KCUR Staff Picks

On Wednesday, May 28, three Johnson County Library staffmembers, Kate Pickett, Debbie McLeod and Helen Hokanson, appeared on Up to Date on KCUR, 89.3 FM to discuss their book picks for the summer.

Debbie McLeod – Children's Books
Savvy by Ingrid Law
J FICTION Law Ingrid
Just-turned-13-year-old Mibs Beaumont has discovered her “savvy” – a magical power unique to each member of her family – just as her father is injured in a terrible accident.

Moon Over Star by Diana Aston
E FICTION Aston Dianna
In 1969, on her family’s farm in the town of Star, 8-year-old Mae follows the progress of Apollo 11 and the moon landing.

Year the Swallows Came Early by Kathryn Fitzmaurice
J FICTION Fitzmaur Kathryn
After her father is sent to jail, 11-year-old Eleanor “Groovy” Robinson must decide if she can forgive the failings of someone she loves.

Duck! Rabbit! By Amy Rosenthal
E FICTION Rosentha Amy
A book with an optical illusion: is it a duck, or is it a rabbit? Depends on how you look at it!

Larklight: a Rousing Tale of Dauntless Pluck in the Farthest Reaches of Space by Philip Reeve
J SCI FI Reeve Philip
In an alternative Victorian time, young Art and his sister, Myrtle – residents of Larklight, a floating house just above the other side of the moon – discover a spidery plot to destroy the solar system.

Buster Goes To Cowboy Camp by Denise Fleming
E FICTION Fleming Denise
When Buster’s owner goes away for a few days, he sends Buster to Sagebrush Kennels for Cowboy Camp.

Seer of Shadows by Avi
J FICTION Avi
In 1872 New York City, 14-year-old Horace, a photographer’s apprentice, becomes entangled in a plot to create fraudulent spirit photographs.

Whales on Stilts by M.T. Anderson
J SCI FI Anderson M.T.
Racing against the clock, shy, middle-school student Lily and her best friends Katie and Jasper, must foil the plot of her father’s conniving boss to conquer the world using an army of whales.

Heat Wave by Eileen Spinelli
E FICTION Spinelli Eileen
The citizens of Lumberville struggle to endure a week-long heat wave.

Chee-Lin: a Giraffe’s Journey by James Rumford
E 599.638 Rumford
80 years before Columbus, Chinese explorers discover a new creature – the chee-lin, or giraffe – and bring him back to China as a gift to the emperor.

Charles and Emma: the Darwins’ Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman
J 576.8 Heiligma
Charles and Emma Darwin deeply loved and supported each other; but their opinions, especially regarding God and religion, often clashed.

Kate Pickett – Young Adult Books
Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
YA FICTION Marchett Melina
Abandoned by her drug-addicted mother at the age of eleven, high school student Taylor Markham struggles with her identity and family history at a boarding school in Australia.

Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson
YA FICTION Johnson Maureen
Scarlett Martin's eccentric family runs a New York City hotel that dates from the 1920s. After Scarlett turns 15, she is given charge of the Empire Suite, occupied by an aging starlet who is writing her memoir. Soon, Scarlett becomes caught up in the woman's adventures.

The Cardboard Piano by Lynne Rae Perkins
E FICTION Perkins Lynne
Young Debbie tries to interest her friend, Tina, in playing the piano by creating a cardboard keyboard. (Picture Book)

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
YA FICTION Anderson Laurie
Eighteen-year-old Lia comes to terms with her best friend's death from anorexia as she struggles with the same disorder.

Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison
YA FICTION Rennison Louise
Presents the humorous journal of a year in the life of a fourteen-year-old British girl who tries to reduce the size of her nose, stop her mad cat from terrorizing the neighborhood animals, and win the love of handsome hunk Robbie.

Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urea
FICTION Urrea Luis
Nineteen-year-old Nayeli works at a taco shop in her Mexican village and dreams about her father, who journeyed to the U.S. to find work. "Into the Beautiful North" is the story of a young woman's quest to find herself on both sides of the fence.

I Love You, Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle
FICTION Doyle Larry 07/2007
Denis Cooverman didn't want to give a typical graduation speech, cherishing memories and embracing challenges and crap. So, instead, he stood up in front of his 512 class-mates and their 3,000 relatives and said some-thing really important: "I love you, Beth Cooper". It would have been such a sweet, romantic moment. Except that: Beth, the head cheerleader, has only the vaguest idea who Denis is.

Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow
Sixteen-year-old Dru's psychic abilities helped her father battle zombies and other creatures of the "Real World," but now she must rely on herself, a "werwulf"-bitten friend, and a half-human vampire hunter to learn who murdered her parents, and why.

Maximum Ride books (and graphic novels) by James Patterson
After the mutant Erasers abduct the youngest member of their group, the "birdkids," who are the result of genetic experimentation, take off in pursuit and find themselves struggling to understand their own origins and purpose.

Freak Show by James St. James
YA FICTION St.James James
Having faced teasing that turned into a brutal attack, Christianity expressed as persecution, and the loss of his only real friend when he could no longer keep his crush under wraps, seventeen-year-old Billy Bloom, a drag queen, decides the only way to become fabulous again is to run for Homecoming Queen at his elite, private school near Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Helen Hokanson - Adult Books
The Pretend Wife by Bridget Asher
From the author of "My Husband's Sweethearts" comes this big-hearted, fiercely perceptive novel about a happily married woman and the little white lie that changes everything.

Speaking with the Angel edited by Nick Hornby
STORY COLL Speaking 2000
An anthology of first-person narratives by bright, young, mostly British literati: these are smart and original stories, none of them previously published elsewhere.

A Contract with God by Will Eisner
GRAPHIC FICTION Eisner Will
A revolutionary novel that re-creates the neighborhood of Will Eisner's youth through a quartet of four interwoven stories; expressing the joy, exuberance, tragedy, and drama of life on the mythical Dropsie Avenue of the Bronx.

A Supremely Bad Idea: Three Mad Birders and Their Quest to See it All by Luke Dempsey
598.07234 Dempsey 07/2008
It starts as an innocent experiment, something undertaken just out of curiosity. Then it becomes a hobby and quickly an obsession, until you're skipping work and taking trips across the country to feed your addiction. Birding-or bird-watching, as it's more commonly known-is, if this very entertaining book is any indication, a much more exciting, lively, and suspenseful pastime that one might expect.

Enlightenment for Idiots by Anne Cushman
FICTION Cushman Anne 06/2008
The comic but profound tale of an American yogini who travels to India in search of spiritual awakening--only to find herself grappling with all the chaos and contradictions of contemporary life and love.

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