My Perfect Read

The one and only Fannie Flagg, beloved author of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven, and I Still Dream About You, is at her hilarious and superb best in this new comic mystery novel about two women who are forced to reimagine who they are.

Discover the inside story of the Civil Rights Movement through the eyes of one of its most iconic figures, Congressman John Lewis. March is the award-winning, #1 bestselling graphic novel trilogy recounting his life in the movement, co-written with Andrew Aydin and drawn by Nate Powell.

On the morning of April 29, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. As the moments passed, the patrons and staff who had been cleared out of the building realized this was not the usual fire alarm. As one fireman recounted, “Once that first stack got going, it was ‘Goodbye, Charlie.’” The fire was disastrous: it reached 2000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed four hundred thousand books and damaged seven hundred thousand more. Investigators descended on the scene, but more than thirty years later, the mystery remains: Did someone purposefully set fire to the library—and if so, who?

From one of the most beloved and bestselling authors in the English language, a vivid, nostalgic and utterly hilarious memoir of growing up in the middle of the United States in the middle of the last century. A book that delivers on the promise that it is “laugh-out-loud funny.”

Moss Jeffries is many things―considerate student, devoted son, loyal friend and affectionate boyfriend, enthusiastic nerd.

But sometimes Moss still wishes he could be someone else―someone without panic attacks, someone whose father was still alive, someone who hadn’t become a rallying point for a community because of one horrible night.

And most of all, he wishes he didn’t feel so stuck.

Moss can’t even escape at school―he and his friends are subject to the lack of funds and crumbling infrastructure at West Oakland High, as well as constant intimidation by the resource officer stationed in their halls. That was even before the new regulations―it seems sometimes that the students are treated more like criminals.

Something will have to change―but who will listen to a group of teens?

When tensions hit a fever pitch and tragedy strikes again, Moss must face a difficult choice: give in to fear and hate or realize that anger can actually be a gift.

Prairie Lotus is a powerful, touching, multilayered book about a girl determined to fit in and realize her dreams: getting an education, becoming a dressmaker in her father’s shop, and making at least one friend. Acclaimed, award-winning author Linda Sue Park has placed a young half-Asian girl, Hanna, in a small town in America’s heartland, in 1880. Hanna’s adjustment to her new surroundings, which primarily means negotiating the townspeople’s almost unanimous prejudice against Asians, is at the heart of the story. Narrated by Hanna, the novel has poignant moments yet sparkles with humor, introducing a captivating heroine whose wry, observant voice will resonate with readers.

Children see exactly how animals view the world around them in this innovative and exciting lift-the-flap book. After a whirlwind tour of how eyes work, children lift the flaps to find out how animals as different as dogs, owls, and chameleons see the same scene. EYE SPY: Wild Ways Animals See the World is a truly eye-opening experience guaranteed to fuel and satisfy the curiosity of any animal lover.

They meet at a local tavern in the small town of Belleville, Delaware. Polly is set on heading west. Adam says he’s also passing through. Yet she stays and he stays—drawn to this mysterious redhead whose quiet stillness both unnerves and excites him. Over the course of a punishing summer, Polly and Adam abandon themselves to a steamy, inexorable affair. Still, each holds something back from the other—dangerous, even lethal, secrets.

Then someone dies. Was it an accident, or part of a plan? By now, Adam and Polly are so ensnared in each other’s lives and lies that neither one knows how to get away—or even if they want to. Is their love strong enough to withstand the truth, or will it ultimately destroy them?

Something—or someone—has to give.

Which one will it be?

An inspiring and compelling memoir from a young woman who lost her childhood to slavery—and built a new life grounded in determination and justice.

When Shyima Hall was eight years old, her impoverished parents sold her to pay a debt. Two years later, the wealthy family she was sold to moved to Orange County, California, and smuggled her with them. Shyima served the family eighteen hours a day, seven days a week until she was twelve. That’s when an anonymous call from a neighbor brought about the end of Shyima’s servitude—but her journey to true freedom was far from over.

A volunteer at her local police department since she was a teenager, Shyima is passionate about helping to rescue others who are in bondage. Now a US citizen, she regularly speaks out about human trafficking and intends to one day become an immigration officer. In Hidden Girl, Shyima “commands unfailing interest, sympathy, and respect” (Publishers Weekly), candidly reveals how she overcame her harrowing circumstances, and brings vital awareness to a timely and relevant topic.

Wisconsin seventeen-year-old Fiona Kelly visits the father she never knew--and her half-brothers--in Belfast, Ireland, where she also connects with Danny, but their families' pasts may shatter what they have.

Ever since she got pregnant freshman year, Emoni Santiago’s life has been about making the tough decisions—doing what has to be done for her daughter and her abuela. The one place she can let all that go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness.

Even though she dreams of working as a chef after she graduates, Emoni knows that it’s not worth her time to pursue the impossible. Yet despite the rules she thinks she has to play by, once Emoni starts cooking, her only choice is to let her talent break free.

A citizen can pick up litter. A citizen can pull a weed. A citizen can help that critter. A citizen can plant a seed. A citizen can aid a neighbor. A citizen can join a cause. A citizen can write a letter. A citizen can help change laws... Empowering and timeless.

In Forty Autumns, Nina recounts her family’s story—five ordinary lives buffeted by circumstances beyond their control. She takes us deep into the tumultuous and terrifying world of East Germany under Communist rule, revealing both the cruel reality her relatives endured and her own experiences as an intelligence officer, running secret operations behind the Berlin Wall that put her life at risk.

A personal look at a tenuous era that divided a city and a nation, and continues to haunt us, Forty Autumns is an intimate and beautifully written story of courage, resilience, and love—of five women whose spirits could not be broken, and who fought to preserve what matters most: family.

The story of Edmond Dantes, a man betrayed and incarcerated. It tells of his search for Abbe Faria's hidden treasure and his reappearance as the fabulously rich, brooding, Byronic and vengeful Count of Monte Cristo.

Calpurnia Virginia Tate is eleven years old in 1899 when she wonders why the yellow grasshoppers in her Texas backyard are so much bigger than the green ones. With a little help from her notoriously cantankerous grandfather, an avid naturalist, she figures out that the green grasshoppers are easier to see against the yellow grass, so they are eaten before they can get any larger. As Callie explores the natural world around her, she develops a close relationship with her grandfather, navigates the dangers of living with six brothers, and comes up against just what it means to be a girl at the turn of the century.

A love letter to the Earth shares striking photographic images from around the world that introduce such concepts as nature and science. Water, air, light. Patterns, curves, shapes, colors. Things that crawl, fly, float, run, bloom, ripen. Think of everything Earth gives us. What are you most thankful for? Includes notes from the author about related activities and resources.

This lively, hands-on guide to meditation, mindfulness, and yoga is a perfect introduction for tweens and teens. Don't just do something, be here. The key to happiness is being able to find comfort in this moment, here and now. When you are completely present and not distracted by regrets, worries, and plans, even for a little while, you begin to feel more confident and can deal more easily with everything you experience.

Derailed by the sudden passing of her husband of thirty years, an artist on the brink of a gallery opening struggles to pick up the pieces of her life before discovering harrowing evidence of her husband's affair.

Award-winning poet Nezhukumatathil intertwines snapshots of memoir with a fascinating look at various animals and plants in this account weaving memories of growing up feeling like an outsider, a brown girl in an overwhelmingly white world, with facts about the flora and fauna that are important touchstones for her. She shares reminiscences about her family, her work, and the importance of the natural world in her life.

When the school bus breaks down in the woods after Ollie's class field trip to Misty Valley Farm, she's the only one who knows something is REALLY wrong. As an army of scarecrows seeks to add the class to their ranks to fulfill a bargain from generations past, Ollie and two classmates must fight to save them all. This is a totally creepy story with tons of heart, great for adults and kids alike.

Every year on November 1st, the island of Thisby hosts the Scorpio Races, a deadly competition on wild, flesh-eating water horses based on Celtic legends. Puck Connolly, the first girl to ride in the races, competes to save her home; while Sean Kendrick, four-time champion, rides for the right to buy his beloved mount, Corr.

There's something strange about the Silver family house in the closed-off town of Dover, England. The Silver women have always had a strong connection, a pull over one another that reaches across time and space, and when Lily, Miranda's mother, passes away suddenly while on a trip abroad, Miranda begins suffering strange ailments. When she brings a friend home, Dover's hostility toward outsiders physically manifests within the four walls of the Silver house, and the lives of everyone inside are irrevocably changed. Winner of the Somerset Maugham Award.

Ocker profiles the infamous real-life items that have intersected with some of the most notable events and people in history-- leaving death and destruction in their wake. They can be found in museums, graveyards, and private homes, and their bizarre stories have inspired countless horror movies, reality TV shows, novels, and campfire tales.

Ulmer and her family loved spending time outside, but when she was stung by a bee twice in the span of a week, she became afraid to go outside. She was only 4, and her parents encouraged her to learn about bees instead of letting her fear prevent her from doing things she loved. What Ulmer learned about bees fascinated her--and concerned her. Endangered bees meant an endangered food supply. Ulmer wanted to do something about that. She had seen kids selling lemonade for Austin Lemonade Day, and she decided to start saving the bees by raising money through a lemonade stand. Her passion for her business and for the bees, her parents' support, her attention to every opportunity, and careful use of every bit of knowledge that came her way all carried her from weekly lemonade stands to bottling her lemonade for sale at one local pizza parlor, then an offer from Whole Foods, regional expansion, Shark Tank, and beyond.

Five teenage girls, isolated by their personal struggles, find the strength to cope through a newly formed high school basketball team. When an optimistic coach pulls them together, they clash even as they gel and ultimately find solace in their friendships. While basketball plays a prominent role, this book is far less concerned with the sport than the relationships and mental health of its characters. Most of the girls' problems aren't solved, which may leave readers feeling somewhat bleak, but the growth of love amid the pain offers a path to hope.

Sydney Green is Brooklyn born and raised, but her beloved neighborhood seems to change every time she blinks; the neighbors she's known all her life are disappearing. To hold onto her community's past and present, Sydney channels her frustration into a walking tour and finds an unlikely and unwanted assistant in one of the new arrivals to the block -- her neighbor Theo. But Sydney and Theo's deep dive into history quickly becomes a dizzying descent into paranoia and fear. Their neighbors may not have moved to the suburbs after all, and the push to revitalize the community may be more deadly than advertised.

At forty, Seager, an MIT astrophysicist, is suddenly a widow and the single mother of two young boys. For the first time, she feels alone in the universe. As she struggles to navigate her life after loss, Seager takes solace in the alien beauty of exoplanets and the technical challenges of exploration.

"This brilliantly illustrated picture book tells the story of the Aajibaichi Shala, the Grandmother School, that was opened in Phangane, India, in 2016 to teach local grandmothers how to read and write."-- Provided by publisher.

It's been eighteen months since the Raxter School for Girls was put under quarantine. Since the Tox hit and pulled Hetty's life out from under her. It started slow. First the teachers died one by one. Then it began to infect the students, turning their bodies strange and foreign. Now, cut off from the rest of the world and left to fend for themselves on their island home, the girls don't dare wander outside the school's fence, where the Tox has made the woods wild and dangerous. They wait for the cure they were promised as the Tox seeps into everything. But when Byatt goes missing, Hetty will do anything to find her, even if it means breaking quarantine and braving the horrors that lie beyond the fence. And when she does, Hetty learns that there's more to their story, to their life at Raxter, than she could have ever thought true.

"After a messy public breakup leaves her face splashed across the tabloids, soap opera darling Jasmine Lin Rodriguez returns to New York City to film the starring role in a bilingual romantic comedy for the number one streaming service in the country. A casting shake-up pairs her with telenovela hunk Ashton Suárez, who is worried about his career after his last telenovela character was killed off. A disastrous first impression smothers the embers of whatever sexual heat they might have had, so Jasmine and Ashton agree to rehearse in private. Rehearsal leads to kissing, kissing leads to a behind-the-scenes romance worthy of a soap opera. Will the media spotlight on Jasmine destroy her new image and expose Ashton's most closely guarded secret?"--Provided by publisher.

New from the author of The Warmth of Other Suns: In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings. Beyond race, class, or other factors, there is a powerful caste system that influences people's lives and behavior and the nation's fate.

A young Black girl spends the day hiking up Hickory Hill with her mom and dad. After gathering the supplies they need and embarking on the trail, the family spots and admires animals, plants, and birds on their way to the summit's incredible views. This sweet story celebrating the joy of being outdoors is perfect for new and experienced adventurers alike.

Author Joseph Bruchac's (Nulhegan Abenaki) latest is a page-turning #OwnVoices thriller about an Abenaki teenager fighting to survive. Nick is thrown from a moving train into remote Canadian wilderness after accidentally witnessing a brutal murder. When the murderer tries to track him down to finish the job, Nick must remember all the survival skills he learned from his Grampa Elie to outwit his pursuer and stay alive in the wilderness.

When their father, an international literary giant, dies unexpectedly, the three Sweeney sisters must come together to locate their father’s missing and overdue memoir. In the midst of settling the estate and finalizing arrangements, they find out that while they thought there were just three Sweeney sisters, there were in fact, four.

The life cycle of the European eel is fraught with mysteries, though most readers will have never given these endangered aquatic enigmas a second thought. Their breeding grounds are unknown despite the efforts of multiple biologists over decades -- although tiny eel larva have been observed in the Sargasso Sea, mature eels have never actually been seen mating there. This deep dive from a Swedish journalist is sure to intrigue, intertwining fascinating facts and history with memories of eel-fishing with his father.

Olympic medal-winning sabre fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad was the first woman to represent the United States at the Olympics while wearing a hijab. Her debut picture book expresses a little girl's pride in seeing her big sister start the school year confidently wearing a hijab for the first time - the beautiful blue fabric likened in text and illustrations to the ocean and the sky on a sunny day.

Olympic medal-winning sabre fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad was the first woman to represent the United States at the Olympics while wearing a hijab. Her debut picture book expresses a little girl's pride in seeing her big sister start the school year confidently wearing a hijab for the first time - the beautiful blue fabric likened in text and illustrations to the ocean and the sky on a sunny day.

Honor Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in May by reading about Korean-American Penny Lee, an awkward college freshman who becomes increasingly close to the intriguing Sam, a college dropout/baker/barista. In a familiar scenario for stay-at-home times, their relationship develops almost entirely through long text conversations. The question is, can they make it work in real life?

Honor Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in May by reading about Korean-American Penny Lee, an awkward college freshman who becomes increasingly close to the intriguing Sam, a college dropout/baker/barista. In a familiar scenario for stay-at-home times, their relationship develops almost entirely through long text conversations. The question is, can they make it work in real life?

Life seemed to be slowing down a bit for Mrs. Sookie Poole. At long last she might get to relax and even do some traveling with her husband. When she discovers something from her mother’s past though, she begins to question everything she thought she knew about herself and her family.

Life seemed to be slowing down a bit for Mrs. Sookie Poole. At long last she might get to relax and even do some traveling with her husband. When she discovers something from her mother’s past though, she begins to question everything she thought she knew about herself and her family.

Best-selling author and licensed mortician Caitlin Doughty answers real questions from kids about death, dead bodies, and decomposition. Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?, blends her scientific understanding of the body and the intriguing history behind common misconceptions about corpses to offer factual, hilarious, and candid answers to thirty-five urgent questions posed by her youngest fans.

Best-selling author and licensed mortician Caitlin Doughty answers real questions from kids about death, dead bodies, and decomposition. Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?, blends her scientific understanding of the body and the intriguing history behind common misconceptions about corpses to offer factual, hilarious, and candid answers to thirty-five urgent questions posed by her youngest fans.

This hands-on crafty science book introduces inquisitive children to the wonders of science through craft projects with everyday objects. Award-winning author Jane Bull combines art, craft, and cooking activities with gentle scientific learning, showing children that science, technology, engineering, art, and maths are all around us - and in everything we make and do!

Told from two viewpoints, teens Lucky, a very famous K-pop star, and Jack, a part-time paparazzo who is trying to find himself, fall for each other against the odds through the course of one stolen day.

Told from two viewpoints, teens Lucky, a very famous K-pop star, and Jack, a part-time paparazzo who is trying to find himself, fall for each other against the odds through the course of one stolen day.

After a sudden change of plans, a remarkable woman and her loyal group of friends try to figure out what she's going to do with the rest of her life.

From the 1920s through 1950, Georgia Tann ran a black-market baby business at the Tennessee Children's Home Society. She offered up more than 5,000 orphans to eager parents--hiding the fact that many weren't orphans at all, but stolen children of poor families, desperate single mothers, and women told in maternity wards that their babies died.

From the 1920s through 1950, Georgia Tann ran a black-market baby business at the Tennessee Children's Home Society. She offered up more than 5,000 orphans to eager parents--hiding the fact that many weren't orphans at all, but stolen children of poor families, desperate single mothers, and women told in maternity wards that their babies died.

In this charming middle grade romp, 13-year-old Sal Vidón is a type 1 diabetic and amateur magician with the inexplicable ability to open holes in the space-time continuum. When his friend Gabi’s hospitalized baby brother takes a turn for the worse, Sal’s power might just be the solution they need—unless it destroys the universe. Sal and Gabi are clearly a fictional team destined for greatness. Look for book 2, Sal & Gabi Fix the Universe, in May 2020!

If you want a fantasy-romance, this story set in modern-day Seoul is perfect for you. Gu Miyoung is secretly a gumiho, a nine-tailed fox who must devour the energy of men in order to survive. No one believes in the old tales anymore and Seoul is the best place to hunt with so many evil men no one will mind being gone. But when she saves Jihoon, a human boy, from being attacked by a goblin deep in the forest, she loses her gumiho soul in the process. Jihoon remembers the tales of the gumiho that his grandmother told him and while he knows Miyoung is dangerous, he is still drawn to her. When a young shaman tries to return Miyoung’s gumiho soul to her, she must make a decision over her immortal life or Jihoon’s.

A fiercely imaginative novel about a family's summer road trip across America--a journey that, with breathtaking imagery, spare lyricism, and profound humanity, probes the nature of justice and equality in America today. Told through the voices of the mother and her son, as well as through a stunning tapestry of collected texts and images, Lost Children Archive is a story of how we document our experiences, and how we remember the things that matter to us the most.

Her whole life, Lucy Knisley wanted to be a mother. But when it was finally the perfect time, conceiving turned out to be harder than anything she'd ever attempted. This moving, hilarious, and surprisingly informative graphic novel memoir not only follows Lucy's personal transition into motherhood but also illustrates the history and science of reproductive health from all angles.

This cyclical volume by award-winning creators Cooper and Ellis observes winter solstice, offering an alluringly haunting alternative to more familiar seasonal stories.

Carnegie Medal nominee Emezi makes their young adult debut in this compelling, nuanced tale of a transgender, selectively nonverbal girl named Jam, and the monstrous figure that finds its way into her allegedly utopian universe.

When his wife asks for a divorce, Nashville Legends second baseman Gavin Scott finds help from an unlikely source: a secret romance book club made up of Nashville's top alpha men. With the help of their current read, a steamy Regency titled Courting the Countess, the guys coach Gavin on saving his marriage. But it'll take a lot more than flowery words and grand gestures for this hapless Romeo to find his inner hero and win back the trust of his wife.

Schizophrenia is not a single unifying diagnosis, and Esmé Weijun Wang writes not just to her fellow members of the 'collected schizophrenias' but to those who wish to understand it as well. In essays that range from using fashion to present as high-functioning to the depths of a rare form of psychosis Wang's analytical eye, honed as a former lab researcher at Stanford, allows her to balance research with personal narrative. Winner of the Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize