The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins ( Hunger Games Prequel)

 I was so excited for this book and it did not disappoint. What a prequel!!! The only thing I can say is when will the sequel come out. In the past I have been disappointed in prequels like The Maze Runner Prequel. I loved learning about President Snow and his origin story. 

Amazon Summary

Ambition will fuel him.Competition will drive him.But power has its price.

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute. The odds are against him. He's been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined -- every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute... and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe ( Lincoln 22)

 While I was on a Abe Lincoln List kick I picked this book to read next. It was categorized as realistic fiction and humor so I figured I'd give it a chance. I definitely enjoyed this read and the main character. I think boys and girls would enjoy this read. 

Amazon Summary

Norris Kaplan is clever, cynical, and quite possibly too smart for his own good. A Black French Canadian, he knows from watching American sitcoms that those three things don’t bode well when you are moving to Austin, Texas.

Plunked into a new high school and sweating a ridiculous amount from the oppressive Texas heat, Norris finds himself cataloging everyone he meets: the Cheerleaders, the Jocks, the Loners, and even the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Making a ton of friends has never been a priority for him, and this way he can at least amuse himself until it’s time to go back to Canada, where he belongs.

Yet against all odds, those labels soon become actual people to Norris…like loner Liam, who makes it his mission to befriend Norris, or Madison the beta cheerleader, who is so nice that it has to be a trap. Not to mention Aarti the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, who might, in fact, be a real love interest in the making.

But the night of the prom, Norris screws everything up royally. As he tries to pick up the pieces, he realizes it might be time to stop hiding behind his snarky opinions and start living his life—along with the people who have found their way into his heart.

The Companion by Katie Alender (Lincoln 22)

 For a long time I tried to read everything on the Abe Lincoln List. I fell behind while we were remote during Covid. Over the summer I tried to pick back up on the Lincoln list and chose The Companion not knowing anything about it. I really enjoyed this book and did not foresee many of the twists and turns this book took the reader. I think HPHS students would really enjoy this book.

Amazon Summary

The other orphans say Margot is lucky.
 
Lucky to survive the horrible accident that killed her family.
 
Lucky to have her own room because she wakes up screaming every night.
 
And finally, lucky to be chosen by a prestigious family to live at their remote country estate.
 
But it wasn't luck that made the Suttons rescue Margot from her bleak existence at the group home.  Margot was handpicked to be a companion to their silent, mysterious daughter, Agatha. At first, helping with Agatha--and getting to know her handsome younger brother--seems much better than the group home. But soon, the isolated house begins playing tricks on Margot’s mind, making her question everything she believes about the Suttons . . . and herself.  
 
Margot’s bad dreams may have stopped when she came to live with Agatha – but the real nightmare has just begun.

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

 I have recently been enjoying Kristin Hannah's books. When this new release came out I instantly snagged it and started reading it. Hannah, is a strong author and takes the reader into the book. I really enjoyed this historical fiction read and learned a lot about The Dust Bowl. 

Amazon Summary

Texas, 1921. A time of abundance. The Great War is over, the bounty of the land is plentiful, and America is on the brink of a new and optimistic era. But for Elsa Wolcott, deemed too old to marry in a time when marriage is a woman’s only option, the future seems bleak. Until the night she meets Rafe Martinelli and decides to change the direction of her life. With her reputation in ruin, there is only one respectable choice: marriage to a man she barely knows.

By 1934, the world has changed; millions are out of work and drought has devastated the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as crops fail and water dries up and the earth cracks open. Dust storms roll relentlessly across the plains. Everything on the Martinelli farm is dying, including Elsa’s tenuous marriage; each day is a desperate battle against nature and a fight to keep her children alive.

In this uncertain and perilous time, Elsa―like so many of her neighbors―must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or leave it behind and go west, to California, in search of a better life for her family.

The Four Winds is a rich, sweeping novel that stunningly brings to life the Great Depression and the people who lived through it―the harsh realities that divided us as a nation and the enduring battle between the haves and the have-nots. A testament to hope, resilience, and the strength of the human spirit to survive adversity, The Four Winds is an indelible portrait of America and the American dream, as seen through the eyes of one indomitable woman whose courage and sacrifice will come to define a generation.

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes ( Hawthorne Legacy Book 2)

 I read the Inheritance Games after reading Truly Devious and thought it was another satisying mystery. I enjoyed it so much that I picked it for the HPHS Book Club for the 2021-2022 school year. My hope is to read book 1 and 2 this school year with book club. 

Inheritance Games Summary from Amazon

Avery Grambs has a plan for a better future: survive high school, win a scholarship, and get out. But her fortunes change in an instant when billionaire Tobias Hawthorne dies and leaves Avery virtually his entire fortune. The catch? Avery has no idea why -- or even who Tobias Hawthorne is.

To receive her inheritance, Avery must move into sprawling, secret passage-filled Hawthorne House, where every room bears the old man's touch -- and his love of puzzles, riddles, and codes. Unfortunately for Avery, Hawthorne House is also occupied by the family that Tobias Hawthorne just dispossessed. This includes the four Hawthorne grandsons: dangerous, magnetic, brilliant boys who grew up with every expectation that one day, they would inherit billions. Heir apparent Grayson Hawthorne is convinced that Avery must be a conwoman, and he's determined to take her down. His brother, Jameson, views her as their grandfather's last hurrah: a twisted riddle, a puzzle to be solved. Caught in a world of wealth and privilege, with danger around every turn, Avery will have to play the game herself just to survive.

Truly Devious Series 1-4

 I loved this series! Last year the HPHS Book Club read Truly Devious, The Vanishing Stair and the Hand on the Wall. As soon as The Box in the Woods came out I had to read it immediately. A great mystery, compelling characters and interesting plot. 

Amazon Summary for Truly Devious

Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont for the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists. It was founded by Albert Ellingham, an early twentieth century tycoon, who wanted to make a wonderful place full of riddles, twisting pathways, and gardens. “A place,” he said, “where learning is a game.”

Shortly after the school opened, his wife and daughter were kidnapped. The only real clue was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed with the frightening pseudonym “Truly, Devious.” It became one of the great unsolved crimes of American history.

True-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is set to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has an ambitious plan: She will solve this cold case. That is, she will solve the case when she gets a grip on her demanding new school life and her housemates: the inventor, the novelist, the actor, the artist, and the jokester.

But something strange is happening. Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy. The past has crawled out of its grave. Someone has gotten away with murder. 

The two interwoven mysteries of this first book in the Truly Devious series dovetail brilliantly, and Stevie Bell will continue her relentless quest for the murderers in books two and three.

Black Lives Matter Reading List

Over the last few days there have been increasing conversations about white privilege and what white people can do to acknowledge, help and end racism. As a librarian, I wanted to share some resources and books that can help educate and further the conversation as we continue to grow, learn and evolve.

Adult and Young Adult Non-Fiction Books

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Black Girl Magic by Mahogany Browne

How To Be an Anti-Racist by Dr. Kendi

Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad

Small Doses by Amanda Seales

Stamped by Jason Reynolds

The Case For Reparations 

This Book is Anti-Racist by Tiffany Jewell

White Fragility by Robin Diangelo

Fiction

Children's Books

A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara

A Kids Book About Racism by Jelani Memory

Antiracist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi

Chocolate Me by Taye Diggs

Hair Love by Matthew Cherry

I am Rosa Parks by Brad Meltzer

Something Happened in Our Town by Marianne Celano