Here are our favorite new releases for the week!
Tap the picture of the book for more information on each title.
What to Read for Kids and Youths
Up, Up, Up, Down! by Kimberly Gee
Audience: Babies and toddlers
Plot: There is no plot. The book shows the different opposites that babies and toddlers see every day.
Recommended Story Time Song: Opposites are Fun by Barbara Milne
My Voice is a Trumpet by Jimmie Allen, illustrated by Cathy Ann Johnson
Audience: Babies to age 7
Plot: There isn’t a plot, but there is a theme. “My Voice Is a Trumpet” shows the different voices we come across in our lives, but it explains that every voice has its own power. This is an educational and motivational book.
Recommended Story Time Song: “This Little Light of Mine”
Carry On: Reflections for a New Generation by John Lewis
Audience: Ages 8 and up
Plot: There isn’t so much as a plot as a series of motivational chapters. John Lewis blended anecdotes from his experiences (which also happen to be experiences in American history) with exhortations for youths to not be afraid to stand for what they believe in.
Up All Night: 13 Stories Between Sunset and Sunrise, edited by Laura Silverman
Stories by Brandy Colbert, Kathleen Gleason, Maureen Goo, Tiffany D. Jackson, Amanda Joy, Nina Lacour, Karen M. McManus, Anna Mariano, Marieke Nijkamp, Laura Silverman, Kayla Whaley, Julian Winters, Francesca Zappa
Audience: Ages 13 and up with a heads to parents-At least one of the words George Carlin said you can’t say on TV appears in the book.
Theme: “Up All Night” is a collection of short stories about older teens and young adults with the unifying theme being that they all take place at night. The stories have surprising twists, themes that transcend age, and interesting characters. And by “interesting characters,” I mean that they take some stereotypical character tropes and really get creative with it. Some of the themes touched upon include the evolution of friendships and why you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.
What to Read for Grown Folks
While We Were Dating by Jasmine Guillory
Audience: Mature teens and older
Plot: An advertising executive and a famous actress meet. Romance and drama ensue. Jasmine Guillory has a gift for interior monologue and excellent pacing. This is a perfect beach read.
Don’t Let It Get You Down: Essays on Race, Gender, and the Body by Savala Nolan
Audience: Late teens and older
The Rundown: “Don’t Let It Get You Down” explains how intersectionality works. I don’t know if Savala Nolan intended to write a book that explains intersectionality and how people react to your identities, but she certainly did. If you’re looking for an opportunity to understand how racism, sexism, and sizism affect people, this book is a good place to start.
“I Have Nothing to Hide”: And 20 Other Myths About Surveillance and Privacy by Heidi Boghosian
Audience: Nonfiction, Current Events
The Rundown: When experts talk about surveillance and privacy, people often reply with “I have nothing to hide” or “If you aren’t doing anything wrong, then why do you care?” This book offers some pretty good explanations about why people who don’t care about their constitutional right to privacy should care. Some of the examples include hackers messing with other people’s thermostats for the lulz, talking to babies and children through baby cams, and the fact that your ignorance of over 27,000 pages of federal law and Alexa’s snitching can land you in federal court.
Recommended song: Somebody’s Watching Me by Rockwell
Yoga Pant Nation by Laurie Gelman
Audience: Grown folks, but parents of school-aged kids like me? Y’all will be feeling this one deeply.
Plot: A fifty-something mom and grandma is juggling a new career, babysitting her grandchild, managing her family and friendships, and taking on ambitious projects with the PTA. This is another great beach read.
Summer Reading Challenge Category: Humor or a book about People, if you’re flexible with the definitions
Secrets of the Force: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Wars by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman
Audience: 13 and up
The Rundown: There are books you power through, books you fly through, and books you savor. This is the savoring kind. Don’t get me wrong. You can power or fly through it because it is that interesting, but for Star Wars fans like me, you can’t help but treat this book like fine wine. What I love the most about “Secrets of the Force” is seeing how members of the cast and crew have some of the same questions and reservations about the movies that we have. I mean, they even cover issues surrounding philosophy, ethics, and a little bit of theology in the Star Wars universe.
The Icepick Surgeon: Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science by Sam Kean
Audience: Nonfiction, Grown Folks and mature teens
The Rundown: I never thought that I’d ever say that a book is the perfect beach-read for people who are into history, science, or true crime, but here we are. “The Icepick Surgeon” tackles a heavy subject with a light touch for a very readable book.
