Staff Picks
Read with Pride
- Amber J.
- Wednesday, May 25, 2022
Collection
Celebrate your PRIDE with these fresh and fun LBGT+ titles for teens and adults. Don't forget to check out these movies coming to theaters next month: "No Ordinary Man"(July 16) tells the story of transgender jazz musician Billy Tipton from directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt and "Nope"(July 22), Jordan Peele's latest horror starring LGBT+ actors Keke Palmer and Barbie Ferrerira.
Manhunt
Published in 2022
Beth and Fran spend their days traveling the ravaged New England coast, hunting feral men and harvesting their organs in a gruesome effort to ensure they'll never face the same fate. Robbie lives by his gun and one hard-learned motto: other people aren't safe. After a brutal accident entwines the three of them, this found family of survivors must navigate murderous TERFs, a sociopathic billionaire bunker brat, and awkward relationship dynamics all while outrunning packs of feral men, and their own demons.
Dead Collections
Published in 2022
"A whirlwind romance between a vampire archivist and a grieving widow explores what it means to be at home in your own body in this clever, humorous, and heartfelt novel"-- Provided by publisher.
Something Fabulous
Published in 2022
"Valentine Layton, the Duke of Malvern, has twin problems: literally. It was always his father's hope that Valentine would marry Miss Arabella Tarleton. But, unfortunately, too many novels at an impressionable age have caused her to grow up... romantic. So romantic that a marriage of convenience will not do and after Valentine's proposal she flees into the night determined never to set eyes on him again. Arabella's twin brother, Mr. Bonaventure "Bonny" Tarleton, has also grown up... romantic. And fully expects Valentine to ride out after Arabella and prove to her that he's not the cold-hearted cad he seems to be. Despite copious misgivings, Valentine finds himself on a pell-mell chase to Dover with Bonny by his side. Bonny is unreasonable, overdramatic, annoying, and... beautiful? And being with him makes Valentine question everything he thought he knew. About himself. About love. Even about which Tarleton he should be pursuing"--Page 4 of cover.
I'm So (not) over You
Published in 2022
"A chance to rewrite their ending is worth the risk in this swoony romantic comedy from Kosoko Jackson. It's been months since aspiring journalist Kian Andrews has heard from his ex-boyfriend, Hudson Rivers, but an urgent text has them meeting up at a café. Maybe Hudson wants to profusely apologize for the breakup. Or confess his undying love. . . . But no, Hudson has a favor to ask-he wants Kian to pretend to be his boyfriend while his parents are in town, and Kian reluctantly agrees. The dinner doesn't go exactly as planned, and suddenly Kian is Hudson's plus one to Georgia's wedding of the season. Hudson comes from a wealthy family where reputation is everything, and he really can't afford another mistake. If Kian goes, he'll help Hudson preserve appearances and get the opportunity to rub elbows with some of the biggest names in media. This could be the big career break Kian needs. But their fake relationship is starting to feel like it might be more than a means to an end, and it's time for both men to fact-check their feelings"-- Provided by publisher.
Love & Other Disasters
Published in 2022
While competing on a popular cooking show, Dahlia Woodson stirs up trouble when she gets involved with nonbinary contestant London Parker, and as their relationship heats up both in and out of the kitchen, she wonders if they have the right ingredients for a happily ever after.
One for All
Published in 2022
In 1655 sixteen-year-old Tania is the daughter of a retired musketeer, but she is afflicted with extreme vertigo and subject to frequent falls; when her father is murdered she finds that he has arranged for her to attend Madame de Treville's newly formed Académie des Mariées in Paris, which, it turns out, is less a school for would-be wives, than a fencing academy for girls--and so Tania begins her training to be a new kind of musketeer, and to get revenge for her father.
The Thousand Eyes
Published in 2022
"Two years after defying the wizard Belthandros Sethennai and escaping into the great unknown, Csorwe and Shuthmili have made a new life for themselves...Along for the ride is Tal Charossa, determined to leave the humiliation and heartbreak of his hometown far behind him...But when a routine expedition goes off the rails and a terrifying imperial relic awakens, they find that a common enemy may be all it takes to bring them back into his orbit"-- Provided by publisher.
No Filter and Other Lies
Published in 2022
Seventeen-year-old Kat Sanchez uses photos of a friend to create a fake Instagram account, but when one of her posts goes viral and exposes Kat's duplicity, her entire world--both real and pretend--comes crashing down around her.
Perpetual West
Published in 2022
"As Alex and Elana try to make their home among the academics and young leftists in El Paso and Juárez, they are pulled from each other by an affair with a lucha libre fighter, their struggles to define themselves, and the loud cry of home"-- Provided by publisher.
Ophelia After All
Published in 2022
Seventeen-year-old Ophelia Rojas, well known for her rose garden and her dramatic crushes on every boy in sight, begins to question her sexuality and sense of self when she starts to fall for cute, quiet Talia Sanchez in the weeks leading up to their highschool prom and graduation.
Tripping Arcadia
A Novel
Published in 2022
Working for one of Boston's most elite families, Lena discovers they are responsible for the ruin of her own family and embarks on a poison-filled quest for revenge that leads her into a hedonistic world where she must decide how much she is willing to risk for payback.
Lakelore
Published in 2022
"In this young adult novel by award-winning author Anna-Marie McLemore, two non-binary teens are pulled into a magical world under a lake - but can they keep their worlds above water intact? Everyone who lives near the lake knows the stories about the world underneath it, an ethereal landscape rumored to be half-air, half-water. But Bastián Silvano and Lore Garcia are the only ones who've been there. Bastián grew up both above the lake and in the otherworldly space beneath it. Lore's only seen the world under the lake once, but that one encounter changed their life and their fate. Then the lines between air and water begin to blur. The world under the lake drifts above the surface. If Bastián and Lore don't want it bringing their secrets to the surface with it, they have to stop it, and to do that, they have to work together. There's just one problem: Bastián and Lore haven't spoken in seven years, and working together means trusting each other with the very things they're trying to hide." -- Publisher marketing.
Chef's Kiss
Published in 2022
"Now that college is over, English graduate Ben Cook is on the job hunt looking for something, anything related to his passion for reading and writing. But interview after interview, hiring committee after hiring committee, Ben soon learns getting the dream job won't be as easy as he thought. Proofreading? Journalism? Copywriting? Not enough experience. It turns out he doesn't even have enough experience to be a garbage collector! But when Ben stumbles upon a "Now Hiring--No Experience Necessary" sign outside a restaurant, he jumps at the chance to land his first job. Plus, he can keep looking for a writing job in the meantime. He's actually not so bad in the kitchen, but he will have to pass a series of cooking tests to prove he's got the culinary skills to stay on full-time. But it's only temporary right? When Ben begins developing a crush on Liam, one of the other super dreamy chefs at the restaurant, and when he starts ditching his old college friends and his old writing job plans, his career path starts to become much less clear"-- Provided by publisher.
Heartstopper. Vol. 01
Published in 2020
Shy and softhearted Charlie strikes up a friendship with rugby player Nick, and as the two grow closer and take on the ups and downs of high school, their friendship grows into something more.
The Ivory Key
Published in 2022
Since the murder of the maharani of Ashoka--the country that controls all magic--the relationships between the royal siblings have fractured. At only 18, Vira has ascended to the throne, a role few in her council believe her capable of. Meanwhile, her twin brother, Ronak, is plotting to break free from a tactful marriage and taking their half-brother, Kaleb, (wrongfully imprisoned for the maharani's assassination) with him. The siblings' unease comes to a head when their sister Riya returns to the palace after two years of running with a group of rebels. As Ashoka's quarry runs out of magic, the only option left is to find fragments of an old map leading to an ivory key rumored to unlock the lost quarries of Ashoka. Legend or not, all the siblings want a piece of it.
Real Easy
Published in 2022
"It's 1999, and Samantha has danced for years at the Lovely Lady strip club. She's not used to taking anyone under her wing-after all, between her disapproving boyfriend and his daughter, who may as well be her own child, she has enough to worry about. But when Samantha overrides her better judgment to drive a new dancer home, they are run off the road. The police arrive at the scene of the accident-but find only one body. Georgia, another dancer, is drawn into the investigation as she tries to assist Holly, a Harvard-educated detective with a complicated story of her own. As the point of view shifts from police officers and detectives to club patrons and children, the women round up a list of suspects, all the while grappling with their own understanding of loss and love"-- Provided by publisher.
And They Lived . . .
Published in 2022
"Chase Arthur is a hopeless romantic, but he's also struggling to figure out his gender identity and recover from an eating disorder. When Chase starts his freshman year of college, he has to navigate being away from home and missing his sister, finding his squad, and will have to learn to love--and be enough for--himself, while discovering what it means to truly live"-- Provided by publisher.
Cold
Published in 2022
"This is the story of a boy who died--and a girl who wants to know why. Todd Mayer is dead. Now he's some sort of ghost, hovering over his body, which has just been found in the town park, naked and frozen in the snow. As detectives investigate Todd's homicide, talking to the very people who are responsible for how he died, Todd replays the events that lead him to his end in the park. Georgia didn't know Todd. But she can't stop thinking about him. Maybe it's because they're both outcasts at their school, or because they're both queer. It might also be because Georgia has a feeling she's seen Todd somewhere before, somewhere he wasn't supposed to be. In the vein of The Lovely Bones, this dual narrative is told through the voices of Todd in his afterlife and Georgia as she uncovers the truth behind his death, resulting in an immersive, emotional, and provocative read."-- Provided by publisher.
Fire Becomes Her
Published in 2022
In a world where magic can be bottled and power sipped, seventeen-year-old Ingrid Ellis tries to rise in society on the arm of Lindon Holt, but when she agrees to spy on his father's political opposition in exchange for his approval, she begins to question where her true allegiances lie.
Nothing Burns As Bright As You
Published in 2022
A novel in verse that captures the unbalanced experience of an all-consuming love between two unnamed, queer, Black teen girls who move rapidly from strangerhood into a protective best friendship before becoming dysfunctional lovers and mutually destructive partners in crime.