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July Is Disability Awareness Month

Whether it's visible or invisible, disability can present in a lot of different ways. It's a huge spectrum, and every person's experience is different. But even so, there are some common experiences that many disabled people go through. For example, people can struggle for years to get a diagnosis, treatment, and accommodations, especially if the people around them don't take their pain seriously. Most of the books on this list are written by authors who are writing from their own lived experiences. While no book can perfectly capture every reader's perspective, I hope any parallels you may see between these works and your own experiences resonate with you.

All the Noise at Once by DeAndra Davis

All Aiden wants to do is play football just like his star quarterback brother, Brandon. Due to his autism, during summer football tryouts, Aiden has an overstimulation meltdown at the bottom of a pileup. So when Aiden ends up on the football team due to a spot opening up that urgently needs to be filled, not every team member is happy. Amidst rising tensions, a fight breaks out during a game, and Brandon gets arrested while stepping in on Aiden’s behalf. With Brandon facing trumped up charges for felony assault on an officer, Aiden is desperate to clear his brother’s name and answer the question: What does it mean to be Black and autistic?

Ariel Crashes a Train by Olivia A. Cole

Ever since her older sister escaped their exacting parents by going to college, uncontrollable and violent fantasies have taken over Ariel’s mind. Beyond the fact that she feels too big, too queer, and too rough, she feels like there’s something wrong with her, and the only things keeping the people around her safe are the distance she maintains and her careful rituals. But a summer job brings new friends into Ariel’s life, and with their help and support, she learns for the first time that she doesn’t have to be alone, and there’s a name for what she’s struggling with: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This novel in verse explores Ariel’s experience with OCD as she learns how to feel at home in her mind and body.

Breathe and Count Back from Ten by Natalia Sylvester

When seventeen-year-old Verónica Rentería was small, she immigrated with her parents and younger sister from Peru to Florida, home of the popular Mermaid Cove tourist attraction. Vero, who swims every day to strengthen her body and manage her hip dysplasia, dreams of auditioning as one of the professional mermaids who perform in giant tanks. But her conservative parents would never allow it, just like they would never allow her to make her own medical decisions, or go out with her cute new neighbor. But when Vero decides it’s time to seize control of her life, she discovers truths her parents have been hiding from her about her own body.

Conditions of a Heart by Bethany Mangle

Brynn Kwan’s high school persona—class president, head of the yearbook committee, prom queen—has it all together. Her disability (hypermobile EDS, MCAS, and POTS) is a closely guarded secret after ableism destroyed her childhood relationships, to the point where she’d rather break up with her boyfriend of four years than tell him she had to spend the summer recovering from a necessary surgery. But when she’s suspended from all her clubs after breaking up a fight at a pep rally, her public persona comes crumbling down, and Brynn begins to wonder if she can reinvent her world by simply being herself.

Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa

This manga series follows a pair of brothers, Edward and Alphonse, who are alchemists with the ability to transmute matter from one form into another. As children, they tried to bring their mother back to life. In the process Al lost his whole body, now living as a detached soul animating a suit of armor, and Ed lost an arm and a leg. The boys are searching for a way to restore their bodies, along the way uncovering a centuries-old plot that could destroy everything they love. Although Ed received surgery to be fitted for advanced, fully articulated prosthetics called automail, he deals with challenges any amputee or prosthetic user might experience, including phantom pains, maintenance issues, and expensive prosthetic repair. Al, meanwhile, experiences the intense alienation that comes from feeling like his body is not his own. The story also touches on the experiences of a number of people with limb differences, whether they’ve chosen to undergo automail surgery or not.

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu

In this graphic novel, hard of hearing teen witch Nova Huang works with her grandmothers at their bookshop, selling spell books and investigating supernatural events. One night while following reports of a white wolf in the woods, she encounters her childhood crush, Tam Lang. Tam is a werewolf who has been wandering for years, unable to call any town home due to the dark forces who want to claim the magic of wolves for themselves. Tam must turn to Nova for help, finding themself and new family ties along the way.

Navigating With You by Jeremy Whitley

In this graphic novel, disabled community activist Neesha Sparks and optimistic surfer Gabby Graciana are the two new kids in school. They quickly develop a bond over their mutual favorite manga series, Navigator Nozomi, but neither of them has ever finished it. They soon hatch a plan: adventure across North Carolina to find each of the volumes that they haven’t yet read. 

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Ketterdam is a city on the water, a bustling hub of international trade with a dark underworld. It’s also the home of Kaz Brekker, a criminal prodigy and confidence man who walks with a cane due to a childhood injury. Kaz is offered a chance at a heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams, if he survives long enough to claim his prize. He recruits a team of six outcasts, and together they must use their magic, skills, and wits to save the world from destruction.

Time and Time Again by Chatham Greenfield

Phoebe Mendel is stuck in a time loop. Every day she wakes up on August 6th, and she relives the day exactly how she lived it the first time, never able to make it to tomorrow when she’ll have her appointment with a doctor who may actually take her IBS seriously. But when a car crash sends Phoebe’s childhood crush Jess into the time loop with her, Jess encourages Phoebe to break out of her routine and have some fun. Phoebe begins to wonder: what’s waiting for her on the other side of the time loop? What if she never gets to find out? A queer YA romance featuring two Jewish leads, one of whom is fat and has chronic IBS. The other is nonbinary and uses a cane/walker due to arthritis.

Where You See Yourself by Claire Forrest

Effie Galanos, who uses a wheelchair due to her cerebral palsy, is starting her senior year of high school. This means college applications and looking to the future, a process that is complicated by the fact that any school she picks has to be a good fit academically and wheelchair accessible, a factor that none of her friends have to consider. But no one knows that Effie already has her heart set on her dream program at NYU, and she can already picture the life she’ll have and the person she could be far away from her hometown of Minneapolis. Effie must learn to navigate the waters of senior year, growing up, ableism both internal and external, and the fact that Wilder (her longtime crush) is applying there too.

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Happy Juneteenth!

Although chattel slavery was legally ended in the United States with the Emancipation Proclamation on June 19, 1865, it took many more years for all enslaved people to be freed. The books on this list spotlight diverse, complex, and intersectional experiences, examining the ways that colonization and racism are built into American institutions, and the way they’ve impacted Black lives in the past and in the present.

Angel of Greenwood by Randi Pinks

In the Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1921, Isaiah Wilson is the town troublemaker and a secret poet. He’s a follower of the philosophy of W.E.B. Du Bois, believing that Black communities should rise up to claim their place as equals in society. Angel Hill, meanwhile, is a well-behaved loner, believing in Booker T. Washington’s ideas that Black people should rise slowly in society through education and tolerance. The two teens accept a job in their English teacher’s mobile library, developing a friendship that begins to turn into something more. But when a white mob storms the neighborhood of Greenwood in the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, their town is destroyed and thousands of residents are displaced. Isaiah, Angel, and their peers realize who the real enemies are.

The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed

Ashley Bennett is the younger daughter of a wealthy Black family in 1992 in LA. One of a handful of Black students at a predominantly white private school, Ashley has always thought of herself as just one of the girls. But when four LAPD officers are acquitted of beating a Black man named Rodney King half to death, to the people around her, Ashley is suddenly one of the Black kids. As her older sister gets involved in the escalating protests overtaking LA, Ashley feels the facade of the model Black family her parents have always maintained begin to crumble, and she’s forced to question who she is as a young Black woman in America.

Everything I Learned About Racism I Learned in School by Tiffany Jewell

This nonfiction book examines the systemic inequalities Black and Brown students face in American education from preschool through qualities. Jewell reflects on her own experiences as a student from early childhood to adulthood, connecting it with the racist history of the American education system. Featuring contributions from a number of writers and educators, this book encourages readers to think critically about the American school system, and their place within it.

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender

From the Stonewall and Lambda Award-winning author Kacen Callender, this story follows Felix Love, a Black, queer, trans boy who has never been in love. A hardworking visual artist determined to get into Brown University, Felix comes up with a plan for revenge when an anonymous classmate begins sending him transphobic messages and posting his deadname alongside pictures of him before he transitioned. But Felix’s catfishing scheme lands him in a quasi-love triangle, forcing him to navigate the complicated terrain of identity, falling in love, and redefining his relationship with himself.

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

After her mother’s death in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews is happy for the distraction of a residential program for bright high school students at UNC Chapel Hill. But when Bree witnesses a magical attack her first night on campus, she’s sucked into a secret society of “Legendborn” students, descendents of King Arthur’s knights who hunt monsters—and have a hidden connection to the night her mother died. Bree infiltrates the society to learn the truth, and she must decide whether she wants to take the society down, or join the fight. This book sets the backdrop of Arthurian mythology against the American legacy of colonization, chattel slavery, and the experiences of Black women in the American South.

Promise Boys by Nick Brooks

J.B., Ramón, and Trey attend Urban Promise Prep, a prestigious all-boys’ school where students must abide by strict rules, and any infractions are harshly penalized. When the principal of Promise is found murdered on school grounds, the boys emerge as suspects. Each of them had means, motive, and opportunity, but all three are adamant that they’re innocent, forcing them to band together and track down the real killer. This book examines the experiences of young men of color in a system that criminalizes them for their behavior, regardless of wrongdoing.

Twenty-Four Seconds from Now… A Love Story by Jason Reynolds

Twenty-four months ago, Neon and Aria met when her dog chased him around a church parking lot. Not Neon’s finest moment, but in the past two years, they’ve built a deep and loving relationship. Right this second, Neon is locked in Aria’s bathroom, freaking out with all the advice from his friends and family members running through his head, because twenty-four seconds from now he and Aria are going to take the next big step. This book is about love, coming of age, Black masculinity, and what it means to have a healthy relationship with physical intimacy.

The Unboxing of a Black Girl by Angela Shanté 

A finalist for both the 2024 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature and the 2025 YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award, The Unboxing of a Black Girl is a creative nonfiction reflection on Black girls and women. Between poetry, vignettes, and footnotes designed to further understanding, Shanté explores the experiences of innocence, childhood, adultification, and exploitation through the lens of Black girlhood.

We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds

When seventeen-year-old Avery Anderson’s grandmother, Mama Letty, is diagnosed with a terminal illness, her mother uproots them from DC to move in with Mama Letty in Bardell, Georgia. Deep-seated family secrets make her mother’s relationship with Mama Letty cold and tense, but Avery finds escape in her new friendships with Jade Oliver, the daughter of the town’s most influential family, and her captivating neighbor Simone. Even as Avery’s friendship with Simone begins to blossom into romance, she begins to find that the racist history of Bardell is rooted in her family in a way she hadn’t expected. Avery has to decide if finding out the truth is worth potentially disrupting the new relationships she has built.

The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson

In this Carrie retelling, Maddy Washington has always been an outcast in her small-town Georgia high school. Her fanatical white father, Thomas, has forced her to pass as white her entire life, hiding the fact that she’s biracial. But when a surprise rainy day reveals her natural hair texture, and the resulting bullying video goes viral, the school decides to throw its first integrated prom as a show of unity. The school’s popular Black quarterback asks Maddy to be his prom date, and Maddy begins to wonder whether a normal life is possible—but his motives aren’t what they seem, and Maddy may yet get her revenge on the society that has mistreated her from birth.

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MTCBA

The Massachusetts Teen Choice Book Award nominees are live! Every year, librarians and educators from across the state put together a list of notable YA books that were published in the last two years. Grades 7-12 are invited to read them over the summer, then cast a ballot for their favorite when voting opens in September. You can check out the list of 2025 nominees here!

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Happy Pride!

Although there are Pride events happening all month long here in Worcester, we actually have our annual Pride celebration in September. This is so we don’t have to compete with Boston Pride, which is just an hour away, and it’s also for college students who are coming back into town for a new school year. I'm posting this now because in a time of escalating book bans and suppressed freedom of information, queer materials (especially those intended for children and young adults) are being censored more than ever. So it’s even more important to spotlight materials that center queer history, experiences, resistance, and joy. Happy reading!

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

Devon and Chiamaka are the only two Black students at the elite Niveus Private Academy, but that’s where their similarities end. Chiamaka is a wealthy queen bee, and Devon, from a working-class family, is invisible. Yet they’re both targeted by a mysterious texter who calls themself Aces, who seems to know everything about them. As Aces reveals more and more of their secrets, Chiamaka and Devon must band together to play the game and figure out who Aces is once and for all.

Don’t Let Me Go by Kevin Christopher Snipes

Upon meeting, Riley and Jackson begin to have intense, vivid dreams of their past lives throughout history—lives where they always ended up together, and lives where they always died in the end. The boys are forced to question whether their burgeoning relationship is possibly worth their lives.

Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White

Trans boy Benji is running from the cult that raised him—the same cult that started Armageddon, decimated the world’s population, and infected him with a bioweapon that’s mutating him into a monster powerful enough to finish what Armageddon started. Benji finds shelter with a group of teens from the local LBGTQ+ center, including their leader Nick, who is gorgeous, autistic, and a deadly shot. As Benji struggles to control his devastating new powers, he learns that Nick has his own agenda, and may not be all that he first appeared.

The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes

Yamilet Flores is transferring to Catholic school to be there for her genius younger brother Cesar, who skipped a grade and earned a scholarship. But she’s secretly also glad to get away from her crush and ex-best friend who outed her as gay. At her new predominantly wealthy, white school, Yami experiences daily casual racism. But she also meets Chinese American Bo, who is confident, outspoken, and openly queer. As their friendship blossoms into something more, Yami has to figure out who she wants to be, publicly and in private.

Night Owls by A. R. Vishny

Clara and her sister Molly are estries, or owl-shifting female vampires from the Jewish tradition. By day, they work in a historic movie theater during the day, and by night, they shift into owls to feed on men. When Molly’s girlfriend Anat vanishes, Clara suspects the cute box office attendant Boaz is behind it. But they find themselves having to work together to find Anat, breaking all the rules that have kept Molly and Clara alive for over a century.

Old Wounds by Logan Ashley-Kisner

Erin and Max are two trans kids trying to get to California. Erin was confused when Max first tried to convince her to come on a cross country road trip, given that they’ve been estranged since Max suddenly broke up with her two years prior. But she agreed, and now they’re stranded in a rural midwestern town that wants to sacrifice them to a creature living in the woods. According to local legend, the creature only feeds on girls, and it will take everything Erin and Max have to survive the night.

Only This Beautiful Moment by Abdi Nazemian

From California to Tehran and back, this book by Stonewall Honor-winning author Abdi Nazemian follows three generations of boys in an Iranian American family. Over the course of eighty years, Bobby, Saeed, and Moud grapple with intergenerational trauma, political differences, family, love, and sexuality.

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

Growing up in the city of Lucille, trans girl Jam and her best friend Redemption have always been taught that there are no monsters anymore. But then a creature named Pet emerges from one of Jam’s mother’s paintings. Pet is hunting a monster that lurks in Redemption’s house, forcing Jam to reconsider what she’s been taught her whole life, and what to do when no one will admit that monsters exist.

Snapdragon by Kat Leyh

Rumor has it that Snap’s town has a witch. But Jacks is really just an old woman, albeit an old woman who wears Crocs and sells roadkill skeletons online. In need of a favor, Snap begins apprenticing with Jacks, helping her to build skeletons and maybe learning some real magic along the way—and discovering a connection between Jacks and Snap’s own family history. (Note: This is one of my personal all-time favorites!)

The Sunbearer Trials by Aidan Thomas

In a world inspired by Mexican mythology, every ten years, the sun god Sol chooses ten semidioses to compete in the Sunbearer Trials, a series of competitions where the loser will be sacrificed to power the sun and protect the people of Reino del Sol for the next decade. Teo, a seventeen-year-old trans boy, isn’t expecting to be chosen—he’s more worried about his best friend Niya, and (reluctantly) his friend-turned-rival Aurelio. But when Teo is unexpectedly selected for the Trials, he finds himself fighting for his life.

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May is Mental Health Awareness Month.

I’m a big proponent of literature as a vehicle for building empathy—for each other and for ourselves. In the space between childhood and adult independence, teens in particular may be overlooked and unseen when their struggles are dismissed as a normal part of growing up. So this list highlights books about young people who struggle with their mental health. I hope that these stories give you clearer insight about what you or someone around you may be experiencing, or that they simply help you feel less alone.

Note: Please be kind to yourself. These books contain depictions of people experiencing anxiety, depression, auditory hallucinations, addiction, disordered eating, the aftermath of sexual assault, and more, which readers may find triggering. I encourage you to do a bit of research about a book's contents before you start reading. An author's note can be a good place to start if you'd like to know more about how the author is approaching a sensitive subject. And remember to check in with yourself. It’s okay to put a book down and take a break, or simply decide that it isn’t for you.

Chaos Theory by Nic Stone

Shelbi is a brilliant high school senior with bipolar disorder. Andy is a politician’s son struggling with grief and alcohol addiction. When the two meet, their connection is instant. They become friends, and maybe something more, but their challenges as individuals threaten their connection as a pair.

Dear Medusa by Olivia A. Cole

High school student Alicia Rivers has a certain reputation at school. Abandoned by her friends, she’s followed through the halls by whispers and insults and slut-shaming. But what no one knows is that Alicia was sexually abused by a popular teacher, and like Medusa, Alicia has been cast as the monster in her own story. Written in verse, this novel explores how Alicia copes with her trauma, the effects of rape culture, her growing attraction to a new girl in school, and how she responds when mysterious letters left in her locker hint that another student may be going through the same thing.

Forever Is Now by Mariama J. Lockington

When Sadie’s girlfriend breaks up with her on the same day that they witness a violent act of police brutality, Sadie’s panic and anxiety increases to the point where she struggles to leave the house. While her best friend, Evan, gets involved with protests around the city, Sadie receives a diagnosis of agoraphobia. Over the course of the summer, Sadie is forced to reckon with her new diagnosis, a crush on the new boy next door, and her desire to use her voice to get involved in the movement and affect change in her community.

Giddy Barber Explodes in 11 by Dina Havranek

With one brother in college and three younger brothers still at home, high school student Giddy Barber is the oldest daughter in her family. Her parents are always working, leaving Giddy to keep her siblings on track, making sure they get to school on time and eat dinner at night and finish their homework before bed, all while pursuing her own dreams of becoming a mechanical engineer. Exhausted and struggling with health issues, Giddy stumbles across an article on oppositional therapy and decides to shake up her routine for eleven days. Because something has to change.

The Glass Girl by Kathleen Glasgow

Bella, a fifteen-year-old-girl with recently divorced parents, feels invisible after her beloved grandmother’s passing. People only seem to care about what she can do for them, while her wants and needs go unheard. She turns to drinking, secretly using it to cope until an alcohol-fueled incident lands her in rehab. There, support from her loved ones and the connections she makes help her to take the steps forward, and the steps back, that come with addiction recovery.

The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky by Josh Galarza

Brett feels like his life is falling apart. His adoptive mother has cancer, leading him to feel anxious and out of control. To cope, he loses himself in writing a comic book series, and he turns to alcohol and food. As Brett’s eating disorder escalates, his journal is found and posted online for the whole school to see. In order to confront his perceptions surrounding his body image and self-worth, Brett must find it within himself to be vulnerable and open with the people closest to him.

Here I Am, I Am Me: An Illustrated Guide to Mental Health by Cara Bean

This nonfiction graphic novel explores a different aspect of mental health, breaking concepts down to make complex neuroscientific topics more approachable. Each of the nine chapters begins with a first-person true story of how that topic played out in the author’s own life, rooting the book in Bean’s lived experience.

I Am Not Alone by Francisco X. Stork

Alberto, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, is living with his sister and her abusive boyfriend when he starts to hear a voice in his head that’s intensely critical of everything he does. Grace, meanwhile, comes from a privileged background, but she’s struggling to cope with her parents’ divorce. When Grace and Alberto meet, their connection is instant. But when Alberto finds himself present at the scene of a terrible crime, he instantly becomes a suspect. With his developing schizophrenia, he can’t be sure of exactly what happened, or even of his own innocence, forcing him and Grace to investigate.

In Limbo by Deb J.J. Lee

This graphic novel memoir reflects on Deborah (Jung-Jin) Lee’s experience immigrating to a suburb of New Jersey from South Korea. She struggles with English, her teachers can’t pronounce her name, and her face and eyes stand out from her peers. As her relationship with her mom grows tense at home, Deb’s mental health takes a major hit. Through art, and self-care, and a trip to visit family back in Korea, Deb’s perspective begins to change, and she finds a new resilience within herself.

Light Enough to Float by Lauren Seal

This novel in verse follows Evie, a girl who has just acknowledged to herself that she has an eating disorder when she is admitted to an inpatient treatment facility. As she goes through treatment, with the support of caregivers and peers who struggle with disordered eating themselves, she reflects on her fears and her need for control, and she learns to love herself again.

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Welcome to Teen Talk!

Summer is right around the corner, so I’m kicking off this blog with a booklist of some of my most anticipated upcoming YA releases. It’s not that my schedule is less busy over the summer, but it makes everything on my to-do list feel less urgent, and I find myself making more time for reading. Last August I read 21 books, which was a personal record I have no hope of ever achieving again. But I’ll definitely be reading at least a few of these books in the next few months, and I hope you do too!

Note: There are so many incredible YA books coming out this summer—I had a hard time choosing just a few for each month. Feel free to reply with any upcoming publications I missed that you feel deserve a special shout out!

May

His Face Is the Sun by Michelle Jabès Corpora

May 6, 2025

The first in the Throne of Khetara series, this Egyptian-mythology-inspired fantasy follows a princess, a priestess, a rebel, and a tomb robber. Our main characters are caught in the political turmoil of a rebellion stirring against the dying pharoah while an ancient evil awakens in the desert, threatening the Kingdom of Khetara.

Trans History: From Ancient Times to the Present Day by Alex L. Combs and Andrew Eakett

May 13, 2025

Spanning from ancient times to the present day, this nonfiction graphic novel takes a look at trans history, exploring gender ideology and the roles trans people have played in societies around the world.

Eliza, From Scratch by Sophia Lee

May 13, 2025

Eliza, a high-achieving Korean American senior, finds herself accidentally enrolled in a culinary arts course. Her only hope for keeping the title of salutatorian is learning to cook well enough to beat the charming Wesley Reungsomboon in the midterm cooking contest, learning lessons about love and success along the way.

June

Best of All Worlds by Kenneth Oppel

June 3, 2025

In this science fiction novel, thirteen-year-old Xavier Oaks leaves home to take a week-long trip into the woods with his dad and pregnant stepmother. But one morning they wake up and find their cabin has been transported somewhere else, and they’re trapped inside a mysterious dome. Three years later, another family appears inside the dome, and families’ differing perspectives on life, society, and their captivity leads to tension and conflict.

Skipshock by Caroline O’Donoghue

June 3, 2025

On her way to a new boarding school in a new city, Margo meets Moon, a salesman who makes his living traveling between a series of interconnected worlds on a network of trains. Margo’s version of earth was previously unknown to the salesmen, and in order to survive in this new reality, she has to pass as a traveling salesman too. But salesmen frequently die young of skipshock, caused by the different ways time passes across worlds. As skipshock begins to set in, Margo begins to question if Moon is really who he seems, even as their connection intensifies. 

Kill Creatures by Rory Power

June 5, 2025

One year after Nan’s three best friends disappeared into Saltcedar Canyon, their memorial is interrupted by the shocking return of one of the missing girls. But Nan isn’t so sure she’s telling the whole story behind the girls’ disappearance. Because Nan is the one who killed them.

July

This Book Might Be About Zinnia by Brittney Morris

July 1, 2025

In 2024, Zinnia’s favorite author releases a new novel whose main character has a distinctive birthmark just like one Zinnia has, leading her to wonder whether the author could be her biological mother who gave her up for adoption at birth. Meanwhile, in 2006, Tuesday Walker is struggling to deal with a loss that had her out of high school for several months. Her only outlet is a journal she writes in, inextricably connecting the two girls across the decades.

Call Your Boyfriend by Olivia A. Cole and Ashley Woodfolk

July 1, 2025

Two high school girls, Beau and Charm, are both heartbroken when they find out that the popular girl they’ve been flirting with, Maia, has accepted an elaborate promposal from her boyfriend. They develop a scheme, with Beau tutoring Charm on how to get Maia back, only to dump her to get revenge for leading them on. But as their plan starts working, Beau and Charm find themselves developing feelings for each other instead.

Love, Misha by Askel Aden

June 10, 2025

In this graphic novel, nonbinary teen Misha gets a rare chance to spend time with their mom, Audrey, on a cross-country roadtrip. Their relationship has been complicated since Misha came out because Audrey still thinks of them as her daughter. A wrong turn leads the duo into the Realm of Spirits, forcing them to work together and come to new understandings along the way.

Climate of Chaos by Cassandra Newbould

July 15, 2025

In a future, dystopian Seattle, the population has been devastated by storms. The privileged live in domes controlled by the sinister Aegis Corp, with healthcare being earned by working in Aegis’s pharmaceutical factories. After being disabled by the storm that killed her parents, Fox and her younger sister Rabbit join a mercenary group dedicated to restoring the balance of access to healthcare, only to realize their motives aren’t as altruistic as they may seem.

August

The L.O.V.E. Club by Lio Min

August 5, 2025

Growing up in an affluent Chinese American suburb in California, Liberty, O, Vera, and Elle (or the L.O.V.E. Club) bond over their shared love of games. But when Elle disappears and Liberty and Vera move away, O is left alone to grapple with her grief and the fact that she can’t remember the events surrounding Elle’s disappearance. Liberty and Vera return to town for their senior year of high school, and the reunited trio discover an immersive game that Elle had created before she vanished. As they play the game, O’s returning memories force her to question whether she knew her former best friends as well as she always thought.

Tall Water by S.J. Sindu

August 12, 2025

In this graphic novel, it’s 2004, and Nimmi has returned to visit her native Sri Lanka with her overprotective father. Her father is a reporter on assignment, but Nimmi is there to find and confront the mother who had stayed behind during a war, refusing to leave the island even though it meant being separated from her daughter. But the day after Christmas, the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 strikes the island. Amidst the devastation, Nimmi learns lessons about herself, and about the mother she’d had to leave behind.

Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories, edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith

August 26, 2025

This collection of stories and poems features Native authors telling an interconnected series of stories all set in Sandy June’s Legendary Frybread Drive-in.

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Submit an ask, receive a recommendation! Tell us your favorite genres, some books/movies/shows you enjoy, and/or your reading icks, and we’ll get back to you with our recs!