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Image for "Superstitions of The Scottish Play"

Superstitions of "The Scottish Play"

Carolyn Keene

Description

Nancy investigates a string of accidents at the theater in the twenty-sixth Nancy Drew Diaries, a fresh approach to a classic series.

When Ned is cast in a stage production of Macbeth, led by the famous but peculiar director Bear Larouche, Nancy volunteers to help with the set. She’s also allowed to sit in on a few rehearsals, where she gets an earful from the director about theater superstitions: never say “Macbeth” out loud—only refer to it as “The Scottish Play”—never wear blue, no peacock feathers onstage, and so on. 

The play is off to a promising start until Ned breaks the most important rule and accidentally says “Macbeth” in the theater. And then accidents begin happening during rehearsals. It quickly goes from odd to scary, and the director is ready to cancel the show. 

Nancy might not believe in superstition, but she does believe in intuition, and hers is telling her that the cause behind these incidents isn’t a curse, but someone in the cast. It’s up to her to find out who before opening night.

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"Stage Fright on a Summer Night" by Mary Pope Osborne

Stage Fright on a Summer Night

Mary Pope Osborne

Description

The #1 bestselling chapter book series of all time celebrates 25 years with new covers and a new, easy-to-use numbering system!

The show must go on! That's what Jack and Annie learn when the Magic Tree House whisks them back to Elizabethan England. There they meet William Shakespeare himself—one of the greatest writers of all time! But Mr. Shakespeare's having a hard time with some of the actors in his latest show. Are Jack and Annie ready to make a big entrance? Or will it be curtains for Shakespeare?

Did you know that there’s a Magic Tree House book for every kid?

Magic Tree House: Adventures with Jack and Annie, perfect for readers who are just beginning chapter books
Merlin Missions: More challenging adventures for the experienced reader
Super Edition: A longer and more dangerous adventure
Fact Trackers: Nonfiction companions to your favorite Magic Tree House adventures

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"Summerlost" by Allyson Braithwaite Condie

Summerlost

Allyson Braithwaite Condie

Description

A tender and compelling contemporary novel for young readers about facing loss and finding friendship, from Ally Condie, international bestselling author of the Matched series.

Nominated by the Mystery Writers of America for the 2017 Edgar Award

"Kids are awesome. And they are diverse. There are children with different abilities and backgrounds and experiences, and every one of them deserves to find themselves in children's literature and to know that they matter." -Ally Condie, on Summerlost

Sometimes it takes a new friend to bring you home. It's the first real summer since the accident that killed Cedar's father and younger brother, Ben. Cedar and what's left of her family are returning to the town of Iron Creek for the summer. They're just settling into their new house when a boy named Leo, dressed in costume, rides by on his bike. Intrigued, Cedar follows him to the renowned Summerlost theatre festival. Soon, she not only has a new friend in Leo and a job working concessions at the festival, she finds herself surrounded by mystery. The mystery of the tragic, too-short life of the Hollywood actress who haunts the halls of Summerlost. And the mystery of the strange gifts that keep appearing for Cedar. 

Infused with emotion and rich with understanding, Summerlost is the touching new novel from Ally Condie, the international bestselling author of the Matched series that highlights the strength of family and personal resilience in the face of tragedy.

"Generous and bittersweet, Summerlost has the emotional acuity of Ms. Condie's writing for older teenagers, but it's pitched just right for readers ages 10-14." -Wall Street Journal

"Funny, sad, sweet, and heartwarming." -Parents.com, Special Needs Now blog

★ "Condie is at her best . . . grabbing readers' interest from the first page." --Publishers Weekly, starred review 

★ "Thoughtful, poetic chapter endings guide readers new to psychological depth toward meaningful connections between plot events and thematic reflections." --BCCB, starred review

"A nuanced portrait of grief deeply grounded in the middle-school mind-set." --Booklist

"Honest, lovely, and sad." --Kirkus Reviews

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"Pop-up Shakespeare" by The Reduced Shakespeare Co., Austin Tichenor, and Reed Martin

Pop-up Shakespeare

The Reduced Shakespeare Co.

Description

Learn about all of Shakespeare's plays in one book!

Read about William Shakespeare’s plays, sonnets, and poems as you never have before in an entertaining pop-up book collaboration between the internationally known comedy troupe the Reduced Shakespeare Company and best-selling illustrator Jennie Maizels. Featuring five interactive spreads filled with dramatic pop-ups, fun foldouts, hilarious summaries, and fascinating commentaries, this is the perfect introduction to one of the world’s greatest playwrights and his enduring works.

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"The Bard and the Book" by Ann Bausum

The Bard and the Book

Ann Bausum

Description

The unlikely true story of why we know the name William Shakespeare today, and the four-hundred-year-old book that made it possible.

Four hundred years ago, no one bothered to write down the exact words of stage plays. Characters’ lines were scribbled on small rolls of paper (as in, an actor’s role) and passed around, but no master script was saved for the future. The main reason we’ve heard of Romeo, Juliet, Hamlet, and Shakespeare himself is that a group of people made the excellent choice to preserve the plays after the Bard died. If they hadn’t created the book known as the First Folio, Shakespeare and his works would surely have been lost to history. 

Part literary scavenger hunt (the search for every existing First Folio continues today), part book trivia treasure trove, and part love letter to Shakespeare, this behind-the-scenes, sharply funny true story is an ideal introduction to the Bard and his famous plays.

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"The Plot to Kill a Queen" by Deborah Hopkinson

The Plot to Kill a Queen

Deborah Hopkinson

Description

Publishers Weekly calls this utterly charming, deftly crafted mystery about an intrepid young girl's quest to foil a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I "worthy of a standing ovation".

Emilia Bassano is a girl who relishes the music of words. Although she plays the lute and writes poetry, Emilia nurtures a dream: to hear her words come alive on stage. Emilia wants to write soliloquies for heroes and kings and queens of old, fashion fierce villains to make audiences howl, and try her hand at comedy and romance. Most of all, she wants to create unforgettable women characters.

On one of her trips to the theater, an unfortunate series of events leaves her penniless, with no way of watching the show. That is until a boy by the name of Will Shakespeare helps her sneak in to see the play. They realize they're both aspiring playwrights and Emilia convinces Will to join her in her efforts to win a playwriting competition at the palace of Queen Elizabeth I.

However, when Emilia accidentally uncovers a plot to kill the queen, she is given the job of traveling to the castle where Mary Queen of Scots is being held captive, to discover who is responsible for the plan to murder Queen Elizabeth--and to thwart it! Can Emilia and her friends stop the plans of a disguised murderer on the loose?

This delightful mystery is a marvel of incisive wit and extraordinary craft from the beloved, award-winning author Deborah Hopkinson.

* "Breaking down elements of drama and spycraft, this carefully researched, jam-packed read offers insight into layers of historical power and influence while humorously rendering asides on feminism and social issues of the period. It's a bustling theatrical romp worthy of a standing ovation." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review

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Star-Crossed

Barbara Dee

Description

Star-Crossed delighted me! Barbara Dee has a light touch and a pitch-perfect middle school voice. This book will have you laughing and groaning in sympathy with crush-addled Mattie and eagerly turning pages. Mattie and her classmates charmed me with their kindness, their humor, their uncertainty, their devotion to one another and to Shakespeare! Barbara masterfully sprinkles the bard’s words over the narration and stirs the troubles of Romeo and Juliet into the plot. And those Shakespearian insults! Be sure to read Star-Crossed or you’ll miss out.” —Gail Carson Levine, author of Ella Enchanted

Mattie is chosen to play Romeo opposite her crush in the eighth grade production of Shakespeare’s most beloved play in this Romeo and Juliet inspired novel from the author of Truth or Dare.

Mattie, a star student and passionate reader, is delighted when her English teacher announces the eighth grade will be staging Romeo and Juliet. And she is even more excited when, after a series of events, she finds herself playing Romeo, opposite Gemma Braithwaite’s Juliet. Gemma, the new girl at school, is brilliant, pretty, outgoing—and, if all that wasn’t enough: British.

As the cast prepares for opening night, Mattie finds herself growing increasingly attracted to Gemma and confused, since, just days before, she had found herself crushing on a boy named Elijah. Is it possible to have a crush on both boys AND girls? If that wasn’t enough to deal with, things backstage at the production are starting to rival any Shakespearean drama! In this sweet and funny look at the complicated nature of middle school romance, Mattie learns how to be the lead player in her own life.

“Barbara Dee’s Star-Crossed is a love story, a rallying cry for girl-power, and a Shakespeare lover’s dream come true. When I finished reading, I had a huge smile on my face and a lightness in my heart.” —Nora Raleigh Baskin, author of Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story

Star-Crossed takes the drama, humor, friendships, misunderstandings, and romance of Romeo and Juliet and transforms them perfectly to the middle school stage. One word about this honest, heartfelt middle grade novel for the theater geek in each of us? Encore!” —Donna Gephart, author of Lily and Dunkin

Star-Crossed by Barbara Dee cleverly draws from Romeo and Juliet, providing readers with an insightful introduction to Shakespeare while exploring the complexities of young love. Readers will root for this relationship.” —Ami Polonksy, author of Gracefully Grayson

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"Whatshisface" by Gordon Korman

Whatshisface

Gordon Korman

Description

Gordon Korman's next stand-alone novel, a fun, funny ghost story about a nobody kid who becomes a somebody while helping a ghost right a wrong from the past.

Cooper Vega's family moves so often that he's practically invisible at any school he attends. Now they've relocated to the town of Stratford - where nobody even makes an effort to learn Cooper's name. To them, he's just . . . whatshisface.Cooper's parents feel bad about moving him around so much, so they get him a fancy new phone. Almost immediately, it starts to malfunction. First there's a buzzing. Then there's a weird glare on the screen. Then that glare starts to take on the form of . . . a person?It's not just any person trapped inside Cooper's phone. It's a boy named Roderick, who says he lived in the time of William Shakespeare - and had a very tangled history with the famous playwright. Cooper thinks his phone has gone haywire, but there's nothing he can do to get rid of Roderick. Then, even stranger, Roderick starts helping him. Even though his seventeenth-century advice isn't always the best for a twenty-first century middle school.

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"The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt

The Wednesday Wars

Gary D. Schmidt

Description

In this Newbery Honor-winning novel, Gary D. Schmidt tells the witty and compelling story of a teenage boy who feels that fate has it in for him.

Seventh grader Holling Hoodhood isn't happy. He is sure his new teacher, Mrs. Baker, hates his guts. Throughout the school year, Holling strives to get a handle on the Shakespeare plays Mrs. Baker assigns him to read on his own time, and to figure out the enigmatic Mrs. Baker. At home, Holling's domineering father is obsessed with his business image and disregards his family.

As the Vietnam War turns lives upside down, Holling comes to admire and respect both Shakespeare and Mrs. Baker, who have more to offer him than he imagined. And when his family is on the verge of coming apart, he also discovers his loyalty to his sister, and his ability to stand up to his father when it matters most.

Each month in Holling's tumultuous seventh-grade year is a chapter in this quietly powerful coming-of-age novel set in suburban Long Island during the late '60s.

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"Hamlet is Not OK" by R.A. Spratt

Hamlet is Not OK

R.A. Spratt

Description

Selby hates homework.

She would rather watch TV - anything to escape the tedium of school, her parents' bookshop and small-town busybodies.

So Selby didn't plan to read Hamlet. She certainly never planned to meet him.

This novel transports Selby, and the reader, into the cold and crime-ridden play itself. Here she meets Hamlet- heavy with grief, the young prince is overthinking and over everything. Selby can relate. But unlike Hamlet, Selby isn't afraid of making decisions. In her world, Selby is used to feeling overlooked. But in the bloody, backstabbing world of Shakespeare, Selby's good conscience and quiet courage might just save some lives . . . hopefully before Hamlet stabs one of her classmates.

'The book presents a convincing argument for Shakespeare's value in modern-day classrooms' - Kirkus Reviews

'A refreshingly different, wildly imaginative take on Shakespeare's Hamlet.' - Booklist starred review

'Spratt doesn't waste words, and is an expert at whittling away the blurry edges of a story to reveal the golden core. Through Selby's eyes, Spratt delicately and thoughtfully opens up the famous play to readers who may feel that Shakespeare is just for people who excel at English.' - Storylinks

'Books like this are a joy to read, because they acknowledge mental health issues, celebrate words, and acknowledge the difficulties some have with reading.' - Ashleigh Meikle, the Book Muse

'Sharp-witted and funny. . . Shelby's ignorance of anything Shakespeare brings a fresh teen perspective on the behaviour of the characters and their actions to one another. A clever, entertaining read.' - What Book Next
 

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"Twelfth" by Janet Key

Twelfth

Janet Key

Description

Better Nate Than Ever meets The Parker Inheritance in this heartwarming mystery about finding your people and accepting others as they are.

Twelve-year-old Maren is sure theater camp isn't for her. Theater camp is for loud, confident, artsy people: people like her older sister, Hadley--the last person Maren wants to think about--and her cinema-obsessed, nonbinary bunkmate, Theo. But when a prank goes wrong, Maren gets drawn into the hunt for a diamond ring that, legend has it, is linked to the camp's namesake, Charlotte "Charlie" Goodman, a promising director in Blacklist Era Hollywood.

When Maren connects the clues to Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, she and her new friends are off searching through lighting booths, orchestra pits and costume storages, discovering the trail and dodging camp counselors. But they're not the only ones searching for the ring, and with the growing threat of camp closing forever, they're almost out of time.

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"Shakespeare's Secret" by Elise Broach

Shakespeare's Secret

Elise Broach

Description

Hero changed into a T-shirt, grabbed a book, and padded barefoot into her sister's room. The large windows overlooked the backyard. She could see the moonlight streaming over the trees and bushes, making long, crazy shadows across the grass. Was there a diamond hidden out there somewhere? She looked at Beatrice, already settled under the covers. She wanted to tell her about the Murphys, but at the same time, she didn't. She wanted to keep the secret. To have something that belonged only to her.

A missing diamond, a mysterious neighbor, a link to Shakespeare-can Hero uncover the connections?

When Hero starts sixth grade at a new school, she's less concerned about the literary origins of her Shakespearean name than about the teasing she's sure to suffer because of it. So she has the same name as a girl in a book by a dusty old author. Hero is simply not interested in the connections. But that's just the thing; suddenly connections are cropping up all over, and odd characters and uncertain pasts are exactly what do fascinate Hero. There's a mysterious diamond hidden in her new house, a curious woman next door who seems to know an awful lot about it, and then, well, then there's Shakespeare. Not to mention Danny Cordova, only the most popular boy in school. Is it all in keeping with her namesake's origin-just much ado about nothing? Hero, being Hero, is determined to figure it out.

In this fast-paced novel, Elise Broach weaves an intriguing literary mystery full of historical insights and discoveries.

A JUNIOR LIBRARY GUILD SELECTION

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"Wanda Hears the Stars" by Amy S. Hansen and Wanda Díaz Merced

Wanda Hears the Stars

Amy S. Hansen

Description

Growing up in Puerto Rico, Wanda Díaz Merced wanted to learn everything she could about the stars. But in college she started losing her sight. How could she study what she couldn't see?

Wanda found a way. She learned to hear the stars using sonification, which converts data into sounds. Listening to those chimes and drumbeats, she made new discoveries about the universe.

Today Wanda is a leading advocate for inclusive science. She and her friend Amy S. Hansen collaborated on this book to inspire children to follow their curiosity no matter the challenges. As Wanda urges, "Never give up!" 

Wanda Hears the Stars is the perfect picture book biography to inspire any STEM-minded future scientist!

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cover with title and author and illustration of woman doing math

Maryam's Magic

Megan Reid

Description

As a little girl, Maryam Mirzakhani was spellbound by stories. She loved
reading in Tehran's crowded bookstores, and at home she'd spend hours crafting
her own tales on giant rolls of paper.

Maryam loved school, especially her classes in reading and writing. But she
did not like math. Numbers were nowhere near as interesting as the bold, 
adventurous characters she found in books. Until Maryam unexpectedly discovered
a new genre of storytelling: In geometry, numbers became shapes, each with its
own fascinating personality--making every equation a brilliant story waiting to
be told.

As an adult, Maryam became a professor, inventing new formulas to solve some
of math's most complicated puzzles. And she made history by becoming the first
woman--and the first Iranian--to win the Fields Medal, mathematics' highest
award.

Maryam's Magic is the true story of a girl whose creativity and love
of stories helped her--and the world--to see math in a new and inspiring way.
 

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cover with title and author and illustration of a woman palentologist digging for dinosaur bones

When Sue Found Sue

Toni Buzzeo

Description

From a very young age, Sue Hendrickson was meant to find things: lost coins, perfume bottles, even hidden treasure. Her endless curiosity eventually led to her career in diving and paleontology, where she would continue to find things big and small.

In 1990, at a dig in South Dakota, Sue made her biggest discovery to date: Sue the T. rex, the largest and most complete T. rex skeleton ever unearthed. Named in Sue's honor, Sue the T. rex would be placed on permanent exhibition at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.

When Sue Found Sue inspires readers to take a closer look at the world around them and to never lose their brave, adventurous spirits.

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cover with title and author and illustration of a girl swimming underwater

Swimming Toward a Dream

Reem Faruqi

Description

Growing up in Damascus, the pool was Yusra Mardini’s happy place. She learned to swim before she could walk. And with swimming came a dream—to compete in the Olympic games. 

But when war came to Syria, Yusra’s home—and her pool—were no longer safe. Yusra and her sister set out on a harrowing journey, crossing the sea in search of safety. 

In the inspirational tale that follows, Yusra’s courageous spirit shines. Crammed on a too-small refugee boat, disaster strikes when the boat’s motor breaks! Scared but determined, Yusra plunges into the water and starts swimming. 

Infused with hope, Yusra’s story encourages readers to pursue their own dreams, revealing how she met waves of danger with strength and perseverance. One breath at a time.

Readers will dive into this courageous tale of an athlete, refugee, and hero who inspired the world with her resolve to pursue her Olympic dream.

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"Shirley Chisholm Is a Verb" by Veronica Chambers

Shirley Chisholm Is a Verb

Veronica Chambers

Description

Shirley Chisholm famously said, "If they don't give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair." This dynamic biography illuminates how Chisholm was a doer, an active and vocal participant in our nation's democracy, and a force to be reckoned with. Now young readers will learn about her early years, her time in Congress, her presidential bid and how her actions left a lasting legacy that continues to inspire, uplift, and instruct.

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"To Boldly Go: How Nichelle Nichols and Star Trek Helped Advance Civil Rights" by Angela Dalton

To Boldly Go: How Nichelle Nichols and Star Trek Helped Advance Civil Rights

Angela Dalton

Description

Perfect for fans of Hidden Figures and Mae Among the Stars! To Boldly Go tells the true story of Nichelle Nichols and how she used her platform on Star Trek to inspire and recruit a new generation of diverse astronauts and many others in the space and STEM fields.

As Lieutenant Uhura on the iconic prime-time television show Star Trek, Nichelle Nichols played the first Black female astronaut anyone had ever seen on-screen. A smart, strong, independent Black woman aboard the starship Enterprise was revolutionary in the 1960s, when only white men had traveled to outer space in real life and most Black characters on TV were servants.

Nichelle not only inspired a generation to pursue its dreams but also opened the door for the real-life pioneering astronauts Sally Ride, Dr. Mae Jemison, and more.

This empowering tribute to the trailblazing pop culture icon reminds us of the importance of perseverance and the power of representation in storytelling. You just might be inspired to boldly go where no one like you has ever gone before!

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cover with title and author and illustration of a black woman in a forest holding a sapling

Seeds of Change

Jen Cullerton Johnson

Description

A picture book biography of scientist Wangari Maathai, the first African woman--and first environmentalist--to win a Nobel Peace Prize (in 2004) for her work planting trees in her native Kenya.

As a young girl in Kenya, Wangari was taught to respect nature. She grew up loving the land, plants, and animals that surrounded her-from the giant mugumo trees her people, the Kikuyu, revered to the tiny tadpoles that swam in the river.

Although most Kenyan girls were not educated, Wangari, curious and hardworking, was allowed to go to school. There, her mind sprouted like a seed. She excelled at science and went on to study in the United States. After returning home, Wangari blazed a trail across Kenya, using her knowledge and compassion to promote the rights of her countrywomen and to help save the land, one tree at a time.

Seeds of Change: Planting a Path to Peace brings to life the empowering story of Wangari Maathai, the first African woman, and environmentalist, to win a Nobel Peace Prize. Engaging narrative and vibrant images paint a robust portrait of this inspiring champion of the land and of women's rights.

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"Jovita Wore Pants" by Aida Salazar

Jovita Wore Pants

Aida Salazar

Description

Jovita dreamed of wearing pants! She hated the big skirts Abuela made her wear. She wanted to scale the tallest mesquite tree on her rancho, ride her horse, and feel the wind curl her face into a smile

When her father and brothers joined the Cristero War to fight for religious freedom, Jovita wanted to go, too. Forbidden, she defied her father's rules - and society's - and found a clever way to become a trailblazing revolutionary, wearing pants!

This remarkable true story about a little-known maverick Mexican heroine is brought vividly to life by her great-niece and Américas Award-winner Aida Salazar, and Eisner Award-honoree Molly Mendoza.

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"Fighting for Yes!" by Maryann Cocca-Leffler

Fighting for Yes!

Maryann Cocca-Leffler

Description

Fighting for Yes is a picture book biography celebrating the life and work of disability rights activist and icon Judith Heumann, highlighting one of her landmark achievements--leading the historic 504 Sit-in in 1977.

From a very young age, Judy Heumann heard the word "No." When she wanted to attend public school, the principal said "No." When she wanted her teaching license, the New York Board of Education said "No." Judy and people with disabilities everywhere were tired of hearing "No."

In the 1970s, an important disability rights law, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, was waiting to be signed. Judy and other disability rights activists fought for "YES!" They held a sit-in until Section 504 was signed into law. Section 504 laid the foundation for the Americans with Disabilities Act, which was established thanks in large part to the ongoing work of Judy and her community.

Along with a personal reflection from Judy herself, award-winning author Maryann Cocca-Leffler and illustrator Vivien Mildenberger's picture book biography captures the impact and influence of one of America's greatest living activists.

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"Up Periscope!" by Jennifer Swanson

Up Periscope!

Jennifer Swanson

Description

Girls like Raye Montague weren't supposed to like math or science, or go to engineering school. But tenacious Raye had a plan, one that eventually took her all the way to the US Navy. There, she was assigned an impossible task: to come up with a single computer program that could design every part of a ship. It had never been done before--but Raye's groundbreaking program revolutionized the way ships and submarines were built, and set her on a path to become a pioneering figure in naval engineering and the navy's first female program manager of ships.

Award-winning author Jennifer Swanson and acclaimed illustrator Veronica Miller Jamison celebrate a self-made engineer who worked around anyone and anything that stood in her way in this illuminating biography about never giving up on your dreams.

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"The Girl who Drew Butterflies" by Joyce Sidman

The Girl who Drew Butterflies

Joyce Sidman

Description

One of the first naturalists to observe live insects directly, Maria Sibylla Merian was also one of the first to document the metamorphosis of the butterfly.

Richly illustrated throughout with full-color original paintings by Merian herself, The Grew Who Drew Butterflies will enthrall young scientists.

Bugs, of all kinds, were considered to be "born of mud" and to be "beasts of the devil." Why would anyone, let alone a girl, want to study and observe them? The Girl Who Drew Butterflies answers this question.

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"She Sang for India" by Suma Subramaniam

She Sang for India

Suma Subramaniam

Description

A picture book biography about M.S. Subbulakshmi, a powerful Indian singer who advocated for justice and peace through song.

Before M.S. Subbulakshmi was a famous Carnatic singer and the first Indian woman to perform at the United Nations, she was a young girl with a prodigious voice.

But Subbulakshmi was not free to sing everywhere. In early 1900s India, girls were not allowed to perform for the public. So Subbulakshmi busted barriers to sing at small festivals. Eventually, she broke tradition to record her first album. She did not stop here. At Gandhi's request, Subbulakshmi sang for India’s freedom. Her fascinating odyssey stretched across borders, and soon she was no longer just a young prodigy. She was a woman who changed the world.

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"How Do You Spell Unfair?: MacNolia Cox and the National Spelling Bee" by Carole Boston Weatherford

How Do You Spell Unfair?: MacNolia Cox and the National Spelling Bee

Carole Boston Weatherford

Description

From a multi-award-winning pair comes a deeply affecting portrait of determination against discrimination: the story of young spelling champion MacNolia Cox.

MacNolia Cox was no ordinary kid.
Her idea of fun was reading the dictionary. 

In 1936, eighth grader MacNolia Cox became the first African American to win the Akron, Ohio, spelling bee. And with that win, she was asked to compete at the prestigious National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC, where she and a girl from New Jersey were the first African Americans invited since its founding. She left her home state a celebrity—right up there with Ohio’s own Joe Louis and Jesse Owens—with a military band and a crowd of thousands to see her off at the station. But celebration turned to chill when the train crossed the state line into Maryland, where segregation was the law of the land. Prejudice and discrimination ruled—on the train, in the hotel, and, sadly, at the spelling bee itself. With a brief epilogue recounting MacNolia’s further history, How Do You Spell Unfair? is the story of her groundbreaking achievement magnificently told by award-winning creators and frequent picture-book collaborators Carole Boston Weatherford and Frank Morrison.

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"Hedy Lamarr's Double Life" by Laurie Wallmark

Hedy Lamarr's Double Life

Laurie Wallmark

Description

Movie star by day, ace inventor at night: learn about the hidden life of actress Hedy Lamarr!

To her adoring public, Hedy Lamarr was a glamorous movie star, widely considered the most beautiful woman in the world. But in private, she was something more: a brilliant inventor. And for many years only her closest friends knew her secret. Now Laurie Wallmark and Katy Wu, who collaborated on Sterling's critically acclaimed picture-book biography Grace Hopper: Queen of Computer Code, tell the inspiring story of how, during World War Two, Lamarr developed a groundbreaking communications system that still remains essential to the security of today's technology.

 

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"Cantora" by Melisa Fernández Nitsche

Cantora

Melisa Fernández Nitsche

Description

Sing out! With a stunning, graphic style and a melodious text, this picture book tells the story of Latin American icon Mercedes Sosa and how she became the voice of a people from exile to triumph.

What if a voice became a symbol of justice?
I’m here to offer my heart, said that voice.

The folk rhythm of the bombo drum beats like a heart, with a resonant voice singing the truth of her people. Mercedes Sosa sang about what it means to be human, and her songs of struggle always spoke the truth of the injustice that so many workers and families in Latin America faced. 

As a teen, she won a local radio contest, and as her confidence grew, so did her fame. From a folk festival to Carnegie Hall and the Sistine Chapel, Mercedes performed the world over, sharing stories through song. But not everyone loved her singing: a military dictatorship ruled over Argentina, and they saw the power of her voice. Even from exile, Mercedes Sosa was a beacon of freedom for her people, and when she returned to her homeland, she persisted in her work: to be the voice of the voiceless.

Adding a personal touch as a fellow Argentinean, Melisa Fernández Nitsche fills her debut picture book with bright and breathtaking illustrations that will surely inspire and empower young readers as they read about the impact one person's voice can have.

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"Joan Procter, Dragon Doctor" by Patricia Valdez

Joan Procter, Dragon Doctor

Patricia Valdez

Description

Back in the days of long skirts and afternoon teas, young Joan Procter entertained the most unusual party guests: slithery and scaly ones, who turned over teacups and crawled past the crumpets.... While other girls played with dolls, Joan preferred the company of reptiles. She carried her favorite lizard with her everywhere--she even brought a crocodile to school!

When Joan grew older, she became the Curator of Reptiles at the British Museum. She went on to design the Reptile House at the London Zoo, including a home for the rumored-to-be-vicious komodo dragons. There, just like when she was a little girl, Joan hosted children's tea parties--with her komodo dragon as the guest of honor.

With a lively text and vibrant illustrations, scientist and writer Patricia Valdez and illustrator Felicita Sala bring to life Joan Procter's inspiring story of passion and determination.

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cover with title and author and illustration of a black woman playing guitar

Rock, Rosetta, Rock! Roll, Rosetta, Roll!

Tonya Bolden

Description

Award-winning author Tonya Bolden and acclaimed illustrator R. Gregory Christie deliver an inspiring true story about the life, career, and impact of twentieth-century blues and gospel singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who was a trailblazer for rock-and-roll. Includes a timeline of Sister Rosetta Tharpe's life, an author's note, and a list of sources.

Before there was Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Johnny Cash, there was Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

The godmother of rock-and-roll started as a little girl from Arkansas with music in her air, in her hair, in her bones, wiggling her toes. With a big guitar in hand and a big voice in her soul, she grew into a rock-and-roll trailblazer in a time when women were rarely seen rocking out. Her guitar picking was like nobody else's!

Boogie along with this rockin' tribute to the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Sister Rosetta Tharpe by Coretta Scott King Honor-winning author Tonya Bolden and Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator R. Gregory Christie.

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cover with title and author and illustration of a girl at a piano

Dancing Hands

Margarita Engle

Description

As a little girl, Teresa Carreño loved to let her hands dance across the beautiful keys of the piano. If she felt sad, music cheered her up, and when she was happy, the piano helped her share that joy. Soon she was writing her own songs and performing in grand cathedrals. Then a revolution in Venezuela forced her family to flee to the United States. Teresa felt lonely in this unfamiliar place, where few of the people she met spoke Spanish. Worst of all, there was fighting in her new home, too—the Civil War.

Still, Teresa kept playing, and soon she grew famous as the talented Piano Girl who could play anything from a folk song to a sonata. So famous, in fact, that President Abraham Lincoln wanted her to play at the White House! Yet with the country torn apart by war, could Teresa’s music bring comfort to those who needed it most?

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cover with title and author and illustration of a woman in a directors chair

Lights! Camera! Alice!

Mara Rockliff

Description

Meet Alice Guy-Blaché. She made movies—some of the very first movies, and some of the most exciting! Blow up a pirate ship? Why not? Crawl into a tiger's cage? Of course! Leap off a bridge onto a real speeding train? It will be easy! Driven by her passion for storytelling, Alice saw a potential for film that others had not seen before, allowing her to develop new narratives, new camera angles, new techniques, and to surprise her audiences again and again. With daring and vision, Alice Guy-Blaché introduced the world to a thrilling frontier of imagination and adventure, and became one of filmmaking's first and greatest innovators. Mara Rockliff tells the story of a girl who grew up loving stories and became an acclaimed storyteller and an inspiration in her own right.

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cover with title and author and illustration of a woman drawing with lots of colorful images behind her

Pocket Full of Colors

Amy Guglielmo

Description

Mary Blair lived her life in color: vivid, wild color.

From her imaginative childhood to her career as an illustrator, designer, and animator for Walt Disney Studios, Mary wouldn’t play by the rules. At a time when studios wanted to hire men and think in black and white, Mary painted twinkling emerald skies, peach giraffes with tangerine spots, and magenta horses that could fly.

She painted her world.

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"Only the Best" by Kate Messner and Margaret E. Powell

Only the Best

Kate Messner

Description

An inspiring picture book biography about the amazing Ann Lowe--the first nationally-known African American fashion designer.

A careful snip, a delicate fold.

Fabric the color of new petals.

Skirts that flare like upside-down blossoms.

A garden bursts into bloom!

There is no "good enough."

For Ann, only the best will do.

Award-winning author Kate Messner, costume historian Margaret E. Powell, and fashion designer and illustrator Erin Robinson tell the powerful story of the ground-breaking Ann Lowe, who grew up in a small Alabama dress shop and became the first nationally-known African American fashion designer. Sought after by millionaires and movie stars, her designs walked the red carpet and graced the wedding of Senator John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier.

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"Nina" by Traci N. Todd

Nina

Traci N. Todd

Description

This luminous, defining picture book biography illustrated by Caldecott Honoree Christian Robinson, tells the remarkable and inspiring story of acclaimed singer Nina Simone and her bold, defiant, and exultant legacy.

Born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in small town North Carolina, Nina Simone was a musical child. She sang before she talked and learned to play piano at a very young age. With the support of her family and community, she received music lessons that introduced her to classical composers like Bach who remained with her and influenced her music throughout her life. She loved the way his music began softly and then tumbled to thunder, like her mother's preaching, and in much the same way as her career. During her first performances under the name of Nina Simone her voice was rich and sweet but as the Civil Rights Movement gained steam, Nina's voice soon became a thunderous roar as she raised her voice in powerful protest in the fight against racial inequality and discrimination.

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"Ablaze with Color" by Jeanne Walker Harvey

Ablaze with Color

Jeanne Walker Harvey

Description

Celebrate the life-changing power of art in this inspiring and stunningly illustrated picture book biography of American artist Alma Thomas.

Meet an incredible woman who broke down barriers throughout her whole life and is now known as one of the most preeminent painters of the twentieth century. Told from the point of view of young Alma Thomas, readers can follow along as she grows into her discovery of the life-changing power of art.

As a child in Georgia, Alma Thomas loved to spend time outside, soaking up the colors around her. And her parents filled their home with color and creativity despite the racial injustices they faced. After the family moved to Washington, DC, Alma shared her passion for art by teaching children. When she was almost seventy years old, she focused on her own artwork, inspired by nature and space travel.

In this celebration of art and the power of imagination, Jeanne Walker Harvey and Loveis Wise tell the incredible true story of Alma Thomas, the first Black woman to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum in New York City and to have her work chosen for the White House collection. With her bold and vibrant abstract paintings, Alma set the world ablaze with color.

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"The Wire Zoo" by Natasha Wing

The Wire Zoo

Natasha Wing

Description

Elizabeth Berrien has always had a special way of seeing the world. When she looks at animals, her mind imagines energy lines flowing across the surface of their bodies. Thin lines and thick lines. Bright lines and dim lines. The flowing lines make each animal unique and beautiful. 

She wondered, How can I copy these lines so others can see them too? Elizabeth isn’t very good at drawing, so she tried many other different kinds of art. But none seemed quite right…until she discovered wire sculpting. And so began her journey of using three-dimensional wire sculptures to share her vision with the world.

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"Dolly!" by Robyn McGrath

Dolly!

Robyn McGrath

Description

You've likely heard of the performer Dolly Parton. But do you know where this dazzling songwriter and musician draws her roots? As one of twelve children growing up in rural Tennessee, Dolly was determined to be seen and heard. From her front porch to her church choir, every stage was an opportunity to perform and share her many talents. While balancing farm chores with schoolwork, Dolly never lost sight of her dreams, composing her first song at age five and performing at the Grand Ole Opry at age thirteen. 

With lilting language and vibrant artwork, this childhood story captures the unique gifts of Dolly Parton, while also honoring the measures of her success: resilience, confidence, family, and kindness.
 

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"When Marian Sang" by Pam Muñoz Ryan

When Marian Sang

Pam Muñoz Ryan

Description

Marian Anderson is best known for her historic concert at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939, which drew an integrated crowd of 75,000 people in pre-Civil Rights America. While this momentous event showcased the uniqueness of her voice, the strength of her character, and the struggles of the times in which she lived, it is only part of her story. Like the operatic arias Marian would come to sing, Ryan's text is as moving as a libretto, and Selznick's pictures as exquisitely detailed and elaborately designed as a stage set. What emerges most profoundly from their shared vision is a role model of courage.

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"Shaped by Her Hands" by Anna Harber Freeman and Barbara Gonzales

Shaped by Her Hands

Anna Harber Freeman

Description

The untold story of a Native American Indian potter who changed her field.

The most renowned Native American Indian potter of her time, Maria Povika Martinez learned pottery as a child under the guiding hands of her ko-ōo, her aunt. She grew up to discover a new firing technique that turned her pots black and shiny, and made them--and Maria--famous. This inspiring story of family and creativity illuminates how Maria's belief in sharing her love of clay brought success and joy from her New Mexico Pueblo to people all across the country.

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"Unbound: The Life and Art of Judith Scott" by Joyce Scott, Brie Spangler, and Melissa Sweet

Unbound: The Life and Art of Judith Scott

Joyce Scott

Description

A moving and powerful introduction to the life and art of renowned artist, Judith Scott, as told by her twin sister, Joyce Scott and illustrated by Caldecott Honor artist, Melissa Sweet.

Judith Scott was born with Down syndrome. She was deaf, and never learned to speak. She was also a talented artist. Judith was institutionalized until her sister Joyce reunited with her and enrolled her in an art class. Judith went on to become an artist of renown with her work displayed in museums and galleries around the world.

Poignantly told by Joyce Scott in collaboration with Brie Spangler and Melissa Sweet and beautifully illustrated by Caldecott Honor artist, Melissa Sweet, Unbound is inspiring and warm, showing us that we can soar beyond our perceived limitations and accomplish something extraordinary.

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the odyssey

The Odyssey

Homer

Description

The Odyssey, translated by T. E. Lawrence, an epic 12,000-line poem composed over 2,700 years ago, is the first adventure story in Western literature. It describes the ten-year wanderings of Odysseus in his quest to return home after the Trojan War. Hounded by the sea-god Poseidon and championed by the goddess Athene, he encounters giants, sorceresses, and sea monsters before finally reaching his beloved Ithaca. There he must endure the taunts of the Suitors to his queen, Penelope, who have taken up residence in his palace. At once enchanting fairy tale and gripping drama, the Odyssey is eminently readable, not least for the rich complexity and magnetism of its hero. An inspiration to writers as diverse as Virgil, Swift, and Joyce, the Odyssey has proved enormously influential and continues to captivate readers of all ages.

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"Caught Stealing" by Charlie Huston

Caught Stealing

Charlie Huston

Description

A retired baseball player finds himself fighting for his life in this “fantastically hopped-up thriller [with] a wrong-man plot worthy of Hitchcock” (Entertainment Weekly, Editor’s Choice). 

“Wow! Brutal, visceral, violent, edgy, and brilliant.”—Harlan Coben

Now a major motion picture starring Austin Butler and directed by Darren Aronofsky

Henry “call me Hank” Thompson used to play California baseball. Now he tends to a bar on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. When two Russians in tracksuits beat Hank to a pulp, he gets the clue: someone wants something from him. He just doesn’t know what it is, where it is, or how to make them understand he doesn’t have it. 

Within twenty-four hours, Hank is running over rooftops, playing hide-and-seek with the NYPD, riding the subway with a dead man at his side, and counting a whole lot of cash on a concrete floor. All because of some Russian hoods and a flat-out freakshow of goons. All because once, in another life, the only thing Hank wanted to steal was third base—without getting caught.

Henry “Hank” Thompson’s thrilling adventures continue:
CAUGHT STEALING • SIX BAD THINGS • A DANGEROUS MAN

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"Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir

Project Hail Mary

Andy Weir

Description

AS SEEN ON BARACK OBAMA'S 2021 SUMMER READING LIST
'THE MOST ENJOYABLE HARD SF I HAVE READ IN YEARS' THE GUARDIAN

OUT NOW from the bestselling author of THE MARTIAN

'Weir's finest work to date. . . This is the one book I read last year that I am certain I can recommend to anyone, no matter who, and know they'll love it.' BRANDON SANDERSON

'If you like a lot of science in your science fiction, Andy Weir is the writer for you. . . This one has everything fans of old school SF (like me) love.' GEORGE R.R. MARTIN

'Brilliantly funny and enjoyable. One of the most plausible science fiction books I've ever read' TIM PEAKE, astronaut
________________________________________
A lone astronaut.
An impossible mission.
An ally he never imagined.

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission - and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.

Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.

All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it's up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery-and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.

And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he's got to do it all alone.

Or does he?

An irresistible interstellar adventure as only Andy Weir could imagine it, Project Hail Mary is a tale of discovery, speculation, and survival to rival The Martian -- while taking us to places it never dreamed of going.
________________________________________
'One of the most original, compelling, and fun voyages I've ever taken.' ERNEST CLINE, author of Ready Player One and Ready Player Two

'Undisputedly the best book I've read in a very, very long time. Mark my words- Project Hail Mary is destined to become a classic.' BLAKE CROUCH

'An unforgettable story of survival and the power of friendship - nothing short of a science-fiction masterwork.' KIRKUS REVIEWS

'A suspenseful portrait of human ingenuity and resilience that builds to an unexpectedly moving ending. A winner.' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

'Weir returns with gusto . . . his writing flows naturally, and his characters and dialogue crackle with energy. With this novel, he takes his place as a genuine star in the mainstream SF world.' BOOKLIST

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wuthering heights

Wuthering Heights

Brontë, Emily

Description

At the centre of this novel is the passionate love between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff - recounted with such emotional intensity that a plain tale of the Yorkshire moors acquires the depth and simplicity of ancient tragedy.

 

This best-selling Norton Critical Edition is based on the 1847 first edition of the novel. For the Fourth Edition, the editor has collated the 1847 text with several modern editions and has corrected a number of variants, including accidentals. The text is accompanied by entirely new explanatory annotations.

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"Wicked" by Gregory Maguire

Wicked

Gregory Maguire

Description

When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum's classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious Witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked?

Gregory Maguire has created a fantasy world so rich and vivid that we will never look at Oz the same way again.

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vineland

Vineland

Pynchon, Thomas

Description

"Later than usual one summer morning in 1984 . . ." On California's fog-hung North Coast, the enchanted redwood groves of Vineland County harbor a wild assortment of Sixties survivors and refugees from the "Nixonian Reaction," still struggling with the consequences of their past lives. Aging hippie freak Zoyd Wheeler is revving up for his annual act of televised insanity when news reaches him that his old nemesis, sinister Federal agent Brock Vond, has come storming into Vineland at the head of a heavily armed Justice Department strike force. Zoyd instantly disappears underground, but not before dispatching his teenage daughter Prairie on a dark odyssey into her secret, unspeakable past . . .

Freely combining disparate elements from American pop culture - spy thrillers, Ninja potboilers, TV soap operas, sci-fi fantasies - Vineland emerges as what Salman Rushdie has called in the New York Times Book Review "that rarest of birds: a major political novel about what America has been doing to itself, to its children, all these many years."

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woman in cabin ten

The Woman in Cabin 10

Ruth Ware

Description

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER

FROM THE AUTHOR OF IN A DARK, DARK WOOD

Featured in TheSkimm

An Entertainment Weekly “Summer Must List” Pick

A New York Post “Summer Must-Read” Pick

Included in Summer Book Guides from Bustle, Oprah.com, PureWow, and USA TODAY 

An instant New York Times bestseller, The Woman in Cabin 10 is a gripping psychological thriller set at sea from an essential mystery writer in the tradition of Agatha Christie. 

In this tightly wound, enthralling story reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s works, Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins. The sky is clear, the waters calm, and the veneered, select guests jovial as the exclusive cruise ship, the Aurora, begins her voyage in the picturesque North Sea. At first, Lo’s stay is nothing but pleasant: the cabins are plush, the dinner parties are sparkling, and the guests are elegant. But as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a dark and terrifying nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard. The problem? All passengers remain accounted for—and so, the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo’s desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong…

With surprising twists, spine-tingling turns, and a setting that proves as uncomfortably claustrophobic as it is eerily beautiful, Ruth Ware offers up another taut and intense read in The Woman in Cabin 10—one that will leave even the most sure-footed reader restlessly uneasy long after the last page is turned.

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"Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley

Frankenstein

Mary Shelley

Description

"I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel." Immerse yourself in a haunting exploration of ambition and isolation, where the thirst for creation leads to tragedy and the quest for understanding unravels the very fabric of humanity. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a cornerstone of Gothic Literature. First published in 1818, it tells the tragic story of Victor Frankenstein, a driven scientist whose ambition to create life leads him to construct a sentient monster. As creation spirals into revenge, both creator and creation are engulfed in a cycle of tragedy and isolation, exploring profound themes of science and ethics, the duality of man, and the consequences of playing god. This classic novel remains a timeless reflection on the responsibilities of creation and the depths of human emotion, making it a must-read in the realm of gothic life books and classic novels with timeless emotions. Sneak Peak of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein book: "I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart." A stunning preservation of a literary masterpiece, this edition of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is perfect for classic literature enthusiasts or as a thoughtful gift for those who appreciate timeless emotions in classic novels. Whether you're adding to your thrift books collection or seeking a beautifully maintained copy of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein book, this gothic literature classic is an excellent choice. Tap the Buy Now Button and delve into one of the most influential works in gothic literature. Title Details Original Text: 1818 Genre: Gothic Literature

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"The Housemaid" by Freida McFadden

The Housemaid

Freida McFadden

Description

"Welcome to the family," Nina Winchester says as I shake her elegant, manicured hand. I smile politely, gazing around the marble hallway. Working here is my last chance to start fresh. I can pretend to be whoever I like. But I'll soon learn that the Winchesters' secrets are far more dangerous than my own...

 

Every day I clean the Winchesters' beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor.

 

I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew's handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it's hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina's life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband.

 

I only try on one of Nina's pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it's like. But she soon finds out... and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it's far too late.

 

But I reassure myself: the Winchesters don't know who I really am.

 

They don't know what I'm capable of...

 

An unbelievably twisty read that will have you glued to the pages late into the night. Anyone who loves The Woman in the Window, The Wife Between Us and The Girl on the Train won't be able to put this down!

 

Read what everyone's saying about The Housemaid:

 

"I could NOT put it down!... An incredible roller-coaster ride... This book left me hungry for more and I could not believe the ending!!" Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

"One wild ride!... So many twists and turns... I was hooked right away - I even read my Kindle while waiting in my kid's school pick-up line so I wouldn't have to put this book down!... addictive... pure perfection!" Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

"Terrific! Finished The Housemaid in one night, totally compulsively readable... the ending packs a wallop!" NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

"Wow what an amazing book! I couldn't put this down until the very last page... a perfect five stars. This one is by far my favorite book by this author yet." Bookishfirst, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

"I've yet to read a book by Freida McFadden that didn't blow me away! I finished this in one sitting, couldn't tear my eyes away... I did not see the plot twist coming at all! The ending was so satisfying but left me wanting even more." @bookscoffeemorebooks, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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"Hamnet" by Maggie O'Farrell

Hamnet

Maggie O'Farrell

Description

NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Now a major motion picture starring Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Emily Watson, and Joe Alwyn, directed by ACADEMY AWARD® winner Chloé Zhao.

The bestselling author of The Marriage Portrait delivers a deeply moving novel about the death of Shakespeare’s eleven-year-old son, Hamnet, and the years leading up to the production of his great play.

"Miraculous... brilliant... A novel told with the urgency of a whispered prayer — or curse... A richly drawn and intimate portrait of 16th-century English life set against the arrival of one devastating death." —Ron Charles, The Washington Post

England, 1580: The Black Death creeps across the land, an ever-present threat, infecting the healthy, the sick, the old and the young alike. The end of days is near, but life always goes on.

A young Latin tutor—penniless and bullied by a violent father—falls in love with an extraordinary, eccentric young woman. Agnes is a wild creature who walks her family’s land with a falcon on her glove and is known throughout the countryside for her unusual gifts as a healer, understanding plants and potions better than she does people. Once she settles with her husband on Henley Street in Stratford-upon-Avon, she becomes a fiercely protective mother and a steadfast, centrifugal force in the life of her young husband, whose career on the London stage is just taking off when his beloved young son succumbs to sudden fever.

Hamnet is mesmerizing, seductive, impossible to put down—a magnificent leap forward from one of our most gifted novelists.

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"Captain Marvel Vol. 1" by Kelly Sue Deconnick

Captain Marvel Vol. 1

Kelly Sue Deconnick

Description

"As Carol Danvers comes to a crossroads with a new life and new romance, she makes a dramatic decision that will alter the course of her life--and the entire Marvel Universe. But as Carol takes on a mission to return an alien girl to her homeworld, she lands in the middle of an uprising against the Galactic Alliance and the Spartax! Investigating the forced resettlement of Rocket Girl's people, Carol discovers she has a history with the man behind the plot. But when the bad guy tries to blackmail Carol and turn the Avengers against her, it's payback time!"--Page 4 of cover.
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"Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 Omnibus Volume 1" by Joss Whedon

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 Omnibus Volume 1

Joss Whedon

Description

Series creator Joss Whedon brought Buffy the Vampire Slayer back to life with this comics-only follow-up to Season 7 of the television show. Aptly named Season 8, these comics are the official sequel to Buffy and continue where the live-action series left off with the Slayer, her friends, and their ongoing challenge to fight the forces of darkness.


After the destruction of the Hellmouth, the Slayers--newly legion--have gotten organized, but it's not long before new and old enemies begin popping up. Buffy, Xander, Willow, and a very different Dawn are introduced to the season's big bad, Twilight, and begin to understand the incredible reach of this mysterious threat. Meanwhile, rebel Slayer Faith teams up with Giles to handle a menace on the other side of the Atlantic. It's a dirty job, and Faith is just the girl to do it! Then, as Twilight's ominous influence continues to expand Buffy and her Slayers travel to Tokyo to face a new kind of vampire with powers they've only witnessed in Dracula . . . And, when trouble with Buffy's scythe comes to light, Willow and Buffy head to New York to investigate the secrets behind the ancient weapon; ever full of the unexpected, Buffy is transported to a dystopian future where her first chance meeting is with Fray, future Slayer!

This oversized omnibus edition is one of two volumes that will contain the entirety of Season 8. It includes the first four arcs of the series along with one-shots and short stories written by Joss Whedon, Brian K. Vaughan, Drew Goddard, and Jeph Loeb, with art by the acclaimed Georges Jeanty, as well as Karl Moline, Paul Lee, Cliff Richards, and more.

“Joss Whedon, the man, the myth, the legend, writes the comic with the same genius as he did the show. The art, penciled by Georges Jeanty, is as faboo as the writing.”—Janet Evanovich, New York Times best-selling author of Hard Eight
 
Buffy the comic might be every bit as good as Buffy the TV show.”—Entertainment Weekly (featured as one of the Best Comics of 2007)

“Vaughan is a fantastic writer that conveys emotion and character to a degree of perfection.”—Wired
 
“Drew Goddard is a rare breed: a genre writer who crafts truly inspired characters and lyrical, emotional scenes.”—J. J. Abrams (Alias, Lost, Cloverfield)
 
Buffy Season 8 is run like the television series from which it came . . . a classic evolving specimen for this era of ever shifting media platforms.”—Los Angeles Times
 
“The whole gang returns, kicking ass and splitting infinitives in Whedon’s inimitable dialogue.”—Wired 
 
“Series creator Whedon effectively sucks devotees back into his Hellmouth.”—Entertainment Weekly

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"Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow" by Tom King

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow

Tom King

Description

Kara Zor-El can no longer find any meaning or purpose in her life. But all that changes when an alien girl seeks her out to help her take revenge on the bad guys who destroyed her world. Now a Kryptonian, a dog, and an angry, heartbroken child head into space on a journey that will shake them to their very core. It’s Supergirl like you’ve never seen her before in a character-defining sci-fi/fantasy masterpiece! Collects the entire miniseries Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #1-8.

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"She-Hulk by Rainbow Rowell Vol. 1: Jen, Again" by Rainbow Rowell

She-Hulk by Rainbow Rowell Vol. 1: Jen, Again

Rainbow Rowell

Description

Smashing new adventures starring the best character ever! Jennifer Walters, the Sensational She-Hulk, is no longer savage - and now she needs to put her life back together. She's got a legal career to rebuild, friends to reacquaint herself with (and maybe represent in a court of law) and enemies to...well, she may not want to connect with them, but they are definitely going to connect with her. And Jen is about to be sent down a road she's never traveled - one that will shake up her life...and possibly the whole Marvel Universe! One of the most dangerous things ever to exist lands in She-Hulk's lap, and she's got to figure out what the heck to do with it. Good luck with that, Jen! And with...Super Fight Club?! Collecting SHE-HULK (2022) #1-5.

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"Batgirl Vol. 1: The Darkest Reflection (The New 52)" by Gail Simone

Batgirl Vol. 1: The Darkest Reflection (The New 52)

Gail Simone

Description

A New York Times Best Seller!

As a part of the acclaimed DC Comics—The New 52 event of September 2011, Barbara Gordon is finally back as Batgirl!

The nightmare-inducing brute known as Mirror is destroying the lives of Gotham City citizens seemingly at random. Will Barbara be able to survive her explosive confrontation with this new villain, as well as facing dark secrets from her past? A new chapter in the riveting adventures of Batgirl continue in stunning fashion, with script by fan-favorite Gail Simone and stellar art by superstar Ardian Syaf!

This volume colles issues 1-6 of Batgirl, part of the DC Comics—The New 52 event.

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"A-Force Presents Vol. 1" by G. Willow Wilson, Nathan Edmondson, Kelly Sue DeConnick, and Jason Aaron

A-Force Presents Vol. 1

G. Willow Wilson

Description

Marvel's most amazing heroes step into the spotlight in this all action book packed with adventure, danger, drama...and fun! Black Widow seeks redemption for her past - in ways that the Avengers wouldn't approve! When Carol Danvers takes on the legacy of Captain Marvel, she'll live her dream of traveling to the stars! Teenage Kamala Khan fights crime as Ms. Marvel...but is she ready for this dangerous new life? She-Hulk isn't just a green powerhouse - she's an attorney with legal skills that will knock her opponents' socks off! A mysterious woman lifts the hammer Mjolnir, and claims the powers of the mighty Thor! And Squirrel Girl faces her most dangerous challenge yet: college! Collecting: Black Widow (2014) #1, Captain Marvel (2014) #1, Ms. Marvel (2014) #1, She-Hulk (2014) #1, Thor (2014) #1, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (2015) #1.

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"Harley Quinn and the Gotham City Sirens: DC Compact Comics Edition" by Paul Dini

Harley Quinn and the Gotham City Sirens: DC Compact Comics Edition

Paul Dini

Description



Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn are tired of playing by other peoples' rules regardless of which side of the law they're on. They have a new agenda that's all their own, and they'll use any means necessary to pursue it. But can they get along and work as a team? And who will get hurt along the way?

Collects Gotham City Sirens #1-13.

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"Something is Killing the Children Omnibus Vol. 1" by James Tynion IV

Something is Killing the Children Omnibus Vol. 1

James Tynion IV

Description

The iconic story of monsters, and the ones who hunt them, that began the award-winning, bestselling horror phenomenon is assembled in one convenient omnibus collection.

WHAT IS ABDUCTING THE CHILDREN OF ARCHER'S PEAK?

When the children in a sleepy Wisconsin town begin to go missing, all hope seems lost. Most children never return, and those that do have terrible stories of terrifying creatures that live in the shadows. But even monsters fear the mysterious stranger that arrives shortly after. She believes the children and claims to be the only who sees what they can see...

Her name is Erica Slaughter. She kills monsters. This is all she does, and she bears the cost because it must be done.

The definitive collection of the entire “Archer’s Peak” saga by GLAAD Award-winning writer James Tynion IV (Department of Truth, Batman) and artist Werther Dell'Edera (Razorblades) is assembled here in a single volume.

Collects Something is Killing the Children #1-20.

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"Zatanna: Bring Down the House" by Mariko Tamaki

Zatanna: Bring Down the House

Mariko Tamaki

Description

Zatanna's past and present collide in a brand-new series by Eisner Award-winning writer Mariko Tamaki (Harley Quinn- Breaking Glass, I Am Not Starfire) and Javier Rodriguez!

After a deadly mistake left her terrified of her own abilities, Zatanna found a home for herself in Las Vegas performing a free show full of sleight-of-hand and cheap card tricks at the crappiest casino on the strip. It's not exactly glamourous-or heroic-but it sure beats the risk of dabbling in real magic! That is, until a mysterious stranger plunges Zatanna's world into chaos, dredging up old wounds and cracking open an inter-dimensional rift in the process!

Now, Zatanna will have to face her fears and embrace her powers whether she wants to or not! But will the magic words do the trick, or will it all collapse around her like a house of cards?

This volume collects Zatanna- Bring Down The House #1-5.

This title was selected as New York Public Library Best New Comics for Adults 2025!

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"Wonder Woman Earth One Vol 1" by Grant Morrison

Wonder Woman Earth One Vol 1

Grant Morrison

Description

A #1 New York Times Bestseller!

From the masterful minds of Grant Morrison (FINAL CRISIS, DOOM PATROL, THE MULTIVERSITY) and Yanick Paquette (SWAMP THING, BATMAN, INC.) comes the most provocative origin of Wonder Woman you've ever seen--a wholly unique retelling that still honors her roots.

For millennia, the Amazons of Paradise Island have created a thriving society away from the blight of man. One resident, however, is not satisfied with this secluded life--Diana, Princess of the Amazons, knows there is more in this world and wants to explore, only to be frustrated by her protective mother, Hippolyta. Diana finds her escape when Air Force pilot Steve Trevor, the first man she has ever seen, crashes onto their shores. With his life hanging in the balance, Diana ventures into the long-forbidden world of men. The Amazons chase after her and bring her back to Paradise Island in chains to face trial for breaking their oldest law--staying separated from the world that wronged them.

Thought-provoking yet reverent, thoroughly modern but still timeless, the power and courage of Paradise Island's greatest champion--Wonder Woman--is introduced in this new addition to DC Comics' New York Times best-selling Earth One original graphic novel series.

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"Heiress of Nowhere" by Stacey Lee

Heiress of Nowhere

Stacey Lee

Description

Two starred reviews!

An orphan races to uncover a killer—who may have come from the sea—when she and her beloved orcas fall under suspicion in this “atmospheric…beguiling” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) historical gothic mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of The Downstairs Girl, Stacey Lee.

1918. Orcas Island, Washington.

Lucy Nowhere has spent her eighteen years working on the vast estate of the eccentric shipbuilder who took her in after she washed ashore in a green canoe as a baby. But she has long wished for a life off the island, and in a matter of days, she is set to leave for college—and, for the first time, choose her own future.

Then she finds her employer’s severed head on the beach. Rumors swirl that a mischievous spirit and its minions, the sea wolves, have struck again. Lucy doesn’t believe in myths. She knows that a human—a human murderer—killed him. And when she is unexpectedly named heiress to the estate, she understands the next target is her.

Her closest friend, the estate’s vigilant young guard, begs her to escape while she can. But Lucy knows the only way she can discover who she is, and free the island of its curse, is to find the real killer—before she becomes the next victim.

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"Right as Rain" by Tashie Bhuiyan

Right as Rain

Tashie Bhuiyan

Description

"I was struck by lightning and now there's rain following me around. I was struck by lightning and now there's rain following me around."

Recent high-school graduate Megh Rashid has plans to escape to the other side of the country for college and leave behind the stormy household she’s been trapped in for years. But things are complicated when she gets struck by lightning right before the start of a prestigious summer internship that’s key to her getting accepted to her dream university, and she wakes up to a storm cloud that follows her everywhere, seemingly attuned to her every emotion. 

Megh’s struggles with depression, fear of leaving her home and loved ones, and uncertainty about her future cause the cloud to act up, creating rainstorms that dampen her spirits and her hopes of making an impact at her internship. With the help of fellow intern Lev Osman, a boy whose warmth makes her feel less alone, Megh has to find a way to control her feelings and decide what she’s willing to sacrifice in order to secure her desired future.

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"When I Was Death" by Alexis Henderson

When I Was Death

Alexis Henderson

Description

Final Destination meets House of Hollow in this haunting and lyrical speculative horror about a group of girls doing Death's bidding in exchange for preserving their own lives.

'The kind of story I wish I could experience for the first time all over again.' Angela Montoya, author of A Cruel Thirst

Roslyn Volk isn't herself any more. It's been almost a year since her older sister, Adeline, died under suspicious circumstances, and she's still shackled by grief. When six mysterious girls appear in town one morning, Roslyn finds herself inexplicably drawn to them, soon learning that Adeline spent her last summer with the group.

Desperate to find out what really happened to her sister, Roslyn agrees to accompany the girls on their road trip. But this strange sisterhood share an inconceivable secret. All of them have been spared from Death's clutches and now must pay for the privilege. Gifted with Death's touch, the girls travel the country reaping other people's souls in return for preserving their own lives.

As Roslyn becomes more entangled with the girls, in particular the group's leader Shiloh who she gravitates towards, it becomes clear there is only one way to discover the truth about her sister. She must strike her own deal with Death . . .

Praise for When I Was Death-

'Atmospheric and achingly lyrical. When I Was Death is a tale of untamed girlhood, defiant loyalty and a relentless search for truth.' Sophie Clark, author of Cruel is the Light

'Henderson's hauntingly beautiful prose explores how girlhood and grief are often intertwined. I savoured every single page.' Cynthia Murphy, author of Win Lose Kill Die

'Hauntingly beautiful and equally heart-wrenching, When I Was Death explores love and loss in a way that both hurts and heals. Henderson has crafted an intimate, powerful and utterly unputdownable tale.' Channelle Desamours, author of Needy Little Things

'A searing portrayal of girlhood, at once sparkling and violently dark. When I Was Death is thrilling and wholly original.' Goldy Moldavsky, author of The Last Girl

'This is girlhood at its darkest and most glittering. When I Was Death is the culty road trip fantasy of your dreams. It's horror with heart, unafraid to explore the sharp edges of friendship and sisterhood.' Maria Meservey, author of The Ironfell Inheritance

'Henderson's prose glows with honesty, her characters richly textured and utterly alive.' Abby Dewsnup, author of Rabbit Heart

'I couldn't put it down! When I Was Death is brilliant from start to finish.' Abiola Bello, author of Love in Winter Wonderland

'A beautiful exploration of grief and girlhood. Five stars. I'll be haunted by this one for a long time.' Beth Tomlin, author of To Hell With You

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"Midnight on the Celestial" by Julia Alexandra

Midnight on the Celestial

Julia Alexandra

Description

Roe Damarcus has never been afraid of the dead. Her power to summon spirits has awed the guests of her esteemed family’s galas for as long as she can remember. Her future is certain, and her gift will be another shining jewel in the Damarcus legacy.

But when she fails her realm’s trial to keep her magic and is deemed too dangerous for society, she faces a harrowing choice: give up her gift or serve a punishment sentence aboard the Celestial, a luxurious magical cruise ship where staff members compete for guest votes to earn a coveted retrial.

As a concierge, Roe juggles the demands of affluent guests, cruel bosses, and the suspicion that an infuriatingly handsome silks performer, Ivander, is determined to keep her from a retrial.

But the true dangers surface after her shift ends when the Celestial transforms into halls of nightmares that kill staff members after dark. Faced with the reality of serving aboard, Roe begins to question the ship, trials, and the system that put her there. But the moment Roe sinks into the ship's dark history, she's wrongly framed for a guest's murder. Vowing to conjure her own second chance, Roe will use whatever power she has to uncover the secrets of the ship, her family, and their entwined bloody past... before she becomes the Celestial’s next victim.

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"Estela, Undrowning" by René Peña-Govea

Estela, Undrowning

René Peña-Govea

Description

In her raw and resonant debut novel, René Peña-Govea seamlessly interweaves prose and poetry to uplift the power of language, the courage to fight injustice, and the complex beauty of finding your people--perfect for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo's The Poet X and Carolina Ixta's Shut Up, This is Serious.

Estela Morales is one of the only Latinas who tested into San Francisco's most exclusive public high school. In her senior year, Estela just wants to keep her head down, eke out a passing grade from her racist Spanish teacher, and get into her dream college.

But after placing second in the Latiné Heritage Poetry Contest behind a non-Latino student, Estela is thrust into citywide debates about merit, identity, and diversity.

Things only get messier when her family is threatened with eviction. As Estela's friends organize against bigotry and her landlady increases the pressure, Estela is suffocating and finds release only in poetry and in a breathless new romance. When tensions finally reach their breaking point, Estela must find a way to undrown the community she loves--and herself.

 

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"The Oks Are Not OK" by Grace K. Shim

The Oks Are Not OK

Grace K. Shim

Description

A contemporary young adult novel by Grace K. Shim that mixes the humor of Schitt’s Creek with the heritage and heart of Minari.

Seventeen-year-old Elena Ok (pronounced “Oak”) has mastered the art of being both a Los Angeles party girl and financially savvy influencer, but her family doesn’t see the brilliance behind her carefully curated image. Instead, they endlessly praise her older brother, Gavin, whose most impressive achievement is consistently forgetting his homework. All of Elena’s hard work and social clout disintegrates when the Oks, founders of the wildly popular (and now bankrupt) fast-fashion brand It’s Ok! (pronounced “OKAY”), lose their fortune overnight.

With their empire crumbling and an investigation underway, the Oks flee to Blaire, CA—a farming town that’s as glamorous as Temu. Mr. Ok, a now-disgraced retail mogul, and Mrs. Ok, a now-also-disgraced fashion-forward matriarch, realize they’ve spent decades perfecting their public personas at the expense of actually knowing their kids. Meanwhile, Elena and Gavin are stuck in the middle of nowhere, with nothing to distract them from their family’s unraveling dynamics—or each other’s annoying habits.

But life in Blaire isn’t all bad. As the family reconnects with their Korean farming heritage, Elena discovers a hidden gem: the Blaire Fair, the local market brimming with untapped potential. Applying her business savvy, she helps the small-town vendors thrive and sees how they put their profits back into the community. For the first time, Elena begins to question her own definition of success.

The Oks Are Not OK offers humor and drama to tell a story about family, self-discovery, and the fine line between building a brand and building a life.

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"Ramin Abbas Has MAJOR Questions" by Ahmad Saber

Ramin Abbas Has MAJOR Questions

Ahmad Saber

Description

“An ode to the courage it takes to live with authenticity.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) 

An intensely brave, beautifully honest, and wryly funny story about a gay Muslim teen who has to choose between being true to himself or his faith—and his realization that maybe they aren’t as separate as he thought.

Ramin Abbas has spent his whole life obeying his parents, his Imam, and, of course, Allahno questions asked. But when he starts crushing on the ridiculously handsome captain of the soccer team, so many things he’d always been so sure about are becoming questions:

1. Music is haram. But what if the Wicked soundtrack is the only thing keeping you sane because you’re being forced to play on the soccer team? With Captain Handsome?! 

2. A boy crush is double haram, and Ramin’s parents will never accept it. But can he really be the only Muslim on Earth who feels this way?

3. Allah is merciful and makes no mistakes. Then isn’t Ramin just the way Allah intended him to be?

And so why should living your truth but losing everythingor living a lie and losing yourselfhave to be a choice?!

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"Slow Burn" by Bethany Rutter

Slow Burn

Bethany Rutter

Description

A sporty, feel-good, body-positive rom-com pits a plus-size teen against her bullies to prove what she already knows--that she has exactly the right stuff.

Sixteen-year-old Ruby has worked hard to be happy in her body, even when other people--including her brother and her PE teacher--insist there's something wrong with her for being fat. All Ruby cares about is hanging out at the skate park this summer with friends. But her brother's bullying words get under her skin, and in order to prove to him (and her impressionable little sister) that fat girls can do anything, Ruby finds herself signed up for the annual 5K Dawson Dash. There's just one problem: She can't run. The cute new boy next door can, however, and when Ollie offers to help her train, Ruby takes him up on it, even if it means he'll see her at her sweatiest and most vulnerable. Young athletes of all stripes, especially those marginalized in sports due to body differences, will find a hero in good-humored Ruby. With its all-audience appeal, her joyful story delivers upbeat romance and affirmation that our bodies are just right, just the way they are.

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"The Fall of Iris Henley" by Jennifer Graham

The Fall of Iris Henley

Jennifer Graham

Description

For fans of Megan Lally and Kara Thomas, a twisty thriller about a Texas teen accused of murder who's desperate to clear her name.

All it takes to ruin someone’s life is the stroke of a key. Just ask Iris Henley. Her life is destroyed when someone posts an anonymous message on her high school’s subreddit thread: “Iris Henley is a killer. I’ve been too scared to come forward until now, but I saw her murder Rocky and Lynette last summer.”

Just like that, Iris loses everything. Her reputation. Her friends. Her hope of getting into college on scholarship. Even, possibly, her freedom, once the police start to investigate. After all, she’s the perfect suspect: Rocky was her boyfriend, and Lynette was her ex-best friend—and the girl he was cheating on her with. But Iris didn’t do it, and now it’s up to her to clear her name by finding out who did—before it’s too late. 

Propulsive, sharp, and absolutely twisty from the New York Times bestselling author who brought readers the Veronica Mars duology, Jennifer Graham's YA thriller is unputdownable.

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"Paradise Coast" by Suzanne Young

Paradise Coast

Suzanne Young

Description

Rival groups of local and wealthy teens in a small Everglades town confront the secrets that rise from the waters in the wake of a hurricane in this sizzling and suspenseful thriller from New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Young—perfect for fans of Outer Banks and The White Lotus.

Some secrets won’t stay buried. Not even in the Everglades.

Deep in the Everglades, there was once a luxurious and legendary hotel enjoyed by the wealthy elite. Until one mysterious night when a fire tore through the building, killing a young socialite and casting blame on a local dock worker. Soon after, the hotel vanished, swallowed up by the wetlands like it never existed at all. 

Until now.

When a powerful hurricane unearths the ruins of the long-forgotten hotel, the past is dragged back to the surface as clues to the devasting truth about the night of the fire are revealed. 

It’s the truth that die-hard local Noa and her friends have been chasing for years in the hopes of clearing their ancestor’s name and pushing back against the rich families trying to force them out. With the help of Jamie, the rebellious son of a wealthy businessman, Noa and her crew begin a desperate fight for the justice they deserve. 

It won’t be easy. Because the wealthy control just about everything on Paradise Coast—including the truth. And they will do whatever it takes, even kill, to make sure the past stays buried.

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mad,bad

Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know

Ahmed, Samira

Description

Told in alternating narratives that bridge centuries, the latest novel from bestselling author Samira Ahmed traces the lives of two young women fighting to write their own stories and escape the pressure of familial burdens and cultural expectations in worlds too long defined by men.

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we are the beasts

We Are the Beasts

Griffis, Gigi

Description

In eighteenth century France, sixteen-year-old Joséphine and her best friend Clara use a mysterious beast conveniently blamed for the villagers' crimes to protect young girls from abusive men in power.

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the queen's spade

The Queen's Spade

Raughley, Sarah

Description

"The year is 1862 and murderous desires are simmering in England. Nineteen-year-old Sarah Bonetta Forbes (Sally), once a princess of the Egbado Clan, desires one thing above all else: revenge against the British Crown and its system of colonial 'humanitarianism,' which stole her dignity and transformed her into royal property. From military men to political leaders, she's vowed to ruin all who've had a hand in her afflictions...Inspired by the true story of Sarah Forbes Bonetta, Queen Victoria's African goddaughter"

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code name verity

Code Name Verity

Wein, Elizabeth.

Description

In 1943, a British fighter plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France and the survivor tells a tale of friendship, war, espionage, and great courage as she relates what she must to survive while keeping secret all that she can.

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the davenports

The Davenports

Marquis, Krystal

Description

"The Davenports are one of the few Black families of immense wealth and status in a changing United States, their fortune made through the entrepreneurship of William Davenport, a formerly enslaved man who founded the Davenport Carriage Company years ago. Now it's 1910, and the Davenports live surrounded by servants, crystal chandeliers, and endless parties, finding their way and finding love--even where they're not supposed to. There is Olivia, the beautiful elder Davenport daughter, ready to do her duty by getting married... until she meets the charismatic civil rights leader Washington DeWight and sparks fly. The younger daughter, Helen, is more interested in fixing cars than falling in love--unless it's with her sister's suitor. Amy-Rose, the childhood friend turned maid to the Davenport sisters, dreams of opening her own business--and marrying the one man she could never be with, Olivia and Helen's brother, John. But Olivia's best friend, Ruby, also has her sights set on John Davenport, though she can't seem to keep his interest... until family pressure has her scheming to win his heart, just as someone else wins hers"-- Amazon.com.

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kill her twice

Kill Her Twice

Lee, Stacey

Description

A YA murder mystery noir set in 1930s Los Angeles's Chinatown, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Downstairs Girl.

 

"A captivating and crackling noir full of suspenseful twists. Readers will fall in love with the Chow sisters and their quest for the truth." --Kathleen Glasgow, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Pieces and The Agathas

 

LOS ANGELES, 1932: Lulu Wong, star of the silver screen and the pride of Chinatown, has a face known to practically everyone, especially the Chow sisters--May, Gemma, and Peony--Lulu's former classmates and neighbors. So the girls instantly know it's Lulu when they discover a body one morning in an out-of-the-way stable, far from the Beverly Hills home where she lived after her fame skyrocketed.

 

The sisters suspect Lulu's death is the result of foul play, but the police don't seem motivated to investigate. Even worse, there are signs that point to a cover-up, and powerful forces in the city want to frame the killing as evidence that Chinatown is a den of iniquity and crime, even more reason it should be demolished to make room for the construction of a new railway depot, Union Station.

 

Worried that neither the police nor the papers will treat Lulu fairly--no matter her fame and wealth--the sisters set out to solve their friend's murder themselves, and maybe save their neighborhood in the bargain. But with Lulu's killer still on the loose, the girls' investigation just might put them square in the crosshairs of a cold-blooded murderer.

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"All the Stars Denied" by Guadalupe Garcia McCall

All the Stars Denied

Guadalupe Garcia McCall

Description

In a companion novel to her critically acclaimed Shame the Stars, Pura Belpré Award Winner Guadalupe García McCall tackles the first mass deportation event in the US, which swept up hundreds of thousands of Mexican American citizens during the Great Depression.

It's the heart of the Great Depression and Rancho Las Moras, like everywhere else in Texas, is gripped by the drought of the Dust Bowl, and resentment is building among White farmers against Mexican Americans. All around town, signs go up proclaiming "No Dogs or Mexicans" and "No Mexicans Allowed."

So when Estrella organizes a protest against the treatment of Tejanos, her whole family becomes a target of "repatriation" efforts to send Mexicans "back to Mexico" -- whether they were ever Mexican citizens or not. Dumped across the border and separated from half her family, Estrella must figure out a way to survive and care for her mother and baby brother. How can she reunite with her father and grandparents and convince her country of birth that she deserves to return home?

In this companion novel to her critically acclaimed Shame the Stars Guadalupe García McCall reveals the hidden history of the first mass deportation event that swept up hundreds of thousands of Mexican American citizens during the Great Depression.

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"Between Shades of Gray" by Ruta Sepetys

Between Shades of Gray

Ruta Sepetys

Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the award-winning author of Salt to the Sea comes a “superb” (The Wall Street Journal), “eye-opening” (Los Angeles Times) novel of survival and hope in the darkest of places—the inspiration for the major motion picture Ashes in the Snow

"Few books are beautifully written, fewer still are important; this novel is both." —The Washington Post

WINNER OF THE GOLDEN KITE AWARD • A CARNEGIE MEDAL NOMINEE • A WILLIAM C. MORRIS AWARD FINALIST • A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK OF THE CENTURY

A knock comes at the door in the dead of night, and Lina’s life changes in an instant. With her young brother and mother, she is hauled away by the Soviet secret police from her home in Lithuania and thrown into a cattle car en route to Siberia. Separated from her father, Lina secretly passes along clues in the form of drawings, hoping they will reach his prison camp. But will her letters, or her courage, be enough to reunite her family? Will they be enough to keep her alive?

A moving and haunting novel about loss, fear, and ultimately, survival, Between Shades of Gray is a tour de force of historical and emotional storytelling.

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"Songs of Irie" by Asha Ashanti Bromfield

Songs of Irie

Asha Ashanti Bromfield

Description

"A devastating and nuanced look at two teens’ battle for freedom, hope, independence, and love." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Perfect for fans of The Black Kids, Songs of Irie is a sweeping coming-of-age novel from Asha Bromfield about a budding romance struggling to survive amidst the Jamaican civil unrest of the 1970s.

It's 1976 and Jamaica is on fire. The country is on the eve of important elections and the warring political parties have made the divisions between the poor and the wealthy even wider. And Irie and Jilly come from very different backgrounds: Irie is from the heart of Kingston, where fighting in the streets is common. Jilly is from the hills, where mansions nestled within lush gardens remain safe behind gates. But the two bond through a shared love of Reggae music, spending time together at Irie's father's record store, listening to so-called rebel music that opens Jilly's mind to a sound and a way of thinking she's never heard before.

As tensions build in the streets, so do tensions between the two girls. A budding romance between them complicates things further as the push and pull between their two lives becomes impossible to bear. For Irie, fighting—with her words and her voice—is her only option. Blood is shed on the streets in front of her every day. She has no choice. But Jilly can always choose to escape.

Can their bond survive this impossible divide?

Asha Bromfield has written a compelling, emotional and heart-rending story of a friendship during wartime and what it means to fight for your words, your life, and the love of your life.

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"Last Night at the Telegraph Club" by Malinda Lo

Last Night at the Telegraph Club

Malinda Lo

Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD AND STONEWALL BOOK AWARD • From acclaimed author Malinda Lo comes a gripping, tender coming-of-age novel exploring identity, queerness, and historical upheaval set in San Francisco’s Chinatown during the 1950s.

“Lush, ambitious and layered, Malinda Lo’s sweeping historical novel is the queer romance we’ve been waiting for.”—Ms. Magazine

Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu can't remember exactly when the feeling took root—that desire to look, to move closer, to touch. Whenever it started growing, it definitely bloomed the moment she and Kathleen Miller walked under the flashing neon sign of a lesbian bar called the Telegraph Club. Suddenly, everything seemed possible.

But America in 1954 is not a safe place for two girls to fall in love, especially not in Chinatown. Red-Scare paranoia threatens everyone, including Chinese Americans like Lily. With deportation looming over her father—despite his hard-won citizenship—Lily and Kath risk everything to let their love see the light of day.

Meticulously researched, emotionally stirring, and startlingly brave, Last Night at the Telegraph Club is a standout work of historical fiction that has taken the world by storm. 

Winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature • A Michael L. Printz Honor Book • A We Need Diverse Books Walter Dean Myers Honor Book • A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist • A Kirkus Reviews Best Young Adult Book of the Century

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Claire McCardell

Claire McCardell

Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson

Description

Named one of The New York Times’s 100 Notable Books of 2025

The riveting hidden history of Claire McCardell, the most influential fashion designer you’ve never heard of. 

Claire McCardell forever changed fashion—and most importantly, the lives of women. She shattered cultural norms around women’s clothes, and today much of what we wear traces back to her ingenious, rebellious mind. McCardell invented ballet flats and mix-and-match separates, and she introduced wrap dresses, hoodies, leggings, denim, and more into womenswear. She tossed out corsets in favor of a comfortably elegant look and insisted on pockets, even as male designers didn’t see a need for them. She made zippers easy to reach because a woman “may live alone and like it,” McCardell once wrote, “but you may regret it if you wrench your arm trying to zip a back zipper into place.”

After World War II, McCardell fought the severe, hyper-feminized silhouette championed by male designers, like Christian Dior. Dior claimed that he wanted to “save women from nature.” McCardell, by contrast, wanted to set women free. Claire McCardell became, as the young journalist Betty Friedan called her in 1955, “The Gal Who Defied Dior.” 

Filled with personal drama and industry secrets, this story reveals how Claire McCardell built an empire at a time when women rarely made the upper echelons of business. At its core, hers is a story about our right to choose how we dress—and our right to choose how we live.

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counterfeit countess

The Counterfeit Countess

Elizabeth B. White

Description

The “remarkable…inspiring” (The Wall Street Journal) true story of Dr. Josephine Janina Mehlberg—a Jewish mathematician who saved thousands of lives in Nazi-occupied Poland by masquerading as a Polish aristocrat—drawing on Mehlberg’s own unpublished memoir.

World War II and the Holocaust have given rise to many stories of resistance and rescue, but The Counterfeit Countess is unique. It tells the astonishing unknown story of “Countess Janina Suchodolska,” a Jewish woman who rescued more than 10,000 Poles imprisoned by Poland’s Nazi occupiers, becoming “a heroine for the ages” (Larry Loftis, author of The Watchmaker’s Daughter).

Mehlberg operated in Lublin, Poland, headquarters of Aktion Reinhard, the SS operation that murdered 1.7 million Jews in occupied Poland. Using the identity papers of a Polish aristocrat, she worked as a welfare official while also serving in the Polish resistance. With guile, cajolery, and steely persistence, the “Countess” persuaded SS officials to release thousands of Poles from the Majdanek concentration camp. She won permission to deliver food and medicine—even decorated Christmas trees—for thousands more of the camp’s prisoners. At the same time, she personally smuggled supplies and messages to resistance fighters imprisoned in Majdanek, where 63,000 Jews were murdered in gas chambers and shooting pits. Incredibly, she eluded detection, and ultimately survived the war and emigrated to the US.

Drawing on the manuscript of Mehlberg’s own unpublished memoir supplemented with prodigious research, Elizabeth White and Joanna Sliwa, professional historians and Holocaust experts, have uncovered the full story of this remarkable woman. They interweave Mehlberg’s sometimes harrowing personal testimony with broader historical narrative. Like The Light of Days, Schindler’s List, and Irena’s Children, The Counterfeit Countess is a “riveting…stunning” (Debbie Cenziper, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author of Citizen 865) account of inspiring courage in the face of unspeakable cruelty.

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"The Westerners" by Megan Kate Nelson

The Westerners

Megan Kate Nelson

Description

From award-winning historian Megan Kate Nelson, an epic account of the creation of the American West in the 19th century, shattering the traditional frontier myth that has dominated popular American culture.

The Westerners tells two richly detailed and interwoven stories. The first reveals the captivating lives of women and men moving through the American West—Indigenous peoples, Black Americans, Mexican Americans, and Canadian and Asian immigrants—in the 19th century. The second tracks the attempts of many Americans to erase these westerners from history, through a frontier myth that lionized individualism and conquest and celebrated white settlers traveling west in search of prosperity.

Nelson’s vivid, eye-opening account centers on seven extraordinary individuals whose lives capture the true history of the frontier: Sacajawea, not just Lewis and Clark’s guide but an explorer who forged her own path; Jim Beckwourth, a biracial fur trader whose sharp cultural insight made him indispensable; María Gertrudis Barceló, a Hispana gambling saloon owner who broke every stereotype to become the wealthiest woman in Santa Fe; Ovando Hollister, a gold miner, soldier, and newspaper man who championed Western expansion; Little Wolf, a Northern Cheyenne chief whose courageous leadership secured his people’s future; Canadian immigrant Ella Watson, who strove to become a ranch woman in a male-dominated world; and the defiant Polly Bemis, a Chinese immigrant who carved out a life in Idaho despite federal expulsion efforts.

Nelson roots this bold new history of the American West in the deep research and gripping storytelling that have garnered her critical acclaim. Highlighting the perseverance and ingenuity of the communities that have otherwise been forgotten or erased from history, The Westerners challenges us to reimagine who we are and where we came from.

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jane austen's bookshelf

Jane Austen's Bookshelf

Rebecca Romney

Description

From rare book dealer and guest star of the hit show Pawn Stars, a page-turning literary adventure featuring “your favorite author’s favorite authors” (Today)—the women who inspired Jane Austen—that’s “a meditation on reading and writing, on honesty and self-discovery—and on what books can teach us, if we let them” (The Washington Post).

Long before she was a rare book dealer, Rebecca Romney was a devoted reader of Jane Austen. She loved that Austen’s books took the lives of women seriously, explored relationships with wit and confidence, and always, allowed for the possibility of a happy ending. She read and reread them, often wishing Austen wrote just one more.

But Austen wasn’t a lone genius. She wrote at a time of great experimentation for women writers—and clues about those women, and the exceptional books they wrote, are sprinkled like breadcrumbs throughout Austen’s work. Every character in Northanger Abbey who isn’t a boor sings the praises of Ann Radcliffe. The play that causes such a stir in Mansfield Park is a real one by the playwright Elizabeth Inchbald. In fact, the phrase “pride and prejudice” came from Frances Burney’s second novel Cecilia. The women that populated Jane Austen’s bookshelf profoundly influenced her work; Austen looked up to them, passionately discussed their books with her friends, and used an appreciation of their books as a litmus test for whether someone had good taste. So where had these women gone? Why hadn’t Romney—despite her training—ever read them? Or, in some cases, even heard of them? And why were they no longer embraced as part of the wider literary canon?

Jane Austen’s Bookshelf investigates the disappearance of Austen’s heroes—women writers who were erased from the Western canon—to reveal who they were, what they meant to Austen, and how they were forgotten. Each chapter profiles a different writer including Frances Burney, Ann Radcliffe, Charlotte Lennox, Charlotte Smith, Hannah More, Elizabeth Inchbald, Hester Lynch Thrale Piozzi, and Maria Edgeworth—and recounts Romney’s experience reading them, finding rare copies of their works, and drawing on connections between their words and Austen’s. Romney collects the once-famed works of these forgotten writers, physically recreating Austen’s bookshelf and making a convincing case for why these books should be placed back on the to-be-read pile of all book lovers today. Jane Austen’s Bookshelf will encourage you to look beyond assigned reading lists, question who decides what belongs there, and build your very own collection of favorite novels.

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Access

Rebecca Grant

Description

From the award-winning author of Birth, a journey into the underground activist networks that have been working to protect women’s autonomy over their bodies amidst legal, political, religious, and cultural oppression over the past sixty years.

In this definitive, eye-opening history, award-winning author Rebecca Grant charts the reproductive freedom movement from the days before Roe through the seismic impact of Dobbs. The stories in Access span four continents, tracing strategies across generations and borders. Grant centers those activists who have been engaged in direct action to help people get the abortions they need. Their efforts involve no small measure of daring-do, spy craft, sea adventures, close calls, undercover operations, smuggling, sequins, legal dramas, victories, defeats, and above all, a deeply held conviction that all the risks are worth it for the cause.

In Access, we meet a cast of brave, bold, and unforgettable women: the founders of the Jane Collective, a group of anonymous providers working clandestinely between Chicago apartments to perform abortions in the pre-Roe years; the originators and leaders of the abortion fund movement; Verónica Cruz Sánchez, a Mexican activist who works to support self-managed abortion with pills and fights to free women targeted by the criminalization of abortion; and Rebecca Gomperts, a Dutch doctor who realizes that there is one place abortion bans cannot reach: international waters. 

Post-Dobbs, activist groups have once again stepped up and put themselves on the line to resist. Building on the work of their feminist forebearers and international allies, they are charting new pathways for access in the face of unprecedented acts to subjugate and control half of America’s population. Working above ground, underground, and in legal gray areas, they’ve helped people travel across state lines for care, established telehealth practices, and formed community networks to distribute pills for free to people who needed them.

Drawing on expert research and investigative reporting, told with deep compassion and humanity by a journalist who has spent her career on the frontlines of the fight, Access celebrates the bravery, ingenuity, and determination of women across decades who have fought for a fundamental human right—and serves as an inspiring rallying cry for the work that lies ahead.

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joy goddess

Joy Goddess

A'Lelia Bundles

Description

“Raucously immersive...An intimate portrait of Black opulence in the early 20th century.” —Oprah Daily

A “scintillating, vibrant” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) and deeply researched biography of A’Lelia Walker—daughter of Madam C.J. Walker and herself a central figure of the Harlem Renaissance—written by her great-granddaughter.

Dubbed the “joy goddess of Harlem’s 1920s” by poet Langston Hughes, A’Lelia Walker was a dazzling cultural icon whose legendary parties and Dark Tower salon helped define the Harlem cultural scene.

After inheriting her mother’s pioneering hair care business, A’Lelia became America’s first high-profile Black heiress and a patron of the arts. Joy Goddess takes readers inside her New York homes, where she hosted luminaries including Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Paul Robeson, Florence Mills, James Weldon Johnson, Carl Van Vechten, and W.E.B. Du Bois—figures who shaped African American history and culture during the Roaring Twenties.

Drawing on extensive research and personal correspondence, A’Lelia Bundles presents a nuanced biography of a woman navigating life as a wife, mother, businesswoman, and patron outside the shadow of her famous mother’s legacy.

With vivid detail, Joy Goddess brings to life A’Lelia’s radiant personality, fashion-forward influence, and role as one of the most important cultural icons of Harlem, offering a fresh and unforgettable portrait of the woman who embodied the spirit of a new Black cultural era.

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Spell Freedom

Elaine Weiss

Description

Spell Freedom draws us in with lucid prose, filling in the holes of American history with the work of Septima Clark and Bernice Robinson and their compatriots, who deftly wielded reading and writing as their weapons of choice in the 20th century fight for first class citizenship for all.” —Margot Lee Shetterly, bestselling author of Hidden Figures

The acclaimed author of the “stirring, definitive, and engrossing” (NPR) The Woman’s Hour returns with the story of four activists whose audacious plan to restore voting rights to Black Americans laid the groundwork for the Civil Rights Movement.

In the summer of 1954, educator Septima Clark and small businessman Esau Jenkins travelled to rural Tennessee’s Highlander Folk School, an interracial training center for social change founded by Myles Horton, a white southerner with roots in the labor movement. There, the trio united behind a shared mission: preparing Black southerners to pass the daunting Jim Crow era voter registration literacy tests that were designed to disenfranchise them.

Together with beautician-turned-teacher Bernice Robinson, they launched the underground Citizenship Schools project, which began with a single makeshift classroom hidden in the back of a rural grocery store. By the time the Voting Rights Act was signed into law in 1965, the secretive undertaking had established more than nine hundred citizenship schools across the South, preparing tens of thousands of Black citizens to read and write, demand their rights—and vote. Simultaneously, it nurtured a generation of activists—many of them women—trained in community organizing, political citizenship, and tactics of resistance and struggle who became the grassroots foundation of the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. King called Septima Clark, “Mother of the Movement.”

In the vein of Hidden Figures and Devil in the Grove, Spell Freedom is both a riveting, crucially important lens onto our past, and a deeply moving story for our present.

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Code Name: Lise

Larry Loftis

Description

NATIONAL BESTSELLER
Featured in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Time, New York Newsday, and on Today!
“A nonfiction thriller.”—The Wall Street Journal

From New York Times and international bestselling author of the “gripping” (Michael Connelly, #1 New York Times bestselling author) Into the Lion’s Mouth comes the extraordinary true story of Odette Sansom, the British spy who operated in occupied France and fell in love with her commanding officer during World War II—perfect for fans of Unbroken, The Nightingale, and Code Girls

The year is 1942, and World War II is in full swing. Odette Sansom decides to follow in her war hero father’s footsteps by becoming an SOE agent to aid Britain and her beloved homeland, France. Five failed attempts and one plane crash later, she finally lands in occupied France to begin her mission. It is here that she meets her commanding officer Captain Peter Churchill.

As they successfully complete mission after mission, Peter and Odette fall in love. All the while, they are being hunted by the cunning German secret police sergeant, Hugo Bleicher, who finally succeeds in capturing them. They are sent to Paris’s Fresnes prison, and from there to concentration camps in Germany where they are starved, beaten, and tortured. But in the face of despair, they never give up hope, their love for each other, or the whereabouts of their colleagues.

In Code Name: Lise, Larry Loftis paints a portrait of true courage, patriotism, and love—of two incredibly heroic people who endured unimaginable horrors and degradations. He seamlessly weaves together the touching romance between Odette and Peter and the thrilling cat and mouse game between them and Sergeant Bleicher. With this amazing testament to the human spirit, Loftis proves once again that he is adept at writing “nonfiction that reads like a page-turning novel” (Parade).

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The Movement

Clara Bingham

Description

A comprehensive and engaging oral history of the decade that defined the feminist movement, including interviews with living icons and unsung heroes—from former Newsweek reporter and author of the “powerful and moving” (The New York Times) Witness to the Revolution.

For lovers of both Barbie and Gloria Steinem, The Movement is the first oral history of the decade that built the modern feminist movement. Through the captivating individual voices of the people who lived it, The Movement tells the intimate inside story of what it felt like to be at the forefront of the modern feminist crusade, when women rejected thousands of years of custom and demanded the freedom to be who they wanted and needed to be.

This engaging history traces women’s awakening, organizing, and agitating between the years of 1963 and 1973, when a decentralized collection of people and events coalesced to create a spontaneous combustion. From Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique, to the underground abortion network the Janes, to Shirley Chisholm’s presidential campaign and Billie Jean King’s 1973 battle of the sexes, Bingham artfully weaves together the fragments of that explosion person by person, bringing to life the emotions of this personal, cultural, and political revolution. Artists and politicians, athletes and lawyers, Black and white, The Movement brings readers into the rooms where these women insisted on being treated as first class citizens, and in the process, changed the fabric of American life.

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Eleanor

David Michaelis

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The New York Times bestseller from prizewinning author David Michaelis presents a “stunning” (The Wall Street Journal) breakthrough portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt, America’s longest-serving First Lady, an avatar of democracy whose ever-expanding agency as diplomat, activist, and humanitarian made her one of the world’s most widely admired and influential women.

In the first single-volume cradle-to-grave portrait in six decades, acclaimed biographer David Michaelis delivers a stunning account of Eleanor Roosevelt’s remarkable life of transformation. An orphaned niece of President Theodore Roosevelt, she converted her Gilded Age childhood of denial and secrecy into an irreconcilable marriage with her ambitious fifth cousin Franklin. Despite their inability to make each other happy, Franklin Roosevelt transformed Eleanor from a settlement house volunteer on New York’s Lower East Side into a matching partner in New York’s most important power couple in a generation.

When Eleanor discovered Franklin’s betrayal with her younger, prettier, social secretary, Lucy Mercer, she offered a divorce and vowed to face herself honestly. Here is an Eleanor both more vulnerable and more aggressive, more psychologically aware and sexually adaptable than we knew. She came to accept her FDR’s bond with his executive assistant, Missy LeHand; she allowed her children to live their own lives, as she never could; and she explored her sexual attraction to women, among them a star female reporter on FDR’s first presidential campaign, and younger men.

Eleanor needed emotional connection. She pursued deeper relationships wherever she could find them. Throughout her life and travels, there was always another person or place she wanted to heal. As FDR struggled to recover from polio, Eleanor became a voice for the voiceless, her husband’s proxy in the White House. Later, she would be the architect of international human rights and world citizen of the Atomic Age, urging Americans to cope with the anxiety of global annihilation by cultivating a “world mind.” She insisted that we cannot live for ourselves alone but must learn to live together or we will die together.

This “absolutely spellbinding,” (The Washington Post) “complex and sensitive portrait” (The Guardian) is not just a comprehensive biography of a major American figure, but the story of an American ideal: how our freedom is always a choice. Eleanor rediscovers a model of what is noble and evergreen in the American character, a model we need today more than ever.

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"The Exceptions" by Kate Zernike

The Exceptions

Kate Zernike

Description

‘Outstanding’ Bonnie Garmus, bestselling author of Lessons in Chemistry

The remarkable untold story of how a group of sixteen determined women used the power of the collective and the tools of science to inspire ongoing radical change. This is a triumphant account of progress, whilst reminding us that further action is needed.

These women scientists entered the work force in the 1960s during a push for affirmative action. Embarking on their careers they thought that discrimination against women was a thing of the past and that science was a pure meritocracy. Women were marginalized and minimized, especially as they grew older, their contributions stolen and erased.

Written by the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who broke the story in 1999 for The Boston Globe, when the Massachusetts Institute of Technology made the astonishing admission that it discriminated against women on its faculty, The Exceptions is an intimate narrative which centres on Nancy Hopkins – a surprisingly reluctant feminist who became a hero to two generations of women in science.

In uncovering an erased history, we are finally introduced to the hidden scientists who paved the way for collective change.

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Mr. President, How Long Must We Wait?

Tina Cassidy

Description

In this “heroic narrative” (The Wall Street Journal), discover the inspiring and timely account of the complex relationship between leading suffragist Alice Paul and President Woodrow Wilson in her fight for women’s equality. 

Woodrow Wilson lands in Washington, DC, in March of 1913, a day before he is set to take the presidential oath of office. He is surprised by the modest turnout. The crowds and reporters are blocks away from Union Station, watching a parade of eight thousand suffragists on Pennsylvania Avenue in a first-of-its-kind protest organized by a twenty-five-year-old activist named Alice Paul. The next day, The New York Times calls the procession “one of the most impressively beautiful spectacles ever staged in this country.”

Mr. President, How Long Must We Wait? weaves together two storylines: the trajectories of Alice Paul and Woodrow Wilson, two apparent opposites. Paul’s procession of suffragists resulted in her being granted a face-to-face meeting with President Wilson, one that would lead to many meetings and much discussion, but little progress for women. With no equality in sight and patience wearing thin, Paul organized the first group to ever picket in front of the White House lawn—night and day, through sweltering summer mornings and frigid fall nights.

From solitary confinement, hunger strikes, and the psychiatric ward to ever more determined activism, Mr. President, How Long Must We Wait? reveals the courageous, near-death journey it took, spearheaded in no small part by Alice Paul’s leadership, to grant women the right to vote in America. “A remarkable tale” (Kirkus Reviews) and a rousing portrait of a little-known feminist heroine, this is an eye-opening exploration of a crucial moment in American history one century before the Women’s March.

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Suffrage

Ellen Carol DuBois

Description

Honoring the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment to the Constitution, this “indispensable” book (Ellen Chesler, Ms. magazine) explores the full scope of the movement to win the vote for women through portraits of its bold leaders and devoted activists.

Distinguished historian Ellen Carol DuBois begins in the pre-Civil War years with foremothers Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Sojurner Truth as she “meticulously and vibrantly chronicles” (Booklist) the links of the woman suffrage movement to the abolition of slavery. After the Civil War, Congress granted freed African American men the right to vote but not white and African American women, a crushing disappointment. DuBois shows how suffrage leaders persevered through the Jim Crow years into the reform era of Progressivism. She introduces new champions Carrie Chapman Catt and Alice Paul, who brought the fight to the 20th century, and she shows how African American women, led by Ida B. Wells-Barnett, demanded voting rights even as white suffragists ignored them.

DuBois explains how suffragists built a determined coalition of moderate lobbyists and radical demonstrators in forging a strategy of winning voting rights in crucial states to set the stage for securing suffrage for all American women in the Constitution. In vivid prose, DuBois describes suffragists’ final victories in Congress and state legislatures, culminating in the last, most difficult ratification, in Tennessee.

“Ellen DuBois enables us to appreciate the drama of the long battle for women’s suffrage and the heroism of many of its advocates” (Eric Foner, author of The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution). DuBois follows women’s efforts to use their voting rights to win political office, increase their voting strength, and pass laws banning child labor, ensuring maternal health, and securing greater equality for women.

Suffrage: Women’s Long Battle for the Vote is a “comprehensive history that deftly tackles intricate political complexities and conflicts and still somehow read with nail-biting suspense,” (The Guardian) and is sure to become the authoritative account of one of the great episodes in the history of American democracy.

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The Agitators

Dorothy Wickenden

Description

An LA Times Best Book of the Year, Christopher Award Winner, and Chautauqua Prize Finalist! 

“Engrossing... examines the major events of the mid 19th century through the lives of three key figures in the abolitionist and women’s rights movements.” —Smithsonian

From the executive editor of The New Yorker, a riveting, provocative, and revelatory history told through the story of three women—Harriet Tubman, Frances Seward, and Martha Wright—in the years before, during and after the Civil War.

In the 1850s, Harriet Tubman, strategically brilliant and uncannily prescient, rescued some seventy enslaved people from Maryland’s Eastern Shore and shepherded them north along the underground railroad. One of her regular stops was Auburn, New York, where she entrusted passengers to Martha Coffin Wright, a Quaker mother of seven, and Frances A. Seward, the wife of William H. Seward, who served over the years as governor, senator, and secretary of state under Abraham Lincoln. During the Civil War, Tubman worked for the Union Army in South Carolina as a nurse and spy, and took part in a spectacular river raid in which she helped to liberate 750 slaves from several rice plantations.

Wright, a “dangerous woman” in the eyes of her neighbors, worked side by side with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony to organize women’s rights and anti-slavery conventions across New York State, braving hecklers and mobs when she spoke. Frances Seward, the most conventional of the three friends, hid her radicalism in public, while privately acting as a political adviser to her husband, pressing him to persuade President Lincoln to move immediately on emancipation.

The Agitators opens in the 1820s, when Tubman is enslaved and Wright and Seward are young homemakers bound by law and tradition, and ends after the war. Many of the most prominent figures of the era—Lincoln, William H. Seward, Frederick Douglass, Daniel Webster, Charles Sumner, John Brown, William Lloyd Garrison—are seen through the discerning eyes of the protagonists. So are the most explosive political debates: about the civil rights of African Americans and women, about the enlistment of Black troops, and about opposing interpretations of the Constitution.

Through richly detailed letters from the time and exhaustive research, Wickenden traces the second American revolution these women fought to bring about, the toll it took on their families, and its lasting effects on the country. Riveting and profoundly relevant to our own time, The Agitators brings a vibrant, original voice to this transformative period in our history.

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The Six

Loren Grush

Description

“Vivid.” —The Guardian * “Engrossing.” —Booklist * “Suspenseful, meticulously observed, enlightening.” —Margot Lee Shetterly, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Figures

In this account of America’s first women astronauts “Grush skillfully weaves a story that, at its heart, is about desire: not a nation’s desire to conquer space, but the longing of six women to reach heights that were forbidden to them” (The New York Times).

When NASA sent astronauts to the moon in the 1960s and 1970s the agency excluded women from the corps, arguing that only military test pilots—a group then made up exclusively of men—had the right stuff. It was an era in which women were steered away from jobs in science and deemed unqualified for space flight. Eventually, though, NASA recognized its blunder and opened the application process to a wider array of hopefuls, regardless of race or gender. From a candidate pool of 8,000 six elite women were selected in 1978—Sally Ride, Judy Resnik, Anna Fisher, Kathy Sullivan, Shannon Lucid, and Rhea Seddon.

In The Six, acclaimed journalist Loren Grush shows these brilliant and courageous women enduring claustrophobic—and sometimes deeply sexist—media attention, undergoing rigorous survival training, and preparing for years to take multi-million-dollar payloads into orbit. Together, the Six helped build the tools that made the space program run. One of the group, Judy Resnik, sacrificed her life when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded at 46,000 feet. Everyone knows of Sally Ride’s history-making first space ride, but each of the Six would make their mark. “A spirited group biography…it’s hard not to feel awe for these women” (The Wall Street Journal).

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Cover for "Oh, Olive!" by Lian Cho. A colorful and grinning cartoon girl stands out front splashing paint with a larger-than-life paintbrush, black and white adults stand unimpressed behind.

Oh, Olive!

Lian Cho

Description

Presenting Olive Chen! The most magnificent and brilliant artist in the whole wide world! Her parents are also artists--serious artists--who paint prim, proper, perfect shapes. They know Olive has the talent to follow in their footsteps. But Olive likes to smear, splatter, splash, and even lick. With a brush in each hand, Olive cascades through town with her friends in tow, painting what she wants to, what she feels--until she reaches her parents' pristine art museum. . .

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Cover for "Vincent's Starry Night and Other Stories" by Michael Bird. A rendering of Van Gogh painting Starry Night in his own style.

Vincent's Starry Night and Other Stories

Michael Bird

Description

An enthralling journey through the story of world art, from early cave paintings right up to the present day. Discover artists and their art around the world, in 70 exciting and imaginative tales about artists and the way they created their work. 

Written by educator and art historian Michael Bird, and beautifully illustrated by Kate Evans, the book also features reproductions of the famous artworks discussed, a comprehensive timeline of events, and extra feature spreads on places connected with art.

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Cover for "Jake Makes a World: Jacob Lawrence, A Young Artist in Harlem" by Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts. Close-up painting of a dark-skinned boy holding close to what looks like his own paintings.

Jake Makes a World: Jacob Lawrence, A Young Artist in Harlem

Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts

Description

Jake Makes a World follows the creative adventures of the young Jacob Lawrence as he finds inspiration in the vibrant colors and characters of his community in Harlem.

From his mother's apartment, where he is surrounded by brightly colored walls with intricate patterns; to the streets full of familiar and not-so-familiar faces, sounds, rhythms, and smells; to the art studio where he goes each day after school to transform his everyday world on an epic scale, Jake takes readers on an enchanting journey through the bustling sights and sounds of his neighborhood.

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Cover for "This Book Will Make You an Artist" by Ruth Millington. Blocks with solid backgrounds feature each word of the title plus art materials and kids making their own art.

This Book Will Make You an Artist

Ruth Millington

Description

Jam packed with imaginative ideas for all kinds of creative crafts . . . this book will make YOU an artist!

Pick up your pencils, collect your collage materials, and take inspiration from 25 of the world's best-known artists in this fact-filled book full of activities.

Discover famous masterpieces through the included photographs of real works of art - from ancient cave painting to contemporary performance - and lots more in between!

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Cover for "I Spy Shapes in Art" by Lucy Micklethwait. Basic shapes in varying sizes and deep colors are arranged within an upright rectangle.

I Spy Shapes in Art

Lucy Micklethwait

Description

Each of the fourteen magnificent paintings in this book contains a different shape for you to find. Some are easy to spot, and others are more challenging. But take a closer look -- after you think you've found them all, there are even more shapes to look at and discover.

I Spy Shapes in Art features a remarkable variety of artists from around the world, including Georgia O'Keeffe, Henri Matisse, and M.C. Escher. This picture book pairs a classic game with timeless art, making it the perfect way to introduce fine art to children.

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