Find A Book

Shopping cart

Shopping cart

Andi's Picks

Andi Diehn loves books. Also dogs, cats, ducks, and coffee. When she's not at the bookstore, she's working as an editor for a local educational publisher. She also writes children's books in her spare time - which there isn't a lot of, because she has three sons, a husband, and lots of dogs, cats, and ducks. Thank goodness for coffee.

 

 

 

 

 

Staff Pick Badge
The Minus-One Club By Kekla Magoon Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9781250806208
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) - January 24th, 2023


I started this book with my morning coffee on a Tuesday, a day I had many deadlines. I missed ALL those deadlines. Couldn't stop reading! And then I read parts of it over again on Wednesday. This riveting YA novel centers on 15-year-old Kermit, whose sister was recently killed by a drunk driver. In the wake of his sister's death, he discovers relationships he never knew he was missing, even as he struggles with his parents and their reliance on their faith. Un-put-downable. ~Andi


Staff Pick Badge
Simon Sort of Says By Erin Bow Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781368082853
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: Disney Hyperion - January 31st, 2023

You’d think a book that offers a crucial kid’s perspective on the trauma of living during the age of school shootings would be a sad one, but I laughed as much reading this as I do reading Gordon Korman’s books. Twelve-year-old Simon just wants a normal life. And where better to find that than a National Quiet Zone, where there’s no internet, radio, or television? But even there, his past won’t leave him alone. There are still rooms with only one exit, clanging bells, sirens, and media vans. All of these spark anxiety - that’s what life is like when you suffer from PTSD, when you’re the only survivor of a school shooting. But his new friends, his parents, his puppy, and a random herd of emus help him through the bad parts and find more and more joy. Funny, smart, emotional, and sciencey - a book we need right now.  -Andi


Staff Pick Badge
Demon Copperhead: An Oprah's Book Club Pick By Barbara Kingsolver Cover Image
$32.50
ISBN: 9780063251922
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: Harper - October 18th, 2022

I run hot to tepid on Barbara Kingsolver, but this one hit the biggest button on my respect dispenser from page one. Mostly because of Demon's voice and the way he tells his story--with laser-focus and not a small helping of scathing wit. Informed by Dickens and infused with the very contemporary issue of drug addiction in rural communities, this book earns its page count.  -Andi


Staff Pick Badge
Nothing Is Little By Carmella Van Vleet Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780823450114
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: Holiday House - July 19th, 2022

Felix may be short, but his heart is HUGE. As is his interest in forensics - which makes the school Forensic Club the perfect extracurricular. Plus, maybe forensics can help him find his dad, who left when Felix was a baby. A book that manages to combine cool STEM stuff with issues like a chronic medical diagnosis and questions about biological parents - perfect for every kind of reader.  -Andi


Staff Pick Badge
The Whispering Fog By Landra Jennings Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9780358674559
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: Clarion Books - September 13th, 2022

Two sisters move with their mom to an isolated old house in the swampy outskirts of a new town - and then one of the sisters disappears in a swirl of fog. 

Scared yet?

This super spooky middle grade novel is best read under the covers with a flashlight and a few bars of chocolate. But not on a school night, because you're going to be awake for a while…  -Andi


Staff Pick Badge
The Hero of This Book: A Novel By Elizabeth McCracken Cover Image
$26.99
ISBN: 9780062971272
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: Ecco - October 4th, 2022

Memoir? Novel? Fiction? Real life? All lines are blurred in this contemplative book. The unnamed narrator mourns her complicated (and fiercely private) mother while visiting some of their favorite London haunts. Her day of walking the city is infused with memory, overlaid with flashbacks, and threaded with questions: What do writers owe their inspirations? Is memoir a betrayal or an act of honor? Funny and piercing.  -Andi


Staff Pick Badge
Ophie’s Ghosts By Justina Ireland Cover Image
$9.99
ISBN: 9780062915849
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: Balzer + Bray - May 3rd, 2022

Ophie learns she can see ghosts the night her father comes to say goodbye AFTER being killed by a mob. And that skill continues when she and her mom move north to try and escape the Jim Crow south. When the two of them go to work in the home of a rich white family, Ophie realizes something sinister happened in the house. Will she be able to help the ghosts who can't rest? Not without putting herself in danger... I love this book for the ghosts and the history.  -Andi


Staff Pick Badge
Instructions for Dancing By Nicola Yoon Cover Image
$11.99
ISBN: 9781524718992
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: Ember - May 3rd, 2022

A blessing or a curse? You witness a first kiss and immediately know how that relationship is going to end. For Evie, her new-found ability puts her off falling in love with anyone--even when she's paired with a dance partner named X who is kind, smart, handsome, and perfect. A thoroughly readable book about letting yourself be vulnerable even at the risk of emotional wreckage.  -Andi


Staff Pick Badge
Small Spaces (Small Spaces Quartet #1) By Katherine Arden Cover Image
$8.99
ISBN: 9780525515043
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers - July 9th, 2019

"Avoid large places. Keep to small." This advice from a mysterious bus driver seems silly when Ollie and her friends set out on foot after their school bus breaks down. But something isn't right, and Ollie suspects it has something to do with the old book she saved from being tossed in the river. But that's not possible - or is it? Steven King style for middle graders!  -Andi


Staff Pick Badge
Too Bright to See By Kyle Lukoff Cover Image
$8.99
ISBN: 9780593111178
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: Dial Books - June 7th, 2022

Bug has always lived in a haunted house, but after Uncle Roderick dies, the house feels haunted with something different, something new. Something that is urgently trying to make Bug understand . . . what? This book is a ghost story wrapped in a mystery tied with a bow of self discovery that manages to be riveting, spooky, and endearing.  -Andi


Staff Pick Badge
The Boy Who Loved Maps By Kari Allen, G. Brian Karas (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Kari Allen, G. Brian Karas (Illustrator)
$17.99
ISBN: 9781984852304
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: Anne Schwartz Books - July 12th, 2022

The Mapmaker is baffled when a girl asks him to draw a map that is warm, full of treasure, and smells like her birthday. Where in the world is that?! Once the two new friends begin to explore, he discovers a whole world he hasn't yet drawn into a map. A joyful book about the joys of home.  -Andi


Staff Pick Badge
The Pet Potato By Josh Lacey, Momoko Abe (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Josh Lacey, Momoko Abe (Illustrator)
$18.99
ISBN: 9781250834157
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: Roaring Brook Press - June 21st, 2022

When his dad gives him a pet potato, Albert isn't sure what to do with it. But then he discovers the potato enjoys riding toy trains and reading about pirates and they become great friends. But . . . when the potato gets moldy, Mom says time to go. What can Albert do to save his pet? Readers who appreciate Sophie's Squash will love this one!  -Andi


Staff Pick Badge
Yerba Buena: A Novel By Nina LaCour Cover Image
$26.99
ISBN: 9781250810465
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: Flatiron Books - May 31st, 2022

This slim book packs a sweet emotional punch as it explores love, death, trauma, cocktails, and carpentry. Sara, a talented mixologist avoiding her past, is not the person Emilie was looking for to help break a years-long holding pattern, but the two women eventually find themselves on a path with long-term potential. Can they keep their difficult pasts from getting in the way? A perfect book for a summer (fall, winter, spring) afternoon.  -Andi


Staff Pick Badge
We Begin at the End By Chris Whitaker Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781250759689
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: Holt Paperbacks - April 12th, 2022

A literary mystery with a 13-year-old protagonist named Duchess, who I want to slip into the pages and adopt. Because she's neglected and amazing--and paired with the town's ailing chief of police, the two might have a fighting chance at evading the danger that threatens to follow them both to early graves. Maybe. A gritty, smart, surprising mystery--the best kind.  -Andi


Staff Pick Badge
We Dream of Space: A Newbery Honor Award Winner By Erin Entrada Kelly Cover Image
$7.99
ISBN: 9780062747310
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: Greenwillow Books - March 22nd, 2022

Three siblings struggle in their own distinct ways to fit in, stand out, and survive warring parents in small-town 1986, until a national disaster makes them realize they are stronger together. Wonderfully recognizable characters that you just want to shake awake - in a good way!  -Andi


Staff Pick Badge
Mina By Matthew Forsythe, Matthew Forsythe (Illustrator) Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781481480413
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books - February 15th, 2022

Cat? Squirrel? Cat? Squirrel? Mina says cat. Her father says squirrel. And when you're a mouse, it's good to know for sure the species of your houseguests. "Everything will be fine," Mina's father promises. And he turns out to be right! Mostly.  -Andi


Staff Pick Badge
No Pants! By Jacob Grant Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9780593117668
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: Viking Books for Young Readers - May 11th, 2021

Pablo and his dad are ready to go to a party, but there's one problem. Pablo doesn't want to wear pants! But everyone wears pants, his dad explains. Dogs? Cats? Bears? When they finally get to the party, they discover they could have skipped the argument. Hilarious and charming!  -Andi


Staff Pick Badge
The List of Things That Will Not Change By Rebecca Stead Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781101938096
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: Wendy Lamb Books - April 7th, 2020

When her dad and his boyfriend decide to get married, 10-year-old Bea is over-the-moon excited about getting a stepsister in the bargain. But as the wedding gets closer, Bea discovers that a growing family can cause some growing pains. Stead's writing is pitch perfect and riveting - and funny!  -Andi


Staff Pick Badge
Frankie & Bug By Gayle Forman Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781534482531
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: Aladdin - October 12th, 2021

Bug used to love summer, but she isn't allowed to go to the beach alone, especially not with the Midnight Marauder on the loose. When Frankie moves into the building for a few weeks, Bug figures life is going to get better. In some ways it does, but in other ways... Well, growing up is hard. Venice Beach in the '80s is the perfect setting for this coming-of-age story.  -Andi


Staff Pick Badge
Evvie Drake Starts Over: A Novel By Linda Holmes Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780525619260
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: Ballantine Books - June 2nd, 2020

Need a feel-good book that's fun, smart, and pairs well with flannel PJs and a glass of your favorite beverage? This is it. Two people with nothing in common have really excellent conversations and manage to become friends despite a few hilarious pitfalls. Romantic and realistic, in a good way.  -Andi


Staff Pick Badge
Echo Mountain By Lauren Wolk Cover Image
$8.99
ISBN: 9780525555582
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: Dutton Books for Young Readers - April 27th, 2021

Ellie is smart and tough, but is she smart and tough enough to save her father from a coma? Maybe, with the help of a couple new, old friends. Set during the Depression, a book about learning to survive and discovering that your family is deeper - and stronger - than you suspected.  -Andi


Staff Pick Badge
Out of My Mind By Sharon M. Draper Cover Image
$9.99
ISBN: 9781416971719
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: Atheneum Books for Young Readers - May 1st, 2012

Eleven-year-old Melody has a brilliant mind. She also has cerebral palsy and can't walk or talk - until she gets a Medi-Talker that lets her type what she wants to say and then translates her words into a voice. Suddenly, people are listening to what she has to say. And that's an amazing feeling - but it's also a lot harder than she expected. A truly original voice.  -Andi


Staff Pick Badge
The Mountains Wild: A Mystery (Maggie D'arcy Mysteries #1) By Sarah Stewart Taylor Cover Image
$9.99
ISBN: 9781250796141
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: Minotaur Books - June 15th, 2021

Looking for a smart mystery with plenty of atmosphere, curious characters, challenging conundrums, and tangled family connections? Try the first in the Maggie D'arcy series. Pitch perfect and compelling, by an author local to Vermont with one foot across the pond in Ireland.  -Andi


Staff Pick Badge
Anthem By Noah Hawley Cover Image
$29.00
ISBN: 9781538711514
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: Grand Central Publishing - January 4th, 2022

Not a feel-good book, but certainly an important book. Just a few years in the future, teenagers around the world suffer another pandemic--suicide. A band of young people, feeling like they haven't got much to lose, set out on a quest to control events beyond their control--grim, sometimes gruesome, but ultimately hopeful.


Staff Pick Badge
Pony By R. J. Palacio Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9780553508116
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: Knopf Books for Young Readers - September 28th, 2021

When Silas's father is carted away by a gang of outlaws, Silas isn't sure if he should follow. After all, Pa said stay and wait. But when a piebald pony shows up, it's as good as an invitation, despite the misgivings of Silas's friend Mittenwool, who happens to be a ghost. Mystery, adventure, history, and the supernatural - a great family read aloud with older kids.  -Andi


Staff Pick Badge
Red, White & Royal Blue: A Novel By Casey McQuiston Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781250316776
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: St. Martin's Griffin - May 14th, 2019

A sweet LGBTQ+ romance between the First Son and the Prince of Wales. McQuiston is a master at inviting readers into a highly unlikely scenario with characters that are vivid, loveable, and - somehow! - relatable to those of us who are missing royal blood and don't live in the White House. Delightful and joyous!


Staff Pick Badge
Simon Sort of Says By Erin Bow Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781368082853
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: Disney Hyperion - January 31st, 2023

You’d think a book that offers a crucial kid’s perspective on the trauma of living during the age of school shootings would be a sad one, but I laughed as much reading this as I do reading Gordon Korman’s books. Twelve-year-old Simon just wants a normal life. And where better to find that than a National Quiet Zone, where there’s no internet, radio, or television? But even there, his past won’t leave him alone. There are still rooms with only one exit, clanging bells, sirens, and media vans. All of these spark anxiety - that’s what life is like when you suffer from PTSD, when you’re the only survivor of a school shooting. But his new friends, his parents, his puppy, and a random herd of emus help him through the bad parts and find more and more joy. Funny, smart, emotional, and sciencey - a book we need right now.  -Andi


The Norwich Bookstore is locally owned, community focused, and proudly independent!