Stop by every month to see what materials a staff member has to recommend.

Staff Picks

1. In Her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner
I met author, Jennifer Weiner in 2004 when I read her book In Her Shoes. Let's be honest...I didn't really meet Jennifer Weiner but her writing style is so personal, raw and filled with emotion that I didn't feel like I was just reading a book. I felt like we had kicked off our shoes, sat on a comfy couch and she was telling me about her wretched sister that was so beautiful, takes more than she gives and worst of all, seems to get whatever she wants. The book, In Her Shoes is an honest take on the complexity of sisterhood and how finding your true self can help you understand others better.  

2. The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
This book is such a true account of the moment when you are somewhere in between a child and young woman...a true coming of age tale. Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. This series found me eleven years ago and I enjoyed how the story brought back some of my own youthful memories with it. 

3. Scott Westerfeld's Uglies Series
With over 3 million books in print, this series has been translated into 27 different languages and spent more than fifty weeks on the New York Time Bestseller list and will now include the achievement of becoming a movie. This series is not just a coming of age story, it also delights science fiction, dystopian literature and quest readers. Uglies tells the story of teenager Tally Youngblood who rebels againast society's enforced conformity, after her friends, Shay and David show her the downsides to becoming a PRETTY. 

4. Iza Trapani
Iza has written a series of picture books that I use often in Storytime at the library. The stories begin with nursery rhymes that we all know and the author takes the stories even further. The Itsy Bitsy Spider doesn't just go up the waterspout but travels through the house and eventually makes it to a beautiful tree to spin a web. A star takes a young girl out of her bedroom and on a journey from way up high in Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Iza Trapani has written close to 20 of these extended nursery rhyme tales.  

5. But No Elephants by Jerry Smath
This is a book from my childhood. It was published just about the same time that I was born and I would pick this one over and over again. The story is about Grandma Tildy who lived all alone until a salesman stopped by to sell her a pet. She welcomed a canary bird and many more pets into her home from that persistent salesman but made it clear BUT NO ELEPHANTS! I later understood that the predictable text and opportunity to participate is why I loved it and why every child that I share it with does too.