New Fiction
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Salt and Sugar
The grandchildren of two rival Brazilian bakeries fall in love despite their families' feud in this delicious debut rom-com perfect for fans of Nicola Yoon and Gloria Chao.
Trust neither thin-bottomed frying pans nor Molinas.
Lari Ramires has always known this to be true. In Olinda, Brazil, her family's bakery, Salt, has been at war with the Molinas' bakery across the street, Sugar, for generations. But Lari's world turns upside down when her beloved grandmother passes away. On top of that, a big supermarket chain has moved to town, forcing many of the small businesses to close.
Determined to protect her home, Lari does the unthinkable--she works together with Pedro Molina to save both of their bakeries. Lari realizes she might not know Pedro as well as she thought--and she maybe even likes what she learns--but the question remains: Can a Ramires and a Molina truly trust one another? -
Lia and Beckett's Abracadabra
A star-crossed YA rom-com that has the charm of Love and Gelato and the magic of Now You See Me
Seventeen-year-old Lia Sawyer is thrilled to get a mysterious invitation from her grandmother to compete in a stage magic contest--even though her parents object. But she's going to be judged by a bunch of old-school magicians who think that because she's a girl, her only magical talents lie in wearing sparkly dresses, providing distractions, and getting sawed, crushed, or stretched. And Lia can't ask her grandmother for help because she's disappeared, leaving behind only her best magic tricks, a few obscure clues, and an order to stay away from Blackwell boys, the latest generation of a rival magic family. Lia totally plans to follow her grandmother's rule--until the cute boy she meets on the beach turns out to be Beckett Blackwell, son of the biggest old guard magical family there is. Witty and romantic, Lia and Beckett's Abracadabra is a YA rom-com with a magical twist!
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Too Bright to See
A National Book Award Finalist
"A gentle, glowing wonder, full of love and understanding." –The New York Times Book Review
It's the summer before middle school and eleven-year-old Bug's best friend Moira has decided the two of them need to use the next few months to prepare. For Moira, this means figuring out the right clothes to wear, learning how to put on makeup, and deciding which boys are cuter in their yearbook photos than in real life. But none of this is all that appealing to Bug, who doesn't particularly want to spend more time trying to understand how to be a girl. Besides, there's something more important to worry about: A ghost is haunting Bug's eerie old house in rural Vermont...and maybe haunting Bug in particular. As Bug begins to untangle the mystery of who this ghost is and what they're trying to say, an altogether different truth comes to light--Bug is transgender. -
Long Story Short
"Like the best of the Bard himself, Long Story Short combines dazzling repartee with iconic, nuanced characters and the kind of charged, perfectly paced romance fit for the world stage...a sparkling Shakespearean homage and a wonderful debut." --Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka, authors of Always Never Yours
Growing up homeschooled in Berkeley, California, Beatrice Quinn is a statistical genius who has dreamed her whole life of discovering new mathematical challenges at a school like Oxford University. She always thought the hardest part would be getting in, not convincing her parents to let her go. But while math has always made sense to Beatrice, making friends is a problem she hasn't been able to solve, so her parents are worried about sending her halfway across the world. The compromise: the Connecticut Shakespearean Summer Academy and a detailed list of teenage milestones to check off. She has six weeks to show her parents she can pull off the role of normal teenager and won't spend the rest of her life hiding in a library.
Unfortunately, hearts and hormones don't follow any rules, and there is no equation for teenage interactions. When she's adopted by a group of eclectic theater kids, and immediately makes an enemy of the popular--and, annoyingly gorgeous--British son of the camp founders, she realizes that relationships are trickier than calculus. With her future on the line, this girl genius stumbles through illicit parties, double dog dares, and more than your fair share of Shakespeare. But before the final curtain falls, will Beatrice realize that there's more to life than what she can find in the pages of a book?
In this sparkling debut from Serena Kaylor, Long Story Short is a YA rom-com about a homeschooled math genius who finds herself out of her element at a theater summer camp and learns that life--and love--can't be lived by the (text)book.
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Youngblood
High school sucks. Especially for the undead.
“This is the lesbian vampire boarding school story I've always needed, but it's smarter, nastier, and more fun than I ever could have dreamed." —Kylie Schachte, author of You're Next
Kat Finn and her mother can barely make ends meet living among humans. Like all vampires, they must drink Hema, an expensive synthetic blood substitute, to survive, as nearly all of humanity has been infected by a virus that’s fatal to vampires. Kat isn’t looking forward to an immortal life of barely scraping by, but when she learns she’s been accepted to the Harcote School, a prestigious prep school that’s secretly vampires-only, she knows her fortune is about to change.
Taylor Sanger has grown up in the wealthy vampire world, but she’s tired of its backward, conservative values—especially when it comes to sexuality, since she’s an out-and-proud lesbian. She only has to suffer through a two more years of Harcote before she’s free. But when she discovers her new roommate is Kat Finn, she’s horrified. Because she and Kat used to be best friends, a long time ago, and it didn’t end well.
When Taylor stumbles upon the dead body of a vampire, and Kat makes a shocking discovery in the school’s archives, the two realize that there are deep secrets at Harcote—secrets that link them to the most powerful figures in Vampirdom and to the synthetic blood they all rely on. -
A Girl's Guide to Love & Magic
Perfect for fans of The Sun Is Also a Star and Blackout, this YA novel from Debbie Rigaud is a celebration of Haitian and Caribbean culture, and a story of first love, vodou, and finding yourself, all set against the backdrop of the West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn.
Cicely Destin lives for the West Indian Day Parade, the joyous celebration of Caribbean culture that takes over the streets of her neighborhood. She loves waving the Haitian flag, sampling delicious foods, and cheering for the floats. And this year? She'll get to hang with her stylish aunt, an influencer known for dabbling in Haitian Vodou.
And maybe spot her dreamy crush, Kwame, in the crowd.
But fate has other ideas. Before the parade, a rogue, mischievous spirit seems to take possession of Cicely's aunt during a spiritual reading. Cicely hardly knows anything about Vodou, or how to get someone un-possessed. But it's up to her to set things right--and the clock is ticking. She'll have to enlist the help of her quick-thinking best friend, Renee, and, as luck would have it...Kwame.
Cicely, her friends, and the reckless spirit who is now their charge set off on a thrilling scavenger hunt to gather the ceremonial items they need. And along the way, will Cicely discover surprising powers of her on?
Bestselling author Debbie Rigaud infuses this novel with sparkling wit, romance, and nuance that will keep readers riveted and enchanted.
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Xoxo
Jenny's never had much time for boys, K-pop, or really anything besides her dream of being a professional cellist. But when she finds herself falling for a K-pop idol, she has to decide whether their love is worth the risk. A modern forbidden romance wrapped in the glamorous and exclusive world of K-pop, XOXO is perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Maurene Goo.
Jenny didn't get to be an award-winning, classically trained cellist without choosing practice over fun. That is, until the night she meets Jaewoo. Mysterious, handsome, and just a little bit tormented, Jaewoo is exactly the kind of distraction Jenny would normally avoid. And yet, she finds herself pulled into spending an unforgettable evening wandering Los Angeles with him on the night before his flight home to South Korea.
With Jaewoo an ocean away, there's no use in dreaming of what could have been. But when Jenny and her mother move to Seoul to take care of her ailing grandmother, who does she meet at the elite arts academy she's just been accepted to Jaewoo.
Finding the dreamy stranger who swept you off your feet in your homeroom is one thing, but Jaewoo isn't just any student. Turns out, Jaewoo is a member of one of the biggest K-pop bands in the world. And like most K-pop idols, Jaewoo is strictly forbidden from dating anyone.
When a relationship means not only jeopardizing her place at her dream music school but also endangering everything Jaewoo's worked for, Jenny has to decide once and for all just how much she's willing to risk for love. XOXO is a new romance that proves chasing your dreams doesn't have to mean sacrificing your heart, from acclaimed author Axie Oh.
Indigo Best Teen Books of 2021
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Into the Sublime
"Gripping and breathless, Into the Sublime is equal parts terrifying, claustrophobic, psychological, and cunning." —Wendy Heard, author of She's Too Pretty to Burn and Dead End Girls
A new YA psychological thriller from Kate A. Boorman, author of What We Buried, about four teenage girls who descend into a dangerous underground cave system in search of a lake of local legend, said to reveal your deepest fears.
When the cops arrive, only a few things are clear:
- Four girls entered a dangerous cave.
- Three of them came out alive.
- Two of them were rushed to the hospital.
- And one is soaked in blood and ready to talk.
Amelie Desmarais' story begins believably enough: Four girls from a now-defunct thrill-seeking group planned an epic adventure to find a lake that Colorado locals call "The Sublime." Legend has it that the lake has the power to change things for those who risk—and survive—its cavernous depths. They each had their reasons for going. For Amelie, it was a promise kept to her beloved cousin, who recently suffered a tragic accident during one of the group’s dares.
But as her account unwinds, and the girls’ personalities and motives are drawn, things get complicated. Amelie is hardly the thrill-seeking type, and it appears she’s not the only one with the ability to deceive. Worse yet, Amelie is covered in someone's blood, but whose exactly? And where's the fourth girl?
Is Amelie spinning a tale to cover her guilt? Or was something inexplicable waiting for the girls down there? Amelie's the only one with answers, and she's insisting on an explanation that is more horror-fantasy than reality. Maybe the truth lies somewhere in between?
After all, strange things inhabit dark places. And sometimes we bring the dark with us. -
Partly Cloudy
From award-winning author Tanita S. Davis comes a nuanced exploration of the microaggressions of middle school and a young Black girl named Madalyn who learns that being a good friend means dealing with the blue skies and the rain--and having the tough conversations on days that are partly cloudy. Perfect for fans of A Good Kind of Trouble and From the Desk of Zoe Washington.
Lightning couldn't strike twice, could it? After a terrible year, Madalyn needs clear skies desperately. Moving in with her great-uncle, Papa Lobo, and switching to a new school is just the first step.
It's not all rainbows and sunshine, though. Madalyn discovers she's the only Black girl in her class, and while most of her classmates are friendly, assumptions lead to some serious storms.
Papa Lobo's long-running feud with neighbor Mrs. Baylor brings wild weather of its own, and Madalyn wonders just how far things will go. But when fire threatens the community, Madalyn discovers that truly being neighborly means more than just staying on your side of the street-- it means weathering tough conversations--and finding that together a family can pull through anything.
Award-winning author Tanita S. Davis shows us that life isn't always clear, and that partly cloudy days still contain a bit of blue worth celebrating.
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The Drowned Woods
An instant IndieBound bestseller!
A magical, ethereal fantasy from IndieBound bestselling author Emily Lloyd-Jones.
Once upon a time, the kingdoms of Wales were rife with magic and conflict, and eighteen-year-old Mererid "Mer" is well-acquainted with both. She is the last living water diviner and has spent years running from the prince who bound her into his service. Under the prince's orders, she located the wells of his enemies, and he poisoned them without her knowledge, causing hundreds of deaths. After discovering what he had done, Mer went to great lengths to disappear from his reach. Then Mer's old handler returns with a proposition: use her powers to bring down the very prince that abused them both.
The best way to do that is to destroy the magical well that keeps the prince's lands safe. With a motley crew of allies, including a fae-cursed young man, the lady of thieves, and a corgi that may or may not be a spy, Mer may finally be able to steal precious freedom and peace for herself. After all, a person with a knife is one thing...but a person with a cause can topple kingdoms.
The Drowned Woods--set in the same world as The Bone Houses but with a whole new, unforgettable cast of characters--is part heist novel, part dark fairy tale.
New Nonfiction
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Mindfulness and Meditation
From hormones to homework, parents to peers, health issues to bad habits, life can be a pressure cooker leading to anxiety and even thoughts of suicide. How can we find relief? Author Whitney Stewart introduces readers to the practice of mindfulness. With its roots in ancient Buddhist teachings, mindfulness--the practice of purposefully focusing attention on the present moment--can change a person's approach to stress, develop skills to handle anxiety and depression, and provide a sense of awareness and belonging. Stewart guides readers through how to get started with meditation as well as provides specific exercises for examining emotions, managing stress, checking social media habits and wellness routines, and setting intentions to increase happiness.
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Carpenter
A career in carpentry is the perfect choice for those who like to build things, who enjoy a constantly-changing and rewarding work environment, and who want the opportunity to make a good living without earning a four-year degree. In this book, you'll learn about carpentry specialties, typical education paths, the traits you'll need to be a successful carpenter, salaries for carpenters, methods of exploring the career while in school, and much more. You'll also learn why the career of carpenter is often ranked as one of the best construction jobs in the world. Carpenter is just one of 10 exciting titles in the Careers in the Building Trades: A Growing Demand series. Readers will discover eight different trades careers and dozens of sub-specialties, as well as learn about opportunities in green construction and the apprenticeship process. They will also learn why trades workers are the most in-demand occupational field in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Each title in this series includes color photos throughout, and back matter including: an index and further reading lists for books and internet resources. Key Icons appear throughout the books in this series in an effort to encourage library readers to build knowledge, gain awareness, explore possibilities and expand their viewpoints through our content rich non-fiction books. Key Icons in this series are as follows: Words to Understand are shown at the front of each chapter with definitions. These words are set in boldfaced type in that chapter, so that readers are able to reference back to the definitions--building their vocabulary and enhancing their reading comprehension. Sidebars are highlighted graphics with content rich material within that allows readers to build knowledge and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Educational Videos are offered in chapters through the use of a QR code, that, when scanned, takes the student to an online video showing a moment in sports' history, a speech, or an instructional video. This gives the readers additional content to supplement the text. Text-Dependent Questions are placed at the end of each chapter. They challenge the reader's comprehension of the chapter they have just read, while sending the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented there. Research Projects are provided at the end of each chapter as well and provide readers with suggestions for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis. And a Series Glossary of Key Terms is included in the back matter containing terminology used throughout the series. Words found here broaden the reader's knowledge and understanding of terms used in this field.
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Electrician
A career as an electrician is the perfect choice for those who like to build and repair things, who enjoy a constantly-changing and rewarding work environment, and who want the opportunity to make a good living without earning a four-year degree. In this book, you'll learn about electrician specialties, typical education paths, the traits you'll need to be a successful electrician, salaries for electricians, methods of exploring the career while in school, and much more. You'll also learn why the career of electrician is often ranked as one of the best construction jobs in the world. Electrician is just one of 10 exciting titles in the Careers in the Building Trades: A Growing Demand series. Readers will discover eight different trades careers and dozens of sub-specialties, as well as learn about opportunities in green construction and the apprenticeship process. They will also learn why trades workers are the most in-demand occupational field in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Each title in this series includes color photos throughout, and back matter including: an index and further reading lists for books and internet resources. Key Icons appear throughout the books in this series in an effort to encourage library readers to build knowledge, gain awareness, explore possibilities and expand their viewpoints through our content rich non-fiction books. Key Icons in this series are as follows: Words to Understand are shown at the front of each chapter with definitions. These words are set in boldfaced type in that chapter, so that readers are able to reference back to the definitions--building their vocabulary and enhancing their reading comprehension. Sidebars are highlighted graphics with content rich material within that allows readers to build knowledge and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Educational Videos are offered in chapters through the use of a QR code, that, when scanned, takes the student to an online video showing a moment in sports' history, a speech, or an instructional video. This gives the readers additional content to supplement the text. Text-Dependent Questions are placed at the end of each chapter. They challenge the reader's comprehension of the chapter they have just read, while sending the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented there. Research Projects are provided at the end of each chapter as well and provide readers with suggestions for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis. And a Series Glossary of Key Terms is included in the back matter containing terminology used throughout the series. Words found here broaden the reader's knowledge and understanding of terms used in this field.
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Living with Panic Disorder
"People with panic disorder have sudden, frightening attacks of anxiety. They face challenges in school, work, and daily life. Living with Panic Disorder examines the causes and symptoms of this condition, looks at the everyday realities of people with panic disorder, and explores the management and treatment options available today."--
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Free Lunch
Winner of the 2020 YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award.
Instead of giving him lunch money, Rex’s mom has signed him up for free meals. As a poor kid in a wealthy school district, better-off kids crowd impatiently behind him as he tries to explain to the cashier that he’s on the free meal program. The lunch lady is hard of hearing, so Rex has to shout.Free Lunch is the story of Rex’s efforts to navigate his first semester of sixth grade—who to sit with, not being able to join the football team, Halloween in a handmade costume, classmates and a teacher who take one look at him and decide he’s trouble—all while wearing secondhand clothes and being hungry. His mom and her boyfriend are out of work, and life at home is punctuated by outbursts of violence. Halfway through the semester, his family is evicted and ends up in government-subsidized housing in view of the school. Rex lingers at the end of last period every day until the buses have left, so no one will see where he lives.
Unsparing and realistic, Free Lunch is a story of hardship threaded with hope and moments of grace. Rex’s voice is compelling and authentic, and Free Lunch is a true, timely, and essential work that illuminates the lived experience of poverty in America.
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Everything You Need to Ace Geometry in One Big Fat Notebook
The Big Fat Notebooks are going to high school! Published just four years ago, the Big Fat Notebooks—with nearly 4.6 million copies in print and sales escalating every year—revolutionized the study guide for middle schoolers. Now this lifesaving series is ready to graduate. Announcing the first two titles for high school students: Everything You Need to Ace Geometry in One Big Fat Notebook and Everything You Need to Ace Chemistry in One Big Fat Notebook. Designed as the natural next step for the savvy students (and stressed parents) who made Math (over 1 million copies in print) and Science (over 1 million copies in print) the bestselling titles in the middle school series, these books offer a world of help for two of the tougher classes facing most high school sophomores, geometry and chemistry.
Using the same formula that made the middle school series so successful, these new high school titles tackle difficult subjects in a lively, memorable, intuitive way. Critical ideas are broken down and clearly explained. Doodles illuminate tricky concepts. There are mnemonics for memorable shortcuts, and quizzes to recap it all.
Geometry, written by high school math teacher extraordinaire Christy Needham, follows along with a year of geometry class, starting with the basics, like points, lines, planes, and angles, and progressing to the beginning of trigonometry.
Big Fat Notebooks are already helping millions of middle school students. Now high schoolers will enjoy and benefit from this kind of brilliant help—a set of notes, as if from the smartest kid in class, to help them study throughout the year, get ready for challenging exams, and know they have a source to turn to when they need to catch up on missed problems or understand the most difficult or confusing concepts.
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The Cost of College
The Cost of College discusses the types of education people can pursue after high school, explores tuition costs for both public and private schools, and explains how to search for financial aid, scholarships, and grants. Features include worksheets, key takeaways, a glossary, further readings, websites, source notes, and an index. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Essential Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.
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Grief
Grief: Insights and Tips for Teenagers is a compassionate guide to help you and those you care about navigate the difficult path of grief. Filled with the words of other young adults who have walked this road themselves, you will find that you are not alone--and that things do get better. You will learn -how to honor the memory of those you have lost -what movies, writers, musicians, and philosophers can teach us about grief -what has helped other teenagers work through their grief -the many resources available to you, including websites, videos, music, podcasts, and more Grief is one of the most personal emotions we can experience--no one will ever have the unique relationship you had with your family member or friend. At the same time, the sadness of grief is one of the most universal feelings. This book shows both the personal and universal sides of mourning, bringing a message of hope during a difficult time.
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Social Media's Star Power
New polls show that a majority of kids hope to become social media stars one day. But only a handful will benefit from the billions of dollars advertisers dole out to social media influencers annually. Social Media's Star Power illustrates the positive and negative aspects of this trend, with anecdotes and quotes from winners, losers, and industry insiders.
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Grief
Grief: Insights and Tips for Teenagers is a compassionate guide to help you and those you care about navigate the difficult path of grief. Filled with the words of other young adults who have walked this road themselves, you will find that you are not alone--and that things do get better. You will learn -how to honor the memory of those you have lost -what movies, writers, musicians, and philosophers can teach us about grief -what has helped other teenagers work through their grief -the many resources available to you, including websites, videos, music, podcasts, and more Grief is one of the most personal emotions we can experience--no one will ever have the unique relationship you had with your family member or friend. At the same time, the sadness of grief is one of the most universal feelings. This book shows both the personal and universal sides of mourning, bringing a message of hope during a difficult time.
Reader’s Advisory Resources
Book Riot: Young Adult Literature

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