We Are All So Good at Smiling


Book Description

They Both Die at the End meets The Bell Jar in this haunting, beautiful young adult novel-in-verse about clinical depression and healing from trauma, from National Book Award Finalist Amber McBride. Whimsy is back in the hospital for treatment of clinical depression. When she meets a boy named Faerry, she recognizes they both have magic in the marrow of their bones. And when Faerry and his family move to the same street, the two start to realize that their lifelines may have twined and untwined many times before. They are both terrified of the forest at the end of Marsh Creek Lane. The Forest whispers to Whimsy. The Forest might hold the answers to the part of Faerry he feels is missing. They discover the Forest holds monsters, fairy tales, and pain that they have both been running from for 11 years.




Me (Moth)


Book Description

FINALIST FOR THE 2021 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR YOUNG PEOPLE'S LITERATURE A debut YA novel-in-verse by Amber McBride, Me (Moth) is about a teen girl who is grieving the deaths of her family, and a teen boy who crosses her path. Moth has lost her family in an accident. Though she lives with her aunt, she feels alone and uprooted. Until she meets Sani, a boy who is also searching for his roots. If he knows more about where he comes from, maybe he’ll be able to understand his ongoing depression. And if Moth can help him feel grounded, then perhaps she too will discover the history she carries in her bones. Moth and Sani take a road trip that has them chasing ghosts and searching for ancestors. The way each moves forward is surprising, powerful, and unforgettable. Here is an exquisite and uplifting novel about identity, first love, and the ways that our memories and our roots steer us through the universe.




Why is Everyone Smiling?


Book Description

A call center company CEO shares how businesses of all sizes can repeat his success by focusing on employee loyalty—and not outsourcing. How many small businesses have a full-time coworker whose official title is “Queen of Fun and Laughter?” How many have a CEO and COO who dress in matador outfits for a company holiday video version of Dancing with the Stars? Beryl is a “Top Small Workplace” because of one thing—its focus on people. Visitors report they feel the “vibe” when they walk in the door. As a call center company, a business normally known for high turnover, low morale, and a boiler room environment, Beryl created a special culture resulting in low attrition, high customer loyalty, and profits reinvested in coworkers. What Beryl does behind the scenes to take care of the needs of its internal family sets it apart. It operates with a real spirit of camaraderie; the loyalty of team members at every level; a leadership team that operates with a true servant mindset; and a CEO, Paul Spiegelman, who believes that everyone deserves a chance to feel important. He rewards people frequently, respects their efforts and opinions, and informs them of everything that impacts them. “Paul drills right to the core of the solution…focusing on people, building a culture of customer satisfaction from the top down, and empowering employees to do the right thing. What really drives business is the human touch, and Paul has the touch.” —James D. Power IV, Executive Vice President, J. D. Power and Associates, co-author of Satisfaction: How Every Great Company Listens to the Voice of the Customer“/B>




The Smiling Country


Book Description

A cowboy struggles to adapt to the modern world in 1910s Texas. Hewey Calloway finds it difficult to accept fences, cars and, worst of all--sheep. Also, he is advancing in years, though here there is a consolation, he is teaching the trade to his nephew.




The Book of (Even More) Awesome


Book Description

From the bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, You Are Awesome, and the award-winning, multimillion-hit blog 1000 Awesome Things comes even more of the little things that make us smile every day! Neil Pasricha is back with a collection of hundreds more awesome things from the website, as well as never-before-seen extraordinary moments that deserve celebration: • Letting go of the gas pump perfectly so you end on a round number • When a baby falls asleep on you • When your pet notices you’re in a bad mood and comes to see you • Pulling a weed and getting all the roots with it • When your windshield wipers match the beat of the song you’re listening to • When the hiccups stop • The smooth feeling on your teeth when you get your braces off • Driving from a rough road onto a smooth one • When the person you’re meeting is even later than you are • That guy who helps you parallel park There’s even space for you to write your very own Awesome Things in the back. Because couldn’t we all use (even more) awesome?




Happyface


Book Description

After going through traumatic times, a troubled, socially awkward teenager moves to a new school where he tries to reinvent himself




The Other Americans


Book Description

***2019 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST*** Winner of the Arab American Book Award in Fiction Finalist for the Kirkus Prize in Fiction Finalist for the California Book Award Longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize A Los Angeles Times bestseller Named a Best Book of the Year by The Washington Post, Time, NPR, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Dallas Morning News, The Guardian, Variety, and Kirkus Reviews Late one spring night in California, Driss Guerraoui—father, husband, business owner, Moroccan immigrant—is hit and killed by a speeding car. The aftermath of his death brings together a diverse cast of characters: Guerraoui's daughter Nora, a jazz composer returning to the small town in the Mojave she thought she'd left for good; her mother, Maryam, who still pines for her life in the old country; Efraín, an undocumented witness whose fear of deportation prevents him from coming forward; Jeremy, an old friend of Nora’s and an Iraqi War veteran; Coleman, a detective who is slowly discovering her son’s secrets; Anderson, a neighbor trying to reconnect with his family; and the murdered man himself. As the characters—deeply divided by race, religion, and class—tell their stories, each in their own voice, connections among them emerge. Driss’s family confronts its secrets, a town faces its hypocrisies, and love—messy and unpredictable—is born. Timely, riveting, and unforgettable, The Other Americans is at once a family saga, a murder mystery, and a love story informed by the treacherous fault lines of American culture.




Between the Lines


Book Description

Told in their separate voices, sixteen-year-old Prince Oliver, who wants to break free of his fairy-tale existence, and fifteen-year-old Delilah, a loner obsessed with Prince Oliver and the book in which he exists, work together to seek his freedom.




Smile: A Graphic Novel


Book Description

Raina Telgemeier's #1 New York Times bestselling, Eisner Award-winning graphic memoir based on her childhood! Raina just wants to be a normal sixth grader. But one night after Girl Scouts she trips and falls, severely injuring her two front teeth. What follows is a long and frustrating journey with on-again, off-again braces, surgery, embarrassing headgear, and even a retainer with fake teeth attached. And on top of all that, there's still more to deal with: a major earthquake, boy confusion, and friends who turn out to be not so friendly.




Light It Up


Book Description

Told in a series of vignettes from multiple viewpoints, Kekla Magoon's Light It Up is a powerful, layered story about injustice and strength—as well as an incredible follow-up to the highly acclaimed novel How It Went Down. A girl walks home from school. She's tall for her age. She's wearing her winter coat. Her headphones are in. She's hurrying. She never makes it home. In the aftermath, while law enforcement tries to justify the response, one fact remains: a police officer has shot and killed a thirteen-year-old girl. The community is thrown into upheaval, leading to unrest, a growing movement to protest the senseless taking of Black lives, and the arrival of white supremacist counter demonstrators. This title has Common Core connections.