Innehållsförteckning för May 2022 från Booklist Reader

The Almost Sisters. By Joshilyn Jackson. 2017. Morrow. Leia’s life is spiraling out of control. First she discovers she is pregnant from a one-night stand, then she learns that her beloved grandmother is acting erratically. Returning to her small Alabama hometown to figure out the future, Leia is confronted by the past in this compelling, humorous, and charming tale. The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls. By Anissa Gray. 2019. Berkley. A beautifully written novel told from the viewpoints of three sisters whose dysfunctional childhood has left deep wounds. Family also serves as a source of strength as the women face the damage done and try to heal one another and their connections to each other. Commonwealth. By Ann Patchett. 2016. Harper. The Cousinses and the Keatings are two…

Afterparties. By Anthony Veasna So. 2021. Ecco. So’s nine electrifying stories magnificently create an interconnected Cambodian American community. So’s death in December 2020 at just 28 was heartbreakingly tragic, but this exuberant debut ensures bittersweet posthumous fame. Apsara Engine. By Bishakh Som. Art by the Author. 2020. Feminist Press. In words and art, Som’s richly hued, gorgeously lettered, exquisitely detailed graphic collection presents a brave new world of diverse women while living among friends, lovers, and chimerical creatures in familiar cities and faraway landscapes, balancing the expectantly mundane with the marvelously fantastical. Are You Enjoying? By Mira Sethi. 2021. Knopf. Already an established actor and journalist, Sethi presents six loosely interlinked stories set in her native Pakistan, each confronting various power dynamics. With nuance and precision, Sethi both exposes and…

The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story. By Nikole Hannah-Jones. Ed. by The New York Times Magazine. 2021. One World. Hannah-Jones and company take a fresh and bracing approach to African American history in this mighty collection of historical photographs, essays, poems, and stories by such writers as Claudia Rankine, Jesmyn Ward, and many more. All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake. By Tiya Miles. 2021. Random. The is a poignant tale of a family heirloom passed down through generations of Black women, beginning with Rose, an enslaved woman in 1850s South Carolina, who gave it to her daughter Ashley on the eve of their cruel separation. Ardency: A Chronicle of the Amistad Rebels. By Kevin Young. 2011. Knopf. In this history-in-verse, Young tells…

Fiction Book of Night. By Holly Black. Tor. The first book for adults by beloved YA author Black presents a dark world where shadows can be manipulated, but at a cost, and a low-level con artist must contend with a dangerous figure from her past. By the Book. By Jasmine Guillory. Hyperion Avenue. Beauty and the Beast meets publishing when a 25-year-old editorial assistant heads to Santa Barbara to coax a manuscript out of a jaded, standoffish, high-profile author. Every Cloak Rolled in Blood. By James Lee Burke. Simon & Schuster. Inspired by his own life, Burke’s latest follows novelist Aaron Holland Broussard, who, after the death of his daughter, tries to save two men from a life of crime aided by state police officer Ruby Spotted Horse. Hidden Pictures.…

Vikas Adam Equally adept at fantasy, adventure, literary, and romantic narration, Adam shines while voicing the inner thoughts and vulnerabilities of his characters, particularly those striving to understand and express their multidimensional identities. Check him out in Salman Rushdie’s Quichotte (2019), Sarwat Chadda’s middle-grade City of the Plague God (2021), or one of his many dual-narrator romances, including Sandhya Menon’s 10 Things I Hate about Pinky (2020). Priya Ayyar With her youthful tone and emotionally intuitive narrations, Ayyar is often cast for middle grade and young adult novels such as Tahereh Mafi’s standout A Very Large Expanse of Sea (2018) or Varsha Bajaj’s novel of tween empowerment, Count Me In (2018). She often draws on her Indian ancestry to dive deep into the nuances of Indian characters, as in White…

Older Ballad & Dagger. By Daniel José Older. Disney/Rick Riordan Presents. Gr. 7–12. Teen musician Mateo is surprised to learn he has inherited the healing abilities of one of his homeland’s notorious saints in this mythology-fueled series starter. Bravely. By Maggie Stiefvater. Disney. Gr. 7–12. The acclaimed author of The Raven Boys brings her fantasy chops to this story of Princess Merida, set years after the events of the hit movie Brave. Family of Liars. By E. Lockhart. Delacorte. Gr. 9–12. Anticipation is high for this prequel to Lockhart’s runaway hit, We Were Liars, which will follow an earlier generation of the Sinclair family. Inheritance: A Visual Poem. By Elizabeth Acevedo. Illus. by Andrea Pippins. HarperCollins/Quill Tree. Gr. 6–10. Award-winning, best-selling Acevedo’s powerful poem “Hair” is presented here with evocative…

The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story. By Nikole Hannah-Jones. Ed. by The New York Times Magazine. 2021. One World. Hannah-Jones and company take a fresh and bracing approach to African American history in this delving collection of historical photographs, essays, poems, and stories by a roster of outstanding writers. The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War. By Craig Whitlock. 2021. Simon & Schuster. Rooted in a long-unavailable U.S. government report, this is an utterly damning and crucial account of America’s failure in Afghanistan. The Enlightenment: The Pursuit of Happiness 1680–1790. By Ritchie Robertson. 2021. Harper. Robertson argues in his fresh re-examination that the socalled Age of Reason was also an age of empathy, thanks to new attention to emotion and individual experience. Facing the Mountain: A True…

For much of my time in the U.S. Air Force, I was an invisible man. As a nuclear missile combat commander, I spent four years underground overseeing operations for dozens of intercontinental ballistic missile facilities. During many subterranean evenings, I would read works of literature, history, and political philosophy. My intellectual engagements helped me begin to reconcile my competing identities as a philosopher and missile operator, as a student of peace and an instrument of war, and as a Black man in a military uniform. Following my missile assignment, I returned to my undergraduate alma mater, the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, as an instructor in the Department of English and Fine Arts. There I taught hundreds of future military leaders how they might seek intellectual fulfillment…

Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists: A Graphic History of Women’s Fight for Their Rights. By Mikki Kendall. Art by A. D’Amico. 2019. Ten Speed. Gr. 9–12. Framed as futuristic classroom discussion around the question, “Women’s rights: Who won them?” this expansive survey showcases a dizzying array of the many women who fought for theirs. D’Amico’s strong portraits impart an air of dignity to each figure. This survey is especially laudable for the impressive diversity of women represented in its pages. The Antifa Comic Book: 100 Years of Fascism and Antifa Movements. By Gord Hill. Art by the author. 2018. Arsenal Pulp. Hill’s encyclopedia of worldwide fascist movements and their antifascist opponents does much more than just advance an agenda; it tells a riveting and fact-based history that feels more important than…

Book of Night by Holly Black (Tor Books) “Charlie is a hot mess. The more she tries to get on the straight and narrow, the more things fall apart. Due to childhood trauma, she trusts only herself, and maybe her shadow. But in a world where shadows can be altered, stolen, and weaponized, she has to be wary. Lots of atmospheric world building and stage setting, and perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Neil Gaiman, and V.E. Schwab.” —Emily Plagens, Allen Public Library, Allen, TX NoveList read-alike: Magic For Liars by Sarah Gailey The Book Woman’s Daughter A Novel by Kim Michele Richardson (Sourcebooks Landmark) “Cussy Mary’s daughter, Honey, defies convention and the law and becomes another Book Woman, riding into the mountains to deliver books in a raw and…

The magic-school subgenre was alive and well long before the 1990s, and as we wade into the 2020s, this category is taking on inclusive new life. The best-known magic schools of yore tended to feature one particular kind of hero in a monolithic society, making no room for marginalized characters—or readers. Happily, that is changing. The following bibliography collects recent titles that hold true to the magic-school tropes that so many have come to love, except here, non-white characters are more than tokens, queer identities are actually canon, anyone can be the hero, and you don’t need an invitation to be welcomed into these worlds. Amari and the Night Brothers. By B. B. Alston. 2021. HarperCollins/Balzer+Bray. Gr. 3–7. Amari is swept up into a parallel world of magic, technology, and…