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Check Me Out ;) Lakeland Public Library 100 Lake Morton Dr.

Award-winning book selections compiled by the staff of: Larry R. Jackson Branch 1700 N Florida Ave. lakelandgov.net

THE LOVE SONGS OF W.E.B. DUBOIS By Honorée Jeffers

Ailey Pearl Garfield reckons with ancestral trauma while growing up in the 1980s and ’90s. Throughout, historical sketches (or “songs”) link Ailey to her ancestors. The multigenerational story bursts open when Ailey unearths some unknown family history during her graduate studies, as well as secrets of the Black female founder of her family’s alma mater.

Winner of the 2021 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction The National Book Critics are presented annually to promote “the finest books and reviews published in English.”

INVISIBLE CHILD By Andrea Elliot

This affecting, deeply reported account follows eight years in the life of a young girl in Brooklyn as her family navigates the world of homeless shelters, violence, and addiction, as well as her eventual enrollment in a Pennsylvania boarding school. A portrait of resilience amid institutional failure that successfully merges literary narrative with policy analysis.

Winner of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction The Pulitzer Prize is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States.

THE FINAL GIRL SUPPORT GROUP

By Grady Hendrix

Lynnette Tarkington is a real-life final girl who survived a massacre. For more than a decade, she’s been meeting with five other final girls and their therapist in a support group for those who survived the unthinkable, working to put their lives back together. Then one woman misses a meeting, and their worst fears are realized—someone knows about the group and is determined to rip their lives apart again, piece by piece.

Winner of the 2021 Goodreads Choice Award for Horror The Goodreads Choice Awards are the only major book awards decided by readers.

FOX & I: AN UNCOMMON FRIENDSHIP By Catherine Raven

A poignant and remarkable tale of friendship, growth, and coping with inevitable loss—and of how that loss can be transformed into meaning. It is both a timely tale of solitude and belonging as well as a timeless story of one woman whose immersion in the natural world will change the way we view our surroundings—each tree, weed, flower, stone, or fox.

Winner of the 2022 PEN/E.O. Wilson Award for Literary Science Writing The PEN America Awards recognize remarkable literary work across multiple genres.

LOCAL WOMAN MISSING By Mary Kubica

Shelby Tebow is the first to go missing. Not long after, Meredith Dickey and her six-year-old daughter, Delilah, vanish just blocks away from where Shelby was last seen, striking fear into their oncepeaceful community. Are these incidents connected? After a search that yields more questions than answers, the case eventually goes cold. Now, eleven years later, Delilah shockingly returns. Everyone wants to know what happened to her, but no one is prepared for what they’ll find.

Winner of the 2022 Audie Award for Best Thriller/Suspense The Audie Awards are given by the American Audio Publishers Association for audiobooks and spoken-word entertainment.

FIREKEEPER’S DAUGHTER By Angeline Boulley

A half-Native American science geek and star hockey player places her dreams on hold to look after her fragile mother and reluctantly becomes involved in the investigation of a series of drug-related deaths. Now, as the deceptions—and deaths—keep growing, she must learn what it means to be a strong Anishinaabe kwe (Ojibwe woman) and how far she’ll go for her community, even if it tears apart the only world she’s ever known.

Winner of the 2022 Michael L. Printz Award The Michael L. Printz Award is presented by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) for excellence in young adult literature.

THE THOUSAND CRIMES OF MING TSU

By Tom Lin

Fighting to rescue his wife and exact revenge on the men who destroyed him, Ming Tsu is aided by a blind clairvoyant and a troupe of magic-show performers, some with supernatural powers, whom they meet on the journey. Ming blazes his way across the West, settling old scores with a single-minded devotion that culminates in an explosive and unexpected finale.

Winner of the 2022 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Fiction The Andrew Carnegie Medals are awarded by the Library Association of America for Excellence in Fiction and Non-Fiction.

THE LAST CUENTISTA By Donna Barba Higuera

Only a select few have the opportunity to vacate Earth in the year 2061, travel for 380 years in stasis, and start a new life on the planet of Sagan. Tearing herself away from her grandma and her cuentos, or stories, Petra Peña follows her family aboard one of three fleeing spaceships. She awakens years later to find that the ominous Collective has taken over her ship. To survive their fanaticism, Petra shares cuentos with other child passengers.

Winner of the 2022 Newberry Medal The Newbery Medal is awarded by the Association for Library Service to Children for outstanding children’s literature.

LAST CALL By Elon Green

The Last Call Killer preyed upon gay men in New York in the ‘80s and ‘90s and had all the hallmarks of the most notorious serial killers. Yet because of the sexuality of his victims, the sky-high murder rates, and the AIDS epidemic, his murders have been almost entirely forgotten. This gripping true-crime narrative tells the story and the decades-long chase to find him. And at the same time, it paints a portrait of his victims and a vibrant community.

Winner of the 2022 Edgar Award for Best True Crime The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America.

WATERCRESS By Andrea Wang, illustrated by Jason Chin

A little girl traveling through Ohio in an old car helps her family collect muddy, snailcovered watercress from a ditch in the wild before learning the story of her immigrant heritage and how foraging for fresh food helps her loved ones stay together.

Winner of the 2022 Caldecott Medal The Caldecott Medal is awarded by the Association for Library Service to Children for distinguished picture books.