Books We Love

These are the latest books we LOVE! For more coups de cœur (aka crushes), check the four last titles below. If you'd like to read more about the book and why we love it, you can click on its cover.

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THE NAMES

Florence Knapp

In the wake of a catastrophic storm, Cora sets off with her nine-year-old daughter, Maia, to register her son’s birth. Her husband, Gordon, a local doctor, respected in the community but a terrifying and controlling presence at home, intends for her to name the infant after him. But when the registrar asks what she’d like to call the child, Cora hesitates…

Spanning thirty-five years, what follows are three alternate and alternating versions of Cora’s and her young son’s lives, shaped by her choice of name. In richly layered prose, The Names explores the painful ripple effects of domestic abuse, the messy ties of family, and the possibilities of autonomy and healing.

WHY WE LOVE IT?

- Beautifully written debut novel
- Important subject and a story that makes you reflect

- Book Club approved (2x!)

RED RISING - TRILOGY

Pierce Brown

The Earth is dying. Darrow is a Red, a miner in the interior of Mars. HIs mission is to extract enough precious elements to one day tame the surface of the planet and allow humans to live on it. The Reds are humanity’s last hope. Or so it appears, until the day Darroz discovers it’s all a lie. That Mars has been habitable - and inhabited - for generations, by a class of people calling themselves the Golds. A class of people who look down at Darrow and his fellows as slave labour, to be exploited and worked to death without a second thought. Until the day Darrow, with the help of a mysterious group of rebels, disguises himself as a Gold and infiltrates their command school, intent on taking down his oppressors from the inside. But the command school is a battlefield - and Darrow isn’t the only student with an agenda…

WHY WE LOVE IT?
- Made me laugh, cry, and reflect on humanity
- Political system and changes of power well-done
- Fantastic character development/growth
- Finished trilogy within one week

THE WHISPERWICKS

Jordan Lees

Eleven-year-old Benjamiah Creek believes in science, logic and the power of reason. He definitely does not believe in magic. But when he receives a mysterious gift in the post - a doll that can transform into a bird - he is led into the impossible (and most definitely magical) world of Wreathenwold, where dark secrets are lost amongst a vast labyrinth of streets. Benjamiah soon finds himself swept along in a dangerous quest - led by the fierce and brilliant Elizabella, who is determined to solve the disappearance of her missing brother. Will Benjamiah ever find his way home and discover his puzzling connection with this strange, enchanted world?

Age: 8-12

WHY WE LOVE IT?

- Impressive debut novel

- Unique and amazing worldbuilding

- Explores friendship, divorce, death, grief, and quests

LES NORMAUX

Janine Janssen

Sébastien recently moved to supernatural Paris hoping to get away from his troubles at home and live a peaceful life learning magic. But what are you going to do when the really hot vampire you made out with last night to forget your troubles turns out to be your new neighbour? Both boys have insecurities holding them back – but with a little help from friends, can they find the courage to give romance a go?

WHY WE LOVE IT?

- Adorable queer romance in fantasty Paris

- Diverse and great characters who feel like real humans (even if they are not)

- Great subjects & wonderful drawings

Animal farm

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” A farm is taken over by its overworked, mistreated animals. With flaming idealism and stirring slogans, they set out to create a paradise of progress, justice, and equality. Thus the stage is set for one of the most telling satiric fables ever penned—a razor-edged fairy tale for grown-ups that records the evolution from revolution against tyranny to a totalitarianism just as terrible. When Animal Farm was first published, Stalinist Russia was seen as its target. Today it is devastatingly clear that wherever and whenever freedom is attacked, under whatever banner, the cutting clarity and savage comedy of George Orwell’s masterpiece have a meaning and message still ferociously fresh.

WHY WE LOVE IT?
- Great way to learn English
- George Orwell's books stay relevant

En français :
Sage l'Ancien, vieux cochon respecté derrière qui se cachent Marx et Lénine, fait part aux autres animaux de son rêve, vision utopique d'un monde nouveau, plus égal et plus juste, débarrassé de Mr. Jones, le fermier incompétent et buveur. Après un soulèvement rondement mené, s'instaure une république animalière fondée sur l'égalité, mais les grands principes et les idéaux ne durent qu'un temps... Une fable politique à l'humour grinçant.

POURQUOI NOUS L'AIMONS ?
- Très bien pour apprendre l'anglais
- Les livres de George Orwell sont toujours d'actualité

Knight Owl

Since the day he hatched, Owl dreamed of becoming a real knight. He may not be the biggest or the strongest, but his sharp nocturnal instincts can help protect the castle, especially since many knights have recently gone missing. While holding guard during Knight Night Watch, Owl is faced with the ultimate trial—a frightening intruder. It’s a daunting duel by any measure. But what Owl lacks in size, he makes up for in good ideas.

Age: 3-5

WHY WE LOVE IT?
- Firstly: cuteness overload
- Talking about being brave
- Humor
- Did we already say... there's a dragon in it!

Six of Crows

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. . . . 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.

WHY WE LOVE IT?
- It's Leigh Bardugo
- Heist in a fantasy world
- Outcasts with their flaws becoming family

Crooked Kingdom

#2 in Six of crow duology. Kaz Brekker and his crew of deadly outcasts have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn't think they'd survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they're right back to fighting for their lives. Double-crossed and badly weakened, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz's cunning and test the team's fragile loyalties. A war will be waged on the city's dark and twisting streets - a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of the Grisha world.

WHY WE LOVE IT?
- The (character) development of Matthias and Wylan.
- There's no more heist but still nothing is really as it seems (still crossing each other, here and there)

Wingbearer

Zuli is extraordinary--she just doesn't realize it yet. Raised by mystical bird spirits in the branches of the Great Tree, she's never ventured beyond this safe haven. She's never had to. Until now. When a sinister force threatens the life-giving magic of the tree, Zuli, along with her guardian owl, Frowly, must get to the root of it. So begins an adventure bigger than anything Zuli could've ever imagined--one that will bring her, along with some newfound friends, face-to-face with an ancient dragon, the so-called Witch-Queen, and most surprisingly of all: her true identity.

Age: 8-12

WHY WE LOVE IT?
- Quite poetic about the souls of birds/life/death
- A little adventure in a new world

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow

Now Salama volunteers at a hospital in Homs, helping the wounded who flood through the doors daily. Secretly, though, she is desperate to find a way out of her beloved country before her sister-in-law, Layla, gives birth. So desperate, that she has manifested a physical embodiment of her fear in the form of her imagined companion, Khawf, who haunts her every move in an effort to keep her safe. But even with Khawf pressing her to leave, Salama is torn between her loyalty to her country and her conviction to survive. Salama must contend with bullets and bombs, military assaults, and her shifting sense of morality before she might finally breathe free. And when she crosses paths with the boy she was supposed to meet one fateful day, she starts to doubt her resolve in leaving home at all.

WHY WE LOVE IT?
- Great storytelling, it's a debut novel!
- Topics such as war, grief, surviving, beautifully written

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can't seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse - Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy's mom finds out, she knows it's time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he'll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea.

Age: 8-12

WHY WE LOVE IT?
- One big adventure
- Humor
- Troubled gods

Nevermoor The Trials of Morrigan Crow - Jessica Townsend

Nevermoor and the Trials of Morrigan Crow

Morrigan Crow is cursed. Having been born on Eventide, the unluckiest day for any child to be born, she's blamed for all local misfortunes, from hailstorms to heart attacks--and, worst of all, the curse means that Morrigan is doomed to die at midnight on her eleventh birthday. But as Morrigan awaits her fate, a strange and remarkable man named Jupiter North appears. Chased by black-smoke hounds and shadowy hunters on horseback, he whisks her away into the safety of a secret, magical city called Nevermoor. It's then that Morrigan discovers Jupiter has chosen her to contend for a place in the city's most prestigious organization: the Wundrous Society. In order to join, she must compete in four difficult and dangerous trials against hundreds of other children, each boasting an extraordinary talent that sets them apart - an extraordinary talent that Morrigan insists she does not have. To stay in the safety of Nevermoor for good, Morrigan will need to find a way to pass the tests - or she'll have to leave the city to confront her deadly fate.

Age: 9-11

WHY WE LOVE IT?
- Another magical world to dream about

Amari and the Night Brothers

Quinton Peters was the golden boy of the Rosewood low-income housing projects, receiving full scholarship offers to two different Ivy League schools. When he mysteriously goes missing, his little sister, 13-year-old Amari Peters, can’t understand why it’s not a bigger deal. Why isn’t his story all over the news? And why do the police automatically assume he was into something illegal?

Age: 8-12

WHY WE LOVE IT?
- Girl power
- Fantastic (and well-written) characters
- A magical adventure

Amari and the Great Game

After finding her brother and saving the entire supernatural world, Amari Peters is convinced her first full summer as a Junior Agent will be a breeze. But between the fearsome new Head Minister’s strict anti-magician agenda, fierce Junior Agent rivalries, and her brother Quinton’s curse steadily worsening, Amari’s plate is full. So when the secretive League of Magicians offers her a chance to stand up for magiciankind as its new leader, she declines. She’s got enough to worry about But her refusal allows someone else to step forward, a magician with dangerous plans for the League. This challenge sparks the start of the Great Game, a competition to decide who will become the Night Brothers’ successor and determine the future of magiciankind. The Great Game is both mysterious and deadly, but among the winner’s magical rewards is Quinton’s last hope—so how can Amari refuse?

Age: 8-12

WHY WE LOVE IT?
- Still great, like the first one

The Barnabus Project

In a world built for Perfect Pets, Barnabus is a Failed Project, half mouse, half elephant, kept out of sight until his dreams of freedom lead him and his misfit friends on a perilous adventure.

Barnabus and his friends live in this lab, but none of them are perfect. They are all Failed Projects. Barnabus has never been outside his tiny bell jar, yet he dreams of one day seeing the world above ground that his pal Pip the cockroach has told him about: a world with green hills and trees, and buildings that reach all the way to the sky, lit with their own stars.

But Barnabus may have to reach the outside world sooner than he thought, because the Green Rubber Suits are about to recycle all Failed Projects . . . and Barnabus doesn't want to be made into a fluffier pet with bigger eyes. He just wants to be himself. So he decides it's time for he and the others to escape.

Age: 3+

WHY WE LOVE IT?
- Even though it looks super cute (again the illustrations!) it has very important messages:
Follow your dreams, no one is a failure, be true to yourself

Daughter of the Deep

Ana Dakkar is a freshman at Harding-Pencroft Academy, a five-year high school that graduates the best marine scientists, naval warriors, navigators, and underwater explorers in the world. Ana's parents died while on a scientific expedition two years ago, and the only family she's got left is her older brother, Dev, also a student at HP. Ana's freshman year culminates with the class's weekend trial at sea, the details of which have been kept secret. She only hopes she has what it'll take to succeed. All her worries are blown out of the water when, on the bus ride to the ship, Ana and her schoolmates witness a terrible tragedy that will change the trajectory of their lives.

Age: 9+

WHY WE LOVE IT?
- Inspired by Jules Verne
- Adventure, humor, diversity

Scythe

A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery. Humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control. Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.

WHY WE LOVE IT?
- Interesting concept of moral of life and the decisions you take
- Great characters

Thunderhead

Citra, now a junior scythe under Scythe Curie, sees the corruption and wants to help change it from the inside out, but is thwarted at every turn, and threatened by the “new order” scythes. Realizing she cannot do this alone—or even with the help of Scythe Curie and Faraday, she does the unthinkable, and risks being “deadish” so she can communicate with the Thunderhead—the only being on earth wise enough to solve the dire problems of a perfect world. But will it help solve those problems, or simply watch as perfection goes into decline? Two fave characters are separated. How is it going to end for them?

WHY WE LOVE IT?
- The storytelling is fantastic
- Talking about cliffhanger!

Daughter of the Pirate King

Sent on a mission to retrieve an ancient hidden map―the key to a legendary treasure trove―seventeen-year-old pirate captain Alosa deliberately allows herself to be captured by her enemies, giving her the perfect opportunity to search their ship.

More than a match for the ruthless pirate crew, Alosa has only one thing standing between her and the her captor, the unexpectedly clever and unfairly attractive first mate Riden. But not to worry, for Alosa has a few tricks up her sleeve, and no lone pirate can stop the Daughter of the Pirate King.

WHY WE LOVE IT?
- Great to get into fantasy books
- Pirate WOMAN

Daughter of the Siren Queen

Alosa's mission is finally complete. Not only has she recovered all three pieces of the map to a legendary hidden treasure, but the pirates who originally took her captive are now prisoners on her ship. Still unfairly attractive and unexpectedly loyal, first mate Riden is a constant distraction, but now he's under her orders. And she takes great comfort in knowing that the villainous Vordan will soon be facing her father's justice. When Vordan exposes a secret her father has kept for years, Alosa and her crew find themselves in a deadly race with the feared Pirate King. Despite the danger, Alosa knows they will recover the treasure first . . . after all, she is the daughter of the Siren Queen.

WHY WE LOVE IT?
- Still a nice adventure
- Easy to read

The Strangers

The Greystone kids thought they knew. Chess has always been the protector over his younger siblings, Emma loves math, and Finn does what Finn does best—acting silly and being adored. They’ve been a happy family, just the three of them and their mom. But everything changes when reports of three kidnapped children reach the Greystone kids, and they’re shocked by the startling similarities between themselves and these complete strangers. The other kids share their same first and middle names. They’re the same ages. They even have identical birthdays. Who, exactly, are these strangers? Before Chess, Emma, and Finn can question their mom about it, she takes off on a sudden work trip and leaves them in the care of Ms. Morales and her daughter, Natalie. But puzzling clues left behind lead to complex codes, hidden rooms, and a dangerous secret that will turn their world upside down.

Age: 8-12

WHY WE LOVE IT?
- Relationship siblings
- Great start to get used to multiple POV

The Secret of the Black Rock

Erin loves to lie on the jetty, looking for the weirdest fish in the sea—the weirder, the better! And she knows the best ones must be further out, where her mum won't let her go . . . Out there in the deepest sea lies the Black Rock: a huge, dark and spiky mass that is said to destroy any boats that come near it! Can Erin uncover the truth behind this mysterious legend?

Age: 3-5

WHY WE LOVE IT?
- Again, the illustrations of Joe Todd-Stanton are a-ma-zing!
- Nature
- Bravery, curiosity

The Hate U Give

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed. Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr. But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.

WHY WE LOVE IT?
- Well-written
- Shows us the struggles of being black in a white society
- Still relevant today (unfortunately)

Lizzy and the Cloud

It’s a little out of fashion to buy a pet cloud, but Lizzy doesn’t mind.

She’s not looking for a big one or a fancy one, just one that’s right for her. And she finds it in Milo. She loves her new pet and includes him in all her fun activities.

Soon, she’s taking Milo out on walks with her family, watering Milo right on schedule and seeing Milo grow and grow. But what happens when Milo gets too big for Lizzy to handle? What about when he storms across the skies and Lizzy can do nothing about it? Or when he’s uncomfortable in Lizzy’s small bedroom?

Age: 4+

WHY WE LOVE IT?
- Story about letting go
- Teaches the value of making important decisions, even when it is difficult
- We cannot say it enough, the Fan Brothers know how to tell a story and how to draw it BEAUTIFULLY

Skin of the Sea

Simi prayed to the gods, once. Now she serves them as Mami Wata--a mermaid--collecting the souls of those who die at sea and blessing their journeys back home. But when a living boy is thrown overboard, Simi goes against an ancient decree and does the unthinkable--she saves his life. And punishment awaits those who dare to defy the gods. To protect the other Mami Wata, Simi must journey to the Supreme Creator to make amends. But all is not as it seems. There's the boy she rescued, who knows more than he should. And something is shadowing Simi, something that would rather see her fail... Danger lurks at every turn, and as Simi draws closer, she must brave vengeful gods, treacherous lands, and legendary creatures. Because if she fails, she risks not only the fate of all Mami Wata, but also the world as she knows it.

WHY WE LOVE IT?
- African mythology

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