Today’s post is sponsored in honor of the paperback release of His Hideous Heart: 13 of Edgar Allan Poe’s Most Unsettling Tales Reimagined, ed. by Dahlia Adler (Bookshop | Amazon | IndieBound). Thirteen authors take on The Tell-Tale Heart, The Cask of Amontillado, The Raven, and more, including queer spins on Ligeia, The Purloined Letter, Annabel Lee, Hop-Frog, The Pit and the Pendulum, and The Murders at the Rue Morgue, in a collection the New York Times Book Review says “brims over with fierce delight and uncanny invention.”
Picture Book
Small Knight and the Anxiety Monster by Manka Kasha
The worry kept growing day by day, until⦠one morning Small Knight woke up to see a huge inky black monster in their room.
When Small Knight feels pressure from their parents to be a perfect princess, an anxiety monster shows up. No one else can see the monster, so Small Knight and their best friend Tiny Bear, decide that it is up to them to save themselves. They set off on a magical quest, only to discover that the answer was inside themselves all along. Turning to face the Anxiety Monster, they learn how to keep it under control.
Buy It: Bookshop | Amazon | Indiebound
Middle Grade
Obie is Man Enough by Schuyler Bailar
Obie knew his transition would have ripple effects. He has to leave his swim coach, his pool, and his best friends. But itās time for Obie to find where he truly belongs.
As Obie dives into a new team, though, things are strange. Obie always felt at home in the water, but now he canāt get his old coach out of his head. Even worse are the bullies that wait in the locker room and on the pool deck. Luckily, Obie has family behind him. And maybe some new friends too, including Charlie, his first crush. Obie is ready to prove he can be one of the fastest boys in the waterāto his coach, his critics, and his biggest competition: himself.
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A Touch of Ruckus by Ash Van Otterloo
Tennessee Lancaster has a hidden gift.
She can pry into folksā memories with just a touch of their belongings. Itās something sheās always kept hidden ā especially from her big, chaotic family. Their lives are already chock-full of worries about Daddyās job and Mamaās blues without Tennie rocking the boat.
But when the Lancasters move to the mountains for a fresh start, Tennieās gift does something new. Instead of just memories, her touch releases a ghost with a terrifying message: Trouble is coming. Tennie wants to ignore it. Except her new friend Fox ā scratch that, her only friend, Fox ā is desperate to go ghost hunting deep in the forest. And when Tennie frees even more of the spirits, trouble is exactly what she gets⦠and it hits close to home. The ghosts will be heard, and now Tennie must choose between keeping secrets or naming an ugly truth that could tear her family apart.
Magic and mayhem abound in this spooky story about family legacies, first friendships, and how facing the ghosts inside can sometimes mean stirring up a little bit of ruckus.
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Young Adult
Baby Teeth by Meg Grehan (2nd)
The blood
Feeds the hunger
That threatens everything
It starts when Claudia offers her a yellow rose.
Immy has been in love before – many times, across many lifetimes. But never as deeply, as intensely as this.
Claudia has never been in love this before either. But then, this is her first time with a vampire.
The forbidden thirst for blood runs deep in Immy. And within her mind clamour the voices, of all the others she has been, their desires, and their wrongs.
A unique verse novel by the award-winning author of The Deepest Breath and The Space Between.
Buy it: Waterstones | Book Depository | Little Island
Major Detours by Zachary Sergi
Itās the summer before college and four best friendsāAmelia, Chase, Cleo, and Loganāare on the first leg of their road trip inspired by the unique tarot deck that Amelia inherited from her grandmother. However, their trip full of visiting occult shops, bonding, and sightseeing quickly takes a major detour when they discover that their tarot deck is more valuableāand covetedāthan they couldāve ever imagined. Suddenly pursued by collectors who are after the legendary ālostā work of an infamous cult-following artist, the four friends will discover the fortunes that await those who unearth the deckās four missing cards.
As the reader, youāll get to make actual choices to further the friendsā road trip adventure in this first-of-its-kind interactive novel. Will you help the main characters, Amelia and Chase, learn and grow? How will you navigate Ameliaās steamy budding romances and overcome the challenges facing Chase and Loganās queer-teen relationship? Ā Will you uncover the mysteries of the tarot deck? The choices are yours to make!
Major Detours is more than the branching-path books from your childhood. Instead, this fresh format bridges the gap between nostalgic choose-your-own-adventure and the modern style of digital interactive fiction, with choices that always lead you forward in the story and feature four diverse, queer characters navigating relationships and self-discovery. InĀ Major Detours, the reader can interactively engage in two queer romances (from 2 alternating POVs), between the challenges facing a teen cis-male monogomous long-term relationship and a budding discovery of pansexual and nonbinary identities.
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A Clash of Steel by CB Lee
Two intrepid girls hunt for a legendary treasure on the deadly high seas in this YA remix of the classic adventure novel Treasure Island.
1826. The sun is setting on the golden age of piracy, and the legendary Dragon Fleet, the scourge of the South China Sea, is no more. Its ruthless leader, a woman known only as the Head of the Dragon, is now only a story, like the ones Xiang has grown up with all her life. She desperately wants to prove her worth, especially to her mother, a shrewd businesswoman who never seems to have enough time for Xiang. Her father is also only a story, dead at sea before Xiang was born. Her single memento of him is a pendant she always wears, a simple but plain piece of gold jewelry.
But the pendantās true nature is revealed when a mysterious girl named Anh steals it, only to return it to Xiang in exchange for her help in decoding the tiny map scroll hidden inside. The revelation that Xiangās father sailed with the Dragon Fleet and tucked away this secret changes everything. Rumor has it that the legendary Head of the Dragon had one last treasureāthe plunder of a thousand portsāthat for decades has only been a myth, a foolās journey.
Xiang is convinced this map could lead to the fabled treasure. Captivated with the thrill of adventure, she joins Anh and her motley crew off in pursuit of the island. But the girls soon find that the seaāand especially those who sail itāare far more dangerous than the legends led them to believe.
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Act Cool by Tobly McSmith
Aspiring actor August Greene just landed a coveted spot at the prestigious School of Performing Arts in New York. Thereās only one problem: His conservative parents wonāt accept that heās transgender. And to stay with his aunt in the city, August must promise them he wonāt transition.
August is convinced he can play the part his parents want while acting cool and confident in the company of his talented new friends.
But who is August when the lights go down? And where will he turn when the roles start hitting a little too close to home?
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The Girls Are Never Gone by Sarah Glenn Marsh
Dare Chase doesnāt believe in ghosts.
Privately, sheās a supernatural skeptic. But publicly, sheās keeping her doubts to herselfābecause sheās the voice of Attachments, her brand-new paranormal investigation podcast, and she needs her ghost-loving listeners to tune in.
Thatās what brings her to Arrington Estate. Thirty years ago, teenager Atheleen Bell drowned in Arringtonās lake, and legend says her spirit haunts the estate. Dareās more interested in the suspicious circumstances surrounding her deathācircumstances that she believes point to a living culprit, not the supernatural. Still, sheās vowed to keep an open mind as she investigates, even if sheās pretty sure what sheāll find.
But Arrington is full of surprises. Good ones like Quinn, the cute daughter of the houseās new owner. And baffling ones like the threatening messages left scrawled in paint on Quinnās walls, the ghastly face that appears behind Dareās own in the mirror, and the unnatural current that nearly drowns their friend Holly in the lake. As Dare is drawn deeper into the mysteries of Arrington, sheāll have to rethink the boundaries of what is possible. Because if something is lurking in the lakeā¦it might not be willing to let her go.
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The Night When No One Had Sex by Kalena Miller
It’s the night of senior prom, and eighteen-year-old Julia has made a pact with her friends. (Yes, that kind of pact.) They have secured a secluded cabin in the woods, one night without parental supervision, and plenty of condoms. But as soon as they leave the dance, the pact begins to unravel. Alexās grandmother is undergoing emergency surgery, and he and his date rush to the hospital. Zoeās trying to figure out how she feels about getting off the waitlist at Yaleāand how to tell her girlfriend. Madisonās chronic illness flares, holding her back once again from being a normal teenager. And Juliaās fantasy-themed role play gets her locked in a closet. Alternating between each characterās perspective and their ridiculous group chat, The Night When No One Had Sex finds a group of friends navigating the tenuous transition into adulthood and embracing the uncertainty of life after high school.
Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | IndieBound
Adult/General
Among Thieves by M.J. Kuhn
In just over a yearās time, Ryia Cautella has already earned herself a reputation as the quickest, deadliest blade in the dockside city of Carrowwickānot to mention the sharpest tongue. But Ryia Cautella is not her real name.
For the past six years, a deadly secret has kept her in hiding, running from town to town, doing whatever it takes to stay one step ahead of the formidable Guildmasterāthe sovereign ruler of the five kingdoms of Thamorr. No matter how far or fast she travels, his servants never fail to track her down…but even the most powerful men can be defeated.
Ryiaās path now leads directly into the heart of the Guildmasterās stronghold, and against every instinct she has, itās not a path she can walk alone. Forced to team up with a crew of assorted miscreants, smugglers, and thieves, Ryia must plan her next moves very carefully. If she succeeds, her freedom is won once and for allā¦but unfortunately for Ryia, her new allies are nearly as selfish as she is, and they all have plans of their own.
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No Gods, No Monsters by Cadwell Turnbull
One October morning, Laina gets the news that her brother was shot and killed by Boston cops. But what looks like a case of police brutality soon reveals something much stranger. Monsters are real. And they want everyone to know it.
As creatures from myth and legend come out of the shadows, seeking safety through visibility, their emergence sets off a chain of seemingly unrelated events. Members of a local werewolf pack are threatened into silence. A professor follows a missing friendās trail of bread crumbs to a mysterious secret society. And a young boy with unique abilities seeks refuge in a pro-monster organization with secrets of its own. Meanwhile, more people start disappearing, suicides and hate crimes increase, and protests erupt globally, both for and against the monsters.
At the center is a mystery no one thinks to ask: Why now? What has frightened the monsters out of the dark?
The world will soon find out.
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The Final Child by Fran Dorricott
Erin and her brother Alex were the last children abducted by ‘the Father’, a serial killer who only ever took pairs of siblings. She escaped, but her brother was never seen again. Traumatised, Erin couldn’t remember anything about her ordeal, and the Father was never caught.
Eighteen years later, Erin has done her best to put the past behind her. But then she meets Harriet. Harriet’s young cousins were the Father’s first victims and, haunted by their deaths, she is writing a book about the disappearances and is desperate for an interview. At first, Erin wants nothing to do with her. But then she starts receiving sinister gifts, her house is broken into, and she can’t shake the feeling that she’s being watched. After all these years, Erin believed that the Father was gone, but now she begins to wonder if he was only waiting…
Buy it: Book Depository
The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun
Dev Deshpande has always believed in fairy tales. So itās no wonder then that heās spent his career crafting them on the long-running reality dating show Ever After. As the most successful producer in the franchiseās history, Dev always scripts the perfect love story for his contestants, even as his own love life crashes and burns. But then the show casts disgraced tech wunderkind Charlie Winshaw as its star.
Charlie is far from the romantic Prince Charming Ever After expects. He doesnāt believe in true love, and only agreed to the show as a last-ditch effort to rehabilitate his image. In front of the cameras, heās a stiff, anxious mess with no idea how to date twenty women on national television. Behind the scenes, heās cold, awkward, and emotionally closed-off.
As Dev fights to get Charlie to connect with the contestants on a whirlwind, worldwide tour, they begin to open up to each other, and Charlie realizes he has better chemistry with Dev than with any of his female co-stars. But even reality TV has a script, and in order to find to happily ever after, theyāll have to reconsider whose love story gets told.
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How to Wrestle a Girl: Stories by Venita Blackburn
Venita Blackburnās characters bully and suffer, spit and tease, mope and blame. Theyāre hyperaware of their bodies and fiercely observant, fending off the failures and advances of adults with indifferent ease. In āBiology Class,ā they torment a teacher to the point of near insanity, while in āBear Bear Harvestā¢,ā they prepare to sell their excess fat and skin for food processing. Stark and sharp, hilarious and ominous, these pieces are scabbed, bruised, and prone to scarring.
Many of the stories, set in Southern California, follow a teenage girl in the aftermath of her beloved fatherās death and capture her sisterās and motherās encounters with men of all ages, as well as the girlās budding attraction to her best friend, Esperanza. In and out of school, participating in wrestling and softball, attending church with her hysterically complicated family, and dominating boys in arm wrestling, she grapples with her burgeoning queerness and her emerging body, becoming wary of clarity rather than hoping for it.
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Witch, Please by Ann Aguirre
Danica Waterhouse is a fully modern witchādaughter, granddaughter, cousin, and co-owner of the Fix-It Witches, a magical tech repair shop. After a messy breakup that included way too much family “feedback,” Danica made a pact with her cousin: they’ll keep their hearts protected and have fun, without involving any of the overly opinionated Waterhouse matriarchs. Danica is more than a little exhausted navigating a long-standing family feud where Gram thinks the only good mundane is a dead one and Danica’s mother weaves floral crowns for anyone who crosses her path.
Three blocks down from the Fix-It Witches, Titus Winnaker, owner of Sugar Daddy’s bakery, has family trouble of his own. After a tragic loss, all he’s got left is his sister, the bakery, and a lifetime of terrible luck in love. Sure, business is sweet, but he can’t seem to shake the romantic curse that’s left him past thirty and still a virgin. He’s decided he’s doomed to be forever alone.
Until he meets Danica Waterhouse. The sparks are instant, their attraction irresistible. For him, she’s the one. To her, he’s a firebomb thrown in the middle of a family war. Can a modern witch find love with an old-fashioned mundane who refuses to settle for anything less than forever?
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Eighty Days by A.C. Esguerra
āMap A Course, Arrive Safe Home. Thatās The Measure Of Your Achievement.ā A pilot wants nothing more than to fly. Or so he thought, until he crosses paths with a mysterious thief whose tricks draw him into unchartered territory and new adventure. In a life where the truth changes as quickly as clouds in the sky, the pilot must decide for himself what freedom really means. Award-winning cartoonist A.C. Esguerra presents an unforgettable love letter to flight, the quest for freedom and the greatest adventure of all – love.
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The All-Consuming World by Cassandra Khaw
Maya has died and been resurrected into countless cyborg bodies through the years of a long, dangerous career with the infamous Dirty Dozen, the most storied crew of criminals in the galaxy, at least before their untimely and gruesome demise.
Decades later, she and her diverse team of broken, diminished outlaws must get back together to solve the mystery of their last, disastrous mission and to rescue a missing and much-changed comrade . . . but theyāre not the only ones in pursuit of the secret at the heart of the planet Dimmuborgir.
The highly evolved AI of the galaxy have their own agenda and will do whatever it takes to keep humanity from ever regaining control. As Maya and her comrades spiral closer to uncovering the AIsā vast conspiracy, this band of violent womenāhalf-clone and half-machineāmust battle their own traumas and a universe of sapient ageships who want them dead, in order to settle their affairs once and for all.
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Non-Fiction
The Breaks by Julietta Singh
In a letter to her six-year-old daughter, Julietta Singh writes toward a tender vision of the world, offering childrenās radical embrace of possibility as a model for how we might live. In order to survive looming political and ecological disasters, Singh urges, we must break from the conventions we have inherited and begin to orient ourselves toward more equitable and revolutionary paths.
The Breaks celebrates queer family-making, communal living, and Brown girlhood, complicating the stark binaries that shape contemporary US discourse. With nuance and generosity, Singh reveals the connections among the crises humanity facesāclimate catastrophe, extractive capitalism, and the violent legacies of racism, patriarchy, and colonialismāinviting us to move through the breaks toward a tenable future.
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