June 2022 Shelf Talk
ADULT
Plant Grow Harvest Repeat: Grow a Bounty of Vegetables, Fruits, and Flowers by Mastering the Art of Succession Planting by Meg McAndrews Cowden
This new gardening book, written by McAndrews Cowden, will take you on a journey of discovery as you learn how to get more out of your gardening growing space with the concept of succession planting. This book will “inspire you to create an even more productive, beautiful, and enjoyable garden across the seasons – every vegetable gardener’s dream.” Review:
publishersweekly.com/9781643260617
Where the Children Take Us by Zain Asher
CNN anchor, Zain Ahser, pays tribute to her mother in this memoir as she tells of her mother’s strength and determination as she raised four successful children in the after a family tragedy. This is the story of a woman who “survived genocide, famine, poverty, and crushing grief to rise from war torn Africa to the streets of South London.” This book will show you a mother’s portrait of unforgettable strength, love, tenacity, and perseverance.
Review: kirkusreviews. com/book-reviews/zaine-asher/where-the-children-take-us
Book of Night by Holly Black
New York Times bestselling author, Black, brings you this paranormal fictional thriller centered around Charlie Hall. Charlie has never found a book she could not steal, a lock she could not pick or a bad decision she would not make. Determined to survive, she is up against a “cast of doppelgangers, mercurial billionaires, gloamists, and the people she loves best in the world – all trying to steal a secret that will give them vast and terrible power.
Review: kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/hollyblack/book-of-nightblack
Life Sentences by Billy O’Callaghan
In this moving portrait of life in Ireland, O’Callaghan writes an unforgettable historical fiction tale of one Irish family’s fight for survival creating a tale of love, abandonment, hunger, and redemption. The story is based partly on stories shared by his parents and grandparents about the village where his family lived for generations. This is an “ambitious and lyrical family saga” by one of the “finest living Irish writers”. Review: kirkusreviews. com/book-reviews/billyocallaghan/life-sentences-ocallaghan
YOUNG ADULT
Finding Her Edge by Jennifer Iacopelli
Adriana Russo is figure skating royalty. With gold-medalist parents, and her older sister headed to the Olympics, all she wants is to live up to the family name and stand atop the ice dance podium at the Junior World Championships. But fame doesn't always mean fortune, and their legendary skating rink is struggling under the weight of her dad's lavish lifestyle. The only thing keeping it afloat is a deal to host the rest of the Junior Worlds team before they leave for France. That means training on the same ice as her first crush, Freddie, the partner she left when her growth spurt outpaced his. For the past two years, he's barely acknowledged her existence, and she can't even imagined. And training alongside Freddie makes it worse, especially when pretending with Brayden starts to feel very real. As the biggest competition of her life draws closer and her family's legacy hangs in the balance, Adriana is caught between her past and present, between the golden future she's worked so hard for, and the one she gave up long ago.
Review: kirkusreviews. com/book-reviews/jennifer-iacopelli/finding-heredge
The Diamond Keeper by Jeannie Mobley
Eighteen-year-old Claudie Durand's future is planned. She'll take over the family inn, watch her much prettier younger sister, Mathilde, married off to the butcher's son, and live out her days alone, without the hope of finding a love of her own. When the Army of the Republic seizes their town, and Claudie finds herself at the center of the conspiracy, she and Mathilde must flee their sheltered life and take up a cause that, up till now, had always seemed like a distant conflict. As the sisters carry out a dangerous mission for the resistance: delivering a precious item to the mysterious Rooster of Rennes--Claudie's conscience is torn between the longing to return to her predictable, lonely existence and the desire to carve out a new future, reaching for the life--and love--she never dared dream of but knew deep down she truly deserved. Review: publishersweekly.
com/978-1-984837-44-8
Maze Runner by James Dashner
When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He's surrounded by strangers--boys whose memories are also gone. Outside the towering stone walls that surround them is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It's the only way out-- and no one's ever made it through alive. Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying: Remember. Survive. Run.
Review:
publishersweekly. com/9780385737944
The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the un lucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one. Now, it's the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth's last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie's only hope for rescuing her brother--or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.
Review: kirkusreviews. com/book-reviews/rickyancey/5th-wave
CHILDREN
I Didn't Do It, written by Patricia MacLachlan and Emily MacLachlan Charest, illustrated by Katy Schneider
Distinct puppy personalities shine through in 14 poems. The poems share each dog's point of view. A small terrier objects to his owner's “Rules” and offers up his own code of conduct: “Drooling is good…. Get muddy. Be happy. Howl!” A black Labrador retriever with woebegone eyes staring straight at readers sits in a bathtub and itemizes “What I Don't Like.” The list includes “My food/I like yours better and many more. MacLachlan, author of the award-winning short novel “Sarah Plain and Tall” and her daughter work together to share their love of
animals and children. Review: static.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ patricia-maclachlan/ididnt-do
Devil’s Bridge by Cynthia De Felice
Twelve-year-old Ben enters the annual striped sea bass tournament on Martha’s Vineyard. His father’s name is at the top of the winner’s board and Ben would like to top his father’s record to honor his memory since he died the year before while fishing offshore. Complications arise when Ben and a friend discover a contestant is cheating to win. His mother is set against fishing and the sea which Ben finds totally unreasonable since they live on an island on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean! The emotional conflicts of right and wrong along with his desire to follow his heart even against his mother’s demands bring amazing twists as the plot unwinds. A great fishing story that will lure you in. Review: static.kirkus
reviews.com/book-reviews/cynthia-defelice/ devils-bridge/?page=2
The One Thing You’d Save by Linda Sue Parks, illustrated by Robert Sae-Heng
If your house were on fire, what one thing would you save? Newbery Medalist Linda Sue Park explores different answers to this provocative question in linked poems that capture the diverse voices of a middle school class. When a teacher asks her class what one thing they would save in an emergency, some students know the answer right away. Others come to their decisions more slowly. And some change their minds when they hear their classmates' responses. A lively dialog ignites as the students discover unexpected facets of one another--and themselves. Linda Sue Park brings the many voices of a classroom to life through carefully honed, engaging, and instantly accessible verse. Review: hbook.com/
story/review-of-the-one
thing-youd-save
Millionaires for the Month by Stacy McAnulty
Seventh graders Benji and Felix "borrow" $20 from a lost wallet they find on a field trip. The wallet’s billionaire owner notices the missing $20 when the wallet is returned and challenges them to spend over $5 million dollars in thirty days to teach them a few life lessons about money. College scholarships await at the end of the challenge. Wow, you say, what a deal! Oh, but there are rules: no purchases for others, no real estate or investment plans, absolute secrecy (including parents) and more. Will Benji and Felix make it through the month with even one friend left? Go along for the ride of a lifetime with over-the-top decadence, a tense race against time, and lessons on what’s truly valuable.
Review: kirkusreviews. com/book-reviews/stacymcanulty/millionairesmonth
Swish! The Slam Dunking, Alley-Ooping, High Flying, Harlem Globetrotters, written by Suzanne Slade, illustrated by Don Tate
The true story of the high-flying Harlem Globetrotters — the team that changed basketball forever. You will find crazy ball feats: one-finger ball-spinning, rapidfire mini-dribbling, and ricochet head shots! You will find skilled athletes, expert players, and electrifying performers — all rolled into one! You will find nonstop, give-it-allyou've-got, out-to-winit, sky's-the-limit BASKETBALL! You will find The Harlem Globetrotters, who played the most groundbreaking, breathtaking ball the world had ever seen.
Review: publishersweekly.
publishersweekly. com/9780316481670