Langley-Adams Library Recommendations

"From  Girls  to  Parks and Recreation  to  Bridesmaids , the female friendship has taken an undeniable front seat in pop culture.  Text Me When You Get Home  is a personal and sociological perspective - and ultimately a celebration - of the evolution of the modern female friendship.  A validation of female friendship unlike any that's ever existed before, this book is a mix of historical research, the author's own personal experience, and conversations about friendships across the country. Everything Schaefer uncovers leads to - and makes the case for - the eventual conclusion that these ties among women are making us (both as individuals and as society as a whole) stronger than ever before."* This book was not only filled with personal anecdotes but also many examples of the female friendship in movies. TV shows and books. The writing was well thought out and followed a good narrative. While reading this it definitely made me thinker harder abo...

Girls with Sharp Sticks  takes place at Innovations Academy, a private high school where the students, all girls, are trained to be perfect, beautiful, obedient, and to defer to men. If they “act out” they know that they will receive impulse control therapy, and that will fix them.  Philomena is a student at Innovations Academy. She is well-adjusted, loves her friends, and trusts in the academy’s mission. But after a field trip where she ends up with an injury at the hand of the students’ Guardian, she starts to question whether the academy’s mission is really the right thing. Mena starts to notice strange, scary, things about her school. She starts to notice how important it is to the men running the place that women be controlled. She starts to notice that she hasn’t been able to get in touch with her parents since starting at Innovations Academy.  As she and her friends start to put pieces of the truth together, life at the academy becomes more and more dangerous. Bu...

"From the Fab Five—the beloved hosts of Netflix's viral hit Queer Eye—comes a book that is at once a behind-the-scenes exclusive, a practical guide to living and celebrating your best life, and a symbol of hope.  Feeling your best is about far more than deciding what color to paint your accent wall or how to apply nightly moisturizer. It's also about creating a life that's well-rounded, filled with humor and understanding—and most importantly, that suits you. At a cultural moment when we are all craving people to admire, Queer Eye offers hope and acceptance. After you get to know the Fab Five, together they will guide you through five practical chapters that go beyond their designated areas of expertise, touching on topics like wellness, entertaining, and defining your personal brand, and complete with bite-sized Hip Tips for your everyday quandaries."* If you love the popular TV show, Queer Eye, then you'll want to get a hold of this book. It takes a close...

"In 1898 the dashing young British explorer Ewart ''the Leopard'' Grogan was in love. In order to prove his mettle to his beloved - and her aristocratic stepfather - he set out on a quest to become the first person to walk across Africa, ''a feat hitherto thought by many explorers to be impossible'' (New York Times, 1900).  In 2007 thirty-five-year-old American journalist Julian Smith faced a similar problem with his girlfriend of six years . . . and decided to address it in the same way Grogan had more than a hundred years before: he was going to retrace the Leopard's 4,500-mile journey for love and glory through the lakes, volcanoes, savannas, and crowded modern cities of Africa."* I would recommend this book if you love the idea of exploring far off places you've never been to (or maybe that you have). The stories of the explorers are balanced well for being so far apart in time. It is fascinating to see how these areas that are t...

“After the tragic death of their father, Emily and Navin move with their mother to the home of her deceased great-grandfather, but the strange house proves to be dangerous. Before long, a sinister creature lures the kids' mom through a door in the basement. Em and Navin, desperate not to lose her, follow her into an underground world inhabited by demons, robots, and talking animals.”* I couldn’t put this graphic novel down. It has a cinematic feel to the illustrations. The pages flow well and the art is appealing to the eye. There are currently 8 novels in the series. The story pulled me right in and I can’t wait to see how it will unfold. For younger readers, the story does start off with a death, which is common in youth literature. There are also some creatures that are scary looking, but it’s worth reading. I’ve already read the second book and I’m on the third. It’s like binge watching, but with graphic novels. I recommend you read this if you like graphic novels, s...

Suzy Swanson just lost her best friend, Franny Jackson right after an awful fight that tore the two apart. Then, even worse happened. Franny died and was really gone forever. Suzy is convinced that Franny died by a very rare jellyfish sting from the Irukandji. It was said that she had drowned but Franny was an amazing swimmer. She couldn't drown, could she? Suzy made a plan to prove her death was from a sting even if the plan consisted of traveling the world (alone) to find Jamie, a man who studies jellyfish. Suzy faces many struggles along the way. Does Suzy find Jamie and prove it was a jellyfish sting? Read find out! This was a book that someone recommended to me and then gave me a copy. I loved the book and ended up reading it cover to cover in one sitting. It quickly became one of my favorite books and I would 100% recommend it! Emma Fandel Library Page Available at the Langley Adams Library

Bina is being temporarily kicked out of her home because she doesn’t get along with her step-sisters. Her mom insists it will only be for a month, that Bina can just go stay with family friends. But Bina has other plans.  When Bina’s mom Dawn was her age, she stayed at the Catherine House in New York City, a boarding house for girls who needed a refuge from anything rough going on in their lives. Bina decides that she wants to stay in the Catherine House too.  But when she gets to the Catherine House, things get weird. The Catherine House’s namesake, a girl named Catherine, died several years ago but a large picture of Catherine looms in the house. And sometimes it seems to move. And maybe Bina saw something that could be Catherine’s ghost. And sometimes the other girls in the house and the house’s caretaker say ominous things about not being able to leave. But if they can’t leave, how did Bina’s mom leave eighteen years ago? And how will Bina ever be able to leave now? ...

In Mega City, women and girls are in charge while men and boys are raised to serve. Girl gangs run the streets at night, dealing  sueños, an addictive drug, and protecting their territory. The toilers, most of Mega’s population are the common folk that work hard to make everything that’s sold in Mega. Chief Rocka (only one person is allowed to call her by her name, Nalah) is the leader of the fiercest girl gang in Mega City. She absolutely worships Mega City’s leader D é esse and believes in Mega City’s mission and hierachy. Rocka wants to live in the Towers with D é esse and those she trusts most and keeps close to her, like her family and most trusted soldiers. To get closer to D é esse and the privileged of Mega City, she accepts a mission to leave the city and venture into Cemi Territory, where no one follows or believes in Mega City’s established rules or values. Rocka needs to gather intel on a girl gang called the Ash é Ryders, a gang that  D é esse believes will come ...

"Kamin Mohammadi, a magazine editor in London, should have been on top of the world. But after heartbreak and loneliness, the stress of her "dream life" was ruining her physical and mental health. Gifted a ticket to freedom--a redundancy package and the offer of a friend's apartment in Florence--Kamin took a giant leap. It did not take her long to notice how differently her new Italian neighbors approached life: enjoying themselves, taking their time to eat and drink, taking their lives at a deliberately slower pace. Filled with wonderful characters--from the local bartender/barista who becomes her love advisor, to the plumbers who fix her heating and teach her to make pasta al pomodoro--here is a mantra for savoring the beauty and color of every day that Italians have followed for generations, a guide to the slow life for busy people, a story of finding love (and self-love) in unlikely places, and an evocative account of a year living an Italian life."* When...