by Warona Jay
The Grand Scheme of Things is a brilliant debut by Warona Jay--a complex, layered satire of artistic pursuit and bias that poses questions about how far from meritocracy the world really is. Relebogile Naledi Mpho Moruakgomo, an immigrant from Botswana, is a talented playwright who goes by "Eddie." But as the rejections from talent agencies stack up, she starts to wonder if they really have anything to do with the words on the page.
She turns to Hugo Lawrence Smith, with his recognizably white name and his
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by Felipe Torres Medina
Readers are the "main character" in Felipe Torres Medina's irreverent debut, America, Let Me In: A Choose Your Immigration Story, a game book for those curious about what legally immigrating to the United States entails. Torres Medina is an immigrant to the U.S. himself, hailing from Bogotá, Colombia. His work has been featured in the New Yorker as well as on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, earning him five Emmy nominations. Deploying his trademark humor to poke fun "at the expense of our ridiculous
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by Tyler Page
Tyler Page's mostly lighthearted graphic memoir sensitively and approachably explores an important but seldom covered topic in books for middle schoolers: body image in boys. Page also addresses a subject that, while more common, is not always approached with the nuance it deserves: bullying.
Seventh grader Tyler is an appealing protagonist: smiley, game, and as he approaches adolescence, increasingly self-reflective. He notices how the bodies of other boys are changing, with new "sculpted muscles" and "bulging
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by Samina Ali
Pieces You'll Never Get Back: A Memoir of Unlikely Survival by Samina Ali is both a story of motherhood horribly derailed by a traumatic neurological injury and the rebirth of a woman refusing to remain broken. Ali's skillful narrative is rooted in her Islamic upbringing, and it contrasts her life as a vibrant mother-to-be with the aftermath of a disastrous labor and delivery, one that left her brain damaged and her newborn son struggling to survive.
Despite access to excellent obstetric care near her Northern
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by Hannah Deitch
Hannah Deitch's first novel, Killer Potential, is a bloody, class-conscious, suspenseful thriller starring two young women caught in a spiral of violence, blame, and bonding. This rocket-fueled debut is a deliciously dark, twisting, entertaining read, so beware the urge to stay up all night finishing it.
The novel's primary narrator is Evie Gordon, who opens by saying, "I was once a famous murderess.... It isn't true." Labeled "Talented and Gifted" from the age of eight, Evie thrived on the simple, clearly
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by Nic Stone
In the compelling final installment in the Dear Martin trilogy, Dear Manny, bestselling author Nic Stone features Jared Peter Christensen, a white, entitled character first introduced in Dear Martin. Here, Stone focuses on the college student's personal growth as he grapples with his privilege while running for junior class president.
It's two years after Jared's Black best friend, Manny Rivers, was murdered by an off-duty cop and Jared, now a college student, actively works to be an ally. He is running for
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by Jane Park, illus. by Lenny Wen
Jane Park's kindhearted and insightful picture book, Outside Mom, Inside Mom, is a tender representation of code-switching within families, dynamically depicted by author/illustrator Lenny Wen (Wolfgang in the Meadow).
On the first day of school, a child chooses to wear sneakers instead of their favorite red shoes: "I want to fit in, not stand out." The kid would like Mom to wear her "sparkly top," but Umma replies, "Not today... I want to look like the mom of a hardworking student." Other adults have quick,
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by Mayumi Inaba, trans. by Ginny Tapley Takemori
The late Mayumi Inaba (1950-2014) makes a posthumous debut-in-translation with the heartstring-tugging, haunting Mornings Without Mii, originally published in Japan in 1999. The memoir lovingly chronicles her 20-year-relationship with her "precious partner"--her beloved cat, Mii. That "end of summer, 1977," Inaba first heard the cries before discovering "a little ball of fluff. A teeny tiny baby kitten" suspended high up on a junior high school fence: "It was obvious that she... had been put there deliberately
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