Category Archives: Butler Bookshelf

Butler Bookshelf

by

Last week we perused mystery in our children’s fiction collection. This week’s picks from our teen fiction collection has mystery with a little pinch of thriller. These horrific YA picks have everything: dark academia, confronting terrible pasts, high stakes, gothic settings, and not to mention murder. With trust being scarce and thrillers from every angle, these characters must navigate treacherous terrain to survive long enough to solve the mystery. This featured pick of the week is That Which Feeds Us by Keala Kendall, a Hawaiian Gothic horror novel. In a search to find Ohia, a missing sister, Lehua’s dream vacation at the Kopa’a Island Resort turns into a nightmare when the boat leaves her behind, but it turns out that Ohia’s disappearance isn’t the island’s only mystery to solve. Despite hearing warnings to leave the island, Lehua needs to unearth the island’s bloody history and face the horrors lurking beneath the sugarcane surface to find her sister.

Check out more YA horror mystery below!

That Which Feeds Us
Keala Kendall
Random House Children’s Books/Random House Books for Young Readers
Available now!

Last to Leave
Teresa Richards
Charlesbridge/Charlesbridge Teen
Available now!

A House of Vipers
Emma Jackson
Random House Children’s Books/Delacorte Press
Available now!

Paradise Coast
Suzanne Young
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing/Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Available now!

Heiress of Nowhere
Stacey Lee
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing/Sarah Barley Books
Available now!

Butler Bookshelf

by

From Sherlock Holmes to Hercule Poirot, detectives and mystery stories have long been a staple on bookshelves everywhere. A good mystery allows a reader to sink their teeth into a problem and put their brain to the test solving it. This week, we’re looking at middle grade mystery stories, with our feature pick being Where Ella Went by Laurie Morrison. “Everything Ella” seems to be the most perfect eighth-grader on the planet: straight-A student, captain of the soccer team, president of student council, and beloved by (almost) everyone. So when she doesn’t show up for the most important game of the soccer season so far and suddenly leaves school entirely, fellow soccer players Sadie and Pug are shocked. Ella has disappeared without a trace, and all the adults in their lives are telling them to move on and stop worrying. But why would Ella leave? And where did she go? This epistolary mystery dives into the realities of middle-school girlhood.

Check out more middle grade mysteries below!

Where Ella Went
Laurie Morrison
ABRAMS/Amulet Books
Available now!

Mystery on Macaw Mountain
Maria Jose Fitzgerald
Random House Children’s Books/Alfred A. Knopf
Available now!

The Case of the Scarlet Snakebite
Christyne Morrell
Random House Children’s Books/Delacorte Press
Available now!

Secrets of the Broken House
Taryn Souders
Sourcebooks/Sourcebooks for Young Readers
Available now!

The Shrew Detective: The Case of the Pilfered Pearls
Margi Preus
Illustrated by Junyi Wu
ABRAMS/Amulet Books
Available now!

Butler Bookshelf

by

1

Part of our nonfiction collection highlights extraordinary people that made their mark on the world. This week we at the Butler Center are highlighting the books that spotlight extraordinary black people who created an impact that made the world a better place, in celebration of Juneteenth. Our feature pick is A Doctor at Heart: The Story of Groundbreaking Scientist and Teacher Vivien Thomas by Joan Schoettler and illustrated by Steffi Walthall. In spite of poverty and racial injustice, scientist and professor Vivien Thomas revolutionized the field of heart surgery and paved the way for other aspiring medical professionals to follow.

A Doctor at Heart: The Story of Groundbreaking Scientist and Teacher Vivien Thomas
Joan Schoettler
Steffi Walthall
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing/Beach Lane Books
Available now!

Outspoken: Paul Robeson Ahead of His Time: A One-Man Show
Carole Boston Weatherford
Eric Velasquez
Candlewick Press
Available now!

Fighting with Love: The Legacy of John Lewis
Lesa Cline-Ransome
James E. Ransome
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing/Beach Lane Books/A Paula Wiseman Book
Available now!

Black Lives Great Minds of Science
Tonya Bolden
David Wilkerson
ABRAMS/Abrams Fanfare
Available on September 9, 2026!

Little People, BIG DREAMS: Oprah Winfrey
Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara
Sera Latterell
The Quarto Group/Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
Available now!

Butler Bookshelf

by

Pride month is here again, and what better way to celebrate than to peruse some LGBTQ-related literature! This week on Butler’s Bookshelf we’re featuring LGBTQ YA novels from our Teen Fiction collection! Our featured pick is Sweet Clarity by Rhiannon Richardson. When Clarity Jones returns home from summer camp, she vows to hide her sexuality from a world that might not accept her to please her parents and not lose any more friends, but when her relationship with Hannah Fitzpatrick, who Clarity had her first kiss with at the summer camp, is threatened, Clarity must come to terms with who she’s pretending to be vs. who she really is deep inside.

Check out more YA LGBTQ Romance below!

Sweet Clarity
Rhiannon Richardson
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing/Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Available now!

Charmed and Dangerous
Shelly Page
Random House Children’s Books/Joy Revolution
Available now!

Marisol Acts the Part
Elle Gonzalez Rose
Random House Children’s Books/Joy Revolution
Available now!

Love Makes Mochi
Stefany Valentine
Random House Children’s Books/Joy Revolution
Available now!

I Can’t Even Think Straight
Dean Atta
HarperCollins Publishers/Quill Tree Books
Available now!

Butler Bookshelf

by

Our picture book collection feature colorful illustrations and even some copies written in other languages. This week on Butler’s Bookshelf, all these picture books have a creature that live however they want: cats. Here in the Butler Center, we love cats so much we want to be them! However, since we can’t, spotlighting (and reading) picture books about them will suit us just fine. Our feature pick is I Really Want to Be a Cat, written and illustrated by Helen Hancocks. This entertaining picture book presents a case to why cats are awesome, and after reading it, perhaps you would really want to be a cat, too!

Check out more books that feature cats below:

I Really Want to Be a Cat
Helen Hancocks
Sourcebooks Kids/Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Available now!

Nani and the Lion
Alicia D. Williams
Illustrated by Anna Cunha
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing/Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Available now!

Tate’s Wild Rescue
Jenny Turnbull
Illustrated by Izzy Burton
Random House Children’s Books/Crown Books for Young Readers
Available now!

Luigi the Spider who Wanted to Be a Kitten
Michelle Knudsen
Illustrated by Kevin Hawkes
Candlewick Press
Available now!

No Cats in the Library
Lauren Emmons
Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing Division/Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Available now!

Butler Bookshelf

by

Last month, we took a look at some of the young adult fantasy in our collection at the Butler Center, so this week we’re turning our eye to their middle grade counterparts. From dragon mentors to magical quests, these books take young readers away to worlds full of magic, heroism, and fearsome trials. Our feature pick is Forbidden Mountain by Bardon Mull, the first book of the Guardians series. In Anora, bonding with a guardian is a sacred spiritual practice — a guardian can bring greatness or ruin, depending on who an Anoran bonds with. For Mako and Arden, the meaning of guardianship is tested when they undertake their own journeys and discover secrets running deeper than they could’ve imagined.

Check out more middle grade fantasy below!

Forbidden Mountain
Brandon Mull
Random House Children’s Books/Labyrinth Road
Available now!

Clementine H. Hopeful is Not a Hero
Noah Corey
Random House Children’s Books/Labyrinth Road
Available now!

The Dragon’s Apprentice: Revenant’s Return
James Riley
Random House Children’s Books/Labyrinth Road
Available now!

Ice Apprentices: The Frozen Curse
Jacob North
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing/Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Available now!

A Kingdom of Shadows
Emily Bain Murphy
Penguin Random House Christian Publishing Group/WaterBrook
Available now!

Butler Bookshelf

by

For this week’s Butler Bookshelf, we’re looking at picture books about feelings. These stories in our collection tackle the realities of emotions, and give young readers a blueprint for how to deal with their own feelings. Our feature pick is The Boy and the Flame by Beatrice Blue. Lucien loves staying in his room, where nothing ever changes. But when he meets a glowing ember that grows into a flame, it travels with him through the seasons, and shows him that change is a natural part of life, and is something to be celebrated, not feared.

Check out more picture books about feelings and emotions below!

The Boy and the Flame
Beatrice Blue
The Quarto Group/Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
Available now!

Bear Worries
Natalia Shaloshvili
The Quarto Group/Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
Available now!

Because of a Shoe
Julie Fogliano
Illustrated by Marla Frazee
Random House Children’s Books/Alfred A. Knopf
Available now!

Men Cry
Joan Turu
Charlesbridge
Available now!

The Cloud that Stuck
Karen Krossing
Illustrated by Dorothy Leung
Charlesbridge
Available now!

Butler Bookshelf

by

Our nonfiction collection in the Butler Center runs the gamut from biographies to cookbooks, but one thing we can never get enough of us encyclopedias and fact books! This week for our Butler Bookshelf we’re travelling from under the sea, all over planet Earth, and then to outer space in this collection of collections of facts. Our feature pick is America is Wild!: A State-By-State Encyclopedia of American Wildlife by Brad Timm, illustrated by Jill De Haan and Margaux Samson-Abadie. This encyclopedia offers a glimpse into the variety of animals and plants that can be found in all 50 states, with full-color illustrations of each entry.

Check out more encyclopedias and fact books below!

America is Wild!: A State-By-State Encyclopedia of American Wildlife
Brad Timm
Illustrated by Jill De Haan and Margaux Samson-Abadie
The Quarto Group/Wide Eyed Editions
Available now!

America Celebrates: The Most Incredible and Influential People, Places & Events of the Last 250 Years
Aubre Andrus
The Quarto Group/becker&mayer! kids
Available now!

Sportopedia: An Illustrated Introduction to The World of Sport
Adam Skinner
Illustrated by Mark Long
The Quarto Group/Wide Eyed Editions
Available now!

Unfathomable: 20 Wild (But True) Stories About the Ocean
Mary Boone
Illustrated by Max Temescu
Random House Children’s Books/Bright Matter Books
Available now!

Why Space Will Freak You Out: The Scariest, Strangest Parts of the Universe
Dr. Kimberly K. Arcand and Megan Watzke
Illustrated by Robert Ball
With Images Taken by NASA
Sourcebooks Kids/Sourcebooks eXplore
Available now!

Butler Bookshelf

by

Picture books are some of our favorites here at the Butler Center. Through their unique blend of words and images, the picture books in our collection tell all kinds of insightful, impactful, and sometimes downright hilarious stories. This week, we’re looking at some of the picture books that we’ve added to our collection recently, with our feature pick being Bing’s Cherries by Livia Blackburne and illustrated by Julia Kuo. Ah Bing was a Chinese immigrant who bred Bing cherries. But what was he like? One little girl imagines his life as she shares his cherries with her father.

Check out more picture books below!

Bing’s Cherries
Livia Blackburne
Illustrated by Julia Kuo
Random House Children’s Books/Alfred A. Knopf
Available now!

Judgy Bunny and the Terrible Beach
Scott Rothman
Illustrated by Linzie Hunter
Sourcebooks Kids/Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Available now!

Sheep & Goat Climb the World
A.C. Paolini
Illustrated by Monica Arnaldo
Random House Children’s Books/Alfred A. Knopf
Available now!

Van Gogh’s Dog
Georgia Larson
Illustrated by Grace Helmer
Random House Children’s Books/Random House Studio
Available now!

When the Sun Goes Down
Greg Pizzoli
Random House Children’s Books/Alfred A. Knopf
Available now!

Butler Bookshelf

by

For this week’s Butler Bookshelf, we’re looking at some of the many YA fantasy novels in our collection. Our feature pick is Call of the Dragon by Natasha Bowen. When the dragon gods that protect the Kingdom of Kwa begin calling to her, Moremi must take on a quest to restore their power.

Check out more young adult fantasy below!

Call of the Dragon
Natasha Bowen
Random House Children’s Books/Random House Books for Young Readers
Available now!

The Dragon and the Sun Lotus
Amelie Wen Zhao
Random House Children’s Books/Delacorte Press
Available now!

The Faraway Inn
Sarah Beth Durst
Random House Children’s Books/Delacorte Press
Available now!

Tidespeaker
Sadie Turner
Random House Children’s Books/Delacorte Press
Available now!

Ungodly Chaos
Selma Soren
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing/Margaret K. McElderberry Books
Available now!