Read Alikes: “Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster”

Posted on May 12, 2020 by M. Allen

Pax by Sara Pennypacker
Colchester-Hants East Public Library – ebook
Cumberland Public Library – ebook
Halifax Public Libraries – audiobook
Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library – ebook
“After being forced to give up his pet fox Pax, a young boy named Peter decides to leave home and get his best friend back.” -WorldCat

Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes by Jonathan Auxier
Colchester-Hants East Public Library – ebook
Cumberland Public Library – ebook
Halifax Public Libraries – ebook
Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library – ebook
Youtube audiobook
“Raised to be a thief, blind orphan Peter Nimble, age ten, steals from a mysterious stranger three pairs of magical eyes, that lead him to a hidden island where he must decide to become a hero or resume his life of crime.” – WorldCat

Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard by Jonathan Auxier
Colchester-Hants East Public Library – ebook
Cumberland Public Library – ebook
Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library – ebook
Youtube audiobook
“Twelve-year-old Sophie knows little beyond the four walls of her father’s bookshop, but when a strange boy shows up with a rare and mysterious book, she finds herself pulled into an adventure beyond anything she has ever read.” -WorldCat

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
Colchester-Hants East Public Library – ebook
Cumberland Public Library – ebook
Halifax Public Libraries – ebook and audiobook
Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library – ebook
“An epic fantasy about a young girl raised by a witch, a swamp monster, and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon, who must unlock the powerful magic buried deep inside her.” -WorldCat

The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier
Colchester-Hants East Public Library – ebook
Cumberland Public Library – ebook
Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library – ebook
“Irish orphans Molly, fourteen, and Kip, ten, travel to England to work as servants in a crumbling manor house where nothing is quite what it seems to be, and soon the siblings are confronted by a mysterious stranger and secrets of the cursed house.” -WorldCat

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
Colchester-Hants East Public Library – audiobook
Cumberland Public Library – audiobook
Halifax Public Libraries – ebook and audiobook
Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library – audiobook
“ When Ivan, a gorilla who has lived for years in a down-and-out circus-themed mall, meets Ruby, a baby elephant that has been added to the mall, he decides that he must find her a better life.” -WorldCat

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
Colchester-Hants East Public Library – ebook
Cumberland Public Library – ebook
Halifax Public Libraries – ebook and audiobook
Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library – ebook
TeenBookCloud
“The adventures of Desperaux Tilling, a small mouse of unusual talents, the princess that he loves, the servant girl who longs to be a princess, and a devious rat determined to bring them all to ruin.” -WorldCat

Tumblebooks is providing free access to a number of their digital resources until August 31st, 2020. Check out TeenBookCloud, made available by Halifax Public Libraries.
Username: nstumbles
Password: trial

Halifax Public Libraries is offering temporary library cards to all Nova Scotia residents. Once you fill out the form a number will be sent to you by email and you can immediately begin using your card. If you would like a card from your local library, you can also check them out as several are offering online registration. All of the public library titles listed above are offered through Overdrive or the Libby app. Both are free apps where you can borrow ebooks and digital audiobooks from your public library. All you need is an active library card from a Nova Scotia Public Library. The apps are available for both android and apple users.

Read Alikes: “The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees”

Posted on May 11, 2020 by M. Allen

If you enjoyed The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees by Don Brown you may enjoy one or more of the following books. Thanks to NNEC librarian Susan Cochrane for her suggestions in creating this list.

Cry of the Giraffe by Judie Oron
TeenBookCloud
“Labeled outcasts by their Ethiopian neighbors because of their Jewish faith, Wudita and her family make the arduous trek on foot to Sudan in the hope of the promise of a better life. Instead, they are herded into a squalid refugee camp. Wudita becomes separated from her family and forced back to the Ethiopian border.” -WorldCat

Illegal by Eoin Colfer
Colchester-Hants East Public Library – ebook
Cumberland Public Library – ebook
Halifax Public Libraries – ebook
Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library – ebook
“Ebo’s sister left months ago. Now his brother has disappeared too, and Ebo knows that, to see them again, he must follow in their footsteps and make the hazardous voyage from Ghana to a safe haven in Europe. So the twelve-year-old sets off on an epic journey that takes him across the Sahara Desert to the dangerous streets of Tripoli and finally out to the merciless sea.” -WordCat

Inside Out and Back Again by Lai Thanhha
Colchester-Hants East Public Library – ebook and audiobook
Cumberland Public Library – ebook and audiobook
Halifax Public Libraries – ebook and audiobook
Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library – ebook and audiobook
“Through a series of poems, a young girl chronicles the life-changing year of 1975, when she, her mother, and her brothers leave Vietnam and resettle in Alabama.” -WorldCat

Refugee by Alan Gratz
Colchester-Hants East Public Library – ebook and audiobook
Cumberland Public Library – ebook and audiobook
Halifax Public Libraries – ebook and audiobook
Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library – ebook and audiobook
“Three children, each on a harrowing journey. All face unimaginable dangers. But there is always the hope of tomorrow. And although Josef, Isabel and Mahmoud are separated by continents and decades, shocking connections will tie their stories together in the end.” -WorldCat

Refugee Cove by Lesley Choyce
TeenBookCloud
“When Greg discovers a family of refugees in a lifeboat off the rugged coast of Newfoundland, he risks everything to help them.” -WorldCat

They Call Us Enemy by George Takei
Halifax Public Libraries – ebook
“A stunning graphic memoir recounting actor/author/activist George Takei’s childhood imprisoned within American concentration camps during World War II.” -WorldCat

War Brothers: The Graphic Novel by Sharon E McKay and Daniel Lafrance
TeenBookCloud
“Fourteen-year-old Jacob and his friends are sharing stories about their school break when the door to their dorm is violently kicked in. Blinded by fear and confusion, the boys are abducted from their school in the middle of the night, marched into the jungle and forced to become child soldiers in the Lord’s Resistance Army it’s kill or be killed.” -WorldCat

Read Alikes: “The Field Guide to the North American Teenager”

Posted on May 8, 2020 by M. Allen

If you enjoyed The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe you may enjoy one or more of the following books. Thanks to NNEC librarian Susan Cochrane for her suggestions in creating this list.

90 Days of Different by Eric Walters
TeenBookCloud
“Sophie graduates from high school, her boyfriend breaks up with her because she’s boring, and her best friend challenges her to try ninety different things before the beginning of college.” -WorldCat

Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram
Halifax Public Libraries – ebook and audiobook
“Clinically-depressed Darius Kellner, a high school sophomore, travels to Iran to meet his grandparents, but it is their next-door neighbor, Sohrab, who changes his life.” -WorldCat

Frankly in Love by David Yoon
Halifax Public Libraries – ebook and audiobook
“High school senior Frank Li is a Limbo. His term for Korean-American kids who find themselves caught between their parents’ traditional expectations and their own Southern California upbringing. His parents have one rule when it comes to romance, ‘Date Korean,’ which proves complicated when Frank falls for Brit Means, who is smart, beautiful, and white.” -WorldCat

Not So Pure and Simple by Lamar Giles
Halifax Public Libraries – ebook
“Del has had a crush on Kiera Westing since kindergarten. Now in their junior year, she is finally available. So when Kiera volunteers for an opportunity at their church, Del is right behind her, and then realizes he has inadvertently signed up for a Purity Pledge.” -WorldCat

The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider
Colchester-Hants East Public Library – ebook
Cumberland Public Library – ebook
Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library – ebook
“Star athelete and prom king Ezra Faulkner’s life is irreparably transformed by a tragic accident and the arrival of eccentric new girl Cassidy Thorpe.” -WorldCat

Read Alikes: “Pumpkinheads”

Posted on May 7, 2020 by M. Allen

Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol
Colchester-Hants East Public Library – ebook
Cumberland Public Library – ebook
Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library – ebook
“Of all the things Anya expected to find at the bottom of an old well, a new friend wasn’t one of them. Especially not a new friend who’s been dead for a century. -WorldCat

Drama by Raina Telgemeier
Colchester-Hants East Public Library – ebook
Cumberland Public Library – ebook
Halifax Public Libraries – ebook
Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library – ebook
“Callie rides an emotional roller coaster while serving on the stage crew for a middle school production of Moon over Mississippi as various relationships start and end, and others never quite get going.” -WorldCat

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
Colchester-Hants East Public Library – ebook and audiobook
Cumberland Public Library – ebook and audiobook
Halifax Public Libraries – ebook and audiobook
Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library – ebook and audiobook
“Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits–smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.” -WorldCat

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell
Colchester-Hants East Public Library – ebook
Cumberland Public Library – ebook
Halifax Public Libraries – ebook
Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library – ebook
“Laura Dean, the most popular girl in high school, was Frederica Riley’s dream girl, but Freddy is learning she is not the best girlfriend, so she seeks help from a mysterious medium and advice columnists to help her through being a teenager in love.” -WorldCat

New Kid by Jerry Craft
Halifax Public Libraries – ebook and audiobook
“Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade. As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two worlds-and not really fitting into either one.” -WorldCat

This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki
Colchester-Hants East Public Library – ebook
Cumberland Public Library – ebook
Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library – ebook
“Rose and Windy are summer friends whose families have visited Awago Beach for as long as they can remember. But this year is different, and they soon find themselves tangled in teen love and family crisis.” -WorldCat

Read Alikes: “Monday’s Not Coming”

Posted on May 6, 2020 by M. Allen

About That Night by Norah McClintock
TeenBookCloud
“Right before Jordie plans to break up with her boyfriend Derek for bad-boy Ronan, Derek disappears, and Jordie must uncover the truth before she is pinned for the crime.” -WorldCat

Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina
SYNC audiobook available July 23 – July 29
“Nora Lopez is seventeen during the infamous New York summer of 1977, when the city is besieged by arson, a massive blackout, and a serial killer named Son of Sam who shoots young women on the streets. Nora’s family life isn’t going so well either….All Nora wants is to turn eighteen and be on her own. Award-winning author Meg Medina transports us to a time when New York seemed balanced on a knife-edge, with tempers and temperatures running high, to share the story of a young woman who discovers that the greatest dangers are often closer than we like to admit and the hardest to accept.” -WorldCat

Disappeared by Francisco X. Stork
SYNC audiobook available May 21 – May 27
“Four Months Ago Sara Zapata’s best friend disappeared, kidnapped by the web of criminals who terrorize Juarez. Four Hours Ago Sara received a death threat-and with it, a clue to the place where her friend is locked away. Four Weeks Ago Emiliano Zapata fell in love with Perla Rubi, who will never be his so long as he’s poor. Four Minutes Ago Emiliano got the chance to make more money than he ever dreamed-just by joining the web. In the next four days, Sara and Emiliano will each face impossible choices, between life and justice, friends and family, truth and love.” -WorldCat

Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay
Halifax Public Libraries – ebook and audiobook
“When seventeen-year-old Jay Reguero learns his Filipino cousin and former best friend, Jun, was murdered as part of President Duterte’s war on drugs, he flies to the Philippines to learn more.” -WorldCat

Two Can Keep A Secret by Karen M. McManus
Halifax Public Libraries – ebook and audiobook
“Echo Ridge is small-town America. Ellery’s never been there, but she’s heard all about it. Her aunt went missing there at age seventeen. And only five years ago, a homecoming queen put the town on the map when she was killed. Now Ellery has to move there to live with a grandmother she barely knows.The town is picture-perfect, but it’s hiding secrets. And before school even begins for Ellery, someone has declared open season on homecoming, promising to make it as dangerous as it was five years ago.” -WorldCat

Sadie by Courtney Summers
Colchester-Hants East Public Library – ebook
Cumberland Public Library – ebook and audiobook
Halifax Public Libraries – ebook and audiobook
Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library – ebook and audiobook
“Told from the alternating perspectives of nineteen-year-old Sadie who runs away from her isolated small Colorado town to find her younger sister’s killer, and a true crime podcast exploring Sadie’s disappearance.” -WorldCat

The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett by Chelsea Sedoti
Halifax Public Libraries – ebook and audiobook
“Hawthorn Creely doesn’t fit in, and that was before she inserted herself into a missing persons investigation. She doesn’t mean to interfere, but Lizzie’s disappearance is the most fascinating mystery their town has ever had. And she’s pretty sure Lizzie will turn up at any moment, which means the time for speculation is now. So Hawthorn comes up with her own theory for Lizzie’s disappearance. A theory way too absurd to take seriously…at first.” -WorldCat

Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles
Halifax Public Libraries – ebook
When Marvin’s brother, Tyler, is found dead, an online video shows he was killed by a police officer. Terrified as his mother unravels, Marvin must learn what justice and freedom really mean.

SYNC is a free summer audiobook program for teens 13+. SYNC 2020 uses Sora, the student reading app from OverDrive. You do not need an Overdrive account to use Sora. You can download the free Sora app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. This program started on 30 April 2020. Register now!