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Staff Picks

Welcome Home Esmerelda

A joyful reunion scene with a woman and child, surrounded by boxes and music notes, under the title "Welcome Home, Esmerelda."

Daniela Ramirez

Picture Book 

Moving is hard, and military families know that a PCS with kids is hard. Esmerelda's family has received orders to move from Germany to San Antonio. Their current duty station was just starting to feel like home. Everyone is excited to move stateside except for Esmerelda. What if she is the only one in her family that doesn't fit in? This is a perfect book for anyone getting ready to go through a big change who is unsure if they'll ever feel like themselves again.

- Emily Stone, Youth Services Coordinator

Rebellion 1776

Book cover with "Rebellion 1776" and "Laurie Halse Anderson" over a red-striped background with a girl's face partially visible.

Laurie Halse Anderson

Juvenile Fiction 

In the spring of 1776, thirteen-year-old Elsbeth Culpepper wakes to the sound of cannons. It’s the Siege of Boston, the Patriots’ massive drive to push the Loyalists out that turns the city into a chaotic war zone. Elsbeth’s father—her only living relative—has gone missing, leaving her alone and adrift in a broken town while desperately seeking employment to avoid the orphanage. Just when things couldn’t feel worse, the smallpox epidemic sweeps across Boston. Elsbeth, who had smallpox as a small child and is now immune, finds work taking care of a large, wealthy family with discord of their own as they await a turn at inoculation, but as the epidemic and the revolution rage on, will she find her father?

-Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books

Knucklehead: Poems

Book cover with "Knucklehead: poems" and "Tony Keith Jr." Shows a person sitting in a chair with a backpack.

Tony Keith Jr. 

Young Adult Non-Fiction

This is a journey of self-discovery through history, family, friendship, and falling in love. Knucklehead is a breathtaking work, full of black-and-white illustrations and unforgettable poetry that will heal, provoke, and inspire.

Quill Tree Books

Maid for Each Other 

Lynn Painter

Adult Fiction 

Book cover of "Maid for Each Other" by Lynn Painter featuring a couple and a mop.

As a professional cleaner, Abi Mariano never thought her apartment would have any sort of infestation, but because of a building-wide outbreak, she now needs somewhere to stay for a week. As a part-time student with two jobs, she doesn’t have many options. Then the solution presents itself: the owner of the penthouse she cleans is out of town for the week. She normally wouldn’t consider it, but he’s literally never around (she hasn’t even met him). It goes great…until one morning she finds two strangers in the kitchen. They’re the parents of the penthouse owner and they seem to think they’ve heard all about Abi—not as their son’s maid, but as his girlfriend.

-‎ Berkley

Grow Your Groceries

Book cover: "Grow Your Groceries" by Simon Akeroyd, featuring a basket with assorted vegetables and text about growing plants.

Simon Akeroyd

Adult Non-Fiction 

Discover 40 simple, fun hacks to try – no gardening experience needed, just a windowsill and a recycled container. Raise tomato plants from tomato slices. Collect strawberry seeds for endless strawberry plants. Pick salad leaves from beetroot tops. Split teabags for flowering camomile. Grow fresh cobs from popcorn kernels. So don’t throw away your melon seeds and spring onion trimmings, save them to grow new plants instead!

-‎DK

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