SBPL Teen Services Staff Picks

  Kwame Alexander is a powerful writer.  He knows the exact words to use, which is why, I think, he writes in verse so much....he doesn't need the extra words to make you see his vision.  In The Door of No Return, Alexander paints a picture of Kofi.  A boy from the village of Upper Kwanta who dreams of a girl; has visions of being the best at something so he can make his parents and village proud; at overpowering his cousin who bullies him.....variations of a life that have been seen time after time in many places.  He could have had those things, but instead something terrible happens and he ends up captured and on a boat, trapped with so many others...   What makes this story so compelling is that Alexander shows us Kofi, his sweetness, his bitterness, his love and sorrow and then shows us the moment everything changes.  This is a beautiful and sorrowful tale that leaves you hopeful for Kofi, even if you know that for others, it was the start of a new and horrible life. I don'

What Stalks Among Us is an absolutely fascinating thriller of a story.  Two high school seniors skip a field trip to an amusement park to go off on their own, find a corn maze and enter it because...why not?  The problem?  Now that they are in the maze, they can't get out....and how do they know that?  Because they keep finding dead bodies, and some of them are their own.....which means they have BEEN trying to get out.  What makes this extra awesome is the backstory of why the maze exists and the how of solving the puzzle as well as the delicate dance of actually making it work.  Hollowell does a fabulous job of dropping clues (and bodies) while maintaining a line of tension that really keeps the reader engaged.  I could not stop until I finished....so good! For those who love horror but not gore, this is an excellent option. Mascot is not only a story about students asking for the removal of a racist mascot, but is also a story about the students on both sides and why they are th