This memoir of taking up space in an ambivalent (and often hostile) world is funny, insightful, and satisfying.
Rebecca
When Aventurine is trapped in a puny human body by an enchanted cup of hot chocolate, she knows she must do all it takes to regain her true dragon form. But what will she do about her weakness for chocolate...and the humans that make it? A completely charming adventure and a feisty heroine.
After years spent living on the run, Loo moves with her father Samuel to her mother's hometown. There she struggles to fit in and to unravel the mysteries surrounding Samuel's past. A riveting, complicated read.
Flora 717 is a sanitation worker, one of the lowliest bees in a hive where work is paramount and worship of the Queen the only religion. But Flora is not like other bees. Her self-knowledge and curiosity make her a threat to the ways of her kin...but she may also be their only hope during a season that threatens the hive's very survival. Laline Paull delivers a totally weird and brilliantly imaginative chronicle based on observations of actual bees.
Rebecca
Ever since Hurricane Katrina, it's been Ramona and her family against the world. But when her sister Hattie gets pregnant, Ramona knows that her dream of getting out of her small town is slipping away. The return of childhood friend Freddie provides a welcome distraction, but as Ramona's feelings for Freddie grow, she begins to question whether her identity as an out-and-proud lesbian fits as well as it once did. A nuanced exploration of poverty, sexuality, family, and joy.
Rebecca
The author of Code Name Verity (the BEST book I read in 2012!) returns with a prequel companion novel featuring Julie Beaufort-Stuart at the age of fifteen, a crumbling estate, a mysterious disappearance, and a fortune in missing pearls. Superb historical fiction from one of the best.
Rebecca
If you loved The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, just pick this up. Also pick this up if you love inventive, joyful, and unabashedly cool science fiction -- no need to have read the first book first.
Rebecca
Six crew members wake into regenerated bodies after being murdered on a generation ship heading to a new planet. Their memories and logs from the last twenty-five years have been wiped, but they know this: One of them is the killer - and whoever it is may not even know it. This murder mystery is the literary equivalent of that scene in Butch Cassidy where he and Sundance leap off a cliff, swearing the whole way. A heart-pounding sci fi thriller.
Rebecca
Pay no attention to the awful cover, because this book kicks off one of the best fantasy trilogies of the last few years. Kestrel's people conquered and colonized Arin's country. But when Kestrel makes an impulsive decision binding Arin to her, the two must decide between their growing loyalties to each other and their loyalties to their countries, which are gearing up for war. A gripping political story of empire set in a richly drawn fantasy world.
Rebecca
When Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of a childhood friend, her two worlds--poor neighborhood and rich private prep school--collide. Thomas's voice is gripping and timely. Soon to be a movie, so read it here first!
Rebecca
