Giant Days Volumes 1 & 2 by John Allison
Giant Days is a British graphic novel that follows three “dorm-mates” through their first year in university. The three, Daisy Wooton, homeschooled and unworldly; Esther De Groot, a bit rash and overly dramatic; and Susan Ptolemy, who thinks she is the only one with common sense; become fast friends despite their unalike personalities and backgrounds.
March Trilogy by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell
The March trilogy has been widely written about and has won several awards including the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, YALSA’s Outstanding Books for the College Bound, and is also a Coretta Scott King Honor Book. We all learn about the civil rights movement in school. Depending on
The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi
The Star-Touched Queen takes place in the milieu of Hindu mythology: the worlds of gods, goddesses, demons, illusion, and reincarnation. The story is about Maya, a young princess in a kingdom that has long been at war with the many surrounding kingdoms. In a bid to bring peace, her father the king proposes that Maya
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Trevor Noah, host of the Daily Show, has written a powerful book about his South African childhood. This book is by turns fascinating, horrific, funny, heartbreaking and hopeful. As excellent as the book is, the audiobook is even better. Mr. Noah narrates it; not only is he a brilliant reader, but hearing him read from
The Yid by Paul Goldberg
The Yid takes place in Stalin’s Russia shortly before his death in 1953 and is a brilliant work of “reimagined” historical fiction. Solomon Shimonovich Levinson, a former actor with the State Jewish Theater, is about to be arrested. Realizing that his life is in peril and that he has nothing left to lose, he decides
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
Me: (holding a copy of A Man Called Ove): Hey, you really need to read this book. It’s great! Other Person: Thanks, I need a book. What’s it about? Me: A man who is trying to commit suicide. It’s really funny! Other Person: Uhhhhh, that’s okay. Actually, I don’t need a book right now. Ove
The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin
The Thing about Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin is the poignant story of Suzy Swanson and her attempts to comprehend a world that doesn’t always seem to make sense. Suzy has always been a bit of a nerd and maybe a bit awkward, but she’s always been able to rely on her best friend, Franny Jackson.
Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk
Wolf Hollow, Lauren Wolk’s debut novel, takes place in rural Pennsylvania in late 1943. The story is told by Annabelle as she looks back in time to the year she turned 12 and “learned to lie”. This ominous start lets the reader know that there is going to be big trouble developing, and so it
Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo
Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo is a bighearted tale told by 10-year-old Raymie Clarke whose world has just been turned upside down by her father who left her and her mother in the middle of the night for another woman. Like many kids in similar situations, Raymie thinks it is up to her to win
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
The Fifth Season is a compelling and multifaceted story set on a geologically unstable and volatile “Earth”. Earthquakes and volcanoes are a constant threat and if severe enough can cause a fifth season, or extended winter, due to the amount of dust and ash sent up into the atmosphere. Tsunamis created by “shakes” can wipe
The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman
I just finished listening to The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman. The narrator, Fiona Hardingham, an accomplished actress and reader, picked me up, transported me to Regency London and set me down among the aristocracy. It is 1812 and Lady Helen Wrexhall is 18 and ready to go out and live life to its
The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge
I was immediately hooked by The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge. As an anthropologist, I had read a number of works by “armchair anthropologists” that tracked the history of science through the Victorian era, the publication of Darwin’s The Origin of Species, the gradual unearthing of fossils that called into question a worldview based on counting