On a Norwegian island not far from the North Pole, deep inside a mountain, more than 580 million seeds are stored in three temperature-controlled vaults. The seeds originate around the globe and are sent to Svalbard as a backup: “Just in case.” There they are preserved and carefully protected, available to be withdrawn and planted at any time, even centuries from the time of deposit.
2025 books
Lady’s Knight
When blacksmith’s daughter Gwen, a talented metalworker in her own right, joins the annual jousting tournament as “Sir Gawain,” she only hopes to prove to herself that she’s as skilled as any male knight. Enter bold, clever Lady Isobelle, whose hand in marriage has been promised to whomever wins.
Scattergood
In 1941, Peggy’s modest world revolves around her parents, cousin and best friend Delia, and neighbor friends who live within walking distance of her family’s rural Iowa farm. But lately everything seems to be changing.
A Pocket Full of Rocks
“You can do a lot with a pocket full of rocks.” There is repetition and constancy but also variation and surprise in this picture book as the young narrator (brown-skinned) collects rocks in winter, flower petals in spring, shells at the beach in summer, and acorns in fall.
In the Desert
A standout collection of clever, engaging poems about animals and insects living in the Sahara begins by setting the desert scene, where sun “blinds the sky / and scrapes the land / clean like a butcher / with his favorite knife.”
The Rose Bargain
It’s 1848, and cruel fae queen Mor has ruled London for centuries, allowing each of her subjects to make a single bargain with her. Most young women do so during their debutante season, trading something of value—a body part, a memory, a talent—in exchange for a quality that will boost their marriageability.
Bad Badger: A Love Story
Septimus is a fastidious, solitary badger living in a little cottage by the sea. Because he has spots instead of typical badger stripes on his nose, prefers the seaside to the traditional forest habitat of badgers, and likes drinking tea and listening to opera, he considers himself a “bad badger.” Sometimes he wonders if he even is a badger.
How to Reach the Moon
In the summer, Emilio (Latino) leaves the city and travels past a landscape of pointed mountains to the forest, where his abuelo lives in a house among the trees. There they eat dinner outside by lantern light, and afterward, in the dark, Abuelo treats Emilio to fantastical stories. Seeing the moon in the sky one night, Emilio asks whether it is “true that the moon has a face we never see.” In fact, it “has many faces!” says Abuelo.
Death in the Jungle: Murder, Betrayal, and the Lost Dream of Jonestown
Opening with a description of the gruesome scene that confronted U.S. troops after the mass deaths of Jonestown residents in 1978, this account delves into the history of Jim Jones and his cult.
Come Home to My Heart
In small, conservative Fisherton, South Carolina, high school seniors Gloria (white) and Xia (Chinese American/white) have little in common. Gloria is a devout Baptist who tries to control her same-sex attraction by limiting herself to five minutes per day on her blog, where she adds photos of girls and then scrupulously clears her browser history, knowing her dad will check it later. A social outcast and closeted lesbian, Xia is simply hanging on until she can escape her parents and small-town life for the more diverse, queer, and intellectual crowds in college.