Book

The Ghosts We Keep is a heartbreaking story that contains realistic scenes of death, love, and healing. Liam’s brother, Ethan, was killed in a hit and run. While the family grieves over the death of Ethan, Liam struggles with maintaining relationships with friends and dealing with grief. He seeks comfort in Ethan’s best friend, Marcus, and learns secrets about Ethan that weren’t known when he was alive. Though this book is contains tons of tragedy, it will leave you feeling empowered at the end.

This book is full of raw emotions; like sadness, loneliness, and grief. This story portrays

Join friends Alex and Anthony in a long journey that forces them to face their feelings. In a small town where basic necessities were taken away, lives Alex and her best friend Anthony. Alex, having her own regrets about family, decides to help Anthony find his mom. As they both walk ten miles to the next town over, they come across some unusual sights. This book is full of raw emotion and friendship, perfect for those who want a glimpse of reality.

This book is perfect for those who want a mix of fiction, and realness. I love how this book takes a deep dive into the thoughts and feelings

Real, Not Perfect is a book that will definitely stir up feelings of hope and optimism in your soul. Tessa, an only child, seems to have a perfect life. She has good grades, she is adored by her parents, and she is active in her swim team and in church group. But, it all falls apart when she finds out her parents are divorcing, her best friend moves away, and she gets stuck in an unbearable drama class. She soon makes friends in her drama class that help her see the brighter side of life.

This book really brings light to situations that often happen in real life. I like how the author makes

Emily, a strong and determined girl, used to be gifted with luck, until her mother died from cancer. Now, three years later, her bad luck doesn’t seem to stop. Until she and her new friend Blake, find a bucket list that had belonged to Emily’s mom. They both decide to go on an emotional adventure filled with love, fear and acceptance hoping to complete the bucket list. Do Emily and Blake complete their mission? Read more to find out!

This book is a good fit for those who are looking for a summer read. The Lucky List is a unique story about finding out who you are, and living life to the

Breath Like Water by Anna Jarzab is a Teen Fiction novel. It is a diverse and heart wrenching book with many ups and downs. Breath Like Water is about a Latino girl named Susanna who lives in Chicago with her friends and family. Susanna loves to swim, that’s her life, swimming and competing, that is until she meets a boy at a swim meet. They become friends and soon something more, until a series of events forces them apart. I love how the author tells the story and how Susanna learns to love something other than her Olympic dream. I recommend this book to people who believe in the impossible

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Cameron V. has won second place in the 8 and under age group for the Summer 2021 Youth Writing Contest with his piece "A Happy Jackalope, a Sneaky Werewolf, and the Scary Nightmare Moon." 

Cameron (Cam) V. is a newly six-year old boy from Olathe, KS where he lives with his parents and their dog named Remus. At just two-years of age, Cam had memorized word-for-word over twenty of his favorite story books- all of which he can recite on demand to this day. His favorite author is Julia Donaldson, author of The Gruffalo, The Snail and the

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Julieta V. has won first place in the 9-12 age group for the Summer 2021 Youth Writing Contest with her piece "Alicorn"

Julieta Vera has unruly hair and is well known for her phrase, “We’re alive and good! We’re FINE!” Her favorite book series is ‘Keeper of the Lost Cities,’ which she highly recommends!
While a book lover, she climbs trees uses nothing on her feet, and tends to nag everyone (especially her little sister) into doing fun and adventurous stuff on a daily basis—which lead to multiple injuries. Ever since she heard the words

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Madeline W. has won third place in the 9-12 age group for the Summer 2021 Youth Writing Contest with her piece "Eyes in the Sky." 

I started writing for school, and decided to start putting the many stories I had into the physical world. I don’t have a lot of favorites, but I like Spider-Man, and really hate spoilers for things I want to watch, read, or participate in in any way. 

 

 As I focused on my connection, my mind spread its boundaries, forming a link― a bridge, if you will―to the spirit realm. My consciousness compressed

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Derek W. has won second place in the 13-19 age group for the Summer 2021 Youth Writing Contest with his piece "I've Been Haunted Lately"

Derek W. is proud to be a lifelong student of the art of writing, a previous winner of a Young Arts Merit Award for writing and several Scholastic Arts and Writing awards. He is nineteen years old, and is currently studying at the University of Michigan. His story "I've Been Haunted Lately" speaks to the painful process of connecting with someone, and the fears that accompany opening up to that person

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Nayla S. has won second place in the 9-12 age group for the Summer 2021 Youth Writing Contest with her piece "Me & Yule"

Nayla S. is an amateur writer who enjoys spinning tales with enchantingly scenic settings, (hopefully) endearing characters, and lots and lots of magic. When she isn't writing, she enjoys detective and classic novels, chocolate, and working on her little sapling of a blog which you can find at www.witchywordcraft.com

The train screeched to a stop, and I woke up with a gasp. Sheila shrieked and Mom let her

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Sangshita P.. has won third place in the 8 and under age group for the Summer 2021 Youth Writing Contest with her piece "The Lost Princess." 

Hi I'm Sangshita. Well, everyone calls me Moonmoon. I'm seven and this fall I will be in second grade. 
I have a duck puppet and I created a story about it. I used to tell stories to my best friend and she said I could write them. 
Then I started to write. The first story I wrote was a fantasy one. 
I love reading books by Dr Seuss. 
A fun fact about me is I'm really really scared of bugs but I

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Ava S. has won third place in the 13-19 age group for the Summer 2021 Youth Writing Contest.

Ava S. is a homeschooled junior that recently traded her Ohio buckeye trees in for the wild sunflowers of Kansas. Ava has been writing for most of her life and has worked on multiple novels, poems, songs, and short stories. Her inspirations are the books she grew up reading in her elementary and preteen years. This particular short story was loosely inspired by the classic Thumbelina. Some of her author influences are Lucy Maud Montgomery, Leigh

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Sylvie G.. has won first place in the 8 and under age group for the Summer 2021 Youth Writing Contest with her piece "The Tree Unicorn."

First thank you so much for choosing me as a winner. I am so happy right now. I've been writing since about halfway into 1st grade and I'm currently writing a book called Animal City. I want to say if I did not watch My Little Pony I wouldn’t have written this story because that is my inspiration. I have always liked mythical things like unicorns and alicorns. Just ponies are amazing too. My author

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that James P. has won first place in the 13-19 age group for the Summer 2021 Youth Writing Contest with his piece "When the Caged Zebra Falls."

My name is James P. and I’m a senior at Blue Valley High School. I’ve been writing for about a year; I began last summer as a means of expressing my thoughts during quarantine. Some of my biggest influences are George Orwell, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Joe Strummer. My other passions are soccer, history, and playing the guitar. My story was inspired by the human desire to be led, and our willingness

Ant-Man was marvelous. It has action, comedy, soul-searching, and adorable features. From many comics Hank Pym is Ant-Man but in this new Marvel Movie Scott Lang has been chosen by Hank to be Ant-Man. At the beginning of the movie Scott Lang came out of prison for a 5-year sentence for cat burgling. He steals the Ant-Man suit because he wanted money to see his daughter again. This movie is funny and has amazing battle scenes with Yellow-Jacket, the villain. I recommend this movie to those who look for comedy in superhero movies.

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Georgia M.. has won second place in the early age group for the Sci-Fi Spring 2021 Youth Writing Contest with her piece "Not So Boring."

Not So Boring 

Of course we get stuck on the worst planet, Aerial. Out of the 116 planets my family discovered in the past year, we had to get stranded on the most boring and cold one.

I spend most of my time on the ship playing with our munden, Tuerto. He’s a mix between a dog, a cat, an elephant, and a tiger. White with black stripes, he has pointy ears, a short, stubby trunk, and a dog-like

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Parsons H. has won first place in the early age group for the Sci-Fi Spring 2021 Youth Writing Contest with her piece "The Bad."

I love writing and sharing stories. I love to let my creativity show! In my free time I love to read, write, listen to Christian and 80's music, and play dolls. 

The Bad

There are a group of kids, the lonely, the bad, the forgotten, the hidden, the sad, and the blamed. These are not a normal group of kids, they wanted and did get revenge. The lonely wanted revenge on whoever had the chance to become

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Anna Grace V. has won third place in the early age group for the Sci-Fi Spring 2021 Youth Writing Contest with her piece "Turkey and Della"

My name is Anna Grace.  I am 10 years old and I live with my 2 brothers, my 2 dogs, and my mom and dad.  I like reading, especially Greek Mythology and fantasy books.  I also like drawing and creating fantasy stories. I hope you like “Turkey and Della.” 

The Spectacular Journey of Turkey and Della

This book is dedicated to my teacher; Ms.Westerman, for being an awesome teacher and on awesome

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Hunter G. has won second place in the second age group for the Sci-Fi Spring 2021 Youth Writing Contest with his piece "The Time She Had Returned."

María sat quietly and carefully outside in the front area of a bar. The area was quite overgrown with a variety of green. What the bar lacked was people. This little town she had once remembered was teeming with solemness. María wondered why the plants continued to grow with little water. They climbed up in search of something. These desperate plants continued no  matter what.  It was

Maia Tamarin has traveled to the very ends of the earth to create three otherworldly dresses made from the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of the stars. However, Maia has paid a grievous price for this. Every day since she struck a deal with the demon Bandur, she becomes more and more like him — her eyes glow red, she hears voices urging her to harness the darkness inside of her, and she sees visions of a bloody future. However, Maia has much, much more to worry about. A’Landi lies on the brink of war with the Northern Lands, and Maia could be the key to bringing

Yunjae lived his whole life wondering what it was like to be “ordinary”. Diagnosed with alexithymia at a young age, Yunjae never felt or understood human emotions. Despite his mom’s efforts to teach him, no Post-it note could ever truly turn him into the “normal” kid she wanted.

However, after witnessing a terrible incident on Christmas Eve — which is also his birthday — he had only himself to rely on. Or so he thought.

After the incident, Yunjae meets new people like Gon, the new troublemaker in school. Although opposites of each other, the two unordinary teens form an unexpected

15-year-old Xiomara Batista never felt heard from the people around her. Although she hated it, her body did all the talking. With an overly religious mother and the judging stares of other people, Xiomara felt trapped, unable to break free from her problems. Due to her overwhelming emotions, she turned to writing poetry to manage her feelings.

When Xiomara finds out about a slam poetry club at her school, she is filled with curiosity. She eagerly wants to join, but the poetry club meetings overlap with her church’s conformation class, which is her mom’s number one priority for her. Will

Although admitting this may qualify me as a one-hundred percent board-certified nerd (dweeb, Poindexter, etc.), I’ve loved reference books for as long as I can remember. And they’ve come a long way since three clever Scots dreamed up the first Encyclopædia Brittanica in Edinburgh in 1768. Over the years they’ve become much more accessible, engaging, and, dare I say, delightful, in large part thanks to a company called Dorling Kindersley Limited, better known as DK Publishing. 

I first became aware of DK Publishing through their expansive Eyewitness series. As a grade school student in the

The Cellar, by Natasha Preston, is a fiction thriller novel. It is about a young girl named Summer who gets kidnapped and taken to a cellar. With several other girls she is forced into a pretend life. While in the cellar she has to cook, clean, look good, and entertain Colin. The novel shows her, her family, and friends’ perspectives throughout Summer’s time inside the cellar. Will she ever be able to escape the cellar?

This novel deals with some mature topics such as rape and abuse, so the audience should be mature. This book is one of my all-time favorite books. Throughout the entire

17-year-old Clara Densmore is a witch whose powers revolve around the weather. Unlike normal witches, Clara’s power is strong throughout all seasons of the year. This is because she is an Everwitch, meaning she can control all seasons. Clara is a pariah at the Eastern School of Solar Magic. She wants to give up her powers because of a tragic incident that had happened in the past. But with huge natural disasters and dying witches- that doesn’t seem like an option to her. Clara soon realizes that only she can save the world. With the help of Sang Park, a visiting student, she races against time

How do you repair a world torn apart by the horrors of war? Karou might have an answer to this impossible question. Working as the new resurrectionist, Karou has built a formidable army of chimaera from teeth and souls. But things are far from over — the ruthless emperor of the Seraphim prepares to march on the human world with his soldiers dressed as angels, ready to receive a welcome fit for kings. With no choice left, Karou forms an uneasy alliance with Akiva and his army of renegade Seraphim — one that just might change the course of the war.

This was a fantastic conclusion to the

One of Us is Lying opens with the death of Simon, a high school student and the creator of a gossip app, a day before he had planned to expose the carefully-guarded secrets of four other students: Bronwyn, Addy, Cooper, and Nate. Only, the four students in the detention room when he was poisoned were just those: Bronwyn, Addy, Cooper, and Nate. When the “Bayview Four” are declared suspects in Simon’s murder, all four of them claim they’re innocent—but which one of them is lying?

I have always loved mysteries because I like trying to solve them myself, but I loved One of Us is Lying even

Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, is a mix of Romance/Victorian Literature.  Jane starts her story while living with her Aunt Reed. Poor Jane; no one truly loved her at her Aunts’. Though she still is abused by her Aunt and cousins, Jane leaves to Lowood to receive education. She stays there for some while until she is eighteen. Eventually, she takes upon a job at Thornfield. Her boss, Mr. Rochester, is a harsh man. At first, she disliked him. Is her love for Mr. Rochester true, even with the difference of age?

I enjoyed reading Jane Eyre. It is a little hard to understand, but most of the

“Normal is whatever you grow used to, like wildfires choking the life out of everything.  Or a town that live through its children, over and over again, until nobody remembers a time when that wasn’t the case.”

Each chapter is its own short story.  Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock does a fabulous job intertwining the lives of several teenagers from small towns in the American West and Alaska.  The collection is relatable, full of heart and hope with stories about a wildfire, a camp, as well as a mysterious disappearance.  (My personal favorite was Parking-Lot Flowers about a teenage boy who picks up a