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Meddling Kids

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Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero
Format: eBook, Book
Who it’s for: Adults

In 1977, a group of precocious kid detectives and their dog solved the case of the Sleepy Lake monster. The culprit turned out to be, as was common in their cases, an old man in a mask. He would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn’t for those meddling kids!

Years later the “Blyton Summer Detective Club” are all grown up, but only barely functioning. One committed suicide, one is a college drop out, one has been in and out of jail, and one has been in and out of psychiatric wards. Turns out they’ve all been haunted by the Sleepy Lake monster case. The truth is: they didn’t actually solve it. Yes, there was a masked man in the abandoned mansion on Deboen Isle, but there were also real live monsters that permanently unsettled them, and they’ve had enough. They are reuniting to solve the case once and for all.

When they return to their charming hometown in the Pacific Northwest they find it’s not as idyllic as their childhood memories. Otherworldly horror lurks around every corner, and only they, and their loyal dog (twice removed from their original dog), can stop it.

This book is basically Scooby-Doo meets H.P. Lovecraft meets Twin Peaks and I thought it was great. The writing style is unique, laden with meta references to popular kid detective and classic sci-fi tropes. If you love stories about young detectives, Lovecraftian horror, or small towns where things are not as they seem, you should definitely check this out from the library, or electronically on OverDrive, today!

Care Bears: Unlock the Magic

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Care Bears: Unlock the Magic by Matthew Erman, Nadia Shammas, and Agnes Garbowska
Format: eBook, Book
Who it’s for: Kids (and kids at heart)

The time is ideal for a deep dive into Care Bears lore.

This graphic novel takes us on an adventure with Cheer Bear, Share Bear, Funshine Bear, Good Luck Bear, and Grumpy Bear, as they traverse the Silver Lining of Care-A-Lot in the Cloudseeker! There’s a report of unrest in the Whiffle community, which is bad news, because if the Whiffles are busy arguing with each other, it means they aren’t planting seeds of care!

The Care Bears descend upon the Glass Glaciers and spot the problem immediately: the glaciers, which are supposed to reflect the best versions of ourselves, have been tampered with by the villainous Bluster and his Bad Crowd, and are reflecting instead the worst versions of those looking into them! Our brave Care Bears must confront their worst fears if they are to defeat Bluster, soothe the dissension among the Whiffles, and continue spreading positive vibes throughout the realm!

This cute story is sure to delight fans of the Care Bears young and old, and teach some important lessons about friendship, forgiveness, and self love along the way. If you need a dose of magic in your life stat, then check this book out right away!

Scooby Apocalypse

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Scooby Apocalypse Vol. 1 by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and Howard Porter
Format: eBook
Who it’s for: Adults, Teens

It’s everyone’s favorite meddling kids, re-imagined for a new generation. Meet:

Daphne Blake, host of a low rated cable TV show investigating supernatural phenomenon.

Fred Jones, Daphne’s loyal camera man, who has carried a torch for her for years.

Norville “Shaggy” Rogers, dog trainer for a mysterious science lab called The Complex.

Scoobert “Scooby” Doo, prototype of a Complex experiment to create intelligent dogs to serve in the military.

And Dr. Velma Dinkley, top scientist at The Complex, and maybe the world’s only hope at stopping an experiment gone wrong that’s turning the human race into monsters.

This unlikely gang traverse the land in a literal Mystery Machine (What is the actual purpose of this armored van they escaped The Complex in?) trying to survive… The Scooby Apocalypse.

This dark reboot of the Scooby-Doo franchise is fun for new and legacy fans alike. It’s the end of the world as they know it, but you’ll feel fine, when you check out Scooby Apocalypse on Hoopla right now!

The Hating Game

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The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
Who it’s for: Adults
Format: eBook, Digital Audiobook

Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman work as assistants to the C0-CEOs at the recently merged Bexley and Gammon Publishing House. Lucy and Joshua keep the office running. The only problem is that Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman hate one another. The two assistants may be the most competent employees at B and G Publishing, but they are also the two most likely to be sent to HR. With all the games they play to bring one another down, neither is expecting to be brought down by love. The Hating Game is a smart and steamy enemies-to-lovers romance that will have readers laughing and swooning until the very end.

You can find the Hating Game by Sally Thorne on Hoopla and on Overdrive/Libby.

Say Nothing: A True Story Of Murder And Memory In Northern Ireland

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Say Nothing: A True Story Of Murder And Memory In Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe
Who it’s for: Adults
Format: eBook, digital audiobook

Say Nothing begins with the abduction of widow and mother of 10, Jean McConville, in Belfast in 1972. From there, Radden Keefe traces several of the key players of the Troubles, the decades-long conflict in Northern Ireland between nationalists (often Catholic) who wanted to see Northern Ireland united with Ireland, and loyalists (often Protestant) who supported continued British rule in Northern Ireland.

McConville was one of the “disappeared,” sixteen people who were determined to have been taken, killed, and buried in unmarked graves by the Provisional IRA (the IRA admitted to being involved in nine of the sixteen cases). But Radden Keefe’s account is not just of McConville and her children. We also meet Gerry Adams, Brendan Hughes, and, most intriguing, the Price sisters, Delours and Marian, all members of the IRA (though Adams has denied his own membership in the organization). Radden Keefe describes hunger strikes, bombings, prison stays, and the gradual shift by some members of the IRA from violence to politics. This shift is an underlying theme of the story; some IRA members viewed the shift and the compromises made as removing the moral justification for the violent acts they had committed. This led to some of them speaking at length with interviewers for a Boston College oral history project. That project’s history, and its legal battles and their outcomes are entwined in the story of the more recent events in Radden Keefe’s account. 

Throughout the book, Radden Keefe returns to Jean McConville, and to her children and their lives after their mother’s abduction. Many of the others discussed in the book were leaders of or soldiers in the IRA, so McConville’s children provide a different view of the Troubles and the events discussed in the book.

Say Nothing often reads like fiction, but it’s not. Every so often, the realization hits that these people are real, many of them still living and dealing with the trauma of their experiences. Radden Keefe has thoroughly researched this story, taking four years to conduct research and interviews, leading to a fascinating true account of events that occurred not that long ago.

You can find Say Nothing in eBook and digital audiobook format on OverDrive/Libby, or in digital audiobook format on RBdigital.

Fraggle Rock: Journey to the Everspring

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Jim Henson’s Fraggle Rock: Journey to the Everspring by Kate Leth and Jake Myler
Format: eBook
Who it’s for: Kids, Teens, Adults, Everyone

Dance your cares away! Worry’s for another day! Let the music play! Down at Fraggle Rock!

If you’re a fan of the Fraggles, you will love this graphic novel adventure. When a drought unexpectedly hits Fraggle Rock, our favorite Fraggle friends–practical Gobo, anxious Wembley, boisterous Red, mellow Mokey, and cautious Boober–must travel in search of the fabled Everspring, the source of Fraggle Rock’s water supply. Their journey takes many twists and turns, as they avoid spooky creatures, discover the Crystal Caves, and meet a new and unusual colony of Doozers!

The story has themes of friendship, finding one’s purpose, and environmental stewardship, and if you’re thinking “The thing I love most about Fraggle Rock are the great musical numbers,” well, this book has those too!

This Journey to the Everspring is fun for the whole family, and it’s available electronically via Hoopla, along with other Fraggle comics! It’s a great time to virtually hang out with the carefree Fraggles, so look them up in our catalog today.