And She Was

Dara Baker lives in a small town in upstate New York with her mother Millie. Dara just graduated high school and is about to enter the professional tennis circuit. She has to play enough tournaments to get ranked so she can work her way up.

When her mom is at work, Dara searches the house for her birth certificate so she can get a passport. But neither of the two people she sees listed as her parents is called Millie Baker. When her mom gets home, Dara confronts her and is shocked to find out that Millie is transgender and is biologically her father.

Reeling, Dara sets off on a road trip in search of her grandparents with her best friend Sam. A trip that will garner many answers, some she doesn’t even know to ask.

Verdi’s book is a beautiful book about being true to yourself. It takes Dara on an emotional journey as she comes to realize that what Millie did was the right thing for both of them. Read this book – especially if you do not have any trans folks in your life.

Verdi, Jessica. (2018). And She Was. New York: Point.

The Reading List

Sara Nisha Adams’ book The Reading List is a story that illustrates the power of a good book.

Two years after his wife’s death, Mukesh finds a library book that she checked out. She was always reading so he decides to read it to remember his wife. Never before a fiction reader, Mukesh is pulled into the story and it characters as well as feeling closer Naina. When he finishes, he will go to the local library and ask for a recommendation for another book.

Aleisha is working in the library for the summer before her last year of school. She is only there on the urging of her brother who was always in the library growing up. She herself does not really read.

Someone in the Wembley neighborhood of West London has handwritten a reading list titled In Case You Need It. Though no one realizes there is more than one copy, a few people find it. One library patron finds the list on the table next to him. Aleisha finds a copy in a returned book. Someone else finds it on the back of a receipt outside of the shopping center.

Each of the people who find the list start reading their way through the books. Each book has lessons to share as well as some of the best characters in fiction. The list will slowly bring these people together, as the creator of the list intended.

Adams’ book is beautiful. Buy a copy today or check it out of the library. It is a book you will love and then recommend to a friend.

Adams, Sara Nisha. (2021). The Reading List. New York: William Morrow.

it Goes Like This

The teen band Moonlight Overthrown was a smash hit. They were the first out, queer band and their followers will be loyal for as long as time. Unfortunately, they broke up almost two years ago. The internet is now littered with rumors and occasional sightings of one of the four band members.

Eva is in Los Angeles going to college. She still works in the recording industry, but now as a song writer. She is quite enjoying her less paparazzi filled days. She has not spoken to her band mates since the last show. They have a group text, but no one has written in a long time.

Celeste now has a solo career. She is on tour with her second album.

Gina is an actor now. She just finished filming a Netflix project.

No one has heard from Steph is.

Eva is surprised, and a bit hurt, when Celeste and Gina are photographed at an LA party together. The photo also stirs rumors of a band reunion – which seems very unlikely from the point of view of each of the band members. That is, until something happens to bring them all together…

Moreland has written a fun summer read. The characters are well thought-out. It seems like she knows a lot about the music industry. If you are looking for a great queer YA, this is the book for you.

Moreland, Miel. (2021). It Goes Like This. New York: Feiwel & Friends.

Mooncakes

Teen witch Nova Huang lives with her grandmothers over their bookshop. When she hears about something odd in the woods, she goes to investigate. What she finds is her childhood friend, Tam Lang, in her werewolf form.

Tam is back to fight a demon in the woods. She has also run away from home to get away from her stepfather. She will stay with Nova while they figure out what to do.

Walker and Xu have created a great witch story. This graphic novel is based around a Chinese Jewish family, is queer, and a great read.

Walker, Suzanne & Wendy Xu. (2019). Mooncakes. ?: Roar.

Cool for the Summer

Larissa Bogdan just finished her junior year of high school. Whatever her plans were will have to change as her mom tells her they are going to the Outer Banks for the summer. Her mom’s boss summers there, and they have to work. They will be staying in his beach mansion.

Jasmine Killary has spent most summers in Outer Banks. It is the time she spends with her father, the rest of the time she lives with her mother. She sees the same friends each year – all the children of the very wealthy.

Larissa and Jasmine spend the summer going to parties and getting closer. When they say goodbye, they don’t think they will see each other again – just a summer fling. But on the first day of school Larissa sees Jasmine walk down the hall. She has moved in with her father to finish high school.

Adler is a wonderful writer. Her YA romance is great!

Adler, Dahlia. (2021). Cool for the Summer. New York: Wednesday Books.

Melt With You

Fallon and Chloe were best friends, until a year ago when they hooked up. They have not spoken since. Unfortunately, their moms co-own a business where they work in the summer.

Love At First Bite is a popular ice cream truck, both in their upstate New York town, and on the summer food festival circuit. Fallon and her mom were going to drive the truck to Memphis and them Dallas, but now her mom must fly out for a meeting with potential investors.

Chloe is back after her first year of college. She tried to text Fallon a couple of times, but never heard back. Now they are going to be in a truck together for four days.

Dugan has written a YA romance in a unique setting. It is unlikely that things will not be delt with, one way or another.

Dugan, Jennifer. (2022). Melt With You. New York: GP Putnam’s Sons.

Home Field Advantage

Amber McCloud is a high school junior in the Florida panhandle. She is a cheerleader who is campaigning to be head cheerleader next year – hoping to turn that into a college scholarship so she can move far away. She has everything planned and nothing can interfere with the plan.

At the end of the last school year, the previous football quarterback died while drunk driving. As the new year starts there are rumors of a new quarterback, recruited at the summer football camp. For the first day of school, the cheerleaders decorate the players lockers, including the new Jack Walsh – who no one has seen yet.

Jack Walsh agreed to move to a new school to play football for one reason, it is likely the only offer that will come. It is not easy being accepted, despite an incredible set of skills, Because Jack is a girl.

Adler is a great storyteller. Read any of her great YA books!

Adler, Dahlia. (2022). Home Field Advantage. New York: Wednesday Books.

True Biz

February Waters is the headmistress of the River Valley School for the Deaf in Ohio. As the child of deaf parents, or CODA, she has skills and experience both within Deaf culture and the hearing world. River Valley is the only Deaf school in three states. It is both a resident and a day school.

Charlie Serrano, age 15, had implants as a kid. Doctors told her parents not to teach her American Sign Language but make her rely on the technology. Now, after her parents' divorce, she will be going to a Deaf school for the first time. It will be the first time for her meeting someone else deaf.

Austin Workman is fifth generations Deaf. His family is legend. And every person between the extremes of Charlie and Austin is represented at the school.

Nović has written an important book, one that has been missing from YA literature. It is heartbreaking, funny, and full of information – including Waters’ lesson plans between chapter with history and how to sign, or other information on Deaf culture. Read this book today.

Nović, Sara. (2022). True Biz. New York: Random House.

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (Monk & Robot #2)

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers is second in the Monk and Robot series of novellas. This is a beautiful series everyone should read.

Sibling Dex and Splendid Speckled Mosscap begin their journey among the humans of Panga, traveling to many villages so that Mosscap can ask people what they need from Robots. They will make many friends as they travel looking for answers.

Becky Chambers is my favorite author. I have loved each of her books, but the Monk & Robot series is something extra special. Buy the books today – you will want to read them repeatedly!

Chambers, Becky (2022). A Prayer for the Crown-Shy. New York: Tom Doherty Associates Book.

Passing

Passing is a classic novel of a light skinned Black woman in the 1920s passing for white. Clare Kendry married a white man and no one in her life knows/realizes she is Black.

A chance encounter with a childhood friend, Irene Redfield, in a Manhattan restaurant brings feeling of nostalgia for childhood and the African American community.

After the first encounter, Clare keeps visiting Irene – each time risking someone finding out about her passing.

Larsen, Nella. (1929). Passing. New York: Penguin (2021 edition).

Rules of Civility

Set in the upper levels of Manhattan society from the years 1937 – 1940, Rules of Civility follow three friends from a change meeting at a jazz club.

Tinker Grey lives in the world of the wealthy. He is a banker who seems not to spend much time at work.

Kate Kontent grew up in Brighton Beach. She now has a roommate from the Midwest, Evelyn Ross. They stretch each dollar to have the best time they can in Manhattan – and it seems to have paid off when they meet Tinker.

Towles has written a period set story filled with beautiful sentences and a glimpse of the upper, upper crust of the time. Gatsby fans will love this book.

Towles, Amor. (2011). Rules of Civility. New York: Penguin.

A Thin Bright Line

Lucybelle grew up on a farm in Arkansas. She left when she went to college in New York in the mid-1950s, where she lived in the Village. When her partner surprises her with the information that she is getting married to a man (a man who knows about them) Lucybelle agrees to a job in Chicago.

Working at the Geological Society of America as an assistant editor, she is recruited to work at the Snow, Ice and Permafrost Research Establishment (SPIRE) as the head editor. Their goal is to drill into the ice in Greenland to find out about the global climate – a radical idea at the time.

Her new boss knows about Lucybelle’s leanings (i,e. lesbianism) and uses it both to give her some freedom and to threaten her with exposure if she does not stay in line – somehow still an improvement over what she is leaving.

Bledsoe has written this book about her own aunt. It is a true story of a woman she grew up wondering about and was surprised to find a lot of information on as one of the first women working in this field of science. This is a look at a lesbian in the 1950s living during the Civil Right Movement. Read this book!

Bledsoe, Lucy Jane. (2016). A Thin Bright Line. Madison: The University of Wisconsin.

The Degenerates

Rose, her sister Maxine and Alice have lived at the Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded most of their lives. It is an institution for any girls or women deemed other or who had nowhere else to go or were unwanted by their families (poor, marginalized or disabled girls). The place is full of bullies, vicious attendants, and very little happiness. But the three girls have worked out a life that works for them.

Maxine does everything she can to protect her sister Rose who is likely on the Autism spectrum. Alice is her best friend who was given up because she was born with a clubbed foot.

London is in foster care. She lives with an old woman who spends her days yelling insults and profanity out of her window. When London is taken away and sent to the school, she vows to escape.

Told through four voices The Degenerates is an historical novel that looks at the harsh life that was true of many, many people. Mann has written it with sensitivity and hope, turning it into a beautiful telling of an awful situation.

Mann, J. Albert. (2020). The Degenerates. New York: Atheneum.

Yerba Buena

Yerba Buena by Nina LaCour is about two people who each is trying to make it in the Los Angeles food scene. 

Sara Foster and Emilie Dubois arrived in LA in two very different ways, but they meet at the restaurant Yerba Buena - a place where Emilie grew up going on special occasions with her family and is her dream job, and Sara is starting as head bartender after fighting her way up from a rough start.

Emilie's family moved to Southern California after WWII, when many Black and Creole families left the south. 

Sara grew up in Northern California and took care of her brother after their mother died. Her father is in and out of jail. Which is way she chose to go to LA with a virtual stranger instead of staying at home.

LaCour is one of my favorite storytellers. Ever since I read her book Everything Leads to You I was hooked! Read this author!

LaCour, Nina. (2022). Yerba Buena. New York: Flatiron Books.

The Stone Sky (Broken Earth Trilogy #3)

The Stone Sky is the final book in NK Jemisin's amazing Broken Earth trilogy.

There are two factions who don't know they are about to meet at the battle for the Earth - either to save it from the instability it has been experiencing or to end it for good.

Essun is traveling north, the opposite direction from where her daughter Nassun was taken. She has been fighting to catch up since the Season started. Things keep getting in the way. Not that travel of any kind is easy during a Season.

Nassun isn't where her mother thinks she is anymore anyway. She is on her way to the place where she can use her newly controlled magic to change the world that thinks she is evil for having magic at all. 

In this explosive finally, Jemisin reminds us that she is not only an amazing writer, but a vastly creative mind. Read this series. Read everything N.K. Jemison ever writes!

Jemisin, N.K. (2017). The Stone Sky. New York: Orbit.

Terciel & Elinor (Old Kingdom #6)

Terciel & Elinor by Garth Nix is the sixth installment in his Old Kingdom / Abhorsen series. 

Elinor was raised in Ancelstierre, south of the wall that block the magic of the Old Kingdom. Never in her childhood was magic even mentioned. 

Terciel was gathered by the current Abhorsen, Tizanael, from the orphanage he has live in since his parents and sister died. He will become the next Abhorsen in Waiting - learning all of the Charter magic needed to keep the dead in death and from coming back to the world to cause trouble. 

Their paths cross when a necromancer begins to summon the dead to attack Elinor. 

Nix has written this prequel, starring the parents of Sabriel, to the delight of his fans. What started out as the Abhorsen trilogy is one of my favorite fantasy series ever!

Nix, Garth. (2021). Terciel & Elinor. New York: Katherine Tegan Books.

Fleet of Knives (Embers of War #2)

Fleet of Knives by Gareth Powell is the second book in his science fiction series Embers of War. 

After making contact with a fleet of alien ships the Trouble Dog and crew or back to regular work - rescuing anyone who calls for help in the Human Generality. 

The latest call is from a ship that was somehow attacked in the higher levels of space - a place humans thought was empty.

Powell has created a unique space opera series that is a fun read for any fans of science fiction.

Powell, Gareth. (2019). Fleet of Knives. New York: Titan Books.

Fevered Star (Between Earth and Sky #2)

Fevered Star by Rebecca Roanhorse is the second book in her Between Earth and Sky fantasy series set in the pre-Colombian Americas.

Naranpa, the former sun priest, is in the city below recovering from being de-throned right off of a cliff - an overthrow that saved her life. Everyone in the Sky Made Clans thinks her dead. 

The arrival of what appears to be the Crow God reborn is bringing pilgrims to the part of the city controlled by the Crows - in the hopes of seeing the Odo Sedoh again. Xiala, the Teek sea captian who brought that man to the city is one of them. 

Most of the city is in chaos. In other parts, factions are ready to take over the sky city. The 200-year-old peace has been broken by the attack of the Odo Sedoh. 

Roanhorse has created a dynamic series. If you like fantasy, this is a series for you!

Roanhorse, Rebecca. (2022). Fevered Star. New York: Saga Press.

The Diamond Eye

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn is yet another amazing historical novel from a great storyteller.

Mila Pavilchencko is a Ukrainian/Russian history student. Studying in Kiev and working in the library, she is trying to make her and her son's life better. 

At fifteen, Mila became a mother. A few years later, on one of the very rare days the father takes him for the day, Mila decides to become a mother and father so that they never need to see that man again. In preparation, she takes a course on marksmanship. The course does more than that, it gives Mila the skills to become a sniper. Something that is about to become a very important skill.

When Germany invades, Mila immediately signs up to fight. Unlike the US, Russia had no problem allowing women to serve in combat. As an already skilled sniper, Mila works her way up the ranks. 

Quinn has written a couple of books on real women who fought in World War II. This latest installment is every bit as mesmerizing. 

Quinn, Kate. (2022). The Diamond Eye. NY: William Morrow.

The Obelisk Gate (Broken Earth Trilogy #2)

The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemison is the second book in her Broken Earth trilogy. This second book takes place moments after the first ends.

Essun is in Castrima, a comm built in an underground geode - a place most people would never go given the instability of the Earth. But times change when a Season is upon them. The only goal is to survive.

Nassun is with her father. His plan is to find a rumor place where orogenes can be fixed. They are headed to the Arctics.

Essun is learing that there is something she can do using the obelisks in a chain or gate to affect the moon. What the moon is, she is not sure. No one has seen it for generations - since it was flung away from the Earth, making the Earth mad at humans and beginning the war.

Jemison is an amazing writer and storyteller. Each of the three books in this series won the Hugo Award. The Broken Earth trilogy rivals any fantasy written. I will be reading everything she writes in her career!

Jemison, NK. (2016). The Obelisk Gate. New York: Orbit.

A Sunlit Weapon (Maisie Dobbs #17)

A Sunlit Weapon by Jacqueline Winspear is her seventeenth book featuring detective and psychologist Maisie Dobbs. 

October 1942. ATA pilots ferry planes to bases and around the United Kingdom. These female pilots make sure the planes are where they need to be for the male pilots to use on bombing runs.

Jo Hardy is shot at while ferrying a plane to Biggin Hill. A friend a is later shot down in the same location. When Jo drives back to the area to investigate, she finds a US soldier tied up in an old barn. 

Hardy hires Maisie to find out who is shooting at the planes and why. When Maisie needs to interview the US soldier, she runs into both US bureaucracy and racism, as well as her husband's job. 

Maisie Dobbs is probably my favorite fictional character! Winspear is a wonderful writer who fills her books with accurate history, fully formed characters, intrigue and a real sense of being there. If you are a fan of history, mystery or just good writing, buy the first book in series today.

Winspear, Jacqueline. (2022). A Sunlit Weapon. New York: Harper.

Portrait of a Thief: A Novel

Portrait of a Spy by Grace D. Li is a tour de force heist story.

For most of human history museums have displayed art and artifacts that were "collected" during colonialist invasions and wars. The cultures from whom these pieces belong have long tried to reclaim them via diplomatic channels. This rarely works.

Will Chen, a college senior, was working in the museum on the Harvard campus when it was robbed. The crew took only Chinese art. When he got home, he had a business card in his pocket from a Chinese corporation - the head of which wants to hire him and some friends to repatriate five zodiac heads that were taken from the Summer Palace in Beijing in 1860.

Gathering his sister and three friends, the group travels to Beijing to meet with the head of the corporation. 

Irene Chen, Will's sister, seems to float through life, getting what she wants by asking.

Daniel Liang, a childhood friend of Will and Irene, is a sometimes thief whose father is the foremost expert on Chinese Art in the FBI.

Lily Wu, Irene's college roommate, can drive anything with an engine better than most anyone else.

Alex Huang, a software engineer, is in the moment she hacks the museum Will was in when it was robbed, erasing a few seconds of footage.

Already being made into a series by Netflix, this is a fast-paced thrill-ride through some of the most famous museums in the western world - with a dose of reality on accusation policies of those museums.  You will be up late because you will not be able to stop reading until the end! 

Li, Grace D. (2022). Portrait of a Thief. New York: Tiny Reparations Books.

The Fifth Season (Broken Earth #1)

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemison is the first book in the Broken Earth fantasy trilogy. 

Damaya has been locked in the barn by her parents. She has shown signs of orogeny - a magical-like power to manipulate earth, including the ability to cause shakes. She will remain in the barn until a Guardian - who can negate orogeny - collects her and takes her to the Fulcrum for training.

Essun is the mother of two who has been hiding her orogeny for years. Now her husband has noticed the power in one of their children. 

Syenite is a Fulcrum trained orogene. She is being assigned to a higher-level orogene to travel across the land and fix a harbor. 

But the world is about to enter a Fifth Season - on top of the usual yearly seasons, a fifth season is when the land splits and blocks out the sky. People will need to do all they can to survive until the sun comes back and they can rebuild.

Jemison is an amazing, creative writer. This ecological fanstay series is quickly becoming one of my favortie series!

Jemison, N.K. (2015). The Fifth Season. New York: Orbit.