We're an Open Book
336 pages | Scholastic Press| Contemporary | 06/2/2020
17-year-old Liz Lighty is an unconventional candidate for Campbell County, Indiana’s prom queen–but she needs the scholarship money that comes with the crown if she wants to attend her dream college next fall. Lucky for Liz, she has a dream team of friends ready to help her rock the competition.
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354 pages | Balzer + Bray | Contemporary | Release Date: 5/5/2020
Felix’s last name is Love but he’s never been in it. And he desperately wants to be. Even though society makes him feel unworthy of love because he is queer, trans and Black.
When a transphobic art gallery targeting Felix goes up at his prestigious NYC art school he thinks he knows exactly who did it—his best friend’s ex, Declan Keane. Taking revenge into his own hands, Felix initiates a catfishing scheme and…nothing goes as planned.
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Unrated | 352 pages | Park Row | Contemporary | 6/16/2020
Trigger Warning: sexual assault, incest and domestic violence
Saving Ruby King examines the past and present of Southside Chicago’s Calagary Baptist congregation after the murder of Alice King. I feel like this could be a read-a-like to The Mothers by Brit Bennett because it’s the story of a specific Black community told through multiple POVs that moves through time.
Alice’s daughter Ruby is left to contend with her abusive father Lebanon–an ex-con who is holding a dark secret over Calgary’s hard-working preacher.
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320 pages | Titan Books | Historical Fantasy | 11 Hours 56 mins
What if instead of The South rising…the dead did? More than a decade after the zombies or “shamblers” began to roam, Black slaves and Native Americans have been forced from the fields and into battle schools to become protectors or Attendants for whites.
Justina Ireland’s re-imagined history is a unique concept that combines historical fiction with action, adventure and light horror as her battle-tested heroine Jane stops fighting to save white people and starts fighting to save herself. At first, I had a hard time with this book because I went in expecting this to be a book about an alternate-universe antebellum zombie apocalypse, but really this is just the setting as the shamblers are the “new normal”. Once I was able to adjust my expectations and our main character is taken from the world she knows and dropped into the untamed wild west, I found this to be a solid read. …
Unrated| 336 pages | Roaring Brook Press| Contemporary | Release Date: 8/25/2020
Evie may come from Hollywood royalty but she’s about to become a breakout star on her own…until an internet scandal costs her everything. Evie has one last shot to reclaim stardom–but to seal the deal she’ll need her legendry grandmother’s permission to star in a remake of her classic film. The only problem? Her grandmother has runaway from home. Now Eve has to traverse New York City with the help of Milo, an upstart viral internet musician, to bring her grandmother home.
This a YA novel I’ll have to file under books I know teen me would have enjoyed. Mostly because this is an easy book to recommend with one of my teen favorites This Lullaby. I mean who doesn’t want more books featuring a protagonist with a celebrity family who finds themselves tangled up with a group of lovable goofy aspiring musicians?
…September 15th – October 15th is Latinx Heritage month. To celebrate Latinx voices we want to share five of our favorite audiobooks written by Latinx authors!
