A Piece of Cake

Written by: Jill Murphy

First line: "I'm fat," said Mrs. Large. 

Why you should read this book: An elephant mom decides that the entire family needs to engage in healthy living: no more treats, no more sitting around watching TV, just health food and jogging. Nobody enjoys it, nobody loses weight, and everyone is miserable. Then, Granny mails the family a beautiful cake, and a time of reckoning arrives.

Why you shouldn't read this book: If you have an eating disorder this might be kind of triggering. 

How to Lose Your Mother: A Daughter's Memoir

Written by: Molly Jong-Fast

First line: I am the only child of a once-famous woman.

Why you should read this book: Metaphorically, the experience of reading this book is similar to seeing a horse and a thinking, "that is a cool-looking horse," and then you get on the horse even though you don't really know much about horses, and the horse understands this and takes the opportunity to start galloping through the forest at a breakneck speed and you are dodging branches and hanging on for dear life and yes, it's exhilarating but also terrifying and the horse just keeps going until it's got that all out of its system and then abruptly stops in a beautiful meadow not far from where you parked your car and just acts like everything is copacetic and your nightmare ride never happened. Admittedly, while I was aware of the existence of Erica Jong, the author's once-famous mother, I never actually read any of her books, so all my sympathy and interest was held entirely for Jong-Fast from the beginning, and I both enjoyed and was traumatized by her descriptions of a childhood dictated by her mother's absolute chaotic lifestyle and ability to express love, seamlessly woven together with the story of her adult experience of her mother's dementia and decline. The writing achieves that level of flawlessness that allows you to sink into the narrative without noticing how the author is performing all these magic tricks, and it would have been a good story even if she wasn't a tremendous writer. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're still trying to impress your narcissistic parent. 

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. 

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. 

Normal Sucks: How to Live, Learn, and Thrive outside the Lines

Written by: Jonathan Mooney

First line: Sons, You have each asked me a question, in different ways, at different times, and, I think, for different reasons.

Why you should read this book: Framed somewhat as a letter to his children, this book braids Mooney's experience growing up with dyslexia and ADHD with an examination of the limiting and historical ideas of normality and a discussion of the power of being different. While he struggles for much of his youth to blend in and succeed according to other people's standards, he comes to understand that the conditions others call disabilities are, for him, wells of strength from which he can draw new ways of being. Through his cultural research, he discovers that there is, scientifically, no such thing as normal after all, that it is our differences that make us human and allow us to thrive, and that viewing differences as problems robs humanity of its fullest potential.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You've never had to work to fit in. 

Turtles All the Way Down

Written by: John Green

First line: At the first time I realized I might be fictional, my weekdays were spent at a publicly funded institution on the north side of Indianapolis called White River High School, where I was required to eat lunch at a particular time--between 12:37 P.M. and 1:14 P.M.--by forces so much larger than myself that I couldn't even begin to identify them. 

Why you should read this book: Teenager Aza "Holmesy" Holmes has been living with anxiety and invasive thought for a while now, probably since her father died when she was a little kid, and although they control many aspects of her life, they don't control her best friend, Daisy. When Daisy learns that Aza used to be friends with the son of a missing billionaire (they met at "sad camp" for kids with dead parents), Daisy wants to exploit that connection in the hopes that she and Aza can collect the reward for finding the missing man. But Aza's reunion with her old friend only exacerbates her illness until her behavior threatens all her relationships and even her life. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: John Green is not exactly known for happy endings. 

Everything Is OK

Written by: Debbi Tung

First line: I feel so lost and overwhelmed.

Why you should read this book: In this candid and understated graphic memoir, the author describes a difficult period of her life, some relevant backstory, her journey through her mental health problems, and the world she encounters on the other side. The first half of the book is primarily a painfully accurate description of living with an undiagnosed anxiety disorder while also coping with known depression and also trying to balance a relationship and a career. The second half is more or less a catalog of the kinds of things you learn in therapy, presented in such a way that you actually might believe that everything is, in fact, OK, or that it might be, if you just keep pushing through. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: I can see how the first half might be kind of upsetting to someone who was not handling their own anxiety and depression very well. 

The Care of Strangers

Written by: Ellen Michaelson

First line:  Sima pushed a large woman in a wheelchair to the A71 Nurses' Station to catch a bit of breeze.

Why you should read this book: The immigrant daughter of a Holocaust survivor, Sima works as an orderly in a public New York hospital in the 1980s, while pointedly not finishing her pre-med degree or dealing with her complex feelings about her mother, who is also her roommate. When she notices a young doctor who seems at risk of ending her own career before it even begins, Sima feels drawn to the other woman, intent on making friends and helping her succeed, despite Dr. Kahn's disinterest in her assistance. In her quest to show compassion to her patients and teach compassion to her colleagues, Sima needs to find some compassion for herself.

Why you shouldn't read this book: It can be a little sad in places. 

The Whole Story of Half a Girl

Written by: Veera Hianandani

First line: I'm in school, sitting with my hair hanging long down the back of my chair, my arm around my best friend, Sam.

Why you should read this book: Sonia's father is Indian and her mother is Jewish, but until her dad lost his job and she had to transfer from her fun, hippie school to a public school, she never even thought about her ethnic identity, let alone questions of class and who to sit with at lunch. Now she's torn between the popular cheerleaders who don't understand her, and the kids who might understand her but aren't cool, while mourning the loss of her old relationships. And all this becomes meaningless when her father's mental health becomes the focus of her entire life. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: For a middle grade novel, it tackles numerous difficult issues. 

Being a Dog: A Tail of Mindfulness

Written by: Maria Gianferrari and Pete Oswald

First line: Can you be like a dog?

Why you should read this book: Living mindfully, completely engaged in the moment, can be difficult for human beings, but it comes easily and naturally to our favorite companion animals. This book advises readers about how to "be like a dog": to remain present in the body, to breathe and eat and play, to feel ones feelings and release them, to interact with the world with an open heart and an open mind. There's even a section that prompts children to use all five senses as a dog would, along with extra facts about dogs, and a final page to return the reader to the human experience with instructions for mindful breathing.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're a cat.

The Cookie Maker of Mavin Road

Written by: Sue Lawson and Liz Anelli

First line: Benedict Stanley and his cat, Audrey Mae, live at 23 Mavin Road.

Why you should read this book: Although it is never explicitly stated that Benedict Stanley, who lives with his cat at 23 Mavin Road, is a widower, and very lonely, it's obvious that he is a lonely widower, and while he is constantly reaching out to speak to his neighbors, nobody ever answers until a little boy named Rory admires Benedict Stanley's cat and shares his hope that the tooth fairy will visit tonight. Inspired, Benedict Stanley uses his wife's cookbook to bake Rory some missing-tooth inspired cookies, and then begins baking thematically appropriate cookies and delivering them anonymously to neighbors to celebrate the milestones of their lives, big and small. When Benedict Stanley falls ill and the magical cookie deliveries stop, only Rory can guess why, and he leads all the neighbors to Benedict Stanley's house, where they give back to the cookie maker, who gets well and is never lonely again.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You would never eat a plate of baked goods of unknown origin that mysteriously appeared on your doorstep. 

Negroland: A Memoir

Written by: Margo Jefferson

First line: I was taught to avoid showing off.

Why you should read this book: In a prose memoir that reads like poetry, Jefferson recounts her own story, steeped in the influence of race, class, and gender, set in the context of her family and community and everything that came before her. Born in Chicago among the Black elite, she is taught from her earliest memories that she must be impeccable in word, deed, and appearance, to uphold the image projected by the privileged, perfected society that molded her: a group intentionally set apart from, and quietly superior to, other Black people along with all of white America. As she grows up through the civil rights movement and finds her own path and her own personality, the weight of inequality and expectations causes her to question and examine the principles of her own upbringing, her own individual identity, and her right to perfect imperfection.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Your parents didn't raise you at all.

Buy Negroland: A Memoir here!

Allergic

Written by: Megan Wagner Lloyd

First line: It was my tenth birthday

Why you should read this book: The only thing Maggie wants for her birthday is a puppy, and she's found the perfect one in the shelter—until it turns out that this puppy isn't perfect after all, because Maggie breaks out in itchy hives when she touches it. Worse still, the doctor says she's allergic to every animal with fur or feathers, and now she's not allowed to have any cuddly companion, even the tiniest mouse. Her parents have each other and a new baby on the way, and her twin brothers don't seem to need anyone but each other, but who's going to be Maggie's match in her family now?

Why you shouldn't read this book: You think a spider is a great companion.

Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern

Written by: Anne McCaffrey

First line: Rukbat, in the Sagittarian sector, was a golden G-type star.

Why you should read this book: Another of my "I've owned this volume for decades and never read it" pandemic reads, this is the seventh book in McCaffrey's Pern series, although it's a prequel to the previous six books, taking place so far in advance that the characters of this book are heroic legends sung about in ballads in the later books. Ironically, perhaps, this story is about a planet beset by a deadly pandemic that kills people and livestock and threatens an entire human civilization, and even though it was published in 1983, McCaffrey very accurately predicts the behavior of humans when confronted by a disease of this nature: most grudgingly obey the quarantine, some go for the super extra social isolation quarantine variant, some disregard the safety measures entirely, and some pay lip service to the restrictions while earnestly believing that those restrictions don't apply to themselves and their friends. Masterhealer Capiam recovers from the illness, realizes that his blood must now contain antibodies that can inoculate others, and rushes to produce a vaccine, which Moreta must figure out how to deliver before the second, and surely more deadly wave of the plague destroys the carefully balanced infrastructure required to survive on their hostile world.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You don't believe public health measures apply to you, your friends, or you family. 

The Old Drift

Written by: Namwali Serpell First line: Zt. Zzt. ZZZzzzZZZzzzzZZZzzzzzzZZZZzzzzzzzZZZzzzzzZZZzzzzo'ona. 

Why you should read this book: A multi-generational epic steeped in history, tinted with magical realism and afrofuturism, narrated by mosquitoes (maybe), and framed by the lifespan of the Kariba Dam, The Old Drift covers more than a century of struggle, following the lives of three families in Zambia. Characters are born, grow, rebel against their parents' mistakes, make similar mistakes to the ones their parents made, have children, and the cycle repeats, but time keeps thrusting them away from the past and into the future. Beautifully written, bursting with revelation, and peopled with compelling characters, this is a book that you can fall into and devour with gusto. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: Occasionally, I found some of the ways it jumped around in time as characters appears in each others' arcs a little frustrating, but that's probably on me.

Searching for David's Heart

Written by: Cherie Bennett

First line: "I don't see why Mrs. Pricher is making us give stupid speeches in front of the entire class," I groaned to my big brother, David, and my best friend, Sam Weiss. 

Why you should read this book: Darcy's brother David has always been her rock, especially since her dad has gotten all weird and depressed and racist, but when she and David have a fight that doesn't get resolved before David's untimely death, Darcy can't forgive herself, or face what's left of her life. Her only hope comes when she realizes that David was an organ donor, and as long as a person's heart is beating, they can't really be dead. With Sam in tow, Darcy sets out on an epic journey to meet the recipient of her brother's heart, and try to make peace with her own.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Oh, man what a tearjerker! I cried. 

The Gift of Fear: Survival Signs That Protect Us from Violence

Written by: Gavin de Becker

First line: He had probably been watching her for a while.

Why you should read this book: Published almost a quarter century ago, this is still the definitive work on the subject of protecting oneself from violence by learning to recognize indicators that a person intends to enact violence upon your person before you get hurt. With detailed explanations of how to assess and evaluate threats on the fly, anecdotal examples from de Becker's years as a security expert, and a clear writing style, he conveys the importance of understanding and trusting ones own instinct and prizing personal safety. An extremely important book, recommended to anyone with any experience of violence in their lives, which is likely the vast majority of the population.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're prone to violence but you don't want anyone to know.

 

Stargazing

Written by: Jen Wang

First line: Christine, your collar was undone the whole time.

Why you should read this book: Christine wants to be a good daughter/member of the Asian American community, so she dutifully practices the violin, attends Chinese school once a week, and does her best to live up to her parents' expectations, but a big part of her admires Moon, who is Asian American as well, but in a different way: Buddhist, vegetarian, wearing nail polish, dancing to pop music, and sometimes punching people who frankly deserve it. At first Moon scares Christine, but she soon finds a new kind of freedom in their friendship, even if Moon still does and says things that she can't quite condone or comprehend. Maybe Moon is too cool for Christine, or maybe something else could steal her away, or maybe Christine's own insecurity can destroy this friendship without any outside help.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You do everything your parents expect of you and you like it that way.

 

Guts

Written by: Raina Telgemeier

First line: Mom?

Why you should read this book: After the unfortunate night during which her entire family suffers from a stomach bug, Raina gradually develops some strange, psychosomatic tummy troubles: not just stomach aches and nausea, but a deep-seated fear of vomiting and passing gas, inexplicably linked with and exacerbated by all her adolescent insecurity. When medical science can't find a reason for her distress, her mother forces her to see a therapist, but her internal fears deepen as her obsession with her stomach, and only eating foods that will move comfortably through her body, become almost all-encompassing, affecting her schoolwork and her relationships. Meanwhile, she has to deal with the girl who doesn't like her for some reason, public speaking in class, and the prospect of her best friend moving away; only when she learns that expressing her shame and fear is healthier than bottling her discomfort up inside of herself can Raina overcome this unusual chapter in her physical history.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're feeling a bit queasy.

Restart

Written by: Gorden Korman

Why you should read this book: Chase Ambrose awakens in a hospital bed with no knowledge of his own life: he doesn't remember falling off his roof, he doesn't know his own mother, and he can't recognize his face in the mirror. As he heals, he tries to put together the mystery of his identity, only to gradually realize that he was a terrible excuse for a human being before the accident, and that almost everyone he knows hates or fears him. Now he has a choice: try to get his old life back, or try to become a less reprehensible person before it's too late to change.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Its depiction of how amnesia caused by traumatic brain injury works is based more on popular culture than science or reality: it is unlikely that a person could lose their entire sense of self and all personal memories to become a tabula rasa personality but still retain the rest of their knowledge about the world and not suffer any cognitive deficits.