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.

Tomatoes in My Lunchbox

Written by: Costantia Manoli

First line: I don't recognize my name at roll call the first time.

Why you should read this book: A young immigrant recalls the sensations associated with being a newcoming to a strange culture, one where her own name is a stumbling block for others, and her choice of lunchtime treat sets her apart from her classmates. Her attempts at assimilation are unsatisfactory, but of course, the little girl begins to make friends and finds ways to fit in without compromising herself or pretending to be someone she's not. Apparently based on the author's own childhood experience.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You just anglicize names you can't be bothered to learn how to pronounce because it's "easier."

The Kingdom of Almonds

Written by: Ariel Kaplan

First line: Toba Peres was born a half-Mazik in the city of Rimon, under the reign of the Emir, before he sailed away in exile.

Why you should read this book: In the final book of this trilogy set partially in Spain in the 15th century but mostly in the Mazik realm–a mirror world of magic and mystical creature based on Jewish mythology, which reflects and impacts our world–protagonists become increasingly desperate as the power hungry Tarses moves closer to his goal of world domination. Toba Bet and Naftaly visit Aravoth, the realm of the eternal, to rescue the Ziz, a giant bird they need to help raise the ancient city of Luz from the sea, while Elena, Naftaly, and the old woman scheme to free Barsilay from prison, and everyone must decide who to trust as the war closes in. A deliciously satisfying and fast-paced conclusion to an epic fantasy tale.

Why you shouldn’t read this book: Even with the Dramatis Personae, list of geographical locations, and detailed map, this story is so sprawling and populated it can be difficult to keep the people and places straight.

Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel

Written by: Hope Larson. 

First line: It was a dark and stormy night.

Why you should read this book: The Newbury-winning A Wrinkle in Time is one of the great classic science fiction stories for children, so impactful and heartfelt, fantastical in nature and yet eminently believable, but I notice it doesn't often get checked out from my library, so when I saw this adaptation, I thought perhaps it would direct kids back toward the novel. I'm ordinarily skeptical of graphic adaptations, but this one is executed with obvious love and respect and remains faithful to the source material but also shines with its own light and life as a complete, standalone work. The blue, black, and white illustrations (somehow so perfect for a story about fighting darkness) depict intense emotions and strange phenomena with simple but perfect lines.

Why you shouldn't read this book: All graphic adaptations have the effect of speeding the story up immensely (might not be a downside for some readers). 

The Birchbark House

Written by: Louise Erdrich

First line: The only person left alive on the island was a baby girl. 

Why you should read this book: Often described as a counterpoint to the manifest destiny narrative of Little House on the Prairie, this is the first book in a series sharing the life of Omakakiins, an Anishinaabe girl living on the Island of the Golden Breasted Woodpecker in Minnesota in 1847. Readers experience a full calendar year of her life, doing chores, playing with other children, learning from her elders, exploring the natural world, surviving sickness and deprivation, celebrating success, and opening herself to a spiritual understanding of her world. Omakakiins is an engaging and surprising heroine whose worldview and journey is delightful and eye-opening, while the story touches on the danger presented to the community as the white culture imposes upon their land. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: I guess if you're one of those MAGA lunatics obsessed with removing historical signage from National Parks, you're not going to respond well to this story. 

The Salt Princess

Written by: Anoosha Syed

First line: Under a sky studded with diamond, surrounded by hills as green as emeralds, lived four princesses in the Kingdom of Zammarud.

Why you should read this book: Princess Amal, the youngest of four sisters, is funny and free and loves pranks and says exactly what she thinks, which, everyone predicts, will get her in trouble one day. And one day it does, when her father is so deeply and publicly embarrassed by her plain spokenness that he banishes her. Fortunately, in her banishment she meets and falls in love with a handsome prince who encourages her to think up a new prank, one to make her father see how much she loves him.

Why you shouldn't read this book: It's presented as being a traditional Pakistani story, but it's also a traditional European story most fairy tale aficionados have read before and this version does not seem to bring anything different for the tradition. 

All Is Nat Lost

Written by: Maria Scrivan First line: Hi, I'm Natalie! My class is learning about American independence so, Midway Middle School is taking a trip to Philadelphia Why you should read this book: Nat really wants to join her class for an overnight trip to Philadelphia, but her parents worry so much about whether she's responsible that she's afraid they won't let her go especially after she loses her bike. When they finally agree, Nat is overjoyed, and everything seems to be going well until she loses her phone and she and her friend lose the rest of the group! Now it's Nat and Flo in the big city, frantically trying to complete the scavenger hunt and find their way back to the rest of their class.

Why you shouldn't read this book: I imagine there is a species of parent that would lose their minds over a story about two pre-adolescent girls who get lost in a big city and not only does nothing bad happen to them, things work out pretty well.

Garlic and the Vampire

Written by: Bree Paulsen

First line: I tried to wake you so it's your fault if you're late today. 

Why you should read this book: Garlic, an anthropomorphic vegetable given life by Witch Agnes along with numerous other fruit and vegetable folks, is clumsy and anxious but dedicated to her work: providing garlic to the people of the village. One day, chaos and terror arrives in the form of a vampire inhabiting an ancient castle in the woods, and the other vegetables decide that Garlic, who naturally repels vampires, must go into the woods to investigate. Can Garlic overcome her fear and anxiety and defeat an enemy whose name strikes fear into her heart in this cozy tale of unearned terror? 

Why you shouldn't read this book: It's a little bit silly, even for a children's vampire story.

American Animism: Stories

Written by: Jamey Gallagher

First line: She returned to work at the cryptid museum a week after the attack.

Why you should read this book: This one's a wild ride, and although there are certain themes that seem to recur through the unconnected stories, every one direct the reader to a different place with a different conclusion. Strange creatures, doomed relationships, tourist attractions, ghosts, and drug-fueled escape, both casual and chronic populate these fast-past short stories. Often, I have trouble with short fiction because I have to work to get into the story and then suddenly it's over, but these stories allowed me slip immediately into each world and then seemed to conclude at the perfect moment.

Why you shouldn't read this book: There is a fair amount of violence toward women, not gratuitously so, but not exactly pleasant either.

Kosher Soul: The Faith and Food Journey of an African American Jew

Written by: Michael W. Twitty

First line: When I first started talking about this developing this book, a fellow African American food writer asked what it was about, saying, "So you're not writing about Black [food], you're writing about Jewish [food]." 

Why you should read this book: Twitty goes on to explain that he is writing about Black Jewish food, because there are Black Jewish people and this is the second in a three-book trilogy (the first being The Cooking Gene) about the "intersections between food and identity." It takes the form of a series of essays and "mayseh" (stories) about the numerous threads that create Blackness and Judaism, and the food traditions that arise where these identities come together. Making the point that, while often overlooked as anomalies, Black Jews exist and the Black Jewish tradition in America is strong and stretches back centuries and encompasses a vast smorgasbord of flavor and ingredients; this book, of course, includes numerous delectable looking recipes.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You might need to have a previous interest in cooking or foodways or culinary history or at least intersectional identities to get into this one. 

Shanghai Immortal

Written: A. Y. Chao

First line: The steaming Shanghai night drapes heavy over my bare shoulders. 

Why you should read this book: Fast paced, luscious, fresh, and edgy, this is the story of Lady Jing, bad girl half-vampire half-fox spirit, consigned to live under the thumb of the King of Hell (Chinese version) since her grandmother's court rejected her outright as an abomination and her mother subsequently abandoned her. Devoted to rejecting tradition and making trouble, her life is upended the day she's commanded to escort a living mortal through Hell (the King of Hell needs advice on creating a viable banking system) and ends up sent to the mortal realm for her own protection. Jazz age Shanghai is a new world, where Lady Jing discovers she has friends, mortal and otherwise, and devotes herself to unraveling the conspiracy that catapulted her from the world where she endured for ninety years, just in time to finally grow up. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: You aren't stirred by the idea of a half-vampire half-demon in a world that blends Chinese mythology with the advances of the early twentieth century.