December - Best of 2020

Two of my favorite children’s titles of 2020 are The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read _and _The Blackbird Girls. The Oldest Student by Rita Lorraine Hubbard is a nonfiction picture book that introduces readers to Mary Walker, who was born into slavery in 1848 and became the nation’s oldest student when she learned to read at age 116. That’s right! 116! Illustrator Oge Mora’s textured patchwork style fits perfectly with Mary’s long journey through history, and your heart will swell as you witness Mary’s successes.

My favorite middle grade novel is Anne Blankman’s The Blackbird Girls about two girls grappling with the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster in late 1980s Ukraine. It’s a challenging read, but historical details are balanced with affirmation and heart. It’s perfect for any reader who loved Kimberly Brubaker Bradley’s The War That Saved My Life.

For middle grade readers, there have been some fantastic, diverse books put out this year! Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky is the first in a series by Kwame Mbalia, featuring adventure, mythology and a great coming of age story. Seventh grader Tristan Strong accidentally opens a passage from his grandparents’ farm in Alabama into MidPass, where he meets West African gods and Black American folk heroes. The story continues in Tristan Strong Destroys the World. For lovers of Rick Riordan, Neil Gaiman, and Nnedi Okorafor.

Coco meets Stranger Things with a hint of Ghostbusters in Claribel Ortega’s Ghost Squad. After accidentally awakening malicious spirits, Lucely and her best pal Syd must join with Lucely’s witch grandmother to reverse the curse and save St. Augustine. This action-packed novel appeals to those who liked Sal and Gabi Break the Universe, Sauerkraut, or the Lockwood & Co. series.

And if you need something to make you laugh at the end of this long and difficult year, we've got you covered there too. T. L. McBeth's Randy, the Badly Drawn Horse follows a child's drawing who thinks he's unusually beautiful... but only because he's never seen himself.

In Dinosaurs Can't Roar, by Layla Beason, a tough little T. rex meets a modern paleontologist, and is startled and dismayed to learn some recent scientific discoveries about dinosaurs. And in Barney Saltzberg's One of These Is Not Like the Others, there's one thing on each page that doesn't belong... but that might just be something to celebrate.

My favorite teen book of the year was Not So Pure and Simple by Lamar Giles, cofounder of We Need Diverse Books. It’s a great selection for older teens and stars Del, who accidentally joins a purity pledge at church to look good for his crush, Kiera. As he doggedly pursues her, Del inadvertently becomes the sex-ed advisor for his fellow purity pledgers and inflates his past reputation with girls, but he never stops to think about what Kiera herself might want. Not So Pure and Simple tackles weighty topics like toxic masculinity and misogyny from a teen boy perspective. It portrays realistic and complicated relationships, but it is also laugh out loud funny as Del bumbles his way through social situations and grows as a character. This book is also an outstanding audiobook available to download on Libby. Of special note, author Giles is a local Valley writer!

Cemetery Boys, from debut author Aiden Thomas, is a spooky graveyard mystery wrapped around a genuinely endearing coming-of-age and first love story. It centers on Yadriel, a teen from a long line of brujos who's been denied his own initiation -- men and women have different magical abilities, and his traditional Latinx family doesn't know how to handle his trans identity. Yadriel knows, and he's determined to prove himself a real brujo. But when he performs the ritual himself in secret, he summons the spirit of school bad boy Julian Diaz -- and Julian isn't about to cross over until he finds out how he died and if his loved ones are safe. Helping solve the mystery is just business at first, but the longer Julian stays, the more Yadriel finds he hates the idea of him leaving... Cemetery Boys is equal parts sweet and nervewracking, and my favorite of this year's teen books by a long shot.

Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland is the sequel to Dread Nation, in which the dead rise up in the middle of battle of Gettysburg to plague the country and slaves are trained to be protectors of the white elite. The story of the irascible heroine, Jane McKeene, continues in the American west toward California. After escaping Summerland, a doomed town overrun by the dead, Jane and her companions seek safe haven again, but nothing is as it seems in this world. Jane is soon marching through hell once more, pushing both friends and the dead away from her. Jane’s obsession with revenge and her determination to find her family power her through tragedy, death, and adventure. Ireland’s characters are diverse and candid, the story a unique one amongst zombie apocalypse narratives. This is a fairly gruesome tale in many ways, and recommended for ages 14+. For readers who like the Shadowshaper Cypher series by Daniel Jose Older or the newer Legendbornseries by Tracy Deonn.

I can’t decide between two books!

Quan Barry’s We Ride Upon Sticks, is an uproariously funny novel that capitalizes on the history of the Salem witch trials while delivering a quirky cast of female characters in 1980s Massachusetts. If you like the idea of a girls' field hockey team signing a devil’s pact in an Emilio Estevez notebook in order to stop losing, this outlandish and unique book is for you.

My second pick is a romance novel, a genre that helped float me through this terrible year! Alyssa Cole’s newest How to Catch a Queen involves an arranged marriage, an overly competent, driven heroine, and a king with anxiety. It’s sexy and sweet, but also deals with themes of equity and political power. How to Catch a Queen features cameos from characters of Cole’s previous books, but it launches a new series that stands on its own. (This book is on order and will be available soon in the Valley Libraries Catalog.)

I also loved We Ride Upon Sticks!

One of my favs from this year is a nonfiction family saga called Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolcher. Spanning forty years, Hidden Valley Road follows the sprawling Galvin family and the diagnoses of six of the twelve children with various forms of schizophrenia. A haunting and memorable portrayal of a family ravaged by the disease, the book is also a medical history of the study and treatment of schizophrenia and how the Galvins’ DNA has contributed to modern research.

Another nonfiction read I loved was Glennon Doyle’s Untamed. Bestselling author Doyle left her marriage to her husband in 2016 when she fell head over heels in love with US women’s soccer star, Abby Wambach. _Untamed _is Doyle’s deeply personal and relatable journey through the cultural conditioning many women face, finding her voice, and rebuilding her life the way she always wanted it.

I have to go with Allie Brosh's Solutions and Other Problems, the long-awaited follow-up to her bestselling Hyperbole and a Half. It's an illustrated collection of essays, covering everything from her struggles with grief and depression to a childhood obsession with the next door neighbor that ended with her sneaking into his house and stealing his cat. Sometimes it's hilarious, sometimes it's heartbreaking, sometimes it manages to be both at the same time, and honestly that seems appropriate for 2020.

These are not just great suggestions for your next trip to the library, they’re also fabulous holiday gift ideas for the youngest readers in your lives. And if you do want to check these titles out, put them on hold at www.valleylibraries.org. Contactless curbside pick up is still available as a safe way to grab something good to read, and remember - if you must visit a library in person, masks and social distancing are required for everyone’s safety.

I've been trying to diversify my listening tastes a little this year -- there's nothing like a lengthy quarantine to make you realize you're sick and tired of your own taste in music! There's a ton of music on Hoopla Digital, but finding something when you don't really know what you're looking for is always a challenge, so I've been loving the Artists to Watch and New Music Friday categories. Every week there's something new to check out. Right now, I'm listening to Cavetown, which I never would have found on my own. Check them out, or just take a look at Hoopla's Artists to Watch and see what catches your interest.

Long ago at the beginning of this year, I think I mentioned The Good Place as a favorite TV show of mine. This year, the final season aired and the show ended - are you supposed to cry your way through an entire box of tissue while watching a sitcom finale? Anyway, it’s about a bunch of deceased ne'er do wells trying to ensure their place in a happy afterlife while simultaneously exploring moral philosophy. The show is full of satire, goofy comedy, shrimp, molotov cocktails, and references to NFL player Blake Bortles, but it also brims with hope. And so much optimism. You can borrow all four seasons, including this final one from the library - be sure to watch them in order!

As far as movies this year, one of my favorites we watched was an ensemble murder mystery called Knives Out, featuring a stellar cast and a fun ride. The day after his 85th birthday party, acclaimed thriller author and millionaire Harlan Thrombey is found dead in his bedroom. The police are ready to deem the death a suicide until Detective Benoit Blanc arrives with his genteel Southern accent to dive deeper into the investigation. Soon, each family member seems to have motive and opportunity. Was it the New Agey daughter in law whose own daughter needs to pay for college? Was it Harlan’s son who Harlan fired during the party? Everyone is a suspect. This is a hilarious, twisty, and at times, even sweet film, if a touch predictable, and the language and content is suited for adults.