Seven years ago, Emily Hall, a freshly minted English major from Truman State University, wasn’t sure what was next. She spent some time at the World Bird Sanctuary, working with birds of prey. She worked in the insurance industry for a while.
Everything was fine, but nothing was great. Shortly after Christmas in 2013, Hall’s mother called her at work to mention that “the bookstore on Main Street is for sale. It’s going to close if they can’t find a buyer.”
The then-24-year-old could hear the ellipses in her mother’s voice. A month later, Hall and her parents bought Main Street Books in St. Charles.
“It just ended up being the best decision I ever made,” she says. “I absolutely love it.”
That’s lucky for us. Hall is committed to keeping the shop a singular, local destination for readers who want thoughtful recommendations. She coordinates author events at the store and with the St. Charles City-County Library District.
“Authors are the people who create the worlds we love,” Hall says. Here are a few new worlds worth a spot on any teen’s bookshelf.
Photo by Kevin A. Roberts
Emily Hall
The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton (2018, Disney Hyperion, 488 pages):
“It is a sublimely written fantasy novel about a world where people are born gray, without any color or beauty,” says Hall. Some girls, the Belles, have and can bestow outward beauty. “One particular Belle, Camellia, gets to the capital and realizes not everything is as beautiful as it seems.”
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (2018, Henry Holt and Co., 544 pages):
“It’s just 600 pages of ‘shut up and take my money,’” gushes Hall. “There is not a spare second to breathe when you read this novel.” The conflict between magical and non-magical members of society makes for a high-stakes thrill ride and a compelling debut from Nigerian-American Adeyemi.
The Chaos of Standing Still by Jessica Brody (2017, Simon Pulse, 416 pages):
A girl stranded in an airport on New Year’s Eve, wanting only to get home and grieve her friend’s death—sounds like a laugh riot, no? It is, says Hall, and includes growth and redemption: “She comes into her own as a person who is able to deal with this loss and grief.”
