Young Adult 2022
The Baking Feud
December Box
Salt and Sugar Rebecca Carvalho"I fill the blender to the brim to compensate for all the extra fruit I added. I end up pressing the blend button. Without the lid on. The contents of my smoothie masterpiece go splattering all over us."
- a personal electric blender.
"The bubbling increases. 'Wooden spoon,' I say to myself, remembering what Mom said. I begin stirring."
- a custom printed wooden spoon with silicone head.
"One of the flower clips in my hair falls on the table and Victor picks it up. 'Is it is sunflower?' he asks me. 'Yea, they were my Grandma's favorite flowers.'"
- a set of two sunflower hairclips.
"He grabs the apron he was wearing earlier and holds it out for me. I try to fasten it, but I'm so nervous I keep dropping the strings. 'May I?' he says, offering to fastening it for me."
- a floral apron with a recipe card in the front pocket.
Bonds & Betrayals
November Box
Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove by Rati Mehrotra"Katyani stepped out and blew the sleep dart from her wooden pipe."
- a magnetic dart set with an assassin printed on the back.
"The stranger stood beside her, holding up a small cloth bag filled with fragrant herbs."
- a set of 3 lavender sachets.
"She jerked around, heart thudding, her dagger in her hand. 'You. Why are you here?' She sheathed her dagger, groaning at her luck."
- a small metal dagger bookmark.
"The Acharya strode toward the firepit. It had been filled with twigs of fragrant wood. Varun lit a sandalwood twig and handed it to the Acharya."
- a set of sandalwood incense sticks and holder.
The Matchmaking Disaster
October Box
Well, That Was Unexpected by Jesse Q. Sutanto"'Ignore my husband,' Rosiella says. She hands me a bright purple drink with a jasmine flower floating at the top."
- a packet of blooming flower tea.
"'Now, pour together and I'll read your milk foam. You know, like reading tea leaves.' Our hands move together and we start pouring the foamed milk into the cup."
- a handheld, battery powered milk frother and set of four, book-themed stencils for drinks or desserts.
"When a baby monkey detaches from its mother and walks toward me, I stop in my tracks and giggle. Without warning, it springs up. I don't have time to shriek, let alone duck, before its little paws dig into my hair and snatch at my sunglasses before jumping off my shoulder."
- a pair of black, cat eye sunglasses with carrying bag and cleaning cloth.
"Something overcomes me and I take my tablet out of my bag. 'Is it okay if I sketch for a bit?'"
- a leaves patterned tablet case.
True Crime in Paradise
September Box
Lord of the Fly Fest by Goldy Moldavsky"As Rafi pulled back the muslin sarong that made up the doorway to her makeshift tent, she looked out at that sea view and breathed in the delicious salt water air."
- a patterned fabric sarong.
"His eyes, both dark pools sparkling with the reflection of the campfire, locked onto Rafi, and she couldn't help but drown in them."
- a cement, tabletop fire pit.
"Rafi turned around to see him but was instantly blinded by his flashlight beam."
- a gold rechargable flashlight. Comes with a micro-USB.
"The hand, poking hight out of the center of the gang, gripped a nail file like a butcher knife, and it came down in a forceful, terrifying swing."
- a glass nail file.
Let Them Eat Cake
August Box
Cake Eater by Allyson Dahlin"I wake up before the sun. Where's Louis? I touch his pillow. Cold."
- a standard pillowcase printed with the image of a tiara.
"I spot Louis in a dark hoodie, leaning on a statue with his face buried in a book. I pluck the book from his hands, thinking its the only way to get a proper hug..."
- a custom designed book clutch purse printed with the title Vanity Fair. Includes crossbody chain.
"There's a bracelet inside. It's delicate and gold. The charm is the fleur-de-lis, the symbol of the Bourbons."
- a gold dangle bracelet featuring a fleur-de-lis.
Charmed Summer
July Box
The Charmed List by Julie Abe"Remy is obsessed with working on these puzzles. I playfully steal the piece from his hand."
- a 1000 piece puzzle.
"I know this list by heart, because even if I'm a wallflower, I...I want to change."
- a 'Things To-Do' list inspired by the anti-wallflower list.
"I slide the keys into his hand, a strange static buzzing up my fingers when I brush against his calluses from the electric guitar."
- a book stack keychain.
"The assistants come out again and one slides a box into my hands. I look down at the label in shock: Locked in a Library - Escape Before YOU Get Checked Out!"
- a library escape game with cutouts and puzzles to solve.
A Royal Retelling
June Box
A Secret Princess by Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz"Sara's hand briefly rose to touch the panuelo she was wearing. 'It's a shawl. It reminds me of where I came from.'"
- a blue and pink shawl scarf.
"Cedric must have seen this in her eyes, for he reached over the edge of his cot and pulled a large leather portfolio from beneath his mattress."
- a large, brown, faux leather portfolio.
"She placed her eye against the keyhole and what she saw, she could not rightly believe."
- a keyhole cutout bookmark.
"In the middle of the garden the great white rose that Mary had seen in her vision bloom extravagantly, so heavy with blossoms that the climbing vines sagged with the weight."
- a bundle of rose shaped hand soaps (1 petal needed per wash).
Spellbinding Friendships
May Box
Deep in Providence by Riss M. Neilson"The suncatcher moves in a circle until it clanks against the window and comes to a stop. I watch to see if it stirs again. Until daylight makes it burst colors around my room."
- a beautiful rose quartz and macrame sun catcher.
"Auntie opens her mouth to speak, but Inez flinches backward, nearly knowing into the candles. 'It burns,' she screams out. 'The crystal...'"
- a set of 4, geode slice coasters with gold edging. (colors may vary)
"No one moves for a few minutes. No one says yes or no, but then I stand and they follow me to the side of the house. Out of sight and away from the windows. We each hold two fingers to the mirror and charge it under the moon."
- a small handheld mirror with a moon and crystals printed on the back
Light in the Dark
April Box
This Rebel Heart by Katherine Locke"She followed Ilona into the kitchen. Ilona was in the middle of baking bread. But she'd clearly been baking all day. Three loaves sat stacked on the windowsill, wrapped loosely in cloth, and another bowl was covered, with dough rising inside, Csilla suspected."
- a mini bread tin and custom printed tea towel showcasing vintage, handwritten recipe cards.
"Csilla untied the bow on the front beneath her name and pulled the string off the package. Carefully, she unfolded the paper. In the middle lay four black notebooks, their edges frayed and worn as if they'd been well loved and read many times."
- a set of 4, black journals, each representing a different time in someone's life to best represent Csilla's fathers' journals.
"She reached into her memory for a prayer she hadn't said in years, but she remembered it, her mother's hands on her hands. She sank the newspaper into the river as far as she could, and when she pulled it out, the paper burned like a torch, the flame flickering red and white and orange like a sunset, and it did not go out. A light in the dark. A light unto the nations."
- a set of wish papers and a glass candle printed with newsprint to represent the newspaper on fire from the novel.
Generational Healing
March Box
All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir"Noor's bracelets jangle as she reaches for the phone. The sun catches her cheekbone, painting it a deep golden brown."
- a stunning set of three beaded bracelets, inspired by Noor's.
"When the color is back in her skin and the first aid kit is put away, I find the kite buried beneath canvas shopping bags, a floral sheet, and a rusty steering wheel lock."
- a floral 'sheet' shower curtain, including shower curtain rings.
"That's when the first book arrives. It's brand new from some online mega chain - we're not allowed to get used books in here. It's called The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson."
- a cardboard postcard featuring the cover of The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson, inside a custom designed, zippered book sleeve for taking your books with you on the go. (fits one, standard-sized hardcover novels)
Mythical Sea Curse
February Box
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh"Though the days are long, I keep busy. Betrothal gifts arrive from all the prominent houses-tea sets, celadon vases, mother-of-pearl jewelry boxes..."
- a beautiful, stacking ceramic tea set including two cups, a tea strainer, teapot, and lid. (hand wash only).
"A single writing table is positioned at the back of the room before a paper screen. It's a beautiful screen, four times the length of the one in Shin's room, and twice its height. Each of its panels shows the life stages of a crane, from newborn hatchling to the last panel, which shows the crane in flight..."
- a wooden hanging frame, holding a canvas art print of a flying crane. (wooden frame can be opened and used for other artwork.
"Shin slips his hand into his robes and pulls out a silk purse. He unknots the drawstring, and the pebble carved with the lotus flower tumbles out."
- a small zippered coin purse containing a lotus flower shaped tea light candle.
"I turn from the sea and retrace my steps back home, where I wake hours later to the clanking of drums and the whistling of a bamboo flute. The Sea God's festival has begun."
- a QR code to give readers the opportunity to listen to the flute and music inspired by the Sea God's festival.
The Romanov Princess
January Box
The Storyteller by Kathryn Williams"The trunk hunkers under the far window of my bedroom, where my mom and I lugged it that afternoon. Cross-legged, I sink before it. I pluck a random journal from the heap. The cover's brown leather is embossed with an ornate double-headed eagle, and the edges of the pages are gilded. Very gently, I flip it open and am greeted with the almondy-sweet scent of library; the decay of paper and ink."
- a library-scented 3oz candle.
"'Did Papa say why he had chosen me?' 'She has always been the bravest.' It is a responsibility greater than any person should ever bear. The clock in the drawing room struck eight o'clock."
- a wooden wall clock featuring the quote 'Objects are Stories in Physical Form.' (requires one AA battery)
"The third and final box holds more papers. The letter at the bottom of the box, has one word written on the front of the envelope; Henry. It's the handwriting that stops me cold: spidery, familiar cursive - only it's in English. As I turn the envelope over in my hands, they tremble. The letter has never been opened."
- a wooden book fund box containing the first page of the letter to Henry. (features slide opening on back to empty of contents)