Calvert Library's Book Bites for Teens

Today’s story is the classic coming of age tale of governess, Jane Eyre. The novel takes place in the early to mid-nineteenth century and is often spoken of as one of the most famous romance novels of all time.

In Garner County, 16-year-old girls, including rebellious Tierney, are sent to an isolated island, where they must release their seductive, poisonous magic into the wild before taking their proper places as a wives and mothers. Perfect for fans of The Handmaid's Tale.

The Hazel Wood is a contemporary fantasy about 16-year-old Alice who must rescue her mother from a magical land of folklore, inhabited by her grandmother but unknown to most of the world. Entertainment Weekly calls it “an original and imaginative fairy tale: thrilling, fascinating, and poignant in equal measure.”

What if Nicholas Flamel, probably the most famous alchemist ever to live, is still alive today having taken the elixir of life ever since the 1400’s? In this novel, he is alive and living in San Francisco where he protects the most powerful book in existence, the Book of Abraham the Mage. In the wrong hands, this book could be used to destroy the world. Teen twins Sophie and Josh Newman are prophesized to be the only ones who can help Flamel save the world.

Silhouette of a Sparrow is set in the summer of 1926, where sixteen-year-old Garnet Richardson is sent to a lake resort to escape the polio epidemic in the city. But in the country, Garnet finds herself under the supervision of oppressive guardians--her father’s wealthy cousin and the matron’s stuck-up daughter. Only a liberating job in a hat shop, an intense, secret relationship with a daring and beautiful flapper, and faith in herself, can save her from the expectations placed on her by society, and her mother.

Korean American high school senior Frank Li is a Limbo-someone caught between their parents' traditional expectations and their own Southern California upbringing. When Frank falls for a white girl, he knows his parents will never approve and makes a pact with Joy Song - a fellow Limbo in a similar predicament. Frank thinks it's the perfect plan, but in the end, Frank and Joy's fake-dating maneuver leaves him wondering if he ever really understood love-or himself-at all.​

Our new podcast is here to share first chapters of books geared towards young adults in our digital collection. Start here for more details.