Calvert Library's Book Bites for Teens

Malcolm Little's parents have always told him that he can achieve anything, but from what he can tell, that's a pack of lies. There's no point in trying, he figures, and lured by the nightlife of Boston and New York, he escapes into a world of fancy suits, jazz, girls, and reefer. But Malcolm's efforts to leave the past behind lead him into increasingly dangerous territory. X follows the boy who would become Malcolm X from his childhood to his imprisonment for theft at age twenty, when he found the faith that would lead him to forge a new path and command a voice that still resonates today.

In today’s story, alternate history abounds and we learn what would happen if George Washington had been crowned King of America, instead of president. His modern-day descendants find themselves in glamorous mischief when Princess Beatrice and her siblings dabble in loyalty, betrayal, and love.

Thirteen-year-old Conor awakens one night to find a monster outside his bedroom window, but not the one from the recurring nightmare that began when his mother became ill--an ancient, wild creature that wants him to face truth and loss.

In today’s story, “A” wakes up in a different body every day. Trying hard not to change lives or make ripples, and existing merely to travel from body to body, life holds no meaning, until “A” meets Rhiannon, and existence is no longer enough. This is the first title in the Every Day series.

Set in a horrifying near-future United States, seventeen-year-old Layla Amin and her parents are forced into an internment camp for Muslim American citizens. With the help of newly made friends also trapped within the internment camp, her boyfriend on the outside, and an unexpected alliance, Layla begins a journey to fight for freedom, leading a revolution against the camp's Director and his guards. Heart-racing and emotional, Internment challenges readers to fight complicit silence that exists in our society today.

Marin hasn’t spoken to anyone from her old life since the day she left everything behind. No one knows the truth about those final weeks, not even her best friend Mabel. But even thousands of miles away from the California coast, at college in New York, Marin still feels the pull of the tragedy she’s tried to outrun. Now, months later, Mabel is coming to visit and Marin will be forced to face everything that’s been left unsaid

In today’s story, fifty contestants in the Miss Teen Dream pageant crash land on an island. What ensues is a hilarious and satirical tale of survival, consumerism, and just maybe love.

They said his uncle Ian died in a car accident. But Alex Rider knows that’s a lie, and the bullet holes in the windshield prove it. Yet he never suspected the truth: his uncle was really a spy for Britain’s top secret intelligence agency. And now Alex has been recruited to find his uncle’s killers.

Cady is a privileged teenager who was born into the wealthy Sinclair family. They bask in the lap of luxury during the summers on their private island in Martha’s Vineyard. But, on one summer retreat, deep secrets break the surface of their perfect image, and a mystery unfolds.

Willowdean Dickson (Dumplin', to her beauty pageant loving mom) is fat. It’s not a problem or anything. It’s just who she is. At least, she doesn’t think it’s a problem, until the Miss Teen Bluebonnet Pageant, a crush on her coworker Bo, and the loss of her beloved aunt all converge and shake Willowdean’s confidence. With some new friends and old, a little courage and a Dolly Parton song in her heart, Willowdean might be able to show the world that she deserves the crown just as much as anyone else.