New for Children
Clementine Fox and the Great Island Adventure
by Leigh Luna
Deciding to ditch school for a day of adventure and exploration, Clementine recruits her friends to join her. Together they hitch a ride to a mysterious local island where Clementine’s great aunt lives, but things don’t go exactly as planned.
Miss Irwin
by Allen Say
As a young woman, Miss Irwin was a kindergarten teacher who loved introducing the world of discovery to her students. Now, as a grandmother, she often reflects on her days exploring with her students. When her grandson asks her about a mysterious box on the shelf, she gets lost in memory, and her mind transports her back in time. At first her grandson is confused, but remembers his grandmother’s forgetfulness and plays along as the student who made the bird’s nest inside the white box.
Allen Say’s artwork and thoughtful text gently weave a touching story about memory and family. Together, the grandmother and grandson rejoice in the meaning and beauty of memory before all is lost.
“Miss Irwin” helps readers of all ages better understand and interact with loved ones who are experiencing memory loss.
New for Teens
Over My Dead Body
by Sweeney Boo
One day, everything was exactly as it was supposed to be. And the next, the closest thing Abby ever had to a sister, Noreen, was gone. Distracted by the annual preparations for the Samhain festival, Abby’s classmates put Noreen’s disappearance aside. The Coven will find her, Abby’s friends say. But Abby can’t let it go. Soon a search for answers leads her down a rabbit hole that uncovers more secrets than she can handle. As mounting evidence steers her toward the woods that surround the academy, she begins to see that Noreen’s disappearance mysteriously has a lot in common with another girl who went missing many years ago.
Before Takeoff
by Adi Alsaid
James and Michelle find themselves in the Atlanta airport on a layover when delays draw them to a mysterious flashing green light. Michelle quickly discovers that the flashing green light is actually a button. When she presses it, she unwittingly breaks the rules of the universe … at least as those rules apply to the Atlanta airport. Strange, impossible things start happening: snowstorms form inside the B terminal, jungles sprout up in the C terminal, and earthquakes split the ground apart in between. And no matter how hard they try, it seems no one can find a way in or out of the airport. James and Michelle team up to find their families and either escape the airport, or put an end to its chaos before it’s too late.
New for Adults
To Walk It Is To See It
by Kathy Elkind
In 2018, Kathy Elkind and her husband Jim decided to take a grown-up “gap year” in Europe and walk the 1,400-mile Grande Randonnée Cinq (GR5) across the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. Walking day after day for 98 days brings sickness, accommodation struggles, language barriers, and storm-shrouded mountains in the Alps. Meanwhile, Kathy finds herself reflecting on difficult topics—her struggles with dyslexia, overeating, and shame. But she also finds that the walking becomes a moving meditation, and the beauty of the landscape heals; she begins to discover her own strength; and as the days unfold, she comes to the realization that a long marriage is like a long trail: there are ups and downs, and it takes hard work to keep going, but the beauty along the way is staggering.
Chinese Menu: The History, Myths, and Legends Behind Your Favorite Foods
by Grace Lin
From fried dumplings to fortune cookies, here are the legends, myths, and history behind your favorite American Chinese foods.
Separated into courses like a Chinese menu, these tales—based in real history and folklore—are filled with squabbling dragons, magical fruits, and hungry monks. This book will bring you to far-off times and marvelous places, all while making your mouth water. And, along the way, you might just discover a deeper understanding of the resilience and triumph behind this food, and what makes it undeniably American.
