Cool Books of April: Staff Picks

Woof  Spencer Quinn  Scholastic Inc.  April 28, 2015Woof

Spencer Quinn
Scholastic Inc.
April 28, 2015

Birdie Gaux and her dog, Bowser, must must solve the case of her Grammy’s missing prize stuffed marlin. In my ongoing quest for age appropriate literature that doesn’t include Minecraft Steve, I’ve chosen a quirky animal mystery for my daughter to bite into to. See what I did there. With a glowing review from one of my favorite mystery authors, Harlan Coben, I can’t see how kiddo and I can go wrong.

— Melinda B. Pierce

Blood on Snow  Jo Nesbo  Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group  4/7/2015Blood on Snow

Jo Nesbo
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
April 7, 2015

Mystery books are like catnip to me. I will sniff them out across the store, in your handbag, under your tupperware filled with that day’s lunch.

I started reading Nesbo’s works a few years ago when I ran out of Larsson’s works. I vastly prefer Nesbo. His anti-hero cop Harry Hole just breaks my heart and pulls me in every time. His descriptions of Oslo, the beautiful landscapes and the dark, dirty crime-filled underbelly make me want to travel like never before.

This book is a departure from Hole though. It’s the story of Olav, a lackey to one of Oslo’s scariest crime bosses. The publisher’s description includes, “He has a capacity for love that is as far-reaching as is his gift for murder.” I’m interested to read Nesbo’s writing on the crime side and to get my mystery story fix for the month.

— Al Rosenberg

Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda  Becky Albertalli  HarperCollins  April 7 2015Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda

Becky Albertalli
HarperCollins
April 7, 2015

Simon Spier is sixteen-years old and gay. Not that anybody knows. He likes to keep his head down and avoid drama (except for the school musical of course). But when an e-mail falls into the wrong hands, his biggest secret is about to be exposed. But it’s not only Simon who’s in danger of exposure – Blue, the boy he’s been e-mailing, is about to have his identity revealed as well. Now he’s being blackmailed into playing wingman for the class clown, Martin, the dynamics of his one tight-knit group of friends are shifting and things with Blue are getting more and more serious. So much for his plan to avoid drama.

It’s so great to see more LGBTQ representation in Young Adult literature and the early reviews of this book have been nothing short of raving. Word is this book is sweet, funny, honest and from the sounds of it filled with Oreos. (a.k.a my favourite cookie)

— Christa Seeley

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Megan Purdy

Megan Purdy

Publisher of all this. Megan was born in Toronto. She's still there. Philosopher, space vampire, heart of a killer.

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