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Girls and Women

Dark and Deepest Red

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Dark and Deepest Red by Anna-Marie McLemore
Publication Date: January 14, 2020
Book
Who It’s For: Teens, Adults

This is a beautiful and haunting story told in a dual timeline, linking people across five centuries. The story will hearken the tale of The Red Shoes, by Hans Christian Andersen, but it is so much more.

In 1518 France, Lavinia is swept into the chaos of a dancing plague, but her role is not that of victim, but as suspect. Her strange family and strange ways must mean only one thing: she is a witch. Five centuries later, Emil is linked to the past by blood, and Rosella by a beautiful pair of red shoes. Separated by 500 years, what must Lavinia and Emil do to save the people they love?

In this dark fairy tale, the author blends history, family, love, betrayal, women’s and girls’ roles in society, and the treatment of marginalized peoples in the past and present into a magical story.

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Paperback Crush: The Totally Radical History of ’80s and ’90s Teen Fiction

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Paperback Crush by Gabrielle Moss
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Adults

This book is for every millennial who fondly remembers the Scholastic Book Fair as the most exciting day of the school year or whose frequent library visits always resulted in checking out stacks of neon-bound paperbacks to be voraciously read on the bus, under the covers, or anywhere else one could squeeze in a chapter or two (or three!). This lovingly compiled catalog of quintessential ‘80s and ‘90s tween and teen fiction covers the more well-known titles, like The Baby-Sitters Club and Sweet Valley High, as well as plenty of more obscure, perhaps forgotten titles. Each chapter of the book is devoted to a different theme popular with books from the period, ranging from the mundane: love, friends, family, school, and jobs, but ending with more extreme chapters about danger and terror! No matter the chapter though, any nostalgic reader will find themselves wistfully reminiscing about those cheesy, yet life-shaping paperbacks of their youth.

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Shout

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Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson
Release Date: March 12, 2019
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Teens, Adults

“This is the story of a girl who lost her voice and wrote herself a new one” (p. 8). As a survivor of rape and sexual assault, Laurie Halse Anderson writes a memoir that is moving, honest, angry, and empowering. The poetic verse flows beautifully, and she is able to say so much with her few carefully chosen words, as she takes the reader through her life before and after IT happened. The author is a great example of strength and how to use your voice to make change. Mental health and sexual violence resources are provided for the reader. Recommended for teens and adults.

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Girls on the Line

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Girls on the Line by Jennie Liu
Publication Date: November 1, 2018
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Teens

Violating Family Planning regulations by having a child out of wedlock sounds like something from a dystopian novel. In China, it is the reality for millions.

Luli has aged out of the orphanage at 16 and is forced into the world of adulthood. She connects with her friend Yun who aged out of the system the year before. Yun helps Luli to get a job at the factory where she works and promises to show her the ropes. Yun is energetic and precarious, spending her money on eating out with her friends, going to clubs, and spending time with her older boyfriend. Luli is shy, saves her money, and hopes to one day have a family. Luli soon hears the rumors about Yun’s boyfriend. He sells off young girls and women to men in the countryside, he is a bride trafficker. Yun refuses to believe these rumors and finds herself in a position that seems inescapable. She is pregnant with Yun’s child and doesn’t have the money to abide by the Family Planning regulations; get an abortion, or pay the fines for having a child outside of marriage. Luli wants to help her friend, but can she?

Yun and Luli live in a culture where superstition and appearances are vital to success in life. These beliefs impact personal relationships and employment prospects. Add to that the government’s Family Planning regulations, and life can be incredibly difficult for women in this culture. The harrowing experiences of these two young women leads them on a journey of self-discovery, selflessness, sorrow, and friendship that is worth reading about.

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