Staff Picks - Teen | Arlington Public Library

Author

Notes

Something's going to explode in this thriller: It is 1977 & summer should be nights at the disco with friends. Instead Nora's under curfew as a murderer in NYC is targeting girls who look like her--while at home, her controlling brother has a shorter & shorter fuse. - Nico P

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Nora Lopez is seventeen during the summer of 1977, when New York is besieged by arson, a massive blackout, and a serial killer named Son of Sam. Meg Medina transports us to a time when tempers and temperatures ran high to share the story of a young woman who discovers that the greatest dangers are often closer than we like to admit.

42) The geek's guide to unrequited love

Author

Tash, Sarvenaz

Notes

What better place for one comic geek to finally admit his crush on his artist friend than comic con? When Graham finds that he & Roxy's fave author will be there, he's ready to sleep out for tickets. But will a crowd surge & a handsome Brit keep him from his perfect moment? - Nico P

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Graham Posner is trying to get his best friend, Roxana, to fall in love with him by planning the perfect weekend for her at Comic-Con.

43) From Twinkle, with love

Author

Menon, Sandhya

Notes

Future filmmaker Twinkle writes to her favorite female directors, but it's the only place she speaks up. Until Sahil, the twin brother of her crush, asks her to direct a short film. Now she has a spotlight & a megaphone, but will she use her new-found voice for good? - Nico P

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook

Description

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Told through letters, aspiring filmmaker and wallflower Twinkle Mehra learns a lesson about love while directing a movie for the Midsummer Night arts festival, in which her longtime crush and his twin brother are also participating. Aspiring filmmaker and wallflower Twinkle Mehra has stories she wants to tell and universes she wants to explore, if only the world would listen. So when fellow film geek Sahil Roy approaches her to direct a movie for...

44) The unstoppable Wasp: Vol. 1,Unstoppable!

Author

Whitley, Jeremy

Notes

Nadia Pym has escaped the Red Room and made it to America, where she's assembling a super team of the smartest girls she can find. With the irrepressible energy and joy familiar to fans of Squirrel Girl, Unstoppable Wasp is a fun addition to the Marvel lineup. - Jennie R

45) Dragonsong

Author

McCaffrey, Anne

Series

Dragonriders of Pern volume 3

Notes

They said the deadly Thread would never return to Pern. They said fire lizards didn’t exist. They said a mere girl couldn’t be a Harper. But Thread fell and dragons flew. And Menolly ran toward a future she was told could never exist. - Rachel H

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Forbidden by her father to indulge in music in any way, Menolly, a girl on the planet Pern, runs away, taking shelter with the planet's fire lizards who, along with her music, open a new life for her.

46) The hate u give

Author

Thomas, Angie

Notes

Everything changes when 16-year-old Starr witnesses the police shooting of her best friend, Khalil. Her two worlds begin to collide: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy prep school she attends. - Cindy M

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle, Large Type

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Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, Angie Thomas's searing debut about an ordinary girl in extraordinary circumstances addresses issues of racism and police violence with intelligence, heart, and unflinching honesty. Soon to be a major motion picture from Fox 2000/Temple Hill Productions. Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy...

47) A line in the dark

Author

Lo, Malinda

Notes

Jess is in love with her friend Angie, but Angie is in love with Margot. It’s an emotional mess that ends in murder. This book is dark and twisty—you’ll have a hard time putting it down. - Michelle M

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Book, eAudiobook

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"When Chinese American teenager Jess Wong's best friend Angie falls in love with a girl from the nearby boarding school, Jess expects heartbreak. But when everybody's secrets start to be revealed, the stakes quickly elevate from love or loneliness to life or death"--

48) The epic crush of Genie Lo

Author

Yee, F. C

Series

Genie Lo novels volume 1

Notes

Genie's not the first girl who has to balance school, family, and friends with saving the world, but her biting humor and strong voice make her a stand out in this fantastic tale of the Monkey King in modern-day California. - Jennie R

Formats:

Book, eBook, Kindle

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Sixteen-year-old Genie's focus on getting into a top-tier college is destroyed when an enigmatic transfer student, Quentin, helps her transform into a demon-fighter.

49) Lola and the boy next door

Author

Perkins, Stephanie

Notes

Lola has it all together--hot boyfriend, great parents, fun friends, and the beginning of a career in fashion and costume. But what happens when the boy next door comes back and Lola can no longer ignore how she feels? - Megan B

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

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Budding costume designer Lola lives an extraordinary life in San Francisco with her two dads and beloved dog, dating a punk rocker, but when the Bell twins return to the house next door Lola recalls both the friendship-ending fight with Calliope, a figure skater, and the childhood crush she had on Cricket.

50) Ask the passengers

Author

King, A.S

Notes

With no one to confide in, Astrid tells her secrets to the passengers of passing planes. The problem with her confidants not knowing she's there is that there's no one to advise Astrid about navigating her increasingly complex relationships, including a secret romance. - Megan B

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook

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"Astrid Jones copes with her small town's gossip and narrow-mindedness by staring at the sky and imagining that she's sending love to the passengers in the airplanes flying high over her backyard. Maybe they'll know what to do with it. Maybe it'll make them happy. Maybe they'll need it. Her mother doesn't want it, her father's always stoned, her perfect sister's too busy trying to fit in, and the people in her small town would never allow her to love...

51) And then there were four

Author

Werlin, Nancy

Notes

What would you do if a building collapsed around you? The five teens in this story barely escape with their lives, but their ordeal is just beginning. Is it true that their parents are trying to kill them all? And how can they work together to save themselves? - Kate O

Description

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When a building collapses around five teenagers-and they just barely escape-they know something strange is going on. Little by little, the group pieces together a theory: Their parents are working together to kill them all. Is it true? And if so, how did their parents come together-and why? And, most importantly, how can the five of them work together to save themselves? With an unlikely group of heroes, sky-high stakes, and two budding romances,...

52) Bubonic panic: when plague invaded America

Author

Jarrow, Gail

Series

Deadly disease trilogy volume 3

Notes

A harrowing and riveting look at what happened when San Francisco got the plague, and politics and science collided. - Jennie R

53) My Lady Jane

Author

Hand, Cynthia

Series

Lady Janies volume 2

Notes

What if Jane Grey didn't lose her head after nine days as queen? Three authors retell history as they think it should have gone. Mix British history with a little magic and a lot of romance and you have a delicious romp for fans of ʺThe Princess Bride.ʺ - Nico P.

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

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Edward is the King of England. He's also dying, which is inconvenient, as he's only sixteen and he'd rather be planning his first kiss than who will inherit his crown. Jane, Edward's cousin, is far more interested in books than romance. Unfortunately, Edward has arranged to marry her off to Gifford secure the line of succession. And Gifford is, well, a horse. That is, he an Eðian (eth-y-un, for the uninitiated) who becomes a chestnut steed every...

54) Croak

Author

Damico, Gina

Series

Croak trilogy volume 1

Notes

16-year-old Lex's family is fed up with her and send her to live with her Uncle Mort for the summer. What Lex doesn’t expect is Mort teaching her the family business and turning her into the Grim Reaper. - Megan B

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A delinquent sixteen-year-old girl is sent to live with her uncle for the summer, only to learn that he is a Grim Reaper who wants to teach her the family business.

55) Double cross: deception techniques in war

Author

Janeczko, Paul B

Notes

Heard of the Trojan Horse? Gideon’s torches and trumpets? Navajo codebreakers? Deception in warfare is as old as the hills. Whether via camouflage observation posts or trick tank maneuvers Paul Janeckzko uncovers military secrets that have helped win wars for centuries. - Anne W.

Description

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This companion to The Dark Game: True Spy Stories introduces the military strategy of deception and examines how it has been used in war over the past 150 years. From the story of the Trojan horse to today, deceptive techniques have always been used in war. In recent years the technology behind fooling the enemy has evolved dramatically. Janeczko focuses on the American Civil War, World Wars I and II, and the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the...

56) I am a secret service agent: my life spent protecting the President

Author

Emmett, Dan

Notes

Do you have what it takes to become a Secret Service agent? You might have mundane days guarding a birthday cake for a head of state. Or more exciting days scanning crowds, ready to defend the President with your life. - Anne W.

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Traces the story of a Secret Service agent who protected three American presidents, describing how he pursued his job after the assassination of JFK and how he met a range of challenges throughout a career shaped by major historical events.

57) The family Romanov: murder, rebellion, and the fall of imperial Russia

Author

Fleming, Candace

Notes

Fleming’s in-depth look at Russia’s last Tzar and his family excels at placing the revolution in context, comparing life inside the palace to the experience of the majority of Russians. - Jennifer R.

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook

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“[A] superb history.... In these thrilling, highly readable pages, we meet Rasputin, the shaggy, lecherous mystic...; we visit the gilded ballrooms of the doomed aristocracy; and we pause in the sickroom of little Alexei, the hemophiliac heir who, with his parents and four sisters, would be murdered by the Bolsheviks in 1918.” —The Wall Street Journal

Here is the tumultuous, heartrending, true story of the Romanovs—at...

58) How dare the sun rise: memoirs of a war child

Author

Uwiringiyimana, Sandra

Notes

When Sandra was 10, her refugee camp was attacked. She survived the massacre, but 166 people, including her little sister didn't. A moving and powerful memoir of a young woman recovering from trauma and becoming an activist for other refugees and survivors. - Jennifer R.

Formats:

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The author shares the story of her survival during the Gatumba massacre, despite losing her mother and sister, and how after moving to America she found healing through art and activism.

59) Eliza and her monsters

Author

Zappia, Francesca

Notes

A must read for anyone into fandom and webcomics, or who finds online life and friendships more comfortable than in person. - Katelyn A.

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

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Eighteen-year-old Eliza Mirk is the anonymous creator of Monstrous Sea, a wildly popular webcomic, but when a new boy at school tempts her to live a life offline, everything she's worked for begins to crumble.

60) Juliet takes a breath

Author

Rivera, Gabby

Notes

Juliet Milagros Palente, a self-described “brown baby dyke from the Bronx,” arrives in Portland for a summer internship. Her hilarious plunge into the mind-boggling new-age, hippie, lesbian nirvana is mixed with issues of race, acceptance, and loyalty. - -Lisa C.

Formats:

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Description

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Juliet Milagros Palante is a self-proclaimed closeted Puerto Rican baby dyke from the Bronx. Only, she's not so closeted anymore. Not after coming out to her family the night before flying to Portland, Oregon, to intern with her favorite feminist writer--what's sure to be a life-changing experience. And when Juliet's coming out crashes and burns, she's not sure her mom will ever speak to her again. But Juliet has a plan--sort of. Her internship with...