A strange, funny, and surprisingly touching novel about a family of Floridian taxidermists whose sense of duty and expression of love cuts them open as their knives do the skins of the animals they mount. I couldn’t put it down (and I have a phobia of taxidermy).
Marika
A war story unlike any you’ve read before. We follow the protagonist discover & try to preserve a personal identity away from the war. But the forces that create war in the first place aren’t bound by walls and doors and the story ends with something that is shocking in large part because of how banal and obvious it is.
Josh
Kind of like Romeo and Juliet except instead of two teens in fair Verona we have two agents from opposing futures fighting across time and space and also it's gay.
Shana
How did Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin miss these guys?
Robin
Magic, mystery, and mayhem abound as Olive and her adopted siblings, Charlotte and Darwin, investigate their grandmother's creepy old hotel and the magical doors that lead to other worlds. But when Charlotte decides she'd rather stay in one of those other worlds, it's up to Darwin and Olive to figure out their family's shattered past and convince her to come home. Perfect for fans of Deadendia and Gravity Falls.
Shana
Perfect for fans of Rick Riordan, the Shadow Magic series is a perfect fantasy read: it has a treacherous new world, zombies, elemental powers, giant bats, and a girl who can talk to ghosts. What more could you want?
Caleb
An adorably perfect summer read! LaRocca successfully leverages "A Midsummer Night's Dream" to create a modern summer-vacation story with lovable characters and plenty of mischief.
Stacey
This hilarious queer rom-com stars two sworn enemies--Sana and Rachel--assigned to work on the same film project. Featuring enemies-to-girlfriends and a whole lot of Gilmore Girls callbacks, this is a great feel-good summer read.
Rebecca
Birthday follows best-friends-from-birth Eric and Morgan over the course of their joint birthdays from ages thirteen to eighteen. It feels viscerally real as it faces issues such as homophobia and transphobia in the south, family tension, and the struggles of growing up in a poor rural area.
April
Newly orphaned Zenobia is adjusting to life with her aunt -- and for the first time, presenting herself to the world as the girl she's always been.
Sarah
In this historical graphic novel, Margaret seeks to learn who she is and why she arrived at the island convent she calls home. When the banished Queen Eleanor of Albion arrives on the island, Margaret realizes the past is more complicated than she thought. Meconis' beautiful watercolor illustrations will captive readers while her details on history and folklore enrich this immersive feat of storytelling.
Marika
Allegorical, dark, and beautiful. A post-apocalyptic story that hits close to home, but manages to keep a spark of hope alive and burning.
Stacy
Before Apple was sued by Samsung over smartphones, before Microsoft was accused of having a monopoly in software, before Theodore Rosevelt broke up any of the large trusts, Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse went to court over who would light up America.
John
Take the gritty lawlessness of a western, combine it with vicious hippos that can and will snap a person in half with their giant jaws, then make everyone queer. That might give you an idea of what you're in for with American Hippo, but I don't think anything can really prepare you. Pick it up, and experience the delightful and bloody madness for yourself.
Shana
This book is not for everyone though it is my kind of Summer reading. Its length and rich prose requires close and patient attention. In a sense it’s a summation of Lopez’s lifetime of travels to the distant corners of our planet documenting the interactions of myriad human cultures and the natural world. Terry Tempest Williams recently called it “a masterpiece”. Indeed.
Dale