Tag Archives: Featured Book

Featured Book: May Day

May DayThis post is part of an original series created by librarians/media specialists across Central Minnesota featuring books.

Title: May Day by Jess Lourey
Review by: Angie Gentile-Jordan, Office Administrator at CMLE

Our event on May 5th featured a talk from author and professor Jess Lourey. Before the event, in an attempt to familiarize myself with her work, I began reading May Day, the first in her popular Murder-by-Month series.

The book is about assistant librarian Mira James, who moves to the small town of Battle Lake, MN from the big city of Minneapolis as a way to get a fresh start on her post-grad life. As she settles in, she encounters many characters that will be familiar to readers that have spent any amount of time in small-town Minnesota.

All seems to be going well for Mira. She even begins casually dating an archaeologist visiting the town on business. But when his lifeless body shows up (she stumbles across it in the library, no less!) Mira decides to find some answers.

I enjoyed reading this book for several reasons: the tone was light and clever, and I could picture many of the scenes playing out in northern Minnesota. I liked the way Mira bluffed her way through conversations about fishing to gain trust with the locals, throwing out words like “pan fish” not having any idea what it meant.

I’ve already purchased the next in the series, June Bug, and am looking forward to reading it from the boat while doing a little pan fishing of my own!

Featured book: Dare to Disappoint

DareToDisappointThis post is part of an original series created by librarians/media specialists across Central Minnesota featuring books.

Title: Dare to Disappoint by Ozge Samanci
Review by: Maria Burnham, Media Specialist at Sauk Rapids-Rice High School

Graphic memoir has become such a wonderful genre, and Dare to Disappoint by Ozge Samanci is no exception. This book is the story of Ozge’s childhood in Turkey and touches on the restrictive government the people of Turkey lived under during her childhood. But the book is really a coming-of-age story where Ozge is forced to choose between what she loves (the theater and the arts) and what society thinks she should do (engineering, math or science).
This graphic memoir is a journey of typical growing pains for every child–sibling rivalry, fighting with parents, and social situations in school with friends–and yet the book is so much more. I learned about the Turkish government and their educational system. Ozge highlights how her liberal parents balanced their liberal views in a conservative society. There were some heavy topics in the book, yet I never felt weighed down in sorrow when reading the book. Perhaps it was because the illustrations are whimsical and easy to read and digest.

I love that this book is part of my print collection!

Would you like to review a book for CMLE readers? It is easy, we let you take the reins on the length and tone of your review. Send an email to admin@cmle.org if you are interested in adding your name to the book review corral!

Featured Book: Girls Like Us

Girls like usThis post is part of an original series created by librarians/media specialists across Central Minnesota featuring books.

Title: Girls Like Us by Gail Giles
Review by Maria Burnham, Media Specialist at Sauk Rapids-Rice High School

This book reminds me of the recent movement of #weneeddiversebooks because the main characters represent a vastly underrepresented group in YA literature.  Sometimes my issue with YA books is that so many of them read the same–girl meets boy (or some version of two teens meeting), something gets in the way of the romance, and the story has a happy or tragic ending.  Sometimes I even find myself intentionally choosing to read an upper elementary novel or adult non-fiction to take a break from the sometimes prescriptive plotlines of YA.   However, Girls Like Us by Gail Giles completely throws out the often repetitive nature of YA reading.  This wonderful book shows the perspective of two special ed. students who end up living together after high school and frankly are a bit baffled as to how to successfully navigate the waters of the real world. Each girl is very different–different preferences, disabilities, and past experiences. How can they live together? How can they cope in the real world considering their disabilities? How can they overcome all of the curveballs life has in store for them?

This book is a story of friendship, courage, and hope.  It’s one that our special education students (particularly those in our 18-21 program) have enjoyed as a read-aloud.  And it’s certainly one I enjoyed as a reader.

Would you like to review a book for CMLE readers? It is easy, we let you take the reins on the length and tone of your review. Send email to admin@cmle.org if you are interested in adding your name to the book review corral of writers!

Featured Book: Everything Everything

This post is part of an original series created by librarians/media specialists across Central Minnesota featuring books.

51R+gtob4RL._AA160_Title: Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon
Review by Maria Burnham, Media Specialist at Sauk Rapids-Rice High School

I’ve seen this title lingering around some notable “to read” book lists, so I thought I’d try it out AND I was thrilled when my school’s Teen Book Club chose this title for our next meeting!
If you liked The Fault in Our Stars or Eleanor & Park, Everything Everything is the next book for you.  I will say, I don’t think the book is as well-rounded as the previously mentioned titles, but it’s pretty darn close.  Everything Everything is the story of Madeline, a teen who has been diagnosed with a rare disease where she is allergic to everything, leaving her homebound with her mother and her nurse.  Never able to go outside for health reasons, Madeline spends her days reading, studying, and spending time with her mother.  Until Olly moves in next door.  And for Madeline, seeing Olly is love at first sight.  And so ensues the typical teenage reaction of risky behavior in the name of love.
I thought this YA realistic fiction was a nicely blended story of complicated family relationships, taking risks, coming of age, and love.  The book is a combination of narration, diary entries, computer screen shots, and connections to other pieces of literature.
I’m so excited that this book is my next discussion topic for our SRRHS Teen Book Club!
Would you like to review a book for CMLE readers? It is easy, we let you take the reins on the length and tone of your review. Send email to admin@cmle.org if you are interested in adding your name to the book review corral!

Featured book: The Doubt Factory

This post is part of an original series created by librarians/media specialists across Central Minnesota featuring books.

51Y2SaaN9IL._AA160_Title: The Doubt Factory by Paolo Bacigalupi
Review by Maria Burnham, Media Specialist at Sauk Rapids-Rice High School

I waver between giving this book three or four stars. It was the last YA book I read this past summer, and it was just an okay read (but perhaps I was a little saturated with YA books at that point).
The story is about a girl, Alix, who is being stalked by a mysterious man. Turns out that the man is the leader in a rogue group of citizens looking to get revenge on Alix’s dad who runs a questionable PR company.  Throughout the book, Alix questions whether she really knows her father and all his business stands for.
Kidnapping, love, mystery, questionable ethics, deceit and loyalty–this 480-page book has it all. A good mystery for high schoolers, but not my favorite read of the summer. It was just a bit too cliche for me.
Would you like to review a book for CMLE readers? It is easy, we let you take the reins on the length and tone of your review. Send email to admin@cmle.org if you are interested and thank you!