FALL-WINTER 2025-26 PICK
“A novel where art, panic, and gods collide.”
Pan, A Novel, by Michael Clune
Publisher Description: Nicholas is fifteen when he forgets how to breathe. He had plenty of reason to feel unstable already: He’s been living with his dad in the bleak Chicago suburbs since his Russian-born mom kicked him out. Then one day in geometry class, Nicholas suddenly realizes that his hands are objects. The doctor says it’s just panic, but Nicholas suspects that his real problem might not be a psychiatric one: maybe the Greek god Pan is trapped inside his body. As his paradigm for his own consciousness crumbles, Nicholas; his best friend, Ty; and his maybe-girlfriend, Sarah, hunt for answers why—in Oscar Wilde and in Charles Baudelaire, in rock and roll and in Bach, and in the mysterious, drugged-out Barn, where their classmate Tod’s charismatic older brother Ian leads the high schoolers in rituals that might end up breaking more than just the law.
How to present this to library customers: Showcase Pan, a captivating novel that explores a teenager's struggle with anxiety and identity through the lens of art and classical mythology. Engage patrons by creating a display that pairs this book with titles on Greek myths, classical composers like Bach, and poets such as Oscar Wilde and Charles Baudelaire, offering a rich literary experience.
Audience Key:
NOVICE:
A patron who does not know about the arts but is looking for new interests. These items are for public collections that call for you to introduce the arts to patrons and ignite their interests. They often know much more about popular culture than what’s happening in the arts.
EXPLORER:
These items are for customers who have some knowledge of the arts and want to learn more. Oftentimes these patrons stream music from your music streaming service, take out music and art biographies and they may attend music and art programming at your library.
AFICIONADO:
Ordering for aficionados requires knowledge about their habits when consuming the arts. These patrons are aware of the arts through museums, classical music, jazz and more. Oftentimes, these patrons attend music and art programming at your library, are professionals in the arts world with thorough knowledge of visual and/or performing arts.