All Kinds of Lives July Newsletter
All Kinds of Lives (July 2023) by Shilpa Jacobie and Max McConnell
All Kinds of Lives (July 2023) by Shilpa Jacobie and Max McConnell
Eight hours. Six friends. Five survive. That’s the tagline for Holly Jackson’s Five Survive, a teen thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat the whole read. What starts off as a road trip from Philadelphia to a warm spring break destination turns into a tense hostage situation, with a sniper keeping six…
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month is currently celebrated each year in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan, which was a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States. This month-long celebration demonstrates how LGBTQ Americans have strengthened our country, by using our…
At the start of every decade, ten teenage semidioses are selected by Sol to compete in a series of challenges, known as The Sunbearer Trials. The winner of these challenges will become the Sunbearer, carrying light and life to all temples of Reino del Sol to replenish the Sun’s power. The loser of the trials…
I have been wanting to read Anatomy: A Love Story for a while on my To-Read List and finally have gotten the chance to check this one out and this was a wonderful Young Adult Historical Fiction book I have read in quite some time! The story is set in early 19th century Edinburgh, Scotland…
All Kinds of Lives (May 2023) by Shilpa Jacobie and Max McConnell
May is Jewish American Heritage Month! This month gives us the opportunity to celebrate the diverse and vibrant history, culture, and contributions of Jewish Americans through the years. There area many ways to celebrate Jewish American Heritage. One way we are celebrating at the Peabody Institute Library of Danvers is through this reading list that…
May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month – a celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. The month of May was chosen to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10,…
The Wicked Ones is a Disney young adult book that tells the backstory of Cinderella’s stepsisters Anastasia and Drizella. The book gives us a glimpse into what caused them to become the stepsisters we know from the movie Cinderella. The book starts off when Drizella and Anastasia are young girls and their father mysteriously leaves…
April 11th is national pet day! To celebrate at the Peabody Institute Library of Danvers, we have compiled a discovery list of books and movies that our pets recommend! Tessie Recommends: The Beagle Handbook by Dan Rice Here is detailed advice for owners of this cheerful breed, which is adaptable as a hunter or a…
All Kinds of Lives (March 2023) by Shilpa Jacobie and Max McConnell
All Kinds of Lives (February 2023) by Shilpa Jacobie and Max McConnell
All Kinds of Lives (December 2022) by Shilpa Jacobie and Max McConnell
I was excited when The Great Gatsby entered the public domain last year, and Anna-Marie McLemore’s Self-Made Boys did not disappoint! This young adult remix of The Great Gatsby provides layers of complexity and nuance to the familiar characters and story. This reimagining of the American classic tells the story through the queer and Latinx…
All Kinds of Lives (November 2022) by Shilpa Jacobie and Max McConnell
November is Native American Heritage Month. The National Congress of American Indians tells us: [t]he month is a time to celebrate rich and diverse cultures, traditions, and histories and to acknowledge the important contributions of Native people. Heritage Month is also an opportune time to educate the general public about tribes, to raise a general…
All Kinds of Lives (October 2022) by Shilpa Jacobie and Max McConnell
Latinx Heritage Month is celebrated from September 15-October 15 every year. This reading list highlights 30 titles (non-fiction and fiction for adults, children, and young adults) by Latinx authors available here at the Peabody Institute Library of Danvers.
All Kinds of Lives (September 2022) by Shilpa Jacobie and Max McConnell
The protagonists in this book Lou and King are everything! I cannot stress enough how much I loved this book. It has a great summer feel to it. I mean when you read about ice cream throughout the entire book, you can’t help but think about summer. On the flip side we see the dark…
All Kinds of Lives (August 2022) by Shilpa Jacobie and Max McConnell
All Kinds of Lives (July 2022) by Shilpa Jacobie and Max McConnell
The Last Dragonslayer “In the good old days, magic was indispensable. But now magic is fading: Drain cleaner is cheaper than a spell, and magic carpets are used for pizza delivery. Fifteen-year-old Jennifer Strange runs Kazam, an employment agency for magicians—but it’s hard to stay in business when magic is drying up. And then the…
All Kinds of Lives (June 2022) by Shilpa Jacobie and Max McConnell
Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper series is the most comforting read I’ve picked up in a while. The young adult graphic novel romance series currently has four volumes with a fifth on the way (although if you’re too impatient to wait for the fifth to be published, author Alice Oseman releases updates three times a month on…
The Ghost of Gosswater – Lucy Strange “The Lake District, 1899. The Earl is dead and cruel Cousin Clarence has inherited everything. Twelve-year-old Lady Agatha Asquith is cast out of Gosswater Hall to live in a tiny, tumbledown cottage with a stranger who claims to be her father. Aggie is determined to discover her real…
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky is a children’s fantasy book that will take young readers into a world of gods, monsters, villains, and heroic folklore legends. The story tells of a seventh grader named Tristan Strong who feels horrible in not being able to save his best friend Eddie during a bus…
I came across The Kingdom of Back on Tumblr and I had to purchase this book since it had a story involving Mozart and his sister Nannerl since I am a big fan of classical music and the Mozart family. The story takes place when the Mozart children are young and the main character focuses…
Stepsister is a dark version of the tale of Cinderella that is told from the viewpoint of the stepsister named Isabelle. Isabelle does not have the qualities compared to Cinderella with beauty, grace, kindness, etc. Isabelle tries to deceit the prince to claim him when she removes her own toes to fit in Cinderella’s glass…
I understood too well what it was like to feel like you were defined by one superficial thing- to feel like you would never escape the box people had put you in.” Despite being an avid reader, there are only a few books that I have read all in one sitting, and Tahereh Mafi’s A…
The Downstairs Girl is set in 19th century Atlanta, Georgia that tells the story about a young seventeen-year-old girl named Jo Kuan. Jo and her guardian Old Gin live secretly under Mr. Bell’s house who is a publisher for the newspaper called “The Focus” that is not doing so well with publications and public interest.…
The War that Saved My Life – Kimberly Brubaker Bradley “Ten-year-old Ada has never left her one-room apartment. Her mother is too humiliated by Ada’s twisted foot to let her outside. So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn’t waste a minute—she sneaks out to join…
Love & Gelato – Jenna Evans Welch “Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. But what kind of father isn’t around for sixteen years? All…
Autoboyography by Christina Lauren Do you know what it’s like to be kept a secret? Do you know how it feels to hide part of your identity from the world? For Tanner Scott and Sebastian Brother, this is just part of their daily lives as they navigate the intricacies of living in Provo, Utah, a…
If your teen reader enjoys fantasy novels with deep, intricate worldbuilding, point them towards Laini Taylor’s Strange the Dreamer (and its sequel Muse of Nightmares). Both titles—in ebook and audiobook formats—are available on Overdrive. About Strange the Dreamer: “The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around—and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian,…
1983: a time of technological advances, great movies, music, and art. 1983: a time of terror, death, ignorance, and homophobia. For many, like Michael Bartolomeo and his best friend James, being gay means watching those around you die from AIDS while the world condemns you for who you love. Set in New York City, Helene…
I finished They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera four days ago, but the ending of this novel and the entire plot that surrounds the characters has been weighing heavily on my mind since then. When one decides to read a book with such an ominous sounding title, one might expect the ending…
There are some people who believe that the universe sets plans in motion for a reason, and some that are cynical enough to believe that the universe is against them. Arthur is only in NYC for the summer, so looking for love would be a waste of his time, right? Ben has been cheated on…
mood board noun an arrangement of images, materials, pieces of text, etc., intended to evoke or project a particular style or concept. The Wee Free Men The Wee Free Men – Terry Pratchett “The first in a series of Discworld novels starring the young witch Tiffany Aching. A nightmarish danger threatens from the other side…
The Renegades are a syndicate of prodigies — humans with extraordinary abilities — who emerged from the ruins of a crumbled society and established peace and order where chaos reigned. As champions of justice, they remain a symbol of hope and courage to everyone… except the villains they once overthrew. Nova has a reason to…
Summary: Once upon a time, Beatrice and her five best friends were the cool kids, the beautiful ones. Then the shocking death of Jim changed everything. One year after graduation, Beatrice is returning to Wincroft hoping she’ll get to the bottom of Jim’s death. But as the night plays out in a haze of stilted…
These new titles and many more will be available in the Teen Room. Neverworld Wake – Marisha Pessl “Once upon a time, back at Darrow-Harker School, Beatrice Hartley and her five best friends were the cool kids, the beautiful ones. Then the shocking death of Jim–their creative genius and Beatrice’s boyfriend–changed everything. One year after…
Picture this: you’re a shy high school student who suddenly receives an invitation to a 3 day long party on an island, hosted by your school’s most popular students. Things start out well enough but then slowly the people around you start dying in the most suspicious of ways. What a terrifying nightmare, right? Well…
These new titles and many more will be available in the Teen Room. On the Come Up – Angie Thomas “Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least get some streams on her mixtape. As the daughter of an underground rap legend who died right before he…
These new titles and many more will be available in the Teen Room. Dread Nation – Justina Ireland “Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania—derailing the War Between the States and changing the nation forever. In this new America, safety for all depends on the…
Do you know what it’s like to be kept a secret? Do you know how it feels to hide part of your identity from the world? For Tanner Scott and Sebastian Brother, this is just part of their daily lives as they navigate the intricacies of living in Provo, Utah, a town comprised mainly of…
These new titles and many more will be available in the Teen Room. Children of Blood and Bone – Tomi Adeyemi “Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls. But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders…
The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza – Shaun David Hutchinson “Sixteen-year-old Elena Mendoza is the product of a virgin birth. This can be scientifically explained (it’s called parthenogenesis), but what can’t be explained is how Elena is able to heal Freddie, the girl she’s had a crush on for years, from a gunshot wound in a…
Cruel Prince – Holly Black “Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially…
Deep down, we like to believe that we’re safest when we’re tucked away inside of our homes with the doors and windows securely shut and locked and though this may be true for the reader, for Makani Young and her fellow students at Osborne High School this couldn’t be further from the truth. When the…
What better way to celebrate than with a new YA novel, but if you’re not sure which to pick up next, we have a few suggestions: Reserve John Green’s Turtles All the Way Down and we’ll let you know when a copy is available for you. “It’s quite rare to find someone who sees the…
Staff review by Rachel | First, though, I have to give props to Ransom Riggs: he created a seriously inventive atmosphere with Miss Peregrine’s setting, characters, and plot. With that said, however, something always felt lacking, like maybe a plot point could have been explored further or maybe a character’s motivation felt weak…
So you’ve seen the recently released Kingsman: The Secret Service and have been bitten by the spy craft bug. One: Trust me, you’re not alone. Two: We can help fill the time between now and when you go back to the theater to see the movie again, or between now and when it’s released on DVD, whichver is in keeping with how you roll. The majority of the titles on this list, both fiction and non-fiction, can be found on display in the new book room.
Spiders and Conjurers and Hypnotists, oh my.
Michelle here, former Book Monogamist. See, these days I have any number of fairly wildly different* books in progress at roundabout the same time. Here are early thoughts on the three books I’m Reading Now.