Libby's Guide

For five years, Coyote and her father, Rodeo, have been roaming around the country in their giant, yellow school bus. They started their journey after Coyote lost her mom and sisters in a car crash.  Rodeo is running away from the loss and never looking back. The wandering lifestyle suits Coyote just fine, until she learns that a park where she, her sisters, and her mom buried a memory box is about to be demolished. Suddenly, Coyote desperately needs to get home, but that’s the last place Rodeo will let her go.

As Coyote stealthily urges Rodeo toward home, they pick up a group of unlikely passenge...

Kira Bennett doesn’t remember much of her life before being found in the woods by Cady Bennett and her search-and-rescue dog. Even years later, Kira still struggles with human interaction and normal life. She loves her adopted family, but feels more comfortable with the rescue dogs they train. When Cady receives word of a little girl who has become lost in Sierra Glades National Park, she takes Kira and Jude along with their dogs to join the search.

As Kira searches for the little girl, memories of her own past begin to surface.  While she and her friends race to find the missing girl, Kira must a...

David Drucker is a socially awkward genius who usually keeps to himself.  He keeps a notebook to remind him who to trust and how to act in different situations.  Kit Lowell is a popular, but insecure girl dealing with the recent death of her father.  To avoid the pressure of her friends, Kit joins David at his lunch table. Slowly, the two teenagers develop a friendship and both their lives are changed. They each learn what it truly means to be a friend.

This is one of my new favorites.  Both Kit and David are delightful characters that I wish I could know in real life.  Their experiences...

Sophie and Agatha are an unlikely pair in the town of Gavaldon. While Sophie dreams of being taken by the Schoolmaster to the School of Good and Evil, Agatha is content with their normal, little town. But when the Schoolmaster does come and Agatha interferes, Sophie’s plans and dreams are turned upside down. Sophie is put in the School for Evil and Agatha ends up in the School for Good.  As everything unravels, each girl will be tested in ways she never imagined. 

With a traditional fairytale setting, The School for Good and Evil attacks all our ‘happily ever after’ stereotypes.  It is a stor...

Ariel Kaplan creates wonderfully clever and quirky teen characters that confront the worst of teen angst without being annoying.  In this modern twist on the classic Cyrano de Bergerac, we have two best friends: Aphra Brown, the bold and outspoken one with a face she is sure no one can love, and Bethany Newman, heartbreakingly beautiful but painfully shy. Together, they try to win over Greg D’Agostino, the school heartthrob who has a lot more depth than either girl expected. However, while helping her best friend, Aphra finds herself losing her heart to her best friend’s boyfriend.

The surface sto...

Rhen’s kingdom is under a curse. He relives the same season, each time trying to make a girl fall in love with him until he turns into a beast obsessed with destruction. With each failure, the process begins again. Harper lives in present day Washington, DC with a troubled life of her own. When an accident pulls her into Rhen’s magical kingdom, Harper comes at all problems in her usual way--swinging and fighting to make sure justice is done. Will this strange new combination be the key to breaking the curse?

A Curse so Dark and Lovely is one of my favorite takes on the Beauty and the Beast fairy t...

One of the newest in the Rick Riordon Presents series, The Storm Runner introduces a Percy Jackson-like story focusing on Mayan gods. Zane Obisbo is an ordinary boy with an ordinary life, until one day he isn't. As strange things start to happen near the dormant volcano behind his home, Zane's life begins to change. Soon he finds himself dragged into a struggle between Mayan gods and mythical creatures. Not only that, Zane learns he is possibly the son of one of the gods.

Filled with fast-paced adventure, this is a perfect read for tweens. Zane is a relatable character in an interesting circumstan...

Ari Logan is struggling to overcome the awful night when she tried to hurt herself. As she climbs out of depression, she spends time at the local lake watching her little sister. Ari also finds herself caught in a one-sided crush on a new boy at the lake. Filled with confidence and charm, Camden Armstrong seems like everything Ari would like to be. But she only watches.

The next summer, a more confident Ari starts up a conversation. That conversation leads to friendship, time with Camden’s friends, and eventually a relationship. Ari is happy and in love, but quickly finds real relationships are mo...

Delsie has always felt left behind--when her mother leaves, when Papa Joseph dies, and when her best friend only wants to hang out with the new girl.  She wonders if she’s broken and how her life got so mixed up.  But as the summer goes on and Delsie makes new friends and recognizes old loyal friendships, her perspective begins to change.  She realizes that ‘It’s not what you look at that counts, but what you see,’ and Delsie finally understands that she has been surrounded by love all along.

As usual, Lynda Mullaly Hunt approaches painful subjects with hope and grace. She creates wonder...

Zayneb is on her way to Doha, Qatar, after being suspended from school because of a racist teacher.  Adam is on his way home, still working through being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. They both notice each other on the plane from London, but only exchange a few words. When they meet again at a party, neither can deny their connection.  However, life’s problems and some miscommunication threaten their beginning relationship. Will they overcome the distractions that get in their way?

This is a light story of young love, but it is also so much more.  Zayneb’s story confronts the problem of...