Sponsored by Explorer Academy, a new fact-based fiction series from National Geographic Kids
Adventure, danger, and a thrilling global mission await 12-year-old Cruz Coronado as he joins 23 talented kids from around the globe at the Explorer Academy, where they will train with the world’s leading experts to become the next generation of great explorers. The adventure continues in The Double Helix, book three of the riveting seven-book series. Aboard their classroom at sea, Cruz and his classmates continue their education and their secret mission to find the hidden cipher his mother left behind. But the stakes get even higher when Cruz receives a chilling warning: someone close to him is working for the enemy.
Welcome to Check Your Shelf! This is your guide to help librarians like you up your game when it comes to doing your job (& rocking it).
Collection Development Corner
Publishing News
- Poisoned Pen Press announces the Haunted Library of Horror Classics, which (like the name indicates), will republish classic horror titles, beginning with The Phantom of the Opera.
- Amazon’s making a Kindle specifically for kids.
New & Upcoming Titles
- Angeline Boulley, a registered member of the Chippewa Tribe, sold her debut YA novel for a seven figure sum. The novel, The Firekeeper’s Daughter, explores issues of heritage and loyalty after the main character witnesses a murder and must decide between assisting the FBI and protecting her tribal community. SIGN ME UP.
- Michelle Obama is publishing a companion journal to Becoming.
- Marie Kondo is coming out with a workplace and career advice book in April called Joy at Work.
- Rivers Solomon is publishing a work of gothic fiction in 2021!
- Amazon is publishing a short story collection featuring authors such as N.K. Jemisin and Andy Weir.
- Rihanna announces a visual autobiography, which will publish on October 24th. (Yep, this year!)
- All the Star Wars books announced at NYCC this year.
- NPR’s fall book preview.
- O Magazine: 33 must-read books for fall.
- Best thrillers and psychological suspense novels for October.
- Best October books from Salon and Town & Country.
What Your Patrons Are Hearing About
- Ninth House – Leigh Bardugo (New York Times, NPR, Time, USA Today)
- Grand Union – Zadie Smith (Entertainment Weekly, New York Times, NPR, O Magazine)
- How We Fight For Our Lives – Saeed Jones (New York Times, New Yorker, NPR)
- Know My Name – Chanel Miller (The Atlantic, HuffPost)
- Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church – Megan Phelps-Roper (New York Times, NPR)
RA/Genre Resources
All Things Comics
- Wayne Brady joins the cast on the CW superhero franchise, Black Lightning.
- Best new manga of October.
- 5 comics that don’t skimp on the snark.
Audiophilia
- Must-listen Star Wars books on audio.
Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists
Children/Teens
- 19 must-read picture books for Fall 2019.
- 18 YA novels for your book club.
- Epic YA novels featuring robots and AI.
- Compelling YA historical fiction.
Adults
- 8 angry crime novels for angry women.
- ALL the scary book lists! Creepy book series, books so scary people had to stop reading, classic horror novels that are way scarier than their adaptations, ghost romances, queer Halloween reads, chunky horror novels, space horror.
- Romance novels if you love HGTV.
- 5 books for fans of Malcolm Gladwell.
- Books set in New Orleans that aren’t just about Mardi Gras.
- 9 books to destress your life.
- ALL of Obama’s book recommendations over the years.
- 50 must-read books set in boarding schools.
Level Up (Library Reads)
Do you take part in LibraryReads, the monthly list of best books selected by librarians only? We’ve made it easy for you to find eligible diverse titles to nominate. Kelly Jensen created a database of upcoming diverse books that anyone can edit, and Nora Rawlins of Early Word is doing the same, as well as including information about series, vendors, and publisher buzz.
Thanks for hanging! See you on Friday!
–Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.