Escape from Syria

Written by: Samya Kullab, Jackie Roche, & Mike Freiheit

First line: The day it happened, I was rushing home...

Why you should read this book: When the civil war in Syria comes too close to home in Aleppo City in 2013, Amina's family must flee to Lebanon for their own safety, but life in not easy for refugees. They are not allowed to integrate into the community, they don't speak the language, and they can barely afford food or healthcare. Although hopeful that they might return home one day, it becomes clear that someday will never come, and when they finally find safety, it's in Canada, where life is so different from home it's like living on another planet. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: Like most stories about refugees fleeing war zones, it's brutal, full of violence that no child should ever experience. 

Salome's Last Dance

Written by: Daria Tessler

First line: Unfulfilled? Success got you down?

Why you should read this book: A con man inexplicably posing as a psychologist and his sort of daft partner embark on an inexplicable con in an attempt to learn the secret to a magician's dancing dog. After dosing their mark and themselves with psychedelics, they are able to enter their victim's brain and explore the inexplicable mindscape. When they finally discover Salome the dancing dog deep within the meat of the magician's mind, the magician has a few more tricks up his sleeve.

Why you shouldn't read this book: The whole thing is inexplicable. I'm not sure I got anything out of it. 

Thirsty Mermaids

Written by: Thirst Mermaids

Why you should read this book: You just scared all the fish away, you MONSTER!

Why you should read this book: Three unusual mermaids living happily in a queerplatonic triad "pod" find themselves stranded on land after a night of drunken debauchery in which a spell to give them legs turns out to be more difficult to reverse than anticipated. With the help of a friendly bartender, they begin to learn about land customs, including wearing clothes, paying your own way, and watching DVDs. An absolutely delightful story about perseverance, love, and taking care of others while still honoring oneself.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You are offended by topless mermaids. 

Blackward

Written by: Lawrence Lindell

First line: You got this, Lika. Deep breaths.

Why you should read this book: A group of four queer, Black youths meet up to build community and foment Black joy, but not everyone they meet understands them or their mission. With the help of an older book store owner, they begin to branch out, creating a new group called "Blackward" (for people who are Black and awkward) and a new event where people can share their zines. After a little struggle and a lot of effort, they are able to grow their community and achieve their goals.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're the kind of person who joins clubs for people who are different than you and then derail their meetings by monopolizing the conversation with your explanations as to why people shouldn't be different from you.

Poisonous People: How to Resist Them and Improve Your Life

Written by: Leanne ten Brinke, PhD

First line: In 1959, a young Canadian named Clive Michael Boutilier was arrested in New York City for the alleged crime of sodomy with a seventeen-year-old.

Why you should read this book: While true psychopaths make up a relatively small percentage of human beings (this author places that number at 1% although I've seen other psychologists suggest that it's more like 4%, or even higher in certain cultures) people with dark personality traits who generally live to make other human beings miserable but don't quite achieve clinical levels comprise 20% of the population, and are generally extremely problematic. Ten Brinke's research leads her to understand how to identify poisonous people, how to understand their motivations and actions, and how to protect yourself from them wherever they are encountered. Her research leads her to believe that simply identifying and rejecting such individuals will result in their escalation, and that we should also have compassion for the people who delight in our misery. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: If you're currently suffering the abuse of a poisonous person, this book might help, or it might be very upsetting. 

The Spirits

Written by: Bonnie Jo Cambell

First line: A red Jeep Wrangler veered off eastbound I-94 at the Paw Paw exit and hurtled north, pursued by the shadow of dusk.

Why you should read this book: Technically it doesn't come out until tomorrow but I'm reading it for the third time and I'm ready to share this haunted holiday tale, inspired by Dickens's A Christmas Carol with a little Edgar Allen Poe mixed in. Doug is apprehensive about bringing his new girlfriend, Mary, home for Christmas, because his family hasn't been the same since his dad was struck by lightning on Christmas Eve nine years ago, and things have been very tense since last Christmas, when his older sister flipped out and demanded that they talk about that fateful evening. But now they're all together again, subject to Mary's curiosity and enthusiasm, and all stories will be shares, all secrets will be revealed, all shame brought to light, and all regrets forgiven.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You could wait a couple weeks for my comic version of the book. 

Mixed-up

Written by: Kami Garcia and Brittney Williams

First line: I can't believe school starts on Monday.

Why you should read this book: Stella just knows that fifth grade is going to be the best year ever, since she has the nicest teacher and gets to sit with her best friends Emiko and Latasha and there's a huge announcement coming about Witchlins, her favorite show in the world. But everything starts going sideways when Stella realizes that everyone else is reading faster than she does, with better comprehension, and she's destined to fail her fifth grade project and can't make sense of the players guide for the new Witchlins video game everyone else is obsessed with. Now Stella is barely talking to Emiko and Latasha, and her only hope is a diagnosis and intervention for the learning disability she never knew she had.

Why you shouldn't read this book: There are just a lot of books about dyslexic kids who are good at drawing.  

Super Boba Cafe Volume 2: Home Sea Home

Written by: Nidhi Chanani

First line: Another nightmare?

Why you should read this book: Ever since she's returned home from saving her grandmother's boba cafe and her grandmother, and the city of San Francisco by figuring out a more efficient way to deliver boba to a monster living under the city, Aria has been having nightmare, which is terrible, but she's also developed the ability to waterbend, which is cooler. But she can't keep waking up in terror every night, and she knows she must return to San Francisco and see the monster under the city again. Can she learn to control her powers and figure out how to help the monster before she has to go back to Burbank?

Why you shouldn't read this book: You think people have to like boba to join the boba appreciation club. 

Halfway to Somewhere

Written by: Jose Pimienta First line: You made it, Mijo. Why you should read this book: It seems like just yesterday that Ave’s family was all together and happy in Mexico, and now Ave’s in Kansas with their mom and their brother while their father and sister remain in Mexico. It doesn't help that their little brother speaks better English, and makes an American friend right away, and now their mom's treatment of Ave feels unfair, based on a gender identity that isn't even theirs! Will they ever be and to communicate, or feel comfortable in their new community without completely assimilating, and why won't anyone tell them when they can see their father and sister again?

ESCAPE

Written by: K.R. Alexander

First line: ESCAPE YOUR TROUBLES!

Why you should read this book: Cody is obsessed with a mysterious new theme park where anything is possible and adults aren't allowed, and desperate to win the lottery to become one of 30 "normal" children who are invited to its exclusive inaugural week, along with 100 celebrity kids: actors, musicians, and influencers that everybody knows. In Charlie Bucket style, he gets his ticket at the last second, then sneaks out to ESCAPE after being grounded for being obsessed with ESCAPE, and immediately makes friends with 2 famous pop stars, Jayson and Inga, as well as finds a new enemy in another famous kid, Meg-A. But social climbing is the least of his trouble as it become abundantly clear that ESCAPE is not a fun fantasy adventure, and that its creator has not been the least bit honest about his intentions, or the kids' chances for survival.

Why you shouldn't read this book: It's lowbrow and derivative with little character development or realism, but it would be inaccurate to say it includes plot holes big enough to drive a Jeep through, because the entire story is a plot hole; I guess it could be fun for kids who like danger but it's impossible to suspend disbelief because none of this sounds remotely plausible.