Missed Booklist’s very own Susan Maguire, Senior Editor of Collection Management and Library Outreach, on PBS Books last night? Worry not; you can catch her discussion with Heather-Marie Montilla, Director of PBS Books, about beach reads and summer reading by playing the video below!

Wild Poppies
by Haya Saleh, translated by Marcia Lynx Qualey

​The consequences of war are as varied as the lives they touch, and when fighting reaches Raqqan, Syria, it takes the life of the father of Omar, 15, and Sufyan, 12. The brothers flee with their sick mother and little sister to a refugee camp, where the boys, who narrate different sections of the book, draw in readers through their differing perspectives.

Booklist Backlist: In Case of Emergency
by Kit Ballenger

​Life throws curveballs to even our youngest readers, and it’s important that kids with adverse childhood experiences still see themselves in stories. Think of this as your “In Case of Emergency” reading list—I hope you never need these books, but you’ll be grateful to have them, if you do.

Top 10 Reference: 2023
by Susan Maguire

​These top 10 reference books were reviewed in Booklist between May 15, 2022, and May 1, 2023, and represent useful resources for libraries of all sizes.

Top 10 Historical Fiction on Audio: 2023
by Heather Booth

This year’s list—from Booklist starred reviews published between April 1, 2021 and April 15, 2023—highlights the best in narration of historical fiction for adult listeners.

The Essentials: Surveillance States
By Sarah Hunter

Many late-twentieth-century dictatorships, some only a generation or two old, were marked by a tight grip on news media and widespread surveillance that often violently discouraged the spread of information, so it’s no wonder that documented facts about these regions can be hard to come by.

The Essentials: Jewish American Historical Fiction
by Donna Seaman

Historical fiction of the highest caliber offers a window onto the Jewish American experience, spotlighting actual events and individuals; articulating emotions, thoughts, and moral and spiritual dilemmas; and tracing the endless ripple effects of the past through vividly realized settings, engrossing plots, and many-faceted characters.  

Shelf Care #28: Summer Scares 2023!
By Susan Maguire

This episode of Shelf Care: The Podcast is all about Summer Scares. First, host Susan Maguire talks to Summer Scares committee member Konrad Stump and librarian Rebecca Leannah (from the Racine, Wisconsin Public Library) about what kinds of programming they do around Summer Scares, what to tell patrons who think horror is not for them, the Wisconsin version of Tiger King.