The Sound of Stars (2020) by Alechia Dow blew me away! I wish I remembered how I found out about it, given that it’s been out nearly 4 years and I want to read more just like it. Ellie (Janelle) Baker is 17, living in a building in New York with her parents, after anContinue reading “The Sound of Stars”
Tag Archives: young adult
Elsewhere
Elsewhere (2005) by Gabrielle Zevin was a delight! You wouldn’t think that a book that opens with a 15-year old girl, Liz, who dies in an accident on her bicycle would be so uplifting, but Zevin (Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow; The Storied Life of AJ Fikry) is a magician, and this is one ofContinue reading “Elsewhere”
Rise to the Sun
Rise to the Sun (2021) by Leah Johnson (You Should See Me In a Crown) is a contemporary sapphic YA romance that takes place over the three days of a summer music festival. Both Olivia and Toni are from the Indianapolis area, but they don’t know each other. Olivia goes to the festival with herContinue reading “Rise to the Sun”
The Unstoppable Bridget Bloom
The Unstoppable Bridget Bloom (2023) by Allison L. Bitz is a delightful fat-positive YA novel of self-discovery with some romance. As the novel open, Bridget is moving in to her dorm room at her performing arts boarding school in Chicago–it’s a pipeline to Broadway and her parents sold land back in Nebraska so that sheContinue reading “The Unstoppable Bridget Bloom”
Little & Lion
Little & Lion (2017) by Brandy Colbert is a well-done YA novel that covers many themes: bisexuality, mental illness (specifically bipolar), and loyalty in a blended family, and it features a black Jewish main character in a multiethnic family. It won a Stonewall Award the year it was published. Suzette has just returned home toContinue reading “Little & Lion”
The Ten Thousand Doors of January
I was completely enthralled by The Ten Thousand Doors of January (2019) by Alix E. Harrow from very nearly the first page. Set in the late 1800s, January is a teenager cared for by a guardian, Mr. Locke, because her father is always traveling on expeditions for him. His house is filled with wondrous thingsContinue reading “The Ten Thousand Doors of January”
You Should See Me in a Crown
You Should See Me In a Crown (2020) by Leah Johnson is so good!! Liz Lighty, senior at a suburban Indianapolis high school, band geek, straight-A student, lives with her grandparents in a small town on the outskirts of Indianapolis that feels very familiar. Her mother has passed away, and her brother is often sickContinue reading “You Should See Me in a Crown”
Like a Love Story
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”
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”
Alone Out Here
Alone Out Here (2022) by Riley Redgate, has been described as “Lord of the Flies on a spaceship” and there are similarities between the two. But Alone out Here is better, in that it’s more inclusive (Redgate includes women and girls, and people of color as lead characters) and, though there is still brutality, theContinue reading “Alone Out Here”
Reading While Fat 