The Chill (2020) by Scott Carson was almost too creepy for me, but I couldn’t stop reading about a town, Galesburg, flooded by a dam that created the Chilewaukee Reservoir in upstate New York. The reservoir is part of the water supply system for New York City, and, as happened all over the country whenContinue reading “The Chill”
Author Archives: bbwesquire
Fevered Star
Fevered Star (2022) by Rebecca Roanhorse, is the sequel to Black Sun (which was one of the first reviews on this blog and a 2021 Hugo, Nebula, and Lambda Finalist!) and second book in the Between Earth and Sky trilogy. I was anxiously awaiting its release so I could find out what happened after Serapio,Continue reading “Fevered Star”
Right Where I Left You
Right Where I Left You (2022) by Julian Winters, is a super-cute, queer teen romance filled both with queer characters of color, and comic book and video game fan references. Isaac Martin has just graduated high school and is enjoying his summer before heading off to college in the fall. Despite his sometimes-crippling anxiety, hisContinue reading “Right Where I Left You”
A Dark and Starless Forest
In A Dark and Starless Forest (2021), Sarah Hollowell has written a rare gift–a fat-positive YA fantasy that has something for everyone, except perhaps for cis white middle-aged men. It’s written from Derry’s perspective–she is a fat, white teenager, one of nine multiracial siblings in an adoptive family headed by Frank, their guardian, Each ofContinue reading “A Dark and Starless Forest”
The Cherry Robbers
I highly anticipated reading The Cherry Robbers (publishing today, May 17, 2022) by Sarai Walker, author of Dietland, and I was not disappointed. Walker’s second book is different in tone and subject matter, but it is just as transgressive as Dietland was. There are two storylines: The first is set in the very recent pastContinue reading “The Cherry Robbers”
The School For Good Mothers
The School For Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan (2022) is frightening because it is our world taken just one not-so-unlikely step further. Frida Liu is the 39-year old Chinese-American mother to Harriet, a toddler, and shares custody with her ex-husband, Gust, who had an affair with Susanna while Frida was still pregnant with Harriet. FridaContinue reading “The School For Good Mothers”
Pumpkin
In Pumpkin (2021), Julie Murphy has created another hero of Clover City, the West Texas town that is the location of Dumplin‘ and Puddin‘. Waylon Brewer is a high school senior, a fat, openly gay boy whose parents “hit the queer lottery” because his twin sister, Clementine, is a lesbian. Waylon is a ginger withContinue reading “Pumpkin”
The Reading List
The Reading List (2021) by Sara Nisha Adams was lovely and heartbreaking at the same time. Set in London in Wembley, it follows widower Mukesh as he begins to try new things after the death of his beloved Naina; and young adult Aliesha who has just started working at the library, but isn’t sure it’sContinue reading “The Reading List”
News of the World
I had no previous knowledge about and didn’t know what to expect of News of the World (2016) by Paulette Jiles. My first clue was the inside cover map of 1870’s Texas and jacket description of an elderly former military man, Captain Jefferson Kidd, being asked to escort a young girl from the Indian TerritoryContinue reading “News of the World”
Big Boned
Big Boned (2021) by Jo Watson was a random library pick based on its title, cover, and jacket copy, which begins “Can she be herself in a one-size-fits-all world?” I knew that I had to read this young adult romance, which promised to be fat positive. Lori is a high school senior, an artist whoContinue reading “Big Boned”
Reading While Fat 