jemisin crafts her most incredible novel yet, a "glorious" story of culture, identity, magic, and myths in contemporary New York City.
Claire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat
Call Number: FIC DAN
ISBN: 9780307472274
Publication Date: 2014-07-01
(Available in SORA) Just as her father makes the wrenching decision to send her away for a chance at a better life, Claire Limyè Lanmè—Claire of the Sea Light—suddenly disappears. As the people of the Haitian seaside community of Ville Rose search for her, painful secrets, haunting memories, and startling truths are unearthed. In this stunning novel about intertwined lives, Edwidge Danticat crafts a tightly woven, breathtaking tapestry that explores the mysterious bonds we share—with the natural world and with one another.
Crooked Hallelujah by Kelli Jo Ford
Call Number: FIC FOR
ISBN: 9780802149121
Publication Date: 2020-07-14
“This astonishing debut fills the imagination with vivid scenes of life in Oklahoma’s Cherokee Nation and in the oil country of Texas. Home can be hard to find, men can be forever unreliable, and poverty can be more brutal than the harsh rural landscape, but the bonds women form with their mothers, grandmothers, and daughters make life not just bearable but luminous. This is an astonishing debut novel, rich in Cherokee history and culture, full-bodied in terms of character, and as bighearted as the women it portrays.”
Days of Distraction by Alexandra Chang
ISBN: 9780062951809
Publication Date: 2020-03-31
A wry, tender portrait of a young woman—finally free to decide her own path, but unsure if she knows herself well enough to choose wisely—from a captivating new literary voice.
The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat
Call Number: FIC DAN
ISBN: 9781400034291
Publication Date: 2005-03-08
(Available on SORA) In this award-winning, bestselling work of fiction that moves between Haiti in the 1960s and New York in the present day, we meet an unusual man who is harboring a vital, dangerous secret. He is a quiet man, a good father and husband, a fixture in his Brooklyn neighborhood, a landlord and barber with a terrifying scar across his face. As the book unfolds, we enter the lives of those around him, and his secret is slowly revealed.
Dominicana by Angie Cruz
ISBN: 9781250205933
Publication Date: 2019-09-03
(Available in SORA) In bright, musical prose that reflects the energy of New York City, Angie Cruz's Dominicana is a vital portrait of the immigrant experience and the timeless coming-of-age story of a young woman finding her voice in the world.
Famous Adopted People by Alice Stephens
Call Number: FIC STE
ISBN: 9781944700744
Publication Date: 2018-10-16
"Stephens' darkly comic, sharply irreverent, undeniably wise 'Great Adoption Novel' is an unexpectedly timely, not-to-be-missed, epic wild ride." --Booklist, *Starred Review*
The Farm by Joanne Ramos
Call Number: FIC RAM
ISBN: 9781984853752
Publication Date: 2019-05-07
Gripping, provocative, heartbreaking, The Farm pushes to the extremes our thinking on motherhood, money, and merit and raises crucial questions about the trade-offs women will make to fortify their futures and the futures of those they love.
Flowers of Mold by Janet Hong (Translator); Ha Seong-nan
ISBN: 9781940953960
Publication Date: 2019-04-23
In ten captivating, unnerving stories, Flowers of Mold presents a range of ordinary individuals--male and female, young and old--who have found themselves left behind by an increasingly urbanized and fragmented world. The latest in the trend of brilliant female Korean authors to appear in English, Ha cuts like a surgeon, and even the most mundane objects become menacing and unfamiliar under her scalpel.
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Call Number: FIC ATW
ISBN: 9780385490818
Publication Date: 1998-03-16
An instant classic and eerily prescient cultural phenomenon, from “the patron saint of feminist dystopian fiction” (New York Times). Now an award-winning Hulu series starring Elizabeth Moss.
Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick by Zora Neale Hurston
ISBN: 9780062915795
Publication Date: 2020-01-14
(Available in SORA) From one of the greatest writers of our time--the author of Barracoon and Their Eyes Were Watching God--a collection of remarkable stories, including eight "lost" Harlem Renaissance tales now available to a wide audience for the first time.
A House Is a Body by Shruti Swamy
Call Number: FIC SWA
ISBN: 9781616209896
Publication Date: 2020-08-11
Dreams collide with reality, modernity with antiquity, and myth with identity in the twelve arresting stories of A House Is a Body.
How Much of These Hills Is Gold by C. Pam Zhang
Call Number: FIC ZHA
ISBN: 9780525537205
Publication Date: 2020-04-07
An electric debut novel set against the twilight of the American gold rush, two siblings are on the run in an unforgiving landscape—trying not just to survive but to find a home.
The Invisible Woman by Erika Robuck
Call Number: FIC ROB
ISBN: 9780593102145
Publication Date: 2021-02-09
In the depths of war, she would defy the odds to help liberate a nation…a gripping historical novel based on the remarkable true story of World War II heroine Virginia Hall, from the bestselling author of Hemingway’s Girl.
Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
Call Number: FIC ALA
ISBN: 9780062667632
Publication Date: 2020-10-06
A magnetic novel about two families, strangers to each other, who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong.
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Call Number: FIC NG
ISBN: 9780735224292
Publication Date: 2017-09-12
(Available in SORA) From the bestselling author of Everything I Never Told You, a riveting novel that traces the intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and the enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives.
A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende; Nick Caistor (Translator); Amanda Hopkinson (Translator)
Call Number: FIC ALL
ISBN: 9781984820150
Publication Date: 2020-01-21
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of The House of the Spirits, this epic novel spanning decades and crossing continents follows two young people as they flee the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War in search of a place to call home.
The Magical Language of Others by Ej Koh
ISBN: 9781947793385
Publication Date: 2020-01-07
A tale of deep bonds to family, place, language—of hard-won selfhood told by a singular, incandescent voice.
The Man Who Lived Underground by Richard Wright; Malcolm Wright (Afterword by)
Call Number: FIC WRI
ISBN: 9781598536768
Publication Date: 2021-04-20
A major literary event: an explosive, previously unpublished novel about race and police violence by the legendary author of Native Son and Black Boy.
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Call Number: FIC MOR
ISBN: 9780525620785
Publication Date: 2020-06-30
From the author of Gods of Jade and Shadow comes a reimagining of the classic gothic suspense novel, a story about an isolated mansion in 1950s Mexico—and the brave socialite drawn to its treacherous secrets.
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
Call Number: FIC RUS
ISBN: 9780062941503
Publication Date: 2020-03-10
Exploring the psychological dynamics of the relationship between a precocious yet naïve teenage girl and her magnetic and manipulative teacher, a brilliant, all-consuming read that marks the explosive debut of an extraordinary new writer.
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
Call Number: FIC ERD
ISBN: 9780062671189
Publication Date: 2020-03-03
(Available in SORA) In the Night Watchman, Louise Erdrich creates a fictional world populated with memorable characters who are forced to grapple with the worst and best impulses of human nature. Illuminating the loves and lives, the desires and ambitions of these characters with compassion, wit, and intelligence, The Night Watchman is a majestic work of fiction from this revered cultural treasure.
Notes of a Crocodile by Qiu Miaojin; Bonnie Huie (Translator)
Call Number: FIC MIA
ISBN: 9781681370767
Publication Date: 2017-05-02
The English-language premiere of Qiu Miaojin's coming-of-age novel about queer teenagers in Taiwan, a cult classic in China and winner of the 1995 China Times Literature Award.
The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans
Call Number: FIC EVA
ISBN: 9781594487330
Publication Date: 2020-11-10
The award-winning author of Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self brings her signature voice and insight to the subjects of race, grief, apology, and American history.
Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia
Call Number: FIC GAR
ISBN: 9781250776686
Publication Date: 2021-03-30
A sweeping, masterful debut about a daughter's fateful choice, a mother motivated by her own past, and a family legacy that begins in Cuba before either of them were born.
The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland
ISBN: 9780142001820
Publication Date: 2002-12-31
Set against the glorious backdrops of Rome, Florence, Genoa, and Naples, inhabited by historical characters such as Galileo and Cosimo de' Medici II, and filled with rich details about life as a seventeenth-century painter, Vreeland creates an inspiring story about one woman's lifelong struggle to reconcile career and family, passion and genius.
Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth; Sara Lautman (Illustrator)
Call Number: FIC DAN
ISBN: 9780062942852
Publication Date: 2020-10-20
The award-winning author of The Miseducation of Cameron Post makes her adult debut with this highly imaginative and original horror-comedy centered around a cursed New England boarding school for girls—a wickedly whimsical celebration of the art of storytelling, sapphic love, and the rebellious female spirit.
The Runaways by Fatima Bhutto
Call Number: FIC BHU
ISBN: 9781839760341
Publication Date: 2020-08-18
“Told in alternate chapters from the points of view of all three protagonists, the book moves forward and backward, explaining their motivations in spare, almost jaunty prose that elicits empathy for the troubled teens and stands in stark contrast to the seriousness of the plot. Bhutto’s penetrating character study convinces all the way to the inevitable bloody end. ”
Run Me to Earth by Paul Yoon
Call Number: FIC YOO
ISBN: 9781501154041
Publication Date: 2020-01-28
From award-winning author Paul Yoon comes a beautiful, aching novel about three kids orphaned in 1960s Laos—and how their destinies are entwined across decades.
Sabrina & Corina by Kali Fajardo-Anstine
ISBN: 9780525511298
Publication Date: 2019-04-02
(Available in SORA) NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • Latinas of Indigenous descent living in the American West take center stage in this haunting debut story collection—a powerful meditation on friendship, mothers and daughters, and the deep-rooted truths of our homelands.
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
Call Number: FIC WAR
ISBN: 9781608196265
Publication Date: 2012-04-24
Jesmyn Ward, two-time National Book Award winner and author of Sing, Unburied, Sing, delivers a gritty but tender novel about family and poverty in the days leading up to Hurricane Katrina.
This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel
Call Number: FIC FRA
ISBN: 9781250088567
Publication Date: 2018-01-23
When Rosie and Penn and their four boys welcome the newest member of their family, no one is surprised it's another baby boy. But Claude is not like his brothers. One day he puts on a dress and refuses to take it off. He wants to bring a purse to kindergarten. He wants hair long enough to sit on. When he grows up, Claude says, he wants to be a girl. Soon the entire family is keeping Claude's secret. Until one day it explodes. This is a novel about revelations, transformations, fairy tales, and family. And families with secrets don't get to keep them forever.
The Wangs vs. the World by Jade Chang
Call Number: FIC CHA
ISBN: 9781328745538
Publication Date: 2017-06-06
For fans of Crazy Rich Asians: Meet the Wangs, the unforgettable immigrant family whose spectacular fall from glorious riches to (still name-brand) rags brings them together in a way money never could.
Well-Behaved Indian Women by Saumya Dave
Call Number: FIC DAV
ISBN: 9781984806154
Publication Date: 2020-07-14
From a compelling new voice in women's fiction comes a mother-daughter story about three generations of women who struggle to define themselves as they pursue their dreams.

Poetry

An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo
Call Number: 811 HAR
ISBN: 9780393358483
Publication Date: 2020-08-18
(Available in SORA)
Brown by Kevin Young
ISBN: 9781524711146
Publication Date: 2020-03-03
(Available in SORA) James Brown. John Brown's raid. Brown v. the Topeka Board of Ed. The prizewinning author of Blue Laws meditates on all things "brown" in this powerful new collection--now in paperback.
Build Yourself a Boat by Felix Camonghne
Call Number: 811 CAM
ISBN: 9781608466115
Publication Date: 2019-04-23
This is about what grows through the wreckage. This is an anthem of survival and a look at what might come after. A view of what floats and what, ultimately, sustains.
Build Yourself a Boat redefines the language of collective and individual trauma through lyric and memory.
Homie by Danez Smith
Call Number: 811 SMI
ISBN: 9781644450109
Publication Date: 2020-01-21
“The radiance of Homie arrives like a shock, like found money, like a flower fighting through concrete. . . . This is a book full of the turbulence of thought and desire, piloted by a writer who never loses their way.”—The New York Times
Invasive Species by Marwa Helal
Call Number: 811 HEL
ISBN: 9781937658939
Publication Date: 2019-01-08
In Invasive species, Marwa Helal's searing politically charged poems touch on our collective humanity and build new pathways for empathy, etching themselves into memory. This work centers on urgent themes in our cultural landscape, creating space for unseen victims of discriminatory foreign (read: immigration) policy: migrants, refugees--the displaced.
Just Us by Claudia Rankine
Call Number: 811 RAN
ISBN: 9781644450215
Publication Date: 2020-09-08
As everyday white supremacy becomes increasingly vocalized with no clear answers at hand, how best might we approach one another? Claudia Rankine, without telling us what to do, urges us to begin the discussions that might open pathways through this divisive and stuck moment in American history.
Lima :: Limón by Natalie Scenters-Zapico
Call Number: 811 SCE
ISBN: 9781556595318
Publication Date: 2019-05-14
In her striking second collection, Natalie Scenters-Zapico sets her unflinching gaze once again on the borders of things. Lima:: Lim n illuminates both the sweet and the sour of the immigrant experience, of life as a woman in the U.S. and Mexico, and of the politics of the present day.
My Baby First Birthday by Jenny Zhang
Call Number: 811 ZHA
ISBN: 9781947793811
Publication Date: 2020-05-12
Radiant and tender, My Baby First Birthday is a collection that examines innocence, asking us who gets to be loved and who has to deplete themselves just to survive. Jenny Zhang writes about accepting pain, about the way we fetishize womanhood and motherhood, and reduce women to their violations, traumas, and body parts.
Ordinary Hazards by Nikki Grimes
Call Number: 811 GRI
ISBN: 9781629798813
Publication Date: 2019-10-08
(Available on SORA) In her own voice, acclaimed author and poet Nikki Grimes explores the truth of a harrowing childhood in a compelling and moving memoir in verse.
Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz
Call Number: 811 DIA
ISBN: 9781644450147
Publication Date: 2020-03-03
Postcolonial Love Poem is an anthem of desire against erasure. Natalie Diaz’s brilliant second collection demands that every body carried in its pages—bodies of language, land, rivers, suffering brothers, enemies, and lovers—be touched and held as beloveds. Through these poems, the wounds inflicted by America onto an indigenous people are allowed to bloom pleasure and tenderness: “Let me call my anxiety, desire, then. / Let me call it, a garden.”
Rain Scald by Tacey M. Atsitty
Call Number: 811 ATS
ISBN: 9780826358677
Publication Date: 2018-02-15
In this innovative debut collection, Tacey M. Atsitty employs traditional, lyric, and experimental verse to create an intricate landscape she invites readers to explore. Presented in three sections, Ts yi', Gorge Dweller, and T hee', the poems negotiate between belief and doubt, self and family, and interior and exterior landscapes.
Somebody Give This Heart a Pen by Sophia Thakur
Call Number: 821 THA
ISBN: 9781536209921
Publication Date: 2020-09-08
From acclaimed performance poet Sophia Thakur comes a stirring collection of coming-of-age poems exploring issues of identity, difference, perseverance, relationships, fear, loss, and joy.
The Tradition by Jericho Brown
Call Number: 811 BRO
ISBN: 9781556594861
Publication Date: 2019-04-02
WINNER OF THE 2020 PULITZER PRIZE FOR POETRY! Finalist for the 2019 National Book Award, 100 Notable Books of the Year, The New York Times Book Review, One Book, One Philadelphia Citywide Reading Program Selection, 2021

Local Independent Bookstores

The Children's Bookstore
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The Ivy Bookshop
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Mahogany Books
MahoganyBooks is a semi-local, Black-owned independent bookstore that believes in social entrepreneurship. Online orders are shipped from Washington, D.C.
Red Emma's Books
Due to the cororonavirus, Red Emma's worker owners have decided that the safest course of action is to temporarily completely close our space. We are not accepting take out or delivery orders for food, but we are still accepting and shipping online orders for books.

OverDrive

Sora for OverDrive

Non-fiction

The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater
Call Number: 364.15 Sla
ISBN: 9780374303235
Publication Date: 2017-10-17
(Available in SORA) One teenager in a skirt. One teenager with a lighter. One moment that changes both of their lives forever.
The Agitators by Dorothy Wickenden
Call Number: 305 WIC
ISBN: 9781476760735
Publication Date: 2021-03-30
From the intimate perspective of three friends and neighbors in mid-nineteenth century Auburn, New York—the “agitators” of the title—acclaimed author Dorothy Wickenden tells the fascinating and crucially American stories of abolition, the Underground Railroad, the early women’s rights movement, and the Civil War.
All Thirteen: the Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team by Christina Soontornvat
Call Number: 796.52
ISBN: 9781536209457
Publication Date: 2020-10-13
A unique account of the amazing Thai cave rescue told in a heart-racing, you-are-there style that blends suspense, science, and cultural insight.
Apple by Eric Gansworth
Call Number: BIO GAN
ISBN: 9781646140138
Publication Date: 2020-10-06
(Available on SORA) In APPLE (SKIN TO THE CORE), Eric Gansworth tells his story, the story of his family—of Onondaga among Tuscaroras—of Native folks everywhere. From the horrible legacy of the government boarding schools, to a boy watching his siblings leave and return and leave again, to a young man fighting to be an artist who balances multiple worlds. Eric shatters that slur ("apple") and reclaims it in verse and prose and imagery that truly lives up to the word heartbreaking.
The Beautiful Struggle (Adapted for Young Adults) by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Call Number: BIO COA
ISBN: 9781984894021
Publication Date: 2021-01-12
Adapted from the adult memoir by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Water Dancer and Between the World and Me, this father-son story explores how boys become men, and quite specifically, how Ta-Nehisi Coates became Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Becoming: Adapted for Young Readers by Michelle Obama
Call Number: BIO OBA
ISBN: 9780593303740
Publication Date: 2021-03-02
(Available on SORA) #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Michelle Obama’s worldwide bestselling memoir, Becoming, is now adapted for young readers.
Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad
Call Number: 616.99 JAO
ISBN: 9780399588587
Publication Date: 2021-02-09
A searing, deeply moving memoir of illness and recovery that traces a 22 year old woman’s journey from diagnosis to remission to re-entry into “normal” life—from the author of the Life, Interrupted column in The New York Times.
The Black Friend: on Being a Better White Person by Frederick Joseph
Call Number: 305.8 JOS
ISBN: 9781536217018
Publication Date: 2020-12-01
Writing from the perspective of a friend, Frederick Joseph offers candid reflections on his own experiences with racism and conversations with prominent artists and activists about theirs—creating an essential read for white people who are committed anti-racists and those newly come to the cause of racial justice.
Can't Stop Won't Stop (Young Adult Edition) by Jeff Chang; Dave 'Davey D' Cook; Jeff Chang; Dave Cook
Call Number: 306.4 CHA
ISBN: 9781250790514
Publication Date: 2021-03-16
From award-winning author Jeff Chang, Can't Stop Won't Stop is the young adult adaptation of the story of hip-hop, a generation-defining movement and the music that transformed American politics and culture forever.
The Doctors Blackwell by Janice P. Nimura
Call Number: 610.922 NIM
ISBN: 9780393635546
Publication Date: 2021-01-19
A riveting dual biography of America’s first female physicians...A compellingly portrayed and vividly realized biography of triumph and trailblazing.
First by Evan Thomas
Call Number: BIO OCO
ISBN: 9780399589287
Publication Date: 2019-03-19
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The intimate, inspiring, and authoritative biography of Sandra Day O’Connor, America’s first female Supreme Court justice, drawing on exclusive interviews and first-time access to Justice O’Connor’s archives.
Girlhood: Teens Around the World in Their Own Voices by Masuma Ahuja
Call Number: 305. 235 AHU
ISBN: 9781643750118
Publication Date: 2021-02-09
From the Americas to Europe to Africa to Asia to the South Pacific, the thirty teens from twenty-seven countries in Girlhood share their own stories of growing up through diary entries and photographs, and the girls’ stories are put in context with reporting and research that helps us understand the circumstances and communities they live in. This full-color, exuberantly designed volume is a portrait of ordinary girlhood around the world, and of the world, as seen through girls’ eyes.
Haben by Haben Girma
Call Number: BIO GIR
ISBN: 9781538728734
Publication Date: 2020-08-11
(Available on SORA) The incredible life story of Haben Girma, the first Deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School, and her amazing journey from isolation to the world stage.
Here for It by R. Eric Thomas
ISBN: 9780525621034
Publication Date: 2020-02-18
Here for It will resonate deeply and joyfully with everyone who has ever felt pushed to the margins, struggled with self-acceptance, or wished to shine more brightly in a dark world. Stay here for it—the future may surprise you.
Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall
Call Number: 305.42 KEN
ISBN: 9780525560562
Publication Date: 2021-02-23
A potent and electrifying critique of today’s feminist movement announcing a fresh new voice in black feminism.
Just Mercy (Adapted for Young Adults) by Bryan Stevenson
Call Number: BIO STE
ISBN: 9780525580034
Publication Date: 2018-09-18
(Available in SORA) "Bryan Stevenson details from his personal experience his many challenges and efforts as a lawyer and social advocate, especially on behalf of America's most marginalized people"--Provided by publisher.
Knockout by Mia Kang
Call Number: BIO KAN
ISBN: 9781419743320
Publication Date: 2020-10-20
An intimate and unflinching memoir exploring Mia Kang’s journey from self-loathing to self-love.
The Language of Butterflies by Wendy Williams
Call Number: 595.78 WIL
ISBN: 9781501178061
Publication Date: 2020-06-02
In this fascinating book from the New York Times bestselling author of The Horse, Wendy Williams explores the lives of one of the world’s most resilient creatures—the butterfly—shedding light on the role that they play in our ecosystem and in our human lives.
Memorial Drive by Natasha Trethewey
Call Number: 811 TRE
ISBN: 9780062248572
Publication Date: 2020-07-28
A chillingly personal and exquisitely wrought memoir of a daughter reckoning with the brutal murder of her mother at the hands of her former stepfather, and the moving, intimate story of a poet coming into her own in the wake of a tragedy.
Mighty Justice (Young Readers' Edition) by Katie McCabe; Jabari Asim
Call Number: BIO ROU
ISBN: 9781250229007
Publication Date: 2020-12-15
A young reader’s adaptation of Mighty Justice: My Life in Civil Rights, the memoir of activist and trailblazer Dovey Johnson Roundtree, by Katie McCabe.
Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong
ISBN: 9781984820365
Publication Date: 2020-02-25
A ruthlessly honest, emotionally charged, and utterly original exploration of Asian American consciousness and the struggle to be human.
Nonbinary by Micah Rajunov (Editor); A. Scott Duane (Editor)
Call Number: 305.3 NON
ISBN: 9780231185332
Publication Date: 2019-04-09
What happens when your gender doesn't fit neatly into the categories of male or female? Even mundane interactions like filling out a form or using a public bathroom can be a struggle when these designations prove inadequate. In this groundbreaking book, thirty authors highlight how our experiences are shaped by a deeply entrenched gender binary.
Once I Was You by Maria Hinojosa
Call Number: BIO HIN
ISBN: 9781982128654
Publication Date: 2020-09-15
(Available on SORA) An urgent call to fellow Americans to open their eyes to the immigration crisis and understand that it affects us all, this honest and heartrending memoir paints a vivid portrait of how we got here and what it means to be a survivor, a feminist, a citizen, and a journalist who owns her voice while striving for the truth.
Ordinary Girls by Jaquira Díaz
ISBN: 9781616209131
Publication Date: 2019-10-29
In this searing memoir, Jaquira Díaz writes fiercely and eloquently of her challenging girlhood and triumphant coming of age.
Paper Bullets by Jeffrey H. Jackson
Call Number: 940.53 JAC
ISBN: 9781616209162
Publication Date: 2020-11-10
Paper Bullets is a compelling World War II story that has not been told before, about the galvanizing power of art, and of resistance.
The Pink Line by Mark Gevisser
Call Number: 306.76 GEV
ISBN: 9781250798596
Publication Date: 2021-06-08
A groundbreaking look at how the issues of sexuality and gender identity divide and unite the world today.
Poisoned Water by Candy J. Cooper; Marc Aronson
Call Number: 615.9 COO
ISBN: 9781547602322
Publication Date: 2020-05-19
Based on original reporting by a Pulitzer Prize finalist and an industry veteran, the first book for young adults about the Flint water crisis
The Purpose of Power by Alicia Garza
Call Number: 303.48 GAR
ISBN: 9780525509684
Publication Date: 2020-10-20
An essential guide to building transformative movements to address the challenges of our time, from one of the country’s leading organizers and a co-creator of Black Lives Matter.
A Queer History of the United States for Young People by Michael Bronski; Richie Chevat (Adapted by)
Call Number: 306.76 CHE
ISBN: 9780807056127
Publication Date: 2019-06-11
Chronicles the history of homosexuality in the United States from the Puritans through the twentieth century, examining the role of gays, lesbians, bisexual, and transgendered individuals in shaping American culture.
The Radium Girls: Young Readers' Edition by Kate Moore
Call Number: 363.17 MOO
ISBN: 9781728210346
Publication Date: 2020-09-08
Explore the unbelievable true story of America's glowing girls and their fight for justice in the young readers edition of the New York Times and USA Today bestseller The Radium Girls.
The Source of Self-Regard by Toni Morrison
ISBN: 9780525562795
Publication Date: 2020-01-14
(Available in SORA) Here is Toni Morrison in her own words: a rich gathering of her most important essays and speeches, spanning four decades. An essential collection from an essential writer, The Source of Self-Regard shines with the literary elegance, intellectual prowess, spiritual depth, and moral compass that have made Toni Morrison our most cherished and enduring voice.
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds; Ibram X. Kendi
Call Number: 305.8 REY
ISBN: 9780316453691
Publication Date: 2020-03-10
(Available in SORA) A timely, crucial, and empowering exploration of racism--and antiracism--in America.
This is NOT a history book.
This is a book about the here and now.
A book to help us better understand why we are where we are.
A book about race.
The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee
Call Number: 305.8 MCG
ISBN: 9780525509561
Publication Date: 2021-02-16
(Available on SORA) One of today’s most insightful and influential thinkers offers a powerful exploration of inequality and the lesson that generations of Americans have failed to learn: Racism has a cost for everyone—not just for people of color.
Thick by Tressie McMillan Cottom
ISBN: 9781620974360
Publication Date: 2019-01-08
As featured by The Daily Show, NPR, PBS, CBC, Time, VIBE, Entertainment Weekly, Well-Read Black Girl, and Chris Hayes, "incisive, witty, and provocative essays" (Publishers Weekly) by one of the "most bracing thinkers on race, gender, and capitalism of our time" (Rebecca Traister)
To Fly among the Stars by Rebecca Siegel
Call Number: 629.45 SIE
ISBN: 9781338290158
Publication Date: 2020-03-03
A searing look at the birth of America's space program, and the men and women aviators who set its course.
The Triumph of Nancy Reagan by Karen Tumulty
Call Number: BIO REA
ISBN: 9781501165191
Publication Date: 2021-04-13
The definitive biography of the fiercely vigilant and politically astute First Lady who shaped one of the most consequential presidencies of the 20th century: Nancy Reagan.
The Truths We Hold by Kamala Harris
Call Number: BIO HAR
ISBN: 9780593113172
Publication Date: 2020-10-13
Now adapted for young readers, Vice President Kamala Harris's empowering memoir about the values and inspirations that guided her life.
Unfinished by Priyanka Chopra Jonas
Call Number: BIO CHO
ISBN: 9781984819215
Publication Date: 2021-02-09
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this thoughtful and revealing memoir, readers will accompany one of the world’s most recognizable women on her journey of self-discovery.
Untamed by Glennon Doyle
Call Number: 306.89 DOY
ISBN: 9781984801258
Publication Date: 2020-03-10
In her most revealing and powerful memoir yet, the activist, speaker, bestselling author, and “patron saint of female empowerment” (People) explores the joy and peace we discover when we stop striving to meet others’ expectations and start trusting the voice deep within us.
We Are Not yet Equal by Carol Anderson; Tonya Bolden
Call Number: 323.1196 AND
ISBN: 9781547602520
Publication Date: 2019-10-29
(Available on SORA) “[A]n accessible narrative form, showing young people through pivotal historical events the ways in which white rage has been able to effectively undermine black-led social movements for equality and justice.” — Starred review, Kirkus Reviews
Wolfpack (Young Readers Edition) by Abby Wambach
Call Number: 155.3 WAM
ISBN: 9781250766861
Publication Date: 2020-10-06
(Available on SORA) In this young readers adaptation of her #1 New York Times bestselling book, two-time Olympic gold medalist and FIFA World Cup champion Abby Wambach inspires the next generation to find their voice, unite their pack, and change the world.
You Are Your Best Thing by Tarana Burke (Editor); Brené Brown (Editor)
Call Number: 360 BUR
ISBN: 9780593243626
Publication Date: 2021-04-27
(Available on SORA) Tarana Burke and Dr. Brené Brown bring together a dynamic group of Black writers, organizers, artists, academics, and cultural figures to discuss the topics the two have dedicated their lives to understanding and teaching: vulnerability and shame resilience.

Graphic Novels

Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists by Mikki Kendall; Anna D'Amico
Call Number: 323.3 KEN
ISBN: 9780399581793
Publication Date: 2019-11-05
A bold and gripping graphic history of the fight for women's rights
Banned Book Club by Kim Hyun Kim; Ryan Estrada; Ko Ko (Illustrator)
ISBN: 9781945820427
Publication Date: 2020-05-19
In BANNED BOOK CLUB, Hyun Sook shares a dramatic true story of political division, fear-mongering, anti-intellectualism, the death of democratic institutions, and the relentless rebellion of reading.
The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui
Call Number: BIO BUI
ISBN: 9781419718779
Publication Date: 2017-03-07
In graphic novel format, Thi Bui describes her family's experiences as they immigrate to the United States from their war-torn home in Vietnam.
The Black Panther Party by David F. Walker; Marcus Kwame Anderson (Illustrator)
Call Number: 741.5 WAL
ISBN: 9781984857705
Publication Date: 2021-01-19
A bold and fascinating graphic novel history of the revolutionary Black Panther Party.
Displacement by Kiku Hughes
Call Number: 741.5 HUG
ISBN: 9781250193544
Publication Date: 2020-08-18
A teenager is pulled back in time to witness her grandmother's experiences in World War II-era Japanese internment camps in Displacement, a historical graphic novel from Kiku Hughes.
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
ISBN: 9780618871711
Publication Date: 2007-06-05
In this groundbreaking, bestselling graphic memoir, Alison Bechdel charts her fraught relationship with her late father. In her hands, personal history becomes a work of amazing subtlety and power, written with controlled force and enlivened with humor, rich literary allusion, and heartbreaking detail.
Gender Queer: a Memoir by Maia Kobabe
ISBN: 9781549304002
Publication Date: 2019-05-28
2020 ALA Alex Award Winner
2020 Stonewall — Israel Fishman Non-fiction Award Honor Book
The Influencing Machine by Brooke Gladstone; Josh Neufeld
Call Number: 302.23 GLA
ISBN: 9780393541571
Publication Date: 2021-01-12
An invaluable introduction to how the media works from one of the acknowledged masters of the industry, this tenth anniversary edition brings the story up to date, with new illustrations and an afterword that offers a deep examination of the rise of social media and the public’s responsibility in a time of division and disinformation.
I Was Their American Dream by Malaka Gharib
ISBN: 9780525575115
Publication Date: 2019-04-30
“[A] high-spirited graphical memoir . . . Gharib’s wisdom about the power and limits of racial identity is evident in the way she draws.”—NPR
The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen
Call Number: 741.5 TRU
ISBN: 9781984851598
Publication Date: 2020-10-13
Real life isn't a fairytale. But Tiến still enjoys reading his favorite stories with his parents from the books he borrows from the local library. It's hard enough trying to communicate with your parents as a kid, but for Tiến, he doesn't even have the right words because his parents are struggling with their English. Is there a Vietnamese word for what he's going through? Is there a way to tell them he's gay?
My Body in Pieces by Marie-Noëlle Hébert; Shelley Tanaka (Translator)
Call Number: 741.5 HEB
ISBN: 9781773064840
Publication Date: 2021-04-06
A deeply emotional graphic memoir of a young woman's struggles with self-esteem and body image issues.
Photographic by Isabel Quintero; Zeke Peña (Illustrator)
ISBN: 9781947440005
Publication Date: 2018-03-06
"Mixing original illustrations, first-person prose, and lyrical interludes with gorgeous reproductions of photographer Graciela Iturbide’s work, Quintero and Peña patiently reveal their subject’s many angles, producing a “kaleidoscopic unraveling” of the artists… Teens will come away with an evolved sense of how to look at a creator’s life and work and how to think critically about art as a process.
Quincredible Vol. 1 by Rodney Barnes; Selina Espiritu (Illustrator); Kelly Fitzpatrick (Colorist (comics))
Call Number: 741.5 BAR
ISBN: 9781620108789
Publication Date: 2021-02-23
there’s more to Quin than meets the eye, and after some encouragement from his new mentor—a local New Orleans–based superhero named Glow—Quin realizes that he can use his quirky hobby of creating Rube Goldberg devices to outsmart the opposition. But being a hero paints a target on your back, and Quin’s got to risk it all to join the ranks of the superheroes he looks up to. It’s a good thing he can take a punch.
Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang; Gurihiru (Illustrator)
Call Number: 741.5 YAN
ISBN: 9781779504210
Publication Date: 2020-05-12
Inspired by the 1940s Superman radio serial "Clan of the Fiery Cross," New York Times bestselling author Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese, Boxers and Saints, The Terrifics, New Super-Man) and artist Gurihiru (Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Unstoppable Wasp) bring us a personal retelling of two different immigrants finding ways to belong.
Year of the Rabbit by Tian Veasna
Call Number: 741.5 VEA
ISBN: 9781770463769
Publication Date: 2020-01-21
One family's quest to survive the devastation of the Khmer Rouge, told through graphic novel format.