Truly Devious

 

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson weaves a delicate tale of murder and mystery in the first book of a striking new series, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and E. Lockhart.

Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont for the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists. It was founded by Albert Ellingham, an early twentieth century tycoon, who wanted to make a wonderful place full of riddles, twisting pathways, and gardens. “A place,” he said, “where learning is a game.”

Shortly after the school opened, his wife and daughter were kidnapped. The only real clue was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed with the frightening pseudonym “Truly, Devious.” It became one of the great unsolved crimes of American history.

True-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is set to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has an ambitious plan: She will solve this cold case. That is, she will solve the case when she gets a grip on her demanding new school life and her housemates: the inventor, the novelist, the actor, the artist, and the jokester.

But something strange is happening. Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy. The past has crawled out of its grave. Someone has gotten away with murder. 

The two interwoven mysteries of this first book in the Truly Devious series dovetail brilliantly, and Stevie Bell will continue her relentless quest for the murderers in books two and three.

CYRM ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

The Taking of Jake Livingston

 

The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass

An Instant New York Times Bestseller!

Get Out meets Holly Jackson in this YA social thriller where survival is not a guarantee.

Sixteen-year-old Jake Livingston sees dead people everywhere. But he can't decide what's worse: being a medium forced to watch the dead play out their last moments on a loop or being at the mercy of racist teachers as one of the few Black students at St. Clair Prep. Both are a living nightmare he wishes he could wake up from. But things at St. Clair start looking up with the arrival of another Black student—the handsome Allister—and for the first time, romance is on the horizon for Jake.

Unfortunately, life as a medium is getting worse. Though most ghosts are harmless and Jake is always happy to help them move on to the next place, Sawyer Doon wants much more from Jake. In life, Sawyer was a troubled teen who shot and killed six kids at a local high school before taking his own life. Now he's a powerful, vengeful ghost and he has plans for Jake. Suddenly, everything Jake knows about dead world goes out the window as Sawyer begins to haunt him. High school soon becomes a different kind of survival game—one Jake is not sure he can win.

Notes from Norma

I just finished reading it this and I absolutely loved it. I wasn't completely sold on it at the beginning but the POV switch between Jake and Sawyer really added a layer of intrigue and sense of urgency to understand why Jake must stop Sawyer from taking over. The characters are sympathetic and interesting, and the plot really gets you hooked. 

I would recommend a read if you like supernatural horror or thrillers!

Reviews

 “An exceptional blend of genres—horror, mystery, thriller and contemporary—that brilliantly captures how Jake, a Black gay teen medium, copes with the varying kinds of violence threatening him. . . Douglass creates a clever and effective parallel between what Jake can't control—racism and how his body is perceived, a toxic father, an irresponsible brother, his mother's expectations—and his fight against Sawyer. The story builds to a rewardingly chilling and sentimental climax, as Jake must look deep within himself for the power to break the cycles of harm entrapping him. . . An extraordinarily crafted exploration of agency during Black gay teenhood.” —Shelf Awareness, starred review

“A teenage version of Get Out, and you will not be disappointed. . . Douglass looks at race and trauma and death with a comical and horror-esque twist.” —The Root

Huda F Are You?: A Graphic Novel

 

Huda F Are You?: A Graphic Novel by Huda Fahmy

From the creator of Yes, I'm Hot In This, this cheeky, hilarious, and honest graphic novel asks the question everyone has to figure out for themselves: Who are you?

Huda and her family just moved to Dearborn, Michigan, a small town with a big Muslim population. In her old town, Huda knew exactly who she was: She was the hijabi girl. But in Dearborn, everyone is the hijabi girl.

 

Huda is lost in a sea of hijabis, and she can't rely on her hijab to define her anymore. She has to define herself. So she tries on a bunch of cliques, but she isn't a hijabi fashionista or a hijabi athlete or a hijabi gamer. She's not the one who knows everything about her religion or the one all the guys like. She's miscellaneous, which makes her feel like no one at all. Until she realizes that it'll take finding out who she isn't to figure out who she is.

Note from Norma: 

These graphic novels have been pretty popular since we've got them in and I'm glad they're in our collection. The Huda series is hilarious and thoughtful, and I love recommending it and seeing it get the circulation it deserves. 

Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon

 

Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon

AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

"A charming, wholehearted love story that's sure to make readers swoon."—Entertainment Weekly

"Nicola Yoon writes from the heart in this beautiful love story."—Good Morning America

“It’s like an emotional gut punch—so beautiful and also heart-wrenching."—US Weekly

In this romantic page-turner from the author of Everything, Everything and The Sun is Also a Star, Evie has the power to see other people’s romantic fates—what will happen when she finally sees her own?

Evie Thomas doesn't believe in love anymore. Especially after the strangest thing occurs one otherwise ordinary afternoon: She witnesses a couple kiss and is overcome with a vision of how their romance began . . . and how it will end. After all, even the greatest love stories end with a broken heart, eventually.

As Evie tries to understand why this is happening, she finds herself at La Brea Dance Studio, learning to waltz, fox-trot, and tango with a boy named X. X is everything that Evie is not: adventurous, passionate, daring. His philosophy is to say yes to everything--including entering a ballroom dance competition with a girl he's only just met.

Falling for X is definitely not what Evie had in mind. If her visions of heartbreak have taught her anything, it's that no one escapes love unscathed. But as she and X dance around and toward each other, Evie is forced to question all she thought she knew about life and love. In the end, is love worth the risk?

Reviews

"If you want a story to make you laugh and cry (and maybe even try to tango), Instructions for Dancing has just the touch of magic you’re looking for."—Apple Books

“An endearing, affecting exploration of the journey of love. Everything Yoon touches turns to gold and this cinematic supernatural romance will be no exception.”—Booklist, starred review

“Yoon delivers this captivating story of first love with beautiful prose, clever dialogue that swings between laugh-out-loud funny and wildly insightful, clear respect for the complexity and nuance of her teen characters’ perspectives and emotions—and just enough magic to make it all truly unforgettable.”—BookPage, starred review

House of Hollow

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

A New York Times Bestseller!

An Instant Indie Bestseller!

A dark, twisty modern fairytale where three sisters discover they are not exactly all that they seem and evil things really do go bump in the night.

Iris Hollow and her two older sisters are unquestionably strange. Ever since they disappeared on a suburban street in Scotland as children only to return a month a later with no memory of what happened to them, odd, eerie occurrences seem to follow in their wake. And they're changing. First, their dark hair turned white. Then, their blue eyes slowly turned black. They have insatiable appetites yet never gain weight. People find them disturbingly intoxicating, unbearably beautiful, and inexplicably dangerous.

But now, ten years later, seventeen-year-old Iris Hollow is doing all she can to fit in and graduate high school on time--something her two famously glamorous globe-trotting older sisters, Grey and Vivi, never managed to do. But when Grey goes missing without a trace, leaving behind bizarre clues as to what might have happened, Iris and Vivi are left to trace her last few days. They aren't the only ones looking for her though. As they brush against the supernatural they realize that the story they've been told about their past is unraveling and the world that returned them seemingly unharmed ten years ago, might just be calling them home.

 

Reviews

Note from Norma:

I actually read this book and was surprised that I enjoyed it! I recommended it to a friend as well. Creepy, with unpredictable plot twists, I couldn't put it down and finished it in two days. Would definitely recommend a read!

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

 

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

Summary

Ambition will fuel him.

Competition will drive him.

But power has its price.

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.

The odds are against him. He's been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined -- every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute... and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

Reviews

 

#1 USA Today Bestseller

#1 New York Times Bestseller

"The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes delivers a mesmerizing look into the life of Coriolanus Snow and the root causes of his villainous behavior. Collins once again proves that she is a master of building a fascinating world around complex characters who must grapple with the complications of chaos and control and their effects on human nature." -- The Associated Press

"It is a steep challenge to write a book whose hero is, everyone knows, destined to become deeply evil. Do we want to hear -- now, after we know the endgame -- that the young Voldemort was unfairly saddled with a demerit in class or that the adolescent Sauron fretted because he had to wear hand-me-down clothes? Yes, please." -- New York Times

"For true fans of The Hunger Games, Collins shines most as she weaves in tantalizing details that lend depth to the gruesome world she created in the original series and Coriolanus's place in its history." -- Time

The Bletchley Riddle

 

The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin

Summary

A stunning collaboration between award-winning and bestselling authors Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin. This is Ruta’s first historical novel for middle-grade readers. Summer, 1940. Nineteen-year-old Jakob Novis and his quirky younger sister Lizzie share a love of riddles and puzzles. And now they’re living inside of one. The quarrelsome siblings find

themselves amidst one of the greatest secrets of World War II—Britain’s eccentric codebreaking factory at Bletchley Park. As Jakob joins Bletchley’s top minds to crack the Nazi’s Enigma cipher, fourteen-year-old Lizzie embarks on a mission to solve the mysterious disappearance of their mother.

The Battle of Britain rages and Hitler’s invasion creeps closer. And at the same time, baffling messages and codes arrive on their doorstep while a menacing inspector lurks outside the gates of the Bletchley mansion. Are the messages truly for them, or are they a trap? Could the riddles of Enigma and their mother’s disappearance be somehow connected? Jakob and Lizzie must find a way to work together as they race to decipher clues that unravel a shocking puzzle that presents the ultimate challenge: How long must a secret be kept?

Remember, you are bound by the Official Secrets Act…

Reviews

Heartstopper, Volume 1

 

Heartstopper ,Volume 1 by Alice Oseman

Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love. A sweet and charming coming-of-age story that explores friendship, love, and coming out. This edition features beautiful two-color artwork.

Now streaming on Netflix!

Shy and softhearted Charlie Spring sits next to rugby player Nick Nelson in class one morning. A warm and intimate friendship follows, and that soon develops into something more for Charlie, who doesn't think he has a chance.

But Nick is struggling with feelings of his own, and as the two grow closer and take on the ups and downs of high school, they come to understand the surprising and delightful ways in which love works.

Click HERE for Alice Oseman's Heartstopper Character Profiles

Reviews

Praise for the Heartstopper series:

New York Times Bestseller

USA Today Bestseller

National Indie Bestseller

American Booksellers Association Indie Next Pick

YALSA Great Graphic Novels Selection

YALSA Quick Pick for Young Adult Readers

"You'll smile watching Charlie and Nick open up to one another, and sigh as they tiptoe into romance… falling in love doesn’t get more charming than this." -- Ngozi Ukazu, New York Times bestselling author of Check, Please!

"Realistic yet uplifting, this tale of self-discovery will make readers' hearts skip a beat." -- School Library Journal

"With all the blushing and awkward glances, it's difficult not to be charmed… The romance and realistic fiction will draw readers in to this sweet story." -- Booklist

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko

 

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko

Summary

“Dazzling. . . . All hail Raybearer.” —Entertainment Weekly

“Brilliantly conceived fantasy.” —People

“An exquisitely detailed world.” —PopSugar

Nothing is more important than loyalty. But what if you’ve sworn to protect the one you were born to destroy?

Tarisai has always longed for the warmth of a family. She was raised in isolation by a mysterious, often absent mother known only as the Lady. The Lady sends her to the capital of the global empire of Aritsar to compete with other children to be chosen as one of the Crown Prince’s Council of 11. If she’s picked, she’ll be joined with the other Council members through the Ray, a bond deeper than blood. That closeness is irresistible to Tarisai, who has always wanted to belong somewhere.

But the Lady has other ideas, including a magical wish that Tarisai is compelled to obey: Kill the Crown Prince once she gains his trust. Tarisai won’t stand by and become someone’s pawn—but is she strong enough to choose a different path for herself? With extraordinary world-building and breathtaking prose, Raybearer is the story of loyalty, fate, and the lengths we’re willing to go for the ones we love.

Reviews

“Nothing like a boss @$$ fantasy with a gorgeous, dark brown girl at the center that highlights—in technicolor and glittering gold—the trifecta of our most basic of human desires: to belong, to be loved, and to walk a path of one's own choosing.”―Nic Stone, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin

**STARRED REVIEW**

"Ifueko’s debut is full of lush world building and detailed, Nigerian-inspired mythology, giving life to a myth of epic proportions and a tale that is bound to stick with readers long after they finish it."―Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"[Raybearer] reads like the work of a seasoned world-builder. . . Ifueko has created a rich, fresh, fully rounded world and a cast of characters to match; you’ll be on tenterhooks as Tarisai figures out how to balance destiny and compulsion, but her prince and her palace companions command equal attention."―NPR

Insomniacs After School, Volume 1

 

Summary

Two sleepless teenagers find kinship as they escape to their school’s astronomy observatory.

Unable to sleep at night, Ganta Nakami is cranky in class and unpopular with his classmates. He discovers that the school observatory, once used by the now-defunct astronomy club, may be the perfect place for a nap—but he’s not alone. Fellow insomniac Isaki Magari is willing to share the observatory with Nakami, and a friendship between the two begins as they bond over the most unlikely of things.

Dark rumors about what befell the members of the astronomy club keep people away from the school observatory, and that’s what makes it the perfect sanctuary for Nakami and Magari to get some much-needed rest. Unfortunately, the school faculty can’t allow its unsanctioned use. But if there were a new astronomy club, maybe these two insomniacs could have a place to call home!

We currently only have the first two volumes in our library, but we are looking ahead into expanding on our graphic novel and manga collection, with Insomniacs After School being our first manga series in the CEHS library!

Six of Crows

 

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Meet Kaz Brekker and his crew: Jesper, Inej, Wylan, and the star-crossed Nina and Matthias, on the heist of a lifetime in Six of Crows from #1 bestselling author, Leigh Bardugo.

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price―and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone. . . .

A convict with a thirst for revenge.

A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.

A runaway with a privileged past.

A spy known as the Wraith.

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction―if they don't kill each other first.

The Grishaverse Reading Order

Wondering where to start? 

The Shadow and Bone Trilogy

(previously published as The Grisha Trilogy)

Shadow and Bone

Siege and Storm

Ruin and Rising

The Six of Crows Duology

Six of Crows

Crooked Kingdom

The King of Scars Duology

King of Scars

Rule of Wolves

Reviews

“There's conflict between morality and amorality and an appetite for sometimes grimace-inducing violence that recalls the Game of Thrones series. But for every bloody exchange there are pages of crackling dialogue and sumptuous description. Bardugo dives deep into this world, with full color and sound. If you're not careful, it'll steal all your time.” ―The New York Times Book Review

“A heady blend of fantasy, romance, and adventure.” ―Rick Riordan, New York Times-bestselling author of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, on Siege and Storm

Elatsoe

 

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

A Texas teen comes face-to-face with a cousin's ghost and vows to unmask the murderer.

Elatsoe—Ellie for short—lives in an alternate contemporary America shaped by the ancestral magics and knowledge of its Indigenous and immigrant groups. She can raise the spirits of dead animals—most importantly, her ghost dog Kirby. When her beloved cousin dies, all signs point to a car crash, but his ghost tells her otherwise: He was murdered.

Who killed him and how did he die? With the help of her family, her best friend Jay, and the memory great, great, great, great, great, great grandmother, Elatsoe, must track down the killer and unravel the mystery of this creepy town and it's dark past. But will the nefarious townsfolk and a mysterious Doctor stop her before she gets started?

A breathtaking debut novel featuring an asexual, Apache teen protagonist, Elatsoe combines mystery, horror, noir, ancestral knowledge, haunting illustrations, fantasy elements, and is one of the most-talked about debuts of the year.

Reviews

Locus Award Winner—Best First Novel

A National Indie Bestseller

Nebula Award Finalist

Lodestar Award Finalist

Ignyte Award Finalist

TIME's Best 100 Fantasy Books of All Time

NPR Best of the Year

Booklist's Top 10 First Novels for Youth

A BookPage Best of the Year

Chicago Public Library "Best of the Best"

PNBA Bestseller

Publishers Weekly Best of the Year

Buzzfeed's Best YA SFF of the Year

Shelf-Awareness Best of the Year

AICL Best YA of the Year

NECBA Windows & Mirrors Selection

NEIBA Award Finalist

Tor Best of the Year

Kirkus Best YA of the Year

Publishers Weekly Flying Start

American Indian Youth Literature Award Finalist

“A fast-paced murder mystery.”—Publishers Weekly (starred)

“Atmospheric and lyrical...a gorgeous work of art.”—BuzzFeed

Don't Let the Forest In

 

Don't Let the Forest In by CG Drews

As alluring as it is unsettling, award-winning author CG Drews' debut YA psychological horror will leave readers breathless and hesitant to venture deeper into the woods.

Once upon a time, Andrew had cut out his heart and given it to this boy, and he was very sure Thomas had no idea that Andrew would do anything for him. Protect him. Lie for him.

Kill for him.

High school senior Andrew Perrault finds refuge in the twisted fairytales that he writes for the only person who can ground him to reality—Thomas Rye, the boy with perpetually ink-stained hands and hair like autumn leaves. And with his twin sister, Dove, inexplicably keeping him at a cold distance upon their return to Wickwood Academy, Andrew finds himself leaning on his friend even more.

But something strange is going on with Thomas. His abusive parents have mysteriously vanished, and he arrives at school with blood on his sleeve. Thomas won't say a word about it, and shuts down whenever Andrew tries to ask him questions. Stranger still, Thomas is haunted by something, and he seems to have lost interest in his artwork—whimsically macabre sketches of the monsters from Andrew's wicked stories.

Desperate to figure out what's wrong with his friend, Andrew follows Thomas into the off-limits forest one night and catches him fighting a nightmarish monster—Thomas's drawings have come to life and are killing anyone close to him. To make sure no one else dies, the boys battle the monsters every night. But as their obsession with each other grows stronger, so do the monsters, and Andrew begins to fear that the only way to stop the creatures might be to destroy their creator...

Reviews

A New York Times Bestseller

An ABA Indies Bestseller

A Publishers Weekly Bestseller

An Indies Next Selection

A B&N Best Book of 2024

A Junior Library Guild Selection

A Goodreads Choice Award finalist

A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year

A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year

A Booklist Editors Choice

"Drews paints a gruesome narrative with visceral descriptions of monsters and the violence they enact, while with equal vigor, encapsulating the trauma of loss, disordered eating, bullying, and anxiety, all of which is counterbalanced by a gentle touch addressing asexual identity. ... Prepare for the emotional roller coaster of plot twists, unreliable narration, and a divisive conclusion. Sure to please those interested in modern horror mixed with a touch of fairy tale." —Booklist, starred review

"With a lingering terror that will lurk well after you finish, this psychological horror is packed with monsters of fairytale, folklore and so much more. Good luck not getting hooked (and haunted)." —B&N Reads

"C.G. Drews’ return to young adult fiction is a gloriously gothic exploration of fairytales, isolation and obsessive friendship, set in an elite boarding school and a dark, untouched forest. ... This is a dark and emotional fantasy thriller, and a must-read for fans of dark-academia books like Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House or M.L. Rio’s If We Were Villains." —Bella Mackey, Readings (Melbourne, Australia)