News & Updates
Suggestions Needed!
We need teen book recommendations to be featured on our updated library website's teen page! 1 hour of community service will be earned. For more information email marissa.timm@mattlibrary.org
September Grab and go: Mini canvas art (Community Service Opportunity!)
Get ready for fall by painting a leaf on a mini canvas! Any teen who brings back their artwork to loan to the teen space for decoration will get 1 hour of community service.
Teen New Items
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I'd Rather Burn Than Bloom
Packed with voice, Shannon C.F. Rogers' I'd Rather Burn than Bloom is a powerful YA novel about a Filipina-American teen who tries to figure out who she really is in the wake of her mother's death.
Some girls call their mother their best friend. Marisol Martin? She could never relate. She and her mom were forever locked in an argument with no beginning and no end. Clothes, church, boys, no matter the topic, Marisol always felt like there was an unbridgeable gap between them that they were perpetually shouting across, one that she longed to close.
But when her mother dies suddenly, Marisol is left with no one to fight against, haunted by all the things that she both said and didn’t say. Her dad seems completely lost, and worse, baffled by Marisol's attempts to connect with her mother's memory through her Filipino culture. Her brother Bernie is retreating further and further into himself. And when Marisol sleeps with her best friend's boyfriend - and then punches said best friend in the face - she's left alone, with nothing but a burning anger, and nowhere for it to go.
And Marisol is determined to stay angry, after all, there’s a lot to be angry about– her father, her mother, the world. But as a new friendship begins to develop with someone who just might understand, Marisol reluctantly starts to open up to her, and to the possibility there’s something else on the other side of that anger– something more to who she is, and who she could be. -
Painted Devils
An Instant New York Times Bestseller!
An Instant Indies Bestseller!
A scrappy former maid and jewel thief must outwit gods, injustice, and her own past in this sequel to the Indie Next Pick, Little Thieves by Margaret Owen.
Let's get one thing straight - Vanja Schmidt wasn't trying to start a cult.
After taking down a corrupt margrave, breaking a deadly curse, and finding romance with the vexingly scrupulous junior prefect Emeric Conrad, Vanja had one great mystery left: her long-lost birth family . . . and whether they would welcome a thief. But in her search for an honest trade, she hit trouble and invented a god, the Scarlet Maiden, to scam her way out. Now that lie is growing out of control—especially when Emeric arrives to investigate and the Scarlet Maiden manifests to claim him as a virgin sacrifice.
For his final test to become a prefect, Emeric must determine if Vanja is guilty of serious fraud or if the Scarlet Maiden—and her claim to him—is genuine. Meanwhile, Vanja is chasing an alternative sacrifice that
could be their way out. The hunt leads her not only into the lairs of monsters and the paths of gods, but also the ties of her past. And with what should be the simplest way to save Emeric hanging over their heads,
he and Vanja must face a more dangerous question: Is there a future for a thief and a prefect, and at what price?
From the indie bestselling author Margaret Owen comes the thrilling next installment in the Little Thieves trilogy with all new interior illustrations from the author. -
Miles Morales Suspended
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds comes the high-flying sequel to his groundbreaking young adult novel Miles Morales: Spider-Man about the adventures of the unassuming, everyday kid who just so happens to be Spider-Man.
Miles Morales is still just your average teenager. He has unexpectedly become totally obsessed with poetry and can never seem to do much more than babble around his crush. Nothing too weird. Oh! Except, just yesterday, he used his spidey superpowers to save the world (no biggie) from an evil mastermind called The Warden. And the grand prize Miles gets for that is…
Suspension.
But what begins as a long boring day of in-school suspension is interrupted by a little bzzz in his mind. His spidey-sense is telling him there’s something not quite right here, and soon he finds himself in a fierce battle with an insidious…termite?! His unexpected foe is hiding a secret, one that could lead to the destruction of the world’s history—especially Black and Brown history—and only Miles can stop him. Yeah, just a typical day in the life of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. -
Cardboard City
Cardboard City follows the lives of two young teens--members of a Romani family. Saida and Nikola experience harsh discrimination at school and crushing poverty in their informal settlement, spread out under a bridge in Belgrade. Their dreams of escape and of leaving deplorable conditions behind trigger a family crisis. In particular, Nikola is a gifted trumpeter and aspires to be a famous musician, but it proves challenging to surmount the enormous barriers between his present situation and the self-mastery and life of dignity he seeks.
Introducing young readers to the world of Eastern Europe's Rom, Cardboard City is evocative of the virulent racism, injustice and inhumane conditions endured by this community to this very day.
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An Echo in the City
Two star-crossed teenagers fall in love during the Hong Kong protests in this searing contemporary novel about coming-of-age in a time of change.
Sixteen-year-old Phoenix knows her parents have invested thousands of dollars to help her leave Hong Kong and get an elite Ivy League education. They think America means big status, big dreams, and big bank accounts. But Phoenix doesn't want big; she just wants home. The trouble is, she doesn't know where that is ... until the Hong Kong protest movement unfolds, and she learns the city she's come to love is in danger of disappearing.
Seventeen-year-old Kai sees himself as an artist, not a filial son, and certainly not a cop. But when his mother dies, he's forced to leave Shanghai to reunite with his estranged father, a respected police officer, who's already enrolled him in the Hong Kong police academy. Kai wants to hate his job, but instead, he finds himself craving his father's approval. And when he accidentally swaps phones with Phoenix and discovers she's part of a protest network, he finds a way to earn it: by infiltrating the group and reporting their plans back to the police.
As Kai and Phoenix join the struggle for the future of Hong Kong, a spark forms between them, pulling them together even as their two worlds try to force them apart. But when their relationship is built on secrets and deception, will they still love the person left behind when the lies fall away?
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All That’s Left to Say
A poignant and powerful story of a grieving girl willing to risk everything, perfect for fans of Robin Benway and Jandy Nelson.
On prom night, Hannah MacLaren sits in the headmaster's office in her fanciest dress, soaked to the bone. She is in huge trouble after pulling the fire alarm right as the prom queen was about to be crowned. But Hannah had her reasons . . .
One year ago, her cousin Sophie, who was also her best friend and the person she loved most in the world, died of an overdose. Drowning in grief, Hannah became obsessed with one question: Who gave Sophie those pills? Who is refusing to give her family the closure they deserve?
Then she concocted a plan: enroll at her cousin's fancy private school with a new look and a mouthful of lies, and finally uncover the truth.
But Hannah didn't expect all the lines to blur. She didn't expect Sophie's friends to be so complicated. She didn't expect to fall for her longtime enemy. Now, she must choose to either let herself really mourn Sophie and move on, or see her search through to its explosive end--even if it means destroying herself. -
Monstrous
"A beautiful, courageous book.”
Gene Luen Yang, author of American Born Chinese
Monstrous is poignant young adult graphic memoir about a Korean-American girl who uses fandom and art-making to overcome racist bullying. Perfect for fans of Almost American Girl!
Sarah has always struggled to fit in. Born in South Korea and adopted at birth by a white couple, she grows up in a rural community with few Asian neighbors. People whisper in the supermarket. Classmates bully her. She has trouble containing her anger in these moments—but through it all, she has her art. She's always been a compulsive drawer, and when she discovers anime, her hobby becomes an obsession.
Though drawing and cosplay offer her an escape, she still struggles to connect with others. And in high school, the bullies are louder and meaner. Sarah's bubbling rage is threatening to burst. -
Numb to This
This searing graphic memoir portrays the impact of gun violence through a fresh lens with urgency, humanity, and a very personal hope.
Kindra Neely never expected it to happen to her. No one does. Sure, she’d sometimes been close to gun violence, like when the house down the street from her childhood home in Texas was targeted in a drive-by shooting. But now she lived in Oregon, where she spent her time swimming in rivers with friends or attending classes at the bucolic Umpqua Community College.
And then, one day, it happend: a mass shooting shattered her college campus. Over the span of a few minutes, on October 1, 2015, eight students and a professor lost their lives. And suddenly, Kindra became a survivor. This empathetic and ultimately hopeful graphic memoir recounts Kindra’s journey forward from those few minutes that changed everything.
It wasn’t easy. Every time Kindra took a step toward peace and wholeness, a new mass shooting devastated her again. Las Vegas. Parkland. She was hopeless at times, feeling as if no one was listening. Not even at the worldwide demonstration March for Our Lives. But finally, Kindra learned that—for her—the path toward hope wound through art, helping others, and sharing her story.
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Mindwalker
DO NOT SURRENDER CONTROL.
'Mindwalker is a cinematic gut punch of action and espionage. Sharp-edged, tense and thrilling, you'll be holding your breath until the last page' Tasha Suri
Eighteen-year-old Sil Sarrah is determined to die a legend. But with only twelve months left before the supercomputer grafted to her brain kills her, Sil's time is quickly running out.
In the ten years she's been rescuing field agents for the Syntex corporation - by commandeering their minds from afar and leading them to safety - Sil hasn't lost a single life. And she's not about to start now.
But when a critical mission goes south, Sil is forced to flee the very company she once called home.
Desperate to prove she's no traitor, Sil infiltrates the Analog Army, an activist faction working to bring Syntex down. Her plan: to win back her employer's trust by destroying the group from within. Instead, she and the Army's reckless leader, Ryder, uncover a horrifying truth that threatens to undo all the good she's ever done.
With her tech rapidly degrading and her new ally keeping dangerous secrets of his own, Sil must find a way to stop Syntex in order to save her friends, her reputation - and maybe even herself.
'The thrill ride of a lifetime' Kat Dunn
'Pure adrenaline shot straight into your veins' Jesse Q. Sutanto
'Utterly enthralling' Saara El-Arifi
'This book will leave you breathless' Vaishnavi Patel
'Ridiculously thrilling' Claire Winn
'A vibrant thrill ride from start to finish!' Meg Long -
One of Us Is Back
From international bestseller, Karen M. McManus, comes the explosive third and final instalment in the acclaimed Bayview series.
Ever since that day in detention, life hasn't been easy for the Bayview Crew.
Now Nate is trying to maintain a long-distance relationship with Bronwyn, who is struggling to balance her new life at Yale with her memories of Bayview.
Addy's about to leave Bayview behind and take a leap into the unknown and Phoebe's tired of keeping secrets. Everybody's ready to move on.
Until a mysterious billboard arrives.
Time for a new game, Bayview.
And when a member of the crew disappears, it's clear this 'game' just got serious - and no-one understands the rules.
Everyone's a target. And now that someone unexpected has returned to Bayview, things are starting to get deadly.
Simon was right about secrets - they all come out in the end.
Praise for One of Us is Next:
'Given that her high-school-based murder mysteries read like bingeworthy Netflix dramas, it's easy to see why queen of teen crime Karen McManus is a bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic.' - THE OBSERVER
'McManus keeps the juicy subplots ticking over and drip-feeds reveals as clinically as an IV tube.' - THE GUARDIAN
Praise for One of Us is Lying:
'Tightly plotted and brilliantly written, with sharp, believable characters, this whodunit is utterly irresistible' - HEAT
'A fantastic murder mystery, packed with cryptic clues and countless plot twists. I could not put this book down' - THE SUN -
Good as Gold
Fans of Netflix's Outer Banks will devour this contemporary YA novel with a propulsive mystery about one girl's search for her town's legendary sunken treasure in order to clear her family's name and save her future.
Some treasures are meant to stay buried . . .
Casey’s life in Langston has been charmed. She’s the queen bee of her prep school, a shoe-in for prom queen, and on her way to the Ivy League come fall. She can't wait to leave the whole town of Langston behind her. That is until her father loses his job and she finds herself on the brink of losing her ticket out of town.
The town of Langston is known for its picturesque lake and robust summer tourism. Everyone who lives in town has heard the rumors at some point-- there is a treasure buried deep below the surface that no one has ever been able to find. Few people actually believe in the treasure, and even fewer have searched for it. But some have tried . . .
Suddenly an outcast from her popular squad, Casey falls in with a new group of friends who are exactly the opposite of her usual crowd, but are more accepting. Together they devise a plan to find the elusive treasure, in a quest to get the money and save Casey's family and her future. But what they find is much more complicated than just a pile of gold. With thrilling twists and turns and high stakes adventure, fans of Outer Banks will devour this summer adventure. -
Invisible Son
From the award-winning and critically acclaimed author of This Is My America comes another thriller about a wrongly accused teen desperate to recclaim both his innocence and his first love.
Life can change in an instant.
When you’re wrongfully accused of a crime.
When a virus shuts everything down.
When the girl you love moves on.
Andre Jackson is determined to reclaim his identity. But returning from juvie doesn’t feel like coming home. His Portland, Oregon, neighborhood is rapidly gentrifying, and COVID-19 shuts down school before he can return. And Andre’s suspicions about his arrest for a crime he didn’t commit even taint his friendships. It’s as if his whole life has been erased.
The one thing Andre is counting on is his relationship with the Whitaker kids—especially his longtime crush, Sierra. But Sierra’s brother Eric is missing, and the facts don’t add up as their adoptive parents fight to keep up the act that their racially diverse family is picture-perfect. If Andre can find Eric, he just might uncover the truth about his own arrest. But in a world where power is held by a few and Andre is nearly invisible, searching for the truth is a dangerous game.
Critically acclaimed author Kim Johnson delivers another social justice thriller that shines a light on being young and Black in America—perfect for fans of The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas and Dear Justyce by Nic Stone. -
Money Out Loud
So no one taught you about money, either? Let’s figure this me$$ out together.
In this illustrated, deeply unserious guide to money, Berna Anat—aka the Financial Hype Woman—freaks out her immigrant parents by doing the unthinkable: Talking about money. Loudly.
Because we’re done staying silent, anxious, and ashamed about our money. It's time to join the party and finally learn about all the financial stuff that always felt too confusing. Stuff like:
- How to actually budget, save, and invest (but also make it fun)
- How our traumas shape our most toxic money habits, and how to create new patterns
- How to build wealth in a system designed to keep us broke
- How to use money to fund our biggest dreams—and change the world
No more keeping our money on mute. It’s time to grab the mic.
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Going Bicoastal
"This is what it looks like when a brilliant high concept is executed to perfection. It’s got all the Dahlia Adler trademarks—romance, wry humor, specificity, and genuine emotional depth." - Becky Albertalli, New York Times bestselling author of Kate in Waiting and Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda
A queer Sliding Doors YA rom-com in which a girl must choose between summer in NYC with her dad (and the girl she's always wanted) or LA with her estranged mom (and the guy she never saw coming).
In Dahlia Adler’s Going Bicoastal, there’s more than one path to happily ever after.
Natalya Fox has twenty-four hours to make the biggest choice of her life: stay home in NYC for the summer with her dad (and finally screw up the courage to talk to the girl she's been crushing on), or spend it with her basically estranged mom in LA (knowing this is the best chance she has to fix their relationship, if she even wants to.) (Does she want to?)
How's a girl supposed to choose?
She can't, and so both summers play out in alternating timelines - one in which Natalya explores the city, tries to repair things with her mom, works on figuring out her future, and goes for the girl she's always wanted. And one in which Natalya explores the city, tries to repair things with her mom, works on figuring out her future, and goes for the guy she never saw coming.
Online Resources
Brainfuse/HelpNow!

Access to live tutors in math, science, reading/writing, social studies, PSAT/SAT, ACT, AP and state standardized tests. Also includes a 24-hour online writing lab and Homework Question Center.
BrainHQ

Think of BrainHQ as your personal gym for brain training, where you can exercise your memory, attention, brain speed, people skills, intelligence and navigation abilities.
Britannica High School Edition
