Check out what books I've been reading this month 📚
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| Hello, everyone! I hope everyone is happily in full swing of their school years and joyously getting into their book buying with plentiful budgets and amazingly supportive staff and administrations. If that's not entirely the case, here's me projecting positivity into the universe on your behalf and helping you get some amazing books on your shelves!
I also want to take a moment to extend my heartfelt condolences to those affected by Hurricane Helene, and I know several subscribers out there have been hit hard. My heart is with you all as the images and videos poor in of the devastation. For those who can help, my friend and fellow Librarian, Dustin Hensley is right in the thick of things and doing what he can by supporting folks with relief efforts and providing free books to shelters, amongst other needed supplies. If you can't help financially, please consider spreading the word. Thank you! |
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| After 1000 reviews, I've welcomed librarian Moni Barrette to write some guest reviews for The Graphic Library! Since I mainly focus on manga, that leaves a glaring hole in quite a bit of other graphic novel content, and Moni is glad to take up that torch for us. You can read more about Moni's professional accolades on our About Us page or visit her website, monibarrette.com |
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| This month, I also published a few long-form pieces to help with Collection development. One of these appeared in the semi-regularly monthly feature of Booklist Magazine, "Manga Essentials". The other, you can find on the website.
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| A review of 5 series for high school collections.
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Twenty-three recommended series that are new-to-me over the last year, broken down by elementary, middle, and high school audiences. |
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| Inori partakes in her first skating competition, and her warmup is disastrous. Her mom comes back to the locker room to ask Coach Tsukasa if they can take the jumps out of her routine since she can’t complete them, and she doesn’t want Inori to fall out of love with skating. This furthers Inori’s resolve to do well during the competition. Inori and others watch Hikaru compete, one of the best child skaters, and Tsukasa realizes something strange is going on with her coaching staff.
Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 7-12 |
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| It’s the eve of Ea’s Day but Gilgamesh is not up for celebrating. It’s also the one day each year he trades places with Death himself to fulfill the order of souls to reap. Despite dreading the task, Gil must endure in exchange for his immortality -- or must he? While he devises a way out, Marduk, god of gods, is deciding to end all involvement with mankind. Various entities from Mesopotamian mythology and their personal entanglements are portrayed in the story, delighting readers with lusty interludes and action packed battles. Moni's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 11-12 |
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| Kiyo has spent his entire life studying, and he is finally on his way to a prestigious university in Tokyo. But, he's lost. As he sits for a moment trying to compose himself, a dashing man exits and inquires why he has been pacing around his house. Rather than be mad or make fun of his predicament, Ozaki offers Kiyo room and board if he will help take care of his enormous house! It doesn't take long for Kiyo to figure out something is up with his strange new master, other than offering young men a place to stay.
Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 7-12 |
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| Sissel’s unleashed horde of dragons on the party mostly works against them, but Laios’ advanced knowledge of monsters keeps him alive long enough to get close to Sissel and overtake him. The two have a healing meal where Laios tells Sissel about how his desires have actually harmed the people of the Golden Kingdom. Laios feels like he’s getting through to Sissel, but it’s all trickery in the end.
Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 7-12 |
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| Penelope and Winter meet to discuss entering into a contract for the mining and production of her emerald mine, and Penelope brings up going into business for the Diamond mine as well. This would be outside of the knowledge of the Eckharts so that she will be prepared for something if and when Ivonne returns. As part of the business deal, Winter also wants to arrange several meetings with Penelope, and they sneak out together.
Sara's Rating: 10/10
Suitability Level: Grades 9-12
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| Akira is mostly an average high school student who, on an outing looking for an out of stock manga, gets caught up in a skirmish that changes his life. He boards a subway and finds himself in a confrontation between an actual extra-terrestrial and the Alien Management Organization, the group tasked with making sure aliens follow the rule of law while they’re on Planet Earth. One of those officers is none other than Akita’s handsome and physically fit classmate, Sho Tenkubashi!
Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 9-12 |
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| A young woman dies and is reincarnated as Juvelian, the villainess in a story she was reading, who meets a tragic end. She didn't get to finish reading the book, so she's not quite sure how to avoid her terrible fate, but she's determined to use what she knows to avoid it as best she can, starting with getting out of any arranged marriage and trying to live a peaceful life away from the court drama. When her aloof father suddenly takes an interest in her, it seems her plans of skulking away will be ruined as he interprets her behavior as invitation to find her a new suitor!
Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 7-12 |
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| The new lord of the dungeon rearranged all the floors into one, so now dangerous monsters are headed towards the surface, and an all out assault is taking place between all the inhabitants! The Canaries are trying to keep things under control while the Adventurers appeal to the new Lord to wrest the power of the dungeon and settle things down.
Sara's Rating: 5/10
Suitability Level: Grades 9-12 |
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| Tony is constantly the new kid at school, having made many transfers, but this latest school is proving to be even more challenging with a more than fair share of bullies pointing out every eccentricity Tony has and posting much of it to social media. It becomes too much for Tony to handle - the bullies suck all of the joy and light from his days until he's ready to give up completely. His parents begin having him go to therapy, and he switches schools yet again to one where most students are more accepting and there are fewer bullies.
Sara's Rating: 10/10
Suitability Level: Grades 5-7 |
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| Hiroto is a pretty carefree 29-year-old, except he finds it difficult to talk to attractive women around his own age. He has no problem befriending older ladies, including an 81-year-old former lunch lady he affectionately calls Granny. He has dinner at her house twice a week until she suddenly dies of a heart attack and leaves her two-bedroom house to him. When Hiroto’s cousin Nat comes to live with him as she attends art school, the two learn to live together and figure out what it means to be adults in their various stages of life.
Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 9-12 |
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| The gang talks Marcille down from the ledge metaphorically and physically, and Laios shares his plan for for defeating the Winged Lion. He gives everyone in the party a task in case things go sideways. Then, it's go time, before the monsters, who are all dangerously close to breaking through the dungeon's surface, escape into the outside world and begin wreaking havoc on the island.
Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 7-12 |
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| In the 1980s in the USSR, the Russian government undertook an ambitious project to create a nuclear power plant and a perfect city just outside of it for all of its workers to live in. It would be a marvel of innovation and modern industrial achievement, but instead it was marred with corruption, unsafe construction, and unsound science. Anyone with the whole picture could have seen the explosion coming, but no one could see everything.
Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 9-12 |
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| Blue begins studying at the Helios Training Academy but continues to have difficulty as an outcast with black wings. Prince Cassian constantly ignores her in public and downplays their familiarity, which makes her question if she should be at the Academy. Nevertheless, Blue holds tight to her dream of being an archangel. She crosses swords with Archangel Steele in a test and even meets Steele’s sworn soul partner.
Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 6-12 |
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| After a shocking discover on a remote island, dinosaurs that were once thought to be extinct re-emerge into the public zeitgeist. Several rounds of genetic experiments help bring back other species, and the overall popularity lead to dinosaur zoos sprouting up across Japan. But a tragic incident fifteen years prior to the opening of our story soured the public on dino parks, and now they're in decline.
Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 7-12 |
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| Want me to review a book your students are asking for? Send me an email and I'll see if I can acquire it for reviewing. |
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