Beyond the Gender Binary

 By Alok Vaid-Menon

Young Adult Non-Fiction

Reviewed by Britany from the Winkler Branch

Favourite Line: "This is not about erasing men and women but rather acknowledging that man and woman are two of many--stars in a constellation that do not compete, but amplify one another's shine." This line was very powerful to me.  It shows that no one wants to invalidate what makes someone feel the most themselves, we (as gender nonconforming people) just want the ability to do the same and exist the same within society, without shame, hate or judgment.

Additional Comments: I really enjoyed this read.  It was a rapid read, however, an extremely informational one.  I recommend this book to everyone!  I have done quite a bit of reading into this subject myself, and I still found information that I wanted to look up later to dive into further.  I also think this book  would be good for someone who needs somewhere to start! It's not overwhelming on information and gives you a really good insight on a gender non-conforming person's typical daily life/thoughts.

To place this book on hold, click here.

Back to School

 It's that time of year again.  Summer is almost over and school will soon be starting again for another year. To celebrate, here is a list of school related books for all ages to get you in the back to school spirit. As always, click on the book title to place the book on hold or contact your local branch for more information.

Hello School!

A cozy introduction to what makes school so much fun features a diverse group of students who share first-day milestones, from getting a cubby and making new friends to taking a nature walk and participating in arts-and-crafts activities.

Schooled

Homeschooled by his hippie grandmother, Capricorn (Cap) Anderson has never watched television, tasted a pizza, or even heard of a wedgie. But when his grandmother lands in the hospital, Cap is forced to move in with a guidance counselor and attend the local middle school. While Cap knows a lot about tie-dyeing and Zen Buddhism, no education could prepare him for the politics of public school.

High School

This is the revelatory and unique coming-of-age story of Sara and Tegan Quin, identical twins from Calgary, Alberta, growing up in the height of grunge and rave culture in the 90s, well before they became the celebrated musicians and global LGBTQ icons we know today. Written in alternating chapters from both Tegan's point of view and Sara's, the book is a raw account of the drugs, alcohol, love, music, and friendships they explored in their formative years.

Off to School

Papa Smurf sends all of the Smurfs back to school. At 100 years old, they really need to brush up on their reading skills!

Rock Your School Stuff

Provides step-by-step instructions to crafty projects to make yourself the coolest school stuff.

Training School

Spud he's scatty and accident prone - but good with gadgets star she's super-smart and ready to pounce... Together they're Spy Pups, following hot in the paw prints of mum LARA (that's Licensed Assault and Rescue Animal to you). Spud and Star can't wait. They're in New York training with the FBI - America's very best spies.

Tool School

Told in rhyming text, five tools--Hammer, Screwdriver, Pliers, Saw, and Tape Measure--learn to work together on their first day of school.

School Trip

Eighth grader Drew Ellis recognizes that he isn't afforded the same opportunities, no matter how hard he works, that his privileged classmates at the Riverdale Academy Day School take for granted, and to make matters worse, Drew begins to feel as if his good friend Liam might be one of those privileged kids and is finding it hard not to withdraw, even as their mutual friend Jordan tries to keep their group of friends together.

Spy School

Twelve-year-old Ben Ripley leaves his public middle school to attend the CIA's highly secretive Espionage Academy, which everyone is told is an elite science school.

Kitty School

When it's time for kitty school in the Dollhouse, Gabby and the Gabby Cats get ready for a super-fun learning adventure!

School Rules!

Cassandra LOVES school so much that she never, ever wants to leave! One Friday, Cassandra decides she is going to stay at school. She stays after the nice teacher leaves. She stays while the janitor with a tattoo mops the floors. She stays after the mean principal turns off all the lights and goes home. She plays with the plasticine and the unit blocks until after dark, when her mom and dad realize she is not at the dinner table. They go to the school and take her back home. The next day, Cassandra gets up and puts her school clothes on. Her parents explain that it's Saturday and there is NO school on Saturday. But Cassandra takes her bike and heads off anyway but the school is locked. On her way back home she goes by the School Store and places an order. The next day is Sunday, and Cassandra looks out the window to find a brand-new red-brick school with a nice teacher, a mean principal, and a janitor with tattoos in her back yard. She runs out the door, into her new school, sits down at a desk in the classroom with the nice teacher, and plays with the unit blocks and plasticine!

Back to School

Rachel's back in school in Lancaster County! And that's where trouble finds her once again! Except this time, trouble is spelled O-R-L-I-E. That's the name of the new boy-the freckle-faced kid with a nasty cowlick-who has an ornery attitude when it comes to Rachel. From mixed-up school lunches to playground high jinks, these two Amish kids are off on the wrong bare foot. Will nine-year-old Rachel be able to survive Orlie's constant teasing? Can anything good come from this mayhem and madness?

School Buses

Simple text and full color photographs introduce young readers to school buses. Intended for students in kindergarten through third grade.

School's First Day of School

It's the first day of school at Frederick Douglass Elementary and everyone's just a little bit nervous, especially the school itself.

Finishing School: Etiquette and Espionage

In an alternate England of 1851, spirited fourteen-year-old Sophronia is enrolled in a finishing school where, she is surprised to learn, lessons include not only the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but also diversion, deceit, and espionage.

Manners At School

A young monster with no manners goes to a new school and learns from another student the manners she should use at school.

The Finishing School

One spring night in 1998 the beautiful Cressida Strauss plunges from a fourth-floor balcony at the Lycée Internationale Suisse with catastrophic consequences. Loath to draw negative publicity to the school, a bastion of European wealth and glamour, officials quickly dismiss the incident as an accident, but questions remain: Was it a suicide attempt? Or was Cressida pushed? It was no secret that she had a selfish streak and had earned as many enemies as allies in her tenure at the school. For her best friend, scholarship student Kersti Kuusk, the lingering questions surrounding Cressida's fall continue to nag long after she leaves the Lycée. Kersit marries and becomes a bestselling writer, but never stops wondering about Cressida's obsession with the Helvetian Society - a secret clue banned years before their arrival at the school - and a pair of its members who were expelled. When she is invited as a guest to the Lycée's 100th anniversary, she begins probing the cover-up, unearthing a frightening underbelly of lies and abuse at the prestigious establishment. And in one portentous moment, Kersti makes a decision that will connect her to Cressida forever and raise the stakes dangerously high in her own desire to solve the mystery and redeem her past.

The Way to School

Every image in this beautiful picture book for young readers speaks to the importance of education, and the physical commitment children are willing to make each day to attain it.

Saving for School

The most important investment parents can make is finally simplified, Gail-style.

College Rules!

This updated classic gives students the tools they need to successfully transition from high school to college, avoid rookie mistakes, and set themselves up for academic success from day one.

The Rosie Trilogy

 The Rosie Project

By Graeme Simsion

Adult Fiction

Reviewed by Heidi from the Winkler Branch

    The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion is about a man named Don Tillman.  A Professor of Genetics who is highly intelligent but socially awkward, Don is embarking on a mission to find a wife.  As a scientist, he decides a comprehensive questionnaire is the most efficient route.  As you can imagine, this doesn't go very well.  Along the way he meets Rosie, who is not a Wife Project candidate, but somehow, they fall in love.  I found this book equally funny and heartfelt, hopeful and realistic.  If you're looking for a quirky, fun read, I'd highly recommend this series.

To place this book on hold, click here.

To place the audiobook on hold, click here.

The Rosie Effect

By Graeme Simsion

Adult Fiction

Reviewed by Heidi from the Winkler Branch

    The Rosie Effect picks up with Don Tillman and Rosie living in New York, the city of strange and wonderful people, where no one feels weird for being themselves.  Rosie finds out she's pregnant, unexpectedly, and Don doesn't know what to do.  This book explores themes of marriage, pregnancy, friendships and love through the eyes of someone who is neurodiverse, which makes it both extremely funny and thought provoking.  I picked this book up on a whim and I'm very glad I did, Graeme Simsion may just be my favourite author of the month.

    This is the second book in the Rosie Series, although it can be read as a stand alone, I'd recommend reading them in order for the full experience.

To place this book on hold, click here.

The Rosie Result

By Graeme Simsion

Adult Fiction

Reviewed by Heidi from the Winkler Branch

    This is the third and final book in the Rosie Series, which follows Don Tillman, Professor of Genetics, as he journeys from socially awkward and alone to socially awkward and loved.  This book explores themes of parenting, autism and stepping into the unknown.  Don and Rosie's child Hudson is 10 years old and struggling in elementary school.  The school wants him assessed by a psychologist and labeled autistic.  Don and Rosie are resistant to labels that may negatively impact their child.  This book does an excellent job of exploring both sides of the argument in a humorous yet heartfelt discussion that ends in an unexpected conclusion.  If you have someone in your life who is neurodivergent, I'd highly recommend this series as a way to see through their eyes and get a glimpse into their life, taking into consideration that everyone experiences autism and neurodiversity differently.

To place this book on hold, click here.

The Perfect Stranger

 By Megan Miranda

Adult Fiction

Reviewed by Linda from the Winkler Branch

    It’s not safe for a journalist to get too close to her story. Leah Stevens crossed that line, and now she has to rebuild her life from the ground up. The saving grace in Leah’s world of loss was meeting up again with Emmy, a roommate from college days. Emmy was starting again too, and they decided to become roommates again. Their new lives in a remote town in Western Pennsylvania had a bit of a rough start, but things seemed to be going well. Then a woman is found, brutally assaulted and left for dead, near their house, and Leah realizes she hasn’t actually seen Emmy in several days. Leah needs to find out what happened to Emmy; this is a story she can’t help getting very close to, even if it drags her back into the story that ended her career, or forward into a situation that could end her life. 

    The Perfect Stranger is clever, twisty, dark thriller that I barely put down, and that lingered in my mind for days after. The entire novel is full of well-written and believable characters, from protagonist Leah Stevens on down. The plot moves fast, pulling you along whether you want to or not, and the bits of information that keep coming up change the perspective on actions and incidents entirely. Megan Miranda is masterful at creating a dark, gritty, uncertain atmosphere that lets you experience Leah’s state of mind. If you want to immerse yourself in someone else’s life for a few hours, and take a psychological-suspense thrill ride, The Perfect Stranger is an excellent choice.

To place this book on hold, click here.

Just Like That

 By Gary D. Schmidt

Junior Fiction

Reviewed by Charlize from the Miami Brach

    Just Like That tells the stories of Meryl Lee Kowalski and Matt Coffin.

    After a personal tragedy, Meryl Lee (a character you might remember from Schmidt's Newberry Honour book The Wednesday Wars) moves to the St. Elene's Preparatory Academy for Girls boarding school.  Troubled with snobbish classmates, difficult teachers and family issues, Meryl Lee finds her life uprooted.

    Running from a mobster from his past, Matt Coffin winds up on the coast of Maine near St. Elene's.  Through the help of the kindly Mrs. Nora MacKnockater, Matt begins to feel like he has a home.

    Through circumstances that surprise them both, Meryl Lee and Matt find themselves becoming friends, healing from past wounds and bringing the community of St. Elene's together.

    Just Like That is another admirable companion to The Wednesday Wars.  It is poignant, thought provoking and well written.  As in Gary D. Schmidt's other books, I enjoyed the character arcs, inclusion of characters from Schmidt's other books and the 1960's/Vietnam War era setting.

    I would highly recommend Just Like That, The Wednesday Wars and Okay For Now, another companion to The Wednesday Wars.

To place this book on hold, click here

Beneath The Wide Silk Sky

 By Emily Inouye Henry

Young Adult Fiction

Reviewed by Julie from the Altona Branch

    Emily Inouye Henry, the author of Beneath The Wide Silk Sky, is the daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter of Japanese Americans who were incarcerated during World War II.  Beneath The Wide Silk Sky is a Young Adult historical fiction novel about the fear and bigotry that lead to the discrimination and violence towards innocent people during World War II.

    Sam Sakamoto is a 16 year old girl with a dream of becoming a photographer, but it's only a dream.  Her family is on the verge of losing the family farm and money is too scarce to even buy a roll of film for her old box camera.  Her best friend Beau encourages her to enter a statewide photography contest for amateur photographers and even offers to buy her a roll of film.

    Then, on December 7, 1941, Japanese airplanes attack the US naval base at Pearl Harbor and Sam's world is changed forever.  Fear causes the American people to react with racism and bigotry towards the American Japanese people.  Sam loses her best friend, Beau, she is no longer welcome at their table for lunch at school and she is called names and ostracized.  Japanese businesses are attacked and FBI agents arrest community friends and neighbours over fear of them being spies.  Cameras are banned and Sam's beloved old box camera gets confiscated.  Curfews and travel bans are implemented and Sam's family lives in fear of being taken to a relocation camp.  What she has left is a growing friendship with Hiro, a neighbour whose father has been incarcerated.  Hiro was able to hide his father's new Leica camera from authorities and he gives it to Sam.  Together, Hiro and Sam search for the perfect photo to enter in the photography contest.  It is dangerous and even powerful to have a camera and Hiro tells Sam that she must use it to document what is happening in their country.  They might not be able to do anything with the pictures right now, but they're important and someday they will be able to show the world what happened.

    In the author's own words, "Unfortunately, racism, hysteria, failing political leadership and economic competition all still exist in our society today.  I chose to write about the time before the internment because in a way we're always at a point before injustice.  The question of how we will act, and of how we will define our society, is always before us."

    This is a powerful, thought provoking book.

To place this book on hold, click here.