Michael McCreary is a 20 year old stand-up comedian who is autistic and an instantly likable young man. He has written the book Funny, You Don’t Look Autistic: A Comedian’s Guide to Life on the Spectrum, which provides an authentic view into the life of someone with autism. Michael chronicles his struggles from an early age up to the present, but he does so in an endearing and honest manner. This title was chosen by Overdrive, our library supplier of digital content, for its Big Read, a worldwide digital book club. Today also happens to be World Autism Awareness Day, so please download this title today from Overdrive to promote understanding and foster inclusion. It is available through April 13 with no waitlist or holds. Please contact the library with any questions and we will be happy to help!
Category: Teen Recommendations
Digital Borrowing without Limits
Hoopla, which offers Palisades Free Library cardholders of all ages an extensive collection of ebooks, audiobooks, music, movies, and more, has just introduced the hoopla Bonus Borrows Collection, available through the month of April. Borrowers can check out items from this list of more than 1,000 top titles without using any of their 8 monthly borrowing credits!
Titles include at-home fitness videos (Jillian Michaels, Gaiam Yoga), favorite children’s series books (Captain Underpants, I Survived), and chart-topping music (Taylor Swift).
Favorite graphic novels of 2019
Two columnists from the NY Times Book Review have written a column this week on their favorite graphic novels of this year. Two of the titles reviewed are for young readers: Guts and White Bird. Guts is an autobiographical memoir about dealing with anxiety, written by Raina Telgemeier and is a wildly popular read for children. The other, White Bird is penned by R.J. Palacio, author of Wonder, and is her first graphic novel. It concerns a Jewish girl in France in hiding during the Holocaust. Check them out for a good read…
Butterfly Yellow
Thanhha Lai has written her first teen novel about 18 year old Vietnamese girl Hang, who travels to the US to find her younger brother, Linh, who had been taken in the ending days of the Vietnam War. She traces him to Texas, and with the help of a young cowboy, LeeRoy, locates him. But it has been years since Hang had last seen Linh, and he wants no part of her. She takes a job on a nearby ranch to try and build a relationship with him. Lai was born in Vietnam and she writes a gripping story about the horrors experienced by Hang before she was able to escape from the country, and her determination to work as hard as she can to make a life for herself in her new country. Lai’s own soldier father went missing during the fall of Saigon in 1975, and her mother and siblings fled Vietnam for the US. A timely immigrant story, recommended for ages 13 and up.
Dear Evan Hansen
In computer lab, Evan Hansen has taken his therapist’s advice and written himself a letter that begins, “Dear Evan Hansen … ” When it later winds up in the pocket of Connor Murphy, a classmate who has committed suicide, Evan finds it difficult to tell the truth about the letter. From its contents, Connor’s parents think Evan was a close friend. Can Evan find the courage to set them straight after getting entangled in lie after lie? This was a good treatment of suicide, and an important book for teens to read.
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