November's Recommended Reads | |
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All books mentioned in this edition of the Great Reads Newsletter are available on the Ocean County Library's OverDrive Collection and/or in our catalog.
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For help and support visit the library's help page and click on the OverDrive tab.
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Stargazer
by Anne Hillerman
What begins as a typical day for Officer Bernadette Manuelito—serving a bench warrant, dealing with a herd of cattle obstructing traffic, and stumbling across a crime scene—takes an unexpected twist when she's called to help find an old friend. Years ago, Bernie and Maya were roommates, but time and Maya's struggles with addiction drove them apart. Now Maya's brother asks Bernie to find out what happened to his sister. Tracing Maya's whereabouts, Bernie learns that her old friend had confessed to the murder of her estranged husband, a prominent astronomer. But the details don't align. Suspicious, Bernie takes a closer look at the case only to find that nothing is as it seems.
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The Removed
by Brandon Hobson
In the fifteen years since their teenage son, Ray-Ray, was killed, the Echota family has been suspended in private grief. The mother, Maria, increasingly struggles to manage the onset of Alzheimer's in her husband, Ernest. Their adult daughter, Sonja, leads a life of solitude, punctuated only by spells of dizzying romantic obsession. And their son, Edgar, fled home long ago, turning to drugs to mute his feelings of alienation. With the family's annual bonfire approaching, Maria attempts to call the family together from their physical and emotional distances once more.
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Young Adult Fiction & Nonfiction | |
Firekeepers Daughter
by Angeline Boulley
Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. She dreams of a fresh start at college, but when family tragedy strikes, Daunis puts her future on hold to look after her fragile mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi's hockey team. Yet even as Daunis falls for Jamie, she senses the dashing hockey star is hiding something. Everything comes to light when Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, thrusting her into an FBI investigation of a lethal new drug.
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#NotYourPrincess: Voices of Native American Women
Edited by Lisa Charleyboy & Mary Beth Leatherdale
#Not Your Princess presents an eclectic collection of poems, essays, interviews, and art that combine to express the experience of being a Native woman. Stories of abuse, humiliation, and stereotyping are countered by the voices of passionate women making themselves heard and demanding change. Sometimes angry, often reflective, but always strong, the women in this book will give teen readers insight into the lives of women who, for so long, have been virtually invisible.
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The Sea in Winter
by Christine Day
It's been a hard year for Maisie Cannon, ever since she hurt her leg and could not keep up with her ballet training and auditions.
Her blended family is loving and supportive, but Maisie knows that they just can't understand how hopeless she feels. With everything she's dealing with, Maisie is not excited for their family midwinter road trip along the coast, near the Makah community where her mother grew up.
But soon, Maisie's anxieties and dark moods start to hurt as much as the pain in her knee. How can she keep pretending to be strong when on the inside she feels as roiling and cold as the ocean?
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Sisters of the Neversea
by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Lily and Wendy have been best friends since they became stepsisters. But with their feuding parents planning to spend the summer apart, what will become of their family—and their friendship? Little do they know that a mysterious boy has been watching them from the oak tree outside their window. A boy who intends to take them away from home for good, to an island of wild animals, Merfolk, Fairies, and kidnapped children, to a sea of merfolk, pirates, and a giant crocodile.
A boy who calls himself Peter Pan.
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I Sang You Down from the Stars
Written by Tasha Spillett-Sumner
Illustrated by Michaela Goade
As she waits for the arrival of her new baby, a mother-to-be gathers gifts to create a sacred bundle. A white feather, cedar and sage, a stone from the river . . .
Each addition to the bundle will offer the new baby strength and connection to tradition, family, and community. As they grow together, mother and baby will each have gifts to offer each other.
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Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story
Written by Kevin Noble Maillard Illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal
Fry bread is food.
It is warm and delicious, piled high on a plate.
Fry bread is time.
It brings families together for meals and new memories.
Fry bread is nation.
It is shared by many, from coast to coast and beyond.
Fry bread is us.
It is a celebration of old and new, traditional and modern, similarity and difference.
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