2022 Teen Services Staff Picks

"When Donovan left his copy of 'The Adventurers' on the kitchen counter, he didn't think his mom would read it--much less have a problem with it. It's just an adventure novel about two characters trying to stop an evil genius. But soon the entire town is freaking out about whether the book's main characters are gay, Donovan's mom is trying to get the book removed from the school curriculum, and Donovan is caught in the middle"--Provided by publisher....

A full-color manga about purrfectly professional massage therapists: fluffy cats who knead your troubles away. Nekoyama, worn out after another long day at the office, stops at a therapeutic massage parlor only to discover that it's run by a cat! Not only that, but the cat actually does the massaging?! As the professional meowsseur digs soft toe beans into Nekoyama's aching muscles, his heart warms and his worries melt away. This is only the beginning,...

"Lydia is dead. But they don't know this yet. So begins the story of this exquisite debut novel, about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee; their middle daughter, a girl who inherited her mother's bright blue eyes and her father's jet-black hair. Her parents are determined that Lydia will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue-in Marilyn's case that her daughter become...

"Much-anticipated, emotionally-charged debut memoir from award-winning actor and icon Viola Davis"--

When seventeen-year-old Nora O'Malley, the daughter of a con artist, is taken hostage in a bank heist, every secret she is keeping close begins to unravel.

When twelve-year-old Olive, who suffers from brittle bone disease and has been homeschooled all her life, finally attends school in person she soon discovers fitting in is not that easy, but if she can find the magical wish-granting hummingbird that supposedly lives nearby, and prove herself worthy, maybe her deepest wish will be granted.

Roll for initiative! Jay, Lana, Drew, Walter, and Shen have played Dice & Deathtraps together since high school. Now, on the verge of graduating college and scattering, they've decided to finally complete their unfinished first campaign. But when Jay's partner Cassandra joins as a new player, Lana's afraid the party won't ever finish their quest...

For Ning, the only thing worse than losing her mother is knowing that it is her own fault. She was the one who unknowingly brewed the poison tea that killed her -- the poison tea that now threatens to also take her sister, Shu. She hears of a competition to find the kingdom's greatest shénnóng-shi -- masters of the ancient and magical art of tea-making -- where the winner will receive a favor from the princess. It may be Ning's only chance to...

"A kitten languishes in a pet shop, unwanted and unloved. Even as his price drops with each passing day, no one spares him a glance unless it's to call him names. Having practically given up on life, the kitty himself is most shocked of all when an older gentleman comes into the store and wants to take him home! Will the man and the cat find what they're looking for..in each other?"--Provided by publisher.

Two seventeen-year-old trans boys in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, struggling to understand themselves and their love for each other, are inspired by an online story about trans soldiers who fell in love during the American Revolution.