Archives for March 2023

What would you do if you were given the chance to leave your current world and walk into a new one? That is the question faced by the protagonists of this week’s What’s New reads. All three find themselves in a new world and must figure out how to move forward.

A young girl finds friendship through her isolation in Mizuki Tsujimura’s latest work, Lonely Castle in the Mirror. Kokoro avoids school by hiding away in her bedroom, avoiding the bullies that torment her, further isolating herself from the world. One day, the mirror in her bedroom begins to shine and Kokoro is transported to a mysterious mansion. There she meets six other teenagers and a wolf mask-wearing host who explains the rules. There is a room hidden away in the mansion and whoever finds it can have any wish that they want granted. But the mansion is not without its dangers, as severe punishments lay in store for those who break the rules. As the teenagers spend time together, and secrets are revealed, Kokoro finds that she truly is not as alone as she always thought.

Absurdness abounds in The Tatami Galaxy by Tomihiko Morimi. After committing another prank on an overbearing club president, an unnamed college junior laments his life, feeling as though if he could do things over, his life would be so much better. He would avoid his friend and tormentor, Ozu, and finally get the girl, (or any girl really). After a chance meeting with a god, our narrator gets that opportunity. The narrator is sent back to being a freshman and is given multiple chances for a fresh start. Now having the absolute freedom to choose a new path, our narrator sets out to explore all of them. Through situations involving love dolls, giant swarms of moths, and cute bear keychains, Morimi ties all the paths together and shows that even with infinite choices, and a push in the right direction, our choices are ours to own.

New technology results in a mystery in Josh Riedel’s first work, Please Report Your Bug Here. Ethan spends his days filtering out inappropriate content in a new dating app called DateDate. Working in the new startup for his friend turned boss named the Founder, recently single Ethan has little time to engage in the outside world. Ethan looks for a connection in the app, but problems occur when the app sends him to another world. Armed with this new discovery, Ethan tries to warn the Founder, but with his eyes on being acquired by a corporation, Ethan’s warning goes unheeded. Isolated in his quest, Ethan must figure out how the app is sending its users to the otherworld and how much the Founder and the Corporation really know about what’s going on.

Transport yourself with these new otherworldly reads.

A.K. Smiley Public Library has a few new and interesting book selections about some mostly obscure women in American history. Since March is Women’s History Month, what better time could there be to check them out?

“Brave Hearted:  The Women of the American West 1836-1880,” was written by historian Katie Hickman. Using letters, diaries, and journals, she shares the experiences of women who played a part in settling the western frontier. Some of the accounts include the first white woman to cross the Rocky Mountains on her missionary journey, slaves in search of freedom, displaced Native American women, a survivor of the Donner party, a battlefield heroine, Olive Oatman, who was held captive by the Mohave, and wives who endured grueling cross-country journeys.

Another fascinating narrative highlighting the resilience and fortitude of women in the early colonization of the American South, is Joan DeJean’s “Mutinous Women: How French Convicts Became Founding Mothers of the Gulf Coast.” La Mutine set sail from France in 1719 with a hold full of women prisoners, many falsely accused of crimes, that were being exiled to colonial Louisiana. More than half of these women did not survive the journey, but many of them prospered. They married and raised families, owned properties and businesses, and some of them even became quite wealthy. DeJean follows their lives through various records for their marriages, births, deaths, and financial successes.

“Revolutionary Women: 50 Women of Color Who Reinvented the Rules,” by Ann Shen, contains short biographies of exceptional women of color and their accomplishments in various fields, some of them well-known and others that certainly deserve recognition. The format of the book is categorized into areas of art, equity, excellence, exploration, expression, identity, and knowledge. Brief chronologies, quotations, and the author’s art help to highlight the women and their accomplishments.

Look for these books and others on our Women’s History book display located near the Reference Desk.

Teens, I finished Sabaa Tahir’s young adult novel “All My Rage” last night…at midnight. You should know that my usual bedtime is like, the minute the sun goes down, so it’s saying something that “All My Rage” crawled into my lap and held my eyes open way past my usual tuck-in hour. It then slinked into my heart and left me in a puddle, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me rewind.

In January, the American Library Association (ALA) announced its 2023 Youth Media Award Winners. Some of these awards you’ve probably already heard of, like the John Newbery Medal for outstanding contributions to children’s literature, and the Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children, but those two are just the tip of the iceberg.

The Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature for young adults is basically the “Album of the Year” Grammy in the teen book world. And as you may have guessed, the 2023 Printz Award went to (drumroll) “All My Rage” by Sabaa Tahir. Now I don’t always love award-winners. Sometimes I read them and think to myself, “Yes, I can see why an adult would give this book an award, but would a real, live teen like it?” Teens, it is my hypothesis that you—a real, live teen—might love this book. Let me tell you why.

This book is deep. It’s real. It doesn’t shy away from difficult issues. The characters are flawed but likable and relatable. The book follows the stories of Pakistani American teens Sal and Noor, bouncing around in time and perspective (but not so much that it gets annoying), and details the ways they deal with some majorly distressing issues (think parents dying, addiction, racism, poverty, and so much more that would be terrible of me to give away). There are many surprises in this book, things that I probably should have seen coming, but didn’t, that make it totally satisfying, even though in many ways it’s a real modern tragedy. It’s also written beautifully if you’re into good writing. And you might cry if you’re into crying.

If you’re not convinced by the 2023 Printz Award winner, no problem…I have another option for you up my pajama sleeve, and it also won an ALA Youth Media award! This next category is an interesting one: The Alex Award. The Alex Award is given to the ten best adult books that appeal to teen audiences. Yes, there are ten winners, but I’m just going to tell you about one: “I’m Glad My Mom Died” by Jennette McCurdy. “What a dreadful title,” you might be thinking to yourself. But you also might be thinking, “I’m weirdly interested.” You should follow that instinct.

“I’m Glad My Mom Died” is a memoir by McCurdy, whom you may recognize from her roles on the Nickelodeon sitcoms “iCarly” and “Sam & Cat.” There are many ways a memoir written by a younger person could go wrong, but this one doesn’t. McCurdy is so skilled at telling her story—offering honest glimpses at scenes from her life that are sometimes funny, often times heartbreaking—that we feel like we’re right there with her as she deals with an eating disorder, a narcissistic mom, dysfunctional relationships, and a Hollywood industry that happily makes money off her while turning a blind eye to her real-life suffering. It’s another one of those books that refuses to be put down and is authentic in a way that resonates—even if you might not be glad if your own mom died. Remember, this book was written for adults, so be sure to check in with your families to see if this might be a good fit for you.

Teens, if you choose to read either of these titles, please come find me in the library (I promise I’ll be awake) and let me know if you think the awards committees—and my hypothesis—got it right. And if you’re interested in discovering more young adult award winners, visit www.akspl.org/teens, where we link to these and many more teen literature award lists…trust me when I say we’ve barely scratched the surface.

Kristina Naftzger is a Youth Services Librarian at A.K. Smiley Public Library, where one of the only things she likes better than falling asleep at the crack of sunset is crying her eyes out over a good book.