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BWG Library Picks of the Week

This week's top picks from the BWG Library...
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Stephanie and Luisa show off two of this week’s recommended books, available at your local Library! Submitted Photo

Recommended by BWG Readers
Magic for Liars
Sarah Gailey

Four stars for this mystery/fantasy story set in a magic school where a murder has just taken place.

Graphic Novel
Fire Force
Atsushi Kubo

The city of Tokyo is in the grip of a reign of terror! Possessed by demons, people have begun to burst into flame, leading to the establishment of a special firefighting team: the Fire Force, ready to roll on a moment's notice to fight spontaneous combustion anywhere it might break out. But the team is about to get a very unique addition.

Teen Reads
The Hand on the Wall
Maureen Johnson

Ellingham Academy must be cursed. Three people are now dead. One, a victim of either a prank gone wrong or a murder. Another, dead by misadventure. And now, an accident in Burlington has claimed another life. All three in the wrong place at the wrong time. All at the exact moment of Stevie's greatest triumph ... She knows who Truly Devious is. She's solved it.

The greatest case of the century. At least, she thinks she has. With this latest tragedy, it's hard to concentrate on the past. Not only has someone died in town, but David disappeared of his own free will and is up to something. Stevie is sure that somehow--somehow-- all these things connect. The three deaths in the present. The deaths in the past.

The missing Alice Ellingham and the missing David Eastman. Somewhere in this place of riddles and puzzles there must be answers. Then another accident occurs as a massive storm heads toward Vermont. This is too much for the parents and administrators. Ellingham Academy is evacuated. Obviously, it's time for Stevie to do something stupid. It's time to stay on the mountain and face the storm-- and a murderer.

NEW at the Library this week - Fiction
Africville
Jeffrey Colvin

A ferociously talented writer makes his stunning debut with this richly woven tapestry, set in a small Nova Scotia town settled by former slaves, that depicts several generations of one family bound together and torn apart by blood, faith, time, and fate. Structured as a triptych, Africaville chronicles the lives of three generations of the Sebolt family-- Kath Ella, her son Omar/Etienne, and her grandson Warner-- whose lives unfold against the tumultuous events of the twentieth century from the Great Depression of the 1930s, through the social protests of the 1960s to the economic upheavals in the 1980s. 

A century earlier, Kath Ella's ancestors established a new home in Nova Scotia. Like her ancestors, Kath Ella's life is shaped by hardship-- she struggles to conceive and to provide for her family during the long, bitter Canadian winters. She must also contend with the locals' lingering suspicions about the dark-skinned "outsiders" who live in their midst. Kath Ella's fierce love for her son, Omar, cannot help her overcome the racial prejudices that linger in this remote, tight-knit place. 

As he grows up, the rebellious Omar refutes the past and decides to break from the family, threatening to upend all that Kath Ella and her people have tried to build. Over the decades, each successive generation drifts further from Africaville, yet they take a piece of this indelible place with them as they make their way to Montreal, Vermont, and beyond, to the deep South of America. 

As it explores notions of identity, passing, cross-racial relationships, the importance of place, and the meaning of home, Africaville tells the larger story of the black experience in parts of Canada and the United States.

Submit your suggestions for the Library’s “Recommended by BWG Readers” picks by reaching out to Larissa at the Library ([email protected]) or through Facebook or Instagram (@bwglibrary).