In a nuclear arms race, youād use anything for an edge. Even magic.
Ilse and Wolf Klein bear many secrets. Genius Ilse is unsure if her parents will ever accept her love of physics. Her brother Wolf strives for a quiet life, though he worries that thereās no place in the world for people like him. But their deepest secret lies within their blood: with it, they can work magic.
Blackmailed into service during World War II, Ilse lends her magic to Americaās newest weapon, the atom bomb, while Wolf goes behind enemy lines to sabotage Germanyās nuclear program. Itās a dangerous mission, but if Hitler were to create the bomb first, the results would be catastrophic.
When Wolfās plane is shot down, his entire mission is thrown into jeopardy. Wolf needs Ilseās help to develop the magic that will keep him alive, but with a spy afoot in Ilseās laboratory, the secret letters she sends to Wolf begin to look treasonous. Can Ilse prove her loyaltyāand find a way to help her brotherābefore their time runs out?
Loyalties and identities will be tested in this sweeping fantasy and a fast-paced thriller that bravely explores the tensions at the dawn of the nuclear age.
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Felicity Montague is through with pretending she prefers society parties to books about bone settingāor that sheās not smarter than most people she knows, or that she cares about anything more than her dream of becoming a doctor.
A year after an accidentally whirlwind tour of Europe, which she spent evading highwaymen and pirates with her brother Monty, Felicity has returned to England with two goals in mindāavoid the marriage proposal of Callum Doyle, a lovestruck suitor from Edinburgh; and enroll in medical school. However, her intellect and passion will never be enough in the eyes of the administrators, who see men as the sole guardians of science.
But then a small window of hope opens. Doctor Alexander Platt, an eccentric physician that Felicity idolizes, is looking for research assistants, and Felicity is sure that someone as forward thinking as her hero would be willing to take her on. However, Platt is in Germany, preparing to wed Felicityās estranged childhood friend Johanna. Not only is Felicity reluctant to opening old wounds, she also has no money to make the trip.
Luckily, a mysterious young woman is willing to pay Felicityās way, so long as sheās allowed to travel with Felicity disguised as her maid. In spite of her suspicions, Felicity agrees, but once the girlās true motives are revealed, Felicity becomes part of a perilous quest that will lead her from the German countryside to the promenades of Zurich to secrets lurking beneath the Atlantic.
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A new world ruler is crowned.Ā
Plunged into a crumbling world of foreign politics that is desperate for a leader, Eros chooses a loyal prince to help him navigate the hostile sands of Safara. But not everyone is happy to see a half-blood become the most powerful person on the planet.
A queen must restore her nation.
In power once more, Kora faces new challenges and a difficult decision that puts someone close to her in mortal danger. The wrong choice could destroy her relationships, her right to rule, and her life.
A rebellion is brewing.
With their world collapsing around them, new threats spreading across the globe, and their loved ones at risk, the people of SafaraāSepharon and human alikeādepend on Eros and Kora to fix their bleeding world. But with generations of hate stacked against them, the two young monarchs may be doomed to fail.
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An epic graphic novel about a girl who travels to the ends of the universe to find a long lost love, from acclaimed author Tillie Walden.
Throughout the deepest reaches of space, a crew rebuilds beautiful and broken-down structures, painstakingly putting the past together. As Mia, the newest member, gets to know her team, the story flashes back to her pivotal year in boarding school, where she fell in love with a mysterious new student. When Mia grows close to her new friends, she reveals her true purpose for joining their shipāto track down her long-lost love.
An inventive world, a breathtaking love story, and stunning art come together in this new work by award-winning artist Tillie Walden.
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Inspired by real historical evidence that Abraham Lincoln was in loveāromantic loveāwith another man, this debut YA novel was too controversial for traditional publishing. Crowdfunded in six days with a successful Kickstarter campaign that ultimately 182 backers supported, QUEER AS A FIVE-DOLLAR BILL asks LGBTQ teens (and everyone else), What if you knew a secret from history that could change the world?
Wyatt is 15, and nobody in his homophobic small town of Lincolnville, Oregon, knows that heās Gay. Not even his best friend (and accidental girlfriend) Mackenzie. Then he discovers a secret from actual history: Abraham Lincoln was in love with another guy! Since everyone loves Lincoln, Wyattās sure that if the world knew about it, they would treat Gay people differently and it would solve everything about his life. So Wyatt outs Lincoln online, triggering a media firestorm that threatens to destroy everything he cares aboutāand he has to pretend more than ever that heās straight. . . . Only then he meets Martin, who is openly Gay and who just might be the guy Wyattās been hoping to find.
Buy it: I’m Here. I’m Queer. What the Hell Do I Read?
Jack (Not Jackie) by Erica Silverman, illustrated by Holly Hatam (9th)
In this heartwarming picture book, a big sister realizes that her little sister, Jackie, doesn’t like dresses or fairies-she likes ties and bugs! Will she be able to accept that Jackie identifies more as “Jack”?
Susan thinks her little sister Jackie has the best giggle! She can’t wait for Jackie to get older so they can do all sorts of things like play forest fairies and be explorers together. But as Jackie grows, she doesn’t want to play those games. She wants to play with mud and be a super bug! Jackie also doesn’t like dresses or her long hair, and she would rather be called Jack.
Readers will love this sweet story about change and acceptance.
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Sequel to Alan Cole is Not a Coward
Alan Cole is not a coward. Not since he stood up to his brother. Not since he let his friends Zack and Madison into his world. And deļ¬nitely not since he came out at his school.
But Alanās got a new host of problems to face. His biggest one: Ron McCaughlin. Ever since Alan revealed heās gay, Ron has been bullying Alan with relentless fury. Yet Alan canāt tell his parents why heās really coming home with bruises ā because they still donāt know the truth. And now Alanās father wants him to take June Harrison to the upcoming Winter Dance. Never mind that he has two left feet, does not like girls, and might be developing feelings for a new boy at school.
Between trying to understand the complex art of text ļ¬irting, learning how to subdue his bullies, and ļ¬nding his identity beyond the labels people put on him, Alan has a lot to sort through ā and lay out ā on the dance ļ¬oor.
In this follow-up novel to Alan Cole Is Not A Coward, Eric Bell returns to the Unstable Table with Alan and his friends as they tackle middle school in another poignant and laugh-out-loud tale about friendship, family, and the many meanings of bravery.
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Chapters | Book Depository | IndieBound
Book 2 in Their Bright Ascendancy seriesĀ
Since she was a child, the divine empress O Shizuka has believed she was an untouchable god. When her uncle, ruler of the Hokkaran Empire, sends her on a suicide mission as a leader of the Imperial Army, the horrors of war cause her to question everything she knows.
Thousands of miles away, the exiled and cursed warrior Barsalyya Shefali undergoes trials the most superstitious would not believe in order to return to Hokkaran court and claim her rightful place next to O Shizuka.
As the distance between disgraced empress and blighted warrior narrows, a familiar demonic force grows closer to the heart of the empire. Will the two fallen warriors be able to protect their home?
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Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore (9th)
The biggest lie of all is the story you think you already know.
The del Cisne girls have never just been sisters; theyāre also rivals, Blanca as obedient and graceful as Roja is vicious and manipulative. They know that, because of a generations-old spell, their family is bound to a bevy of swans deep in the woods. They know that, one day, the swans will pull them into a dangerous game that will leave one of them a girl, and trap the other in the body of a swan.
But when two local boys become drawn into the game, the swansā spell intertwines with the strange and unpredictable magic lacing the woods, and all four of their fates depend on facing truths that could either save or destroy them. Blanca & Roja is the captivating story of sisters, friendship, love, hatred, and the price we pay to protect our hearts.
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What if It’s Us by Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli (9th)
Arthur is only in New York for the summer, but if Broadway has taught him anything, itās that the universe can deliver a showstopping romance when you least expect it.
Ben thinks the universe needs to mind its business. If the universe had his back, he wouldnāt be on his way to the post office carrying a box of his ex-boyfriendās things.
But when Arthur and Ben meet-cute at the post office, what exactly does the universe have in store for them?
Maybe nothing. After all, they get separated.
Maybe everything. After all, they get reunited.
But what if they canāt quite nail a first date . . . or a second first date . . . or a third?
What if Arthur tries too hard to make it work . . . and Ben doesnāt try hard enough?
What if life really isnāt like a Broadway play?
But what if it is?
Buy it:Ā B&N *Ā Amazon
Courtney āCoopā Cooper
Dumped. Again. And normally I wouldnāt mind. But right now, my best friend and source of solace, Jupiter Sanchez, is ignoring me to text some girl.
Rae Evelyn Chin
I assumed ānew girlā would be synonymous with āpariah,ā but Jupiter and Courtney make me feel like Iām right where I belong. I also want to kiss him. And her. Which is . . . perplexing.
Jupiter Charity-Sanchez
The only thing worse than losing the girl you love to a boy is losing her to your boy. That means losing him, too. I have to make a move. . . .
One story.
Three sides.
No easy answers
Buy It: B&N * Amazon * IndieBound * Google Play * KoboĀ
When Jamesās boyfriend killed himself, no one questioned what happened. A foster kid with a checkered past and a history of suicide attempts, Ash was just another number in a system that failed him. But to James, Ash was never just a number, and the facts around his death no longer stack up so neatly.
Now James has plenty of questions, and the one person who might have held the answersāAshās older brother, Elliotāhas left town. And if anyone knows where he is, they arenāt talking. As James searches for Elliot and uncovers the tangle of lies and false alibis he left in his wake, he grows suspicious of what really happened on Ashās last day.
After all, innocent people don’t run
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InĀ Ā the aftermath of her motherās death, Angela struggles toĀ recover and re-enter the world.Ā When sheĀ meets Steve, whoĀ works in the cafĆ© across the street, she feels able to take a step out of her grief-filled home.Ā With Steve, she hopes to do D/s as a way to take a breakĀ from the pain consuming her, but discovers that in doing kink, you bring all of who you are with you, including grief.
Then Steveās best friend is in a tragic car accident, and winds up in a coma, andĀ Angela longs to offer support to Steve, as well as receive it.Ā
In the city of Eldra, people are ruled by ancient prophecies. For centuries, the high council has stayed in power by virtue of the prophecies of the elder seers. After the last infallible prophecy came to pass, growing unrest led to murders and an eventual rebellion that raged for more than a decade.
In the present day, Cassa, the orphaned daughter of rebels, is determined to fight back against the high council, which governs Eldra from behind the walls of the citadel. Her only allies are no-nonsense Alys, easygoing Evander, and perpetually underestimated Newt, and Cassa struggles to come to terms with the legacy of rebellion her dead parents have left her ā and the fear that she may be inadequate to shoulder the burden. But by the time Cassa and her friends uncover the mystery of the final infallible prophecy, it may be too late to save the city ā or themselves.
This is the 3rd book in the Broken Moon series
When Ren wakes from his life-threatening injury on the Star Stream, he learns that Asher has left with the Phoenix Corps and that the Corps believes Ren to be dead. Despite the opportunity to disappear, Ren is determined to fix his mistakes. He convinces the crew to join him for one last missionāfind Asher, free Liam, and escape from the Corpsā reach. But a war is brewing between two formidable armies, and, despite his wish to flee, Ren is drawn into the conflict. With his friends by his side, Ren must make a choice, and it will affect the future of his found family and the cluster forever.
Parole is full of dangerāand secrets.
The deepest of them make up intricately interconnected stories. Damaged survivors finding each other, stitching their lives together in the harshest of places, forging precious bonds amidst the flames. Gradually growing trust, love, and understanding between found families. But thereās no escaping this place, its deadly realities, or its predators. A brutal capture. A hellish withdrawal and fragile recovery. A harrowing escape. A breakneck sprint across a haunted, poisoned wasteland.
Life and death, trust and betrayal, choking smoke and breaths of fresh airāall of these are just part of life within Parole.
Buy it: Amazon * Gumroad * Books2Read
Literary, lyrical, and cuttingly satiric, Mother India is a brilliantly original novel about Jews who go to India to find transformation and eternal release from the sufferings of life. Narrated in luminous prose by Meena, a Jewish American lesbian who has claimed India as her home, the novel is vividly populated by the darkly comic universe of three generations of women along with other family members, as well as by the Indians whose world they seek to penetrate. There is Meena’s religiously observant mother, Ma, whose desire to remove herself from the wheel of life plays out in a Faulknerian funeral procession and cremation on the banks of the holy river Ganges; Meena’s daughter, Maya, a misunderstood child coming of age in an emotionally treacherous household; her ex-wife, Geeta, a privileged and hedonistic Indian woman who enters their world with devastating consequences; Meena’s twin brother, Shmelke, a charismatic rabbi turned guru and international fugitive; and the Indian servant, Manika, whose loyalty to the family both sustains and shackles them.
ldentifying with the humanity of its characters, the reader is drawn into a vast, tragicomic, and fascinating epic, Homeric in scope, drama, discovery, and surprise. Universal yet intimate, brutal yet tender, satiric yet sympathetic, Mother India evokes reactions–intellectual, emotional, visceral–that are complex, even contradictory, containing the might and bite that our current cultural hubris and self-involvement deserve. In Mother India, Reich offers us her most poignant and astonishing novel to date.
Buy it: Amazon
Princess Galina’s father has set her a difficult task: persuade a peasant named Elena to reveal the secrets behind her magical powers. Difficult, and maybe impossible, given that Elena is stubborn to a fault and has no respect for authorityāespecially the kind that wears a crown. And the more time passes, the less Galina cares about doing her duty and more about simply Elena herself.
Buy it: Less Than Three Press
The relationship between two goddesses, one the embodiment of a galactic creation and the other of cosmic destruction, is tempestuous at best. They create and they destroy and then they do it all over again. Seya and Mia use their divine magic to make pulsars and nebula, to set planets spinning around stars and bind a galaxy together with a central black hole.
But when one of Seyaās favorite stars goes missing, she blames Mia. What was once a symbiotic cycle of life and death becomes a game of broken hearts and promises betrayed. These tensions and insecurities are explored in sonnets and villanelles; the arc of their love tracked in meter and verse. These poems touch on queer love, betrayal, trust, acceptance, and forgiveness cast against a backdrop of stardust and celestial detritus.
Buy it: Amazon
The Craft of Love by EE Ottoman (19th)
Benjamin Lewis has created a life for himself as one of the most respected silversmiths and engravers in New York City. For Benjamin, his work is his passion and he has never sought out companionship beyond the close ties of family. Stumbling across dresses sew by his late mother, however, reawakens painful memories from his past. Now he is determined to forge something beautiful from the remains of the life and identity he left behind. In the process, he discovers stunning and fiercely intelligent Miss Quincy who might just have the power to tempt him out of his quiet isolation.
Remembrance Quincy’s talent is as undeniable as her needlework is exquisite. She has made a name for herself crafting quilts and embroidery pieces for all the wealthiest ladies in the city. When soft-spoken, yet charming, Mr. Lewis comes to her with a particular project in mind she is intrigued both by his artistic design and by the man himself. He treats her like an equal, values her work and makes her smile, but Remembrance already gave her heart away once, now can she risk doing it again?
Buy it: Amazon
For Teodora DiSangro, a mafia donās daughter, family is fate.
All her life, Teodora has hidden the fact that she secretly turns her familyās enemies into music boxes, mirrors, and other decorative objects. After all, everyone in Vinalia knows that stregasāwielders of magicāare figures out of fairytales. Nobody believes theyāre real.
Then the Capo, the landās new ruler, sends poisoned letters to the heads of the Five Families that have long controlled Vinalia. Four lie dead and Teoās beloved father is gravely ill. To save him, Teo must travel to the capital as a DiSangro sonānot merely disguised as a boy, but transformed into one.
Enter Cielo, a strega who can switch back and forth between male and female as effortlessly as turning a page in a book. Teo and Cielo journey together to the capital, and Teo struggles to master her powers and to keep her growing feelings for Cielo locked in her heart. As she falls in love with witty, irascible Cielo, Teo realizes how much of life sheās missed by hiding her true nature. But she canāt forget her mission, and the closer they get to the palace, the more sinister secrets they uncover about whatās really going on in their beloved countryāand the more determined Teo becomes to save her family at any cost.
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A fresh, charming rom-com perfect for fans ofĀ Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens AgendaĀ andĀ Boy Meets BoyĀ about Nathan Bird, who has sworn off happy endings but is sorely tested when his former best friend, Ollie, moves back to town.
Nathan Bird doesnāt believe in happy endings.
Although heās the ultimate film buff and an aspiring screenwriter, Nateās seen the demise of too many relationships to believe that happy endings exist in real life.
Playing it safe to avoid a broken heart has been his MO ever since his father died and left his mom to unravelābut this strategy is not without fault. His best-friend-turned-girlfriend-turned-best-friend-again, Florence, is set on making sure Nate finds someone else. And in a twist that is rom-com-worthy, someone does come along: Oliver James HernĆ”ndez, his childhood best friend.
After a painful mix-up when they were little, Nate finally has the chance to tell Ollie the truth about his feelings. But can Nate find the courage to pursue his own happily ever after?
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Pretty Little LiarsĀ meets Dan Savage in this modern, fresh, YA debut about an unapologetically queer teen working to uncover a blackmailer threatening him back into the closet.
Jack has a lot of sex–and he’s not ashamed of it. While he’s sometimes ostracized, and gossip constantly rages about his sex life, Jack always believes that “it could be worse.”
But then, the worse unexpectedly strikes: When Jack starts writing a teen sex advice column for an online site, he begins to receive creepy and threatening love letters that attempt to force Jack to curb his sexuality and personality. Now it’s up to Jack and his best friends to uncover the stalker–before their love becomes dangerous.
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Izzy Wasserstein is a queer, trans woman who teaches writing and literature. Wasserstein was born and raised in Kansas, and she received her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of New Mexico. She is the author of dozens of short stories, two poetry collections, and the short-story collection All the Hometowns You Canāt Stay Away From (Neon Hemlock Press, 2022). Wasserstein loves books, comics, horror movies, and slowly running long distances.She shares a home in Southern California with her spouse, Nora E. Derrington, and their animal companions. These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart is her debut novella.
Avi Silver is a speculative fiction author, the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Augur Magazine, and poet. Pluralities, their trans slipstream-meets-space-opera novella, will be published with Atthis Arts in October 2023. In 2018, he co-founded The Shale Project, an award-winning indie arts collective through which he published the ongoing SĆ£oni Cycle (Two Dark Moons, Three Seeking Stars). Find his short fiction in Common Bonds: An Aromantic Speculative Anthology and Nothing Without Us Too. Their poetry has been published in Strange Horizons and Uncanny Magazine, and received an honorable mention in the 2022 Rhysling Awards. They are currently working on their first full-length book of poetry, funded by the Canada Council for the Arts. 
About the authors: Emily Bergslien and Kat Weaver live in Saint Paul, Minnesota with their two small birds. Emily is a Twin Cities bookseller whose reviews have been published in The Riveter magazine. Find her on Twitter @eudaemaniacal. Katās short fiction has appeared in Apex Magazine, Lackingtonās, Timeworn Literary Journal, and elsewhere. She is a senior fiction editor at Strange Horizons. Her art can be found at 
Leigh Harlen is a queer, non-binary writer who lives and works in Seattle with their partner, a very goofy dog named Anya, and a mischief of rats. Their short fiction has appeared in several magazines and anthologies including Pseudopod, Lost Films, and Shoreline of Infinity. Their non-writing hobbies include petting strangersā dogs and enthusing about bats. Find them online at 
Dark, irreverent, and truly innovative, the nine speculative stories in Homesick meditate on the theme of home and our estrangement from it, and what happens when the familiar suddenly shifts into the uncanny. In stories that foreground queer relationships and transgender or nonbinary characters, Cipri delivers the origin story for a superhero team comprised of murdered girls; a housecleaner discovering an impossible ocean in her least-favorite clientsā house; a man haunted by keys that appear suddenly in his throat; and a team of scientists and activists discovering the remains of a long-extinct species of intelligent weasels. Nino Cipriās debut collection announces the arrival of a brilliant and wonderfully unpredictable writer with a gift for turning the short story on its ear.
Amara Lynn has always been a quiet daydreamer. Coming up with characters and worlds since childhood, Amara eventually found an outlet in writing. Amara loves anything to do with pirates, villains and superheroes, angels and demons.
It’s winter break and Molly Monroe is content to enjoy her town’s annual Festival of Lights with her girlfriend Chelsea at her side. But almost immediately after the lights go up, the town’s children begin to act strangely, especially Molly’s own brother, Roger. When their next-door neighbors are killed in a grisly double homicide, Molly begins to suspect the incidents are linked. Now she must convince her parents and the rest of the town to take down the Christmas lights before everyone gets killed.
Carrie Pack is an author of books in multiple genres and a recipient of two Foreword Reviews INDIES Book of the Year Bronze awards: in 2016 for In the Present Tense (science fiction) and in 2017 for Grrrls on the Side (young adult). Grrrls on the Side was also a finalist in the Bi Book Awards. She also hosts the BiSciFi podcast and is creator of the #BiSciFi Twitter chat.