It's that time of year for awards, and in this newsletter we're including just a few of those winners for 2022, along with some of the new titles at NCL, and a few inspiring cookbooks for the holiday season.

Gunty said in part, "I truly believe that attention is the most sacred resource that we have to spend on this planet. And books are perhaps one of the last places where we spend this resource freely and where it means the most."

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Perry said in part, "The artist and the intellectual is obligated to be truthful. I promise that I will continue to bear witness to the best of my ability. I write for my people. I write because we children of the lash-scarred, broke, choked, bullet ridden, desecrated are still here standing. I write for the field holler, the shout, the growl, the singer, the signer and the signified. I write for the sinned against and the sanctifying. I write for the ones who cleaned the toilets and tilled the soil and walked the picket lines, for the hungry, the caged, the disregarded, the holding on. I write for you. I write because I love sentences, and I love freedom more."

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Keene said in part, "I want to dedicate this award to all the readers out there and to my ancestors, on whose shoulders I stand, ancestors by lineage and by association, including the several generations of writers, particularly the Black, gay, queer, and trans writers, especially those who we lost to HIV/AIDS in the 1980s and 1990s. I had the pleasure of meeting and hearing some of these writers. They were brilliant. They were fierce. They were original. They were daring. They were courageous. And their voices not only captured the world they were living in, but envisioned a better one. Let's return to their words and the words of so many vital writers and artists we may have forgotten."

Tahir said in part, "I am the first Muslim and Pakistani American woman to win this award in this category. So I must honor my Muslim sisters in too many places to count who are fighting for their lives, their autonomy, their bodies, and their right to live and tell their own stories without fear. Sisters, may you rise and may you be victorious against the oppressors.... Thank you to every librarian and educator, and bookseller who has put my book into the hands of a young person who needs it."

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Schweblin said in part, "There are so many moments in life when words can be very tricky and misleading and even harmful. And we need to be very careful about this."

McDowell said in part, "I'm not a person to whom words come easy. People often think that writers are people who have a way with words, but I think they're people who question words, who distrust them, and who demand more from them. Writers are people who struggle with words and so are translators. Any act of communication is an act of translation."

Other books available at NCL by Schweblin 

Winter holidays are here, and many of us are cooking for ourselves, family, and friends. Need a little inspiration or a little help? Check out our collection of cookbooks or our new Spice Library.

Here’s a sampling of the many cookbooks available at the library.

By Ina Garten

Whether you're hosting a party or simply making dinner on a hectic weeknight, Ina gives you lots of amazing recipes that taste just as good--or even better!--when they're made in advance. In Make It Ahead, each recipe includes clear instructions for what you can do ahead of time, and how far in advance, so you can cook with confidence and eliminate last-minute surprises.

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By Food Network Magazine

“This accessible and visually stunning cookbook will delight and inspire home cooks of all ages and get families cooking together.” —School Library Journal 

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Sweet and savory pies, quiches, and tarts + inspirational stories from exceptional people
By Maya-Camille Broussard

75 sweet and savory pie, quiche, and tart recipes from one of the stars of Netflix's Bake Squad.

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Understand the science of spice, create exciting new blends, and revolutionize your cooking
By Stuart Farrimond

Have you checked out the new Spice Library at NCL? Here’s a cookbook full of inspiration to go with what’s on the shelves. Be inspired to make your own new spice blends, and take your cooking to new heights. Spice will help you understand the practical science behind the art of cooking with spices.

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By Lisa Jackson

Detective Reuben Montoya is convinced that Abby Chastain is somehow the key to unlocking a series of horrible crimes--a mystery that has something to do with Our Lady of Virtues Mental Hospital, a decaying old asylum where unspeakable crimes were once committed, and a human predator may still wait.

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By Andy Andrews

David Ponder is at a crossroads. Having lost his job and the will to live, he has been supernaturally selected to travel through time, gathering wisdom for future generations. Visits to historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln, King Solomon, and Anne Frank yield the Seven Fundamentals for Success that will impact the entire world.

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By Ralph Helfer

On a quiet morning in 1896, in a small German circus town, a boy and an elephant were born. The boy was named Bram, the elephant Modoc. The two were raised as siblings, and when news came that the circus was being sold, thirteen-year-old Bram did the only thing he could imagine: He stowed away to be with Modoc. In the 1930s they finally arrived in New York, where for the next two decades Modoc rose to great performing fame in the center ring of the world's most popular circus. Then tragedy struck, and the lives of Modoc and Bram were forever changed.

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By Michelle Richmond

Escaping New York City and the espionage case that made her question everything, recently widowed Lina returns home to sell the house she has inherited in tony Greenfield, California. With her teenage son Rory, Lina hopes to reassemble her life, reevaluate her career, and find a clear way forward. Adrift and battling insomnia, she discovers that her father's sleepy hometown has been transformed into a Silicon Valley suburb on steroids, obsessed with an annual exam called The Wonder Test. When students at her son's high school go missing, reappearing under mysterious circumstances on abandoned beaches, Lina must summon her strength and push her own ethical boundaries to the limits in order to solve the crimes.  

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By Dan Schilling

The astonishing true account of John Chapman, Medal of Honor recipient and Special Ops Combat Controller, and his heroic one-man stand during the Afghan War, as he sacrificed his life to save the lives of 23 comrades-in-arms.

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By J.v.L. Bell

Territory of Colorado, 1865. Millie knows the raucous mining town of Buckskin Joe is no place for children, but when Dom’s Uncle George shows up needing help, the whole family reluctantly heads to South Park. Murder at Buckskin Joe weaves a cozy murder mystery with fascinating South Park mining history and lovable, unforgettable historic characters.

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The New York Times Book Review and the New York Public Library recently announced the 10 winners of the
Best Illustrated Children’s Books Award for 2022.

Here are the ones available at NCL.

Farmhouse by Sophie Blackall  Check Availability

Yellow Dog Blues by Alice Faye Duncan, illus. by Chris Raschka 
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Telling Stories Wrong by Gianni Rodari, illus. by Beatrice Alemagna, translated from the Italian by Antony Shugaar Check Availability 

The Upside Down Hat by Stephen Barr, illus. by Gracey Zhang (Chronicle) Check Availability

The New Rooster by Rilla Alexander  Check Availability

The Writer by Davide Cali, illus. by Monica Barengo Other books by Cali that are available at NCL 

Still This Love Goes On by Buffy Sainte-Marie, illus. by Julie Flett  Check Availability