Staff Picks
In a world adjacent to our own, but where vampires, ghosts, and other folklore creatures walk the earth, Ellie Bride’s cousin appears to her between his last breath and his descent to the underworld to warn her that his death was no accident. With the help of her friends, family, and ghost dog she sets out to solve the mystery and uncover the secrets of a mysterious town. This book was amazingly fun and I could not put it down. I can’t wait to make everyone in my life read Elatsoe.
Katherine
Benjamin Alire Sáenz delivers in the highly anticipated sequel to Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. Everything in this book is beautifully executed. My copy has probably 70-100 sticky tabs on it because it is just beautifully poignant. Though the target audience of this book is young adults, I still think everyone needs to read Ari and Dante's story at least once in their lives. There is such stunning commentary on identity and relationships (paternal, platonic, romantic) and the characters experience life so wholly and candidly that it's hard to look away. This is a must read for fans of contemporary YA!
Cindy
I just want to give Gwendolyn a hug -- or share a weighted blanket with her. Carter captures so much about being neuroatypical -- the longing for an official term to define yourself, the constant trying to get things right, and how important it is to have people who get you even when they don't understand everything going on in your head.
Sarah
Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous grapples with quite a lot, including the consequences of trauma, racism, homophobia, classism, addiction, war, and more. And yet, its execution is nothing short of masterful. The story follows Little Dog, a Vietnamese American boy who writes this story as a letter to his illiterate mother. The story unfolds as Little Dog experiences life--the ups, the downs, and those areas between where hope shines its wavering light in the cracks between closed doors.
Cindy
A man seeks advice from a deep fake of a recently assassinated president on grieving for his dying wife. A UPS driver navigates post-Katrina Louisiana with his infant son living in the back of his work van. A North Korean expat dreams of returning to his homeland. Each of the stories in Fortune Smiles feels like a world unto itself, fully realized, sad, funny, broken, and hopeful.
Dave
A mother's letters to her tragically lost son, Aidt heart-wrenchingly, yet gorgeously, lets readers taste a true embodiment of grief. And yet, she adds beauty and hope in her ballad of loss. This book will remind you of the sheer power an author's voice can have on our normal, everyday lives. You will not regret the time spent reading this.
Kai
A vibrant collection of stories exploring the gap between what makes sense and what life seems to throw at us anyway. The past leaks into the present, the spirit world leaks into our world, the old ways leak into the new but through it all a celebration of living life in this messy world radiates from every story. Perfect for fans of Where the Wild Ladies Are.
Josh
Nothing but Blackened Teeth is kind of the perfect ghost story. Right from the beginning, it establishes a sense of dread that only grows with every page. Five friends, with fraught histories of their own, rent out a haunted Japanese mansion for a wedding. In order to provide a welcoming environment for the ghosts, the group lights a hundred candles to blow out one by one as each person tells a ghost story. When the last candle goes out, things go from tense to hostile. This book feels like a ghost story that would get told in the flickering candlelight of your own haunted sleepover (maybe even at a Japanese mansion). The narrator, Cat, is both incredibly intuitive and slightly detached from the situation, watching as her friends make all the wrong decisions but unable to stop them. Familiar without being predictable and self-aware in a way that brings an alarming inevitability to the ending
Katherine
I read this comic in single magazine issues from Comicazi as it came out, and I'm so excited that it's collected and I can finally share it with everyone. NK Jemisin comics writing is as brilliant as her prose, and Jamal Campbell's art is stunning. Far Sector is a poignant look at politics, police brutality, and the power and price of emotions. It may take place on a distant planet, but the story still hits close to home.
Shana
I read this books months ago and I still can't stop thinking about it. I'm usually good at guessing where a plot is going. Not this one. It caught me off guard time and time again in the best ways. I won't say too much so you can be surprised as well, but read on if you like sketchy AIs, secret conspiracies, and two boys who aren't quite enemies becoming a lot more than friends.
Shana
Gyen Jebi is an artist. Artists don't get involved with politics. But when Jebi discovers what goes into the apparently magical paint used to give the occupying government's automatons the semblance of sentience, they decide that they have to get involved, and do something. And holy moly, do they.
Queer, elegantly written, thought-provoking, and comforting all at once, Phoenix Extravagant will leave you reeling and asking for more.Mish
Thundercluck is a great tale about a chicken who isn't quite sure if he has what it takes to defeat his nemesis, the Under Chef, but he does know his friend, Brunhilda, is counting on him. And if you're listening to Thundercluck's story, the narration includes a certain chicken's voice as he fights, frolics, and flies toward his destiny, which turns out to be perfectly sized after all.
Mish
Best-selling author ( The Guest List, The Hunting Party) Lucy Foley's first novel - The Book of Lost and Found - tells the story of photographer Kate Darling and her search for her family's mysterious roots. With secrets revealed, the past comes rushing forward upending Kate's life.
Nathan
Cara lives in a world where multiversal travel is possible—but you can only travel to a universe where your counterpart is dead. Cara is exceptionally good at dying on other worlds, so she has been plucked from the dystopian wastelands and brought to the walled city to work as a traveler—but she still can't escape danger. This is a heartstopping, intelligent, sci-fi thriller with a touch of queer romance and smart social commentary.
April
In Some Girls Do, Morgan, a high-level high school track star who has been forced to transfer from her Catholic high school because she's queer, falls for Ruby, a closeted bisexual girl who competes in beauty pageants to please her mom but whose true love is fixing cars. This is the truest, most beautiful, thoughtful, and heart-wrenching examination of teen queerness I've read in a long time and I can't recommend it highly enough.
April