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Both Can Be True

9780063053892
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Ash is a middle schooler who loves music, is a synesthete who can see sounds, and is figuring out their gender identity after being bullied at their last school for being a “flip flop freak.” It doesn’t help that Ash’s dad is putting more and more pressure on them to just choose a gender and “stick with it.” Then Ash meets Daniel at their new school. Daniel is a photography fan, kind, in-tune with his emotions, scared his parents are going to get a divorce, and mourning the loss of his dog. When Daniel saves an older dog who is about to be euthanized because the owner doesn’t want to care for the elderly dog, their worlds collide and suddenly, Ash and Daniel are pinned together in this mission—save Chewbarka at all costs. Read more about Both Can Be True

   
Posted by Ginny H. on July 25, 2022
Both can be true   
Animals    Bullying    Coming of Age    Diversity    Fiction    Inclusiveness    LGBTQ+    Read    Realistic    Staff Picks   
Tween   
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Birdie and Me

9780399186776
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Jack and her gender fluid brother, Birdie, are siblings who have to move in with their stoic and no-nonsense uncle after their eccentric uncle proves that he is not a good caretaker after their mother's sudden death. The constant upheaval, new scenery, school, and bullying in their new life throw them through a loop. Through grieving, confronting bullies, and confronting comfort zones -- Birdie, Jack, and both their uncles learn to love and accept each other for who they are. Together, the family creates a new sense of home together.  Read more about Birdie and Me

   
Posted by Ginny H. on January 6, 2021
Birdie and Me   
Coming of Age    Diversity    Family    Inclusiveness    LGBTQ+    Read    Realistic   
Tween   
Think Library    Kids    Reviews   
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Staff Picks: Go with the Flow

9781250305725
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What’s worse than being bullied the first week at your new school? Getting period on your white pants! Read more about Staff Picks: Go with the Flow

   
Posted by Ginny H. on November 13, 2020
Go with the Flow   
Coming of Age    Fiction    Friendship    Graphic Novels & Manga    Read   
Tween   
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All's Faire in Middle School

9780525429982
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Reviewed by Kim B., Librarian

Imogene has always felt sure of herself and happy with her life as the daughter of Renaissance Faire workers. But when it’s time for her to stop homeschooling and attend middle school with other kids Imogene is suddenly not so sure. To Imogene, fitting in in a world of dragons, sword fighting, Queens and knights seemed like a piece of cake, but fitting in in middle school? It seemed impossible. All’s Faire in Middle School is a unique coming-of-age story filled with great lessons about being yourself, finding your true friends, and realizing that fitting in is just a matter of being confident in who you are. This book would be well fit with anyone starting middle school, starting school after homeschooling, or anyone looking for how they can fit in. Appropriate for ages 9+

 

   
Posted by Ginny H. on September 28, 2020
All's Faire in Middle School   
Coming of Age    Fiction    Friendship    Graphic Novels & Manga   
Tween   
Think Library    Kids    Reviews   
  • Ginny H.'s blog

Staff Picks: Stand Up, Yumi Chung!

9780525554974
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Reviewed by Cidne B., Information Assistant Read more about Staff Picks: Stand Up, Yumi Chung!

   
Posted by Kim B. on August 3, 2020
Stand Up, Yumi Chung!   
Coming of Age    Diversity    Fiction    Finding Value    Integrity    Read    Respect    Staff Picks   
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Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

9780345505330
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On November 17, author Jamie Ford speaks at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater in Bloomington for the NEA Big Read and the library’s biennial Power of Words program.

As he often does, Jamie Ford writes about the clashing and melding of different cultures in his three historical novels: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Songs of Willow Frost, and Love and Other Consolation Prizes.   Read more about Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

   
Posted by Dory L. on November 8, 2017
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: A Novel   
History    Coming of Age    Family    Fiction    Diversity   
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Scythe by Neal Shusterman

9781442472426
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Death has been defeated and world peace achieved. With the guidance of Artificial Intelligence, humanity has ushered in a utopia…. mostly. In Scythe, Neal Shusterman posits that AI has evolved into an omniscient (and omnibenevolent) force called the Thunderhead, through which the world has achieved a true and lasting peace. The Thunderhead controls everything, but unlike many dystopian works, this is a miraculous and profoundly beneficial event. The only power that the Thunderhead does not possess is the ability to take life. That responsibility is assigned to Scythes, who roam the world utilizing quotas to randomly glean (aka kill) in order to keep earth’s population in check. Read more about Scythe by Neal Shusterman

   
Posted by Sam O. on January 24, 2017
Scythe   
Adventure    Award Winner    Staff Picks    Coming of Age    Sci-Fi   
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All the Light We Cannot See

9781476746586
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A blind French girl. A brilliant German boy.  A locksmith who works at a world-class museum. A French resistance worker who doubles as a housewife. An agoraphobic great uncle who has not left home since the close of the last war, WW1.  A Nazi army gem expert who prowls after a world-class jewel that he believes will cure his advanced cancer.

These are the main characters that people this fascinating WWII novel.  Tying them all together are radio signals and a blue diamond worth millions.

The novel alternates (mostly) between the points of view of Marie-Laure, a blind girl and Werner, an orphan who teaches himself advanced radio skills. Marie-Laure has been blind since the age of six.  Just after the German occupation,  she and her locksmith father flee Paris, but soon after the Germans take and imprison her father.

A myth surrounds the blue diamond itself.  Marie-Laure learned about the diamond early in her life. The myth says that anyone who carries it will have bad luck befall them. Unfortunately, the museum director entrusts the locksmith with this diamond as the Germans enter Paris. He also ordered two other duplicates created to confuse anyone trying to track the diamond. None of the three employees trusted with the diamond know who has the real one. Read more about All the Light We Cannot See

   
Posted by Dory L. on July 21, 2014
All the Light We Cannot See   
Coming of Age    Fiction    History   
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Mud

031398172888
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There are times when everything in life seems just as clear as... mud. That’s doubly true if you happen to spend lots of time scrounging the Mississippi River, which is exactly what the characters in the latest from Jeff Nichols (director of 2011’s shamefully overlooked Take Shelter) do to get by. Centering on Ellis and Neckbone, two early-teens swamp rats who befriend a fugitive hiding out near their fishing spot, Read more about Mud

   
Posted by Ryan S. on October 9, 2013
Mud   
Coming of Age    Crime    TV & Movies    Family    Friendship    Relationships   
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Hippie Child: How a Young Boy Helped Parent his New-Age Mom

9781401324605
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Think your childhood was non-mainstream? A little kooky? Perhaps on the bizarre side? Well check out the hand Josh Safran was dealt being born in the early 70s in a commune in San Francisco during the height of Flower Power and the counter-culture.

Safran makes his childhood—first in city communes; later in remote cabins in the mountain wilderness actually sound happy.  Credit his mother, Claudia, for that.  Highly intelligent, emotionally warm, full of passion for political change and hope for a just world, Claudia imparted to Josh many values.  Yet, she also barely kept food on his plate and never gave him a beautiful home. In fact for one three month period, they lived in a visqueen shelter on tree stumps in a rain forest. Yet these are failings of poverty not intent. Much worse were allowing her lovers to abuse him and to threaten them both by driving under the influence of alcohol on icy mountain roads, often in the dark.

The book is sad, poignant, funny, and a surprising page turner from beginning to end. Check out this hook of an opening sentence “By the time I was ten, I had hitchhiked thousands of miles and befriended hundreds of remarkably strange people.”  Here’s a short list of them: Crazy John, Uncle Tony (no blood relation), conniving Bob, deal-making Read more about Hippie Child: How a Young Boy Helped Parent his New-Age Mom

   
Posted by Dory L. on October 2, 2013
Coming of Age    Biography & Memoir   
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