Read Rec Rachel: My Most Recommended Library Titles

After 8 years of being a teen librarian, there are some titles that pop up in my recommendations more frequently than others. Sometimes it’s because they cover a plethora of genres and therefore are easy to hand as the answer to many different RA questions. Sometimes, they’re just tried and true! Here’s what I think have been my most frequently recommended titles over the last year and how I pitch them. 

Young Adult

A Breath Too Late by Rocky Callen (Macmillan)

Pitch: In the day after a girl dies by suicide, she thinks about the people, like the boy she liked and her mother, that are left behind. 

The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas (Random House)

Pitch: There are no more cheerleaders, not since the squad was disbanded 5 years ago. That’s when 2 cheerleaders were murdered, 2 died in an accident, and a fifth died by suicide. Monica, the sister of the final cheerleader who died, has hoped to put it all behind her, but that’s hard to do when there’s suspicious letters in her stepdad’s desk and a new girl who knows way too much about the town’s past…

Spin by Lamar Giles (Scholastic)

Pitch: After a DJ is murdered, her pre-fame best friend and her number one groupie begin accusing each other, until they realize they need to team up to figure out the actual culprit. 

Monstrous by Jessica Lewis (Random House)

Pitch: After moving in with her aunt in a small town, Latavia is nearly sacrificed to a giant snake monster by some of the townspeople. But because the monster only accepts willing sacrifices, instead it and Latavia team up to take down the people who tried to sacrifice her. 

The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf (Simon & Schuster)

Pitch: During the 1969 race riots in Kuala Lumpur, Melati, a Malaysian girl with OCD, gets separated from her mother and must put her trust in a Chinese boy to help her find her mom.

Collateral Damage by Taylor Simonds (Parliament House)

Pitch: You know in superhero movies when like every car gets crushed and corner stores get destroyed in a fight between the hero and the villain? That’s the reality Meg lives in, as a regular person just trying not to die by accident. But when she finds the body of a superhero in a trunk, and his girlfriend asks for her help, she ends up investigating to discover who is killing supers.

When You Were Everything by Ashley Woodfolk (Random House)

Pitch: Cleo and Layla were the best of friends, until 27 days ago. They can’t ignore each other completely, as Cleo’s assigned to be Layla’s tutor. Told in past and present timelines, they soon realize not everything can be fixed.

Among the Beasts and Briars by Ashley Poston (HarperCollins)

Pitch: During the crowning of a new queen, the forest, that has been growing more cursed over the years, attacks, leaving gardener’s daughter Cerys on the run with a small annoying fox and a powerful bear, trying to find the Lady of the Wilds and save her home.

The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas (Macmillan)

Pitch: Ten semidioses compete in a deadly competition to determine a winner (who will bring light to all the temples) and a loser (whose body will be used as fuel), a competition that unexpectedly includes Teo and his friend-turned-rival Aurelio.

Belle of the Ball by Mari Costa (Macmillan)

Pitch: Hawkins has had a crush on cheerleader Regina forever, but despite finally gathering the courage to ask her out, Regina is already dating the athletic Chloe. Knowing Hawkins wants to get closer to her, Regina asks if Hawkins will tutor Chloe, not realizing the two knew each other when they were younger. 

Want by Cindy Pon (Simon & Schuster)

Pitch: In Zhou’s future Taipai, the rich are able to buy special suits that protect them from the pollution outside, while the poor are basically just meant to suffer. After the death of his mother, Zhou and his friends infiltrate the corporation responsible for making the suits…and potentially for worsening the pollution. 

Basically everything by Tiffany D Jackson (HarperCollins)

Pitch: A girl convicted of murdering a baby at 9 years old must now speak in her own defense for the first time (Allegedly), A girl is the only one who seems to care that her best friend has gone missing (Monday’s Not Coming), After Steph’s death, his two best friends and his sister release his mixtape under the name The Architect, but when it draws the attention of a producer, they have to hide the fact he’s dead (Let Me Hear a Rhyme), Springville High’s first integrated prom ended in a massacre, and if you ask anyone what happened, they’ll tell you it was all Maddie’s fault. (The Weight of Blood)

Luck of the Titanic by Stacey Lee (Penguin)

Pitch: [I pitch this one before I show the cover/title, since it gives away the pitch]. It’s 1912. Valora has snuck onto a ship, hoping to reunite with her twin brother Jamie. But she’s only got 7 days to find her brother, and figure out how to actually get into America when the ship arrives, since Chinese people aren’t allowed. Oh, FYI the ship is the Titanic.

I Wanna Be Where You Are by Kristina Forest (Macmillan)

Pitch: Aspiring ballerina Chloe heads on a road trip to audition for a dance conservatory after her mom has told her no. She’s unfortunately bringing along her annoying (and cute) neighbor Eli, who threatens to tell her mom if she doesn’t bring him, down the coast with her.

Middle Grade 

The Gauntlet by Karuna Riazi (Simon & Schuster)

Pitch: Farah and her friends have been sucked into a mechanical board game, trying to rescue her baby brother Ahmed and the others stuck inside. Even with the help of a very smart lizard named Henrietta Peel, the trio have a tough time winning the game, because the game cheats.

Murder is Bad Manners by Robin Stevens (Simon & Schuster)

Pitch: Hazel and Daisy decide to start a detective agency at their boarding school, but they don’t have any cases to solve until they quite literally come across a teacher’s body. But when they come back, the body has disappeared, so they not only have to figure out who the murderer was, they also have to prove a murder happened.

The Shape of Thunder by Jasmine Warga (HarperCollins)

Pitch: Cora and Quinn are next door neighbors, and formerly were best friends. That was before the school shooting, where Cora’s sister was killed, and Quinn’s brother was the shooter. Quinn wants to try and figure out time travel so she can go back and stop what happened, but she needs Cora’s help to try.

Paola Santiago and the River of Tears by Tehlor Kay Mejia (Disney)

Pitch: Paola has been warned her whole life to stay away from the river, but Paola wants to test her new telescope by the best stargazing spot, which happens to be right next to the river. Not only does her best friend not show up, but Paola she sees something moving in the water.

Filed under: Reader's Advisory