Green Mountain Book Award (GMBA) is Vermont’s High School Reader’s Choice Award. Check out the 2024 GMBA award books and stop in the library to pick one up!
Stop in to get one of the new featured new books below. You can also follow all our newly added books in the library catalog
REALISTIC FICTION: Forward Me Back To You by Mitali Perkins Year Published: 2019
The Agency of Reading
When you take a moment to experience a story that is not your own, you have freedom to be yourself, on your own time, to process your emotions, to feel empathy, to understand someone else’s view, to realize that you are not alone. There is no pressure of assignment due dates, no one is evaluating your work or judging your thoughts. It’s you and the story. Whether you read non fiction or fiction you are learning. From reading Forward Me Back to You by Mitali Perkins you will learn about the Egyptian queen Nefertiti, the Great Banyon Tree in Kolkata, Kara Walker’s famous work The rich soil down there, styles of Brazilian jiu-jistu, the “Golden Rule” (treat others how you want to be treated), and what an Indian Refugee Center for women victims of sex trafficking might be like. You might have empathy for what it's like to be a child in America adopted from India. You might have inquiry about how sexual trauma and generational trauma affects the brain and memory, and wonder the best ways these wounds may be healed. You might feel appreciation for overprotective mothers, and for the wisdom of grandmothers, and have compassion for how much just being with someone helps them through distress. Emotions matter, listening matters, stories matter.
GRAPHIC MEMOIR: You Brought Me the Ocean by Alex Sanchez and Julie Maroh Year Published: 2020
New graphic novel by the voices that helped shape LGBTQIIA+ literature, Alex Sanchez and Julie Maroh. A coming out romance set against the backdrop of the DC universe!
FANTASY: The Beast Player
by Nahoko Uehashi (translated by Cathy Hirano)
Year Published: 2020
Fans of Studio Ghibli films will be enchanted by this new (to America) series. Uehashi is a well-known Japanese writer of teen fiction and winner of the 2014 Hans Christian Andersen Award. Ten year-old Elin is orphaned and must find her way in a politically restive situation, learning to employ her considerable intelligence and ability to communicate with animals. “In a refreshing change for Western readers, the central issue hinges on neither individual power nor romantic love but kindness balanced against responsibility.”
DYSTOPIAN: Followers by Megan Angelo Year Published: 2020
New dystopian fiction with dark comedy in a time of need for human connection, while exploring our too easy ways of connecting through technology. What is the future of humanity and how far will our addictions go in a culture obsessed with fame and social media? “Edgy, slap in the face cautionary tale.”
HISTORICAL FICTION: The Guinevere Deception and The Camelot Betrayal (Camelot Rising Series 1&2) by Kiersten White Year Published: 2019/2020
Set in the world of Camelot with a fresh take on the Arthurian legend. The woman known as Guinevere rides from the convent to join her soon-to-be husband Arthur in Camelot, but she is not what she seems. Merlin has charged her with protecting the new king at all costs, but there are other players in the mix who have a different target in mind.
NON- FICTION SCIENCE: The Human Cosmos: A secret history of the stars by Jo Marchant Year Published: 2020
Award-winning science journalist historical account of our cosmic existence and our disconnect to the relationships between humanity and the heavens.
POETRY: Home Body by Rupi Kaur Year Published: 2020
Rupi Kaur, Canadian-Indian author of poetry books Milk and Honey and The Sun and Her Flowers. Her new book of simple, yet powerful poems and art express how our stories and trauma live in our bodies. Rupi Kaur is an advocate and a voice for change to our dominant mental health framework, the treatment of women and sexual abuse, and the #standwithfarmers movement to fight oppression and caste-based discrimination of the Sikh farmers in Punjab, India by their government and Prime Minister.
NON FICTION HISTORY: She Votes: How U.S. Women Won Suffrage, and what happened next by Bridget Quinn Year Published: 2020
There are many books about the Women's Suffrage movement, but this one from author and historian Bridget Quinn stands out. This deluxe book honors the 100th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment with illustrations by 100 women artists. A colorful, intersectional account of the struggle for women's rights in the United States. Each artist brings a unique perspective; together, they embody the multiplicity of women in the United States.
MEMOIR: Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remains by Kerri Arsenault Year Published: 2020
Part Narrative nonfiction and part memoir. How did the town of Mexico, Maine become known as “Cancer Valley?” This thoroughly investigated and researched memoir is a story of an ecological disaster from a paper mill covered up by local government that also explores the emotional havoc and bittersweet upheaval of leaving, then returning to home.
