Tag Archives: LGBTQ

YA – A Reckless Oath

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Smith, Kaylie. A Reckless Oath. Disney Hyperion, 2024. 978-1-368-08163-4. $18.99. 528 p. Grades 9-12.

Calliope Rosewood, along with the rest of her friends, are grieving and mourning the loss of someone close to them, but unfortunately, time is of the essence. Now that Calla is soul bonded to Gideon, one of the Onyx Princes, their lives and fates have become even more intertwined. Since they need answers, Calla and Gideon leave the forest for Illustros while Hannah and Caspian gather supplies to rescue Delphine from the Siren Sea. As a prisoner of the Siren leader whose shoal she’s escaped once before, Delphine must outsmart former allies and new enemies if she plans to escape with her life. Meanwhile, the valkyrie Amina has finally broken her curse, escaped the forest, and returned home to discover she’s been away from her friends for the last six years. As she finds her place among them once more, new truths come to light, and the impending Fates War looms over them all.

THOUGHTS:  This is a great recommendation for readers who love Sarah J. Maas. It contains many popular fantasy tropes readers will enjoy at a more, age appropriate level than some of Maas’s later novels. The pages are brimming with strong, female characters, friendships, magic, adventure, peril, and a slow burning romance. A Reckless Oath expands upon the world introduced to us in A Ruinous Fate, and although multiple POVs were used in book one, book two added the voices of Delphine and Amina, allowing the reader to get a glimpse of both the Siren and Valkyrie worlds. The story will either continue or conclude in book three of Smith’s Heartless Fates, and I’d recommend this one to any reader who enjoys the fantasy or romantasy genre.

Fantasy    

YA – A Ruinous Fate

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Smith, Kaylie. A Ruinous Fate. HarperCollins, 2023. 978-1-368-08159-7. $18.99. 432 p. Grades 9-12.

Calliope Rosewood is a witch, and although she could be extremely powerful, she chooses instead to hide her gifts. Her powers to siphon magic from others is forbidden and dangerous, even among other witches. In order to stay alive, Calli deserts her coven and stays hidden with two of her best friends. When she meets Ezra, everything changes, and although she still keeps her powers hidden, she is forced one night to roll a witches die, taking her one step closer to fulfilling a prophecy that will turn her into a blood warrior. Desperate to change her fate, Calli accepts help from Ezra’s older brother, Gideon, and along with her friends, they journey into a dark forest on a quest to find the one named “the witch eater”. Calli and Ezra begin to rekindle the relationship they had previously after revealing startling truths about themselves, but she also feels a connection to Gideon who is trying, like her, to remove his rolls of fate. Together, with old friends and new, the group faces many challenges within the enchanted forest, and Calli has to decide who she can really trust while embracing her true identity and power. Will she be able to change her fate and save her friends, or will she inevitably fulfill the prophecy, start a war, and destroy her people and their magic forever?

THOUGHTS: This is a great recommendation for readers who love Sarah J. Maas. It contains many popular fantasy tropes readers will enjoy at a more, age appropriate level than some of Maas’s later novels. The pages are brimming with strong, female characters, friendships, magic, adventure, peril, and romance. The foreshadowing visions in A Ruinous Fate will have readers coming back to check out the sequel as soon as the last chapter has been read. There is so much more to this story yet to come.

Fantasy

YA – Foul Heart Huntsman

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Gong, Chloe. Foul Heart Huntsman. Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2023. 978-1-665-90561-9. $21.99. 560 p. Grades 9-12.

It’s 1932 in Shanghai. Rosalind Lang, also known by her code name Lady Fortune, has been exposed. As an immortal assassin, she had a purpose, and she had her missions. Now, she has nothing. Orion, her mission partner who posed as her husband, has been taken by his mother and his mind is now fully under her control. Although their marriage was only a ruse, her feelings for him were not, and she sets off on a new mission to find him and bring him home, even with an impending attack from Japan looming over her every move. With the help of Orion’s sister, Phoebe, who is an agent herself; her ally Alisa Montagova; and her sister, Celia, Rosalind encounters many dangers and ghosts from her past on her journey to save Orion, but she’s determined to find him, no matter the cost.

THOUGHTS: This novel brings the Foul Lady Fortune duology to an end. Based on Shakespeare’s As You Like It, Foul Heart Huntsman is a continuation of Gong’s These Violent Delights, and I would advise readers to start with that series before reading this one. The book is equal parts science fiction, fantasy, action, espionage, and romance in an alternate, historical setting. The series as a whole features diverse and LGBTQ+ characters, and readers will love the reunion scenes between all characters in Gong’s Secret Shanghai world.

Fantasy

MG – Salsa Magic

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Marrero, Letisha. Salsa Magic. Levine Querido, 2023. 978-1-646-14260-6. $18.99. 273 p. Grades 4-8.

Thirteen year old Maya has been having vivid dreams about a goddess in white calling to her from the ocean. The dreams seem so real, but she is not sure what it means nor does she have time to think about it. Between school, soccer, and helping out at her family’s cafe, there is little time left for pondering strange dreams. Maya’s focus is on her soccer season and her developing feelings for her teammate Kayla… until a mysterious guest arrives at the restaurant. It is her Titi (Aunt) Yaya! Maya has never met Yaya because of her long-standing feud with Maya’s abuela, her sister. But the most shocking part is that Titi Yaya looks exactly like the woman from her dreams! Even though Titi Yaya ends up staying in the apartment above the restaurant, her grandmother forbids Maya from talking to her. Maya feels a strong connection to Titi Yaya and breaks her abuela’s rules. Titi Yaya teaches her about ancient santeria magic. She tells Maya that she has been chosen by the Yoruban goddess of water and that she must follow this calling. Maya knows if she is to answer this calling alongside Titi Yaya, she must convince her abuela to drop the feud. 

THOUGHTS: Marrero’s coming of age story tells a heartwarming tale of a multigenerational family made richer by interwoven depictions of Caribbean, Puerto Rican, and Mexican mythology and cultural traditions. This would be a solid purchase for middle grade libraries.

Realistic Fiction

YA – Bianca Torre Is Afraid of Everything

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Winans, Justine Pucella. Bianca Torre Is Afraid of Everything. Clarion, 2023. 978-0-358-72164-2. 362 p. $19.99. Grades 7-12.

High-school student, Bianca Torre sums up their own story: “From a gender identity crisis to a goddamn murder.” Mix in anime, manga, Shakespeare, ornithology, the school play, money laundering, a transgender person, first crushes, and over 65 ways to be afraid, and we get Bianca Torre Is Afraid of Everything. Quiet, anxious Bianca couples bird-watching from their bedroom window with people watching. They make a connection with “Mr. Conspiracy,” the tenant across the way; he leaves pictures of birds taped to his window for Bianca to spy with their telescope. What Bianca also gets to see is Mr. Conspiracy’s murder by a person dressed in black robes with a plague doctor mask. When the Los Angeles police brush off Bianca’s witness statement, they enlist their best friend, the popular and straight-A student, Anderson Coleman to help them work out the mystery. Anderson and Bianca do some sleuthing and start to put together clues from a diary found in Mr. Conspiracy’s apartment. Ronan, Anderson’s transgender brother, gets access to the high school’s budget and discovers Valley Quail-mentioned in the diary-is siphoning off funds. The stakes are heightened, though, when Bianca gets life-threatening messages–not a good situation for a person who has a lengthy list of fears that they keep interspersing within the narrative. Besides being a possible murder victim, Bianca is having her own gender identity issues. They are pretty sure they are lesbian and nonbinary, but they have only come out to the Colemans and an admired queer English teacher, Ms. Richards, not to their family. They are absolutely sure they are attracted to Elaine Yoo, a member of the bird club Bianca belongs to; but they are so inexperienced, they lack the confidence to make a move. Coincidentally, the clues to catching the killer include lots of ornithological references, which take Bianca back to the birding hikes. This fast-paced mystery weaves Bianca’s tenuous steps into gender with a whodunit. The ending and some other parts may require a suspension of disbelief, but the humor infused with each plot twist makes it necessary. Recommend this book to those who liked Holly Jackson’s Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. The Colemans and two minor characters are African American; Elaine and some minor characters are Asian-American; all other characters represent as white.

THOUGHTS: Though some plot elements are unbelievable (the ease with which Bianca and Anderson cut class and deal with gun-toting criminals, the nonchalance of Bianca’s parents who leave them with the Andersons while they go stay at a hotel, even after their child has received multiple death threats), Winans’ sense of humor and imagination overpower realistic situations. Bianca’s struggles, too, with coming out to their family and with their fearfulness of almost everything come across realistically. The good news is that everyone to whom Bianca reveals their gender reacts positively. 

Mystery 

Elem./MG – Green

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Gino, Alex. Green. Scholastic, 2023. 978-1-33877-614-0. $17.99. 224 p. Grades 3-6.

Green Gibson, a non binary student at Jung Middle School, is excited about the upcoming musical The Wizard of Oz.  The students in Spectrum, the LGBTQIA+ club, have even convinced the director to cast the roles without regard to gender to give more students a chance. Green is thrilled to be part of the stage crew, especially when they find out their crush Ronnie is also on the crew. Green and Ronnie have a blast when they hang out together in Spectrum and at play rehearsals, but Green thinks Ronnie identifies as straight, and Green is not exactly sure how to broach that subject. While Green is trying to figure out Ronnie, their body is going through its own changes, and Green isn’t sure how they feel about them. These are changes that typically happen to females, but Green doesn’t identify as either gender, so it sometimes feels like their body is betraying them. Green has to figure out where they stand with Ronnie while also embracing the complexity of puberty and the challenges that brings to a nonbinary tween.

THOUGHTS: Fans of Gino’s Melissa and Rick will enjoy revisiting the same characters found in those two books. Green’s internal dialogue can sometimes feel a little forced, but it is still a feel-good story. Gino handles the topic of gender identity with gentle care and without any graphic details.

Realistic Fiction

YA – Fatima Tate Takes the Cake

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Vanbrakle, Khadijah. Fatima Tate Takes the Cake. Holiday House, 2023. 978-0-823-45485-3.  267 p. $19.99. Grades 8-12.

Black Muslim Fatima Tate has a passion for baking, but is also an obedient daughter to her two loving, hard working parents living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her mother has Fatima’s whole life planned as a nurse and regards her talent for baking as a hobby. Fatima spends her free time volunteering at a soup kitchen where she meets the charming and handsome Raheem Harris. When she accepts a ride home from Raheem one day–a definite no-no–that culminates in a kiss, Fatima starts down a slippery slope of secret dating that quickly escalates to a marriage proposal. Though at first, Fatima is thrilled to be matched with her crush, she starts to have serious misgivings especially when her best friend, Zayneb Baker, confesses her disapproval of the match based on hard evidence she discovered. Fatima’s parents are thrilled with Raheem and dazzled by his generous gifts and wealth because they believe it assures their daughter’s secure future. Fatima is reluctant to share her doubts with her parents, just as she keeps secret her participation in a baking competition that could enable her to attend the Culinary Institute. As her fiance and his family pressure Fatima into an early wedding quickly following her high school graduation, Fatima views the unmasked Raheem who is controlling and manipulative, but she feels trapped because of what he holds over her. The situation comes to a head during the engagement party, when Fatima confronts Raheem and his mother. Her honesty allows her to continue in the baking competition and recognize the support of her parents. Vanbrakle has a smooth way of writing authentic dialogue. While Fatima represents the docile, traditional Muslim, Zayneb, her lesbian friend who is also Muslim, wears no hijab and her relationship with her girlfriend is out in the open. Although Fatima appears modest and shy most of the time, she does have a sarcastic side to her and, ultimately, has the courage to address some very difficult issues. This well-rounded description of Muslim characters, beliefs, and customs is refreshing and genuine, but could have been enhanced by a glossary of terms. The book does, however, have some of Fatima’s favorite dessert recipes.

THOUGHTS: Gorgeous cover. Thankfully, in recent years more books have been published including Muslim characters, but Fatima Tate Takes the Cake makes the reader understand what it must be like to be a Muslim teen. This work provides the mirror and window so desired in reading. Some foul language,  description of kissing, and implied sexual intercourse.

Realistic Fiction

YA – Dear Medusa

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Cole, Olivia A. Dear Medusa. Labyrinth Books, 2023. 978-0-593-48573-6.  377 p. $18.99. Grades 9-12.

This feminist novel in verse interspersed with texts details the aftermath of Alicia, a young white girl, presumably from Ohio, who has been sexually abused by a seemingly affable, popular teacher whom the reader never meets. Alicia’s parents are recently divorced because of her father’s infidelity; her mother is depressed and her once-accomplished older brother takes to hanging out with a less desirable, racist group of boys. Traumatized by her sexual experience which she has kept secret, Alicia has lost her best friend, dropped out of her beloved track team, and resorted to bad behavior and casual sex with random partners, often men older than she. She is well aware of her bisexuality and her sensual effect on men. Now in her junior year of high school, she starts getting unsigned notes in her locker implying a commiseration. She takes some refuge in her job at the fast food restaurant, Meat Palace–at least when her creepy manager isn’t present, and the support of two new friends: Deja, a straight-talking African American asexual girl and Geneva, a intuitive Pakistani girl who proves to be Alicia’s love interest. As the school year progresses Alicia grows deeper into depression. Though readers are given no description of the abuse, they learn that Alicia returned to her abuser several times. Alicia infers her feelings of guilt and compunction for this conduct.When she is chosen to be part of special all-female study led by a charismatic visiting professor, she starts to find her voice and finally makes a connection with the secret note-writer who has also suffered sexual abuse from the same teacher. The professor encourages the girls to accept their sexuality and speak frankly of sexual matters. In the end, the other girl reveals the abuse to the authorities, but Alicia finds a new sense of freedom and a new connection with her mother.

THOUGHTS: This dark story takes the reader within the mind of a sexually abused girl who reacts to this trauma by taking random sexual partners, often older than herself. It contains some foul language, but no graphic descriptions of her sexual encounters. The writing is the highlight of this novel, but the story is a sad and troubled one. Not many adults come off well in this story, only Alicia’s mother finally comes to her aid and one older co-worker at the Meat Palace.

Realistic Fiction      

YA – Forget Me Not

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Derrick, Alyson. Forget Me Not. Simon and Schuster, 2023. 978-1-665-90237-3. 308 p. $19.99. Grades 9-12.

Set in western Pennsylvania, this LGBTQ+ romance takes an unusual turn. A senior at the local Catholic high school, Stevie is biracial with a Korean-American mother; Nora attends public school and helps out on her family’s cattle farm, although she herself strives to be vegan. Madly in love, the pair plan to escape their conservative town and parents once they graduate. Stevie has been accepted at a California college, and Nora has secured an apartment where they can begin their new lives, free of the judgment of their homophobic families and neighbors. Unlike Nora, Stevie seems to come from a close-knit, albeit conservative, family. She lies to be able to see Nora; and during one of those outings, Stevie falls off an embankment, hits her head, and suffers amnesia. Though her parents are understandably grateful to this girl who saved their daughter’s life, they have no clue of their relationship. And when she eventually awakens, neither does Stevie. This non-recognition pains Nora, so she takes to writing–but not delivering–letters to Stevie describing their romance. Derrick meets well the challenge of Stevie’s reckoning with her life as it is laid out before her when she comes to and her gradual realization that Nora is her true love. The two lovers fulfill their dream and Stevie has the added comfort of her parents’ unconditional love.

THOUGHTS: Long listed for the National Book Award, Forget Me Not reads like a fluent movie script where the reader is privy to thoughts, conversations, and feelings. Stevie’s insistence on hiding her sexuality and her relationship from her parents is understood when the reader discovers she did come out to her mother who was dismissive. Her parents’ rejection of Stevie’s revelation is blamed on their Catholic religious views; though, Pope Francis isn’t homophobic. Stevie and Nora engage in heavy kissing and one scene where they (almost) have sex until Nora’s mother catches them and beats Nora. Stevie and her (boy)friend, Ryan, are Asian, but most other characters seem white. Alyson Derrick lives in Pennsylvania; and, yes, Greenville, Pennsylvania, exists in Mercer County.

Realistic Fiction

YA – If You’ll Have Me

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Eunnie. If You’ll Have Me. Viking, 2023. 978-0-593-40322-8. 331 p. $24.99. Grades 9-12.

While dropping off some class notes at an acquaintance’s dorm room, Momo bumps into cool, mysterious PG. They meet again at a club and share a sweet dance in an alleyway. After accepting skin care tips from Momo at a drugstore, PG gives Momo her phone number on a receipt. A friendship soon develops, as well a tentative crush, but Momo has never dated before and isn’t sure if she and PG are looking for the same kind of relationship. After all, PG has a reputation as a flirt and decidedly non-monogamous type. As their endearingly awkward romance hits a few inevitable bumps along the way, readers will root for these two college students to reveal their true feelings and let love in. Author and illustrator Eunnie depicts an almost entirely female world bathed in pink, peach, and lavender tones. Flashback segments, which fill in the characters’ backstories, are outlined in heavy blank ink to help the reader transition between timelines. 

THOUGHTS: Readers will fall in love with Momo, PG, and the world that Eunnie has created in this ultra-charming graphic novel. It’s perfect for fans of Crumbs by Danie Stirling. 

Graphic Novel