25 Ginormous Book Jacket Covers Are Turning Burien Into One Giant Library

What is the What

This biographical novel traces the story of Valentino Achak Deng, who as a boy was separated from his family when his village in southern Sudan was attacked, and he became one of the estimated 17,000 “lost boys of Sudan” before relocating from a Kenyan refugee camp to Atlanta in 2001.

Blood Hina

Mas Arai is all set to be the best man at his friend Haruo’s wedding, until an ancient Japanese doll display owned by Haruo’s fiance goes missing, prompting Mas to take the case to clear his friend’s name, in an investigation that uncovers a world of deception and murder.

Framed

In this sequel to Swindle and Zoobreak, Griffin Bing is in trouble again! When a Super Bowl ring disappears from the school’s display case he is framed for the crime. Will he be able to solve the mystery in time?

Gulf Music

These poems by the former Poet Laureate of the United States span a wide range of topics, including love and war, the architecture of small towns, and objects on top of a desk.

Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cat

This famous collection of nonsense verse about feline characters was the inspiration for the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, Cats.

Cover from OLD POSSUM’S BOOK OF PRACTICAL CATS by T.S. Eliot drawings by Edward Gorey. Jacket Design © 1982 by Edward Gorey. Used by permission of Harcourt Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Black Mirror

Sixteen-year-old Frances begins an investigation to prove her brother’s death was murder rather than suicide after suspicious student activities at her boarding school.

The Sneetches and Other Stories

In this collection, the famous doctor of rhyme serves up four wild stories that are not only entertaining but also teach valuable lessons about human nature: The Sneetches, The Zax, The Many Daves, and What was I Scared Of?

Robot Dreams

In this poignant and wordless graphic novel about friendship, Dog orders a mail-order robot kit and builds himself a best buddy. They are happy together until a trip to the beach results in their separation. Will Dog and Robot ever find each other again?

The Affinity Bridge

In an alternate-universe London marked by airships, robots, and a Queen Victoria who is kept alive by a primitive life-support system, agents Newbury and Hobbes investigate the wreckage of a crashed airship while attempting to solve a string of murders.

No, David!

In this autobiographical picture book, a mischievous boy is depicted doing a variety of things which he should not. But don’t worry, in the end he gets a hug.

From NO, DAVID! by David Shannon. Scholastic Inc./The Blue Sky Press. Copyright © 1998 by David Shannon. Used by permission.

Annie and the Wild Animals

When Annie’s cat disappears, she attempts friendship with a variety of unsuitable woodland animals. Will Annie find a new animal friend? The beautiful illustrations foretell the emergence of spring and the birth of kittens.

Copyright © 1985 by Jan Brett. Used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears

This retelling of a West African folktale reveals how the mosquito developed its annoying habit while imparting a lesson about how one’s actions affect others.

The Enormous Room

In 1917 Cummings served in a Red Cross ambulance unit on the Western Front. His free-spirited, combative ways got him tagged as a possible enemy of La Patrie, and he was sent to a French concentration camp. Unexpectedly, under the vilest conditions, he discovers what it means to become free.

Ca Dao Vietnam

During the Vietnam war, John Balaban traveled the Vietnamese countryside alone, taping, transcribing, and translating oral folk poems known as “ca dao.” He walked up to farmers, fishermen, seamstresses, and monks and said, “Sing me your favorite poem,” and they did.

Jacket art copyright ©2010 by Jennifer Taylor from FRAMED by Gordon Korman. Scholastic Inc./Scholastic Press. Used by permission.

Charlotte’s Web

In a story beloved by generations, Wilbur the pig is desolate when he discovers that he is destined to be the farmer’s Christmas dinner until his spider friend, Charlotte, decides to help him.

Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper

This food writer creates a memoir that combines her love of travel with her respect for Chinese cuisine.  After obtaining a study scholarship in China, she enrolls in a professional chef’s program then researches the cuisine for her cookbooks.

Bookseller of Kabul

The Norwegian journalist provides a portrait of a committed Muslim man and his family living in post-Taliban Kabul, Afghanistan.

Windy City

A widower transplanted from India with two Americanized daughters, Sonny Roopini is an alderman in Chicago’s city government and finds himself thrust into the limelight thanks to the sudden death of the mayor.

Avielle of Rhia 219

Taught to hate and fear the heritage that sets her apart from most people of the kingdom, fifteen-year-old Princess Avielle of Rhia must finally embrace the magic of her Dredonian ancestors to save the very people who scorn her.

The Calligrapher’s Daughter

In early twentieth-century Korea, the privileged daughter of a calligrapher, is sent to serve as a companion to the princess, only to see the monarchy crumble after the king’s assassination and be sent on her own journey through increasing oppression.

Nuns Having Fun

Hallelujah, it’s a book! The 125 photos of nuns in full habit, cutting loose – are vintage 1950’s and 60’s images with retro charm. The former parochial school students who compiled the book explore the lore and legends surrounding nuns, with good humor and respect.

Appaloosa

When Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch arrive in Appaloosa, they find a small, dusty town suffering at the hands of Randall Bragg, a renegade rancher with so little regard for the law that he has killed the city marshal and one of his deputies.

The Consequences of Love

A Romeo and Juliet story set against the strict Muslim laws of Saudi Arabia, a sensuous and intensely wrought story of a young immigrant and a girl behind the veil who defy law and risk their lives to be together.

Hungry Woman in Paris

From the celebrated author of Real Women Have Curves, a young woman, disillusioned with life, runs away to Paris and enrolls in cooking school to reawaken her senses and mend her broken heart.

Antiques to Die For

When Josie Prescott leaves a high-paying job in New York to set up shop as an antiques appraiser on the rugged New Hampshire coast, her life does not go exactly according to plan: dead bodies keep crossing her path.