HPL: Staff Picks for Adults & Teens 2023-2024

Looks at the relationship between a female robot and her human owner, exploring questions of intimacy, power, autonomy and control. "Annie Bot was created to be the perfect girlfriend for her human owner Doug. Designed to satisfy his emotional and physical needs, she has dinner ready for him every night, wears the pert outfits he orders for her, and adjusts her libido to suit his moods. True, she's not the greatest at keeping Doug's place spotless,...

"It's 1927--the late days of the barnstorming era, when pilots competed with each other by performing deadlier and more wondrous feats. Injured pilot Hawk E. Baron is back from the frontlines of the war. Still a young man, he's an adventurer who lives his life traveling from town to town in his plane entertaining folks--most of whom have never seen a car, let alone a plane. His world changes when he meets Tillie, a young woman who shares his passion...

"This book reveals new science and remarkable discoveries about the octopus, one of nature's most elusive and intelligent animals. In this provocative book, best-selling auththor and animal lover Sy Montgomery highlights the revealing new science behind the keen intelligence and suprising social behavior of octopus species around the world. Including "octoprofiles" of 16 key species and glorious color photographs that burst off the page, Secrets of...

"As she examines her life experience and traumas with great care, Delporte faces the questions about gender and sexuality that both haunt and entice her. Deeply informed by her personal relationships as much as queer art and theory, Portrait of a Body is both a joyous and at times hard meditation on embodiment--a journey to be reunited with the self in an attempt to heal pain and live more authentically. Delporte's idyllic colored pencil drawings...

Our beloved band of misfits is looking a bit different these days. Peter Quill, still reeling from the loss of Gamora, must rally his team around him to defend the universe along with protecting one of their own. A mission that, if not completed successfully, could quite possibly lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them.

The production of a play is frought with drama and romance in and of itself, from its writing and casting to rehearsals and staging. Onstage, the itinerary of a Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet convention is spectacularly disrupted by world-changing events while each attendee and their family members deal with their own interpersonal issues.

For over fifty years, Judy Blume's classic has connected with readers through its relatable story, achingly funny details, and candid exploration of life's biggest questions. In Lionsgate's big-screen adaptation, eleven-year-old Margaret is uprooted from her life in New York City for the suburbs of New Jersey, going through the messy and tumultuous throes of puberty with new friends in a new school. She relies on her mother, Barbara, who is also struggling...

To live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you're a Ken.

"Imagine an America very similar to our own. It's got homework, best friends, and pistachio ice cream. There are some differences. This America has been shaped dramatically by the magic, monsters, knowledge, and legends of its peoples, those Indigenous and those not. Some of these forces are charmingly everyday, like the ability to make an orb of light appear or travel across the world through rings of fungi. But other forces are less charming and...