National Book Award nominee Mitali Perkins crafts a contemporary chapter-book mystery about a 12-year-old Nepali girl who sets out to solve the disappearance of her Bengali friend’s missing jewelry. Set within a tea plantation in Darjeeling, 7-10-year-old readers are transported across the world to a politically and culturally rich setting, following our brave heroine, Sona.Sona, a 12-year-old Nepali girl, has struck up a friendship with Tara, the niece of the greedy tea plantation manager who has promised Tara’s hand in marriage in order to get his hands on her inheritance of precious jewelry. Then Tara’s gold jewelry goes missing. The search is on for the culprit, and Sona must use all her wits in order to prove it wasn’t her beloved brother, Samiran Daju, who stole it.Filled with vivid characters against a complex and multilayered political and cultural backdrop, this novel showcases a strong girl protagonist whom readers will root for. The Golden Necklace is award-winning author Mitali Perkins’s latest and most compelling story yet.
Database
ICCAL Book Database
Better Must Come
Barely Missing Everything meets American Street in this “well-plotted, taut page-turner” (Booklist, starred review) that looks at the darker side of light-filled Jamaica and how a tragedy and missing drug money helplessly entangle the lives of two teens who want to change their fate.Deja is a “barrel girl”—one of the Jamaican kids who get barrels full of clothes, food, and treats shipped to them from parents who have moved to the US or Canada to make more money. Gabriel is caught up in a gang and desperate for a way out. When he meets Deja at a party, he starts looking for a way into her life and wonders if they could be a part of each other’s futures. Then, one day while out fishing, Deja spies a go-fast boat stalled out by some rocks, smeared with blood. Inside, a badly wounded man thrusts a knapsack at her, begging her to deliver it to his original destination, and to not say a word. She binds his wounds, determined to send for help and make good on her promise…not realizing that the bag is stuffed with $500,000 American. Not realizing that the posse Gabriel is in will stop at nothing to get their hands on this bag—or that Gabriel’s and her lives will intersect in ways neither ever imagined, as they both are forced to make split-second choices to keep the ones they love most alive.
The Demon And The Light
Final Fantasy meets Shadow and Bone in The Demon and the Light, the hotly anticipated follow-up to Axie Oh’s The Floating World.The battle is over, but the war is just beginning…With the help of her friends and allies, Ren managed to topple the General’s insurrection, but the Floating World and its territories are still under threat of attack from the rival Volmaran Empire. And far worse, she was powerless to save Sunho from being overcome by the monstrous power in his blood. Now he’s gone, transformed into a feral, deadly creature that doesn’t even recognize her anymore, and her heart aches for the sweet boy she’s grown to love.But the escalating war will not pause for her grief. Seen by some as a heavenly savior and others merely a figurehead to be manipulated, Ren must use all her courage and cunning to survive the royal court’s game long enough to find Sunho and bring him home before he loses himself to the Demon forever.Also by Axie OhThe Girl Who Fell Beneath the SeaThe Floating World
Fall Of The Fireflies (Seasons Of Sisterhood #1)
From bestselling author Guadalupe García McCall comes the first book in the Seasons of Sisterhood trilogy, in which twins Velia and Delia take on a divine assignment to be monster-hunting warrior women and save their father’s life. From Pura Belpré Award–winning author Guadalupe García McCall comes the first in the Seasons of Sisterhood trilogy: a reimagining of Sophocles’ Antigone set in the world of her bestselling Summer of the Mariposas. As fifteen-year-old twins Delia and Velia plan the launch of their Magic-Twin Tour with their father’s Tejano band, a sudden supernatural attack on their father derails the family. Papá is delirious with a susto, a fright so awful that it allows a mysterious supernatural being to begin slowly sucking the life out of him. As the twins hunt down his attacker, a wider world of borderland monsters opens up to them. Each twin has her own decision to make, with her own guide from the Aztec pantheon–Quetzalcoatl guiding Velia, and Xolotl advising Delia. Soon the girls must choose: Should they follow a divine mandate to become monster hunters for the goddess of death? Can the sisters obey the will of the gods while saving their father’s life? Anything can happen within the magical realm of the borderlands.
Replay Memoir Of An Uprooted Family
“[A] vibrant, poignant book.” —NPR Book Reviews1914. A teenage romantic heads to the enlistment office when his idyllic life in a Jewish enclave of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is shattered by World War I.1938. A seven-year-old refugee begins a desperate odyssey through France, struggling to outrun the rapidly expanding Nazi regime and reunite with his family on the other side of the Atlantic.2015. The creator of a world-famous video game franchise weighs the costs of uprooting his family and moving to France as the cracks in his marriage begin to grow.Prince of Persia creator Jordan Mechner calls on the voices of his father and grandfather to weave a powerful story about the enduring challenge of holding a family together in the face of an ever-changing world.
And The Trees Stare Back
Nobody who gets lost in the cursed forest at the edge of Vik’s remote Estonian Village ever comes back. Until Vik’s sister stumbles through the tree line five years after vanishing… without having aged a day.1989, Soviet Estonia. Communist regimes are crumbling across Europe—but in sixteen-year-old Vik’s isolated Estonian village, eyes are everywhere. Soldiers threaten those who so much as dream of dissent. The villagers’ words are sharp with accusations of witchcraft. And within the cursed forest lurks Soovana, the bog spirit with lantern eyes that lure villagers beyond where anyone can reach them. Five years ago, he took Vik’s sister Anna—and Vik has felt cursed herself every day since. So when Anna finally returns, it’s a miracle. A miracle… or a lie. Worn down by years of grappling with shame, guilt, and PTSD, Vik has wanted nothing more than to hold her younger sister once again—but as unsettling inconsistencies between the girl who left and the one who’s come back reveal themselves, it’s clear that no one’s out of the woods. Maybe this girl is Anna… and maybe she isn’t. Either way, she was never meant to leave the trees—and unless Vik can uncover the secrets of the forest, it’s going to take her back. Rooted in real history with a speculative twist, the horrors of And The Trees Stare Back are the ones we already know: existing as a marginalized person under a hostile state. Raising powerful questions about whose humanity counts and how to survive if the governing body decides that yours doesn’t, this politically incisive YA folk horror irresistibly melds unexplored history with hot-button themes, gorgeous prose, and authentic depictions of OCD and PTSD.
Yoli’s Favorite Things
“Do you know when the war will be over?” “You’re asking because you have older brothers, don’t you?” Twelve-year-old Yolanda Sahagún, an aspiring nun raised by strict Mexican immigrant parents, likes to envision her family of nine siblings as the von Trapps from her favorite movie, The Sound of Music. But a larger-than-life family isn’t the only thing Yoli has in common with her fictional friends–she, too, is coming of age as war looms large. In Yoli’s household, rules define everything–especially those about what the Sahagún daughters are old enough to do, like no talking to boys on the phone. But there are no rules on the battlefield, and Yoli is grown enough to understand that her draft-eligible big brother (her favorite brother!) could be killed in the war. Determined to protect him, Yoli makes a pact with God. But what happens if God doesn’t keep his end of the bargain? Set against a rich historical backdrop of the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement, Patricia Santana’s heartfelt middle grade novel balances weighty themes with warm family dynamics and a captivating voice that’s sure to be a favorite with fans of character-driven historical fiction, as well as contemporary readers who can relate to the challenges of just living their lives when it feels like the world is on fire. A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
I’ll Find You Where The Timeline Ends
A teen descendant of a Japanese dragon god must find out the truth of what happened to her missing sister while trying not to fall for a handsome rogue agent in acclaimed author Kylie Lee Baker’s magical new YA romance, I’ll Find You Where the Timeline Ends.“Here’s one thing I know for certain: I’ll never see you again. And if I never see you again, then in fifty years, the world will end.” -YejunYang Mina, descended from a Japanese dragon god, was born with the power to travel through time, and has spent her life training to take her place in the Descendants, a secret organization whose purpose is to protect the timeline. But since moving to Seoul, everything is falling apart. Mina has discovered that the Descendants are corrupt, that her sister has been erased from existence, and that she can’t pass Calculus, which puts her mission to kiss the cutest boy in her year at risk. With her very existence on the line, Mina decides to tread a dangerous path: team up with a handsome rogue agent named Yejun, who has a plan to free the Descendants from the corrupt influence, and (hopefully) restore Mina’s sister. Between class and their time travel dates, Mina can’t stop herself from falling for the mysterious Yejun. Yet, as Mina grows closer to Yejun, she also grows closer to discovering the truth, which may be the very thing that breaks her…
Good Old-Fashioned Korean Spirit: A Graphic Novel
Acclaimed creators Kim Hyun Sook and Ryan Estrada are back with a lightly creepy yet hilarious young adult graphic novel about first love and friendship—perfect for fans of Huda F Cares and Pumpkinheads. It’s almost Daeboreum in 1980s South Korea—a holiday that celebrates the first full moon of the year. Taehee couldn’t care less. All she wants is to spend time with her boyfriend Kiwoo, avoid her controlling father, and play music for her mask dance club. But Taehee’s weird granny and her even weirder friends have other plans for Taehee: they drag her, Kiwoo, and the rest of the dance club to their remote farm to celebrate Daeboreum…the old-fashioned way.As the group arrives at the farm, Taehee overhears her granny talking about ceremonies, ghosts, and possibly (probably) sacrificing her friends to evil spirits. And if that’s not bad enough, Taehee just said those Three Little Words to Kiwoo that he can’t seem to say back. Meanwhile, her friends are running wild with secrets—ones they definitely don’t want the grannies to overhear. It seems like everyone is up to no good. The first full moon of the year is about to arrive, and with it confessions that threaten to change everything. That is, of course, if they all make it out alive. Featuring beloved characters from Banned Book Club and No Rules Tonight, Good Old-Fashioned Korean Spirit is a standalone story that melds tradition with the unexpected, and the spooky with the sweet.
Nahia
A sweeping epic set in the wild and dangerous world of prehistoric Europe!Spain, 8,000 years ago. As Headwoman’s daughter, eighteen-year-old Nahia was born to lead. But when she speaks aloud a forbidden truth—that her people are facing a growing threat of invasion—her expectations are shattered when she’s punished with exile and apprenticed to the enigmatic shaman Eneko instead.With her sister Izara made the new heir and her world upended, Nahia is sent away with a young man she barely knows. Deep in the wilds, however, she uncovers a shocking talent for divining messages from the spirits and channelling their turbulent powers. But these visions come to show her that her people are in terrible danger. . . and they need her. Nahia will have to use every advantage she has to save her beloved people—and her sister.In this powerful upper YA with crossover appeal, archaeologist Emily Jones transports us to a rugged world of pine forests, frothy beaches, and wild magic, and masterfully depicts passionate first love, looming conquest, green sorcery, the unbreakable bond between sisters, and untamed, unashamed female power. Pairing the epic scope of prehistory with a fiery coming-of-age story, Nahia is an amazingly fresh successor to Clan of the Cave Bear. Utterly unique and shockingly good, this is a knockout debut, perfect for fans of Adrienne Young, Chloe Gong, Claire Andrews, Elana K. Arnold, and Rachel Griffin.”Tremendous. Combines archaeology with masterful storytelling.”—Dr. William Taylor, Curator of Archaeology at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History”Fresh and engrossing—a delight.”—Cindy Pon, award-winning author of Want and Serpentine