Central Rappahannock Regional Library and middle school librarians around our area are launching into another year of Café Book, the library-school partnership where 7th and 8th graders read books from a list of selected titles then engage in lively and thoughtful discussions with each other at school during lunch. This year’s Café Book list has 12 titles for students to choose from, with everything from science fiction to romance. I’ve included a sampling below; the complete list of titles for Café Book 2025-2026 can be found at librarypoint.org/cafe-book, opens a new window.
The Bletchley Riddle, opens a new window by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
When her mother goes missing during World War II, 14-year-old Lizzie Novis sets out to reunite with her 19-year-old brother, Jacob. Jacob left home months before, and Lizzie hasn’t heard much of him since. Using the small amount of information she has, Lizzie tracks down her brother and learns he is working as a code breaker for the British government at a top-secret location: Bletchley Park. Lizzie stays with Jacob and gets a job running errands at Bletchley Park. Through all of this, the mystery of her mother’s disappearance continues to plague her, and she is determined to find out what happened to her.
Boy 2.0, opens a new window by Tracey Baptiste
Coal Keegan has been in foster care since he was a baby. When his long-time foster father has a mental breakdown and Keegan has to be taken to a new family, he is wary and defensive. While escaping the stress by wandering his new neighborhood, he is threatened then chased by police. He hides as best he can but knows he will be found. Only he isn't. The police look right at him and don't see him. When Coal looks at his arms he knows why: he has inexplicably turned invisible. Now on a journey to find out more about himself, Coal attempts to use the resources of a high-tech company, only to find himself used by them instead. There are unexplained connections between Coal's unknown origins and Mirror Tech Industries, but trying to uncover them puts Coal in danger at every turn.
Dragonfruit, opens a new window by Makiia Lucier
Hanalei has been in a self-imposed exile for ten years, ever since her father committed a crime when she was a child, a crime that saved Hanalei’s life but brought tragedy upon the ruling family of Hanalie’s home. Alone and forced to support herself from age eight, Hanalei fell into the punishing work for dragoners, those who hunt seadragons and harvest their bodies for the valuable resources that can be sold, including the incredibly rare dragon egg, called dragonfruit. Legend says that dragonfuit will grant any wish. Hanalei knows the legend is true and also knows such a wish comes at a terrible price. When Hanalei is forced to return to her home in order to escape retribution from a terrible dragoner, she sees an opportunity to correct the wrong her father committed so long ago and help her oldest friend save his mother.
The Last Dragon on Mars, opens a new window by Scott Reintgen
Thirteen-year-old Lunar Jones was born on Mars and has been scratching for survival on the cursed planet ever since. Both parents gone, he scavenges items of value that he finds in the wastes and then sells to keep himself and other kids at a relocation clinic going. Fleeing ambush in the wastes one day, he stumbles upon a hidden bunker and a pseudo-military group with a top-secret mission that could save the cursed planet.
On Again, Awkward Again, opens a new window by Erin Entrada Kelly & Kwame Mbalia
Pacy and Cecil are wonderfully unique high school freshmen who don’t know what to do when they fall for each other at first sight. Everything they try goes badly. Neither one seems able to escape their awkward reactions when they see each other or manage to have anything but a sit-com-worthy exchange. When they both end up on a committee to plan the freshman formal dance, they get opportunities to spend time together and to get to know each other better, but the miscommunications and unfortunate situations continue to pile up. They might have to embrace the awkward together in order to build their relationship.
Darcie Caswell is Director of Youth Services at CRRL. This column originally appeared in The Free Lance-Star newspaper.
