Children’s books

“The Library Book,” by Tom Chapin and Michael Mark, illustrated by Chuck Groenink

Chapin and Mark recorded “The Library Song” years ago. Now it’s been illustrated by Groenink, and is a delightful romp through all that libraries offer.

A bespectacled girl faces a dreary rainy day until she decides to visit the library. She discovers “Winnie the Pooh,” “Madeline,” “Sleeping Beauty” and more, all popping out of the shelves and into the parade she leads to the check-out desk.

It’s the perfect book to help get ready for the library’s summer reading program, “Library Rocks,” which is all about music and offers free programs and prizes for all ages.

“Garvey’s Choice,” by Nikki Grimes

Garvey isn’t a jock, thin or popular. Garvey is a friend, a bookworm and a singer.

Garvey’s father is determined to make his son enjoy athletics, but the more he pushes the more Garvey resists.

When his best friend Joe suggests he join the school choir Garvey takes the risk and finds what he truly loves — music. Another friend, Manny, who deals with being an albino, helps him learn how to disregard those who tease.

Grimes’ poetic novel is a quick read for grades three to five and a powerful story of self-discovery and acceptance.

Teen books

“Beasts Made of Night, ” by Tochi Onyebuchi

This is a captivating and fantastical story of inequality and magic in a world that is convincingly created by Nigerian author Onyebuchi.

Taj is aki, a sin-eater, but though his ability has allowed him to protect the royal family of Kos, he is still despised. With each killing he suffers pain and then wears the sin-animals as tattoos. He knows he is doomed to die as soon as he no longer has enough skin to record the sins.

Readers will rally for Taj as he wages a battle of wits against the Mage that blackmails him, begins to love the forbidden Princess Kalima and fights the terrifying beasts that come from sin. The audiobook version is beautifully read by Prentice Onayemi.

“Alone,” by Cyn Balog

For those of you who relish a good scare, foreshadowed by creepy shadows, unidentified sounds and someone lurking in the dark with an axe, this is the book for you.

Seda lives with her mom and two sets of twin siblings in a rundown, abandoned house that was previously used for pretend murder weekends. Seda knows there is something within her that is uncontrollable, and when a group of high school kids show up during a blizzard she’s terrified that she can’t control the consequences. Every frightening gimmick and plot twist you’ve loved in movies is in this page-turner, climaxing with a macabre scavenger hunt. Don’t read it just before trying to sleep.

— Heather McNeil, Deschutes Public Library youth services manager

Adult books

“The Child Finder,” by Rene Denfeld

Naomi Cottle is the child finder — a private investigator with a knack for recovering lost children, but haunted by her own troubled past.

Her current case involves Madison Culver who at age 5 is lost during a family Christmas tree hunt in Oregon’s Skookum National Forest.

While Naomi scours the remote mountainous landscape and pieces together the mystery of Madison’s disappearance, she realizes she must also reconcile her own painful childhood.

As the search zeros in, author Denfeld escalates the tension. Will Madison be found in time and is it possible for survivors of trauma to become whole again?

“Anatomy of a Miracle,” by Jonathan Miles

After being wounded by a Russian land mine in Afghanistan, Cameron Harris returns home to Mississippi paralyzed from the waist down. Four years later, waiting for his sister outside a local market, Harris unexpectedly rises from his wheelchair and walks.  

Dubbed a miracle, Harris’ steps quickly go viral and his doctor, the Catholic Church and a reality TV team descend on the Harris household — all seeking an explanation. Is this a medical breakthrough or is this evidence of God’s handiwork?  

Written in a compelling journalistic style, author Miles takes his readers on a delightful journey exploring what it means to heal.

— Alyssa Bennett, Deschutes Public Library community librarian