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A miniature manifesto for radical queer acceptance that weaves together the personal and political.

Eli, a cis gay white Jewish man, uses his own identities and experiences to frame and acknowledge his perspective. In the prologue, Eli compares the global Jewish community to the global queer community, noting, “We don’t always get it right, but the importance of showing up for other Jews has been carved into the DNA of what it means to be Jewish. It is my dream that queer people develop the same ideology—what I like to call a Global Queer Conscience.” He details his own isolating experiences as a queer adolescent in an Orthodox Jewish community and reflects on how he and so many others would have benefitted from a robust and supportive queer community. The rest of the book outlines 10 principles based on the belief that an expectation of mutual care and concern across various other dimensions of identity can be integrated into queer community values. Eli’s prose is clear, straightforward, and powerful. While he makes some choices that may be divisive—for example, using the initialism LGBTQIAA+ which includes “ally”—he always makes clear those are his personal choices and that the language is ever evolving. Grades 8-12. Copyright 2020 Kirkus Reviews.

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The ultimate competition between thieves tests friendships and family ties.

Seventeen-year-old Rosalyn “Ross” Quest, a member of a notorious Black Bahamian family of globe-trotting thieves, has spent her entire life honing her skills and following in her mother’s footsteps. But now she just wants to live a normal life, go to college, and make some friends her age. When her attempt to evade her family and secretly make it to a summer gymnastics camp goes awry, Ross’ mother is left in a life-threatening situation, and the only way Ross can save her is by competing in the Thieves’ Gambit, a potentially deadly heist competition that offers its winner one wish. Ross is up against the biggest names in the game from around the world, including Noelia, a Swiss girl who’s her childhood enemy. Hopping from country to country as she competes in increasingly dangerous challenges, Ross must discern whom she can trust, if anyone, while her feelings for fellow competitor Devroe, a Black British boy, grow. In a manner true to the genre, the pacing is fast, and readers will experience the best kind of whiplash as the story moves from one heist to the next. The characters are also fully realized, and it’s impossible not to root for Ross as she tries to figure out who she’s meant to be. Grades 7-12. Copyright 2023 Kirkus Reviews.

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A groundbreaking and timely graphic memoir from one of the most iconic figures in American sports—and a tribute to his fight for civil rights.

On October 16, 1968, during the medal ceremony at the Mexico City Olympics, Tommie Smith, the gold medal winner in the 200-meter sprint, and John Carlos, the bronze medal winner, stood on the podium in black socks and raised their black-gloved fists to protest racial injustice inflicted upon African Americans. Both men were forced to leave the Olympics, received death threats, and faced ostracism and continuing economic hardships.

In his first-ever memoir for young readers, Tommie Smith looks back on his childhood growing up in rural Texas through to his stellar athletic career, culminating in his historic victory and Olympic podium protest. Cowritten with Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Author Honor recipient Derrick Barnes and illustrated with bold and muscular artwork from Emmy Award–winning illustrator Dawud Anyabwile, Victory. Stand! paints a stirring portrait of an iconic moment in Olympic history that still resonates today. Grades 7-12. Copyright 2022 School Library Journal.

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Sixteen-year-old Esso Adenon is trying to survive school in South London, but he keeps getting into trouble. Most recently, he was in the wrong place at the worst time, when a classmate’s brother who goes by the name Bloodshed was attacked by some of Esso’s gang member friends. In keeping with his nickname, Bloodshed now seeks violent revenge against them, Esso included. After a near-death experience, Esso finds himself caught in the Upper World, a metaphysical realm where he can catch glimpses of the future. Fifteen years later, a young soccer player named Rhia needs help with math and physics—and along comes a grown Dr. Esso to be her tutor; he is also someone who may know the truth about Rhia’s biological mother. These timelines intersect as Esso and Rhia together try to stop a tragedy. Fadugba’s debut dazzles, particularly when it comes to dialogue—the London slang flows with ease, adding to the sense of place. Themes of code-switching, found families, and loss resonate strongly as well. The novel includes diagrams and scientific explanations for the physics that drives the story. Much of the cast is Black, including Esso, whose family is from Benin, and Rhia, who is living in foster care. Grades 7-12 Copyright 2021 Kirkus Reviews.

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eing hospitalized again for suicidal ideation is a bleak situation for anyone, especially Whimsy, a girl with the soul of a poet.

Waiting to go home to parents struggling to connect with her (her older brother has been missing for a decade) and a school where she is one of few Black students, a bright spot appears in Whimsy’s life. Green-haired Faerry—former fellow patient, new neighbor, and an actual Fae—befriends her. After he is lost in the Forest near her home, Whimsy sets off to find him and enters a garden populated by folklore and fairy-tale figures. A witch, a siren, a princess, and ghosts challenge and help her as she and Faerry struggle to escape Sorrow, the sinister entity keeping them from finding their way home. The choice of verse to tell this absorbing story is a strong one; readers are drawn along by the intense and vivid imagery, and the depictions of clinical depression, guilt, and grief are visceral. McBride explores the impact of the intersection between Blackness and mental illness on Faerry and Whimsy and the difficulties of two unusual young people finding refuge through friendship from the pressures the world exerts on them. Whimsy’s practice of Hoodoo and the empowerment she receives from the magic inside and around her help her contend with her depression and unravel her grief without negating a brutal, yet ultimately hopeful, reality. Grades 7-12 Copyright 2023 Kirkus Review