BOOK MARKED
Let the Party Begin!
12 Books Celebrating
Special Occasions
BY JENNIFER ROTHSCHILD, COLLECTION ENGAGEMENT LIBRARIAN, ARLINGTON
PUBLIC LIBRARY
Parties are a great time to connect with friends and
family and meet new people. These books explore all
types of parties and the feelings that surround them,
from uninvited guests and weather-related disasters
to making new friends and how a good event can
help change the world.

PICTURE BOOKS
“It Was Supposed to Be Sunny”
written and illustrated by
Samantha Cotterill
Laila has plans and charts for everything,
especially her upcoming birthday party. But the
weather doesn’t cooperate, and doing the obstacle
course inside results in a cake disaster. Laila is
ready to cancel the party, but some helpful ideas
from her mom and a few quiet minutes spent
with her therapy dog allow her to enjoy the big
day. While the hints in the story and the included
back matter will be helpful for kids with sensory
processing disorders, anxiety, or autism (like
Laila), they will also be useful for any kid who
wants a special day to be perfect.

“Your Birthday Was the Best!”
by Maggie Hutchings, illustrated by
Felicita Sala
A cockroach is having the best time enjoying
all the games and festivities at a young child’s
birthday party until he wears himself out with all
the excitement and falls asleep on the birthday
cake. Luckily, everyone is so excited to see him
that their screams wake him up so he can have
more fun. Young readers will love the cockroach’s
sunny attitude about the best birthday party, even
if he is not a welcome guest.

“Going Up!”
by Sherry J. Lee, illustrated by
Charlene Chua
Olive’s birthday party is on the 10th floor of
28 Washington FAMILY MAY 2022
June’s apartment building. She and her dad, along
with a platter of fresh-baked cookies, get in the
elevator. At every floor, the elevator stops to let
in more people. The excitement for the party
builds and builds as more people pack in until
they finally reach the top of the building. The
final spread reveals everyone spilling out of the
elevator to celebrate the guest of honor.

BEGINNING READERS
“Cupcake Fix: A Branches Book”
(Layla and the Bots #3)
by Vicky Fang, illustrated by
Christine Nishiyama
In this third adventure, Layla (inventor and
rock star) is helping with the grand opening
celebration of the new community center.

The mayor is worried that attendance will be low.

She and her robots build a cupcake machine to
help attract a crowd. Delicious hijinks ensue in
this fun series that weaves in STEAM concepts
and includes at-home activities for readers to try
for themselves.

“We Will Find Your Hat!:
A Conundrum!”
written and illustrated by Candy James
Fox cousins Reddie and Archie are back in this
early-reader graphic novel. It’s Hat Day, the
hattiest day of the year, but when Reddie goes to
pick up Archie, Archie can’t find his hat. The two
must search through piles and piles of Archie’s
belongings to find the missing hat. Will they be
able to find it in time for the party? A silly read



with a lot of visual clues and jokes, this light
mystery is one beginning readers will love. It
also works as a read-aloud book.

“A Whale of a Tea Party”
by Erica S. Perl, illustrated by
Sam Ailey
Whale is having a tea party with her friends
Lumpo, Bob and Grumpy Gus. As much as
she likes her friends, they’re rocks. They can’t
answer when she asks if they want more
tea. But when Quail and Snail arrive, Whale
invites them to join the party, turning it into
the “best day ever.”
MIDDLE-GRADE BOOKS
“Best. Night. Ever.: A Story Told
from Seven Points of View”
by Rachele Alpine, Ronni Arno, Alison
Cherry, Stephanie Faris, Jen Malone,
Gail Nall and Dee Romito
It’s the night of the big middle school dance.

Seven students all have different plans
relating to the dance, whether they’re going
or not, or even in the band. Each chapter
follows a different student, and is written by a
different author, over the course of the dance
as funny antics and friendship drama make
for an unforgettable night.

“It’s My Party and I Don’t Want
to Go”
by Amanda Panitch
Ellie has always hated crowds and being the
center of attention, but now they’re making
it hard to breathe. She’s terrified of her
upcoming bat mitzvah, so she’ll try anything
to stop it from happening, except for talking
to her parents about her panic and anxiety.

From hiding the invitations to trying to fake
her own death, Ellie’s antics grow out of
control until she has even bigger problems
than the bat mitzvah. Full of humor and
heart, Ellie will need to discover there’s more
to becoming an adult than learning your
Torah portion.

TEENS “Sunny G’s Series of Rash
Decisions” by Navdeep Singh Dhillon
After his older brother dies, Sunny finds his
journal and decides to continue writing in
it, making a list of uncharacteristically rash
decisions, such as cutting his hair and shaving
his beard (visible markers of his Sikh faith)
and going to prom (even though it’s the same
night as his brother’s barsi, which honors his
death anniversary). When some friends try to
coax him away from prom to a fan convention
instead, the rash decisions keep coming in a
fast-paced night that perfectly balances the
madcap adventures while exploring Sunny’s
underlying grief.

“10 Truths and a Dare”
by Ashley Elston
Olivia has everything planned out—she’s
aced her AP exams and set to graduate as
class salutatorian and attend LSU where
she has her double major already picked.

Unfortunately, she’s failed her physical
education class, and if she doesn’t make it
up quickly, graduation isn’t going to happen.

She can volunteer at a local gold tournament,
but only if her cousins agree to stand in for
her at all the events happening during senior
party week so that her parents and older
relatives don’t find out. She’s not going to let
things like her shaky grasp of golf stand in her
way in this engaging tale full of humor and
witty banter.

“The Jasmine Project”
by Meredith Ireland
Jasmine’s family always knew that her
boyfriend was no good for her, but when
they finally break up, she’s not interested in
meeting any of the guys they think she should
be with. They decide that her graduation
party is a great time for a secret Bachelor-
style series of setups. They even have a
podcast. In this romantic comedy, everyone
in Jasmine’s large family has an opinion,
but they all ultimately have Jasmine’s best
interest at heart. They’re determined to get
Jasmine the love she deserves, but only if
their plans don’t backfire. n
BACKGROUND: ZOLGA_F/ISTOCK /GETTY IMAGES PLUS; BOOK COVERS COURTESY OF PUBLISHERS
“PhilanthroParties!: A Party-
Planning Guide for Kids Who Want
to Give Back”
by Lulu Cerone
This hands-on guide is full of step-by-step
instructions for tweens wishing to use social
events for a good cause. When she was 10
years old, author Lulu Cerone organized a
lemonade-stand competition to raise money
for Haitian earthquake relief. The event was
very successful and a lot of fun, so she started
throwing more events to raise funds and
awareness of different causes. With three
events for each month of the year, this guide
has everything young philanthropists need to
get started.

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