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Teens, TGIMWTWTA. Do you need help decoding that acronym? Here’s the translation: Thank Goodness It’s My Week to Write This Article. It’s kind of like TGIF, but catchier and obviously a thousand times more thrilling. Back to my point…TGIMWTWTA! I have so much to tell you!  

First, our 2023 “All Together Now” Teen Summer Reading Program at A.K. Smiley Public Library is right around the corner, and guess who’s invited? Little old you! Tied into our “All Together Now” theme of unity, friendship, and inclusion, we have an exciting line-up of free, in-person events for teens, including a book club (you’ll get a free copy of Sabaa Tahir’s Printz Award winner “All My Rage”), a teen test kitchen cookie-making experience, a teen-makers’ crafting/musical potluck gathering (with a free photo booth sponsored by Elevate the Night Photo Booths!), a teen-led conversation about representation in Young Adult literature, and more. And if you feel like burying yourself in books all summer, we’ve got you covered. Join our “All Together Now” summer reading challenge where you’ll have the chance to win excellent prizes based on the number of minutes you read…and we’ll be happy to pile on the books. 

The action officially begins June 22nd and continues through August 3rd. Bring a friend or come solo and make a friend…you’ll find our full calendar of events, including registration links, at www.akspl.org/teens. 

I have more good news. If you are at least sixteen years old, you could also apply to be a Summer Reading Program Teen Volunteer with us this summer, and earn community service hours while having fun and being awesome (a teen volunteer prerequisite). Find all the details and a link to an online application at www.akspl.org/teens, so just go ahead and bookmark this webpage already. 

You didn’t think I was going to leave you without offering a YA book recommendation, did you? Never! Once again, I read a book about murder. Let’s not psychoanalyze the number of books I read about murder…I really am an extremely law-abiding, nonviolent, peace-loving person. I even catch and release bugs. In real life, I abhor homicides, I promise. Ahem…okay, let’s just talk about the book.  

In Nick Brooks’ “Promise Boys,” high school students Trey, J.B., and Ramón attend The Urban Promise Prep School…a Washington D.C. private boys’ school designed to help “urban” youth transcend their challenging circumstances. The school is the brainchild of Principal Kenneth Moore, and what started out as an innovative program to support inner-city young men on their path to college, has quickly turned into a hyper-disciplined, educational dystopia, where laughing in the lunch line lands you an immediate detention.  

Trey, J.B., and Ramón aren’t really friends, but they do have something in common; they each had a major blow-up with Principal Moore on the day he was found shot to death in the school hallway. All evidence points to one of them as the killer, but which one pulled the trigger? And if it wasn’t one of them, will they be able to piece together their stories to expose who did? Your crime-solving instincts will be sent into overdrive by this cagey mystery. 

Of course, we have plenty of non-murder-y YA books to choose from too, so whatever you’re into (or not into, but inexplicably read a lot of books about), definitely put A.K. Smiley Public Library’s Summer Reading Program on your summer to-do list (I’m sure you have one). We can’t read “All Together Now” without you. 

Attention armchair adventurers, archaeology enthusiasts, history and literary buffs! There are some captivating non-fiction books currently on the shelves of the Smiley Library’s New Book Section especially for you.

“The Ship Beneath the Ice: The Discovery of Shackleton’s Endurance,” is written by maritime archaeologist Mensun Bound, the director of the successful expedition that found the sunken Endurance. Bound shares accounts of his team’s attempt to locate the ship in 2019, the actual discovery in 2022, and also interweaves the story of Shackleton’s ill-fated Antarctic expedition of 1914/1915. The wreck was located 10,000 feet under the Weddell Sea 100 years to the day after Shackleton’s death. Photographs add to the captivating narrative, including pictures of the undersea wreck.

Photographs also beautifully enhance Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson’s “Tutankhamun’s Trumpet: Ancient Egypt in 100 Objects from the Boy King’s Tomb.” One hundred years after Howard Carter discovered and excavated the elaborate tomb in 1922, Wilkinson highlights a select few of the more than 5,000 artifacts recovered, and uses those as a basis for discussing Egyptian history, civilization, and a glimpse of the human experience of Tutankhamun’s world. Some of the items included are a golden chariot, food, jewelry, games, weapons, shaving tools, and a silver trumpet.

“Gentleman Bandit: The True Story of Black Bart, the Old West’s Most Infamous Stagecoach Robber,” is by bestselling author and historian John Boessenecker. Charles Boles was born in England in 1829, but later lived in San Francisco as a wealthy and educated socialite. The respectable company he kept had no idea that this genteel, non-drinking man was actually the very successful stagecoach robber that eluded authorities for many years. Charles, aka Black Bart, committed 32 stagecoach robberies, never stealing from the passengers, only taking the mail and Wells Fargo strongboxes. A careless mistake led to his arrest in 1883 and imprisonment in San Quentin. He pulled off a few more holdups after his release and then disappeared in 1888, leaving a mystery as to his demise.

“Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe” explores the possible causes of the unexplained early death of the famed literary master of the macabre by taking a close look at his difficult life. Author Mark Dawidziak challenges some of the myths of Poe’s life and theories about what befell him in the unexplained three days prior to his demise.

Are you looking for something new to read? Well luckily for you, A.K. Smiley Public Library has plenty of new fiction titles by new authors for you to choose from. Here are some new titles that are on my ever-growing to-be-read list.

Adelaide by Genevieve Wheeler has been receiving a lot of attention from websites like Goodreads and Book Riot. Adelaide is a heartbreaking novel about being in love with someone who doesn’t love you back.

Death of Bookseller is Alice Slater’s new novel about a true crime-obsessed bookseller named Roach who would rather be listening to a podcast than being at work. Her life is pretty boring until she meets the newest employee, Laura, another true crime lover. Roach’s friendship with Laura takes a dark turn toward obsession and she may have unintentionally uncovered her own true crime story.

The Gifts by Liz Hyder is her debut novel in adult fiction. The Gifts takes place in nineteenth-century London where rumors of “fallen angels” have been going through the city. These “fallen angels” are being stalked by an obsessed doctor who will stop at nothing to uncover these magical beings.

Music lovers, take a collective breath. I’m going to inundate you with our latest music books and biographies. Smiley Library gets new titles in all the time. I’ve previously featured our jazz, rap, classical, and country genres. This time we’ll look at rock, pop, and folk. Let’s get going.

One of my favorites is “Broken Horses: a Memoir” by Brandi Carlisle. Not only has this singer-songwriter won nine Grammy awards, but her story is such an interesting and honest read. I listened to it on audio after downloading it from the Libby app. Raised in rural Ravensdale, Washington, she started singing at a very young age and decided to make music her career. From club gigs to collaborations, follow her musical journey as she finds inspiration along the way in her bandmates, “The Twins,” and the music of Joni Mitchell and Elton John. Friends, family, faith, and her personal story shine throughout. Narrating the audio version, you’ll sometimes hear her tune her guitar and break into song at the end of a chapter. Your very own private concert.

Numerous books have featured and analyzed Bob Dylan’s lyrics. In fact, we have some titles in our collection which focus on just that. “The Philosophy of Modern Song” by Bob Dylan takes a different approach. Dylan himself examines over sixty popular songs of his choosing from other artists, like Elvis Costello, Dean Martin, and The Clash. Each song receives Dylan’s very unique and often times humorous interpretation, including a little background history. There are some iconic retro photographs and graphics along the way too.

This is a weird segue, I know. Has anyone watched the Netflix series Peaky Blinders or the movie Scream? Well, then you’ve heard the next artist and may not have even realized it. The song, “Red Right Hand,” by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds was used in both. A highly admired artist and songwriter, Cave’s music has been described in all sorts of ways: intense, insightful, emotional, intellectual, religious. “Faith, Hope and Carnage” is a conversation between Cave and journalist Sean O’Hagan. Not just a conversation, it’s an insight into Cave’s creative process, his outlook on life, loss, the death of his son, Arthur, grief, God, and hope. Eloquent and candid.

I’m just going to list a few more titles here. You’ll definitely find familiar names among them.

“Be My Baby” by Ronnie Spector, “Loud: A Life in Rock ‘n’ Roll by the World’s First Female Roadie” by Tana Douglas, “Mirror in the Sky: The Life and Music of Stevie Nicks” by Simon Morrison, “Some New Kind of Kick” by Kid Congo Powers, “Song Noir: Tom Waits and the Spirit of Los Angeles” by Alex Harvey, and “Still Alright” by Kenny Loggins.