In honor of the traditional holiday song, the 12 Days of Christmas, we will celebrate reading with the 12 Books of Christmas project. Titles have been recommended by our staff, and consultation with best books of the year lists, and professional book reviews. I will post links to the best books lists at the end of my list.
On the first day of Christmas, my good friend gave to me-
All the Bright Places - by Jennifer Niven
The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor and Park in this exhilarating and heart-wrenching love story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die. (Goodreads) Read it before the movie comes out! Ms. Chiu, our Mathematics teacher, who is a voracious reader, loved it. booktrailer and...
On the second day of Christmas, my mother gave to me -
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
A sweeping tale of seventeen-year-old Mare, a common girl whose once-latent magical power draws her into the dangerous intrigue of the king's palace. Will her power save her or condemn her? Enthusiastically endorsed by members of the Salpointe Book Club. booktrailer and...
On the third day of Christmas my brother gave to me-
All American Boys - by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
When sixteen-year-old Rashad is mistakenly accused of stealing, classmate Quinn witnesses his brutal beating at the hands of a police officer who happens to be the older brother of his best friend. Told through Rashad and Quinn's alternating viewpoints.(PCPL) (NPR story from the Code Switch team Or if you enjoy non-fiction, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, which seems to be on everyone’s list this year. and...
On the fourth day of Christmas my girlfriend gave to me:
Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen
"Saint Anything is a poignant, honest story about how we might suffer the misfortune of someone else's bad choices, how people who love us can become family when we desperately need it, and how starting over might - miraculously - mean taking a solid leap forward." NYT booktrailer http://bit.ly/1OQP1Uk and...
On the fifth day of Christmas my Grandma gave to me:
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
In 1945, World War II is drawing to a close in East Prussia, and thousands of refugees are on a desperate trek toward freedom, almost all of them with something to hide. Among them are Joana, Emilia, and Florian, whose paths converge en route to the ship that promises salvation, the Wilhelm Gustloff. Forced by circumstance to unite, the three find their strength, courage, and trust in each other tested with each step closer toward safety.
Just when it seems freedom is within their grasp, tragedy strikes. Not country, nor culture, nor status matter as all ten thousand people aboard must fight for the same thing: survival (Goodreads) Ruta Sepetys will be at this year’s Tucson Festival of Books March 12-13, 2016. and...
On the sixth day of Christmas my aunt gave to me:
Bone Gap by Laura Ruby
Everyone knows Bone Gap is full of gaps—gaps to trip you up, gaps to slide through so you can disappear forever. So when young, beautiful Roza went missing, the people of Bone Gap weren’t surprised. After all, it wasn’t the first time that someone had slipped away and left Finn and Sean O’Sullivan on their own. Just a few years before, their mother had high-tailed it to Oregon for a brand new guy, a brand new life. That’s just how things go, the people said. Who are you going to blame? (lauraruby.com) And...
On the seventh day of Christmas my tio gave to me:
Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older
When the murals painted on the walls of her Brooklyn neighborhood start to change and fade in front of her, Sierra Santiago realizes that something strange is going on--then she discovers her Puerto Rican family are shadowshapers and finds herself in a battle with an evil anthropologist for the lives of her family and friends. PCPL And…
On the eighth day of Christmas my Grandpa gave to me:
The Emperor of Any Place by Tim Wynne-Jones
When Evan’s father dies suddenly, Evan finds a hand-bound yellow book on his desk—a book his dad had been reading when he passed away. The book is the diary of a Japanese soldier stranded on a small Pacific island in WWII. Why was his father reading it? What is in this account that Evan’s grandfather, whom Evan has never met before, fears so much that he will do anything to prevent its being seen? And what could this possibly mean for Evan? In a pulse-quickening mystery evoking the elusiveness of truth and the endurance of wars passed from father to son, this engrossing novel is a suspenseful, at times terrifying read from award-winning author Tim Wynne-Jones. Amazon. And...
On the ninth day of Christmas my father gave to me:
Finding Jake by Bryan Reardon
While his successful wife goes off to her law office each day, Simon Connolly takes care of their kids, Jake and Laney. Now that they are in high school, the angst-ridden father should feel more relaxed, but he doesn't. He’s seen the statistics, read the headlines. And now, his darkest fear is coming true. There has been a shooting at school. (Goodreads) And…
On the tenth day of Christmas my swim coach gave to me:
Girl Underwater by Claire Kells
A "debut novel that cross cuts between a competitive college swimmer's harrowing days in the Rocky Mountains after a major airline disaster and her recovery supported by the two men who love her--only one of whom knows what really happened in the wilderness" (Amazon.com) booktrailer
On the eleventh day of Christmas my teacher gave to me:
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
“Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley. We hear them sometimes, from travelers passing through. They talk as though we were doing human sacrifice, and he were a real dragon. Of course that’s not true: he may be a wizard and immortal, but he’s still a man, and our fathers would band together and kill him if he wanted to eat one of us every ten years. He protects us against the Wood, and we’re grateful, but not that grateful.” On the Adult Books 4 Young Adults list from School Library Journal and Goodreads. booktrailer And...
On the twelfth day of Christmas my librarian gave to me:
Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
A tale of two sisters, bolder Isabelle enjoys her life in Paris, while older Viann lives peacefully in the country with husband Antoine. Their bond is tested when war comes and their father sends Isabelle to help Viann as Antoine marches off to battle.
With courage, grace and powerful insight, bestselling author Kristin Hannah captures the epic panorama of WWII and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women's war. The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France--a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime. (Amazon.com) Also on the Adult Books 4 Young Adults list from School Library Journal and Goodreads.
"Best Books of 2015." Goodreads Choice Awards. Goodreads, 2015. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.
<https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-books-2015>.
Bunker, Lisa. "The Best Books of 2015, A List of Lists." Pima County Public Library. Pima County,
27 Nov. 2015. Web. 10 Dec. 2015. <http://www.library.pima.gov/blogs/post/best-books-of-2015-lists/>.
Enjoy the holidays!
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