July 2026 Great Reads Ocean County Library banner featuring a rainbow and a photo of a women reading on a bus
July's Recommended Reads
All books mentioned in this edition of the Great Reads Newsletter are available in the Ocean County Library's Libby by OverDrive Collection and/or in our catalog
 
On mobile devices you can download the Libby App from the device's app store to browse the OverDrive Collection.
 
For help and support visit the library's help page and click on the Libby by OverDrive tab.
Adult Fiction
We Are All Guilty Here
by Karin Slaughter
Welcome to North Falls. A small town where everyone knows everyone. But nobody knows the truth. Until the night of the fireworks. When two teenage girls vanish, and the town ignites. For Officer Emmy Clifton, it's personal. She turned away when her best friend's daughter needed help, and now she must bring her home. But as Emmy combs through the puzzle the girls left behind, she realizes she never really knew them. Nobody did. Every teenage girl has secrets. But who would kill for them? And what else is the town hiding?

A Girl Called Samson
by Amy Harmon
In 1760, Deborah Samson is born to Puritan parents in Plympton, Massachusetts. When her father abandons the family and her mother is unable to support them, Deborah is bound out as an indentured servant. From that moment on, she yearns for a life of liberation and adventure. Twenty years later, as the American colonies begin to buckle in their battle for independence, Deborah, impassioned by the cause, disguises herself as a soldier and enlists in the Continental Army. Her impressive height and lanky build make her transformation a convincing one, and it isn’t long before she finds herself confronting the horrors of war head-on. But as Deborah fights for her country’s freedom, she must contend with the secret of who she is and, ultimately, a surprising love she can’t deny.
Young Adult Fiction
Stars, Stripes & Summer Nights
by Celeste Dador
Abigail Cary-Alzona, eldest daughter of President Constance Alzona, just wanted one normal night as a teenager. But after an impulsive pizza order later makes her front-page news, Abby is officially exiled to a Wi-Fi-free country inn for the summer, along with her little sister, Elle. The inn belongs to Gabriel Calabrese’s family. Gabriel is sarcastic, camera-obsessed, and definitely not dazzled by presidential perks (also, kind of the reason for the whole pizza fiasco). But Abby’s determined to make the most of her time away from the White House with a summer bucket list full of things real teens get to do. Pool parties. Picnics. Maybe even a first kiss. As she and Elle dive into small-town life, Abby starts to see what makes Gabriel tick. And maybe, just maybe, she’s falling for him.

Rebel Spy
by Veronica Rossi
Rebellious Frannie Tasker knows little about the war between England and its thirteen colonies in 1776, until a shipwreck off her home in Grand Bahama Island presents an unthinkable opportunity. The body of a young woman found floating in the sea gives Frannie the chance to escape her brutal stepfather and she takes it. Assuming the identity of the drowned Emmeline Coates, Frannie is rescued by a British merchant ship and sails with the crew to New York. For the next three years, Frannie lives a lie as Miss Coates, swept up in a courtship by a dashing British lieutenant. But after witnessing the darker side of the war, she realizes that her position gives her power. Soon she's eavesdropping on British officers, risking everything to pass information on to George Washington's Culper spy ring as agent 355. Frannie believes in the fight for American liberty, but what will it cost her? 
Middle Grade Fiction
Miss Liberty
by Erin Moonyeen Haley
Twelve-year-old Savvy’s only ambition is to be chosen as Miss Liberty in her town’s glittertastic Fourth of July parade. In her mind, being Miss Liberty is key to getting everything you want for the rest of your life. And Savvy’s anxious mind needs to know what’s going to happen for the rest of her life, just like she needs to know what the weather is going to be like every single day. Unfortunately, Savvy is only a dancer in the kick line, while her older sister, Levi, is the glamorous Miss Liberty for the third year in a row. But this year, Levi seems committed to taking down the parade and crushing Savvy’s future dreams, for reasons that neither Savvy nor the town can understand. Only one thing is for sure: It’s up to Savvy to bring the glitter back to her beloved parade, her town, and her sister.

Rebellion 1776
by Laurie Halse Anderson
In the spring of 1776, thirteen-year-old Elsbeth Culpepper wakes to the sound of cannons. It's the Siege of Boston, the Patriots' massive drive to push the Loyalists out that turns the city into a chaotic war zone. Elsbeth's father—her only living relative—has gone missing, leaving her alone and adrift in a broken town while desperately seeking employment to avoid the orphanage. Just when things couldn't feel worse, the smallpox epidemic sweeps across Boston. Now, Bostonians must fight for their lives against an invisible enemy in addition to the visible one. While a treatment is being frantically fine-tuned, thousands of people rush in from the countryside begging for inoculation. Elsbeth, who had smallpox as a small child and is now immune, finds work taking care of a large, wealthy family with discord of their own as they await a turn at inoculation, but as the epidemic and the revolution rage on, will she find her father?
Picture Books
On the Fourth of July
by Maggie C. Rudd
We lift our flags high above us in pride, waving stars and stripes with red, white, and blue. It’s America’s birthday, and that means cookouts, parades, and fireworks. When the cookouts are over and the pool gates are closed, families will walk from their houses, parade into town, and look to the stars. Surrounded by neighbors and friends, they will watch the fireworks show in wonder as it glitters and sparkles and paints the sky in celebration of Independence Day!

America, My Love, America, My Heart
by Daria Peoples-Riley
America, do you love me? What begins as a single question from a single child multiplies as America, My Love, America, My Heart sweeps across the country with every page turn, inviting in more and more children of color and their questions. Does America love them when they speak? Or whisper? Or shout? When they stand? Does America love them just as they are?

Check This Out

August Online Author Talks: Perserving the Seasons, Julia Child's Kitchen, Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel
Ocean County Library showcases a virtual author talk series each month featuring bestselling, award-winning, and highly acclaimed authors from around the world. The featured writers and thought leaders will cover a wide range of fiction and nonfiction genres. This free, virtual series takes place a few times a month and includes the opportunity to ask questions to the author. A complete list of events is available on our virtual author talk series website. Miss a talk you were looking forward to? No problem! Past recordings are available to watch.
Register for Upcoming Author Talks on our Website

One Book OCL
The Book Club for Troublesome Women
by Marie Bostwick
Reading Period: July 31 - October 2
Book cover of The Marlow Murder Club on an iPad
By 1960s standards, Margaret Ryan is living the American woman's dream. She has a husband, three children, a station wagon, and a home in Concordia. On paper, she has it all. So why doesn't that feel like enough? Margaret is thrown for a loop when she first meets Charlotte Gustafson, Concordia's newest and most intriguing resident. As an excuse to be in the mysterious Charlotte's orbit, Margaret concocts a book club get-together and invites two other neighborhood women—Bitsy and Viv—to the inaugural meeting. As the women share secrets, cocktails, and their honest reactions to the controversial bestseller The Feminine Mystique, they begin to discover that the American dream they'd been sold isn't all roses and sunshine—and that their secret longing for more is something they share.

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