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They Both Die At The End By Adam Silvera

2 Dec

Question: Would you sign up for a service to inform you that you will die sometime in the next 24 hours?

In the book, They Both Die at the End, there is a Multi-billion dollar app called Death-cast, which people sign up to get their number contacted within 24 hours before they die, and it’s never wrong. In this book, the reader gets to step into the shoes of two “count downers” who got the Death-cast call. The author Adam Silvera introduces the reader to the sensitive Mateo Torrez and the rough Rufus Emeterio. These two characters, who cannot be any more different from each other, have a once in a lifetime meeting through another app called the Last Friend so that they have someone to spend their end day with. The reader can’t help but want to know more about these two characters as they reflect on their lives and build a new friendship. I felt humbled to learn who they loved, what they hated, and the condition they wanted to leave the world once their time was up. All of this is done with the background suspense of who dies first. Available as ebooks and digital audiobooks from eLibraryNJ, eBCCLS and Hoopla.

Written by:
Elbie Love
YA Library Associate

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A Different View of Mulan: Reflection by Elizabeth Lim

11 Nov

In the Young Adult Department, we have an excellent young adult book called Reflection by Elizabeth Lim that is part of the Disney Twisted Tales Series. The story takes off as if you were channeling into the middle of an action-packed movie. You are thrown into battle with Mulan against Shan Yu’s Han Army at the snowy banks on a Mountain of the Tung-Shao Pass. Like the movie, Shan Yu pursues Mulan as she points the rocket towards the mountain’s peak. You, the reader, are put in her shoes as she can’t help feeling obligated to do her duty to save her fellow soldiers and China. But there’s a twist; just as Mulan was about to set the rocket towards the mountain, General Li Shang jumps into action to protect Mulan from Shan Yu’s lethal attack and is wounded instead of Mulan. The Hun Army is destroyed but at the cost of a gravely injured Li Shang.  

Here’s where the book takes off in a different direction than what we as Mulan fans are used to. Because of Li Shang’s declining health, Mulan is desperate to find a way of keeping him alive. When night falls, she’s approached by the spirit of Shang’s recently deceased father, General Li! General Li has Mulan agree to go into the underworld of Diya to ask King Yama to spare Li Shang’s soul from being reincarnated. This book pays respect to the Mulan movie while giving it an incredible twist. The reader gets to explore a new side of Mulan’s narrative, as well as learn about Chinese mythology through Mulan’s quest to save Li Shang’s spirit in a world of monsters, ghosts, and demons, oh my!

Besides print, you can also check out an ebook from Hoopla or eBCCLS/Overdrive and even come inside the library to check out some other Mulan oriented materials including the animated film.

Written by:
Elbie Love

Tags: ,

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