Like a Love Story (2019) by Abdi Nazemian is the historical queer coming-of-age story I never knew that I needed to read. It was a 2020 Stonewall Honor book and chosen by Time magazine as one of the 100 best YA books of all time, both designations well-deserved. It’s 1987, and Reza has just movedContinue reading “Like a Love Story”
Tag Archives: young adult
What If It’s Us
What If It’s Us (2020) by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera is a super-cute queer YA romance set in one perfect NYC summer. Arthur is in New York City with his parents for the summer between his junior and senior year, working as an intern at his mom’s law firm. He left his two bestContinue reading “What If It’s Us”
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”
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”
On the Come Up
The Hate U Give‘s author, Angie Thomas, has created an even more compelling protagonist, Bri, in On the Come Up (2019). Bri is a high schooler living with her mom and older brother, because her father, the locally-famous rapper Lawless, was killed by gang violence when she was little. She wants to rap, too, andContinue reading “On the Come Up”
Find Layla
Find Layla (2020) is Meg Elison’s first published contemporary YA novel. Elison has won and been nominated for multiple science fiction awards for her Road to Nowhere series, specifically The Book of the Unnamed Midwife (review coming soon), The Book of Etta, and The Book of Flora. Her novelette The Pill won the 2021 LocusContinue reading “Find Layla”
Starfish
Starfish (2021) by Lisa Fipps, surprised me with beauty, heartbreak, and fat positivity in this middle grade novel written in free verse. Ellie, 12, is the youngest of three kids of a mixed-faith psychiatrist-father and editor-mother, and is nicknamed Splash at her 5th birthday party when she does a perfect cannonball. The kids at schoolContinue reading “Starfish”
The Mighty Miss Malone
Twelve-year-old Deza Malone deals with upheaval during the Great Depression with grit and humor.
Reading While Fat 