Tag Archives: Splinter & Ash

Happy Disability Pride Month 2025!

It’s Disability Pride Month, and we’re celebrating with books that have queer disabled main characters! For more books with queer disabled MCs, or to look for specific conditions, check out our Disability/Neurodivergence page, linked here, as well as past year’s posts.

If you have a visual disability and are looking for more accessible titles, you can find lists on the site of books available in Large Print, Braille, and/or Audio under the Access dropdown.

Note: For Autism rep specifically, please check out this year’s Autism Acceptance Month post. For Cerebral Palsy rep, check out this World Cerebral Palsy Day post.

Middle Grade

Lulu Sinagtala and the City of Noble Warriors by Gail D. Villanueva

Lulu Sinagtala can’t wait for a fun Christmas break. She’s excited to hang out with her sister, Kitty, and best friend, Bart; to reenact her favorite legends from Tagalog folklore (like the amazing tale of Bernardo Carpio); and, of course, to eat as much yummy street-side inihaw as possible!

But when a vicious wakwak attacks her neighborhood and kidnaps Mom, Lulu discovers the creatures and deities of Tagalog myth are real and that two additional Realms exist beyond our own. To make it worse, Lulu has superhuman strength and the ability to wield magic, meaning she’s the only one powerful enough to stop the evil spirit who’s determined to rule the three Realms at all costs. No pressure, right?

Lulu, Kitty, and Bart set off on a quest to rescue Mom, where they outsmart cunning enemies, battle vengeful beings, and form unlikely alliances. Soon they find themselves swept into a centuries-long fight, unraveling secrets about Lulu and her past that threaten to upend everything and throw the whole universe into chaos. Can Lulu muster the strength (superhuman or not) to find out who she really is and who she can trust to save Mom and the three Realms before it’s too late?

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

Continue reading Happy Disability Pride Month 2025!

Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Middle Grade: July-December 2025

Goat Magic by Kate Wheeler (August 19th)

Destinies collide when a village goat herder meets the palace princess in Goat Magic!

Trill, a spirited goat herder with a unique ability to communicate with her flock, yearns for a life beyond mountain pastures. Her “goat magic” feels common compared to the sorcery taught in the city’s prestigious magic schools, which are off-limits to her. Meanwhile, Princess Alya, known as the “Ordinary Princess” and heir to the kingdom of Capeya, doubts her own royal potential.

Their worlds collide when an assassination attempt on the queen leaves Alya cursed to transform into a black goat each sunrise. Seeking refuge in Trill’s goat herd, Alya discovers her new friend’s hidden talent is her only hope to break the spell. Together, they embark on a perilous journey back to the castle, facing treacherous foes and uncovering a web of betrayal and rebellion.

As Alya battles to reclaim her throne and restore order to Capeya, the girls discover a deep connection, their shared experiences forging an unbreakable bond. When Alya comes face to face with the ones who betrayed her, will she have what it takes to take back the crown and rule an unstable kingdom? Will Trill find confidence in her magic and the growing affection she has for her friend?

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

Continue reading Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Middle Grade: July-December 2025

New Releases: June 3, 2025

This post is sponsored by Timothy Jay Smith and Fire on the Island, out today in paperback! Set against the very real refugee crisis on the beautiful, sun-drenched Greek islands, Fire on the Island paints a nuanced and loving portrait of a community in crisis while shedding light on the challenges of life in contemporary Greece.

Buy it!

***

Continue reading New Releases: June 3, 2025

Fave Five: Fiction with Sapphic Knights

The Afterward by E.K. Johnston (YA)

Where Shadows Bloom by Catherine Bakewell (YA)

A Knight to Remember by Bridget Essex

The Fireborne Blade by Charlotte Bond

Her Pretty Knight by Mariah Rae Birch

Bonus: Coming in June 2025, Lady’s Knight by Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner (YA)

Double Bonus: For two MG series with nonbinary knights, check out Splinter & Ash by Marieke Nijkamp and Sir Callie by Esme Symes-Smith

Gift Guide: Queer Fiction for DnD Lovers

Today’s gift guide is for the DnD lovers out there! It’s a combination of books actually featuring DnD (or similar games, especially if they’re fictional) and books with DnD vibes (a popular rec Ask!), and even a preorder option if you want to bring some future joy to a fan!

Middle Grade

Dungeon Club: Roll Call by Molly Knox Ostertag and Xanthe Bouma

This is the first in a series; the second is out as well.

Middle school is a dungeon… At least, that’s how Jess sees it.

Luckily, she and her best friend Olivia know how to escape into the sprawling worlds of their own imaginations. The two friends have always loved making up stories, first with little kid games of make-believe, and more recently with the fantasy roleplaying game, Dungeons & Dragons. When they play, Olivia runs the game as Dungeon Master and Jess is the solo party member, playing a take-no-prisoners, lone-wolf fighter of her own design named Sir Corius.

But when Olivia wants to add new players to their group, Jess finds herself struggling to share their game—and her best friend. Will their epic campaign withstand all this change, or has their adventure—and their friendship—finally come to an end?

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

Continue reading Gift Guide: Queer Fiction for DnD Lovers

Happy International Nonbinary Day 2024!

Early Reader

Batcat by Meggie Ramm

First in a full-color graphic novel series for emerging readers about accepting yourself and others from up-and-coming author-illustrator Meggie Ramm, creator of the comic strip The Littlest Dungeon Guard and cohost of the Pop! Whiz! Bang! comics podcast.

Batcat loves being all alone in their home on Spooky Island. Up in their tree house, they pass the time playing video games and watching TV. But when Batcat suddenly finds themself haunted by an annoying, ice cream–stealing ghost, they visit the local Island Witch for a spell to remove their ghastly guest permanently!

With their Ghost-B-Gone spell in hand, Batcat travels across Spooky Island to gather ingredients—to the Cavernous Caves where the bats tell them they’re too round to be a bat, and to the Whispering Cemetery where the cats will help only if they commit to being a true cat. But Batcat is neither and that’s what makes them special, right?

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

Continue reading Happy International Nonbinary Day 2024!

Happy Disability Pride Month 2024!

It’s Disability Pride Month, and we’re celebrating with books that have queer disabled main characters! For more books with queer disabled MCs, or to look for specific conditions, check out our Disability/Neurodivergence page, linked here

If you have a visual disability and are looking for more accessible titles, you can find lists on the site of books available in Large Print, Braille, and/or Audio under the Access dropdown.

One Killer Problem by Justine Pucella Winans

When Gianna “Gigi” Ricci lands in detention again, she doesn’t expect the glorified study hall to be her alibi.

But when she and her friends receive a mysterious email directing them to her favorite teacher, Mr. Ford’s room, they find him lying in a pool of blood. But calling the math teacher’s death an accident doesn’t add up, and Gigi needs all the help she can get to find the truth. Luckily, she’s friends with her high school’s “mystery club,” and so with her best friend, Sean, and longtime crush, Mari, Gigi sets out to solve a murder.

But it turns out, murderers are extremely unwilling to be caught, and the deeper Gigi gets in this mystery, the more dangerous things become. Between fending off a murderer, continual flare-ups of her IBS, and her archnemesis turning flirtatious . . . making it out of junior year is going to be one killer problem.

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

Continue reading Happy Disability Pride Month 2024!

Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Middle Grade Fiction: July-December 2024

Benji Zeb is a Ravenous Werewolf by Deke Moulton (July 2nd)

Benji Zeb has a lot going on. He has a lot of studying to do, not only for school but also for his upcoming bar mitzvah. He’s nervous about Mr. Rutherford, the aggressive local rancher who hates Benji’s family’s kibbutz and wolf sanctuary. And he hasn’t figured out what to do about Caleb, Mr. Rutherford’s stepson, who has been bullying Benji pretty hard at school, despite Benji wanting to be friends (and maybe something more). And all of this is made more complicated by the fact that, secretly, Benji and his entire family are werewolves who are using the wolf sanctuary as cover for their true identities!

Things come to a head when Caleb shows up at the kibbutz one night . . . in wolf form! He’s a werewolf too, unable to control his shifting, and he needs Benji’s help. Can anxious Benji juggle all of these things along with his growing feelings toward Caleb?

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

Continue reading Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Middle Grade Fiction: July-December 2024

Fave Five: Queer Fiction Set in the Medieval Era, Part I

Gwen and Art are Not in Love by Lex Croucher (YA)

Emry Merlin by Robyn Schneider (YA)

The Scottish Boy by Alex de Campi

The Hild Sequence by Nicola Griffith

Solomon’s Crown by Natasha Siegel

Bonus: Coming up in 2024, Splinter & Ash by Marieke Nijkamp (MG) and Not for the Faint of Heart by Lex Croucher (YA)

Fave Five: MG Fantasy with Nonbinary MCs

Rabbit Chase by Elizabeth LaPensée and K.C. Oster

Tiger Honor by Yoon Ha Lee

Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston by Esme Symes-Smith

The Beautiful Something Else by Ash Van Otterloo

The Otherwoods by Justine Pucella Winans

Bonus: Coming in 2024, Splinter & Ash by Marieke Nijkamp