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Anya and the Dragon

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Cover of the book "Anya and the Dragon"Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack

Publication Date: September, 2019

Format: Book

Who it’s for: Kids

Set in a fantasy world based on 10th-century Russia, this is the story of Anya, the only Jewish girl in a small village. Things are already hard for her family- other villagers discriminate against them for their faith, and her father was drafted into the Tsar’s army. Now the family is about to be evicted from their home if they can’t pay the tax, and they don’t have the money. But the Tsar is offering a reward for anyone who can find a dangerous river dragon that’s said to live nearby, and Anya is determined to do whatever it takes to get the prize and save her family. She teams up with a boy named Ivan (who has seven older brothers also named Ivan), and they set out to hunt for the monster. There are others on the same quest, including a cold-hearted Viking named Sigurd who wants to kill the dragon before it can be captured. Anya and Ivan discover that the lands around their village are full of hidden magical creatures, and that nothing is what it seems- not even the dragon. They’ll have to make choices about right and wrong, duty and loyalty, and fight to save what they hold dear.

Find this book in the catalog.

 

From Twinkle, With Love

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Recommended Book
From Twinkle, With Love by  Sandhya Menon
Publication Date: May 22, 2018
Format: Book or ebook
Who it’s for: Teens

“In this delightful romantic comedy from the New York Times bestselling author of When Dimple Met Rishi, told through the letters Twinkle writes to her favorite female filmmakers, From Twinkle, with Love navigates big truths about friendship, family, and the unexpected places love can find you.

Aspiring filmmaker and wallflower Twinkle Mehra has stories she wants to tell and universes she wants to explore, if only the world would listen. So when fellow film geek Sahil Roy approaches her to direct a movie for the upcoming Summer Festival, Twinkle is all over it. The chance to publicly showcase her voice as a director? Dream come true. The fact that it gets her closer to her longtime crush, Neil Roy-a.k.a. Sahil’s twin brother? Dream come true x 2.

When mystery man N begins emailing her, Twinkle is sure it’s Neil, finally ready to begin their happily-ever-after. The only slightly inconvenient problem is that, in the course of movie-making, she’s fallen madly in love with the irresistibly adorkable Sahil.

Twinkle soon realizes that resistance is futile: The romance she’s got is not the one she’s scripted. But will it be enough?” – Publisher’s blurb

This took a bit for me to get into. It was soooooooo High School. The crush, the BFF drama, the awkwardness, the ‘Woe is me’ angst, etc. So very HS, so stereotypical; it made me cringe, laugh, and smh. I would have stopped reading it by like chapter two, if not for Books for the Beast (a YA reader’s advisory conference in Maryland) and the fact her first book got so much praise. I powered through.

It was very amusing with a couple of lil life lessons to boot. If this was a Disney Channel movie, I could have made it through without cringing so much or smh at the mistakes they made. I still would have lol at the awkward moments. Despite all those things it was a great read.

The Indian culture that was in the book was completely natural and did not feel forced. It was just a part of Twinkle’s life, her story. The gay friends felt forced, like an afterthought. I liked the text messages and emails. They made it feel epistolary. The supposed diary entries where Twinkle is writing to directors never really felt like letters. They did not really feel like a diary entries, either. Only at the beginning of the diary entry and when she closed the “letter” did it ever feel like she was writing a letter to somebody.  It felt more like just a first POV novel.

I was considering reading her debut novel but when I was talking about From Twinkle, With Love with a coworker, she said this plot sounds almost identical to When Dimple Met Rishi. Now if they made movies from her novels on Disney Channel, I would watch them all and enjoy. If I was in middle/high school and liked romance novels, I would read all her novels as well. Def geared for upper middle school and High School girls.

Read a High School Rom-Com starring a cute Indian Girl!

 

Harriet Tubman – Two Recommended Books

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Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford and Illustrated by Kadir Nelson
Format: Book
Who it’s for:  Kids

 

 

Who Was Harriet Tubman? By Yona Zeldis McDonough and Illustrated by Nancy Harrison
Series Title: Who Was–?
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Kids

Anyone from Maryland should know who Harriet Tubman is, but do you really?  I’m from Cambridge, so of course I know who she is, right?  I do, of course, but I wanted to learn more especially with the new movie coming out – https://www.focusfeatures.com/harriet/.  And, I want my kids to know who she is, so I read two different books about her that are geared towards kids.

First I read, Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford and Illustrated by Kadir Nelson.   This book won a Caldecott Honor in 2007 and the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustrator in 2007.  It is truly a beautiful book.  The story follows Harriet shortly after she is told she is about to be sold by her owner, through her years transporting people on the Underground Railroad.  It is about how she was given the name Moses and her faith in God which led her to do the right thing.   This is a work of fiction and some of the story differs from other accounts of Harriet’s life, but I still think it is a great way to introduce a child to Harriet Tubman.   Find it in the catalog

Next I read, Who Was Harriet Tubman? By Yona Zeldis McDonough and Illustrated by Nancy Harrison.  This is part of the Who Was–? Series which are biographies for kids.  Written like a story, this biography was easy to read and is full of factual information about the time during which Harriet lived.  I actually prefer to read kids biographies because you learn about the person but without being overwhelmed with facts (oh and there are usually pictures!).  This biography describes Harriet’s work on the Underground Railroad, as a nurse during the Civil War and as a Spy for the Union army.  Find it in the catalog

Now I’m ready to see the movie!

 

The Late Show

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The Late Show by Michael Connelly
Overdrive Audiobook
Narrated by Katherine Moennig
Who it’s for:  Adults

Fans of Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch Mysteries, will love this book.  The Late Show is the first in Connelly’s new series called the Renee Ballard Novels.

After filing a sexual harassment complaint against her supervisor, LAPD Detective Renee Ballard has been reassigned to the night shift.  Protocol requires her to give her cases to the day shift each morning.  But two new cases, the death of a young woman in a nightclub and the brutal beating of a prostitute left for dead in parking lot, have her so intrigued she refuses to pass them on.

While secretly searching for justice for these two victims, against her partner’s wishes and department orders, Renee Ballard finds her courage, determination, and intuition tested.  Her career and her life are on the line.  As fear mounts and the cases become more intriguing, Harry Bosch, who never seems too far removed from the most notorious cases of the LAPD, steps in to assist.
Find it on Overdrive

Queenie

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Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
Format: Book, Audiobook
Who it’s for: Adults

Queenie is the debut novel of Candice Carty-Williams, and it tells the story of 25-year-old Queenie Jenkins, a Jamaican British woman living in London. When we meet Queenie, she is moving out of the apartment that she shares with her boyfriend Tom. The two have agreed to go on a “break” and revisit their relationship in three months. This “break” serves as a catalyst for a series of self-destructive decisions that ultimately leave Queenie plagued by panic attacks and unable to live independently.

Carty-Williams uses Queenie as an opportunity to discuss mental health and as an ode to friendship and strong women, and she does this within the confines of a character that is struggling to find her place as a Black female in a world that does not respect Black bodies. At times, Queenie’s story seems mundane. But, there is a turning point, when the reader starts to observe that many of Queenie’s problems stem from childhood trauma. Thru Queenie, Carty-Williams highlights the PTSD that many underprivileged children experience and the way that PTSD is often mistaken for “bad” behavior.

With a supporting cast of characters that add humor and ease the weight of the novel, Queenie is worth the read. And, Carty-Williams has established herself as an author to watch. That being said, prospective readers should be advised that the novel contains some mature content, and it is recommended for adults only. Find it in the catalog.

Ink

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Ink by Alice Broadway
Format: Book, Audiobook
Who it’s for: Teens, Adults

Imagine a world where your life story is tattooed on your skin. Leora lives in such a world. In Saintstone, where she lives, all the citizens mark their bodies with their accomplishments. They are marked even at young age. Your name, your occupation, your family tree, your medical history, any great achievement you’ve earned, any crimes you’ve committed, all in ink for the world to see. No one in Saintstone has secrets. Or so Leora thinks. When her father dies, his skin is flayed and turned into a book, as is tradition. His book will be “read” at a “weighing of the soul” ceremony, where it will be determined whether he has lived a life worth remembering, and his book will be returned to his family, to be kept on a shelf with the rest of their ancestors, or he will be forgotten, and his book will be burned. Leora is confident her father was a good man, but there’s a terrible rumor going around that his book has been edited, and that he, and whoever altered his life story, committed a horrible crime, possibly colluding with the “blanks”—people outside of Saintstone who do not tattoo their bodies, who’s life stories are hidden from view. Ink by Alice Broadway, and its sequels Spark and Scar, are original and intriguing stories about family, friendship, rebellion, and redemption. Find Ink in our catalog.