"Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes" by Eric Litwin. Pete's got some lovely white shoes, but they don't stay that way long as he encounters strawberries, blueberries and mud in this picture book.
Beautifully illustrated, "Zen Shorts" by Jon Muth is the tale of three children who befriend a giant panda. During a series of visits with the children, the panda shares Zen fables to delight and enlighten.
For handbag aficionados, Kevin Henkes' "Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse" is a girl-gets-purse, girl-loses-purse, girl-gets-purse-back love story. Caldecott nominee Henkes renders the tale in watercolor-and-ink illustrations, vignettes and panels.
Adult readers may be familiar with Carl Hiaasen's very adult noir-tinged mysteries. Originally written for a younger audience, "Hoot" has much to offer adult Hiaasen fans - humor, quirky characters and a South Florida environmental theme.
Royden Lepp's "Rust - Visitor in the Field" is the tale of a mysterious boy who helps a teen keep his family farm afloat in a post-war future. The novel is in graphic format.
"Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale of Mystery" by Deborah Howe is a talking-dog's story of a vampire rabbit. Found in a shoebox in a movie theater when a college English professor and his family go to see "Dracula," Bunnicula turns tomatoes, lettuce, even zucchini - white. You guessed it - he's sucking their juices out.
The first in a four-part Lunar Chronicles series, "Cinder" by Marissa Meyer re-imagines the Cinderella story as a plague ravages an overcrowded earth. A cyborg, Cinder lives with a guardian stepmother and two stepsisters who force her to work as a mechanic. But she'll have to take time away from finding a cure for the plague to attend a ball and win a handsome prince.
John Green's "The Fault in Our Stars" is the story of two teen cancer survivors who fall in love. In this astounding novel, Green encourages his readers to ponder life, love and death with sensitivity, intelligence and integrity.
Told in spare, free verse poems, "Heartbeat" by Sharon Creech documents a year in the life of twelve-year-old Annie, when her mother becomes pregnant, her grandfather begins faltering and her best friend becomes distant.
For a complete list of Sullivan's recommendations, visit phoenixpubliclibrary.org.
Phoenix Public Library is a system of 16 branch libraries and the Burton Barr Central Library. For more information, call 602-262-4636 or visit phoenixpubliclibrary.org. Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/phxlibrary and "like" us on Facebook at facebook.com/phoenixpubliclibrary.
