KDL Recommends

Receiving her first computer and an America Online CD-ROM in 1996, student Emma and her best friend, Josh, log on and discover themselves on Facebook, fifteen years in the future, and learn astonishing things about their adult selves.

Recommended by Beth at Gaines

More than just another true crime, this well written analysis of the infamous Leopold and Loeb case covers the decadence of jazz age Chicago, the opposing legal philosophies of the attorneys involved (including the famous Clarence Darrow), and the impact the case had on popular culture.
-Mark at Rockford

I loved the book, Fear the Worst, an adult fiction book, written by Linwood Barclay. This is truly a suspense novel, one you won’t put down until you’ve finished reading the last page! Tim Blake is an average guy. A guy who sells cars. He has an ex-wife who’s moved in with a man whose moody son spends more time online than he should. Tim’s girlfriend is turning out to be a bit of a flake. It’s not a life without hassles, but nothing will prepare him for the nightmare that’s about to begin. His daughter, Sydney, has vanished into thin air. A must-read!
-Robin at Spencer

When fifteen-year-old Ty, who has always lived on the ocean floor, joins Topside girl Gemma in the frontier’s underworld to seek and stop outlaws who threaten his home, they learn that the government may pose an even greater threat.

Recommended by Beth at Gaines

I just finished Don’t Let’s go to the Dogs tonight: An African Childhood by Alexandra Fuller. Great read!!
-Holly at East Grand Rapids

An edgy mix of mystery and myth, this is a dark, brooding tale of betrayal and revenge by a master storyteller.
-Maggie at Plainfield

With a Name Like Love, a J book written by first-time novelist, Tess Hilmo, will remind you of Moon Over Manifest. The story is told by Olivene (Ollie, for short) Love, the oldest daughter of the Reverend Everlasting Love. Ollie, along with her mom and dad and 4 sisters, are part of a 3-day revival in Binder, Arkansas. Ollie befriends a young boy, whose mother has been imprisoned for killing her husband. Ollie feels the mother is innocent and goes to work to try to prove this! I look forward to reading more books by Tess Hilmo!
-Robin at Spencer

This youth fiction poetry title is the story of a young girl growing up in Vietnam during the war. It recently won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature.
-Morgan at Walker

1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created by Charles Mann An engaging history of the most momentous ecological event since the death of the dinosaurs: the Columbian Exchange, in which thousands of new species became stowaways on trading and exploring vessels sailing around the world.
-Maggie at KN

A fun Sesame Street cookbook for kids, featuring all their favorite characters and some great recipes. My preschooler loves it!
-Melissa at The Service Center

An adult dystopia novel.
-Shaunna at Grandville

Humorously recounts events throughout history utilizing the style of Facebook status updates, from the big bang to the fall of Rome, the American Revolution, and the digital age.

Recommended by Yuko at The Service Center

Do you ever wish you had better memory? Or a brain that improves its performance over time? Recent research reveals the tremendous range of “normal” to human brain capacity and activity and this is a book well worth reading! The woman who can’t forget : the extraordinary story of living with the most remarkable memory known to science : a memoir by Jill Price
Jill’s personal story unfolds in amazing detail because the author has a superior memory “condition”—she literally remembers all of the events in her life since age 14—and not only the “facts”. She also remembers all the emotions and impact of each event too— Great—Good—Not so good. The author comes to understand and appreciate herself for who and what she fully is with the help of science and psychology. Reading this book has also provided me with a greater understanding of the challenges folks have due to “other” exceptional brain conditions such as traumas, dementia and/or other brain eccentricities over time.
-Laura at Plainfield

A great modern spy story by the former head of Britain’s MI5.
-Melissa at The Service Center

More than two hundred images, a witty, informative text, and exclusive interviews with the designers and the women who wore the dresses reveal the initial spark and captivating drama behind the making of each dress.
-Sara at Kentwood

Over 130 never-before-seen poems and drawings selected by his family after his passing. The only poet I ever truly loved and understood.
-Lynn at Plainfield

Seventeen-year-old Karou, a lovely, enigmatic art student in a Prague boarding school, carries a sketchbook of hideous, frightening monsters—the chimaerae who form the only family she has ever known, in a unique fantasy by an award-winning author about forbidden love, an epic battle and hope for a world remade.

Recommended by Beth at Gaines

This isn’t an ordinary lost-in-the-woods adventure. When Hazel’s best friend Jack absconds to the woods with the Ice Queen, Hazel leaves a trail of breadcrumbs and goes in to rescue him. Along the way she encounters a host of characters, each lost in the woods in their own ways. The story is one of growing up and wondering if what you want most will truly make you happy, or just happy for now. Good stuff- especially for a J book! I found I was thinking about it for some time after I finished it.
-Liz at Gaines