Staff Favorites for Teens 2023
Every year we ask our staff across the library system for their favorite books published in a given year. Here are the teen titles people thought were the best for 2023. Summaries taken from catalog. (Created November 2023)
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Always the Almost
Sixteen-year-old trans boy Miles Jacobson's New Year resolutions include winning back his ex-boyfriend and winning the Midwest's biggest classical piano competition, but when a new, proudly queer boy moves to town, Miles reconsiders who he was and who he is now.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Ander & Santi Were Here
The Santos Vista neighborhood of San Antonio, Texas, is all Ander Martí́́nez has ever known. His family's taquería inspired them as a muralist, and, as they get ready to leave for art school, it's all of these things that make them question if they are ready to leave the neighborhood behind. When Ander meets Santiago López Alvarado, the hot new waiter, falling for each other becomes as natural as breathing. When ICE agents come for Santi, Ander realizes how fragile a sense of home can be.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Beating Heart Baby
Seventeen-year-old Santi Arboleda finally feels settled in his new life in Los Angeles with a growing found family and a relationship with musical prodigy Suwa--until Suwa is offered the chance to step into the spotlight that he has always denied himself and they must finally face their dreams, their pasts, and their futures, whether together or apart.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Danger and Other Unknown Risks
Follows Marguerite de Pruitt and her canine pal, Daisy, as they embark on a journey to save the world. I'm gonna tell you a story, and I'm gonna ask that you let me finish before you say anything. Here's the deal--on midnight of January 1st, 2000, the world ended. But it wasn't technology that killed it: It was magic. Now, years later, the Earth has transformed. Magic works (sort of). People are happy (sort of). But this new world isn't stable, and unless Marguerite de Pruitt and her canine pal, Daisy, do something about it, it'll tilt into deadly chaos. Good thing they've been training their whole lives for this and are destined to succeed. Or so they think.
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
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Delicious Monsters
Told in alternating timelines, seventeen-year-old Daisy and her mother move into her deceased uncle's mansion, only to find horrors waiting inside, and ten years later, Brittney investigates the mystery behind the Miracle Mansion that turned her mother's life around.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Family Style
"Thien's first memory isn't a sight or a sound. It's the sweetness of watermelon and the saltiness of fish. It's the taste of the foods he ate while adrift at sea as his family fled Vietnam. After the Pham family arrives at a refugee camp in Thailand, they struggle to survive. Things don't get much easier once they resettle in California. And through each chapter of their lives, food takes on a new meaning. Strawberries come to signify struggle as Thien's mom and dad look for work. Potato chips are an indulgence that bring Thien so much joy that they become a necessity. Behind every cut of steak and inside every croissant lies a story. And for Thien Pham, that story is about a search-- for belonging, for happiness, for the American dream." - Amazon
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
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A First Time for Everything
"Dan's always been a good kid. The kind of kid who listens to his teachers, helps his mom with grocery shopping, and stays out of trouble. But being a good kid doesn't stop him from being bullied and feeling like he's invisible, which is why Dan has low expectations when his parents send him on a class trip to Europe. At first, he's right. He's stuck with the same girls from his middle school who love to make fun of him, and he doesn't know why his teacher insisted he come on this trip. But as he travels through France, Germany, Switzerland, and England, a series of first experiences begin to change him--first Fanta, first fondue, first time stealing a bike from German punk rockers... and first love."
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
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Girls Like Girls
Seventeen-year-old Coley is still grieving her mother's death when she moves to rural Oregon and feels more alone than ever, but when she meets Sonya, Coley considers risking it all and opening up her heart to love again.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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The Hills of Estrella Roja
When college freshman Kat Fields receives a mysterious email urging her to visit a relatively unknown Texas town with a history of witchcraft, strange sightings, and "devil lights"--glowing red stars that appear above the town's hills every night--she ditches her plans for spring break and takes a solo road trip to Estrella Roja to investigate for her podcast, Paranormal Texas, catchphrase: "Y'all stay spooky!" Meanwhile, Marisol "Mari" Castillo, is also headed for Estrella Roja to attend the funeral for her abuela whom she hasn't seen since childhood, when her mom cut ties with the family and left town. Feeling lost and bored, she decides to help Kat after a chance meeting at the local diner--and, okay, it doesn't hurt that Kat is super cute. As the two girls grow closer not only to each other, but to uncovering the dark legacy that the town was built on, they discover that something hungry lurks beneath the strange stars and that in the hills of Estrella Roja, some secrets should stay buried
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
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Imogen, Obviously
"Imogen Scott may be hopelessly heterosexual, but she's got the Worlds Greatest Ally title locked down. She's never missed a Pride Alliance meeting. She knows more about queer media discourse than her very queer little sister. She even has two queer best friends. There's Gretchen, a fellow high school senior, who helps keep Imogen's biases in check. And then there's Lili--newly out and newly thriving with a cool new squad of queer college friends. Imogen's thrilled for Lili. Any ally would be. And now that she's finally visiting Lili on campus, she's bringing her ally A game. Any support Lili needs, Imogen's all in. Even if that means bending the truth, just a little. Like when Lili drops a tiny queer bombshell: she's told all her college friends that Imogen and Lili used to date. And none of them know that Imogen is a raging hetero--not even Lili's best friend, Tessa. Of course, the more time Imogen spends with chaotic, freckle-faced Tessa, the more she starts to wonder if her truth was ever all that straight to begin with..."
Format: Book
Availability: All copies in use
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