Embedded Files
Fiction
Fiction
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A Complicated Love Story Set in Space by Shaun David Hutchinson
From the Publisher
Black Mirror meets What If It's Us in this gripping, romantic, and wildly surprising novel about two boys lost in space trying to find their way home--while falling in love--from the critically acclaimed author of We Are the Ants.
When Noa closes his eyes on Earth and wakes up on a spaceship called Qriosity just as it's about to explode, he's pretty sure things can't get much weirder.
Boy is he wrong.
Trapped aboard Qriosity are also DJ and Jenny, neither of whom remember how they got onboard the ship. Together, the three face all the dangers of space, along with murder, aliens, a school dance, and one really, really bad day. But none of this can prepare Noa for the biggest challenge--falling in love. And as Noa's feelings for DJ deepen, he has to contend not just with the challenges of the present, but also with his memories of the past.
However, nothing is what it seems on Qriosity, and the truth will upend all of their lives forever.
Love is complicated enough without also trying to stay alive.
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Displacement by Kiku Hughes
From the Publisher
A teenager is pulled back in time to witness her grandmother's experiences in World War II-era Japanese internment camps in Displacement, a historical graphic novel from Kiku Hughes.
Kiku is on vacation in San Francisco when suddenly she finds herself displaced to the 1940s Japanese-American internment camp that her late grandmother, Ernestina, was forcibly relocated to during World War II.
These displacements keep occurring until Kiku finds herself "stuck" back in time. Living alongside her young grandmother and other Japanese-American citizens in internment camps, Kiku gets the education she never received in history class. She witnesses the lives of Japanese-Americans who were denied their civil liberties and suffered greatly, but managed to cultivate community and commit acts of resistance in order to survive.
Kiku Hughes weaves a riveting, bittersweet tale that highlights the intergenerational impact and power of memory.
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Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy by Faith Erin Hicks
From the Publisher
New York Times bestseller Faith Erin Hicks is back with Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy, a young adult graphic novel romance about a hotheaded hockey player who asks for temper management lessons from the cool, calm boy in drama club.
It should have been a night of triumph for Alix's hockey team. But her mean teammate Lindsay decided to start up with her usual rude comments and today Alix, who usually tries to control her anger, let it finally run free. Alix lashes out and before she knows it, her coach is dragging her off Lindsay, and the invitation to the Canada National Women's U18 Team's summer camp is on the line.
She needs to learn how to control this anger, and she is sure Ezra, the popular and poised theater kid from her grade is the answer. So she asks for his help. But as they hang out and start get closer, Alix learns that there is more to Ezra than the cool front he puts on. And that maybe this friendship could become something more....
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In the Lives of Puppets by T. J. Klune
From the Publisher
In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots--fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They're a family, hidden and safe.
The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labeled "HAP," he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio-a past spent hunting humans.
When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio's former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic's assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming.
Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?
Inspired by Carlo Collodi's The Adventures of Pinocchio, and like Swiss Family Robinson meets Wall-E, In the Lives of Puppets is a masterful stand-alone fantasy adventure from the beloved author who brought you The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door.
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The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen
From the Publisher
* Named one of the Best Books of the Year: New York Public Library, Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, Publishers Weekly *
In this gorgeous debut graphic novel, fairy tales are the only way one boy can communicate with his Vietnamese immigrant parents. But how will he find the words to tell them that he's gay? A powerful read about family, identity and the enduring magic of stories.
Tien and his mother may come from different cultures-she's an immigrant from Vietnam still struggling with English; he's been raised in America-but through the fairy tales he checks out from the local library, those differences are erased.
But as much as Tien's mother's English continues to improve as he reads her tales of love, loss, and travel across distant shores, there's one conversation that still eludes him-how to come out to her and his father. Is there even a way to explain what he's going through in Vietnamese? And without a way to reveal his hidden self, how will his parents ever accept him?
This beautifully illustrated graphic novel speaks to the complexity of family and how stories can bring us together even when we don't know the words.
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Punk Rock Karaoke by Bianca Xunise
From the Publisher
* Winner of the 2025 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work *
A debut graphic novel from Ignatz Award-winning and nationally syndicated cartoonist Bianca Xunise.
When life gives you guitars, smash them!
School is out for summer and Ariel Grace Jones is determined to make it one for the books! Together with their bestie bandmates, Michele and Gael, Ariel believes they're destined to break into the music industry and out of Chicago's Southside by singing lead in their garage punk band, Baby Hares.
But before Baby Hares can officially get into the groove, the realities of post grad life start to weigh on this crew of misfits. Ari begins to worry that it's time to pull the plug on their dreams of making it big.
Just when all hope feels lost, a fellow punk and local icon takes an interest in their talent. It seems like he might be the only one Ariel can rely on as frustrations between bandmates reach at an all-time high.
Punk Rock Karaoke is a coming-of-age tale that draws upon the explosive joy of the underground scene, while raising questions about authenticity, the importance of community and what it means to succeed on your own terms.
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Spirit World by Alyssa Wong; Illustrated by Haining
From the Publisher
Travel between the lands of the living and the dead alongside a brand-new Chinese hero in a thrilling entry in DC’s We Are Legends initiative, introducing legendary Asian-American characters!
We Are Legends expands the DC Universe with authentic stories starring characters of Asian descent, as told by Asian talent!
Spirit World stars Xanthe, a non-binary Chinese hero with the ability to travel in and out of the Spirit World—the realm of the dead, and that of the living. Xanthe possesses the ability to burn items folded from ceremonial joss paper and turn them into real objects that can be used in the physical world.
Their super power is based on the East Asian custom of burning joss paper at gravesites to send resources to ancestors in the spirit world. Their weapon of choice is a large broadsword (because who doesn’t love a big sword when you can choose to use a big sword?!).
The adventure begins as Xanthe forms a reluctant alliance with DC’s bad boy of the mystic arts, John Constantine, to rescue Batgirl Cassandra Cain from a horde of jiangshi (Chinese hopping vampires).Who knows what other spirits they’ll find in the Spirit World — like that skateboarding boy wearing hanfu with some headphones and a gaping hole in his chest?!
Spirit World is written by beloved comics and sci-fi author Alyssa Wong, and beautifully illustrated by Haining! Get on board an unforgettable journey with one of comics’ most compelling new characters!
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Starting From Here by Lisa Jenn Bigelow
From the Publisher
Sixteen-year-old Colby Bingham's heart has been broken too many times. Her mother has been dead for almost two years, her truck driver father is always away, her almost girlfriend just dumped her for a guy, and now she's failing chemistry.
When a stray dog lands literally at her feet, bleeding and broken on a busy road, it seems like the Universe has it in for Colby. But the incident also knocks a chink in the walls she's built around her heart. Against her better judgment, she decides to care for the dog.
But new connections mean new opportunities for heartbreak. Terrified of another loss, Colby bolts at the first sign of trouble, managing to alienate her best friend, her father, the cute girl pursuing her, and even her dog's vet, who's taken Colby under her wing. Colby can't start over, but can she learn how to move on?
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This is Our Place by Vitor Martins
From the Publisher
"Originally published in Brazilian Portuguese in 2021 as Se a casa 8 Falasse by Alt"
Three teens -- in three different decades -- navigate life, love, and family in Vitor Martins' heartfelt new novel that spans generations.
If the walls of Number 8 Sunflower Street could talk ...
As Ana celebrates the new millennium, she is shocked to learn that she must leave behind her childhood home, her hometown, and -- hardest of all -- her girlfriend for a new life in Rio de Janeiro.
Ten years later, Greg is sent to live with his aunt -- who runs a video rental store from her garage and owns a dog named Keanu Reeves -- as his parents work out their not-so-secret divorce.
And ten years after that, Beto must put his dreams of becoming a photographer on hold as the Covid-19 pandemic arrives in Brazil, forcing him to live with his overprotective mother and overachieving sister.
Set in and narrated by the same house, Number 8 Sunflower Street, and in three different decades -- 2000, 2010, and 2020 respectively -- This Is Our Place is a novel about queer teens dealing with sudden life changes, family conflict, and first loves, proving that while generations change, we will always be connected to each other.
This Poison Heart (This Poison Heart, Book 1) by Kalynn Bayron
From the Publisher
Darkness blooms in bestselling author Kalynn Bayron's new contemporary fantasy about a girl with a unique and deadly power.
Briseis has a gift: with a single touch she can grow plants from tiny seeds to rich blooms.
When Briseis's aunt dies and wills her a dilapidated estate in rural New York, Bri and her parents hope that surrounded by plants and flowers, she will finally learn to control her gift. But their new home is sinister in ways they never expected-it comes with a mysterious set of instructions, a walled garden filled with the deadliest botanicals in the world, and generations of secrets. There is more to Bri's sudden inheritance than she could have imagined, and she is determined to uncover it.
From the bestselling author of Cinderella Is Dead comes an enchanting story about a young woman with the power to conquer the dark forces descending around her.
Nonfiction
Nonfiction
The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater
From the Publisher
* Stonewall Book Award * YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist * A School Library Journal Best Books of 2017 * A Washington Post Best Book of 2017 * One of The New York City Public Library Notable 50 Best Books for Teens * The California Book Awards Young Adult Winner * An ILA Notable Book for a Global Society * Oklahoma Sequoyah Book Award Winner *
This riveting nonfiction book for teens about race, class, gender, crime, and punishment tells the true story of an agender teen who was set on fire by another teen while riding a bus in Oakland, California.
One teenager in a skirt.
One teenager with a lighter.
One moment that changes both of their lives forever.
If it weren't for the 57 bus, Sasha and Richard never would have met. Both were high school students from Oakland, California, one of the most diverse cities in the country, but they inhabited different worlds. Sasha, a white teen, lived in the middle-class foothills and attended a small private school. Richard, a black teen, lived in the crime-plagued flatlands and attended a large public one. Each day, their paths overlapped for a mere eight minutes. But one afternoon on the bus ride home from school, a single reckless act left Sasha severely burned, and Richard charged with two hate crimes and facing life imprisonment. The case garnered international attention, thrusting both teenagers into the spotlight.
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I Heard Her Call My Name : a memoir of transition by Lucy Sante
From the Publisher
* Named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Slate *
An iconic writer's lapidary memoir of a life spent pursuing a dream of artistic truth while evading the truth of her own gender identity, until, finally, she turned to face who she really was
For a long time, Lucy Sante felt unsure of her place. Born in Belgium, the only child of conservative working-class Catholic parents who transplanted their little family to the United States, she felt at home only when she moved to New York City in the early 1970s and found her people among a band of fellow bohemians. Some would die young, from drugs and AIDS, and some would become jarringly famous. Sante flirted with both fates on her way to building an estimable career as a writer. But she still felt like her life was a performance. She was presenting a facade, even to herself.
Sante's memoir braids together two threads of personal narrative: the arc of her life, and her recent step-by-step transition to a place of inner and outer alignment. Sante brings a loving irony to her account of her unsteady first steps; there was much she found she still needed to learn about being a woman after some sixty years cloaked in a man's identity, in a man's world. A marvel of grace and empathy, I Heard Her Call My Name parses with great sensitivity many issues that touch our lives deeply, of gender identity and far beyond.
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Messy roots : a graphic memoir of a Wuhanese American by Laura Gao
From the Publisher
After spending her early years in Wuhan, China, riding water buffalos and devouring stinky tofu, Laura immigrates to Texas, where her hometown is as foreign as Mars -- at least until 2020, when COVID-19 makes Wuhan a household name.
In Messy Roots, Laura illustrates her coming-of-age as the girl who simply wants to make the basketball team, escape Chinese school, and figure out why girls make her heart flutter.
Insightful, original, and hilarious, toggling seamlessly between past and present, China and America, Gao's debut is a tour de force of graphic storytelling.
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Road Home by Rex Ogle
From the Publisher
* Stonewall Honor Book * Michael L. Printz Honor Book *
When Rex was outed the summer after he graduated high school, his father gave him a choice: he could stay at home, find a girlfriend, and attend church twice a week, or he could be gay -- and leave. Rex left, driving toward the only other gay man he knew and a toxic relationship that would ultimately leave him homeless and desperate on the streets of New Orleans.
Here, Rex tells the story of his coming out and his father's rejection of his identity, navigating abuse and survival on the streets. Road Home is a devastating and incandescent reflection on Rex's hunger--for food, for love, and for a place to call home--completing the trilogy of memoirs that began with the award-winning Free Lunch.
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