Tag Archive for: booklist

Our Favorite Books of 2024 for Kids and Teens

Looking for a NEW book?

Who doesn’t love the smell and feel of fresh, crisp pages of a brand-new book?  Or the excitement of reading a book that just hit the shelves?  New items are added to the collection regularly (almost daily!) and are shelved separately from the rest of the collection, making it easy to browse the newest titles.  Juvenile New Items can be found near the Youth Services desk, Teen New Items are shelved near the Teen Lounge, and adult New Items are located just inside the library’s front entrance.

Browsing new additions to the library’s collection can also be done on the MORE Catalog.  New titles pop up right on the home screen of the MORE app, and can be searched on a PC by clicking New Titles on the catalogs home page.  Do you want a sneak peek before the items even hit the shelves?  Then click the Coming Soon link to see the titles that have just been ordered.

Browse the new additions to the library’s collection on your next visit to either the library or the MORE Catalog to find your NEW favorite read!

 

Favorite Books of 2023

As 2023 draws to a close (Can you believe it?!), Youth Services staff has been reflecting on some of the most exciting contributions to children and teen literature this year. We have compiled our absolute favorites to share with you. We trust there will be titles on this list that will become (or maybe already are) favorites for you and your family as well! The list features a mixture of books that are funny, poignant, creative, mind-bending, and more from our various collections in Youth Services (board books and picture books as well as juvenile and teen graphic novels, fiction, and nonfiction).

➜ Without further ado, here is the list of Youth Services’ Favorite Books of 2023.

What were your favorites this year? Let us know! Want more suggestions for great books for babies, children, and teens? Check out our collection of book lists here and here, or chat with us at the Youth Services desk during your next library visit.

Here’s to another great year of reading!

Spooky Stories for the Season

As soon as I learned to read, I discovered a love of spooky stories. To this day, my favorite scary stories are still the ones from my youth. With that in mind, I wanted to share a few of my favorites, as well as a whole list of scary stories to explore at the library.

Picture Books

The Dark by Lemony Snicket

Laszlo is afraid of the dark which lives in the same big, creaky house as him, until one night the dark pays him a visit. | Check it out!


I Don’t like Koala by Sean Ferrell

A little boy receives a new stuffed koala as a gift, but does not like his stuffed koala because of its terrible eyes, terrible face, and terrible paws. But each time he tries to get rid of it, Koala comes back. This is a fairly creepy picture book with a comforting twist at the end. | Check it out!


Early Readers

Bears in the Night by Stan Berenstain

My earliest memory of a family member reading to me was this book, and I loved how my aunt built suspense, then read super fast at the end. This one is an only “slightly scary” bedtime story winner! | Check it out!


In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories by Alvin Schwartz

I remember reading this all by myself and feeling very accomplished. Heads up that there are some quite scary stories in here, including the story “The Green Ribbon” which I still think about to this day! | Check it out!


Chapter Books

Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn (both chapter book and graphic novel)

This may be my all-time favorite ghost story, and for good reason. A new little step sister, a new house with a graveyard in the back, and a mysterious headstone all add up to a fantastic ghost story for chapter book readers! | Check it out!


Took by Mary Downing Hahn

Mary Downing Hahn is my very favorite spooky author, and well over 30 years after her first book, she still continues to write today. This is my favorite of her newer titles, and if you are in the mood for a scary story about a witch, this is the book for you. I’d recommend this for older elementary readers, and those that can handle a good scare! | Check it out!


The library is also offering scary book displays for all levels of readers now until the end of October, and we have an online booklist here for even more fun scary stories. Enjoy!!

Finding Good Fit Books for Your Child

Do you need book ideas for your kids this summer? We’ve got you covered! With thousands of book options for kids, it can be challenging to find the right fit for your child, and the Youth Services Staff is here to help:

Book Lists at the Library

Youth Services maintains a “Great Reads” binder that is filled with book suggestions for popular topics like dinosaurs, princesses, humorous stories, and many more. Paper book lists are also available and offer book suggestions for toddlers, beginning readers, children reading above grade level, and many more topics and reading levels. Find both of these resources near the Youth Services Desk, or find them online.

Bibliocommons Lists

All of our book lists can be accessed directly through the MORE catalog. Neat! Find all of our lists here.

Youth Services Staff

The Youth Services team is passionate about finding good fit books for your child. Stop by the Youth Services desk whenever you need help connecting your child with great books.

Elephant and Piggie PARTY!

Calling all Elephant and Piggie fans for an Elephant and Piggie PARTY!!

FUN FACT: The last Elephant and Piggie book (The Thank You Book) was published more than seven years ago. Still, the 25 titles in this series are consistently among the most popular and loved books at the library.

Join us as we celebrate these favorite characters during our Elephant and Piggie Party on Friday, July 28, from 10-11:30 a.m. in the Riverview Room on the library’s third floor. We’ll enjoy storytime at 10 a.m., followed by self-paced games, crafts, and snacks. Get your cameras ready, as Elephant and Piggie will be making an appearance live and in-person!

Have you read all the books in the series? Find them here!

Have you read them all 10 times and need something different? Check out these playful and just-as-loveable Elephant and Piggie read-alikes.

While Elephant and Piggie and Pigeon may be his most popular characters, Mo Willems has other books that your child is sure to enjoy. Check them out!

Happy reading, and see you on the 28th!

Dog Man Is Back!

Woman reading book.Good news Dog Man fans! Your favorite graphic novel hero is back in a new adventure, Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea by Dav Pilkey! The Dog Man series, like many graphic novels, has the power to spark a love of reading, and is enjoyed by both reluctant and enthusiastic readers alike. Graphic novels are beneficial because readers make meaning through both pictures and text. Whether you love silly superhero animal stories, realistic fiction, non-fiction, fantasy, scary stories, there is a great graphic novel out there for you!

Are you all caught up on the Dog Man series and ready for something new? Check out these recommendations

If you love silly stories starring animals like Lil’ Petey, try:

Max Meow Cat Crusader by John Gallagher 

Agent Moose by Mo O’Hara

Mayor Good Boy by Dave Scheidt

Officer Clawsome: Lobster Cop by Brian Smith

Woman holding three books.If you like unlikely superheroes, check out:

When Pigs Fly by Rob Harrell

Mischief and Mayhem by Ken Lamug 

Katie the Catsitter by Colleen A.F. Venable

HILO by Judd Winick

If you love robots, science, and cool gadgets, explore:

Sanity & Tallulah by Molly Brooks

InvestiGATORS by John Patrick Green

Secret Coders by Gene Luen Yang & Mike Holmes

Science Comics Robots and Drones by Scott Mairghread 

Best New Books of 2022 for Kids and Teens

It’s no surprise that we love talking about books here at the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library, and the end of the year is a perfect time to gather together favorites. With that in mind, three of our Youth Services librarians thought we’d share our top picks of 2022 for kids and teens. Check them out, and view our complete list of recommendations!

And while you’re at it, be sure to participate in our best books giveaway!

 

Try Hoopla for Teen Audiobooks

August is often full of last-minute road trips and, if you’re anything like me, you enjoy a great audiobook while on the road. I especially appreciate an audiobook you can stream right from your smart device, which is why I’m an avid Hoopla user. Hoopla has a wide selection of audiobooks and it doesn’t have any wait lists! Just login, find an intriguing audiobook, and you’re set to download it right away. Each Eau Claire library cardholder gets four downloads per month, and those downloads automatically return when they’re due. Win-win-win!

If you’re looking for a good place to start, try one of these awesome teen audiobooks available now on Hoopla.


Loveless Loveless by Alice Oseman

If you love a great journey of self-discovery, Loveless is the perfect choice!

This is the funny, honest, messy, completely relatable story of Georgia, who doesn’t understand why she can’t crush and kiss and make out like her friends do. She’s surrounded by the narrative that dating + sex = love. It’s not until she gets to college that she discovers the A range of the LGBTQIA+ spectrum – coming to understand herself as asexual/aromantic. Disrupting the narrative that she’s been told since birth isn’t easy – there are many mistakes along the way to inviting people into a newly found articulation of an always-known part of your identity. But Georgia’s determined to get her life right, with the help of (and despite the major drama of) her friends.


Dustborn Dustborn by Erin Bowman

If Science Fiction is more your jam, Dustborn is an involving postapocalyptic Western-Sci-Fi mashup.

Delta of Dead River has always been told to hide her back, where a map is branded on her skin to a rumored paradise called the Verdant. In a wasteland plagued by dust squalls, geomagnetic storms, and solar flares, many would kill for it – even if no one can read it. So, when raiders sent by a man known as the General attack her village, Delta suspects he is searching for her. Delta sets out to rescue her family but quickly learns that in the Wastes no one can be trusted.


When Dimple Met Rishi When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

For those seeking sweet romance, When Dimple Met Rishi will surely hit the perfect note.

Now that Dimple Shah has graduated, she’s ready for a break from her family – especially from Mamma’s inexplicable obsession with her finding the Ideal Indian Husband. Ugh. But Dimple knows that her mother must respect that she isn’t interested in doing that right now – otherwise she wouldn’t have paid for her to attend a summer program for aspiring web developers, right? Rishi Patel is a hopeless romantic, so when his parents tell him that his future wife will be attending the same summer program as him – during which he’ll have to woo her – he’s totally on board. Although their parents hadn’t planned suggesting the arrangement so soon, when their kids signed up for the same summer program, they figured “Why not?”


Into the Bloodred Woods Into the Bloodred Woods by Martha Brockenbrough

Into the Bloodred Woods is a dark fairytale where Beauty and the Beast are one and the same…

Happily ever after is a lie. Once upon a time there was a kingdom, and a forest that liked to eat men, and a girl who would change everything, but not alone…In a faraway land, populated by were beasts and surrounded by a powerful forest, lies a kingdom about to be sent into chaos. On his deathbed, King Tyran divides his land, leaving half to each of his two children – so they’ll rule together. However, his son, Albrecht, is not satisfied with half a kingdom. And even though his sister, Ursula, is the first born, he decides that, as a girl and were bear, she is unfit to rule. What follows is an epic battle of good, evil, and something in-between.


The Race of the Century by Neal BascombThe Race of the Century

If you’re looking for gripping narrative non-fiction, try The Race of the Century, which relates the history of the race to break the 4-minute mile.

Highly acclaimed author Neal Bascomb pulls together his peerless research and fast-paced narrative style into this inspiring and moving story of three men racing to achieve the impossible — the perfect four-minute mile. There was a time when running the mile in four minutes was believed to be beyond the limits of human foot speed. In 1952, after suffering defeat at the Helsinki Olympics, three world-class runners each set out to break this barrier. Bascomb delivers a breathtaking story of unlikely heroes and leaves us with a lasting portrait of the twilight years of the golden age of sport.

 

Most Anticipated Books for Children and Teens

 

The Pigeon is NOT allowed to drive the bus and most certainly does NOT want to take a bath, but this fall, The Pigeon WILL Ride the Roller Coaster! That’s right! The Pigeon returns in September for another storybook ride. In fact, there are so many exciting books for children and teens that will be released in the coming weeks, and we can NOT wait to share them with you! Click on this link to see our growing list of sure-to-be new favorite books, and place your holds on them today! We’ll let you know as soon as they are ready for you to pick up at the newly renovated library. Nifty!

For additional book suggestions, check out our themed lists here.