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Teen Scene September 2020 All of the books listed are available in physical format with other formats noted when available. If you need more information about branch hours, holds pickup procedures and COVID-19 updates, see our website here. If a title is listed as ON ORDER, that means it hasn't arrived at the library yet but is on its way - now is a great time to get to the front of the line and place your hold!
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Set fire to the gods
by Sara Raasch
and Kristen Simmons
What it's about: The daughter of a family of gladiators and a street fighter who possesses a rare elemental gift are forced to choose between loyalties when a revenge plot gone wrong inadvertently triggers a deadly conflict between their world’s elemental gods.
For fans of: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Sarah J. Maas, Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young
Series alert: The first book in a planned duology.
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The Black Kids
by Christina Hammonds Reed
What it's about: Los Angeles, 1992
Ashley Bennett and her friends are living the charmed life. It’s the end of senior year and they’re spending more time at the beach than in the classroom. They can already feel the sunny days and endless possibilities of summer.
Everything changes one afternoon in April, when four LAPD officers are acquitted after beating a black man named Rodney King half to death. Suddenly, Ashley’s not just one of the girls. She’s one of the black kids.
As violent protests engulf LA and the city burns, Ashley tries to continue on as if life were normal. Even as her self-destructive sister gets dangerously involved in the riots. Even as the model black family façade her wealthy and prominent parents have built starts to crumble. Even as her best friends help spread a rumor that could completely derail the future of her classmate and fellow black kid, LaShawn Johnson.
With her world splintering around her, Ashley, along with the rest of LA, is left to question who is the us? And who is the them?
For fans of: The Hate U Give, thought provoking #ownvoices works
Reviewers say: "A brilliantly poetic take on one of the most defining moments in Black American history." --Tiffany D. Jackson, author of Grown and Monday's Not Coming
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He must like you by Danielle Younge-Ullman
What it's about: Libby's having a rough senior year. Her older brother absconded with his college money and is bartending on a Greek island. Her dad just told her she's got to pay for college herself, and he's evicting her when she graduates so he can AirBnB her room. A drunken hook-up with her coworker Kyle has left her upset and confused. So when Perry Ackerman, serial harasser and the most handsy customer at The Goat where she waitresses, pushes her over the edge, she can hardly be blamed for dumping a pitcher of sangria on his head. Unfortunately, Perry is a local industry hero, the restaurant's most important customer and Libby's mom's boss. Now Libby has to navigate the fallout of her outburst, find an apartment and deal with her increasing rage at the guys who've screwed up her life--and her increasing crush on the one guy who truly gets her. As timely as it is timeless, He Must Like You is a story about consent, rage, and revenge, and the potential we all have to be better people.
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We are not free
by Traci Chee
What it's about: Growing up together in the community of Japantown, San Francisco, four second-generation Japanese American teens find their bond tested by widespread discrimination and the mass incarcerations of people of Japanese ancestry during World War II.
Reviews say: "Chee is a master storyteller.. a blazing and timely indictment of the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWI... remarkable and deeply moving" (Booklist).
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| Kingdom of Souls by Rena BarronWhat it's about: Despite being the daughter of two powerful witch doctors, Arrah hasn't been gifted by the orisha of magic. Desperate, Arrah performs a risky ritual, gaining enough magic to see a threatening plot...but maybe not enough to stop it.
Series alert: Look for the sequel, Reaper of Souls, in February 2021.
Further reading: For another intricately plotted Afrofantasy series opener featuring intrigue and fierce magic, try Amanda Joy's A River of Royal Blood.
Also available on Hoopla as an ebook and eaudiobook. |
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| Bruja Born by Zoraida CórdovaWhat it's about: Beautiful Lula Mortiz is a healer from a long line of brujas, but after her boyfriend Maks is in a terrible accident, healing isn't enough, and Lulu's desperate magic disrupts the balance between life and death.
Series alert: This intensifying paranormal follow-up to Labyrinth Lost will leave you longing for Wayward Witch, the final book in the Brooklyn Brujas series, which is out this month.
Also available as an ebook on Hoopla and Overdrive/Libby. |
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| Winterwood by Shea ErnshawFeaturing: Nora Walker, who’s descended from a long line of forest witches; Oliver Huntsman, who’s rescued by Nora after he inexplicably survives a winter storm; and the ancient, ominous woods that surround their town.
What happens: Though Nora is drawn to Oliver, she begins to suspect that he knows more than he should about the local boys who’ve gone missing.
Reviewers say: “a delectably immersive, eerie experience” (Kirkus Reviews). |
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| The Merciful Crow by Margaret OwenWhat it’s about: When a routine job takes an unexpected turn, Fie -- bone witch and future chief of the Crows, a lowly caste of undertakers/mercy-killers -- has to decide if the promise of protection for the Crows is worth the risk of a dangerous quest.
Read it for: diverse characters, pulse-pounding adventure, and a fascinating system of magic.
Series alert: This fantasy is the 1st in a duology, followed by The Faithless Hawk. |
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| These Witches Don't Burn by Isabel SterlingStarring: Elemental witch Hannah, who works at a kitschy tourist shop in Salem, Massachusetts, and carefully conceals her powers from Regs (non-witches).
What happens: When gruesome evidence of dark magic surfaces in Salem, Hannah's coven won't take action, leaving her with only one ally in her investigation: her ex-girlfriend, fellow witch Veronica.
Series alert: If you like this romantic and drama-rich paranormal mystery, be sure to check out the sequel, This Coven Won't Break. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books for ages 13 and up! |
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