Local library offers new titles for young readers

Eddy-New Rockford Librarian Susie Sharp has been busy shopping, thanks to a $2,000 grant from the North Dakota State Library Coordinating Council.

"Our young adult section was becoming a bit outdated," says Sharp, who applied for the grant this fall. Now, with an updated selection of new books, readers can choose from more classic reads as well as modern works.

Below are a few of Sharp's favorites, but keep in mind, there are many more to choose from- 120 newly acquired youth books to be exact. Each one promises to offer a new twist with modern themes and characters, so take a look for yourself.

Dragons in a Bag by Zetta Elliott

When Jaxon has to spend the day with a mean old lady his mother calls Ma, he finds out she's not his grandmother- but she is a witch! She needs his help delivering baby dragons to a magical world where they'll be safe. There are two rules when it comes to the dragons: don't let them out of the bag, and don't feed them anything sweet. Before he knows it, Jax and his friends Vikram and Kavita have broken both rules! Will Jax get the baby dragons delivered safe and sound? Or will they be lost in Brooklyn forever?

Three Keys by Kelly Yang

Mia runs the front desk at her parents' Calivista Motel and she's finally getting somewhere with her writing! But as it turns out, sixth grade is no picnic. Mia's new teacher doesn't think her writing is all that great. The motel is struggling, and Mia has to answer to the Calivista's many, many worried investors. A new immigration law is also looming. If it passes, it will threaten everything-and everyone-in Mia's life.

Refugee by Alan Grantz

Three different kids. One mission in common: ESCAPE. Josef is a Jewish boy in 1930s Nazi Germany. With the threat of concentration camps looming, he and his family board a ship bound for the other side of the world. Isabel is a Cuban girl in 1994. With riots and unrest plaguing her country, she and her family set out on a raft, hoping to find safety and freedom in America. Mahmoud is a Syrian boy in 2015. With his homeland torn apart by violence and destruction, he and his family begin a long trek toward Europe.

Gratz's other works including Grenade, Allies, Prisoner B-3087 and others are in the library's collection.

Race to the Sun By Rebecca Roanhorse

Lately, seventh-grader Nizhoni Begay has been able to detect monsters, like that man in the fancy suit who was in the bleachers at her basketball game. Turns out he's Mr. Charles, her dad's new boss at the oil and gas company. Nizhoni knows he's a threat, but her father won't believe her. Dad disappears the next day, leaving behind a message that says "Run!" Nizhoni, her siblings and her best friend Davery are thrust into a rescue mission that can only be accomplished with the help of Diné Holy People. Their aid will come at a price: the kids must pass a series of trials in which it seems like nature itself is out to kill them. If they can reach the House of the Sun, they will be outfitted with what they need to defeat the ancient monsters.

They Called Us Enemy by George Takei

In 1942, at the order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, every person of Japanese descent on the west coast was rounded up and shipped to one of 10 "relocation centers," hundreds or thousands of miles from home, where they would be held for years under armed guard.

Takei's firsthand account recalls life behind barbed wire, his mother's hard choices, his father's faith in democracy, and the way those experiences planted the seeds for his astonishing future.

Sharp wants parents to know that kids of this age are welcome to check out books at the library. Normal hours are M-F noon-6 p.m.