December 27, 2022 - BCPL Young Adult Author of the Month

Thanks for checking in at the end of this year, readers! We're excited to share the last, but not least, of our young readers spotlight picks.

This December, we're sharing the works of Mike Lupica, who has written a variety of stories, mostly sports themed, for readers of all ages. He also has adult fiction titles on his resume as well! But today we're focusing on his works for young readers.

Mike Lupica is one of the most prominent sports writers in America. His longevity at the top of his field is based on his experience and insider's knowledge, coupled with a provocative presentation that takes an uncompromising look at the tumultuous world of professional sports. 

His young adult novels, Travel Team, Heat, Miracle on 49th Street, and the summer hit for 2007, Summer Ball, have shot up the New York Times bestseller list. Lupica is also what he describes as a "serial Little League coach," a youth basketball coach, and a soccer coach for his four children, three sons and a daughter. He and his family live in Connecticut.

He began his newspaper career covering the New York Knicks for the New York Post at age 23. He became the youngest columnist ever at a New York paper with the New York Daily News, which he joined in 1977. For more than 30 years, Lupica has added magazines, novels, sports biographies, other non-fiction books on sports, as well as television to his professional resume. For more than fifteen years, he has been a TV anchor for ESPN's The Sports Reporters. He also hosted his own program, The Mike Lupica Show on ESPN2. 

Lupica was born in Oneida, New York, where he spent his pre-adolescent years, having attended St. Patrick's Elementary School through the sixth grade. In 1964, he moved with his family to Nashua, New Hampshire, where he attended middle school and subsequently Bishop Guertin High School, graduating in 1970. In 1974 he graduated from Boston College. He first came to prominence as a sportswriter in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Lupica wrote "The Sporting Life" column at Esquire magazine for ten years beginning in the late 1980s, and currently writes a regular column for Travel + Leisure Golf. He has also written for Golf Digest, Parade, ESPN The Magazine, and Men’s Journal, and has received numerous awards including, in 2003, the Jim Murray Award from the National Football Foundation.

Lupica's sports series and standalones have touched on many sports, bringing the thrill of the game to life in characters of all ages and talent levels. He always brings his real life experience and knowledge to the story while incorporating characters young readers can relate to as well.

Are you or your children fans of Mike Lupica's stories? Let us know in the comment section below or on any of our social media pages! We'd love to hear from you.

Many of Mike's best titles are available from our ebook collection on WV Reads!

 https://wvreads.overdrive.com/wvreads-wvlc/content/search/creatorId?query=594731&sortBy=newlyadded

Images and info are courtesy of WV Reads, Google, Goodreads, and author web pages.

October 27, 2022 - BCPL Young Adult Author of the Month

Thanks for checking in this month to get the profile of our October Young Adult Author of the Month! At Brooke County Libraries, we're excited to feature the work of Lauren Kate.

Lauren writes twisty and exciting fantasy fiction novels and now has started on romantic comedies and more.

Lauren Kate (born March 21, 1981) is an American author of adult and young adult fiction. Her books have been translated into over thirty languages, have sold more than eleven million copies worldwide, and have spent combined months on The New York Times Best Seller list.

Her titles include The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove and Fallen, which reached number 3 on the New York Times Best Seller List for children's chapter books on January 8, 2010, remaining there through April 2011. Fallen's sequel Torment entered the NYT Best Seller list at number 1. Kate was raised in Dallas, Texas, and has a Master's degree in fiction from the University of California, Davis. Kate has stated that experience of the "Old South" in the Atlanta area (she went to college at Emory) inspired her to set Fallen in a Civil War era academy. Kate married Jason Morphew, a poet and singer-songwriter, in 2009. They have two children.

Her standalone novel, The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove, was released on November 12, 2009, and her second work, Fallen (the first in the Fallen series), was released that same year. Torment, the sequel to Fallen, released on 28 September 2010, debuted at number 1 on the New York Times Bestseller List, remaining at that position through the week of October 17.

Fallen in Love—a collection of novellas set in the Middle Ages that tell the back-stories of several of the Fallen series' main characters—was published on January 24, 2012. Rapture, the final installment of the series, was published on June 12, 2012. Unforgiven, a spin-off novel featuring the side-character Cam Briel from the series and his love Lilith, was released on November 10, 2015. Sony Pictures optioned the film rights to the entire series on the day of Fallen's release (December 9, 2009).

Random House released the first book of Kate's subsequent series, Teardrop, in October 2013. A prequel novella, titled Last Day of Love, was released two months later in December 2013.

Interested in reading some of Lauren Kate's stories? Check out our selection of her work that's available from WV Reads!

https://wvreads.overdrive.com/search/creatorId?query=238439&sortBy=newlyadded

Are you a fan of Lauren's work? Maybe she's written one of your favorites. Let us know in the comment section or on any of our social media pages!

Images and info are courtesy of Wikipedia, Google, Goodreads, WV Reads, and author webpages.

 

May 18, 2022 - Staff Picks

Thanks for checking in to our latest edition of Brooke County Libraries' Staff Picks!

In Staff Picks, one or more of our staff members recommends titles available from our libraries - fiction or non-fiction, young or adult reads, and everything in between. We can't wait to share you...

Here's a glimpse of the titles chosen this Spring by our crew!

Bunny's Book Club - Written by Annie Silvestro. 

"I loved sharing in Bunny's adventure. Discovering a love of reading at any age is so exciting!" - Staff quote.

From the blurb - Bunny as he takes a a top-secret trip to the library in a story that celebrates the love of reading! Bunny loves to sit outside the library with the kids and listen to summer story time. But when the weather gets cold and everyone moves inside, his daily dose of joy is gone. Desperate, Bunny refuses to miss out on any more reading time and devises a plan to sneak into the library at night . . . through the library’s book drop! What follows is an adorable caper that brings an inquisitive, fuzzy bunny and his woodland pals up close and personal with the books they have grown to love. 

Harry the Happy Mouse by N.G.K -

From the blurb - Harry The Happy Mouse is a cheerful, traditional story about a Mouse called Harry who lives in the colorful English countryside. Harry helps a Frog, but asks the Frog to repay the kindness to someone else. We follow the good deed as it moves through other characters, who each selflessly help someone else, making themselves feel happy in the process! We learn that a little bit of happiness can go a long way! 

Puddin' by Julie Murphy -

"Bazillion Stars! I absolutely love this YA series. The order is Dumplin', Puddin', and Pumpkin. I read them out of order but for some strange reason, they are perfect together and standalone. This book takes you through the typical High School drama, teen angst, first loves, acceptance of yourself, etc. The one-liners are funny, and if you listen via Audiobook like I did to this one - you will be driving in your car laughing." - Staff Quote

From the blurb - Millie Michalchuk has gone to fat camp every year since she was a little girl. Not this year. This year she has new plans to chase her secret dream of being a newscaster—and to kiss the boy she's crushing on. Callie Reyes is the pretty girl who is next in line for dance team captain and has the popular boyfriend. But when it comes to other girls, she's more frenemy than friend. When circumstances bring the girls together over the course of a semester, they surprise everyone (especially themselves) by realizing that they might have more in common than they ever imagined.

Want to see if the audiobook is for you? Check it out on below! 

https://wvreads.overdrive.com/media/3377162

From the blurb - A stunning novel about love, work, and marriage that asks how far one family and one community will go to protect their future. Colleen and Rich Gundersen are raising their young son, Chub, on the rugged California coast. It's 1977, and life in this Pacific Northwest logging town isn't what it used to be. For generations, the community has lived and breathed timber; now that way of life is threatened.

Interested in Damnation Spring? Check out our ebook copy!

https://wvreads.overdrive.com/media/5807930

That's all for now, folks! Let us know in the comments below, in person, or on one of our social media pages if we're picked any of your favorites or if you have favorites to share with us. We love to hear from our readers.

As always, images and info are courtesy of WV Reads, Google, Goodreads, Author Webpages.