Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers (#QP2022) Nominations Round-Up, Summer

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.


Across the Tracks: Remembering Greenwood, Black Wall Street, and the Tulsa Race Massacre. By Alverne Ball. Art by Stacey Robinson. Abrams/Megascope, $15.99 (9781419755170).

Greenwood—also known as Black Wall Street—was a bustling district in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with many successful Black-owned businesses. In 1921, a white mob descended on Greenwood, destroying businesses and devastating the community. One hundred years later, Across the Tracks pays homage to Greenwood.

Alone. By Megan E. Freeman. 2020. Penguin Random House/Crown, $17.99 (9780593176399).

Maddie finds herself completely, totally alone when she wakes up from a secret sleepover and discovers that everyone was evacuated overnight from her town, her state, and maybe her whole half of the country. She has to survive natural disasters, the elements, looters, wild animals, and her own crushing loneliness.

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Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers (#QP2022) Featured Review of Stranded by Jocelyn Shipley

Stranded Cover Art

Stranded by Jocelyn Shipley
Orca Publishing
Publication Date: September 22, 2020
ISBN: 978-1459823891

Kipp, a troubled teen trying to do right despite obstacles, finds himself working for a wealthy woman with a secret; she’s had troubled teens work for her before, but they have gone missing. Could Kipp be next?

A tried and true thriller with short chapters and a page-turning plot, this read is sure to grab any teens’ attention and not let go until its conclusion. Kipp is a relatable character, trying to do what is right by himself after a tragic accident that is quickly revealed to hook readers from the beginning, but there are plenty of other mysteries in the story to keep them turning the page. There is a touch of diversity in the secondary characters that works to showcase a setting any reader could see themselves in. The ending will definitely lead to some discussion.

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Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers (#QP2022) Featured Review of Take Back the Block by Chrystal D. Giles

Take Back the Block Cover Art

Take Back the Block by Chrystal D. Giles
Random House Books for Young Readers/Penguin Random House 
Publication Date: January 26, 2021
ISBN: 978-0593175170

Wes is very familiar with two things in life: accompanying his parents to protests and loving his neighborhood. When a real estate developer rolls into Kensington Oaks offering to buy their homes, Wes and his friends must take things into their own hands to fight back against an issue even greater than they imagined. 

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#QP2019 Nominees Round Up, November 14 Edition

The Supervillain and Me by Danielle Banas
Macmillan / Swoon Reads
Publication Date: July 10, 2018
ISBN: 9781250154354

In Abby Hamilton’s world superheroes are real, and she would know; her older brother Connor, aka The Red Comet, is one. When she meets the new super in town, known as the Iron Phantom, she’s not sure what to think. To her, he seems like one of the good guys, but he’s been linked several crimes in town and her superhero brother and her father, the mayor, think that he’s more supervillain than superhero. When the Iron Phantom asks for her help to clear his name and discover the secrets of city hall, she isn’t sure who to trust, who the Phantom truly is, or how she really feels about the mysterious, attractive super.

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