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This is Where We Die
Eight friends went together on a ski trip and only six returned home: Charlie, Isla, Will, Sadie, Emily, and Anthony. When their graduation approaches the following year, the group decides to celebrate at an island retreat, but nothing goes as planned. They quickly learn that they're the only ones there, the communication cables linking them to the outside world have been cut, and they're starting to die one by one. At first, they think the deaths are accidental, but then the

Suzanne Severns
May 31 min read


Sunrise Nights
Jude and Florence meet at "Sunrise Night" at an art camp. Jude is a talented photographer dealing with anxiety and his parents' divorce while Florence is a ballet dancer whose degenerative eye condition is robbing her balance. There's definitely chemistry between the two, and they almost seem made for each other, but Jude has a girlfriend. They agree to meet again at the next Sunrise Night a year later, however, but will their changing circumstances bring them together or dr

Suzanne Severns
Apr 261 min read


We Are All So Good at Smiling
When Whimsy and Faerry meet at a mental health facility, they have no idea how much their lives have been tied to each other in the past. Memories have been erased by Whimsy's mother who is a conjuror like her daughter, but it doesn't take long for these memories to emerge as Whimsy and Faerry spend time with each other. They are both terrified of the forest at the end of the Marsh Creek Lane, but eventually, they will have to confront the monster there and face down their ow

Suzanne Severns
Apr 201 min read


When We Ride
Diego "Benny" Benevides knows the only way out of poverty for him and his alcoholic mom is to do well in school, get a scholarship, go to college, and get a professional job, but his best friend, Lawson, might jeopardize his hopes. Diego cares about Lawson like he's a brother, but Lawson doesn't strive to do well in school. Instead, he sells marijuana and parties. When he begins selling harder drugs, Diego worries about driving him because he's carrying drugs on him to sell,

Suzanne Severns
Apr 121 min read


This Thing of Ours
When Ossie Brown loses his chance to go to college on a basketball scholarship due to an injury, he feels like his whole world is shattered, that is, until he's encouraged to try for a covetted slot in his school's writing program. He's a natural at writing just as he is at basketball and becomes fast friends with two other students in the program, Naima and Luis. In Ms. Hunt's class, they develop their voice and enjoy reading books written by diverse authors, but not everyon

Suzanne Severns
Apr 51 min read


The Executioners Three
If you're looking for a 1990s era supernatural mystery with plenty of pop culture references, look no further. In this 2026 TAYSHAS-winning novel, main character Freddie Gellar is a fan of supernatural shows and movies like the X Files and Men in Black, so when a person is killed and mysterious events take place like the tolling of a bell only she can hear, she decides to investigate...along with the handsome boy from the rival high school that she inadvertently got arrested.

Suzanne Severns
Mar 291 min read


Everything is Tuberculosis: the History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection
In this nonfiction bestseller, John Green, author of the YA hit The Fault in Our Stars , examines what Tuberculosis is (so much more than just a lung disease), and why it's been practically eraticated in 1st world countries while still highly prevalent in poorer nations despite the existence of accurate tests and effective treatments for its various strains. Inspired to expose this disparity after a trip to Sierra Leone in which he meets a boy infected with TB who shares the

Suzanne Severns
Mar 221 min read


Every Borrowed Beat
Seventeen-year-old Sydney Wells has been given a second chance at life. Close to dying from heart disease, she receives a donor heart from a girl her age named Mia in a neighboring town who dies in a tragic accident. After eavesdropping on a nurse's conversation and doing some investigating, she's able to discover the donor's name and attends her memorial service and encounters Mia's best friend, Clayton. Knowing he would be creeped out by the idea of her showing up to Mia's

Suzanne Severns
Mar 81 min read


Sisters in the Wind
Lucy was very close to her father, especially since her mother supposedly abandoned her at birth. After his death, she was thrust into the foster care system and subsequently ran away, but now her past is catching up to her. Someone wants something from her and is threatening to kill her. Fortunately, Mr. Jameson, a former secret agent and his friend, Daunis, show up to look after her and try to reunite her with her tribe. It turns out that she's half indigenous and never kne

Suzanne Severns
Mar 11 min read


Fake Skating
Dani and Alec were best friends growing up, but when they turn 13, her father, a military officer, moves the family. After five years, she returns for her senior year with her mother who has divorced her dad, but they've both changed. He's grown up and is the top hockey player with a chance of going pro while she's a dedicated student determined to get into Harvard. When her need for an extracurricular activity lands her as co-manager for the hockey team, they are thrown back

Suzanne Severns
Feb 231 min read


Death in the Jungle
You may have heard about the Jonestown Massacre...how almost a thousand U.S. citizens committed mass suicide in a jungle in Guyana by drinking Koolaid with cyanide in it because their cult leader, Jim Jones told them, too, but most people don't know the true details of this gruesome event in American history. In this engaging piece of award-winning nonfiction, Candace Fleming separates fact from fiction as she relates the story of Jim Jones from his humble beginnings to the

Suzanne Severns
Feb 161 min read


The Glass Girl
Bella doesn't have a problem. She just needs to drink a little alcohol to deal with some of the stress she has. It takes the edge off. Her grandmother with whom she was close (and with whome she ocassionally drank) has died, her parents have divorced and still argue, and she wants to make the best grades that she can. It's all a lot. But she keeps insisting to herself and her best friend that she doesn't have a drinking problem...even after she starts hanging out near the liq

Suzanne Severns
Feb 11 min read


Theo of Golden
A mysterious stranger arrives in the small southern town of Golden. He's from Portugal, but he never shares his last name. He's intrigued by the 92 portraits hanging in the coffeeshop he enters. Each portrait is that of a resident. One by one he buys them, contacts the subject of the portrait, and asks to meet them at the fountain to give them their portrait. What follows is a beautiful story of seeing beyond exteriors, listening to others, building relationships, and embraci

Suzanne Severns
Jan 181 min read


Under the Same Stars
Sophie and Hanna are two teenage girls living in Germany in the 1940s wishing they could hold onto their fairy tale like dreams while hate for others spreads like wildfire due to Nazi propaganda. In 1980 Jenny, an American, finds herself in West Germany near the Berlin Wall befriending a rebellious punk rocker named Lena. And in 2020, best friends Miles and Chloe grapple with the Covid epidemic while trying to solve an 80-year-old mystery involving two missing girls. Award-wi

Suzanne Severns
Jan 171 min read


Hurdles in the Dark: My Story of Survival, Resilience, and Triumph
Hurdles in the Dark is the memoir of a Elvira K. Gonzalez, a Mexican-American in Loredo, Texas who encounters many difficulties in her youth. In 2006, her mother is taken hostage by a drug cartel, and Elvira has to quickly come up with money in order to have her mother released. Subsequently, both Elvira and her mother suffer from PTSD, and their relationship is strained to the point that Elvira ends up in Juvie after a fight. After her release, Elvira is determined to get a

Suzanne Severns
Jan 111 min read


Bright Red Fruit
Samira struggles with her immigrant mother's conservative ways. Her mother is protective, and as rumors go around about Samira's wearing revealing clothing and make-up, Samira's mother becomes even more restrictive, hardly allowing Samira to leave the house at all. However, she doesn't protect her from the Internet, and this is where Samira meets Horus, a 25-year-old man who shares her love of poetry. Samira who is enrolled in a poetry program and is a gifted slam poet, is en

Suzanne Severns
Jan 21 min read


The Smell of Other People's Houses
A few years after Alaska becomes a state, four teens will grapple with difficult situations. Ruth is pregnant, and her devout Catholic grandmother with whom she lives takes her to an Abbey to live until she can give birth and give up the child for adoption. Dora leaves her alcoholic and abusive parents to live with her best friend who is Native American. Hank also runs away from an abusive parent and stows away on a boat, and Alyce's father has a fishing business he wants Aly

Suzanne Severns
Dec 14, 20251 min read


The Fall of Whit Rivera
Fall is Whit Rivera's favorite time of year, and she's especially looking forward to it now that she's been selected to organize the fall formal dance, but her personal life is falling apart when she should be enjoying herself. Her boyfriend who moved away no longer seems to have any time for her, she's struggling with PCOS which is causing weight gain and facial hair, and her first love who stood her up on their first and only date has been appointed to work with her on the

Suzanne Severns
Dec 7, 20251 min read


The Brighwood Code
As the end of World War II approaches, Edda is struggling as a switchboard operator in Washington D.C. The room she rents is a mess, and she regularly shows up for work late and unkempt. She is struggling and with good reason. Only seven months earlier, she worked near the battle front in France, memorizing many new codes each day and connecting urgent calls that could mean the difference between life and death for troops at the front. She tries not to think about the past an

Suzanne Severns
Nov 30, 20251 min read


Braiding Sweetgrass
In this adaptation of an adult nonfiction book of the same title by Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, attributes and uses of various plants as well as biomes and subtypes of biomes such as estuaries and marshes are provided. Kimmerer, who is a professor of forestry and environmental science and Patowatomi, also shares stories about interesting people she has met over the years who have made an impression on her as well as Native American tales with valuable lessons and Indigenous trad

Suzanne Severns
Nov 15, 20251 min read
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