WHITMAN COUNTY LIBRARY
“The Invited” by Jennifer McMahon
In this new twist on a classic haunted house story, Helen and Nate don’t find themselves moving into a centuries old, haunted home. They’re building it from the ground up. The couple soon discovers that their new property holds a violent and tragic past, complicating their construction. As Helen digs deeper into the property’s history, each new discovery conjures more and more ghosts of the land’s past inhabitants, all of them searching for something in the present day.
“A Cosmology of Monsters” by Shaun Hamill
Monsters both real and imagined stalk the Turner family. The youngest child, Noah, recounts his childhood and adolescence growing up in a home where his father is consumed with an obsessive need to construct a Haunted House attraction the likes of which no one has ever seen before. As his father’s obsession threatens to tear the family apart, Noah realizes that everyone in his home can see monsters. Everyone else in his family ignores the monsters or denies their existence. Noah? He lets the monsters in.
“Mexican Gothic” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
After she receives a suspicious letter from her newly wed cousin, begging her to come save her from certain doom, Noemi Taboada travels to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. There she is met with even more strange and unsettling events, her brother-in-law, his father, and even the house itself seem to be hiding deadly secrets. Will Noemi be able to save her cousin and get to the bottom of what’s rotting the house from the inside out?
LATAH COUNTY LIBRARY
“Balloons for Papa” written by Elizabeth Gilbert Bedia and illustrated by Erika Meza.
Arthur just wants to buy a balloon. He believes it will make him happy, fill his dad’s heart with love and maybe make his sick mama feel a bit better. This touching book on tough topics is sure to enhance empathy in even the tiniest of children.
“I dream of Popo” written by Livia Blackburne and illustrated by Julia Kuo.
This sweet book discusses the feelings we have when separated from our loved ones. While phone calls, letters and visits help ease the pain, it is memories of love that gets us through. Children will experience this journey through the eyes of Popo and her granddaughter.
“The Big Bad Wolf in my House” written by Valérie Fontaine and Nathalie Dion and translated by Shelley Tanaka
This deceiving picture book is not about the three little pigs or red riding hood. It is about the horrors of domestic violence seen through the eyes of a child. This is another tough but important read.
NEILL PUBLIC LIBRARY
“Healing Herbal Soups: Boosting Your Immunity and Weather the Seasons with Traditional Chinese Recipes” by Rose Cheung and Genevieve Wong
A seasonal book of soups and broths to enhance wellness and for boosting the immune system. Written by a mother-and-daughter team, this book contains more than 50 tasty recipes along with complete herbal encyclopedia and introduction to traditional Chinese medicine. Includes easy-to-follow recipes that lend themselves to incorporating into other dishes or enjoyed on their own.
“Unbound” by Tarana Burke
Tarana Burke is the founder and activist behind the largest social movement of the 20th and 21st centuries, the ‘me too’ movement, but first she had to find the strength to say “me too” herself. Tarana Burke first coined the term “me too” during her work with youth in Selma during the early 2000s. Now in her own words, Tarana tells her story of pain, healing and then empowerment but first we must start with empathy.
“Atlas of the Heart” by Brené Brown
The author writes, “If we want to find the way back to ourselves and each other, we need language and the grounded confidence to both tell our stories, and to be stewards of the stories that we hear. This is the framework for meaningful connection.” Brown’s latest research explores 85 different emotions and experiences that define what it means to be human. In doing so, she creates a map that invites us, with an adventurous heart, to go anywhere without the fear of losing ourselves.
