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Six Walks

Ben Shattuck

On an autumn morning in 1849, Henry David Thoreau stepped out his front door to walk the beaches of Cape Cod. Over a century and a half later, Ben Shattuck does the same. With little more than a loaf of bread, brick of cheese, and a notebook, Shattuck sets out to retrace Thoreau's path through the Cape's outer beaches, from the elbow to Provincetown's fingertip.

This is the first of six journeys taken by Shattuck, each one inspired by a walk once taken by Henry David Thoreau. After the Cape, Shattuck goes up Mount Katahdin and Mount Wachusett, down the coastline of his hometown, and then through the Allagash. Along the way, Shattuck encounters unexpected characters, landscapes, and stories, seeing for himself the restorative effects that walking can have on a dampened spirit. Over years of following Thoreau, Shattuck finds himself uncovering new insights about family, love, friendship, and fatherhood, and understanding more deeply the lessons walking can offer through life's changing seasons.

Intimate, entertaining, and beautifully crafted, Six Walks is a resounding tribute to the ways walking in nature can inspire us all.

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Creative Drawing: Symbols and Sacred Geometry

Ana Victoria Calderon

Learn simple step-by-step techniques for drawing and embellishing the exciting, inspiring, and beautiful motifs of sacred geometry.

In Creative Drawing: Symbols and Sacred Geometry, artist, instructor, and author Ana Victoria Calderon takes you on an inner voyage of creative discovery.

  • Learn how sacred geometry has been practiced and celebrated by cultures all over the world and influenced artists throughout history, including Leonardo da Vinci
  • Start with the essentials—compass drawing with graphite pencils on paper—then explore the featured mediums for embellishing, including colored pencils, watercolor, inks, and other easy-to-use mediums
  • Take a step-by-step look at fundamental drawing techniques for a variety of universal motifs, starting with the simple circle and building to more complex motifs, including the Yin Yang symbol, the Tree of Life, the Torus, and the Vortex
  • Learn to paint a variety of stunning effects and find great project ideas for creating amazing images


The study and creation of sacred geometry inspires the imagination and provokes reflection. So grab your pencils and take a beautiful creative journey with drawing!

Perfect for creative beginners, the books in the Art for Modern Makers series take a fun, practical approach to learning about and working with paints and other art mediums to create beautiful DIY projects and crafts.

Edited by Kate 

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Grilling with Golic and Hays

Mike Golic

Champion pitmaster and CEO and co-founder of Operation BBQ Relief Stan Hays joins forces with NFL veteran and former ESPN Radio host Mike Golic in this celebration of the connection of BBQ and sports.

Good for the stomach, better for the soul--quality comfort barbecue and side dishes that reflect the character and warmth of the national nonprofit Operation BBQ Relief. The 80+ recipes from your favorite sports stars, pitmasters, and chefs combine the worlds through the power of food.

Grilling with Golic and Hays: Operation BBQ Relief Cookbook aims to inspire hope and compassion through the stories of overcoming challenges that are present in both the athletic world and the work of Operation BBQ Relief. Armed with a caravan of cooks, mobile pits, kitchens, and volunteers, Operation BBQ Relief delivers support through hot meals in times of need, feeding first responders and communities affected by natural disasters, along with year-round efforts to fight hunger through various programs.

Each of the 80+ comforting recipes--from appetizers to ribs, and from seafood to desserts--will include a short biography of each sports star or chef contributor. Gorgeous photography throughout the book showcases recipes such as:

  • Smoked Jalapeño Pimento Cheese
  • Lobster Pasta Salad
  • Tequila BBQ Spare Ribs
  • Southwest Brisket Chili
  • Chipotle Smoked Chicken
  • Salmon Tacos with Cilantro Lime Slaw and Mango Salsa
  • Rum Cake
  • Chargrilled Pineapple Piña Colada

Barbecue and sports have connected people and families everywhere, from tailgates to sports watch parties. It is this connection that also drives the heart of Operation BBQ Relief and each community they serve with hope, friendship, and compassion.

Edited by Kate 

 

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Salty

Alissa Wilkinson

If you could have a dinner party with anyone dead or alive, who would it be?

That's the question film critic and food writer Alissa Wilkinson answered as she gathered a hypothetical table of women who challenged norms and defied conventional wisdom.

Ella Baker, Alice B. Toklas, Hannah Arendt, Octavia Butler, Agnes Varda, Elizabeth David, Edna Lewis, Maya Angelou, Laurie Colwin: these smart, engaging, revolutionary, and creative twentieth-century women were all profoundly influenced by their own relationships to food, drink, and other elements of sustenance.

In Salty, Wilkinson explores the ways food managed to root these women into their various callings. For some, it was cultivating perseverance in the face of hardship. For others, it was nurturing a freedom to act, even in the face of opposition, toward justice and equality. For others, it was an examination of what it means to be human with all its desire, heartbreak, sacrifice, isolation, and liberty.

Salty is Alissa Wilkinson's invitation to you. Join these sharp, empowered, and often subversive women and discover how to live with courage, agency, grace, smarts, snark, saltiness, and sometimes feasting--even in uncertain times. Ultimately you will leave this table with a greater understanding of food, drink, gathering, thinking, loving, and navigating the world.

Edited by Kate 

 

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What Artists Wear

Charlie Porter

From Yves Klein's spotless tailoring to the kaleidoscopic costumes of Yayoi Kusama and Cindy Sherman, from Andy Warhol's denim to Martine Syms's joy in dressing, the clothes worn by artists are tools of expression, storytelling, resistance, and creativity.

In What Artists Wear, fashion critic and art curator Charlie Porter guides us through the wardrobes of modern artists: in the studio, in performance, at work or at play. For Porter, clothing is a way in: the wild paint-splatters on Jean-Michel Basquiat's designer clothing, Joseph Beuys's shamanistic felt hat, or the functional workwear that defined Agnes Martin's life of spiritua labor. As Porter roams widely from Georgia O'Keeffe's tailoring to David Hockney's bold color blocking to Sondra Perry's intentional casual wear, he weaves his own perceptive analyses with original interviews and contributions from artists and their families and friends.

Part love letter, part guide to chic, with more than 300 images, What Artists Wear offers a new way of understanding art, combined with a dynamic approach to the clothes we all wear. The result is a radical, gleeful inspiration to see each outfit as a canvas on which to convey an identity or challenge the status quo.

Edited by Kate 

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A Year at Catbird Cottage

Melina Hammer

100 recipes for seasonal, locally sourced, and foraged dishes from the owner of the idyllic Catbird Cottage B&B in upstate New York.

"Melina Hammer shows us that there is beauty all around us when we cook seasonally. . . . A joyful, inspiring book for cooks, bakers, artists, and dreamers."--Amanda Hesser, founder and CEO, Food52

ONE OF FOOD52'S MOST ANTICIPATED COOKBOOKS OF 2022

At the foot of the Shawangunk Mountain Ridge lies the hamlet of Accord, New York, dotted with orchards and farms, population 562. There, Melina Hammer welcomes guests from near and far to stay and eat at Catbird Cottage, a B&B run out of her charming home. Her eclectic table is set with meals that showcase stories and ingredients from her own garden, New York's wild landscape, and her travels around the globe.

In her debut cookbook, Melina shares the beloved recipes from this special place, all presented seasonally just like the meals at Catbird Cottage. These recipes are organized by season, since the seasons dictate what's on the Catbird Cottage table. Whether it's Wild Salmon Gravlax, Scallop-Shiso Ceviche, Buttery Scrambled Eggs and Chanterelles, Sour Cherry Pie, or a fall-apart persimmon served with triple-cream cheese and freshly baked sourdough bread, Melina's food is deeply satisfying and sustaining--and emphasizes cooking and living in a more connected and joyful way.

Melina also shares her foraging and preserving know-how, allowing readers to stock their pantries, cupboards, and freezers. But these recipes don't require you be a fully-fledged homesteader, expert forager, or connoisseur of global flavor. The book takes the foundations of these sustainable practices and integrates them into an accessible kitchen vernacular of complete nourishment. The food of Catbird Cottage is community on a plate--grown, harvested, persevered, and presented with love--and shared with cherished companions.

Edited by Kate

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Mastering Sculpture: The Figure in Clay

Cristina Córdova

Explore the human form in depth, from concept sketches and armatures to detailed instructions for constructing legs, torso, arms, hands, and head from clay.

In Mastering Sculpture: The Figure in Clay, renowned sculptor and instructorCristina Córdova teaches everything you need to know to replicate the full human figure using clay.

  • Start by developing meaningful sketches and reference points.
  • Then learn how to make and use an armature to create hollow forms that are safe to fire in a kiln.
  • Using patterns and slabs, you can move on to develop a full human form, head to toe.
  • Work along with the author to create a form about two-feet tall, or choose your own size: the patterns and instructions can work in a variety of scales.

Photographic demonstrations and diagrams cover the construction and articulation of feet and legs, the hip area and upper torso, arms, hands, neck, and head. Cristina includes supplementary tips and insights throughout to support the sculpting process and enhance naturalism. You’ll also find a brief section on general anatomical concepts and modeling strategies to facilitate accuracy and expression as all the components come together.

Whether you are a clay artist with limited experience in figurative sculpture or a figurative sculptor outside the world of ceramics looking for a straightforward fabrication strategy to create permanent compositions from clay, Mastering Sculpture: The Figure in Clay will expertly guide your way.

Edited by Kate 

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Shine Bright

Danyel Smith

American pop music is arguably this country’s greatest cultural contribution to the world, and its singular voice and virtuosity were created by a shining thread of Black women geniuses stretching back to the country’s founding. This is their surprising, heartbreaking, soaring story—from “one of the generation’s greatest, most insightful, most nuanced writers in pop culture” (Shea Serrano)

“This book is revelatory about the specific experiences of Black women in music.”—Dawnie Walton, author of The Final Revival of Opal & Nev

ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2022—Oprah Daily, Essence, Electric Lit

A weave of biography, criticism, and memoir, Shine Bright is Danyel Smith’s intimate history of Black women’s music as the foundational story of American pop. Smith has been writing this history for more than five years. But as a music fan, and then as an essayist, editor (Vibe, Billboard), and podcast host (Black Girl Songbook), she has been living this history since she was a latchkey kid listening to “Midnight Train to Georgia” on the family stereo. 

Smith’s detailed narrative begins with Phillis Wheatley, an enslaved woman who sang her poems, and continues through the stories of Mahalia Jackson, Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, and Mariah Carey, as well as the under-considered careers of Marilyn McCoo, Deniece Williams, and Jody Watley. 

Shine Bright is an overdue paean to musical masters whose true stories and genius have been hidden in plain sight—and the book Danyel Smith was born to write.

Edited by Kate 

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The Empress and the English Doctor

Lucy Ward

The astonishing true story of how Catherine the Great joined forces with a Quaker doctor from Essex to spearhead one of the first global public health campaigns.

A TIMES BEST BOOK OF 2022 SO FAR

‘Sparkling history…with a fairytale atmosphere of sleigh rides, royal palaces and heroic risk-taking’ The Times

‘It is hard to imagine a more timely or important book… a must-read’ Jojo Moyes

A killer virus…an all-powerful Empress…an encounter cloaked in secrecy…the astonishing true story.

Within living memory, smallpox was a dreaded disease. Over human history it has killed untold millions. Back in the eighteenth century, as epidemics swept Europe, the first rumours emerged of an effective treatment: a mysterious method called inoculation.

But a key problem remained: convincing people to accept the preventative remedy, the forerunner of vaccination. Arguments raged over risks and benefits, and public resistance ran high. As smallpox ravaged her empire and threatened her court, Catherine the Great took the momentous decision to summon the Quaker physician Thomas Dimsdale to St Petersburg to carry out a secret mission that would transform both their lives. Lucy Ward expertly unveils the extraordinary story of Enlightenment ideals, female leadership and the fight to promote science over superstition.

Edited by Kate 

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Game

Grant Hill

The full, frank story of a remarkable life’s journey—to the pinnacle of success as a basketball player, icon, and entrepreneur, to the depths of personal trauma and back, to a place of flourishing and peace—made possible above all by a family’s love

Grant Hill always had game. His choice of college was a subject of national interest, and his arrival at Duke University cemented the program’s arrival at the top. In his freshman year, he led the team to its first NCAA championship, and three championship appearances in four years. His Duke career produced some of the most iconic moments in college basketball history, and Coach K proved to be a lifelong mentor. Later, as one of the NBA’s best players and a new face of the Detroit Pistons franchise, Hill was the first person with the potential to give Michael Jordan a run for his money, not just as a player but as a brand. His $45 million rookie contract was almost the least of it. He turned down Nike for Fila, and soon Method Man and Tupac Shakur were wearing his shoes.

Hill writes candidly about all of it, including the transactional impermanence of life in the league and the isolation caused by his growing fame. His parents and friends helped ground him, and eventually he met a gifted musician named Tamia. The love he found with her and the arrival of their two beautiful daughters would be his rock as a brutal and mysterious injury sidelined him, coinciding with his wife’s own serious health struggles.

With openness and insight, Hill relates his entire path, including post-career highlights like his Hall of Fame induction, co-ownership of the Atlanta Hawks, the directorship of the USA Basketball Men’s National Team, and even a yearly gig calling the Final Four. Hill’s father, Calvin, used to tell him that there were always a lot of reasons but never any excuses, and Game is a distillation of a lifetime’s effort to understand the reasons—the good and the bad. At his hardest moments, Hill sought out wisdom from others, stories of inspiration and overcoming obstacles. Now, with Game, he has returned the favor.

Edited by Kate 

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Directed by James Burrows

James Burrows

"Being directed by the Jimmy Burrows, while on Friends, was like hitting the jackpot. I'm delighted that everyone can now share in his incredible insight with this book."--JENNIFER ANISTON

From the director of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Taxi, Cheers, Frasier, Friends, and Will & Grace comes an insightful and nostalgic memoir that offers a bounty of behind-the-scenes moments from our favorite shows, peeling away the layers behind how a successful sitcom comes together--and stays that way.


Legendary sitcom director James Burrows has spent five decades making America laugh. Here readers will find never-revealed stories behind the casting of the dozens of great sitcoms he directed, as well as details as to how these memorable shows were created, how they got on the air, and how the cast and crew continued to develop and grow. Burrows also examines his own challenges, career victories, and defeats, and provides advice for aspiring directors, writers, and actors. All this from the man who helped launch the careers of Ted Danson, Kelsey Grammer, Woody Harrelson, Jennifer Aniston, Debra Messing, and Melissa McCarthy, to name a few.

Burrows talks fondly about the inspiration he found during his childhood and young adult years, including his father, legendary playwright and Broadway director Abe Burrows. From there he goes on to explain his rigorous work ethic, forged in his early years in theater, where he did everything from stage managing to building sets to, finally, directing. Transitioning to television, Burrows locked into a coveted job with The Mary Tyler Moore Show, where he first observed and then started to apply his craft. Directing most of the episodes of Taxi came next, where he worked closely with writers/producers Glen and Les Charles. The three formed a remarkable creative partnership that helped Burrows achieve his much sought-after goal of ownership and agency over a project, which came with the creating and directing of the seminal and beloved hit Cheers. Burrows has directed more than seventy-five pilots that have gone to series and over a thousand episodes, more than any other director in history.

Directed by James Burrows is a heart-and-soul master class in sitcom, revealing what it truly takes to get a laugh.

Edited by Kate 

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Essential Tennis

Ian Westermann

The essential book from online tennis coaching sensation Ian Westermann, founder of EssentialTennis.com

What’s the number one thing stopping you from playing your best tennis?

Ian Westermann, founder of the world’s #1 online tennis instruction portal, Essentialtennis.com, will confidently say it’s an obstacle you probably never thought of: The ball. You might think this sounds ridiculous. The whole point of tennis is to hit the ball over the net and in, so how can the ball be the thing that’s standing in the way? In fact, this is why the ball is such an impediment: your desire to hit a good shot, with the right mix of power and spin, to a specific spot on the court, prevents you from striking the ball the way you should.

In Essential Tennis, readers – players and coaches, alike – will learn how improving at tennis actually happens and how to easily implement these lessons and integrate them into better play on the court. Players will hit stronger shots, make fewer errors, and beat players who are currently beating them. Coaches will look differently at what it means to provide a student with a holistic learning experience.

Essential Tennis contains technique-based instruction for executing groundstrokes, volleys, and serves, as well as progressions, drills, and mindsets players should incorporate. Westermann illuminates strokes, movement, strategy, and mental toughness – all proven to be successful over 20 years with clients of all ages and skill levels.

Edited by Kate 

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Living in the Moment

Elizabeth Landsverk

Like a What to Expect When You're Expecting for dementia, Living in the Moment offers a comprehensive guide to living a happy and full life with dementia, written by renowned geriatrician Dr. Elizabeth Landsverk, founder of ElderConsult Geriatric Medicine.

An invaluable, comprehensive guide that explains everything you and your family need to know about living well with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.

A loved one's dementia diagnosis can leave you feeling scared and overwhelmed. Now a renowned geriatrician who has helped thousands of families live happy, engaged lives--after a dementia diagnosis--shares her expertise in this easy-to-follow guide.

Filled with must-have information, practical advice, and unique and comforting insights, here is everything you need to know about caring for your loved one and making his or her life the best possible--starting now, even as the disease progresses. Inside, you'll find:



* How to create a plan of action for today--and tomorrow--that will help all involved cope with this new normal
* How to keep your vulnerable loved one safe and secure--both physically and financially Lifestyle changes, innovative new activities, and holistic interventions that can slow the progression of dementia
* Comprehensive information on both prescription and OTC medications that can help or hurt dementia patients
* Dealing with day-to-day challenges, from staying mobile to overcoming agitation and aggression without resorting to sedation
* How and where to get help, including online support groups, home health care agencies, care managers, neuropsychologists, communities and day programs for people with dementia, and government agencies
* Tips on keeping your loved one at home versus placement

In addition to all the essential advice, Dr. Landsverk demystifies the ins and outs of dementia, explaining what it is and what it's not, making sure you and your loved one will be ready to address whatever develops and maintain quality of life. Uniquely, Living in the Moment will transform how you think about dementia, providing comfort and support for the best life possible--at any stage.

Edited by Kate

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The Puzzler

A. J. Jacobs

 

The New York Times bestselling author of The Year of Living Biblically goes on a rollicking journey to understand the enduring power of puzzles: why we love them, what they do to our brains, and how they can improve our world.
"Even though I've never attempted the New York Times crossword puzzle or solved the Rubik's Cube, I couldn't put down The Puzzler."--Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project and Better Than Before

 

What makes puzzles--jigsaws, mazes, riddles, sudokus--so satisfying? Be it the formation of new cerebral pathways, their close link to insight and humor, or their community-building properties, they're among the fundamental elements that make us human. Convinced that puzzles have made him a better person, A.J. Jacobs--four-time New York Times bestselling author, master of immersion journalism, and nightly crossworder--set out to determine their myriad benefits. And maybe, in the process, solve the puzzle of our very existence. Well, almost.

In The Puzzler, Jacobs meets the most zealous devotees, enters (sometimes with his family in tow) any puzzle competition that will have him, unpacks the history of the most popular puzzles, and aims to solve the most impossible head-scratchers, from a mutant Rubik's Cube, to the hardest corn maze in America, to the most sadistic jigsaw. Chock-full of unforgettable adventures and original examples from around the world--including new work by Greg Pliska, one of America's top puzzle-makers, and a hidden, super-challenging but solvable puzzle that will earn the first reader to crack it a $10,000 prize*--The Puzzler will open readers' eyes to the power of flexible thinking and concentration. Whether you're puzzle obsessed or puzzle hesitant, you'll walk away with real problem-solving strategies and pathways toward becoming a better thinker and decision maker--for these are certainly puzzling times.

Edited by Kate 

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Miss Memory Lane

Colton Haynes

A brutally honest and moving memoir of lust, abuse, addiction, stardom, and redemption from Arrow and Teen Wolf actor Colton Haynes.

Four years ago, Colton Haynes woke up in a hospital. He’d had two seizures, lost the sight in one eye, almost ruptured a kidney, and been put on an involuntary psychiatry hold. Not yet thirty, he knew he had to take stock of his life and make some serious changes if he wanted to see his next birthday.

As he worked towards sobriety, Haynes allowed himself to become vulnerable for the first time in years and with that, discovered profound self-awareness. He had millions of social media followers who constantly told him they loved him. But what would they think if they knew his true story? If they knew where he came from and the things he had done?

Now, Colton bravely pulls back the curtain on his life and career, revealing the incredible highs and devastating lows. From his unorthodox childhood in a small Kansas town, to coming to terms with his sexuality, he keeps nothing back.

By sixteen, he had been signed by the world’s top modeling agency and his face appeared on billboards. But he was still a broke, lonely, confused teenager, surrounded by people telling him he could be a star as long as he never let anyone see his true self. As his career in television took off, the stress of wearing so many masks and trying to please so many different people turned his use of drugs and alcohol into full-blown addiction.

A lyrical and intimate confession, apology, and cautionary tale, Miss Memory Lane is an unforgettable story of dreams deferred and dreams fulfilled; of a family torn apart and rebuilt; and of a man stepping into the light as no one but himself.

Edited by Kate 

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Home Field Advantage

Dahlia Adler

Amber McCloud’s dream is to become cheer captain at the end of the year, but it’s an extra-tall order to be joyful and spirited when the quarterback of your team has been killed in a car accident. For both the team and the squad, watching Robbie get replaced by newcomer Jack Walsh is brutal. And when it turns out Jack is actually short for Jaclyn, all hell breaks loose.

The players refuse to be led by a girl, the cheerleaders are mad about the changes to their traditions, and the fact that Robbie’s been not only replaced but outshined by a QB who wears a sports bra has more than a few Atherton Alligators in a rage. Amber tries for some semblance of unity, but it quickly becomes clear that she's only got a future on the squad and with her friends if she helps them take Jack down.

Just one problem: Amber and Jack are falling for each other, and if Amber can't stand up for Jack and figure out how to get everyone to fall in line, her dream may come at the cost of her heart.

Dahlia Adler's Home Field Advantage is a sparkling romance about fighting for what - or who - you truly want.

Added by Hailey M.

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Lock the Doors

Vincent Ralph

The truth won't stay hidden behind locked doors.

Tom's family have moved into their dream home. But pretty soon he starts to notice that something is very wrong--there are strange messages written on the wall and locks on the bedroom doors. On the OUTSIDE.

The previous owners have moved just across the road and they seem like the perfect family. Their daughter Amy is beautiful and enigmatic but Tom is sure she's got something to hide. And he isn't going to stop until he finds the truth behind those locked doors. . .

Will their dream home become a nightmare?

Added by Hailey M.

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Reading Together

Noah Brown

Reading Together is the essential guide for parents interested in starting a book club with their kids and raising their children to become book-loving adults.

This book is the first guide to parent-child book clubs. Written by a group of moms and their adolescent children who started a book club while the kids were in first grade, this how-to book shares the dos and don'ts they learned over more than 100 meetings and 100 books.

Brimming with insight and inspiration, Reading Together includes the details of organizing and structuring meetings, tips on finding diverse books and choosing titles that spur discussion, common book club challenges and how to overcome them, and more.

Readers will also find plenty of curated booklists with brilliant recommendations for middle grade and YA readers across genres, from sci-fi to mystery, adventure, and graphic novels. This book is a go-to gift for bookish parents who hope to raise a reader and connect with their community through the magic of books.

ONE-OF-A-KIND: With detailed advice gathered over more than a decade and an engaging story at its core, Reading Together is an inspiring and useful handbook for parents looking to start a book club of their own and nurture a love of reading in their kids.

A WINNING FORMULA: This book promises a stronger parent-child bond and is a pure celebration of books and reading--a winning recipe.

GIFT APPEAL: Reading Together is an attractive gift or impulse-buy for a bookish parent or a parent of bookish kids.

Perfect for:

- Bookish parents with children
- Parents of bookish children
- Parents looking to encourage reluctant readers
- Parents looking for after-school activities that are good for their kids
- Grandparents of school-age children
- Elementary school teachers and librarians

Edited by Kate 

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Watermelon and Red Birds

Nicole A. Taylor

The very first cookbook to celebrate Juneteenth, from food writer and cookbook author Nicole A. Taylor—who draws on her decade of experiences observing the holiday.

On June 19, 1865, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston and issued General Order Number 3, informing the people of Texas that all enslaved people were now free. A year later, in 1866, Black Texans congregated with music, dance, and BBQs—Juneteenth celebrations.

All-day cook-outs with artful salads, bounteous dessert spreads, and raised glasses of “red drink” are essential to Juneteenth gatherings. In Watermelon and Red Birds, Nicole puts jubilation on the main stage. As a master storyteller and cook, she bridges the traditional African-American table and 21st-century flavors in stories and recipes. Nicole synthesizes all the places we’ve been, all the people we have come from, all the people we have become, and all the culinary ideas we have embraced.

Watermelon and Red Birds contains over 75 recipes, including drinks like Afro Egg Cream and Marigold Gin Sour, dishes like Beef Ribs with Fermented Harissa Sauce, Peach Jam and Molasses Glazed Chicken Thighs, Southern-ish Potato Salad and Cantaloupe and Feta Salad, and desserts like Roasted Nectarine Sundae, and Radish and Ginger Pound Cake. Taylor also provides a resource to guide readers to BIPOC-owned hot sauces, jams, spice, and waffle mixes companies and lists fun gadgets to make your Juneteenth special. These recipes and essays will inspire parties to salute one of the most important American holidays, and moments to savor joy all year round.

Edited by Kate

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How to Tell a Story

The Moth

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - The definitive guide to telling an unforgettable story in any setting, drawing on twenty-five years of experience from the storytelling experts at The Moth

"From toasts to eulogies, from job interviews to social events, this book will help you with ideas, structure, delivery and more."--CNN

Over the past twenty-five years, the directors of The Moth have worked with people from all walks of life--including astronauts, hairdressers, rock stars, a retired pickpocket, high school students, and Nobel Prize winners--to develop true personal stories that have moved and delighted live audiences and listeners of The Moth's Peabody Award-winning radio hour and podcast. A leader in the modern storytelling movement, The Moth inspires thousands of people around the globe to share their stories each year.

Now, with How to Tell a Story, The Moth will help you learn how to uncover and craft your own unique stories, like Moth storytellers Mike Birbiglia, Rosanne Cash, Neil Gaiman, Elizabeth Gilbert, Padma Lakshmi, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, Hasan Minhaj, Tig Notaro, Boots Riley, Betty Reid Soskin, John Turturro, and more.

Whether your goal is to make it to the Moth stage, deliver the perfect wedding toast, wow clients at a business dinner, give a moving eulogy, ace a job interview, be a hit at parties, change the world, or simply connect more deeply to those around you, stories are essential. Sharing secrets of The Moth's time-honed process and using examples from beloved storytellers, a team of Moth directors will show you how to

- mine your memories for your best stories
- explore structures that will boost the impact of your story
- deliver your stories with confidence
- tailor your stories for any occasion

Filled with empowering, easy-to-follow tips for crafting stories that forge lasting bonds with friends, family, and colleagues alike, this book will help you connect authentically with the world around you and unleash the power of story in your life.

Edited by Kate 

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Actions Speak Louder

Deanna Singh

"A timely, practical resource on creating teams and organizations where everyone has the opportunity to succeed."
--Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again and host of the podcast WorkLife
 
A step-by-step guide for managers, teams, and DEI leaders looking to create impactful, lasting change in their organization, from recruitment to retention, and beyond.


Are you tired of hollow promises about diversity, equity, and inclusion in your organization? Do you want to take steps towards real change – beyond issuing mission statements, signing checks, and holding listening sessions – but don’t know where to start? This book is your answer. Designed for teams to read together, Actions Speak Louder offers a comprehensive blueprint for leaders and teams who are ready to get out of their own way, look at their surroundings with new eyes, and turn their energy into a concrete plan.
 
Renowned DEI consultant Deanna Singh has led diversity trainings for a wide range of organizations, from non-profits to Fortune 500 companies. Using narratives, case studies, and the latest DEI research, as well as interactive exercises, Singh will teach you how to:
 
   Write inclusive job advertisements because “minorities just don’t apply here” isn’t an excuse – you’re just not reaching them
   Design an interview process that reduces status quo bias and challenges hiring decisions that are simply “no brainers”
   Create a retention plan that considers and prioritizes the needs of underrepresented employees – if you haven’t intentionally designed one to be inclusive, you’ve unintentionally reinforced one that is exclusive.
   Lead inclusive meetings – the bedrock of company culture – by practicing constructive dissent and elevating underrepresented perspectives
 
As Singh has seen time and time again, any organization can meaningfully change – you just need the right tools.

Edited by Kate 

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The Case of the Married Woman

Antonia Fraser

Award-winning historian Antonia Fraser brilliantly portrays a courageous and compassionate woman who refused to be curbed by the personal and political constraints of her time.

Caroline Norton dazzled nineteenth-century society with her vivacity, her intelligence, her poetry, and in her role as an artist's muse. After her marriage in 1828 to the MP George Norton, she continued to attract friends and admirers to her salon in Westminster, which included the young Disraeli. Most prominent among her admirers was the widowed Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne.

Racked with jealousy, George Norton took the Prime Minister to court, suing him for damages on account of his 'Criminal Conversation' (adultery) with Caroline. A dramatic trial followed. Despite the unexpected and sensational result—acquittal—Norton was still able to legally deny Caroline access to her three children, all under seven. He also claimed her income as an author for himself, since the copyrights of a married woman belonged to her husband.

Yet Caroline refused to despair. Beset by the personal cruelties perpetrated by her husband and a society whose rules were set against her, she chose to fight, not surrender. She channeled her energies in an area of much-needed reform: the rights of a married woman and specifically those of a mother. Over the next few years she campaigned tirelessly, achieving her first landmark victory with the Infant Custody Act of 1839. Provisions which are now taken for granted, such as the right of a mother to have access to her own children, owe much to Caroline, who was determined to secure justice for women at all levels of society from the privileged to the dispossessed.

Edited by Kate 

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Fame-Ish

Mary Lynn Rajskub

A hilarious look at one's star awkward, endearing missteps on the road to becoming fame-ish

Becoming fame-ish ain't easy. Judd Apatow must love you, but never put you in one of his movies. Remember to go drunk to your Legally Blonde 2 audition and make sure Paul Thomas Anderson has your cell phone number. Don't forget to accidentally kiss Rush Limbaugh in front of paparazzi. It's all part of the gig. Self-deprecating and sharp, Mary Lynn's debut collection of essays will have you laughing, cringing, and reevaluating your idea of fame.

Smart, satirical, and relatable, this book gives new meaning to the word "icon" as Mary Lynn navigates showbiz against the backdrop of her own idiosyncrasies. She gives the people what they want: a raucous look at what it's like to kind of somehow sometimes have a name in Hollywood. Like when she made out with Tom Cruise for forty-five minutes on a couch (with and without tongues!), only to have the scene left on the cutting room floor. Mary Lynn's Fame-ish is an honest intimate look at sex, relationships, and career. You won't want to put it down.

Edited by Kate 

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Caring for Loved Ones with Heart Disease

J. Shah

Guides caregivers of those with heart disease through the process of supporting their loved one without sacrificing their own personal needs and wellbeing. Over 30 million people in the US suffer from heart disease and it is universally feared as the most common cause of death. Through the various stages of heart disease, patients need increasing care from their friends, family members, or other caregivers. Caring for Loved Ones with Heart Disease helps caregivers get appropriately involved in the care of their loved one's heart disease management and treatment while maintaining their own physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing. Offering accessible information about heart diseases, treatments, common problems, the challenges of caregiving, and more, this work fills the increasing need among caregivers to understand everything their loved one will face from the doctor's office to operating room to home care. Importantly, however, Jignesh Shah does not overlook the needs of the caregiver, providing tips and tools for balancing the complexities of advocacy and hand-on care with the physical, mental, emotional, and social needs of the caregiver. Shah teaches readers about various resources to help maintain a balance between performing these critical functions and tending to their own needs. Any friend or family member assisting in the care of a loved one will find the guidance offered throughout this book indispensable.

Edited by Kate 

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Yoko Ono

Donald Brackett

For more than sixty years, Yoko Ono has fascinated us as one of the world's most innovative, radical artists. From a childhood of both extraordinary privilege and extreme deprivation in war-time Japan, she adopted an outsider's persona and moved to America where, after a spell at Sarah Lawrence College, she made a place for herself in bohemian arts circles. She was already twice divorced and established as a performance artist in the Fluxus movement and in Tokyo's avant-garde scene before her fortuitous meeting with the Beatles' John Lennon at a London Gallery in 1966.

Their intense yet fraught relationship, reputed to have blown-up the Beatles, made headlines around the world, as did their famous bed-ins in protest of the Vietnam war, and their majestic, Grammy-winning musical collaborations.

Through it all, and for decades after Lennon's tragic death, she remained defiantly herself. Yoko Ono: An Artful Life charts her journey of personal turmoil, artistic evolution, and activism, and at last tells her iconic story on her own terms.

Edited by Kate 

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Blood and Fire

Brian R. Solomon

The captivating story of how The Sheik captured the imagination of a generation, conquered the wrestling business, and lost it all in a blaze of flame and glory

He was the most vicious, bloodthirsty, reviled villain in the history of the ring. During the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, he drew record crowds everywhere he went and left a trail of burned and bloody opponents in his wake. He was The Sheik: the mysterious and terrifying madman from Syria whose wanton destruction and mayhem are the stuff of wrestling legend. But what those legions of fans screaming for his head never knew was that The Sheik was really Eddie Farhat.

From Lansing, Michigan, and the son of Arab immigrants, Farhat served his country proudly in World War II and was fulfilling the American dream through hard work and tireless dedication to his craft. And when he wasn't screaming unintelligibly and attacking his enemies with sharp objects, he was busy being the owner and operator of World Wide Sports, one of the most successful wrestling companies in North America.

This is Blood and Fire: The Unbelievable Real-Life Story of Wrestling's Original Sheik.

Edited by Kate 

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Your Work Wellness Toolkit

Ellen Bard

A gentle and positive interactive book, written by a Chartered Occupational Psychologist, presenting a toolkit for people struggling with burnout, fatigue, lack of motivation at work.

An interactive journal showing the reader how to feel better at work, be more productive, more positive, more resilient. The book is illustrated throughout with interactive activities, journal prompts and a structured programme of self-care for the workplace.
Burnout is described by the WHO as: feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; increased mental distance from your job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to your job; reduced professional efficacy. All of these things can be prevented with conscious attention to creating better workplace habits, rituals and routines. Your Work Wellness Toolkit will present guidance to curate your own wellness plan to thrive at work.
Too many of us are struggling with managing the mental health load of working remotely, and boundaries between work and life are more blurred than ever before. This book not only offers thorough and clinically backed-up guidance, but also space to make plans and accountability within that guidance, to put it into action.

Edited by Kate 

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Love That Story

Jonathan Van Ness

The Instant New York Times Bestseller

This follow-up to the wildly successful Over the Top features thoughtful essays in Jonathan Van Ness's signature voice, with topics including body positivity, healing and grief, personal style, tales from the hair salon, overcoming imposter syndrome, and issues surrounding systemic racism, cannabis reform, LGBTQ rights and HIV/AIDS awareness.

In Jonathan Van Ness' New York Times bestselling memoir Over the Top, he showed readers how the incredibly difficult moments from his life (surviving sexual abuse and addiction, being diagnosed with HIV) have existed alongside great joy and positivity (landing a breakout role on Netflix's Queer Eye, becoming an amateur figure skater and professional standup comedian, doting on his cats). If Jonathan has learned anything from these experiences, it's that in order to thrive, he had to push past the shame and fear of being his true self. To embark on that journey, he had to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

In this candid and curious essay collection, Jonathan takes a thoughtful, in-depth look at timely topics through the lens of his own personal experience--instances that have required him to learn, grow, and back handspring layout to a better understanding of the world around him. He dives deeply and widely--from a poignant reflection on grief and embracing body neutrality to an examination of the HIV safety net and white privilege--to share the ways in which he has learned to embrace change. These stories speak to doing the work to challenge internalized beliefs, finding compassion and confidence, and learning more about what makes us all so messy and gorgeous.

Balancing the dark and the light, the serious and the signature humor that is Jonathan Van Ness, these essays will encourage readers to examine their individual assumptions and expand their horizons. Ultimately, it is about giving ourselves the permission to be the flawed and fabulous humans we are, and loving our stories.

Edited by Kate

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The State Must Provide

Adam Harris

"A book that both taught me so much and also kept me on the edge of my seat. It is an invaluable text from a supremely talented writer." --Clint Smith, author of How the Word is Passed

The definitive history of the pervasiveness of racial inequality in American higher education

America's colleges and universities have a shameful secret: they have never given Black people a fair chance to succeed. From its inception, our higher education system was not built on equality or accessibility, but on educating--and prioritizing--white students. Black students have always been an afterthought. While governments and private donors funnel money into majority white schools, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), and other institutions that have high enrollments of Black students, are struggling to survive, with state legislatures siphoning away federal funds that are legally owed to these schools. In The State Must Provide, Adam Harris reckons with the history of a higher education system that has systematically excluded Black people from its benefits.

Harris weaves through the legal, social, and political obstacles erected to block equitable education in the United States, studying the Black Americans who fought their way to an education, pivotal Supreme Court cases like Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education, and the government's role in creating and upholding a segregated education system. He explores the role that Civil War-era legislation intended to bring agricultural education to the masses had in creating the HBCUs that have played such a major part in educating Black students when other state and private institutions refused to accept them.

The State Must Provide is the definitive chronicle of higher education's failed attempts at equality and the long road still in front of us to remedy centuries of racial discrimination--and poses a daring solution to help solve the underfunding of HBCUs. Told through a vivid cast of characters, The State Must Provide examines what happened before and after schools were supposedly integrated in the twentieth century, and why higher education remains broken to this day.

Edited by Kate 

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Zabar's

Lori Zabar

"The fascinating, mouthwatering story (with recipes!) of the immigrant family that created a New York gastronomic legend: "The most rambunctious and chaotic of all delicatessens, with one foot in the Old World and the other in the vanguard of every fast-breaking food move in the city." -Nora Ephron

When Louis and Lilly Zabar rented a counter in a dairy store on 80th Street and Broadway in 1934 to sell smoked fish, they could not have imagined that five decades later their store would occupy half a city block and become a beloved, world-renowned mecca for quality food of all kinds. A passion for perfection, a keen business sense, cutthroat competitive instincts, and devotion to their customers led four generations of Zabars to create the Upper West Side shrine to the cheese, fish, meat, produce, baked goods, and prepared products that heralded the 20th-century revolution in food production and consumption.

Lori Zabar-Louis's granddaughter-begins with her grandfather's escape from Ukraine in 1921, following a pogrom in which his father, a sister, and an uncle were killed, and his (illegal!) entry into the United States from Canada. She describes Zabar's gradual expansion, Louis's untimely death in 1950, and the passing of the torch to Saul, Stanley, and partner Murray Klein, who raised competitive pricing to an art form and added top-tier houseware and appliances to Zabar's shelves. She paints a delectable portrait of Zabar's as it is today-the intoxicating aromas, the crowds, the devoted staff-and shares behind-the-scenes anecdotes of the long-time employees, family members, eccentric customers, and celebrity fans who have created a uniquely American institution that honors its immigrant roots, revels in its New York history, and is relentless in its devotion to the art and science of selling gourmet food.

Edited by Kate 

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The Vegan Cake Bible

Sara Kidd

Rediscover the baking classics you love with this plant-based cake cookbook.
 

The Vegan Cake Bible teaches you everything you need to know about making incredible plant-based cakes.

In this easy-to-follow book, author, pastry chef, and vegan cake queen Sara Kidd shares her vast knowledge of the science behind vegan baking and how to make foolproof creations every time.

With step-by-step tutorials for frosting and decorating, mix and match ideas, and recipes for gluten-free cakes that actually work, Sara teaches you the ingredients, tools, and tips to master the art of vegan baking.

Edited by Kate 

 

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The Art of Repair

Molly Martin

In this beautiful book, master repairer, Molly Martin, champions the value of slow and sustainable fashion and the psychological benefits that go with it

For Molly Martin, it all started with a pair of socks. Her favorite pair. When the heels became threadbare, her mother got out her darning mushroom and showed her how to reinforce the thinning stitches and bring them back to life. She has been stitching and darning ever since.

In The Art of Repair, Molly explores the humble origins of repair and how the act of mending a cherished item carefully by hand offers not just a practical solution but nourishment for the soul. Using her own beautiful illustrations, she guides us through the basics of the craft - from piecing and patching to the ancient Japanese art of Sashiko.

This book will stay with you long after you put down your needle and thread. It offers an antidote to our increasingly disposable lifestyle, encouraging us to reconnect not just with the everyday objects in our environment but also with ourselves.

 Edited by Kate 

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Sam the Cooking Guy: Between the Buns

Sam Zien

Sam Zien celebrates the best way to eat food.

What turns chili and cheese into a burger? The bun. Carne asada into a taco? The tortilla. Grilled PB&J into a sandwich . . . well, you get it. It seems that every civilization on Earth has figured out that the best way to eat food is with your hands, using some form of bread as the vehicle from plate to mouth.

In Sam Zien's hands, every burger, taco, tortilla, and sandwich is as cheesy, toasty, dripping-with-good-stuff as possible. Between the Buns is an ode to the handheld in every iteration from a man who knows how to stuff a perfect burrito. Zien has made cooking accessible to the masses--with 3 million subscribers and growing--through his YouTube show, Sam the Cooking Guy. Now that same charm has been translated to the page, complete with stunning photographs and 100 unapologetically carb-laden recipes that promise to satisfy.

There's something for everyone in this book. Beef, seafood, vegetables, hot dogs (yes, they get their own category), and so much more. You'd have to hate food not to love these recipes, from Korean Short Rib Tacos to Chipotle Sloppy Joes, Chorizo & Guacamole Torta to a Juicy Lucy Burger, Corn Brats to a Surf and Turf Burrito. Topped with homemade Bacon Onion Jam or Garlic Aioli, served with one of a dozen side dishes, including Buffalo Chicken Fries and Elote Corn Salad, this is what it's all about.

Edited by Kate 

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Musical Revolutions

Stuart Isacoff

From the critically acclaimed author of Temperament, a narrative account of the most defining moments in musical history--classical and jazz--all of which forever altered Western culture

A fascinating journey that begins with the origins of musical notation and travels through the centuries reaching all the way to our time."--Semyon Bychkov, chief conductor and music director of the Czech Philharmonic

The invention of music notation by a skittish Italian monk in the eleventh century. The introduction of multilayered hymns in the Middle Ages. The birth of opera in a Venice rebelling against the church's pious restraints. Baroque, Romantic, and atonal music; bebop and cool jazz; Bach and Liszt; Miles Davis and John Coltrane. In telling the exciting story of Western music's evolution, Stuart Isacoff explains how music became entangled in politics, culture, and economics, giving rise to new eruptions at every turn, from the early church's attempts to bind its followers by teaching them to sing in unison to the global spread of American jazz through the Black platoons of the First World War.

The author investigates questions like: When does noise become music? How do musical tones reflect the natural laws of the universe? Why did discord become the primary sound of modernity? Musical Revolutions is a book replete with the stories of our most renowned musical artists, including notable achievements of people of color and women, whose paths to success were the most difficult.

Edited by Kate 

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Healing

Theresa Brown

From the mammogram that would change her life through her diagnosis, treatment, and recovery, New York Times bestselling author Theresa Brown, RN, tells a poignant and powerful story about having breast cancer in the United States.

Despite her training and years of experience as an oncology and hospice nurse, Brown finds it difficult to navigate the medical maze from the other side of the bed. Why is she so often left in the dark about procedures and treatments? Why is she expected to research her own best treatment options? Why is there so much red tape? At times she’s mad at herself for not speaking up and asking for what she needs but knows that being a “difficult” patient could mean she gets worse care.

Of the almost four million women in this country living with breast cancer, many have had, like Brown, a treatable form of the disease. Both unnerving and extremely relatable, her experience shows us how our for-profit health care industry “cures” us but at the same time leaves so many of us feeling alienated and uncared for. As she did so brilliantly in her New York Times bestseller, The Shift, Brown relays the unforgettable details of her daily life—the needles, the chemo drugs, the rubber gloves, the bureaucratic frustrations—but this time from her new perch as a patient, looking back at some of her own cases and considering what she didn’t know then about the warping effects of fear and the healing virtues of compassion. “People failed me when I was a patient and I failed patients when working as a nurse. I see that now,” she writes.

Healing is must-read for all of us who have tried to find healing through our health-care system.
 

Edited by Kate 

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Out of the Blue

Jason June

Crest is not excited to be on their Journey: the month-long sojourn on land all teen merfolk must undergo. The rules are simple: Help a human within one moon cycle and return to Pacifica to become an Elder--or fail and remain stuck on land forever. Crest is eager to get their Journey over and done with. Humans are disgusting. They've polluted the planet so much that there's a floating island of trash that's literally the size of a country.

In Los Angeles with a human body and a new name, Crest meets Sean, a human lifeguard whose boyfriend has recently dumped him. Crest agrees to help Sean make his ex jealous and win him back. But as the two spend more time together, and Crest's perspective on humans begins to change, they'll soon be torn between two worlds. And fake dating just might lead to real feelings . . .

This sophomore novel from Jason June dives into the many definitions of the word home and shows how love can help us find the truest versions of ourselves.

Added by Hailey M.

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Prelude for Lost Souls

Helene Dunbar

In the town of St. Hilaire, most make their living by talking to the dead. In the summer, the town gates open to tourists seeking answers while all activity is controlled by The Guild, a sinister ruling body that sees everything.

Dec Hampton has lived there his entire life, but ever since his parents died, he's been done with it. He knows he has to leave before anyone has a chance to stop him.

His best friend Russ won't be surprised when Dec leaves--but he will be heartbroken. Russ is a good medium, maybe even a great one. He's made sacrifices for his gift and will do whatever he can to gain entry to The Guild, even embracing dark forces and contacting the most elusive ghost in town.

But when the train of Annie Krylova, the piano prodigy whose music has been Dec's main source of solace, breaks down outside of town, it sets off an unexpected chain of events. And in St. Hilaire, there are no such things as coincidences.

Added by Hailey M.

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Love Radio

Ebony LaDelle

Prince Jones is the guy with all the answers—or so it seems. After all, at seventeen, he has his own segment on Detroit’s popular hip-hop show, Love Radio, where he dishes out advice to the brokenhearted.

Prince has always dreamed of becoming a DJ and falling in love. But being the main caretaker for his mother, who has multiple sclerosis, and his little brother means his dreams will stay just that and the only romances in his life are the ones he hears about from his listeners.

Until he meets Dani Ford.

Dani isn’t checking for anybody. She’s focused on her plan: ace senior year, score a scholarship, and move to New York City to become a famous author. But her college essay keeps tripping her up and acknowledging what’s blocking her means dealing with what happened at that party a few months ago.

And that’s one thing Dani can’t do.

When the romantic DJ meets the ambitious writer, sparks fly. Prince is smitten, but Dani’s not looking to get derailed. She gives Prince just three dates to convince her that he’s worth falling for.

Three dates for the love expert to take his own advice, and just maybe change two lives forever.

Added by Hailey M.

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All Signs Point to Yes

Cam Montgomery

A literal star-studded anthology that delivers a love story for every star sign straight from the hearts of thirteen multicultural YA authors.

A haunted Aquarius finds love behind the veil. An ambitious Aries will do anything to stay in the spotlight. A foodie Taurus discovers the best eats in town (with a side of romance). A witchy Cancer stumbles into a curious meet-cute.

Whether it's romantic, platonic, familial, or something else you can't quite define, love is the thing that connects us. All Signs Point to Yes will take you on a journey from your own backyard to the world beyond the living as it settles us among the stars for thirteen stories of love and life.

These stories will touch your heart, speak to your soul, and have you reaching for your horoscope forevermore.

Added by Hailey M.

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Nightrender

Jodi Meadows

In the middle of nothingness is the Island of Salvation. Reality bends easily here. Villages disappear. Forests burn forever. Pockets of inconsistent time are everywhere, their boundaries strung with yellow ribbon. And the three kingdoms of Salvation have been at war for a thousand years. But the greatest threat is the Malice, an incursion from the demon plane slowly tearing its way through the world’s weakest seams. Seams that—once split—will lead to the total unraveling of night and day, light and dark, life and death. Not that the human world takes much interest. Of more concern is the upcoming marriage of Rune Highcrown, Prince of Caberwill, and Johanne Fortuin, Princess of Embria—the serpent bride, a girl of famous cunning—which offers a possible end to the ancient conflict. But Rune has noticed the growing darkness, and he is determined to summon mankind’s only defense: Nightrender, the hammer of the gods, an immortal warrior more weapon than girl. There is only one problem. The last time she was summoned, she slaughtered every royal in Salvation, and no one knows why. Will she save humanity from the Malice… or plunge it deeper into the fires of eternal war? 

Added by Hailey M.

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The Handbook for a Happy Cat

Liesbeth Puts

Give your best friend more purr and pounce with this whiskers-to-tail guide to the good life!

One reason we’re wild for cats is that our cats are still wild at heart. On our laps, they’re purring lovebugs, but on the prowl, they’re fearsome hunters—with territorial instincts to match.

The Handbook for a Happy Cat takes us inside the feline mind to decode what our cats really want in life and how they try to tell us. You’ll learn:

  • Why a bigger water bowl does away with “whisker stress”
  • How to move like a mouse for maximum fun at playtime
  • Skills to teach your kitten for a lifetime of easy vet visits, grooming, and more
  • Subtle signs of stress such as excessive scent-marking and lip-licking
  • How to tell frolic from fighting in the multi-cat household (and how to give frenemies a fresh start)
  • What makes a scratching post so tempting that your sofa will be spared
  • How to reassure a spooked cat with the “slow blink”
  • Why it’s pointless to “punish” a cat—but training is possible!

 
Certified behaviorist Liesbeth Puts traces every feline mystery to cats’ natural behavior and needs. A happy cat is a cat who can be herself!

 Edited by Kate 

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Run Like a Pro (Even If You're Slow)

Matt Fitzgerald

Cutting-edge advice on how to achieve your personal best, for everyone from casual runners to ultramarathoners.

In 80/20 Running, respected running and fitness expert Matt Fitzgerald introduced his revolutionary training program and explained why doing 80 percent of runs at a lower intensity and just 20 percent at a higher intensity is the best way for runners at all levels--as well as cyclists, triathletes, and even weight-loss seekers--to improve their performance.

Now, in this eye-opening follow-up, Fitzgerald teams with Olympic coach Ben Rosario to expand and update the 80/20 program to include ultramarathon training and such popular developments as the use of power meters.

New research has bolstered the case that the 80/20 method is in fact that most effective way to train for distance running and other endurance sports. Run Like a Pro (Even If You're Slow) shows readers how to take the best practices in elite running and adopt them within the limits of their own ability, lifestyle, and budget.

Edited by Kate 

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The Letters of Thom Gunn

Thom Gunn

The Letters of Thom Gunn presents the first complete portrait of the private life, reflections, and relationships of a maverick figure in the history of British and American poetry.

"I write about love, I write about friendship," remarked Thom Gunn: "I find that they are absolutely intertwined." These core values permeate his correspondence with friends, family, lovers, and fellow poets, and shed new light on "one of the most singular and compelling poets in English during the past half-century" (Hugh Haughton, The Times Literary Supplement).

The Letters of Thom Gunn, edited by August Kleinzahler, Michael Nott, and Clive Wilmer, reveals the evolution of Gunn's work and illuminates the fascinating life that informed his poems: his struggle to come to terms with his mother’s suicide; his changing relationship with his life partner, Mike Kitay; the LSD trips that led to his celebrated collection Moly (1971); and the deaths of friends from AIDS that inspired the powerful, unsparing elegies of The Man with Night Sweats (1992).

Edited by Kate 

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Mindful Sketching

Peggy Dean

Express your own creativity and develop a life-changing mindfulness practice in this guide to mindful sketching for all levels by bestselling author and artist Peggy Dean.

- Combine the mental health benefits of mindfulness with the joy of sketching with this how-to guidebook by beloved art teacher Peggy Dean that walks you through the basics of staying present while you draw--and teaches you how to enjoy your work without self-criticism.
- Peggy leads readers through the basics of why and how to begin mindful sketching with instruction on materials, techniques, and working with different subject matter and locations; plus offers step-by-step exercises to guide you through the learning process, and fun sketching prompts.
- Learn how to stay in the moment while you're working, draw what you see around you, and embrace the results. Enjoy the mental state of calmness, flow, and non-judgmental self-expression that is mindfulness.
- Great for fans of Samantha Dion Baker, James Richards, Jen Russell-Smith, Mark Kistler, Flora Waycott, Danny Gregory, and Marc Taro Holmes.

Grab your sketchbook and get started--yes, you can draw!

Edited by Kate 

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Fabulous Modern Cookies

Chris Taylor

Delicious and dazzling...for cookie fanatics, this one is sure to be a hit! - Publisher's Weekly, starred review

Chris Taylor and Paul Arguin bring fresh perspective and heaps of creativity to everything they bake. Now reinventing America's most traditional handheld dessert--the cookie--they offer 100 reliable and exciting recipes that are sure to impress. From Pumpkin Snickercrinkles to Black-Bottom Lemon Squares, and Coffee Bean Crunchers to Bronze Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, these are next-level cookies.

Combining their passion for serious baking with their professional backgrounds as accomplished scientists, Taylor and Arguin apply new methods and modern ingredient pairings to develop novel base recipes with innovative techniques. In these pages, they share what they've learned in lively tips and tricks for every recipe and style of cookie. Complete with mouthwatering photos, options to make ahead, decorate, or infinitely adapt, these outside-the-box recipes are the very definition of fabulous.

Edited by Kate 

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Howl

Shaun David Hutchinson

From critically acclaimed Shaun David Hutchinson comes a gritty and raw portrayal of the oftentimes traumatic experience of growing up.

Virgil Knox was attacked by a monster.

Of course, no one in Merritt believes him. Not even after he stumbled into the busy town center, bleeding, battered, and bruised, for everyone to see. He’d been drinking, they said. He was hanging out where he wasn’t supposed to, they said. It must’ve been a bear, or a badger, or a gator—definitely no monster.

Virgil doesn’t think it was any of those things. He’s positive it was a monster. But being the new kid in a town where everybody knows everybody is hard enough as it is without being the kid who’s afraid of monsters, so he tries to keep a low profile.

Except he knows the monster is still out there. And if he isn’t careful, Virgil’s afraid it’ll come back to finish him off, or worse—that he’ll become one himself.

Added by Hailey M.

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Breathe and Count Back from Ten

Natalia Sylvester

In this gorgeously written and authentic novel, Verónica, a Peruvian-American teen with hip dysplasia, auditions to become a mermaid at a Central Florida theme park in the summer before her senior year, all while figuring out her first real boyfriend and how to feel safe in her own body.

Verónica has had many surgeries to manage her disability. The best form of rehabilitation is swimming, so she spends hours in the pool, but not just to strengthen her body.

Her Florida town is home to Mermaid Cove, a kitschy underwater attraction where professional mermaids perform in giant tanks . . . and Verónica wants to audition. But her conservative Peruvian parents would never go for it. And they definitely would never let her be with Alex, her cute new neighbor.

She decides it's time to seize control of her life, but her plans come crashing down when she learns her parents have been hiding the truth from her--the truth about her own body.

Added by Hailey M.

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Gideon Green in Black and White

Katie Henry

Gideon's short-lived run as a locally famous boy detective ended when middle school started, and everyone else--including his best friend, Lily--moved on while Gideon kept holding on to his trench coat, fedora, and his treasured film noir collection. Now he's sixteen and officially retired. That is, until Lily shows up suddenly at Gideon's door, needing his help.

He might be mad at her for cutting him off with no explanation, but Gideon can't turn down a case. As a cover, Gideon joins Lily on the school paper. Surprisingly, he finds himself warming up to the welcoming, close-knit staff . . . especially Tess, the cute, witty editor-in-chief.

But as the case gets bigger than Gideon or Lily could have anticipated, Gideon must balance his black-and-white quest for the truth with the full colors of real life--or risk a permanent fade to black.

Added by Hailey M.

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A Loved One with Dementia

Jean Rawitt

A Loved One with Dementia: Insights and Tips for Teenagers offers insight into what dementia is and how you can interact positively with and assist someone who has dementia. Featuring personal anecdotes from young people who have gone through this themselves, and with thoughtful advice from professionals, it is a much-needed guide for those who want to help someone they care about. You will learn The personal impact of a devastating disease Suggestions for activities throughout the different stages of dementia Ways to understand and deal with feelings of helplessness, anger, grief, and frustration that often affect those who love someone with dementia. With helpful tips and a list of resources, this book provides practical advice and supportive suggestions for how you can understand and grow from the difficulties you and your family may face. It shows how you can not only help someone with dementia, but also find understanding and joy in loving them.

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Friendship

Jean Rawitt

In this age of social media, where many interactions with friends occur online, Friendship: Insights and Tips for Teenagers explores the greater meaning of friendship as a deeply significant and fulfilling area of life. Featuring lively and thoughtful anecdotes from young people who reveal their own expectations and experiences with friendship, this is a much-needed guide for those who want to find and hold on to true friends. You Will Learn the long-term benefits of friendships where and how to find friends how to cope with shyness or social anxiety how to recognize and maintain genuine friendships how to identify and step away from hurtful or toxic relationships With helpful tips, expert advice, and a list of resources, this book provides valuable insight into how to gain social confidence, initiate friendships, and navigate the often-confusing and anxiety-producing terrain of making strong and sincere social connections.

Added by Hailey M.

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Twin Crowns

Catherine Doyle

A high-stakes fantasy rom-com about twin princesses separated at birth--one raised as the crown princess, and the other taken as an infant and raised to kidnap her sister, steal the crown, and avenge the parents' murders--the first novel in a new YA duology from bestselling UK authors Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber. Perfect for fans of The Selection, My Lady Jane, and Caraval.

Wren Greenrock has always known that one day she would steal her sister's place in the palace. Trained from birth to return to the place of her parents' murder and usurp the only survivor, she will do anything to rise to power and protect the community of witches she loves. Or she would, if only a certain palace guard wasn't quite so distractingly attractive, and if her reckless magic didn't have a habit of causing trouble...

Princess Rose Valhart knows that with power comes responsibility. Marriage into a brutal kingdom awaits, and she will not let a small matter like waking up in the middle of the desert in the company of an extremely impertinent (and handsome) kidnapper get in the way of her royal duty. But life outside the palace walls is wilder and more beautiful than she ever imagined, and the witches she has long feared might turn out to be the family she never knew she was missing.

Two sisters separated at birth and raised into entirely different worlds are about to get to know each other's lives a whole lot better. But as coronation day looms closer and they each strive to claim their birthright, the sinister Kingsbreath, Willem Rathborne, becomes increasingly determined that neither will succeed. Who will ultimately rise to power and wear the crown?

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The Adventures of Dr. Sloth

Suzi Eszterhas

True or false: Sloths are lazy. Answer: False! True or false: Sloths are mysterious. Answer: True! Scientists are only beginning to discover how sloths live in the wild.

Sloths spend most of their lives in trees, and until recently scientists didn't know very much about them. But Dr. Rebecca Cliffe was determined to discover their secrets. To find out more, she fitted sloths with special backpacks containing a device to track their activity. She learned how to climb trees in the Costa Rican jungle so she could take sloth hair samples and test their DNA. And she's helped create sloth crossings and plant trees to ensure the sloths aren't trapped in shrinking territories. Along the way, she earned the nickname Dr. Sloth.

Discover the story of how an animal-loving kid in England grew up to become one of the world's leading sloth scientists, and learn how Dr. Sloth is using her discoveries to help keep sloths safe. Author and professional wildlife photographer Suzi Eszterhas brings readers up close to the action with engaging text and fantastic photos. Scan QR codes throughout the book to see her videos of sloths in the wild!

(Added by Jenna)

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Zhang Heng and the Incredible Earthquake Detector

Randel McGee

When thousands of people die in China's earthquakes, Emperor Shun Di does not know what to do as it takes days for a city to communicate the news to the Emperor. He assigns his wisest advisor, Zhang Heng, to create a device that will tell the Emperor and his court where an earthquake took place. Can Zhang Heng accomplish this impossible task?

Award-winning puppeteer Randel McGee who has studied the ancient art of shadow puppetry and performed all around the world brings his artistic prowess to the dying art of Chinese shadow puppetry. This beautiful picture book preserves both a remarkable true story and an incredible art form for generations to come.

(Added by Jenna)

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All about Weather

Huda Harajli

Welcome to the wonderful world of weather! From the warm, balmy days of summer to the cold, crisp nights of winter, kids will learn all about the four seasons, as well as how clouds form, why it rains, what causes a rainbow, and so much more. Read along and wow your child with the meteorological magic that's happening around them every day.

Go beyond other weather books for kids with:

  • A whirlwind of info―Help toddlers and preschoolers understand how weather works through simple explanations.
  • Sunny illustrations―Colorful and adorable images help kids better understand and engage with what they're learning.
  • A rain of fun facts―Keep older readers interested with neat info, like the fact that wind can be used to create electricity.

If you're looking for weather books for kids, this illustrated guide provides your tot with an extraordinary weather adventure!

(Added by Jenna)

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Little Leonardo's Fascinating World of Astronomy

Sarafina Nance

Join author Sarafina Nance, a real-life astrophysicist and one of Forbes magazine "30 inspirational women," as she guides you through 22 fascinating pages of fun facts all about the universe. Get lost in captivating illustrations and text about that big wide-open space above us. Did you know that everything you can see, touch, taste, and smell is actually just a teeny tiny part of the Universe? Or that even though Earth has only 1 moon, Jupiter has 79 and Saturn has 82? Or did you know that there is a planet that’s made of diamond? Little Leonardo’s Fascinating World of Astronomy joins the Little Leonardo Fascinating World of series, illustrated by Greg Paprocki.

(Added by Jenna)

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Refashion, Restyle, Restitch

Debbie Shore

Upcycle unwanted clothes, and learn how to restitch them into 20 stylish home accessories and garments

Are you trying to cut down on clothing and fabric waste, but short on ideas of what to do with unwanted garments, bedsheets or curtains? In a brand-new collaboration between sewing superstar Debbie Shore and her dressmaker-blogger daughter, Kimberley Hind, here are 20 unexpected but amazingly practical, stunning ideas for upcycling and repurposing pre-loved fabrics to make accessories for both you and your home!

Beginning with invaluable guidance on choosing your fabrics, as well as the essential notions and extras you'll need, discover a stunning, contemporary collection of projects to create using old garments and fabric around the house, or saved from thrift/charity stores: a boho-style lampshade made from an old dress; pillows made from men's shirts; a fabulous Mid-century handbag cut from pre-loved ladies' jackets; a chic shirt-sourced throw... There are a whole range of designs to sew and inspire you!

Every project includes easy-to-follow instructions and illustrated step-by-steps. The variety of techniques used for the projects, such as English paper piecing, piping, fitting zips, dying and felting, are also explained clearly and with photographs, helping you create professional (and enviable) results.

The beauty of working with pre-owned fabrics is that you won't get shrinkage or risk colour running, as these items will already have been laundered; you'll also have a fabulous choice of unique fabrics that you just wouldn't be able to buy new. And, of course, you're keeping that fabric from going into landfill!
So be inspired to give it a go! Take a look in your wardrobe, salvage your old favourites and give them a new lease of life.

Edited by Kate 

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Mayo Clinic: The Essential Diabetes Book 3rd Edition

M. Regina Castro

From the diabetes experts at Mayo Clinic comes a new 3rd edition of this practical, comprehensive guide to understanding and managing your diabetes. VALUABLE NEW MATERIAL ADDED: New chapters on Using Technology to Manage Diabetes, Living Well with Diabetes, and Traveling with Diabetes provide additional resources and make this revised edition an even more comprehensive tool for patients.

Whether you or a loved one are living with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, Mayo Clinic The Essential Diabetes Book is a practical manual for learning the ins and outs of the disease—why it develops, how it affects your body, how it’s treated, and what you can do to live well in spite of it. Each chapter delves into specific topics like how to monitor your blood sugar, how to incorporate healthy eating and exercise to lose weight, how to stay active and maintain a healthy weight, and how to get the most from your medications and treatment program.

The newly revised third edition also outlines the most up-to-date information on new medications, advances in insulin delivery, and the latest diabetes technology being used by medical experts. You’ll learn about different diabetes technology options and how they may benefit your diabetes management routine, as well as how to avoid the distress and burnout many diabetics face.

If you have a child with diabetes, there’s help for you too. You’ll learn how to recognize the key signs and symptoms of childhood diabetes, set your child up for a healthy future, implement new diabetes technology that works for you and your child, and support your child’s emotional well-being.

Diabetes is a serious illness—and it’s becoming increasingly common. But with the collective knowledge and wisdom of a team of Mayo Clinic experts provided in Mayo Clinic The Essential Diabetes Book, you can be on your way to not just managing your illness, but thriving.

Edited by Kate 

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The Movement Made Us

David J. Dennis Jr.

"The Movement Made Us takes literature to a momentous Southern Black space to which I honestly never thought a book could take us. This is literally the Movement that made us and both Davids love us whole here with a creation that is as ingenious as it is soulfully sincere. Stunning."--Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy

A dynamic family exchange that pivots between the voices of a father and son, The Movement Made Us is a unique work of oral history and memoir, chronicling the extraordinary story of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and its living legacy embodied in Black Lives Matter. David Dennis Sr, a core architect of the movement, speaks out for the first time, swapping recollections both harrowing and joyful with David Jr, a journalist working on the front lines of change today.

Taken together, their stories paint a critical portrait of America, casting one nation's image through the lens of two individual Black men and their unique relationship. Playful and searching, anxious and restorative, fearless and driving, this intimate memoir features scenes from across David Sr's life, as he becomes involved in the movement, tries to move beyond it, and ultimately returns to it to find final solace and new sense of self--revealing a survivor who travels eternally with a cabal of ghosts.

A crucial addition to Civil Rights history, The Movement Made Us is the story of a nation reckoning with change and the hopes, struggles, setbacks, and triumphs of modern Black life. This is it: the extant chronicle of why we live, why we move, and for what we are made.

Edited by Kate 

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The Healing Garden

Juliet Blankespoor

A comprehensive and lushly photographed guide to growing and using healing plants, including recipes, from the founder of the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine

This is the ultimate reference for anyone looking to bring the beauty and therapeutic properties of plants into their garden, kitchen, and home apothecary. Both informative and accessible, it covers how to plan your garden (including container gardening for small spaces); essential information on seed propagation, soil quality, and holistic gardening practices; 30 detailed profiles of must-know plants (including growing information, medicinal properties, and how to use them); foundational principles of herbalism; step-by-step photographic tutorials for preparing botanical medicine and healing foods; and 70 recipes for teas, tinctures, oils, salves, syrups, and more. Packed with sumptuous photography, this book will appeal to home gardeners who want to branch out to culinary and medicinal herbs, home cooks and those interested in natural wellness, and novice and skillful herbalists alike.

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Korean American

Eric Kim

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED COOKBOOKS OF 2022--Time, Food52, Eater, Food & Wine, Thrillist, Book Riot

An homage to what it means to be Korean American with delectable recipes that explore how new culinary traditions can be forged to honor both your past and your present.

"This is such an important book. I savored every word and want to cook every recipe!"--Nigella Lawson, author of Cook, Eat, Repeat


New York Times staff writer Eric Kim grew up in Atlanta, the son of two Korean immigrants. Food has always been central to his story, from Friday-night Korean barbecue with his family to hybridized Korean-ish meals for one--like Gochujang-Buttered Radish Toast and Caramelized-Kimchi Baked Potatoes--that he makes in his tiny New York City apartment. In his debut cookbook, Eric shares these recipes alongside insightful, touching stories and stunning images shot by photographer Jenny Huang.

Playful, poignant, and vulnerable, Korean American also includes essays on subjects ranging from the life-changing act of leaving home and returning as an adult, to what Thanksgiving means to a first-generation family, complete with a full holiday menu--all the while teaching readers about the Korean pantry, the history of Korean cooking in America, and the importance of white rice in Korean cuisine. Recipes like Gochugaru Shrimp and Grits, Salt-and-Pepper Pork Chops with Vinegared Scallions, and Smashed Potatoes with Roasted-Seaweed Sour Cream Dip demonstrate Eric's prowess at introducing Korean pantry essentials to comforting American classics, while dishes such as Cheeseburger Kimbap and Crispy Lemon-Pepper Bulgogi with Quick-Pickled Shallots do the opposite by tinging traditional Korean favorites with beloved American flavor profiles. Baked goods like Milk Bread with Maple Syrup and Gochujang Chocolate Lava Cakes close out the narrative on a sweet note.

In this book of recipes and thoughtful insights, especially about his mother, Jean, Eric divulges not only what it means to be Korean American but how, through food and cooking, he found acceptance, strength, and the confidence to own his story.

Edited by Kate 

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Now Is the Time for Trees

Arbor Day Foundation

“Celebrates the power of trees to oxygenate the planet, purify water and air, lower city temperatures, provide habitat, nurture the soul, and provide essential food sources.” —Booklist

Trees and forests are the number one nature-based solution for revers­ing the negative effects of a changing climate. If ever there was a time to be planting trees, that time is now.
 
Inspired by a collective sense of urgency, a global movement to plant trees is gaining momentum. To move the needle, we need to act on a massive scale and plant millions of trees today to have a measurable and lasting impact on billions of lives tomorrow. In Now Is the Time for Trees, the experts at the Arbor Day Foundation will inspire you to do your part by showing you everything you need to know to plant trees at home or in your community. From advice on choosing the right size and type of tree to tried-and-true tips for planting success, this book will help you plant a tree today and leave your own legacy of hope.
 
Equal parts inspiration and advocacy, Now Is the Time for Trees is a rousing call for environmental action and a must-have book for nature lovers everywhere.

Edited by Kate 


 

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Make Your First a Line Skirt

J. Giammalva

Create the classic A-line skirt with one easy pattern.

An A-Line skirt can be professional or casual, classic or whimsical, simple or elaborate, colorful or muted--and that's with one pattern! Use this great-fitting pattern and a few simple skills to create your dream skirt. Make one of 17 projects by mixing and matching layers, fabrics, hem variations, and trims and embellishments. Plus, learn how to insert a zipper like a pro, and add ruffles, pockets, and patchwork.

The A-Line skirt is a forever fashion favorite, so stitch a beautiful and flattering wardrobe that will stand the test of time. 17 A-line skirts from one basic pattern create endless possibilities. Fit will flatter all figures! Includes sizes 0 to 20. Simple construction and a no-waistband silhouette make it a cinch (and beginner-friendly) to sew a skirt in a day.

Edited by Kate 

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Beautiful Landscape Painting Outdoors

Michael Chesley Johnson

Outdoor painting tips and more from the best landscape painters working today.

Many painters enjoy working outdoors when the weather is good, but they also need to know how to deal with it when the weather changes! This book includes the best instruction on the special challenges of painting landscapes outdoors from a variety of the best plein-air artists working today in all major media--oil, pastel, watercolor, acrylic, and gouache. It includes:

- Materials, site selection, and practical tips

- Values, shapes, composition, color, and elements of landscape painting

- Bringing outdoor studies back into the studio

- Complete start-to-finish demonstrations
- Hundreds of gorgeous images
- A wealth of knowledge from a variety of instructors

Edited by Kate 

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Sacred Paris

Susan Cahill

From the author of Hidden Gardens of Paris and The Streets of Paris comes a beautifully illustrated guide to the history of Paris through its renowned and beloved places of worship.

When visiting the City of Light, the spirit of Paris can be felt everywhere. It holds a sacred history that goes beyond words, beyond religion, and its legendary places of worship are truly its crown jewels.

Susan Cahill's Sacred Paris is a guide for seasoned Parisian visitors, novices, and armchair travelers to the historic religious sites of the city, from the well-known landmarks to the sacred spots off the beaten track, from the magnificent towers of Notre-Dame and the sweeping arches of the Grand Mosque to the serenity of Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre. This spiritual tour is interwoven with the artistic and cultural history of Paris, from the medieval Crusades through the Resistance of World War II. Stand in the basilica of Saint-Denis, where Joan of Arc prayed with her soldiers in the Hundred Years' War, and gaze at the murals of Saint-Sulpice painted by Eugene Delacroix, or visit the village of Auvers where Vincent van Gogh painted the lovely Gothic church of Notre Dame d’Auvers-sur-Oise.

Organized by the major geographical sections of the city—Ile de la Cite; the Latin Quarter on the Left Bank; Montparnasse; Northern Paris on the Right Bank; the Marais—each chapter is accompanied by Marion Ranoux’s beautiful four-color photographs. Also included are lists of “Nearbys”: gardens, bistros, librairies, museums, and other points of interest to round out your visit.

Edited by Kate 

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Overthinking About You

Allison Raskin

Dating is hard. But pursuing love and relationships when you live with mental illness can be even more overwhelming.

Allison Raskin knows this challenge firsthand and shares her journey with perfect candor. She’s learned from her experiences, and we get to learn from her, discovering new ways to form healthy dating and relationship habits. How do you talk to a partner about your mental health? What is the potential impact of SSRIs on your body? What is the difference between having valid concerns and catastrophizing? It’s all here, from meeting online to how to handle a breakup, from recognizing and avoiding unhealthy relationships to the big one—sex.

Woven in throughout are interviews with clinical psychologists, a psychiatrist, a sexologist, relationship experts, and real-life couples for their points of view and professional guidance. All to help you walk away from this book feeling less alone in the struggle and better prepared to tackle dating and relationships with more confidence and less worry.

It’s a transformative book, with insights on every page and an inspiring message of optimism and hope.

Edited by Kate



        

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How to Money

Jean Chatzky

Learn how to money in this in-depth, illustrated guide from New York Times bestselling author and financial expert Jean Chatzky, Kathryn Tuggle, and the team at HerMoney

There’s no getting around it. You need to know how to manage money to know how to manage life — but most of us don’t! This illustrated guidebook from New York Times bestselling author and financial expert Jean Chatzky, Kathryn Tuggle, and their team at HerMoney breaks down the basics of money—how to earn it, manage it, and use it—giving you all the tools you need to take charge and be fearless with personal finance.

How to Money will teach you the ins and outs of:
-creating a budget (and sticking to it)
-scoring that first job (and what that paycheck means)
-navigating student loans (and avoiding student debt)
-getting that first credit card (and what “credit” is)
-investing like a pro (and why it’s important!)

All so you can earn more, save smart, invest wisely, borrow only when you have to, and enjoy everything you've got!

Edited by Kate 

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Search for the Astral Dragon

Bryan Davis

This fast-paced YA space opera (reminiscent of Star Wars) follows a strong female protagonist, Megan, on an interplanetary search for her mother. On her journey, Megan witnesses the horrors of child trafficking and slavery and joins with a group of other teens to fight against corrupt systems and stand up for the vulnerable.

Full of unusual characters and daring escapes, Search for the Astral Dragon draws readers into a world of snarky spaceship computer systems, a variety of different sentient species, spaceship tech, and magical elements. Megan is smart and quick-thinking, competent with spacecraft technology, and a person of strong character who's experiences give readers difficult questions to consider.

Added by Hailey M.

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The Noh Family

Grace K. Shim

A sparkling K-drama inspired debut teen novel by Grace Shim, THE NOH FAMILY introduces irrepressibly charming teen Chloe Kang, who is reunited with her deceased father's estranged family via a DNA test, and is soon whisked off to Seoul to join them...

When her friends gift her a 23-and-Me test as a gag, high school senior Chloe Kang doesn't think much of trying it out. She doesn't believe anything will come of it--she's an only child, her mother is an orphan, and her father died in Seoul before she was even born, and before her mother moved to Oklahoma. It's been just Chloe and her mom her whole life. But the DNA test reveals something Chloe never expected--she's got a whole extended family from her father's side half a world away in Korea. Her father's family are owners of a famous high-end department store, and are among the richest families in Seoul. When they learn she exists, they are excited to meet her. Her mother has huge reservations, she hasn't had a great relationship with her husband's family, which is why she's kept them secret, but she can't stop Chloe from travelling to Seoul to spend two weeks getting to know the Noh family.

Chloe is whisked into the lap of luxury, but something feels wrong. Chloe wants to shake it off--she's busy enjoying the delights of Seoul with new friend Miso Dan, the daughter of one of her mother's grade school friends. And as an aspiring fashion designer, she's loving the couture clothes her department store owning family gives her access to. But soon Chloe will discover the reason why her mother never told her about her dad's family, and why the Nohs wanted her in Seoul in the first place. Could joining the Noh family be worse than having no family at all?

Added by Hailey M.

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The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester

Maya MacGregor

In this queer contemporary YA mystery, a nonbinary teen with autism realizes they must not only solve a 30-year-old mystery but also face the demons lurking in their past in order to live a satisfying life.

Sam Sylvester's not overly optimistic about their recent move to the small town of Astoria, Oregon after a traumatic experience in their last home in the rural Midwest.

Yet Sam's life seems to be on the upswing after meeting several new friends and a potential love interest in Shep, the pretty neighbor. However, Sam can't seem to let go of what might have been, and is drawn to investigate the death of a teenage boy in 1980s Astoria. Sam's convinced he was murdered--especially since Sam's investigation seems to resurrect some ghosts in the town.

Threatening notes and figures hidden in shadows begin to disrupt Sam's life. Yet Sam continues to search for the truth. When Sam discovers that they may be closer to a killer than previously known, Sam has a difficult decision to make. Would they risk their new life for a half-lived one?

Added by Hailey M.

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Nate Plus One

Kevin Van Whye

Boy plus boy. Two weeks in Johannesburg. A summer of music, adventure, self-discovery . . . and definitely not love. What could go wrong?

Nate needs a date to his cousin's wedding. Jai is Nate's best friend and secret crush. Could Jai be Nate's plus-one--and only?


Nate Hargraves is a behind-the-scenes kind of guy. That's why he dreams of being a songwriter instead of a singer. But things change the summer after junior year as Nate gets ready to fly to South Africa for his cousin's lavish destination wedding. The trip is bound to be epic. Except--Nate just found out that his ex-boyfriend will be at the reception. Ugh. He does not want to face this one solo.

Jai Patel, Nate's best friend (and secret crush), has his own problems. The lead singer of Jai's band, Infinite Sorrow, quit weeks before a contest that promised to be their big break. But Nate rocks Jai's world when he agrees to sing with the band. Even though Nate's not one for the spotlight, he knows this is the kind of stuff you do for . . . friends. In return, Jai volunteers to be Nate's travel buddy around South Africa, a buffer against his ex, and his plus-one at the wedding.

Maybe this summer will be epic after all. Now that Nate's crush is on board, will love crash the party? 

Added by Hailey M.

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Dead End Girls

Wendy Heard

Two girls fake their deaths only to face mortal danger in this YA thriller.

In one week, Maude will be dead. At least, that's what she wants everyone to think. After years of research, Maude has decided to fake her own death. She's figured out the how, the when, the where, and who will help her unsuspectingly. The why is complex: revenge, partly. But there's also l'appel du vide, the call of the void, that beckons her toward a new life where she will be tied to no one, free and adrift. Then Frankie, a step-cousin she barely knows, figures out what she's plotting, and the plan seems like it's ruined. Except Frankie doesn't want to rat her out. Frankie wants in.

The girls vault into the unknown, risking everything for a new and limitless life. But there are some things you can never run away from. What if the poison is not in the soil, but in the roots? This pulse-pounding thriller offers a nuanced exploration of identity, freedom, and falling in love while your world falls apart.

Added by Hailey M.

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Quake Chasers

Lori Polydoros

Quake Chasers: 15 Women Rocking Earthquake Science explores the lives of 15 diverse, contemporary female scientists with a variety of specialties related to earthquake science.

Dr. Debbie Weiser travels to communities post-disaster, such as Japan and China, to evaluate earthquake damage in ways that might help save lives during the next Big One. Geologist Edith Carolina Rojas climbs to the top of volcanoes or searches barren deserts for volcanic evidence to measure seismic activity. Geophysicist Lori Dengler works with governments to provide guidance and protection against future tsunamis.

With tenacity, intellect, and innovation, these women have crushed obstacles in society, in the lab, and out in the field. Their accomplishments leave aftershocks as they work toward revealing answers to the many riddles that lie behind earthquakes, saving lives by teaching us how to prepare for these terrifying disasters.

Added by Hailey M.

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Glowing Bunnies!?

Jeff Campbell

Our brave new world is here.

With modern genetic technologies, science fiction's "what if?" has become the scientist's "why not?" Bioengineering has the potential to remake animals in almost any way we can imagine, and it's being used to solve a range of urgent global problems, including climate change, species extinctions, the destruction of natural habitats, and human health issues.

But just because we can do all these things, does that mean we should?

In the pages of Glowing Bunnies!? you will encounter some of the strange and wonderful genetically modified animals of tomorrow. Learn why scientists are going to such lengths to mess with genes and what the ethical and health-related consequences might be. By understanding both the science and the stakes, you too can judge the potential of this budding science to save--or ruin--the world.

Presented as a compendium of existing and proposed creatures, this book describes the animals being created, the scientific techniques involved, and each animal's purpose. Additionally, it addresses bioethics, unintended consequences, and animal welfare.

Added by Hailey M.

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Permission to Come Home

Jenny Wang

"Dr. Jenny T. Wang has been an incredible resource for Asian mental health. I believe that her knowledge, presence, and activism for mental health in the Asian American/Immigrant community have been invaluable and groundbreaking. I am so very grateful that she exists."--Steven Yeun, actor, The Walking Dead and Minari


Asian Americans are experiencing a racial reckoning regarding their identity, inspiring them to radically reconsider the cultural frameworks that enabled their assimilation into American culture. As Asian Americans investigate the personal and societal effects of longstanding cultural narratives suggesting they take up as little space as possible, their mental health becomes critically important. Yet despite the fact that over 18 million people of Asian descent live in the United States today -- they are the racial group least likely to seek out mental health services.

Permission to Come Home takes Asian Americans on an empowering journey toward reclaiming their mental health. Weaving her personal narrative as a Taiwanese American together with her insights as a clinician and evidence-based tools, Dr. Jenny T. Wang explores a range of life areas that call for attention, offering readers the permission to question, feel, rage, say no, take up space, choose, play, fail, and grieve. Above all, she offers permission to return closer to home, a place of acceptance, belonging, healing, and freedom. For Asian Americans and Diaspora, this book is a necessary road map for the journey to wholeness.

Edited by Kate 

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The Life We're Looking For

Andy Crouch

A deeply reflective primer on creating meaningful connections, rebuilding abundant communities, and living in a way that engages our full humanity in an age of unprecedented anxiety and loneliness--from the author of The Tech-Wise Family
"Andy Crouch shows the path to reclaiming a life that restores the heart of what it means to thrive."--Arthur C. Brooks, #1 New York Times bestselling author of From Strength to Strength

Our greatest need is to be recognized--to be seen, loved, and embedded in rich relationships with those around us. But for the last century, we've displaced that need with the ease of technology. We've dreamed of mastery without relationship (what the premodern world called magic) and abundance without dependence (what Jesus called Mammon). Yet even before a pandemic disrupted that quest, we felt threatened and strangely out of place: lonely, anxious, bored amid endless options, oddly disconnected amid infinite connections.

In The Life We're Looking For, bestselling author Andy Crouch shows how we have been seduced by a false vision of human flourishing--and how each of us can fight back. From the social innovations of the early Christian movement to the efforts of entrepreneurs working to create more humane technology, Crouch shows how we can restore true community and put people first in a world dominated by money, power, and devices.

There is a way out of our impersonal world, into a world where knowing and being known are the heartbeat of our days, our households, and our economies. Where our vulnerabilities are seen not as something to be escaped but as the key to our becoming who we were made to be together. Where technology serves us rather than masters us--and helps us become more human, not less.

Edited by Kate 

 

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Playmakers

Mike Florio

The story of a modern NFL that can't get out of its own way--and can't stop making money

For almost twenty years now, the NFL has been simultaneously an athletic, financial, and cultural powerhouse--and a league that can't seem to go more than a few weeks without stumbling into a scandal. Whether it's about domestic violence, performance-enhancing drugs, racism, or head trauma, the NFL always seems to be in some kind of trouble. Yet no matter the drama, the TV networks keep showing games, the revenue keeps going up, and the viewers keep tuning in.

How can a sports league--or any organization--operate this way? Why do the negative stories keep happening, and why don't they ever seem to affect the bottom line? In this wide-ranging book, Mike Florio takes readers from the boardroom to the locker room, from draft day to Super Bowl night, answering these questions and more, and showing what really goes on in the sport that America can't seem to quit.

Known for his constant stream of new information and his incisive commentary, Florio delivers again in this book. With new insights and reporting on scandals past and present, this book is sure to be the talk of the league.

Edited by Kate

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Your Corner Dark

Desmond Hall

“One of those tales that ties you up, turns you inside-out, wrings you like a wet cloth.” —Jason Reynolds, New York Times bestselling author of Long Way Down

Things can change in a second:

The second Frankie Green gets that scholarship letter, he has his ticket out of Jamaica.

The second his longtime crush, Leah, asks him on a date, he’s in trouble.

The second his father gets shot, suddenly nothing else matters.

And the second Frankie joins his uncle’s gang in exchange for paying for his father’s medical bills, there’s no going back...or is there?

As Frankie does things he never thought he’d be capable of, he’s forced to confront the truth of the family and future he was born into—and the ones he wants to build for himself.

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Takedown

Farah Nayeri

Farah Nayeri addresses the difficult questions plaguing the art world, from the bad habits of Old Masters, to the current grappling with identity politics.

For centuries, art censorship has been a top-down phenomenon--kings, popes, and one-party states decided what was considered obscene, blasphemous, or politically deviant in art.

Today, censorship can also happen from the bottom-up, thanks to calls to action from organizers and social media campaigns. Artists and artworks are routinely taken to task for their insensitivity. In this new world order, artists, critics, philanthropists, galleries and museums alike are recalibrating their efforts to increase the visibility of marginalized voices and respond to the people’s demands for better ethics in art.

But what should we, the people, do with this newfound power?

With exclusive interviews with Nan Goldin, Sam Durant, Faith Ringgold, and others, Nayeri tackles wide-ranging issues including sex, religion, gender, ethics, animal rights, and race.

By asking and answering questions such as: Who gets to make art and who owns it? How do we correct the inequities of the past? What does authenticity, exploitation, and appropriation mean in art?, Takedown provides the necessary tools to navigate the art world.

Edited by Kate 

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Be My Baby

Ronnie Spector

“Do I have to tell you that Ronnie’s got one of the greatest female rock-and-roll voices of all time? She stands alone.”
—Keith Richards

Be My Baby is the behind-the-scenes story—newly updated, and with an especially timely message—of how the original bad girl of rock and roll, Ronnie Spector, survived marriage to a monster and carved out a space for herself amid the chaos of the 1960s music scene and beyond.

Ronnie’s first collaboration with producer Phil Spector, “Be My Baby,” shot Ronnie and the Ronettes to stardom. No one sounded like Ronnie, with her alluring blend of innocence and knowing, but her voice would soon be silenced as Spector sequestered her behind electric gates, guard dogs, and barbed wire.

It took everything Ronnie had to escape her prisonlike marriage and wrest back control of her life, her music, and her legacy. And as shown in this edition, which includes a 2021 postscript from Ronnie, her life became proof that our challenges do not define us and there is always the potential to forge a fuller life.

In Be My Baby, the incomparable Ronnie Spector offered a whirlwind account of the ever-shifting path of an iconic artist. And, more than anything else, she gave us an inspiring tale of triumph.

Edited by Kate 

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Aircraft

DK Publishing, Inc

Take an action-packed flight through the history of aircraft and discover the intrepid pioneers who made a dream reality
Uncover the engineering behind more than 800 aircraft models, from military jets to commercial planes. This visual history book captures the fascinating story of airplanes and aviation, and how their groundbreaking discovery has influenced the 21st Century.

Inside the pages of this aircraft book, you'll discover:

* The history of military and commercial aircraft from all over the world, decade by decade, to the present day in stunning visual detail
* Comprehensive catalogs highlight the most important aircraft of each period along with their specifications and unique features
* Showcases on particularly celebrated aircraft - such as the Supermarine Spitfire and Concorde - in beautifully photographed "virtual tour" features
* The stories of the engineers and manufacturers that created marques like Boeing and Airbus

Take to the skies

Modern flight has opened the world up to new opportunities and paved the way for the development of advanced research and technology. But, what made it so groundbreaking? This book uncovers the stories behind the first airplane models, the development of flight, and brings you to present-day marvels such as the Gypsy Moth and Supermarine Spitfire.

The Aircraft Book is filled with stats, facts, and photographs that create a visual tour and allows you to see inside key commercial and military aircraft models from the exterior to the cockpit. Aviation enthusiasts will also be captivated by the manufacturer of aircraft engines and how famous models like Boeing and Lockheed became household names.
 

Edited by Kate 

 

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Taking on the Plastics Crisis

Hannah Testa

Pocket Change Collective was born out of a need for space. Space to think. Space to connect. Space to be yourself. And this is your invitation to join us.

In this personal, moving essay, youth activist Hannah Testa shares with readers how she led a grassroots political campaign to successfully pass state legislation limiting single-use plastics and how she influenced global businesses to adopt more sustainable practices. Through her personal journey, readers can learn how they, too, can follow in Hannah's footsteps and lower their carbon footprint by simply refusing single-use plastics.

Added by Hailey M.

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Concrete Kids

Amyra León

Pocket Change Collective was born out of a need for space. Space to think. Space to connect. Space to be yourself. And this is your invitation to join us.

In Concrete Kids, playwright, musician, and educator Amyra León uses free verse to challenge us to dream beyond our circumstances -- and sometimes even despite them.

Concrete Kids is an exploration of love and loss, melody and bloodshed. Musician, playwright, and educator Amyra León takes us on a poetic journey through her childhood in Harlem, as she navigates the intricacies of foster care, mourning, self-love, and resilience. In her signature free-verse style, she invites us all to dream with abandon--and to recognize the privilege it is to dream at all.

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Name & Tame Your Anxiety

Summer Batte

Help kids understand and manage anxiety to boost their mental health and well-being.

Anxiety in kids is on the rise: 4.4 million children between the ages of 3 and 17 have diagnosed anxiety disorders, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And even more kids experience some level of anxiety in their daily lives. In kid-friendly language, award-winning Name and Tame Your Anxiety explains what anxiety is, how it works, and how to manage it.

Written by a parent whose child has anxiety and vetted by Myles L. Cooley, Ph.D., author of A Practical Guide to Mental Health & Learning Disorders for Every Educator and an expert in the field with more than forty years of experience, Name and Tame Your Anxiety provides practical strategies to help kids manage anxiety, including:

  • Write down your schedule
  • Make anxiety into something funny
  • Make a calming toolkit
  • Deep breathing
  • Name the things around you


This book helps kids understand what is happening in their brains and shows how learning to manage anxiety can help them do the things in life they need and want to do--by practicing anxiety-taming strategies, going to therapy, and/or taking medication. It includes information about how kids can self-advocate for what they need to manage anxiety as well as how to interpret some of the common things adults say to kids about anxiety.

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Skate for Your Life

Leo Baker

Pocket Change Collective was born out of a need for space. Space to think. Space to connect. Space to be yourself. And this is your invitation to join us.

In this moving, personal story, professional skateboarder Leo Baker shares their journey within the sport and the importance of authenticity and allyship as a non-binary athlete.

Your authenticity is your superpower. That's the motto that professional skateboarder Leo Baker lives by and champions. But like any hero's journey, learning about their power didn't come easy. In this installment of the Pocket Change Collective, Baker takes the reader on a complicated, powerful journey through the world of skate and competitive sport as a non-binary athlete.

Added by Hailey M.

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Family of Liars

E. Lockhart

The thrilling prequel to the TikTok phenomenon and #1 New York Times bestseller We Were Liars takes readers back to the story of another summer, another generation, and the secrets that will haunt them for decades to come.

A windswept private island off the coast of Massachusetts.
A hungry ocean, churning with secrets and sorrow.
A fiery, addicted heiress. An irresistible, unpredictable boy.
A summer of unforgivable betrayal and terrible mistakes.

Welcome back to the Sinclair family.
They were always liars.

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A Perfectionist's Guide to Not Being Perfect

Bonnie Zucker

It's hard for teens to be happy when they've created a very narrow window of what defines success. The goal of this helpful book is to encourage teens to maintain their desire to achieve without striving to always be perfect and to appreciate and love who they are just as they are, not for what they do or accomplish. Finding a balance between work and play is key. Challenging perfectionism is about the pursuit of happiness.

When teens can recognize that perfectionism is a disadvantage, they can become motivated to do something about it. For many, it may just be shifting the perfectionism a bit to land in a more positive place. It might be about deciding when and where to be slightly perfectionistic, when and where they can let go of high standards and all-or-nothing thinking, and when it's okay to simply do a "good enough" job on something.

Topics covered include:

What is Perfectionism & Why Change it?
Treating Perfectionism with Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT):
Mastering Self-Care: Relaxation & Meditation
Challenging Perfectionistic Thinking: The Path to Freedom Part 1
Decision-Making, Flexibility, & Comfort Zones
Challenging Perfectionistic Behavior: The Path to Freedom, Part 2
Picture Perfect: Social Media & Body Image
Making Mistakes, Failing & Life Lessons
Stress Management & Balanced Living

The book also includes resources, additional reading for teens, additional reading for Parents, apps, references, and a comprehensive index

Added by Hailey M.

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Ballad and Dagger

Daniel José Older

Almost sixteen years ago, Mateo Matisse's island homeland disappeared into the sea. Weary and hopeless, the survivors of San Madrigal's sinking escaped to New York.

While the rest of his tight-knit Brooklyn diaspora community dreams of someday finding a way back home, Mateo--now a high school junior and piano prodigy living with his two aunts (one who's alive, the other not so much)--is focused on one thing: getting the attention of locally-grown musical legend Gerval. Mateo finally gets his chance on the night of the Grand Fete, an annual party celebrating the blended culture of pirates, Cuban Santeros, and Sephardic Jews that created San Madrigal all those centuries ago.

But the evil that sank their island has finally caught up with them, and on the night of the celebration, Mateo's life is forever changed when he witnesses a brutal murder by a person he thought he knew.

Suddenly Mateo is thrust into an ancient battle that spans years and oceans. Deadly secrets are unraveled and Mateo awakens a power within himself--a power that not only links him to the killer but could also hold the key to unlocking the dark mystery behind his lost homeland.

Added by Hailey M.

 

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The Agathas

Kathleen Glasgow

Who killed Brooke Donovan? It's the biggest mystery of the summer, and everyone in Castle Cove thinks it's the wrong guy. Fans of One of Us Is Lying and Riverdale can't miss this page-turning who-done-it that's sure to be the next must read Young Adult thriller!

Last summer, Alice Ogilvie's basketball-star boyfriend Steve dumped her. Then she disappeared for five days. She's not talking, so where she went and what happened to her is the biggest mystery in Castle Cove. Or it was, at least. But now, another one of Steve's girlfriends has vanished: Brooke Donovan, Alice's ex-best friend. And it doesn't look like Brooke will be coming back. . .

Enter Iris Adams, Alice's tutor. Iris has her own reasons for wanting to disappear, though unlike Alice, she doesn't have the money or the means. That could be changed by the hefty reward Brooke's grandmother is offering to anyone who can share information about her granddaughter's whereabouts. The police are convinced Steve is the culprit, but Alice isn't so sure, and with Iris on her side, she just might be able to prove her theory.

In order to get the reward and prove Steve's innocence, they need to figure out who killed Brooke Donovan. And luckily Alice has exactly what they need--the complete works of Agatha Christie. If there's anyone that can teach the girls how to solve a mystery it's the master herself. But the town of Castle Cove holds many secrets, and Alice and Iris have no idea how much danger they're about to walk into.

Added by Hailey M.

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The Book of Living Secrets

Madeleine Roux

Perfect for fans of The Hazel Wood, this genre-bending page-turner from New York Times bestselling author Madeleine Roux follows two girls who transport themselves into the world of their favorite book only to encounter the sinister alternate reality that awaits them.

No matter how different best friends Adelle and Connie are, one thing they've always had in common is their love of a little-known gothic romance novel called Moira. So when the girls are tempted by a mysterious man to enter the world of the book, they hardly suspect it will work. But suddenly they are in the world of Moira, living among characters they've obsessed about for years.

Except...all is not how they remembered it. The world has been turned upside down: The lavish balls and star-crossed love affairs are now interlaced with unspeakable horrors. The girls realize that something dark is lurking behind their foray into fiction--and they will have to rewrite their own arcs if they hope to escape this nightmare with their lives.

Added by Hailey M.

 

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Rima's Rebellion

Margarita Engle

An inspiring coming-of-age story from award-winning author Margarita Engle about a girl falling in love for the first time while finding the courage to protest for women’s right to vote in 1920s Cuba.

Rima loves to ride horses alongside her abuela and Las Mambisas, the fierce women veterans who fought during Cuba’s wars for independence. Feminists from many backgrounds have gathered in voting clubs to demand suffrage and equality for women, but not everybody wants equality for all—especially not for someone like Rima. In 1920s Cuba, illegitimate children like her are bullied and shunned.

Rima dreams of a day when she is free from fear and shame, the way she feels when she’s riding with Las Mambisas. As she seeks her way, Rima forges unexpected friendships with others who long for freedom, especially a handsome young artist named Maceo. Through turbulent times, hope soars, and with it…love.

Added by Hailey M.

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Message Not Found

Dante Medema

Bailey and Vanessa shared everything: laughter, secrets, and packets of Pop Rocks to ward off bad days. But that all changed the night Vanessa left Bailey's, headed for home, and ended up swerving off a cliff nowhere near her house. Now Bailey, who thought she knew Vanessa better than anyone in the world, is left with a million unanswered questions, and the only person with answers is gone.

To help grieve her loss, Bailey creates a chat bot of Vanessa using years' worth of their shared text messages and emails. The more data she uploads to the bot, the more it feels like she's really talking to her best friend. That is, until the bot starts dropping hints that there was more going on with Vanessa than Bailey realized--a secret so big, it may have contributed to Vanessa's death.

Added by Hailey M.

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Sense and Second-Degree Murder

Tirzah Price

In this second book of the Jane Austen Murder Mystery series, Tirzah Price takes readers for another fun, murderous romp through one of Austen's beloved novels. 

When eighteen-year-old aspiring scientist Elinor Dashwood discovers her beloved father slumped over the desk of his office study, she knows his death means dire straits for the Dashwood women. To make matters worse, an outdated will entails his estate--including Norland & Company, the private investigation firm where her younger sister Marianne worked as her father's partner and protégé--to their half-brother and his haughty wife, who waste no time in forcing the Dashwoods out of their home and into a cramped apartment on London's Barton Street.

But before they go, the Dashwood sisters make a startling discovery: a suspicious substance in their father's teacup--one that can only be described as poison. And poison, as Marianne's father taught her, always points to murder.

It could be dangerous; it could ruin their reputations; and most importantly, it won't bring back their father. But if the Dashwood sisters can combine their talents and bring their father's murderer to justice, it may bring them all some comfort--and it might even lead to love.

Added by Hailey M.

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The Greatest Stories Ever Played

Dustin Hansen

In this fun and informative YA Non-fiction title, Dustin Hansen, author of Game On!, a self-confessed video game addict with over 20-years experience in the gaming industry, examines the storytelling skills shown in some of the most beloved and moving games of all time.

We all know that video games are fun, but can a video game make you cry? Can it tell you a powerful love story? Can a video game make you think differently about war? About the environment? About the choices you make?

Whether it's playing through blockbuster-esque adventures (Uncharted, God of War, The Last of Us), diving deep into hidden bits of story and lore (Red Dead Redemption II, Bioshock, Journey) or building relationships that change the fate of the world itself (Persona 5, Undertale), video games are bringing stories to life in ways that are immediate, interactive and immersive.

Focusing on some of the best, most memorable, experiences in gaming, The Greatest Stories Ever Played, examines the relationship between gaming and storytelling in a new way.

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Freaks

Brett Riley

Hunted by monsters. Wanted for questioning. Late for class.

Four high-school friends suffer daily humiliation at the hands of three bullies. When the friends accidentally open a portal to another dimension, they unintentionally allow terrifying, other-worldly creatures to invade their small Arkansas town. Discovering that they are now endowed with strange superpowers, the four teens dub themselves “Freaks,” the very name their tormentors used to ridicule them. The Freaks must fight to save the lives of family and friends now in mortal peril and thwart a secret government task force that appears to be hunting them.

Added by Hailey M.

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Jada Jones Nature Lover #6

Kelly Starling Lyons

Jada Jones is back for the sixth book of this popular, celebrated series perfect for STEM fans!

Readers who love Ivy and Bean or Katie Woo will want to meet Jada Jones. --School Library Journal

Jada is thrilled when she gets to go on an outdoor class field trip with her Pop Pop, a nature lover, as a chaperone. She can't wait to show him off to her friends--and show him what she knows. But the trip has some twists along the way, including a soaring zip line she's not sure she wants to try. What happens when Jada's shining moment starts to lose its luster?

Praise for Jada Jones: Rock Star
Fast-paced, with supersimple vocabulary and a smattering of earth science to spark interest in young rock collectors everywhere. --Kirkus Reviews

(Added by Amy)

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The Magical Imperfect

Chris Baron

"Highly recommended... Perfect for readers of Wonder and Erin Entrada Kelly's Hello, Universe."— Booklist magazine, starred review

Etan has stopped speaking since his mother left. His father and grandfather don’t know how to help him. His friends have given up on him.

When Etan is asked to deliver a grocery order to the outskirts of town, he realizes he’s at the home of Malia Agbayani, also known as the Creature. Malia stopped going to school when her acute eczema spread to her face, and the bullying became too much.

As the two become friends, other kids tease Etan for knowing the Creature. But he believes he might have a cure for Malia’s condition, if only he can convince his family and hers to believe it too. Even if it works, will these two outcasts find where they fit in?

(Added by Amy)

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Falling Short

Ernesto Cisneros

Ernesto Cisneros, Pura Belpré Award-winning author of Efrén Divided, is back with a hilarious and heartfelt novel about two best friends who must rely on each other in unexpected ways. A great next pick for readers who loved Ghost by Jason Reynolds or The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Pérez.

Isaac and Marco already know sixth grade is going to change their lives. But it won't change things at home--not without each other's help.

This year, star basketball player Isaac plans on finally keeping up with his schoolwork. Better grades will surely stop Isaac's parents from arguing all the time. Meanwhile, straight-A Marco vows on finally winning his father's approval by earning a spot on the school's basketball team.

But will their friendship and support for each other be enough to keep the two boys from falling short?

(Added by Amy)

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Worser

Jennifer Ziegler

A bullied 12-year-old boy must find a new normal after his mother has a stroke and his life is turned upside down.

William Wyatt Orser, a socially awkward middle schooler, is a wordsmith who, much to his annoyance, acquired the ironically ungrammatical nickname of “Worser" so long ago that few people at school know to call him anything else.

Worser grew up with his mom, a professor of rhetoric and an introvert just like him, in a comfortable routine that involved reading aloud in the evenings, criticizing the grammar of others, ignoring the shabby mess of their house, and suffering the bare minimum of social interactions with others. But recently all that has changed. His mom had a stroke that left her nonverbal, and his Aunt Iris has moved in with her cats, art projects, loud music, and even louder clothes. Home for Worser is no longer a refuge from the unsympathetic world at school that it has been all his life.

Feeling lost, lonely, and overwhelmed, Worser searches for a new sanctuary and ends up finding the Literary Club--a group of kids from school who share his love of words and meet in a used bookstore– something he never dreamed existed outside of his home. Even more surprising to Worser is that the key to making friends is sharing the thing he holds dearest: his Masterwork, the epic word notebook that he has been adding entries to for years.

But relationships can be precarious, and it is up to Worser to turn the page in his own story to make something that endures so that he is no longer seen as Worser and earns a new nickname, Worder.

(Added by Amy)

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