Elise Brodsky, Nederland . The mission of the Nederland Community Library is to empower our community to learn, connect and grow by providing equal access to information and resources and compassionate services to all. 

Recently, the Nederland Community Library has diversified and reworked the young adult section to expose our local teens to more diverse books and to increase patronage. We weeded out books that were not circulating regularly and replaced them with books that we believe are interesting, relevant and will appeal to the young adults in our community. We now have more books that feature diverse genres, LGBTQ+ and person of color (POC) authors and characters, and interesting and diverse storylines. We have also been reaching out to local teens to ask them what they would like to see from the library in the hopes of increasing the engagement of our young adult audience. 

Creating a more robust and engaging young adult section is important to the health and growth of our community for a number of reasons. Empirical data make clear the role libraries play in the social and economic vitality of their communities. Libraries are critical in creating an equitable society by providing free access to accurate information for all people, serving as the first point of contact to other community agencies, promoting wellness and health, and inspire our community members to learn and develop skills and passions. A May 2019 report produced by the Connected Learning Alliance notes that exposure to role models, engagement in activities parallel to professional practice and participation in their communities are critical in the development of an occupational identity in young adults. Citation: American Library Association.  The State of America’s Libraries 2020: A Report from the American Library Association. Steve Zalusky, ed. 2020.

Our library provides many of the services identified by the American Library Association as supportive of our communities and local teens. The focus of this article will be to highlight some of the books that are new to our library and are sure to spark a love of reading in our local young adults who have not yet found that spark and further fuel the flames of those who have.

Renegades (Renegades #1), by Marissa Meyer, follows two characters, Nova Atrino and Adrian Everhart. Nova and Adrian are on opposite sides of a war - one a villain, and one a hero. The book takes place in a world where a select few people have superpowers, people called prodigies. Most of the prodigies are the “heroes’’ of society and work for the Renegades. There exists a smaller group of people with superpowers, the “rebels’’ or Anarchists, run by Ace Anarchy, the most notorious of villains. The Renegades and the Anarchists are at war. When Ace is captured by the Renegades, his niece Nova and the other Anarchists fight to bring him back home. Nova goes undercover with the Renegades and begins to form a relationship with Adrian, a relationship that causes both of our main characters to question their outlook on the world, and tackle the all important question: who is good and who is evil? This book features LGBTQ+ characters and POC; Nova is biracial and Adrian is dark skinned. Adrian’s adoptive parents, the leaders of the Renegades, are two gay men. This novel challenges the way we look at heroes and villains, and provides us two dimensional villains who learn and grow.

Bonds of Brass (The Bloodright Trilogy #1) by Emily Skrutskie, a local author, introduces us to Ettian, a young pilot, and his best friend Gal. Seven years prior to the commencement of the book, Ettian’s home was invaded by the Umber Empire. Ever since the invasion, Ettian has invested himself in becoming the best pilot at the Umber Military Academy. At the academy he meets his roommate, Gal, who makes the Academy feel like home. However, an assassination plot reveals that Gal is actually the heir to the Umber Empire, the very same Empire that irretrievably harmed Ettian and all of those he loves most in the world. Ettian struggles with himself and his belief in his friend, as he fights to put Gal on the throne. He grapples with the impossible question: Does he save the man that has won his heart and trust that Gal can transform the Empire or does he join the rebellion and take back what is his? This book has a gripping storyline and interesting and diverse main characters. Ettian is a person of color and Gal and Ettian are both LGBTQ+, exposing the reader to more diverse and inclusive relationships and characters.

The Wrath and the Dawn (The Wrath and the Dawn #1), by Renée Ahdieh, focuses on 16-year-old Shahrzad or “Shazi”, as she volunteers to marry the infamous 18-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, Khalid. Khalid takes a new bride every night only to murder her every morning. Shazi volunteers to be his bride in the hope that she can get close enough and survive long enough to assassinate Khalid in retribution for the murder of her best friend and all of the other girls who came before her. The only problem with her plan is that the longer she stays and talks with Khalid, the more she begins to realize that he might not be the heartless monster she originally thought he was. In fact, she just might be falling in love with him. Shazi, fueled by her mission to forever end the murderous cycle, is determined to find the reason for all the senseless murders. 

This book takes place in Khorasan, Iran, and both Shazi and Khalid are Iranian. The author, Renée Ahdieh, is a Scottish-Korean-American author who spent her early years in Korea. She grew up reading, however she was unable to connect with the white European main characters, prompting her to write books that featured more diverse characters. This absorbing and gripping story takes the reader on an adventure in a very different world with intriguing characters and stunning twists and turns that invoke introspection. 

Our library - and our more robust young adult section - is filled with amazing books and opportunities. Stay tuned for more developments in the young adult section and please visit the following link to share your suggestions: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Luy9_lxofl41Jd76ekWeGb2-H2IDS688WDubXhm_hUQ/edit#responses 

(Originally published in the April 1, 2021, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)