Sold

Written by: Patricia McCormick

First line: One more rainy season and our roof will be gone, says Ama.

Why you should read this book: Despite her stepfather's gambling addiction, Lakshmi and her mother are getting along pretty well, and Lakshmi is excelling in school and looking forward to one day being married, but following a drought and a flood and heavy gambling losses, she is determined to take a job as a maid in the city, so she can send money home and give her mother a real roof. Unfortunately, the auntie who promises to find her paying work sells Lakshmi into sexual slavery in another country, and she becomes a prisoner in brothel, forced to perform sex work to survive. As she comes to understand more about her circumstances, she must tease apart the lies that control her from the truth that might set her free. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: It's a novel about a 13-year-old girl being sex trafficked. It's not happy. 

Uncle Tom's Children

Written by: Richard Wright

Firstline: My first lesson in how to live as a Negro came when I was quite small.

Why you should read this book: This collection features five short stories and one biographical essay written early in the author's career. These pieces all describe the inherent terror of the Jim Crow south and the way it victimized Black people in twentieth century America, with violence and murder featuring prominently among the arsenal of tools used by segregationists to enforce social control. These are dangerous, frightening stories about a zero-sum game that is always fixed in favor of the house, wonderfully written with deep insight and wisdom, but difficult to read in terms of the suffering of the characters.

Why you shouldn't read this book: There aren't really any happy endings and four of the stories have absolutely brutal endings. 

The Tryout

Written by: Christina Soontornvat and Joanna Cacao

First line: Breathe... Just breathe...

Why you should read this book: This is a memoir that recounts the trauma of the author's experience. As one of two students of color in her suburban school, Christina has more than the usual reservations about starting middle school, but when she and her best friend Megan decide to try out for the cheerleading squad, she begins to develop a little optimism and self-esteem. Cheerleading is a lot of work, and as she trains, Christina starts to feel Megan slipping away from her, even as she develops a greater understanding of her own cultural heritage and her parents' struggles as a mixed-race couple. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: You think more things ought to be popularity contests. 

Where the Weird Things Are: An Ocean Twilight Zone Adventure

Written by: Zoleka Filander and Patricia Hooning

First line: A voice wakes me up. 

Why you should read this book: The journey of a small, anthropomorphic robot from the surface of the ocean, through the pelagic zone, and down to the benthic zone showcases a number of unusual marine species. As the robot, Mesobot, encounters each creature it learns of the interesting qualities that allows it to survive in its world, while the Mesobot begins to question whether its own unique properties are special and interesting until discovering that its purpose is educational and it is indeed a very special robot. Based on the real journey of the real Mesobot, this book also includes a lovely appendix offering further information about the robot and all the animals it meets. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: You prize conformity.

The Republic of Salt

Written by: Ariel Kaplan

First line: It was three nights until the New Year, and in the mountains north of Mazik Rimon, Naftaly Cresques was lying on the ground beside two old women and a Mazik who was mostly dead. 

Why you should read this book: The second novel in the Mirror Realm cycle, this doorstop of a fantasy novel picks up pretty much where the last one left off, with Naftaly and his crew in the Mazik land and Toba and the now-mortal back in the human world, and all of them knowing that if they can't stop Tarses from taking over both realms it's not going to go so well for anyone. Arduously, all the characters must travel to Zayit, outwitting enemies, finding surprising allies, eating lentils, and learning more about magic, especially as it pertains to part-mortal magicians. The pacing is good, so that the story keeps moving forward in a Lord of the Rings Kind of way, even though it takes everyone a very long time to get where they're going. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: Due to its structure and the way Naftaly's powers work, it's kind of obvious precisely how the book is going to end (hint: a cliffhanger). 

Not Quite a Ghost

Written by: Anne Ursu

First line: The house stood a little apart from the rest of the block, as if it did not quite fit in. 

Why you should read this book: Violet Hart is already dealing with that strange uncertainty that accompanies the transition from elementary to middle school and the questions of whether the people you've been friends with your entire life will remain your friends once puberty commences, and now her mom and stepdad have decided to purchase this really creepy house so she can have her own room, even if that room is in the extra creepy attic. This isn't quite a ghost story, although there's definitely something like a ghost in the house, but it draws most of its spookiness from its discussion of undiagnosed chronic illness and its use of symbols and themes from Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper." Anyone who's ever been accused of malingering when they felt awful or been gaslit by "friends" who had turned against them will understand what Violet is going through in this well-paced and clever story.

Why you shouldn't read this book: If you still haven't gotten a diagnosis, it might be a bit frustrating. 

Unexpected Stories

Written by: Octavia Butler

First line: The Robkohn Hao, Tahneh, was sharing her evening meal with her chief judge and discussing the current drought when she first learned of the foreigners who had entered her territory.

Why you should read this book: Two previously unpublished stories written early in the career of the master science fiction author were discovered after her death and come together in this book, highlighting many of the themes for which she went on to become famous. In "A Necessary Being," a hierarchical alien society requires the most powerful among them to serve for the good of all, even against their will. "Childfinder" was originally sold to Harlan Ellison's final, unpublished Dangerous Visions anthology and discusses issues of race and class through the device of a society where psionic powers are controlled by a powerful cabal. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: If you're unfamiliar with Butler's work, you might want to start with some of her popular novels. 

The Covenant of Water

Written by: Abraham Verghese

First line: She is twelve years old, and she will be married in the morning.

Why you should read this book: An engaging multigenerational tale of a twentieth century Indian family, plagued by a mysterious condition that is marked by an extreme aversion to water (but little fear of anything else) and frequently results in deafness, a love of heights, and premature death by drowning. Each generation finds love, even in the face of suffering and adversity, but mourns helplessly when those afflicted with the Condition are lost. As science and medicine progress, perhaps there is hope that one day they can save their loved ones from this strange and confusing affliction. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: Kids die. 

The Pomegranate Gate

 Written by: Ariel Kaplan

First line: Naftaly was dreaming again, in that strange dreamlandscape where the stars whirled overhead like snow on the win and the people he met all had square-pupiled eyes.

Why you should read this book: In this powerhouse fantasy epic beginning in the Spanish Inquisition with the expulsion of the Jews, the narrative moves between that world and a parallel world populated with magical beings, a strange and even more dangerous place which both mirrors and influences the human realm. Separated from her family and the group of Jews fleeing the country, a young woman named Toba, who is both clever and clumsy stumbles through the gate into the land of the Mazik. This new place is complex, and operates by rules that Toba does not quite understand, but if she wants to survive she will have to untangle the mystery of her own past, and events that took places a thousand years before she was born. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: If you don't like really long books that end when things are getting really interesting because they're the first tome in an epic series, you shouldn't read really long books in epic series. 

Eric

Written by: Shaun Tan

First line: Some years ago we had a foreign exchange student come to live with us.

Why you should read this book: Another absolutely stunning and surreal work by the artist, this small children's story presents a small protagonist, referred to as a "foreign exchange student," although his origin is...unclear. Eric looks sort of like a demon, and sort of like a leaf, and sort of like a shadow, and he is substantially tinier than whatever species his host family might be, and his worldview and life experience are clearly so different from ours that it's a struggle for the narrator and the reader to quite comprehend what he might be thinking. However, Eric is so interesting and appealing that the narrator and the reader both very much want to untangle the mystery of his inner experience, and see some part of the world through his eyes, and to know that his emotions are positive and that he feels safe and enjoys our world. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're deeply xenophobic and automatically reject anyone who is different from you.