Coming in November

Random House recently announced that it plans to publish a young adult adaptation of Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. The adaptation, which chronicles the true story of World War II hero and Olympian Lou Zamperini, will be released on November 11, 2014.

More favorites

Splendors and Glooms
by Laura Amy Schlitz

This Young Adult 2013 Newberry Honor Book is both delightful and eerie. Set in Victorian London, the story is filled with horse-drawn carriages, puppet shows and elaborate upper-class houses. And yet it feels like fog, filthy streets and creepy characters that will leave you turning page after page. We follow Clara, a young privileged girl filled with melancholy, wanting more. She attends a puppet show in town with her father and meets the Great Grissini. This is where the magic begins… Clara meets two orphans, Lizzie Rose and Parsefall and together the three of them take off on a mysterious, magical and yet knuckle biting adventure. It’s a wonderful, twisty and creepy melodrama with the three heroes to love, two villains to hate and then you get to the end… leaving you feel like you’ve been hanging by the strings all along.

—Emily

I am Otter
by Sam Garton

While not always a huge picture book reader, I have to admit that this one really got me. It’s a good story about a bored otter and her friend Teddy who decide to open a toast restaurant and the havoc which ensues. The illustrations are fantastic and the humor will appeal to all ages. I wish I had a small person to read it to so that I could justify owning a copy. So much fun!

—Alli