jerry craft – The Hub

Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers (#QP2022) Featured Review of A-Okay by Jarad Greene

A-Okay by Jarad Greene
HarperCollins Children’s Books/Harper Alley
Publication Date: 11/2/2021
ISBN: 978-0063032842

Jay is in eighth grade and suddenly he has acne. He doesn’t really think anything of it until there are pimples all over his face. In consultation with a couple doctors, Jay tries various treatments (which don’t really work) until he’s finally put on a stronger medication which has some odd side effects. Everything else seems to spiral from there – his good friend is being distant, he’s not sure where to sit at lunch, and he doesn’t seem to have romantic feelings of any kind for anyone. What’s a teen to do when they don’t know where they fit in and life is just so confusing?

Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers (#QP2022) Featured Review of Don’t Stand So Close to Me by Eric Walters

Don’t Stand So Close to Me by Eric Walters
Orca Book Publishers
Publication Date: September 22, 2020
ISBN: 978-1459827875

Eighth graders Quinn, Isaac, and Reese are excited about their upcoming spring dance, preparing for tests and projects, and planning their spring breaks in March 2020 when the developing COVID-19 pandemic changes things. Their families are affected in key ways and the students shift to online classes. As they’re all feeling disconnected and strange, Quinn has an idea for a way to bring her friends and the community together.

Amazing Audiobooks (#AA2022) Nominations Round-Up, Spring

Each quarter, the Selected Lists teams compile the titles that have been officially nominated to date. These books have been suggested by the team or through the title suggestion form, read by multiple members of the team, and received approval to be designated an official nomination. At the end of the year, the final list of nominations and each Selected List’s Top Ten will be chosen from these titles.

*Prices shown are for Library Digital Download.

Admission. By Julie Buxbaum. Read by Julia Whelan. 2020. Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group/Listening Library, $63 (9780593216996).

Chloe, privileged daughter of a beloved celebrity, watches helplessly as her mother is caught up in a college admission scandal benefiting her. Julia Whelan skillfully unpacks the emotions that go with Chloe’s questioning whether her parents believe she is enough.

Amari and the Night Brothers. By B. B. Alston. Read by Imani Parks. Harper Collins/Balzer + Bray, $64.99 (9780063057968).

Amari believes her missing brother is alive. When a mysterious suitcase appears in her closest, she is whisked away to a land of magic. To find her brother, Amari must pass a series of tests in order to enter the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs. Strong narration supports this fantastical adventure.

Amazing Audiobooks (#AA2022) Featured Review of Class Act by Jerry Craft

Class Act by Jerry Craft; narrated by Nile Bullock, Jesus del Orden, Guy Lockard, Marc Thompson, Peyton Lusk, Rebecca Soler, Dan Bittner, January LaVoy, Phoebe Strole, Jordan Cobb, A.J. Beckles, Robin Miles, Ron Butler, Miles Harvey, Kim Mai Guest, Kyla Garcia & Soneela Nankani
HarperAudio
Publication Date: January 5, 2021
ISBN: 9780063032057

Drew Ellis, Jordan Banks and Liam Landers are back at Riverdale Academy Day School for their eighth grade year, where they have to navigate microaggressions, colorism and class differences. The focus of this book is Drew and his home life with his grandmother, his longing to join the basketball team without becoming a stereotype, and his growing resentment towards Liam, the wealthiest of his friends.

Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers (#QP2021) Nominees Round Up, December 1 Edition

Click here to see all of the current Quick Picks nominees along with more information about the list and past years’ selections.

Class Act by Jerry Craft Book Cover — Class Act by Jerry Craft

Class Act by Jerry Craft
Quill Tree Books
Publication Date: October 6, 2020
ISBN: 9780062885517

In this follow-up to New Kid, familiar characters Jordan, Drew, and Liam return, but this time most of the story focuses on eighth grader Drew, one of the only Black students at the mostly white private school. The boys wrestle with typical middle school things like puberty, and evolving friendships, but also more important, complex issues like identity, acceptance, and race and class. Despite being friends, Jordan, Drew, and Liam live very different lives and that becomes more apparent for them in this installment.

Great Graphic Novels (#GGN2021) Nominees Round Up, November 12 Edition

Click here to see all of the current Great Graphic Novels nominees along with more information about the list and past years’ selections.

Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang Book Cover — Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang

Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang
First Second / Macmillan
Publication Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 9781626720794

Life can be more riveting than fiction, and Dragon Hoops proves that with a stellar biographical look at Gene Luen Yang’s true story of the phenomenal men’s varsity basketball team at Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland, CA, where he previously worked. Intermixed with his own life story as a comic book creator, father, and a teacher, Yang shares his love for storytelling and presents it under a new light in this gripping play-by-play of the 2015 season of the Bishop O’Dowd Dragons as they attempt to win it all in the California State Championship.

Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers (#QP2020) Nominees Round Up, July 23 Edition

Click here to see all of the current Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers nominees along with more information about the list and past years’ selections.

The Lovely and the Lost by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Freeform / Disney
Publication Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-1484776209

Kira and her adoptive family train search-and-rescue dogs. Called to a national park to investigate a child’s disappearance, Kira experiences flashbacks to her own traumatic childhood and rescue. When three generations of family secrets threaten to derail the search, Kira must depend on both her human and canine friends to save herself and her family.

Continue reading Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers (#QP2020) Nominees Round Up, July 23 Edition

Great Graphic Novels (#GGN2020) Nominees Round Up, June 13 Edition

Click here to see all of the current Great Graphic Novels nominees along with more information about the list and past years’ selections.

Shuri: The Search for Black Panther by Nnedi Okorafor, illustrated by Leonardo Romero
Marvel
Publication date May 7, 2019
ISBN 978-1302915230

Shuri is more than just the Black Panther’s little sister—she’s the star of her own comics series in this graphic novel by bestselling Africanfuturist author Nnedi Okorafor and artist Leonardo Romero. Okorafor and Romero’s Shuri is thrilled with her own genius inventions, unsure of her place in the larger world, devoted to her family, and itching to get out of her big brother’s shadow. Shuri—intelligent, curious, and powerful—is more than up to the challenge when T’Challa disappears during Wakanda’s first manned space flight, but her mission to find her brother is complicated by astral projection, black holes, and pressure to take up the Black Panther mantle herself. The nation’s cry is “Wakanda forever”—but where does Shuri fit in, and what does she want for herself?

Continue reading Great Graphic Novels (#GGN2020) Nominees Round Up, June 13 Edition