Teen Staff Picks
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Fahrenheit-182
***The Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller!***
A smart, funny, and refreshing memoir from Mark Hoppus, the vocalist, bassist, and founding member of pop-punk band blink-182.
This is the story of an angst-filled kid from the desert, navigating the chaos of his parents' bitter divorce and searching for his place in the world. Each move across the country was a chance to reinvent himself, switching identities from dork to goth to skate punk, and eventually meeting his best friend who just so happens to be his musical soulmate.
With sharp humor and raw honesty, Fahrenheit-182 takes readers through Mark's formative years as a latchkey kid in the 1980s, hooked on punk rock, skateboards, and MTV. Along the way, Mark reflects on his lifelong battle with anxiety, his celebrated career with blink-182, and his public fight with cancer, in a voice that's both relatable and unmistakably his own.
Threaded with heartfelt grit, Fahrenheit-182 is more than just a memoir for blink-182 fans. It's a funny, smart, and deeply human story for anyone who's struggled, reinvented themselves, wanted to quit but kept going.
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Looking for Alaska
The award-winning, genre-defining debut from John Green, the #1 bestselling author of The Anthropocene Reviewed and The Fault in Our Stars
Winner of the Michael L. Printz Award • A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist • A New York Times Bestseller • A USA Today Bestseller • NPR’s Top Ten Best-Ever Teen Novels • TIME magazine’s 100 Best Young Adult Novels of All Time • A PBS Great American Read Selection • Millions of copies sold!
First drink. First prank. First friend. First love.
Last words.
Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words—and tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet François Rabelais called the “Great Perhaps.” Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young, who will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps.
Looking for Alaska brilliantly chronicles the indelible impact one life can have on another. A modern classic, this stunning debut marked #1 bestselling author John Green’s arrival as a groundbreaking new voice in contemporary fiction.
Newly updated edition includes a brand-new Readers' Guide featuring a Q&A with author John Green -
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
The book that inspired the hit film!
Sundance U.S. Dramatic Audience Award
Sundance Grand Jury Prize
This is the funniest book you'll ever read about death.
It is a universally acknowledged truth that high school sucks. But on the first day of his senior year, Greg Gaines thinks he's figured it out. The answer to the basic existential question: How is it possible to exist in a place that sucks so bad? His strategy: remain at the periphery at all times. Keep an insanely low profile. Make mediocre films with the one person who is even sort of his friend, Earl.
This plan works for exactly eight hours. Then Greg's mom forces him to become friends with a girl who has cancer. This brings about the destruction of Greg's entire life.
Praise for Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
STARRED REVIEW
“One need only look at the chapter titles (“Let's Just Get This Embarrassing Chapter Out of the Way”) to know that this is one funny book.”
–Booklist, starred review
STARRED REVIEW
“A frequently hysterical confessional...Debut novelist Andrews succeeds brilliantly in painting a portrait of a kid whose responses to emotional duress are entirely believable and sympathetic, however fiercely he professes his essential crappiness as a human being. Though this novel begs inevitable thematic comparisons to John Green's The Fault in Our Stars (2011), it stands on its own in inventiveness, humor and heart.”
–Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“It is sure to be popular with many boys, including reluctant readers, and will not require much selling on the part of the librarian.”
–VOYA
"Mr. Andrews' often hilarious teen dialogue is utterly convincing, and his characters are compelling. Greg's random sense of humor, terrible self-esteem and general lack of self-awareness all ring true. Like many YA authors, Mr. Andrews blends humor and pathos with true skill, but he steers clear of tricky resolutions and overt life lessons, favoring incremental understanding and growth."
–Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Awards:
Capitol Choices 2013 - Noteworthy Titles for Children and Teens
Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) Choices 2013 list - Young Adult Fiction
YALSA 2013 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
YALSA 2013 Best Fiction for Young Adults
YALSA 2014 Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults
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Flamer
Named one of Kirkus' best books of the 21st century.
Award-winning author and artist Mike Curato draws on his own experiences in Flamer, his debut graphic novel, telling a difficult story with humor, compassion, and love.
"This book will save lives." —Jarrett J. Krosoczka, author of National Book Award Finalist Hey, Kiddo
I know I’m not gay. Gay boys like other boys. I hate boys. They’re mean, and scary, and they’re always destroying something or saying something dumb or both.
I hate that word. Gay. It makes me feel . . . unsafe.
It's the summer between middle school and high school, and Aiden Navarro is away at camp. Everyone's going through changes—but for Aiden, the stakes feel higher. As he navigates friendships, deals with bullies, and spends time with Elias (a boy he can't stop thinking about), he finds himself on a path of self-discovery and acceptance.
Godwin Books -
Gender Queer: A Memoir
2020 ALA Alex Award Winner
2020 Stonewall — Israel Fishman Non-fiction Award Honor Book
In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was the only thing e felt comfortable with strangers knowing about em. Now, Gender Queer is here. Maia’s intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma and fundamental violation of pap smears.
Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity—what it means and how to think about it—for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere.
"It’s also a great resource for those who identify as nonbinary or asexual as well as for those who know someone who identifies that way and wish to better understand." — SLJ (starred review) -
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
“A timeless story for every young person who needs to understand that they are not alone.” —Judy Blume
“Once in a while, a novel comes along that becomes a generational touchstone. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of those books.” —R. J. Palacio, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wonder
This #1 New York Times bestselling coming-of-age story with millions of copies in print takes a sometimes heartbreaking, often hysterical, and always honest look at high school in all its glory.
The critically acclaimed debut novel from Stephen Chbosky follows observant “wallflower” Charlie as he charts a course through the strange world between adolescence and adulthood. First dates, family drama, and new friends. Sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Devastating loss, young love, and life on the fringes. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie must learn to navigate those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.
A #1 New York Times bestseller for more than a year, adapted into a major motion picture starring Logan Lerman and Emma Watson (and written and directed by the author), and an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults (2000) and Best Book for Reluctant Readers (2000), this novel for teen readers (or wallflowers of more-advanced age) will make you laugh, cry, and perhaps feel nostalgic for those moments when you, too, tiptoed onto the dance floor of life. -
Sold
Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her family in a small hut on a mountain in Nepal. Though she is desperately poor, her life is full of simple pleasures, like playing hopscotch with her best friend from school, and having her mother brush her hair by the light of an oil lamp. But when the harsh Himalayan monsoons wash away all that remains of the family’s crops, Lakshmi’s stepfather says she must leave home and take a job to support her family.
He introduces her to a glamorous stranger who tells her she will find her a job as a maid in the city. Glad to be able to help, Lakshmi journeys to India and arrives at “Happiness House” full of hope. But she soon learns the unthinkable truth: she has been sold into prostitution.
An old woman named Mumtaz rules the brothel with cruelty and cunning. She tells Lakshmi that she is trapped there until she can pay off her family’s debt—then cheats Lakshmi of her meager earnings so that she can never leave.
Lakshmi’s life becomes a nightmare from which she cannot escape. Still, she lives by her mother’s words—Simply to endure is to triumph—and gradually, she forms friendships with the other girls that enable her to survive in this terrifying new world. Then the day comes when she must make a decision—will she risk everything for a chance to reclaim her life?
Written in spare and evocative vignettes, this powerful novel renders a world that is as unimaginable as it is real, and a girl who not only survives but triumphs.
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Crank
YA. The complete "New York Times" bestselling Crank trilogy is now available with exclusive bonus content. This boxed set makes a perfect gift and features trade paperback editions of "Crank," "Glass," and "Fallout "with striking new covers and special bonus content, including an essay from author Ellen Hopkins on the true story behind "Crank "and an essay from her daughter, the real "Kristina." In "Crank "you'll meet Kristina--and Kristina will meet crank. Acting under the guise of her alter ego, Bree, Kristina explores drugs, sex, and her own dark side. A new mother struggling--and failing--to stay clean, Kristina's downward spiral continues in "Glass," and the outcome is chronicled in "Fallout," which follows the lives of three of her children. Ages 14+
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All Boys Aren't Blue
A New York Times Bestseller and the #1 Most Challenged Book in America according to the American Library Association
In a series of personal essays, award-winning author and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson's All Boys Aren't Blue explores their childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia.
From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys.
Both a primer for teens eager to be allies as well as a reassuring testimony for young queer men of color, All Boys Aren't Blue covers topics such as gender identity, toxic masculinity, brotherhood, family, structural marginalization, consent, and Black joy. Johnson's emotionally frank style of writing will appeal directly to young adults. (Johnson used he/him pronouns at the time of publication.)
As seen on Good Morning America, NBC Nightly News, Today Show, and MSNBC feature stories
Velshi Banned Book Club
Indie Bestseller
Teen Vogue Recommended Read
Buzzfeed Recommended Read
People Magazine Best Book of the Summer
A New York Library Best Book of 2020
A Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2020 ... and more! -
The Maze Runner
THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING MAZE RUNNER SERIES • A teenager with no memory must navigate a deadly maze to survive in book one of this post-apocalyptic phenomenon.
“[A] mysterious survival saga that passionate fans describe as a fusion of Lord of the Flies [and] The Hunger Games” (Entertainment Weekly)
When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He’s surrounded by strangers—boys whose memories are also gone.
Outside the towering stone walls that surround them is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It’s the only way out—and no one’s ever made it through alive.
Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying: Remember. Survive. Run.
Look for more books in the blockbuster Maze Runner series:
THE MAZE RUNNER • THE SCORCH TRIALS • THE DEATH CURE • THE KILL ORDER • THE FEVER CODE -
Heartstopper
*Now an acclaimed live-action Netflix series!* Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love. A bestselling LGBTQ+ graphic novel about life, love, and everything that happens in between.
'Absolutely delightful. Sweet, romantic, kind. Beautifully paced. I loved this book.' RAINBOW ROWELL, author of Carry On
Charlie and Nick are at the same school, but they've never met ... until one day when they're made to sit together. They quickly become friends, and soon Charlie is falling hard for Nick, even though he doesn't think he has a chance.
But love works in surprising ways, and Nick is more interested in Charlie than either of them realised.
By Alice Oseman, winner of the YA Book Prize, Heartstopper is about love, friendship, loyalty and mental illness. It encompasses all the small moments of Nick and Charlie's lives that together make up something larger, which speaks to all of us.
'The queer graphic novel we wished we had at high school.' Gay Times
This is the first volume of Heartstopper, which is now an acclaimed live-action Netflix series.
Heartstopper was Children's #1 bestseller in the TCM chart on 23 April 2022. -
Anne of Green Gables
Follow the adventures of spirited reader, Anne Shirley, as she settles into her new home, makes friends, and stirs up trouble.
Farm-owning siblings Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert want to adopt a boy to help them around the farm. In a mix-up, the orphanage sends them the active and imaginative Anne Shirley instead. They make the most of the mistake as Anne becomes the beloved heart of the family and community, as well as of generations of readers.
With illustrations by M. A. and W. J. A. Claus and a timeline of the life and times of L. M. Montgomery, this beautiful, jacketed hardcover edition of Anne of Green Gables is unabridged and makes a great addition to any home library.
Essential volumes for the shelves of every classic literature lover, the Chartwell Classics series includes beautifully presented works and collections from some of the most important authors in literary history. Chartwell Classics are the editions of choice for the most discerning literature buffs.
Other titles in the Chartwell Classics Series include: Complete Fiction of H.P. Lovecraft; Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales; Complete Novels of Jane Austen; Complete Sherlock Holme; Complete Tales & Poems of Edgar Allen Poe; Complete Works of William Shakespeare; Divine Comedy; Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Other Tales; The Essential Tales of H.P. Lovecraft; The Federalist Papers; The Inferno; The Call of the Wild and White Fang; Moby Dick; The Odyssey; Pride and Prejudice; The Essential Grimm's Fairy Tales; Emma; The Great Gatsby; The Secret Garden; The Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe; The Phantom of the Opera; The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital; Republic; Frankenstein; Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea; The Picture of Dorian Gray; Meditations; Wuthering Heights; Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass; A Tales of Two Cities; Beowulf; The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Stories; Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; Little Women
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The elders' quest
As Leafbare approaches, a new danger threatens the Clans, who must navigate an ominous prophecy that foreshadows the destruction of the Moonpool and the end of the Cats' connection to StarClan.
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The outsiders
The struggle of three brothers to stay together after their parent's death and their quest for identity among the conflicting values of their adolescent society. When it was first published in 1967, The Outsiders defied convention with its immediate, deeply sympathetic portrayal of Ponyboy and his struggle to find a place for himself in a difficult world. Fifty years later, it speaks to teenagers as powerfully as ever.
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The summer I turned pretty
Belly spends the summer she turns sixteen at the beach just like every other summer of her life, but this time things are very different.
Teen Zone (Main)
Our Charleston Teen Zone is an age-specific space where teens can enjoy some solace or socialize with other people their age. It features 100% FREE:
- Monthly drop-in clubs
- Snacks & sodas on Mondays, popcorn & sodas on Thursdays
- Gaming consoles & board games to play in-house
- PCs with up to 5 pages of homework printing per day
- Teen Study Room
- Take-what-you-need, leave-what-you-can areas:
- Compassion Cabinet for hygiene products
- Teen Study Room school supplies area
- Free Community Bookshelf
Did you know: The Teen Zone is also connected to our IDEA Lab makerspace?
Upcoming Events
Drop in from 4-6PM on the second Tuesday of every month to make bright, aesthetic pony bead jewelry and key-chains. Although it is a time-honored tradition of the '90s, no experience is necessary!
Disclaimer(s)
Accessibility
Individuals with disabilities who require accommodation to attend a program at any KCPL facility should contact the ADA Coordinator at least 48 hours prior to the event. Phone: 304-343-4646 ext. 1242 or 1268 Email: facilities@kanawhalibrary.org
Main Library Patrons with strollers, wheelchairs, or other wheeled devices will find it easier to use the Jacobson Tower entrance on Quarrier Street or the Skybridge entrance via Summers Street Garage.
Photo & Video
We often photograph and videotape library events. These images are used for publicizing KCPL and its programs. If you do not wish to be photographed, please let the photographer or a staff member know.
Enjoy a cup of hot cocoa while you listen and take part in some holiday karaoke! You never know! You might just be good enough to win a prize.
Disclaimer(s)
Accessibility
Individuals with disabilities who require accommodation to attend a program at any KCPL facility should contact the ADA Coordinator at least 48 hours prior to the event. Phone: 304-343-4646 ext. 1242 or 1268 Email: facilities@kanawhalibrary.org
Main Library Patrons with strollers, wheelchairs, or other wheeled devices will find it easier to use the Jacobson Tower entrance on Quarrier Street or the Skybridge entrance via Summers Street Garage.
Photo & Video
We often photograph and videotape library events. These images are used for publicizing KCPL and its programs. If you do not wish to be photographed, please let the photographer or a staff member know.
Unleash your creativity and pamper yourself with personalized soaps! The Dunabr Public Library invites adults to a hands-on soap making class where you can craft your own unique soaps.
Disclaimer(s)
Registration Required
Registration for this program is required due to limited space and materials. If you cannot attend, please call the library to cancel your registration so the spot may open up to others. A registration will be cancelled and a program spot made available to other patrons if the registrant does not arrive within 10 minutes of the scheduled program time.
Accessibility
Individuals with disabilities who require accommodation to attend a program at any KCPL facility should contact the ADA Coordinator at least 48 hours prior to the event. Phone: 304-343-4646 ext. 1242 or 1268 Email: facilities@kanawhalibrary.org
Main Library Patrons with strollers, wheelchairs, or other wheeled devices will find it easier to use the Jacobson Tower entrance on Quarrier Street or the Skybridge entrance via Summers Street Garage.
Inclement Weather
All programs are subject to rescheduling or cancellation in the event of inclement weather.
Photo & Video
We often photograph and videotape library events. These images are used for publicizing KCPL and its programs. If you do not wish to be photographed, please let the photographer or a staff member know.
Holiday Open House
Join us for the Main Library's Holiday Open House! We'll be open in the evening for this special event on Friday, Dec. 12, from 6-8 p.m.
Disclaimer(s)
Accessibility
Individuals with disabilities who require accommodation to attend a program at any KCPL facility should contact the ADA Coordinator at least 48 hours prior to the event. Phone: 304-343-4646 ext. 1242 or 1268 Email: facilities@kanawhalibrary.org
Main Library Patrons with strollers, wheelchairs, or other wheeled devices will find it easier to use the Jacobson Tower entrance on Quarrier Street or the Skybridge entrance via Summers Street Garage.
Food Allergies
We cannot guarantee that food served at this program has not come into contact with tree nuts, soy, or other allergens.
Inclement Weather
All programs are subject to rescheduling or cancellation in the event of inclement weather.
Photo & Video
We often photograph and videotape library events. These images are used for publicizing KCPL and its programs. If you do not wish to be photographed, please let the photographer or a staff member know.
DIY: Beaded Bracelet
Create a festive bracelet with sparkly beads! A rainbow of assorted beads will be available. Registration is required and opens on Saturday, November 29 at 10:00 a.m.
Disclaimer(s)
Registration Required
Registration for this program is required due to limited space and materials. If you cannot attend, please call the library to cancel your registration so the spot may open up to others. A registration will be cancelled and a program spot made available to other patrons if the registrant does not arrive within 10 minutes of the scheduled program time.
Code Club
Join us in the IDEA Lab for this month's Code Club! Check back soon for more details.
Disclaimer(s)
Accessibility
Individuals with disabilities who require accommodation to attend a program at any KCPL facility should contact the ADA Coordinator at least 48 hours prior to the event. Phone: 304-343-4646 ext. 1242 or 1268 Email: facilities@kanawhalibrary.org
Main Library Patrons with strollers, wheelchairs, or other wheeled devices will find it easier to use the Jacobson Tower entrance on Quarrier Street or the Skybridge entrance via Summers Street Garage.
Photo & Video
We often photograph and videotape library events. These images are used for publicizing KCPL and its programs. If you do not wish to be photographed, please let the photographer or a staff member know.