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Adventure

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.

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!

The Last Cuentista

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The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Kids, Tweens, Teens

Halley’s Comet is on a collision course with Earth. Petra Peña, an aspiring storyteller, does not want to leave her abuelita behind, but she and her family are among the select few who have been chosen to take to the stars.  Petra, her parents, and her little brother will spend the next 380 years in stasis learning everything they need to know to survive on their new planet. They will be humanity’s last hope. When Petra is awakened from stasis, however, she finds that her ship has been taken over by the Collective. They have reprogrammed everyone and erased all memories of Earth.  Petra is the only one who still remembers her home world, her family, and all of their cuentos.  She must use her stories of the past in an attempt to secure mankind’s future.

The Last Cuentista was just selected as the winner of the John Newbery Medal as well as the Pura Belpré Award. It was one of TIME’s Best Books of the Year and the Wall Street Journal’s Best of the Year, among others. I understand why. This book was full of storytelling magic. Despite some unexpected dark twists and turns that were a bit shocking, this was a beautifully told story. It combines science fiction, Mexican folklore, and a dystopian future. It is definitely one to add to your reading list!

Find The Last Cuentista in our catalog

The Unfinished Corner

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The Unfinished Corner by Dani Colman
Format: Book, Graphic Novel
Who it’s for: Kids

Twelve-year-old Miriam has a lot going on in her life. She’s preparing for her Bat Mitzvah (a Jewish coming-of-age ceremony for young women) and she’s got Big Feelings about it. On top of that she’s just gotten accepted into a really cool art school, that she neglected to tell her friends she even applied to, so she’s got Big Feelings about that too. And on top of all that she’s preparing for a Tikkun Olam (Hebrew for “repair the world”) outreach trip with her best friends Avi and David, and her worst frenemy Judith. And on top of all that her Rabbi is actually an angel in disguise who informs her that G-d left the Universe unfinished and needs her to finish it. Wait. What?!?!

So begins this lovely graphic novel adventure inspired by Jewish mythology and incorporating Jewish philosophy. Miriam, Avi, David, and Judith encounter angels, demons, a Golem, the literal Lion of Judah, and more, as they learn valuable lessons from the Torah, Tanakh, and Talmud, on their quest to finish the Universe, while grappling with relatable struggles regarding friendship, family, what it means to be Jewish, and what it means to grow up. This is a sometimes funny, sometimes moving, all times wholesome story, with great art, and a diverse cast of characters, that I would recommend to any young fan of graphic novels.

Find The Unfinished Corner in the catalog

Garlic and the Vampire

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Garlic and the Vampire by Bree Paulsen
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Kids

Garlic, an enchanted garlic bulb, lives in a quiet garden with other enchanted vegetables under the care of their friend and mentor, Witch Agnes. Garlic chronically oversleeps and over-worries, but she loves tending the garden and finds her bliss safely in her comfort zone.

Interrupting their idyllic existence, smoke rises from a nearby (and supposedly long abandoned) castle. A vampire has moved in! Garlic, obviously having natural resistance to vampires, is volunteered to investigate and deal with their terrifying new neighbor. She doesn’t know how she could possibly do that – she’s just a little garlic! – but with encouragement from her best friend, Carrot, Garlic overcomes her self-doubt and confronts the vampire. Even with her newfound courage, it doesn’t go exactly the way she expects.

A wholesome and absolutely adorable story, Garlic and the Vampire is a middle-grade graphic novel about anxiety and bravery, believing in yourself, and perhaps most importantly, not judging a vampire just by his teeth.

Find Garlic and the Vampire in the catalog here!

Old Bones

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Old Bones by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Format:  book
Who it’s For:  Adults

The handsome Historian, Clive Benton, contacts Nora Kelly, a successful archaeologist, to lead an excursion unlike any other. Clive begins his story containing the Donner Party. Benton explains he has found a diary that contains information on the “Lost Camp” and its location.

Fascinated by the Donner Party, Nora agrees and they travel into the Sierra Nevada in pursuit of the camp. They learn that the excavation of the lost camp, is just the beginning, and the fact behind those pioneers is not only far more complex than they could have believed, but it puts them both at risk from a very real threat in which the hunt for the lost party and its legendary treasure are simply means to a disturbing end.

Find Old Bones in the catalog!