Marisa and Mary are back-again! We have a new season and a new episode of The Book Jam!  Today’s books are books that we’d recommend to Wednesday Addams herself. A middle grade horror book for the tricky to recommend for advanced reader who could also read Stephen King. A deliciously fun YA read for those who want a vampire story with LGBTQIA+ and a dark academia twist.  Check out the Books Mentioned below to add even more books to your To Be Read pile. Marisa’s book: The Stars Did Wander Darkling by Colin Meloy. Middle Grade, Grades 5+. Published by Balzer + Bray, September 13, 202 ..read more

Marisa and Mary are back! We have a new season and a new episode of The Book Jam!  Today’s books are books to read not just during Black History Month, but to read all year long. But we don’t just want to focus on reading black authors and black stories during just one month, these are excellent books that are amazing reads that will give you all the emotional feels. Explore sadness and grief on a roadtrip with Mary’s title: Me (Moth) by Amber McBride, a book in verse. Marisa’s title is a YA/new adult book, Required Reading For the Disenfranchised Freshman by Kristen R. Lee, about finding ..read more

Marisa and Mary are back! Today we’re talking about the books that got us through the dumpster fire that was 2021. Not all of the books talked about were published in 2021. There are a million reasons to read: sometimes you might read to dive deep to learn about a topic or read to escape. Whatever your reason, here are some of our favorite titles we turned to to help us get through 2021. Check out the Books Mentioned below to add even more books to your To Be Read pile. Books we talked about this episode: Marisa’s books: Starfish by Lisa Fipps, Middle Grade, Grades 4+. Published by Penguin You ..read more

Marisa and Mary are back with a new episode of The Book Jam! Winter has just begun and it makes us want to read historical fiction books-but these aren’t your typical historical fiction titles. Both titles we talk about today give voice and fresh perspectives to this genre. Marisa talks about So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix by Bethany C. Morrow; this book was set in 1863 in the Freedmen's Colony of Roanoke Island and centers on the binding love of a family of four black sisters each finding their own way. Mary talks about The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros, a book set against the ba ..read more

Marisa and Mary are back with a new episode of The Book Jam!  We love to highlight LGBTQIA+ voices and authors and today’s books are all about non-binary and gender non-conforming characters. Marisa’s book, Both Can Be True by Jules Machias, is a middle grade debut that “explores identity, gender fluidity, and the power of friendship and acceptance in a dual-narrative story about two kids who join forces to save a dog.” Mary speaks about Gender Queer: a Memoir by Maia Kobabe; this is a graphic memoir that relates-with sometimes painful honesty-the experience of growing up gender non-confo ..read more

Marisa and Mary are back with a new episode of The Book Jam! Today we are talking about teen spooky and horror books-but not your typical horror books; these books feature BIPOC main characters (one LGBTQIA+) and they are NOT going to be the first ones to die. These books are like no other. We also discuss the need in publishing for more diverse-diverse books, what do we mean? Listen to the episode and hear us discuss these great horrifying reads. Check out the Books Mentioned below to add even more books to your To Be Read pile. Marisa’s book: The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass. T ..read more

Marisa and Mary are back with a new episode of The Book Jam! Today we are talking about teen mystery books-but not your typical teen mysteries; today’s books we discuss are also action, adventure, and thrillers that are ‘locked room mystery’ books. Is this the episode where we realize we have become mystery reader fans? Check out the Books Mentioned below to add even more books to your To Be Read pile. Mary’s book: The Marvelous by Claire Kann. Teen, Grades 7+. Published by Swoon Readers, June 2021. Marisa’s book: The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe. High School, Grades 9+. Published by G.P. Pu ..read more

Marisa and Mary are back with a new episode of The Book Jam! We have a special guest today, Samatha Lee, she is Head of Reference Services at the Enfield Public Library AND serves as chair of the CT Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee. This makes Sam, the perfect guest for today's topic: we are talking about the books 'they don’t want you to read' because it is Banned Books Week. Listen and find out what is Banned Books Week, what is a challenge versus a ban, and of course hear us talk about our favorite banned books. These books cover big topics like racism, black lives matte ..read more

Marisa and Mary are back with a new episode of The Book Jam! This month’s book theme is all about mental health. Our mental health affects how we think, feel, and act-and how we handle stress, relate to others, and how we make choices. It is no wonder that so many good teen books are tackling this topic. The books we talk about in this episode could be triggering. Marisa’s book, The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf, features a music loving teen girl who has OCD who struggles to do everything she can to find her way back to her mother during the historic race riots of 1969 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysi ..read more

Marisa and Mary are back with a new episode of The Book Jam! We have been busy with summer reading, starting new library jobs, and doing tons of reader’s advisory. It is summer...and that means we’re going to talk about summer camp: bugs, s'mores, scary stories. Marisa’s book, You Got a Match by Emma Lord, is a romcom with a messy main character, ditching summer school to attend a summer camp with a secret influencer older sister she never knew about. Mary’s book Camp by Lev A.C. Rosen has a diverse LGBTQ cast of campers at queer camp. The mission? Land the boy of his dreams by pretending to b ..read more