Among this week's irresistible reading recommendations, we take a look at the "raucous joyride of a memoir" Dirtbag Queen, which Andy Corren expanded from the viral obituary he wrote for his mother, Renay. We also recommend Dark Laboratory, Tao Leigh Goffe's call to "rethink... relationships to environments... the idea of ownership and belonging..., [and] the idea of climate justice for everyone." Plus, teen readers won't want to miss the outrageous excitement in The Assassin's Guide to Babysitting by Natalie C. Parker, filled with "superpowered feats and fight sequences, sly scheming, Sapphic love, a blueberry-obsessed indestructible baby, and a teddy bear of a man in an assassin's body."
In The Writer's Life, debut novelist Jane Yang charts her life as a reader. Born in a Chinese enclave in Saigon, Vietnam, she migrated with her family to Australia when she was seven. There she discovered a favorite place in the picture book section of her school library, where her passion for reading flourished.