Not Fade Away

Written by: Rebecca A. Alexander

First line: Even though the doctor's office was warm, I was freezing. 

Why you should read this book: At the age of twelve, Rebecca learns that she isn't just kind of clumsy, but that she is, in fact, losing her sight, and, as she grows, the doctors determine she is losing her hearing as well, because Rebecca suffers from a rare genetic condition known as Usher Syndrome, and can expect to go completely blind and deaf at some point in her life. This memoir details not only Rebecca's journey into disability, but also all the joy and triumph she is able to wring from life despite setbacks and adversity. Although some parts of the story feel like inspiration porn (especially when, at the age of seventeen, she falls out a window and has to spend a year in rehab instead of going to college) a lot of it is simply devoted to the things she loves (a chapter about how much she loves teaching spin class, a chapter about how much she loves her best friend, a chapter about how much she loves her dog), as Rebecca demonstrates that her life is rich and full, and that losing her eyes and ears does not mean giving up on anything. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: It might be a bit too chipper and upbeat for some readers. 

Leave Me Alone!

Written by: Vera Brosgol

First line: Once there was an old woman.

Why you should read this book: An old woman lives in a small house with a large family, and cannot seem to get a moment's peace to do her knitting without children interfering with the process. Winter is coming and her task is important, so she packs up and ventures through the land, looking for a little peace and quiet, but everywhere she goes, creatures seem determined to interfere with her work, even when she climbs onto the moon (where little green moon-men examine her with handheld scanners that go "beep boop"). Finally, the old woman finds an empty dimension where she can work alone, and the solitude of that strange place helps her appreciate the noise and commotion of her big family when she returns. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: If you found an empty dimension, you would never go back. 

Paying for It: A Comic-Strip Memoir about Being a John

Written by: Chester Brown

First line: June 1996: Can we talk?

Why you should read this book: After an amicable breakup—he remains roommates with his ex while she moves on with a new live-in boyfriend—Chester determines that he has no interest in relationships, although he's still plenty interested in sex. Following a lot of soul-searching, false starts, research, self-doubt, and mounting desire, he begins paying for sex with a series of professional sex workers, much to his own great satisfaction, and his friends' vocal disgust. This graphic memoir protects the identity of the sex workers: he conceals their faces and ethnicity and changes their hairstyles and names, while reproducing their speech in such a way as to put a more useful face on the concept of sex work and give the women honest voices, although the narrative focuses primarily on Chester's feelings and experience. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're an unashamed SWERF.

Front Desk

Written by: Kelly Yang

First line: My parents told me that America would be this amazing place where we could live in a house with a dog, do whatever we want, and eat hamburgers till we were red in the face. 

Why you should read this book: Recent immigrants from China in the 1990s, Mia's family has found themselves homeless and living in a car, so managing a motel seems like a golden opportunity for their prosperity, even if the owner is a liar, and a cheapskate, and a racist, and some other, unmentionable things. But Mia is determined to make her new life work and sets herself up as assistant and manager and front desk attendant so her parents can take care of all the other work that needs to be done. With her can-do attitude, Mia begins to make friends, and with her interest in the English language, she begins to understand the power of a well-worded letter, along with her own agency and the knowledge that she has the ability to create positive change in the world through her writing.  

Why you shouldn't read this book: You believe you can tell if people are bad by looking at them.

Stone Butch Blues

Written by: Leslie Feinberg

First line: Dear Theresa, I'm lying on my bed tonight missing you, my eyes all swollen, hot tears running down my face.

Why you should read this book: Jess Goldberg has always known herself to be different, assigned female at birth but never fulfilling the expectations the world around her held for girls. As a teenager, Jess discovers there are other people like her, and she begins frequenting gay bars and coming to understand her identity: she is a stone butch, a woman who loves women but doesn't present in a feminine way. In the years before the Stonewall Riot, and the decades before the AIDS crisis mobilized the community, Jess suffers every violation society has to offer women like her, but learns, through the pain, how to love others and, finally, how to love herself.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Violence, rape, homophobia, transphobia. It's a brutal narrative.

Chu Ju's House

Written by: Gloria Whelan

First line: It was the fifth day of the fourth moon, Tomb Sweeping Day, which some call Day of Pure Brightness.

Why you should read this book: I don't think there's a lot of English children's literature set in this time and place: China in the 1960s, as ancient culture and modern values clash on personal and political levels. Chu Ju's family is devastated to learn that her new sibling is female, and decide to give the baby up for adoption so they can try for a boy under the current two-child policy. Chu Ju, in love with the new baby, decides to sacrifice herself, running away to find her own fortune so the new baby can grow up in a loving family.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You don't do hard work.

Hidden Figures

Written by: Margot Lee Shetterly

First line: "Mrs. Land worked as a computer out at Langley," my father said, taking a right turn out of the parking lot of First Baptist Church in Hampton, Virginia.

Why you should read this book: There is so much going on in this meticulous account of the women of West Computing, the racially segregated group of human computers that supported aviation technology during World War II with their incredible number-crunching abilities. The book follows the lives of several of the most high-profile black women who worked in this group and later for NASA and other agencies, but it's also a story about the civil rights movement, military history, engineering advances of the twentieth century, the Cold War, the space race, and dozens of humans who helped revolutionize air travel and eventually made the 1969 moonshot possible. This is a fast-paced book that tackles plenty of tough territory but makes its ideas accessible to lay readers with no background on any of the aforementioned subjects.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You'd rather watch the movie.

I Speak English for My Mom

Written by: Muriel Stanek

First line: When I was small, Mom helped me do everything.

Why you should read this book: A little girl explains the reality of being a bilingual daughter of a mother who does not speak the common language of her new home. Often, being her mother's translator helps her feel important and useful, but sometimes it's a nuisance being her mother's only connection to the English-speaking world. When financial troubles hit the little family, the mother realizes that she can put aside her fears and learn to speak English herself.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're still totally comfortable with the results of the 2017 election.

Lucky Penny

Written by: Ananth Hirsh and Yuko Ota

First line: Hey, so.....you're fired.

Why you should read this book: After losing her job and her apartment in the same day, Penny has ample time to consider the possibility that she's cursed, especially since her new job involves working at the laundromat under a twelve-year-old manager and her new apartment is a storage unit that people keep trying to break into. In need of shower facilities, she inadvertently romances Walter, the guy at the front desk of the gym, until they're both completely confused as to the nature of their relationship and what they should expect from one another. With only her love of cheesy romance novels to guide her, can Penny navigate her feelings for Walt, her belief in her own bad luck, the punks outside the storage unit, an arm-wrestling champion, and, of course, the intensity of a friendly game of Dungeons and Dragons?

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're one of those people who's acted forty since they were twelve.

The Miserable Mill

Written by: Lemony Snicket

First line: Sometime during your life—in fact, very soon—you may find yourself reading a book, and you may notice that a book's first sentence can often tell you what sort of story your book contains.

Why you should read this book: The Beaudelaire orphans find themselves out of family members and stuck, somehow, with a guardian whose face is perpetually shrouded in smoke, and who also thinks that babies should work in lumber mills. Further ridiculous abuses of workplace safety and worker's rights follow, along with the evil Count Olaf, an equally evil optometrist, and a very disappointing compensation plan. Unfortunate events take place on almost every page.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You think hypnosis is a load of hooey.

 

Tight Times

Written by: Barbara Shook Hazen and Trina Schart Hyman

First line: This morning I asked Mom, "Why can't I have a dog?"

Why you should read this book: With a child's perspective on economic troubles, this book shows a protagonist who doesn't understand his parents' financial worries, except as it pertains to what he can and can't have. He can't have a dog. Then he finds a kitten who's in even worse condition than his family....

Why you shouldn't read this book: You hate cats.

Sky Boys: How They Built the Empire State Building

Written by: Deborah Hopkinson and James E. Ransome

First line: Through the eyes of a young boy in the Great Depression, this book shows the majestic creation of the Empire State Building, at the time the tallest building in the world. Young children will be enthralled and inspired by the amazing illustrations of men working high above the street with no safety equipment, and at the quick growth of the structure. And when the building is finally complete, this story communicates the hope and inspiration with which it filled the impoverished people of New York.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're afraid of heights. Like, really afraid of heights.

Tía Isa Wants a Car

Written by: Meg Medina and Claudio Muñoz

First line: Tía Isa wants a car.

Why you should read this book: Here's a great story teaching agency to children. The young narrator, living among a large, but divided extended family, knows that most of her aunt's money must be sent back home to the part of the family still living on the island and waiting to come to America. Caught up in her aunt's beautiful dream of owning a car that will carry them to beach whenever she wants, the little girl learns that she, too, can work and make money, so that dreams become reality.

Why you shouldn't read this book: The idea of immigrants working hard to create a better life for their families is somehow offensive to you.

John Henry: An American Legend

Written by: Ezra Jack Keats

First line: A hush settled over the hills.

Why you should read this book: A seamless, straightforward retelling of the classic American tall tale of John Henry, the man who could do the work of six men and dared to race, and beat, the steam engine, though it meant his death. Hearkening back to an era where an honest day's work was honored, it's a piece of Americana that might be overlooked by today's cell-phone using toddlers. Great story for kids learning to work with their hands and for parents wary of too much dependence on technology.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You fear that any celebration of the power of the worker will turn your kids into baby socialists.