Teenspace
November’s Virtual Pride Book Club
Posted on October 16, 2020
Queer YA Books about Gender Identity!
Our Virtual Pride Book Club for Teens ages 13-18 continues this month with the theme of Queer YA Books about Gender Identity. You can select a book that fits the theme based on recommendations by librarians or choose your own! We will be meeting online at 3:30pm on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. For more information, email teenpride@sonomalibrary.org.
To register for the November 3rd book club, visit https://events.sonomalibrary.org/event/4479860
Here are some of our recommendations:
Dark and Deepest Red by Anna-Marie McLemore (they/them)
Recommended by Alex (she/her)
You can order a physical copy of this book for curbside pickup at this link on the catalog.
Or you can access this book digitally as an e-book and an e-audiobook via Overdrive.
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas (he/him/they/them)
Recommended by Javier (he/him)
You can order a physical copy of this book for curbside pickup at this link on the catalog.
Or you can access this book digitally as an e-book and an e-audiobook via Overdrive.
Watch Javier’s book talk on YouTube, or watch below.
Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker (she/her) and Wendy Xu (she/her)
Recommended by Melissa (she/her)
You can order a physical copy of this book for curbside pickup at this link on the catalog.
Or you can access this graphic novel digitally as an e-book via Hoopla.
Genderqueer by Maia Kobabe (e/em/eir)
Recommended by Stuart (he/him)
You can order a physical copy of this book for curbside pickup at this link on the catalog.
Or you can access this graphic novel digitally as an e-book via Overdrive.
And as an e-book and an e-audiobook on Hoopla!
To meet Maia Kobabe at our virtual Zine Fest, click here!
Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender (they/them)
Recommended by Terra (she/her)
You can order a physical copy of this book for curbside pickup at this link on the catalog.
Or you can access this graphic novel digitally as an e-book via Overdrive.
Watch Terra’s book talk on YouTube, or watch below.
More Queer YA Books about Gender Identity:
(Hint: click on the book covers to go to go to the library catalog)
A Quick and Easy Guide to They/Them Pronouns
by Archie Bongiovanni (they/them) and Tristan Jimerson (he/him)
A Quick and Easy Guide to Queer & Trans Identities
by Mady G. (they/them) and J.R. Zuckerberg (they/them)
Virtual Teen Book Club
Posted on September 24, 2020
We miss interacting with our teens and want to invite you all to join the Virtual Teen Book Club! Unlike other book clubs, which force everyone to read the same book, we know you want more autonomy than that. Each month we will pick a theme around which to focus your reading. Our next meeting is October 13th at 3:30PM via Zoom and our theme is paranormal, supernatural, or horror books. This book club is open to all Sonoma County residents between the ages of 13 and 18 who would like to join.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Our teen librarians involved in the book club will be reading alongside you and book talking our choices for the month on our Youtube channel. You can select one of our recommendations or any other book you want which fits the theme. For more information, email teenbooks@sonomalibrary.org
Librarian Picks
The Fell of Dark by Caleb Roehrig (he/him)
Recommended by Stuart (he/him)at Guerneville.
“The only thing August Pfeiffer hates more than algebra is living in a vampire town. Located at a nexus of mystical energy fields, Fulton Heights is practically an electromagnet for supernatural drama. And when a mysterious (and annoyingly hot) vampire boy arrives with a cryptic warning, Auggie suddenly finds himself at the center of it. An ancient and terrible power is returning to the earthly realm, and somehow Auggie seems to be the only one who can stop it.”
Get an e-book through Overdrive
Watch Stuart’s book talk on YouTube here or watch below.
The Diviners by Libba Bray (she/her)
Recommended by Karen (she/her) at Petaluma.
“Seventeen-year-old Evie O'Neill is thrilled when she is exiled from small-town Ohio to New York City in 1926, even when a rash of occult-based murders thrusts Evie and her uncle, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult, into the thick of the investigation.”
Get a physical book here, or an e-audiobook Overdrive.
Watch Karen’s book talk on YouTube here or watch below.
Sunshine by Robin McKinley (she/her)
Recommended by Alex (she/her) at Windsor.
“All hope for stopping the vampiric elite from controlling earth depends on human SOFs (Special Other Forces) and the success of their attempt to recruit Sunshine, the daughter of legendary sorcerer Onyx Blaise.”
Get a physical book here, an e-book or e-audiobook here or a Hoopla e-book here.
Watch Alex’s book talk on YouTube here or watch below.
The Haunted by Danielle Vega (she/her)
Recommended by Sabine (she/her) at Sonoma Valley.
"To evade her manipulative ex-boyfriend, sixteen-year-old Hendricks' family moves to small-town New York, where she joins the popular crowd, but only her outcast neighbor, Eddie, can help chase vindictive ghosts from her new house…”
Get a physical book here or an Overdrive e-book or e-audiobook here.
Watch Sabine’s book talk on YouTube here or watch below.
More Excellent Horror/Supernatural Reads
Out of Salem by Hal Schrieve (xie/hir)
"Genderqueer fourteen-year-old Z Chilworth has to adjust quickly to their new status as a zombie after waking from death from a car crash that killed their parents and sisters. Always a talented witch, Z now can barely perform magic and is rapidly decaying. Faced with rejection from their remaining family members and old friends, Z moves in with Mrs. Dunnigan, an elderly witch and befriends Aysel, a loud would-be-goth classmate who is, like Z, a loner. As Z struggles to find a way to repair the broken magical seal holding their body together, Aysel fears that her classmates will discover her status as an unregistered werewolf. “
Get a physical book here, an Overdrive e-book here, or a Hoopla e-book here.
Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson (she/her)
“While investigating the supposed suicides of her best friend, Riley, and mean girls June and Dayton, sixteen-year-old Wiccan Mila Flores accidentally brings them back to life.”
Get a physical book here or an Overdrive e-book or e-audiobook here.
The Raven’s Tale by Cat Winters (she/her)
“Seventeen-year-old Edgar Poe's plans to escape his foster family, begin classes at the prestigious new university, and marry his beloved Elmira Royster go awry when a macabre Muse appears with a request.”
The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White (she/her)
“Elizabeth Lavenza has been starved and beaten by her ‘caregiver’ until she is brought to the home of Victor Frankenstein, an unsmiling, solitary boy who has everything-- except a friend. To escape from misery, Elizabeth does everything she can to make herself indispensable. She is taken in by the Frankenstein family and soon she and Victor are inseparable. But as the years pass, Elizabeth's survival depends on managing Victor's dangerous temper and entertaining his every whim, no matter how depraved. She is determined to stay alive no matter the cost... as the world she knows is consumed by darkness.”
Get a physical book here and an Overdrive e-book or e-audiobook here.
Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand (she/her)
“On the island of Sawkill Rock, gleaming horses graze in rolling pastures and cold waves crash against black cliffs. Kids whisper the legend of an insidious monster at parties and around campfires. And girls have been disappearing for decades, stolen away by a ravenous evil no one has dared to fight. Until now. They're the Sawkill Girls. Marion: awkward and plain, steady and dependable. Zoey: luckless and lonely, hurting but hiding it. Val: gorgeous and privileged, ruthless and regal. Something dark is happening on the Rock. And they need to stop it.”
Get a physical book here, an Overdrive e-book or e-audiobook here, or a Hoopla e-audiobook here.
The Price Guide to the Occult by Leslye Walton (she/her)
“Sixteen-year-old Nor, who comes from a long line of witches, prefers to hide her ability to communicate with nature and lives in constant fear of the return of her abusive mother.”
Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link
“From the multiple award- winning "The Faery Handbag," in which a teenager's grandmother carries an entire village (or is it a man-eating dog?) in her handbag, to the near-future of "The Surfer," whose narrator (a soccer-playing skeptic) waits with a planeload of refugees for the aliens to arrive, these ten stories are funny and full of unexpected insights and skewed perspectives on the world.”
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin (she/her)
“Seventeen-year-old Mara cannot remember the accident that took the lives of three of her friends, but after moving from Rhode Island to Florida, finding love with Noah, and more deaths, she realizes uncovering something buried in her memory might save her family and her future.”
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black (she/her)
“When seventeen-year-old Tana wakes up following a party in the aftermath of a violent vampire attack, she travels to Coldtown, a quarantined Massachusetts city full of vampires, with her ex-boyfriend and a mysterious vampire boy in tow.”
In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters (she/her)
“In San Diego in 1918, as deadly influenza and World War I take their toll, sixteen-year-old Mary Shelley Black watches desperate mourners flock to séances and spirit photographers for comfort and, despite her scientific leanings, must consider if ghosts are real when her first love, killed in battle, returns.”
Get a physical book here, an Overdrive e-book here, or a Hoopla e-book here.
Celebrate Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month!
Posted on September 24, 2020
Did you know that Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month runs from September 15-October 15? This is a time dedicated to recognizing the achievements and contributions of Hispanic or Latinx (a gender-neutral alternative to the terms Latino or Latina) people to American society and culture. To celebrate this month, Sonoma County Library’s very own Hispanic and Latinx librarians pulled together some awesome books written by Latinx authors. Here are our YA recommendations!
(Hint: click on the book covers or title to go to go to the library catalog)
October’s Virtual Pride Book Club: Queer YA Horror and Supernatural Books!
Posted on August 29, 2020
Our Virtual Pride Book Club for Teens ages 13-18 continues this month with the theme of Queer YA Horror and Supernatural Books! The books for this month don’t have to be scary; anything that fits in with the theme of supernatural books will be just fine. Think books with witches, monsters, paranormal happenings, and creepy magical books. You can select a book that fits the theme based on recommendations by librarians or choose your own! We will be meeting online at 3:30pm on Tuesday, October 6, 2020. For more information, email teenpride@sonomalibrary.org.
Here are some of our recommendations:
Alex (she/her) recommends
The Lost Coast, by Amy Rose Capetta (all pronouns)
You can order a physical copy of this book for curbside pickup at this link.
You can also order a Book on CD for curbside pickup at this link.
Or you can access this book digitally as an e-book and an e-audiobook via Overdrive.
Javier (he/him) recommends
Prelude for Lost Souls, by Helene Dunbar (she/her)
You can read this book as an e-book on Hoopla.
Melissa (she/her) recommends
Blood Countess, by Lana Popovic (she/her)
You can order a physical copy of this book for curbside pickup at this link.
Or you can access this book digitally as an e-book and an e-audiobook via Hoopla.
Stuart (he/him) recommends
Deathless Divide, by Lana Popovic (she/her)
You can order a physical copy of this book for curbside pickup at this link.
Or you can access this book digitally as an e-book via Overdrive.
And as an e-book and an e-audiobook on Hoopla.
Terra (she/her) recommends
When We Were Magic, by Sarah Gailey (they/them)
You can order a physical copy of this book for curbside pickup at this link.
Or you can access this book digitally as an e-book via Overdrive.
More Queer YA Horror and Supernatural books:
Vampires Never Get Old
by Hal Schrieve (xie/hir)
Coming soon
Cemetery Boys
by Aiden Thomas (they/them)
Coming soon
Try an online tutor today!
Going the Extra Mile...
Posted on August 22, 2020
Feeling Frustrated with Finals Approaching?
Did you know that the Sonoma County Library offers free access to 3,600+ professional online tutors?
These tutors are experts in their fields (40 subject areas) and are ready to help with any problem that might be challenging you at the moment. The #SonomaCountyLibrary now offers free access to this service via Tutor.com. Live one-to-one help is available between the hours of 1:00 P.M. - 10:00 P.M.
You can also check out the Essay & Resume Dropoff... it will blow your mind!
NEED A LITTLE SUPPORT WITH MATH, ENGLISH, SCIENCE... (?) WE'VE GOT YOUR BACK. Try it tonight!
Ok, so now you're sold and simply wondering how to access?! (All you need is your Library Card and Pin)
Go to: www.sonomalibrary.org --> Research --> Databases --> Tutor.com
Or follow this link:https://sonomalibrary.org/resources/premium/a-z Scroll down to find Tutor.com and get to work!
So, go ahead, go the extra mile and learn something new. We're here to help you get there...
Got Questions?
Ask your friendly Young Adult Librarian at your local branch of the Sonoma County Library!
We are here for you.
Post by Rosalie C. Abbott / Sebastopol Regional Library
September’s Virtual Pride Book Club: Queer books by Black authors!
Posted on August 19, 2020
We are excited to announce our brand new Virtual Pride Book Club for Teens! Several of our branches held in-person Pride Book Clubs in the before times, and now we are taking it virtual! This means that teens from all over Sonoma County, between the ages of 13-18 can join. We will be meeting at 3:30pm on the first Tuesday of every month. Instead of having everyone read the same book, there will be a theme each month. The theme for September 2020 is queer YA by Black authors. You can select a book that fits the theme based on recommendations by librarians or choose your own! For more information, email teenpride@sonomalibrary.org.
Here are some of our recommendations:
The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta (he/him)
Recommended by Melissa (she/her).
You can order a physical copy of this book for curbside pickup at this link.
Or you can access this book digitally as an e-book and an e-audiobook via Overdrive.
Watch Melissa’s book talk on YouTube here or watch below.
The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus (she/her)
Recommended by Stuart (he/him)
You can order a physical copy of this book for curbside pickup at this link.
Or you can access this book digitally as an e-book and an e-audiobook via Overdrive.
Watch Stuart’s book talk on YouTube here or watch below.
You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson (she/her)
Recommended by Terra (she/her)
You can order a physical copy of this book for curbside pickup at this link.
Or you can access this book digitally as an e-book and an e-audiobook via Overdrive. And as an e-audiobook on Hoopla!
Watch Terra’s book talk on YouTube here or watch below.
How to Be Remy Cameron by Julian Winters (he/him)
Recommended by Alex (she/her)
You can order a physical copy of this book for curbside pickup at this link.
Or you can access this book digitally as an e-book via Hoopla.
Watch Alex’s book talk on YouTube here or watch below.
The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow (she/her)
Recommended by Javier (he/him)
You can order a physical copy of this book for curbside pickup at this link.
Or you can access this book digitally as an e-book and an e-audiobook via Overdrive. And as an e-audiobook on Hoopla!
Watch Javier’s book talk on YouTube here or watch below.
More Queer YA books by Black authors:
Virtual Teen Book Club
Posted on August 18, 2020
We miss interacting with our teens and want to invite you all to join the Virtual Teen Book Club! Unlike other book clubs, which force everyone to read the same book, we know you want more autonomy than that. Each month we will pick a theme around which to focus your reading. Our first meeting is SEPTEMBER 8th at 3:30PM via Zoom and our theme is social justice/Black Lives Matter. This book club is open to all Sonoma County residents between the ages of 13 and 18 who would like to join.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Our teen librarians involved in the book club will be reading alongside you and book talking our choices for the month on our Youtube channel. You can select one of our recommendations or any other book you want which fits the theme. For more information, email teenbooks@sonomalibrary.org
Librarian Picks
The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante
Picked by Stuart at Guerneville
“After escaping a detention center at the U.S. border, seventeen-year-old Marisol agrees to participate in a medical experiment hoping to keep her and her younger sister, Gabi, from being deported to El Salvador.”
A Song Below Water by Bethany Morrow
Picked by Alex at Windsor
“In a society determined to keep her under lock and key, Tavia must hide her siren powers. Meanwhile, Effie is fighting her own family struggles, pitted against literal demons from her past. Together, these best friends must navigate through the perils of high school's junior year…”
All American Boys by Jason Reynolds & Brendan Kiely
Picked by Karen at Petaluma
When a police encounter goes terribly wrong it leaves an African-American teenager, Rashad, in a hospital room recovering from his injuries. One of his white classmates, Quinn witnessed the incident from across the street and is forced to deal with the complicated reality of racism and police brutality in our country.
I’m Not Dying With You Tonight by Kimberly Jones & Gilly Segal
Picked by Sabine at Sonoma Valley
“Over the course of one night, two girls with two very different backgrounds must rely on each other to get through the violent race riot that has enveloped their city…”
More Excellent Reads on Social Justice
How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon
“When sixteen-year-old Tariq Johnson is shot to death, his community is thrown into an uproar because Tariq was black and the shooter, Jack Franklin, is white, and in the aftermath everyone has something to say, but no two accounts of the events agree.”
Light It Up by Kekla Magoon
“Told in a series of vignettes from multiple viewpoints, Kekla Magoon's Light It Up is a powerful, layered story about injustice and strength--as well as an incredible follow-up to the highly acclaimed novel How It Went Down. Told from multiple viewpoints, this novel recounts the story of Shae Tatum. Shae, an unarmed thirteen-year-old black girl, is shot by a white police officer, throwing the community into upheaval - and making it a target for demonstrators.”
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
“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...”
March, Book One (and Book Two and Book Three by John Lewis
“March is a vivid first-hand account of John Lewis' lifelong struggle for civil and human rights, meditating in the modern age on the distance traveled since the days of Jim Crow and segregation. Rooted in Lewis' personal story, it also reflects on the highs and lows of the broader civil rights movement.”
Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles
“When Marvin Johnson's twin, Tyler, goes to a party, Marvin decides to tag along to keep an eye on his brother. But what starts as harmless fun turns into a shooting, followed by a police raid. The next day Tyler is missing, and it's up to Marvin to find him. But when Tyler is found dead, a video leaked online tells an even more chilling story: Tyler has been shot and killed by a police officer. Terrified as his mother unravels, mourning a brother who is now a hashtag, Marvin must learn what justice and freedom really mean.”
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds & Ibram X. Kendi
"A history of racist and antiracist ideas in America, from their roots in Europe until today, adapted from the National Book Award winner Stamped from the Beginning"
Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America by Various Authors
"“A collection of short stories explore what it is like to be young and black, centering on the experiences of black teenagers and emphasizing that one person's experiences, reality, and personal identity are different than someone else.”
I Am Alfonso Jones by Tony Medina
“The ghost of fifteen-year-old Alfonso Jones travels in a New York subway car full of the living and the dead, watching his family and friends fight for justice after he is killed by an off-duty police officer while buying a suit in a Midtown department store.”
Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley
“In 1959 Virginia, Sarah, a black student who is one of the first to attend a newly integrated school, forces Linda, a white integration opponent's daughter, to confront harsh truths when they work together on a school project.”
Dear Martin by Nic Stone
“Writing letters to the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., seventeen-year-old college-bound Justyce McAllister struggles to face the reality of race relations today and how they are shaping him.”
Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson
“Tired of being singled out at her mostly-white private school as someone who needs support, high school junior Jade would rather participate in the school's amazing Study Abroad program than join Women to Women, a mentorship program for at-risk girls.”
The Voting Booth by Brandy Colbert
“Marva was born ready for this day. She's always been driven to make a difference in the world, and what better way than to vote in her first election? Duke is so done with this election. He just wants to get voting over with so he can prepare for his band's first paying gig tonight. Only problem? Duke can’t vote. When Marva sees Duke turned away from their polling place, she takes it upon herself to make sure his vote is counted...”
This Is My America by Kim Johnson
“Every week, seventeen-year-old Tracy Beaumont writes letters to Innocence X, asking the organization to help her father, an innocent Black man on death row. After seven years, Tracy is running out of time--her dad has only 267 days left. Then the unthinkable happens. The police arrive in the night, and Tracy's older brother, Jamal, goes from being a bright, promising track star to a "thug" on the run, accused of killing a white girl. Determined to save her brother, Tracy investigates what really happened between Jamal and Angela down at the Pike. But will Tracy and her family survive the uncovering of the skeletons of their Texas town's racist history that still haunt the present?”
Free SAT Intensive Prep Classes at Four Locations
Posted on July 31, 2019
Sonoma County Library will offer free 5-hour SAT Intensive prep classes during September and October 2019 for high school juniors who will be taking the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). These classes are part of Sonoma County Library’s Path to College series that supports college-bound high school students and their families. With these classes, the Library seeks to meet the needs of students through all stages of the college preparation and application process.
Registration for SAT Intensive prep classes is required and begins on Saturday, August 10, 2019. Students or parents can pick up registration forms at the four libraries where the class will be offered: Roseland Community Library, Sebastopol Library, Sonoma Valley Library, and Petaluma Library. Registration is limited to high school juniors.
The SAT Intensive prep class includes study and review of problematic areas of all sections of the SAT including the essay. Students are provided with an individual copy of The Official SAT Prep Guide for use in the class and extended study at home. The class comprises two parts of 2½ hours each; students must attend both parts.
The course is offered at each of the following locations, dates & times:
- Roseland Library: Wed. September 4 (part 1) & Wed. September 18 (part 2), 6:00pm-8:30pm
- Sonoma Valley Library: Mon. September 16 (part 1) & Sat. September 21 (part 2), 10:30am-1:00pm
- Sebastopol Library: Mon. September 23 (part 1) & Mon. September 30 (part 2), 3:30pm-6:00pm
- Petaluma Library: Sat. October 5 (part 1) & Mon. October 21 (part 2), 6:00 pm-8:30pm
All workshops are led by qualified local experts and are free and open to high school students. Attendance is limited to 25 high school juniors at each location.
A majority of past SAT Intensive participants have strongly agreed that they feel better prepared for the SAT test format, directions, and scoring, and would recommend the class to a friend. One parent says, “These college talks and preparation classes are invaluable to both parents and students. I would really appreciate if the library to provide more of these services since there is such a great need for this information.”
These classes are part of the Library's Path to College series. For more information, contact Youth Services Administrator Kathy DeWeese at 545-0831 x1513 or kdeweese@sonomalibrary.org.
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What Should I Read Next?
Posted on July 23, 2019
Teens: Pondering what to read next?
Check out this 'what to read next' flow chart created by Young Adult Librarian extraordinaire, Melissa Carroll, at our Northwest Santa Rosa branch of the Sonoma County Library!
