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Chunky

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Chunky by Yehudi Mercado
Format: Graphic Novel
Who it’s for: Kids

Young Hudi is overweight. He’s been plagued by health issues, and his family’s doctor encourages him to lose some weight. His parents decide he should try out for a sport, so he’ll get more exercise. Hudi would rather tell jokes or draw, but his parents insist, so he chooses baseball. After all, Babe Ruth was overweight, and he was one of the greats! But he’s still really nervous about it. In pops Chunky to the rescue! Chunky is a red furry monster, who introduces himself as Hudi’s imaginary mascot. He will always be there to cheer Hudi on, as long as he’s trying his best. He just wants Hudi to be happy!

It turns out Hudi is going to need a lot of cheering on, as he moves from baseball, to soccer, to swimming, to tennis, to football, leaving a string of minor disasters in his wake. Hudi doesn’t seem to be cut out for sports, and struggles to make friends. In addition, his family is going through some stuff, as his dad has lost his job, and they don’t have a lot of money for Hudi’s sister’s bat mitzvah. Chunky has his work cut out for him, helping Hudi to be himself, and make good choices.

This fun, colorful, semi-autobiographical graphic novel should appeal to fans of books like Smile by Raina Telgemeier, New Kid by Jerry Craft, or El Deafo by Cece Bell. It handles some tough issues, like body image, and bullying, in a light-hearted way, and any reader will wish they had their own Chunky to believe in them when they really need it.

Find Chunky in our catalog.

Light of the Jedi

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Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Adults

There’s a new Star Wars book series, set in the High Republic era, a golden age in which the Republic and Jedi reign supreme, and it all starts with Light of the Jedi.

“We are all the Republic” is the message of unity Chancellor Lina Soh wants to send to her constituency. She has a variety of “Great Works” planned to improve life for all, starting with the installation of the Starlight Beacon, a space station in the outer rim, which will improve communication and provide security for some of the more remote territories in the galaxy.

But just as the Starlight is coming online, tragedy strikes, when a disaster occurs in Hyperspace. Luckily several Jedi Knights, like the powerful Avar Kriss, are on hand, to help with the rescue efforts. But who is responsible? Who threatens to end this era of peace and magnanimity? The Nihil, a gang of chaotic marauders, led by the mysterious Marchion Ro.

This book kicks off the High Republic series with all the action, adventure, and emotion Star Wars fans expect from the franchise. There are also High Republic books for children, young adults, and graphic novel readers if you just can’t get enough.

Find Light of the Jedi in our catalog.

The Guest List

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The Guest List by Lucy Foley
Format: Book
Who’s it for: Adults

On a rocky remote island off the coast of Ireland, guest gather at the most talked about wedding of the year. A top magazine editor and a TV heartthrob are going to be married, and everyone wants to attend the high profile and glamourous wedding. As the guests arrive from the mainland so do the secrets and the scandals. The perfect couple may not be as perfect as they appear and one by one the guests begin to reveal their troubling pasts with the bride and groom to be.

On a stormy night, as the guests toast with champagne, the power goes out and the guests are left in the dark. In the distance, a scream can be heard and a body is discovered. Suddenly, every guest has become a suspect, and it’s up to the reader to fit the clues together to find out who the killer is and why?

Reminiscent of an Agatha Christie novel, The Guest List is a true Whodunnit. Clues are given, secrets disclosed and the reader begins guessing who the killer is and what was the motive. The Guest List is a gripping and fun read with interesting characters against a dramatic, almost sinister, island backdrop. The Guest List is an irresistible and binge worthy suspense, just waiting to be checked out!  Find The Guest List in the catalog.

The Passover Guest

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The Passover Guest by Susan Kusel
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Kids

The Passover Guest, written by Susan Kusel, and illustrated by Sean Rubin, is inspired by the classic story The Magician, and the art of famous painter Marc Chagall. It takes place in depression-era Washington D.C. It’s spring, the cherry blossoms are blooming, and it’s the first night of Passover, the Jewish holiday celebrating the exodus from Egypt. A young girl named Muriel is concerned. Her father, like so many others, has lost his job. They don’t have enough money to buy food for the seder, the traditional Passover meal, not even a cup of wine for Elijah, the prophet who is symbolically invited to every Passover seder. As she dejectedly makes her way home, she meets a peculiar stranger at the Lincoln Memorial. He performs a magic trick, and Muriel gives him the only penny left in her pocket.

When Muriel arrives home, she finds her family dressed in their finest clothes, with nothing on the table. There is a knock at the door. It is the man Muriel gave her last penny to! He asks if he can join in their seder. As they begin to explain they have nothing to share, a feast suddenly appears on their table! Muriel’s family is astounded, and apprehensive about eating food that wasn’t there moments ago. Muriel runs to ask the Rabbi what they should do. The Rabbi accompanies Muriel to her family’s home, along with most of their friends and neighbors. When they arrive, the stranger is gone, but the feast remains. The Rabbi declares it a miracle, and the whole community enjoys Muriel’s family’s seder together. In all the excitement Muriel remembers the mysterious stranger… and notices not a drop remains in Elijah’s cup of wine!

This magical holiday story was the recipient a Sydney Taylor Award this year; a well-deserved win for an exceptional book!

Find The Passover Guest in our catalog.

The Silent Patient

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The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
Format: Book
Whose it for: Adults

Alicia and Gabriel Berenson lives seem perfect. She is a famous painter and he a top photographer. They are wealthy, beautiful and very much in love, yet one evening, Alicia kills Gabriel and then becomes selectively mute. The case becomes an instant sensation with everyone following it in the tabloids and wondering why she killed her husband and if she will ever speak again. Alicia is tried and convicted of murder and sent to a secure mental facility where she eventually meets Theo Faber. Theo is a psychotherapist who takes Alicia as a patient and becomes obsessed with getting her to speak and finding answers to the crime. Theo has clues to Alicia’s thoughts through her art work and uses it to unlock the mystery of that fateful night.

The Silent Patient is a dark and gripping thriller that hooks the reader and doesn’t let go until the remarkable ending. Find The Silent Patient in the catalog.

Gods of Jade and Shadow

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Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Adults

Trapped in domestic drudgery in a small town in Yucatán, Mexico, Casiopeia Tun lives at the mercy of her wealthy and tyrannical grandfather, Cirilo. Despite her mother’s urging to keep her head down and do whatever their relatives might command, willful Casiopeia still has moments of quiet rebellion. These moments oftentimes attract the ire of her arrogant cousin, Martín, but Casiopeia is practical and does her best to not let him get under her skin. The unfairness of her life is not lost on her, though. She knows she was born under a rotten star, but in secret Casiopeia continues to dream of another life. A life of her own choosing.

In a small moment of defiance, Casiopeia goes through her grandfather’s things while the rest of the family is out. She expects to find hidden treasures in a wooden trunk, but instead she accidentally frees Mayan death God Hun-Kamé, Lord of Xibalba (the Mayan Underworld). Freeing him from his imprisonment binds Casiopeia and Hun-Kamé, their fates intertwined. Casiopeia agrees to help him take revenge on his twin brother and reclaim his throne. What other choice does she really have? This journey could give her a new life. It could also be her undoing. Either way, she will escape the life she’d been given.

Gods of Jade and Shadow promises Mayan Gods in 1920s Jazz Era Mexico, but also offers a magical fairytale inspired by Mexican folklore, a journey of self-discovery, slow burn romance, political and social commentary, and meditations on power, duality, freedom, and death.

Find Gods of Jade and Shadow in the catalog here!