Tag: Nick Brooks

Amazing Audiobooks (#AA2024) Featured Review: Promise Boys by Nick Brooks

  • Promise Boys
  • by Nick Brooks
  • Narrated by Renier Cortes, Christopher Hampton, Alfred Vines, and a full cast
  • Macmillan Audio| Macmillan Young Listeners
  • Publication Date: January 31, 2023
  • ISBN: 9781250877253

The Urban Promise Prep School is determined to create responsible, upstanding, college-bound young men out of all of its students. Principle Moore, the founder of the school, says that following the school’s unyielding discipline is what it takes to escape the violence of the students’ neighborhoods and to make it to college.  When Moore, a beloved pillar of the city of Washington D.C. turns up murdered in the school, three detention students are immediately suspects. J.B., Trey and Ramón. Each maintain that there is no way they could have committed the crime, no matter how much it may look like they did. The students and their friends are soon working together to discover who really murdered Principle Moore and why.

Nick Brooks has written a compelling mystery that will appeal to lots of different readers. The short chapters and constant change in point of view helps create urgency in the plot making this a fast read, even for reluctant readers. This is produced to great effect in the audiobook due to a full cast of narrators and sound effects. Readers who love crime or mystery and gravitate toward the television version of One of Us is Lying, the books of Karen McManus or Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé’s Ace of Spades will enjoy Promise Boys.

-Natalie LaRocque

Other Nominated Titles

Release Date: November 11, 2022
Release Date: November 29, 2022
Release Date: March 7, 2023
Release Date: November 1, 2022

The Selected Lists teams read throughout the year in search of the best titles published in their respective categories. Once a book is suggested (either internally or through the title suggestion form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination.

Each week, the teams feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation are listed as well. At year’s end, the team will curate a final list from all nominated titles and select a Top Ten.

Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers (#QP2024) Feature Review: Promise Boys by Nick Brooks

  • Promise Boys
  • By Nick Brooks
  • Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
  • Release Date: January 31, 2023
  • ISBN: 9781250866974

At Urban Promise Prep school for boys it is understood the young men will follow rules in order to succeed and Principal Moore is well respected; however, inside the school walls, the students experience a different side to Principal Moore and the strict rules of school. During a basketball game, Principal Moore is murdered in his office and only the three students in detention are the prime suspects – Trey, J.B., and Ramon. Each has faced demerits in the past, and the wrath of Principal Moore.  Now in order to prove their innocence they have to reconcile with their past behavior and decisions to work together and find the real killer.

This will catch the attention of readers both from the appealing cover showing the three suspects in front of a police lineup, to the brief description promising a unique mystery in the boy’s school. As the story unfolds alongside the police investigation, readers will enjoy this fast-paced mystery of the murdered principal and the three boys under investigation, all who have their own stories and different points of view.  The reader is sure to go through their own list of suspects as clues unfold in this page turner.

Trey, J.B., and Ramon are all characters with depth and who are multidimensional so the reader is invested in their innocence.This mystery takes into account school demographics, strict school rules, and how preconceived notions are hard to change. The voices are different both in writing and in life experiences. Each character struggles with how they view themselves compared to how they are viewed by family, school officials, and authority figures. Readers will appreciate the side characters with the quality of friendships and non-traditional families shown in a positive light. 


Readers who need a quick hook right from the start will find it easy to continue reading as there are new insights and clues throughout.  The male centered points of view are different, yet all relatable and likable characters. This is a mystery that also deals with the social and economic sides of an urban prep school and who the school is actually serving.  Similar reads include Golden Arm by Carl Deuker, Dear Martin by Nic Stone, or for fans of Tiffany D. Jackson, Karen McManus, and Jason Reynolds

-Sarah Carnahan

Other Nominated Titles

Release Date: October 11, 2022
Release Date: September 27, 2022

The Selected Lists teams read throughout the year in search of the best titles published in their respective categories. Once a book is suggested (either internally or through the title suggestion form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination.

Each week, the teams feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation are listed as well. At year’s end, the team will curate a final list from all nominated titles and select a Top Ten.

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2024) Featured Review: The Secrets We Keep by Cassie Gustafson

  • The Secrets We Keep
  • By Cassie Gustafson
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster BFYR
  • Release Date: November 8, 2022
  • ISBN: 9781665906944

Fifteen-year-old Emma’s life is turned upside down when her father is accused of molesting Hannah, her best- and only- friend. Life in a small coastal town is barely tolerable for the socially awkward San Francisco transplant, so Emma’s loyalties are strained as her father tries to get her to find evidence that would suggest that Hannah is a liar. Both parents make it clear that what Emma knows could destroy her family forever.

Author, Cassie Gustafson, invites readers into Emma’s world and memories through a deft use of second person point of view, then propels them through Emma’s current challenges using first person narration. The topic of sexually exploitation is difficult to navigate, but each of the main characters is thoughtfully developed and carefully portrayed in all of their messy humanity without descending into titillating, irrelevant details. The grooming process is accurately portrayed, but the book ends in hope as Emma is forced to confront her own abuse. Emma’s fears are fully realized when her family- as she knew it- is destroyed. However, the plot would lack authenticity if everything was tied up in a neat, “happily ever after” bow.

Teen readers who gravitate toward the gritty fiction of Kathleen Glasgow will find this book utterly engrossing. Give this to readers who liked The Art of Breaking Things by Laura Sibson, Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow, and Practice Girl by Estelle Laure.

-Jodi Kruse

Other Nominated Titles

Release Date: January 10, 2023
HighlySupciousAndUnfairlyCutebyTaliaHibbert
Release Date: January 3, 2023
Release Date: January 31, 2022
Release Date: October 18, 2022

The Selected Lists teams read throughout the year in search of the best titles published in their respective categories. Once a book is suggested (either internally or through the title suggestion form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination.

Each week, the teams feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation are listed as well. At year’s end, the team will curate a final list from all nominated titles and select a Top Ten.
The Best Fiction for Young Adults Committee appreciates teen feedback as members evaluate the nominated titles. Teen librarians are encouraged to share the List of Potential Nominees under consideration with their patrons and solicit feedback using the link: https://bit.ly/BFYA24TeenFB

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2024) Featured Review: When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb

  • When the Angels Left the Old Country
  • by Sacha Lamb
  • Publisher: Levine Querido
  • Release Date: October 18, 2022
  • ISBN: 9781646141760

A patient angel and a mischievous demon who have been studying Talmud together for centuries in their little Russian shtetl travel to America to perform a mitzvah. They locate a young woman who left for the “golden land” to find her fortune but hasn’t been heard from since. Along the way, they encounter more humans who need help and obstacles both human and supernatural. More troubling, they find they must change their eternal ways if they are to truly make a difference.

This delightful, charming story reads with the timelessness of a classic fable, yet is steeped in period-specific detail and cultural norms that convey a strong sense of place, whether in Russia or America or travelling between. Lamb deftly explores issues of identity, duty, good and evil, theology, and the bonds of friendship and love from the perspectives of her supernatural duo, who grow closer as they learn that changing who they are doesn’t have to mean growing apart. These realizations are echoed by the human characters, especially Rose, the young queer woman they meet on their travels and who accompanies them to the end of their mission. The story is wholesome without being moralizing. Whether Uriel, the angel, and Little Ash, the demon, confront corrupt officials, sweatshop owners, other demons, or vengeful dybbuks, there is a divine sense that everything is turning out as it should be.

This will appeal to teens who like quiet novels with a lot of heart and understated humor, teens who are looking for authentic Jewish stories, and those who like a blend of fantasy, historical fiction, and magical realism. This novel is a rare perfect read-alike for Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. For more Jewish mysticism, recommend From Dust, a Flame by Rebecca Podos, or for readers looking for a more contemporary connection, recommend The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen by Isaac Blum.

-Krista Hutley

Other Nominated Titles

RainRisingbyCourtneComrie
Release Date: September 30, 2022
Release Date: January 31, 2023

The Selected Lists teams read throughout the year in search of the best titles published in their respective categories. Once a book is suggested (either internally or through the title suggestion form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination.

Each week, the teams feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation are listed as well. At year’s end, the team will curate a final list from all nominated titles and select a Top Ten.
The Best Fiction for Young Adults Committee appreciates teen feedback as members evaluate the nominated titles. Teen librarians are encouraged to share the List of Potential Nominees under consideration with their patrons and solicit feedback using the link: https://bit.ly/BFYA24TeenFB

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2024) Featured Review: Promise Boys by Nick Brooks

  • Promise Boys
  • by Nick Brooks
  • Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
  • ISBN: 9781250866974

J.B., Ramón, and Trey are students at the prestigious Urban Promise Prep School, where they “promise” to follow the school’s strict disciplinary and academic codes, to set them on the path for college and save them from the streets. When their principal is murdered at school, the three become the prime suspects. The trio must join together to find out what really happened and prove their innocence.

Told in alternating viewpoints from the boys, their families, friends, teachers, and school donors, this fast-paced murder mystery unfolds into a compulsively readable story. Excellent characterization, tight pacing, and a memorable plot make this an easy sell.

Teen readers interested in real-life stories, thrillers, and relatable characters will most appreciate this title. Comparable titles include One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus, Light It Up by Kekla Magoon, and The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.

-Emily Williams

The Selected Lists teams read throughout the year in search of the best titles published in their respective categories. Once a book is suggested (either internally or through the title suggestion form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination.

Each week, the teams feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation are listed as well. At year’s end, the team will curate a final list from all nominated titles and select a Top Ten.


The Best Fiction for Young Adults Committee appreciates teen feedback as members evaluate the nominated titles. Teen librarians are encouraged to share the List of Potential Nominees under consideration with their patrons and solicit feedback using the link: https://bit.ly/BFYA24TeenFB