Victoria

Darius the Great is Not Okay

by Adib Khorram

YOUNG ADULT FICTION Khorram Adib
Diverse Characters, Young Adult

Clinically-depressed Darius Kellner, a high school sophomore, travels to Iran to meet his grandparents, but it is their next-door neighbor, Sohrab, who changes his life.

A great story about friendship, finding value, purpose and acceptance of yourself for who you really are at your core. I really loved how this book realistically tackled mental illness and the interactions Darius has with his family and friends about it. Soccer, Iran, bullying, depression, and tea; this book has it all! -Victoria

Concrete Rose

Young Adult

Maverick feels strongly about family ties, making choices he feels necessary to help support his mom while his King father serves time, and leave him literally holding his son in a doctor's waiting room after he gets paternity test results back and his babymomma ghosts. Now the child he's raising is impacting the lives of his family and his girlfriend, and the gang life he led to support them all financially could leave them all bearing his responsibilities since it endangers his life. It looks like he may have been offered a chance to go straight, but leaving the King Lords won't be easy, and a "real" job has high demand for low return.

Incredible prequel to Angie Thomas' The Hate U Give. Learning about who Maverick and Lisa are as teenagers as well as looking at exploring a different generation in Garden Heights felt like I gained so much perspective into Starr's life and upbringing. In a recent interview I watched with Thomas, she said the novels are stand-alone in a way and could be read in any order so if you missed The Hate U Give, check it out while you wait! -Victoria

The Patron Saints of Nothing

Read Woke, Young Adult

When seventeen-year-old Jay Reguero learns his Filipino cousin and former best friend, Jun, was murdered as part of President Duterte's war on drugs, he flies to the Philippines to learn more.

This is the story of Jay- a Filipino-American straddling two countries; the US where he's spent most of his life and the Philippines, where his parents chose to leave shortly after he was born in pursuit of a better life. Author Randy Ribay excels in exploring identity, what it means to look a certain way and be interpreted in another. Another theme I appreciated was no matter how much you feel a part of the country you left behind, you will often be seen as an outsider once you leave making you question where your home really is. This book is an excellent read for young adults and adults. It humanizes victims of the war on drugs in the Philippines and allows the reader to explore the conflict from alternative perspectives. This is an exceptional read and provides many opportunities for discussion around immigration, politics, family tradition and connections. -Victoria

King and the Dragonflies

Black History, Diverse Characters

"In a small but turbulent Louisiana town, one boy's grief takes him beyond the bayous of his backyard, to learn that there is no right way to be yourself"-- Provided by publisher.

Kacen Callendar's 2021 Coretta Scott King Author Honor is a fantastic read. This book will have you hooked from the beginning; highly descriptive locations, complex and relatable characters and important themes that will evoke discussion with young readers. I would recommended this for ages 10 and up. -Victoria

How to be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals

Memoir, Animals, Nature

A naturalist and adventurer discusses the personalities and quirks of thirteen animals who have profoundly affected her, exploring themes of learning to become empathetic, creating families, coping with loss, and the otherness and sameness of people and animals.

A delightful book for anyone who admires the sentient intellect and all the life lessons animals outside of own species can share with us-if we're paying attention. -Victoria

Caste : the origins of our discontents

by Isabel Wilkerson

305.5122 /Wilkerson

The hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality. It is about power-- which groups have it and which do not. Wilkerson explores how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings. Linking the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany, Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma, and more. She discusses why the cruel logic of caste requires that there be a bottom rung for those in the middle to measure themselves against. Finally, she points forward to ways America can move beyond the artificial and destructive separations of human divisions, toward hope in our common humanity. -- adapted from jacket

This book has helped me to process much of what has happened in the US recently. Inequity goes beyond racism and classism. Rather, Wilkerson contends it's rooted in caste; an historically manufactured human pecking order set on ranking humanity that has had lasting impacts not only on our institutions but also in framing our daily individual biases and worldviews. Though originally designed to produce well-oiled economic systems and societies (at the behest of those who were subjugated,) today caste still effectively divides; foreshadowing how others see us, how we see them and our perceived place in economies. Insightful, impactful and I could not put this down until I had read every last word! A fantastic piece of Nonfiction! -Victoria

The boy, the mole, the fox and the horse

by Charlie Mackesy

GRAPHIC NOVEL Mackesy
Graphic Novels

"A modern, illustrated fable for readers of all ages that explores life's universal lessons from beloved British illustrator Charlie Mackesy"--

Absolutely beautiful illustrations to accompany simple yet sage wisdom for the young and the young at heart. This book is the magic bullet elixir your soul needs right now. My family and friends will definitely be receiving a copy this gift-giving season! Available at ICPL as a book and an eBook. -Victoria

The book of two ways : a novel

by Jodi Picoult

FICTION Picoult Jodi
Fiction

Dawn Edelstein is on a plane when she is told to prepare for a crash landing. She braces herself as thoughts flash through her mind. The shocking thing is, the thoughts are not of her husband but of a man she last saw fifteen years ago: Wyatt Armstrong. Dawn, miraculously, survives the crash, but so do all the doubts that have suddenly been raised. She has led a good life. Back in Boston, there is her husband, Brian, their beloved daughter, and her work as a death doula. But somewhere in Egypt is Wyatt Armstrong, who works as an archaeologist unearthing ancient burial sites, a career Dawn once studied for but was forced to abandon. The airline ensures that the survivors are seen by a doctor, then offers offers transportation to wherever they want to go. The obvious destination is to fly home, but she could take another path: return to the archaeological site she left years before, reconnect with Wyatt and their unresolved history. As the story unfolds, Dawn's two possible futures unspool side by side, as do the secrets and doubts long buried with them.--Adapted from publisher description.

The new Picoult is highly anticipated. If you're waiting for this one, try a favorite Picoult of mine, Small Great Things; a gripping novel about power, privilege and race. Also try Ruth Hogan's The Keeper of Lost Things. -Victoria

Untamed

by Glennon Doyle

BIOGRAPHY Doyle, Glennon

"There is a voice of longing inside every woman. We strive so mightily to be good: good mothers, daughters, partners, employees, citizens, and friends. We believe all this striving will make us feel alive. Instead, it leaves us feeling weary, stuck, overwhelmed, and underwhelmed. We look at our lives, relationships, and world, and wonder: Wasn't it all supposed to be more beautiful than this? We quickly silence that question, telling ourselves to be grateful. We hide our simmering discontent--even from ourselves. Until we reach our boiling point. Four years ago, Glennon Doyle--bestselling Oprah-endorsed author, renowned activist and humanitarian, wife and mother of three--was speaking at a conference when a woman entered the room. Glennon looked at her and fell instantly in love. Three words flooded her mind: There She Is. At first, Glennon assumed these words came to her from on high. Soon she realized that they came to her from within. Glennon was finally hearing her own voice--the voice that had been silenced by decades of cultural conditioning, numbing addictions, and institutional allegiances. This was the voice of the girl Glennon had been before the world told her who to be. She vowed to never again abandon herself. She decided to build a life of her own--one based on her individual desire, intuition, and imagination. She would reclaim her true, untamed self. Soulful and uproarious, forceful and tender, Untamed is both a memoir and a galvanizing wake-up call. It offers a piercing, electrifying examination of the restrictive expectations women are issued from birth; shows how hustling to meet those expectations leaves women feeling dissatisfied and lost; and reveals that when we quit abandoning ourselves and instead abandon the world's expectations of us, we become women who can finally look at our lives and recognize: There She Is. Untamed shows us how to be brave. As Glennon insists: The braver we are, the luckier we get"--

I found Glennon Doyle after I read Brene Brown. I think they both have a searing passion for vulnerability and truth. If you're waiting for Untamed, try Brown's Daring Greatly, or a few titles Doyle recommends: Know My Name by Chanel Miller and Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentini. -Victoria

Vesper flights : new and collected essays

by Helen Macdonald

508 /Macdonald
Nonfiction

Macdonald combines some of her best loved essays with new pieces. Her topics range from nostalgia for a vanishing countryside to the tribulations of farming ostriches to her own private vespers while trying to fall asleep. Meditating on notions of captivity and freedom, immigration and flight, she writes about the unexpected guidance and comfort we find when watching wildlife. -- adapted from jacket

A great selection of essays that foster solitude, reverence of nature and slowing-down. If you haven't read Macdonald's H is for Hawk, you should check that out. Lab Girl by Hope Jahren would also most-likely be up your alley. -Victoria

The best of me

by David Sedaris

817.54 /Sedaris
Nonfiction

The American humorist, author, and radio contributor shares his most memorable work in a collection of stories and essays that feature him shopping for rare taxidermy, hitchhiking with a quadriplegic, and hand-feeding a carnivorous bird.

A great selection of essays spanning his career. If you're waiting for this title, check out Holidays on Ice, by David Sedaris, Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson, or Wow, No Thankyou by Samantha Irby. -Victoria

Transcendent Kingdom

by Yaa Gyasi

FICTION Gyasi Yaa
Fiction

"A novel about faith, science, religion, and family that tells the deeply moving portrait of a family of Ghanaian immigrants ravaged by depression and addiction and grief, narrated by a fifth year candidate in neuroscience at Stanford school of medicine studying the neural circuits of reward seeking behavior in mice"--

Gyasi weaves a poignant story of Gifty; a child of an Ghanaian immigrant growing up in the US. Facing loss, dealing with familial addiction and mental illness and the pursuit of excellence, Gyasi adeptly describes a main character who constantly straddles the duality of country and culture. A tender book about deep and difficult subjects. If you're waiting for this book, check out Gyasi's previous novel; Homegoing-an excellent and intrepid historical-fiction work following different Asante descendants and their generational fate. Also check out Behold the Dreamers, by Imbolo Mbue. -Victoria

Decolonize Your Diet

by Luz Calvo and Catriona Rueda Esquibel

Cookbooks

Great Exploration into Indigenous Mexican Cuisine!

The author Michael Pollan advises in Food Rules, "Don't eat anything your grandmother wouldn't recognize;" meaning the food industry has radically changed; especially the Western diet. These words rang particularly true when Decolonize Your Diet co-author Luz Calvo was diagnosed with breast cancer (despite being a vegetarian for 15 years.) She began to research and found that immigrant born Latinas had significantly lower rates of breast cancer than US born Latinas; prompting her to revisit the indigenous cuisine of Mexico. What follows in this cookbook are some amazing recipes cooked with high amounts of fiber, fruits, vegetables and revolutionary love. Fans of Sean Sherman and Beth Dooley's The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen and Michael W. Twitty's The Cooking Gene will deeply appreciate this cookbook. Also, try the Caldo De Quinoa; it's a great soup and Winter is Coming! -Victoria