PASSIONATE ABOUT SCHOOL LIBRARIES
I love creating displays. I love the design process, the coming up with ideas, the crafting, but I especially love the double-takes students and staff give an eye-catching display. I love when books just fly off the display shelf. We’ve done a range of displays this term, which have been lots of fun. These are some of my favourites.
Brand Yourself: A no-nonsense brand toolkit for small businesses
Lucy Werner and Hadrien Chatelet
Practical Inspiration Publishing
Published 7 September 2021
♥♥♥♥/♥
I love learning about marketing and branding. And we all know that the best way to learn something is to read a book about it. Brand Yourself is easy to read and approachable and I have finished feeling I have a strong brand outline and clear steps I can take to make my brand stronger.
I always read branding and marketing books through two lenses – my own personal perspective as well as the branding of my school library. Brand Yourself is obviously targeted for business models, but each of the steps it takes readers through to identify a brand, would work perfectly for a library or service.
Brand Yourself is based on the work behind Wern and a quick check of their website and social media feeds shows they practice what they preach. It’s also a good example of what they are trying to show readers.
Provenance
– Carla Laureano –
Tyndale House Publishers
Published 3 August 2021
♥♥♥♥
I always enjoy the work of Carla Laureano. I adored her The Supper Club series (food – yum!) and now she has created another fantastic Christian contemporary romance. Provenance is set in a small (very cold) Colorado town. The snow storms and mountainous setting are the perfect backdrop to this story about discovering your past and falling in love.
When Kendall Green learns that she is the beneficiary of a grandmother she never knew, only desperation for some cash to keep her interior design business and home in California afloat, prompts her to respond. She’s not sure she wants anything from the grandmother who let her grow up in foster care, moving from home to home and when Kendall learns that her inheritance are 5 historic Victorian homes, she is half devastated and half delighted. She is ready to sell to the highest bidder when the young mayor of the town, delightfully handsome Gabriel Brandt, asks her to consider another option to help save the town’s history and community from circling developers. Staying gives Kendall the chance to learn the truth about her mother, her grandmother and the reason she was abandoned when she was a child, but it also means growing closer to Gabriel, and with her life in California, Kendall’s not sure that’s a risk she should take.
Isolating? Need something new to read? Look no further than the new releases of April 2020. Support your local bookstore and authors in this difficult time. What’s on your reading list? Click on covers for more details.
The Boreal Forest: A Year in the World’s Largest Land Biome – L.E. Carmichael and Josee Bisaillon (ill) – Kids Can Press – Published 7 April 2020
The vast boreal forest spans a dozen countries in the northern regions like “a scarf around the neck of the world,” making it the planet’s largest land biome. Besides providing homes for a diversity of species, this spectacular forest is also vitally important to the planet: its trees clean our air, its wetlands clean our water and its existence plays an important role in slowing global climate change. In this beautifully written book, award-winning author L. E. Carmichael explores this special wilderness on a tour of the forest throughout the four seasons, from one country to another. Evocative watercolor and collage artwork by award-winning illustrator Josée Bisaillon provides a rare glimpse of one of the world’s most magnificent places.
Children’s non-fiction – Animals, environment
A Stopwatch from Grampa – Loretta Garbutt and Carmen Mok (ill.) – Hachette Book Group – Published 7 April 2020
“When summer started, I got Grampa’s stopwatch,” a small child says. “I don’t want his stopwatch. I want him.” Grampa used to time everything. A race to the end of the street and back: 24 seconds. Eating bubblegum ice cream: 1 minute, 58 seconds. But now, Grampa’s gone. “There are no more Grampa minutes, Grampa seconds,” the child says. “Time just stops.” As the seasons come and go, the stopwatch becomes a cherished symbol of remembrance, and the child uses it to carry on Grampa’s favorite pastimes and traditions.
Children’s fiction – Family
What Grew in Larry’s Garden – Laura Alary and Kass Reich (ill.) – Hachette Book Group – Published 7 April 2020
Grace thinks Larry’s garden is one of the wonders of the world. In his tiny backyard next door to hers, Larry grows the most extraordinary vegetables. Grace loves helping him – watering and weeding, planting and pruning, hoeing and harvesting. And whenever there’s a problem – like bugs burrowing into the carrots or slugs chewing the lettuce – Grace and Larry solve it together. Grace soon learns that Larry has big plans for the vegetables in his special garden. And when that garden faces its biggest problem yet, Grace follows Larry’s example to find the perfect solution.
Children’s fiction – Gardening
The Truth About Keeping Secrets – Savannah Brown – Sourcebooks Fire – Published 7 April 2020
Sydney’s dad is the only psychiatrist for miles in their small Ohio town. He knows everybody’s secrets. He is also dead.
Grief-stricken Sydney can’t understand why the police have no explanation for what happened the night of her dad’s car crash. And when June Copeland, the homecoming queen whose life seems perfect, shows up at the funeral, Sydney’s confusion grows.
Sydney and June grow closer in the wake of the accident, but it’s clear that not everyone is happy about their new friendship.
Young adult fiction: Thriller.
The Perfect Escape – Suzanne Park – The Perfect Escape #1 – Sourcebooks Fire – Published 7 April 2020
Nate Jae-Woo Kim wants to be rich. When one of his classmates offers Nate a ridiculous amount of money to commit grade fraud, he knows that taking the windfall would help support his prideful Korean family, but is compromising his integrity worth it?
Luck comes in the form of Kate Anderson, Nate’s colleague at the zombie-themed escape room where he works. She approaches Nate with a plan: a local tech company is hosting a weekend-long survivalist competition with a huge cash prize. It could solve all of Nate’s problems, and Kate needs the money too.
Young adult fiction: Contemporary
Here is my list of top picks of new releases for March 2020. There are lots to choose from, so enjoy. Click on the covers for more details.
Out of the Embers – Amanda Cabot – Mesquite Springs #1 – Revell – Published 3 March 2020
Ten years after her parents were killed, Evelyn Radcliffe is once more homeless. The orphanage that was her refuge and later her workplace has burned to the ground, and only she and a young orphan girl have escaped. Convinced this must be related to her parents’ murders, Evelyn flees with the girl to Mesquite Springs in the Texas Hill Country and finds refuge in the home of Wyatt Clark, a talented horse rancher whose plans don’t include a family of his own.
Christian fiction: Historical.
Just in case you were about to run out of books (yes, yes, I know, highly unlikely, but you never know), March 2020 has arrived with so many fantastic books to tempt us. So. Many. Here’s my list of top picks for March 2020 new releases. What’s on your reading list? Click on covers for more details.
Bringing Back the Wolves: How a Predator Restored An Ecosystem – Jude Isabella and Kim Smith (ill) – Kids Can Press – Published 3 March 2020
In the 1800s, hunters were paid by the American government to eliminate threats to livestock on cattle ranches near Yellowstone National Park. They did such a good job that, by 1926, no gray wolf packs were left in the park. Over the following decades, virtually every other part of the park’s ecosystem was affected by the loss of the wolves — from the animals who were their prey, to the plants that were the food for that prey, to the streams that were sheltered by those plants — and the landscape was in distress. So, starting in 1995, in an attempt to reverse course, the government reintroduced gray wolves to the park. Over time, animal populations stabilized, waterways were restored and a healthy ecosystem was recreated across the land. It’s a striking transformation, and a fascinating tale of life’s complicated interdependencies.
Children’s non-fiction – Animals, environment
The Lost Lands – Jessica Khoury – Rise of the Dragons #2 – Scholastic Press – Published 3 March 2020
Sirin, Allie, and Joss have joined forces with the legendary silver dragon Lysander, the only creature capable of opening portals between the two worlds. But the powerful Lennix clan is following the children’s every move and will stop at nothing to capture Lysander. After generations of plotting, the Lennixes —and their bloodthirsty dragon allies, the Raptors — are terrifyingly close to establishing a brutal dragon regime on Earth, just like they did centuries ago.
Children’s fiction – Fantasy
Moment of Truth – Kasie West – Egmont USA – Published 3 March 2020
At sixteen, Hadley Moore knows exactly who she is—a swimmer who will earn a scholarship to college. Totally worth all the hard work, even if her aching shoulders don’t agree. So when a guy dressed as Hollywood’s latest action hero, Heath Hall, crashes her swim meet, she isn’t amused. Instead, she’s determined to make sure he doesn’t bother her again. Only she’s not sure exactly who he is.
Young adult fiction: Contemporary.
The June Boys – Court Stevens (AKA Courtney C. Stevens) – Thomas Nelson – Published 3 March 2020
The Gemini Thief could be anyone. Your father, your mother, your best friend’s crazy uncle. Some country music star’s deranged sister. Anyone.
The Gemini Thief is a serial kidnapper, who takes three boys and holds them captive from June 1st to June 30th of the following year. The June Boys endure thirteen months of being stolen, hidden, observed, and fed before they are released, unharmed, by their masked captor. The Thief is a pro, having eluded authorities for nearly a decade and taken at least twelve boys.
Now Thea Delacroix has reason to believe the Gemini Thief took a thirteenth victim: her cousin, Aulus McClaghen.
Young adult fiction: Mystery/Thriller
Here’s my list of top picks for February 2020 new releases. What’s on your reading list? Click on covers for more details.
A Galaxy of Sea Stars – Jeanne Zulick Ferruolo – Farrar Straus and Giroux – Published 4 February 2020
At a time when everything in her small town of Seaside, Rhode Island, seems like it’s changing, eleven-year-old Izzy Vitale wants things to stay the same. She wants her dad to start acting like he did before he was deployed to Afghanistan, she wants her mom to move back to the marina where they live, but most of all, she wants best friends – Piper and Zelda (dubbed the Sea Star Posse by their kindergarten teacher) – to stay best friends as they begin sixth grade at the regional middle school.
Then, Izzy’s father invites his former Army interpreter from Afghanistan and his whole family – including eleven-year-old Sitara — to move into the upstairs apartment at the marina.
Children’s fiction – Contemporary
Yes No Maybe So – Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed – Balzer + Bray – Published 4 February 2020
YES: Jamie Goldberg is cool with volunteering for his local state senate candidate—as long as he’s behind the scenes. No: Maya Rehman’s having the worst Ramadan ever. Why her mother thinks the solution to her problems is political canvassing—with some awkward dude she hardly knows—is beyond her. MAYBE SO
Going door to door isn’t exactly glamorous, but maybe it’s not the worst thing in the world.
Young adult fiction: Contemporary.
What I Want You To See – Catherine Linka – Disney-Hyperion – Published 4 February 2020
Winning a scholarship to California’s most prestigious art school seems like a fairy tale ending to Sabine Reye’s awful senior year. After losing both her mother and her home, Sabine longs for a place where she belongs.
But the cutthroat world of visual arts is nothing like what Sabine had imagined.
Young adult fiction: Contemporary
Here is my list of top picks of new releases for February 2020. Click on the covers for more details.
If For Any Reason – Courtney Walsh – Tyndale – Published 3 February 2020
Emily Ackerman has traveled the world, her constant compass and companion a book of letters her mother left for her when she died. With no father in the picture, her mom’s advice has been her only true north. But when professional failure leads Emily back to Nantucket to renovate and sell the family cottage she inherited, she wonders if her mom left advice to cover this . . . especially when her grandmother arrives to “supervise.” And especially when her heart becomes entangled with Hollis McGuire, the boy next door-turned-baseball star who’s back on the island after a career-ending injury.
Christian fiction: Contemporary.
Happy New Year!! Welcome to 2020. What better way to start the year than with a massive list of new books!?! Here’s my list of top picks for January 2020 new releases. Prepare yourself – it’s a big one. What’s on your reading list? Click on covers for more details.
A Love Hate Thing – Whitney D. Grandison – Inkyard Press – Published 7 January 2020
When Tyson Trice finds himself tossed into the wealthy coastal community of Pacific Hills, he’s ready for the questions, the stares and the feeling of not belonging. Golden girl Nandy Smith has spent most of her life building the pristine image that it takes to fit in when it comes to her hometown Pacific Hills where image is everything. After learning that her parents are taking in a troubled teen boy, Nandy fears her summer plans, as well as her reputation, will go up in flames.
Young adult fiction: Contemporary.
Just Breathe – Cammie McGovern – HarperTeen – Published 7 January 2020
David Sheinman is the popular president of his senior class, battling cystic fibrosis. Jamie Turner is a quiet sophomore, struggling with depression. The pair soon realizes that they can be their true selves with each other, and their unlikely friendship develops into something so much more. But neither Jamie nor David can bring themselves to reveal the secrets that weigh most heavily on their hearts—and their time for honesty may be running out.
Young adult fiction: Contemporary
Welcome 2020!!! Here is my list of top picks of new releases for January 2020. Click on the covers for more details.
End Game – Rachel Dylan – Capital Intrigue #1 – Bethany House Publishers – Published 7 January 2020
When elite members of the military are murdered on the streets of Washington, DC, FBI Special Agent Bailey Ryan and NCIS Special Agent Marco Agostini must work together to bring the perpetrator to justice. Unfortunately, all evidence points to a Navy SEAL sniper whom Bailey refuses to believe is guilty.
Christian fiction: Suspense.
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