Author: Schuyler Bailar
Published: 2021 Obie is an excellent swimmer, and his life is really great. But then he announces that he is transgender and wants to swim on the boys team instead of the girls, and his swim team coach kicks him off the team. Clyde, one of his best friends, becomes Obie's biggest tormentor, bullying him any chance he gets. Obie joins a new swim team and finds acceptance from the coach and the other swimmers. They treat him like any other teammate. But then his friend from his old team, Lucky, starts hanging around with the wrong crowd and suddenly she isn't defending him anymore when others bully him. Obie has a crush on a cute girl named Charlie. But what happens if he tells her that he is trans? Will it ruin everything? Obie is Man Enough is a great book about identity and being who you are. Obie is such a wonderful character. I thoroughly enjoyed reading his story.
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Author: Alice Osman
Published: 2020 Charlie has officially come out as gay at school. When he is assigned to sit next to Nick in class, Charlie instantly develops a crush. Nick is rugby player who is a year ahead of him in school. He is kind, and soon the two start to become friends. Nick even convinces Charlie to go out for the rugby team. Charlie's crush only grows, but there's no way that Nick can feel the same way, is there? Heartstopper is an adorable graphic novel! Romance readers will enjoy. Author: Alex Sanchez
Published: 2021 One night after dinner, Jorge's parent announce that they are getting a divorce. This comes as a complete surprise to Jorge and his twin brother Cesar. They were under the impression that their parents were happy. Then their father explains that she is trans. Even though she has a male body, she really on the inside feels like she is a woman, that she has felt this way her whole life and that it's time for her to start living as her true self. Jorge and Cesar are shocked. Jorge is more willing to spend time with their dad and even though he's angry, he agrees to call her Norma, the name she is going to go by from now on. Cesar, on the other hand, is absolutely furious at her and refuses to talk to her. He doesn't want anybody to know this secret. He doesn't get why she can't just live as a man. When a new girl moves in to school, Jorge has a huge crush. He is torn because he doesn't want to keep secrets from her but he is worried that if he tells her that his dad is trans that she will not want to hang around him anymore. The Greatest Superpower is about accepting and loving our people for who they are. While the characters didn't deal with this situation perfectly, neither do people in real life. Author: Kalynn Bayron
Published: 2020 Cinderella is Dead takes place 200 years after Cinderella married Prince Charming and lived happily ever after. She has been dead for years and years, but the tradition she started on the night of the ball lives on. Every year, teenage girls come to the annual ball at the palace where the men in the kingdom are able to choose any girl they want and the girl must marry him. If a girl is not chosen by a man after attending the ball for a few years, she disappears and is never heard from again. Sophia is about to attend her first ball, but there is nothing she wants less than to get married. She sees how women are treated like possessions in the kingdom. Women must do what the men in their life tell them to do or they will be "forfeited," which means they are sent to the palace where they disappear. On the night of the ball, Sophia tries to convince her best friend Erin to run away with her so they can be together, but Erin refuses, saying it's too dangerous, that they must do what is expected of them. Sophia escapes and runs into, Constance, the last living descendent of one of Cinderella's ugly stepsisters. But it turns out that the story they have been told about Cinderella, her stepsisters, and Prince Charming are not all true. There is a lot more to the story, and it is up to Sophia and Constance to figure out how to get rid of the king and disrupt the way things have always been. Cinderella is Dead is an absolutely fantastic retelling of Cinderella. I loved all the girl power vibes and the way Sophia is unapologetically herself. Author: Candice Iloh
Published: 2020 For her whole life, Ada has only known her home and her family. Her father, who is very religious, expects Ada to be as well. Her mom, who doesn't live with them, doesn't quite know how to be a mother but Ada has learned how to navigate the relationship they do have. When it is time for Ada to leave to go to college, she finds that she has endless possibilities. She has struggled with self-acceptance her whole life, and she finds that those don't just go away as she starts off on her own life and begins to explore dance and her sexuality. Told in present day along with flashbacks to her childhood, readers are able to piece together Ada's story to understand who she is and who she is becoming. Told in verse, Every Body Looking is a great story about finding yourself and spreading your wings. Author: Kacen Callender
Published: 2020 King's older brother Khalid unexpectedly died about a year ago, and ever since the funeral, King is convinced that Khalid has come back to Earth as a dragonfly. When Khalid was alive, he would talk in his sleep and King would write down what he said. He would talk about how he had dragonfly wings and he would talk about the stars and the sky, like he knows secrets about the universe that others don't see. At the funeral, a dragonfly landed on Khalid's casket and King just knows that it was Khalid. Every day after school, King goes to visit the same space in the bayou where all the dragonflies gather so he can be close to his brother. King has been struggling ever since Khalid died. The grief is so strong, and he has a hard time handling it. He especially is struggling because of something Khalid said when he was still alive. One of King's best friends Sandy told King that he might be gay. Khalid overheard and told King that he shouldn't spend time with Sandy anymore because otherwise other people might think that King is gay too. This is confusing to King. He tells Sandy he cannot be his friend anymore because he wants to do what Khalid would have wanted, but is that actually the right thing? What an absolutely beautiful, heartbreaking yet hopeful story. As soon as I finished it I just had to sit with it and really think. King and the Dragonflies is a fantastic story about grief, family, identity, and toxic masculinity. Author: Tehlor Kay Mejia
Published: 2019 The island of Medio is split. The inner section is where the very wealthy live. The closer you get to the outer regions, the more poverty there is. The outer section is where the poorest of the poor live. There is a wall separating the inner section from the outer, and it is near impossible to cross over. Those who try may be killed, and it's worthless to cross over without identification papers proving you were born on the inner island. Dani, who is a student at the Medio School for Girls located in the inner section of the island, is the top of her class. At the school, girls are trained to either become Primeras or Segundas. Wealthy men are given two wives--a Primera and a Segunda. Both play different roles. Primeras are partners who help her husband run the household; they are expected to show very little emotion. Segundas are there to bring the children and take care of them; they are able to display their emotions. Dani is a Primera and is assigned to be the wife of the most powerful young man in society. Dani has a secret. Her identification papers are forged. When she was very little, she and her parents lived on the outer island and crossed over illegally. When someone confronts her about her secrets, she suddenly has her eyes opened to the violence, the poverty and the absolute unfairness of life on the island. She has a choice to make. Will she risk everything her parents have fought and sacrificed for her? What choice does she really have? We Set the Dark on Fire is a fantastic dystopian fantasy set in a world with many (horrifying) parallels to our own society. I absolutely loved this story, and I cannot wait to see where it goes in the next book. Author: Ashley Herring Blake
Published: 2018 Mara has recently broken up with her girlfriend, Charlie. They have decided that they don't want to lose each other as best friends, so they should stop dating. But that's not the truth. Mara is dealing with a secret from her past that she has told no one, and she feels like she needs to break up with Charlie because of it. When Mara sees that Charlie starts dating someone else, she is devastated and doesn't know what to do. Mara and Owen are twins. Owen is dating Mara's good friend Hannah. When Hannah accuses Owen of rape, Mara doesn't know what to believe. If the boy Hannah was accusing wasn't her twin brother, she would absolutely believe Hannah. But she also can't be on Owen's side because she doesn't know if she is convinced when he tells her he didn't do it. When Hannah comes back to school a week after she accuses Owen, it is not pretty. Owen's friends have started bullying her and the rumors are flying. Mara needs to decide what she is going to do. Mara, Charlie, and Hannah's story is heartbreaking and beautiful. It is tough but absolutely necessary. Author: Maulik Pancholy
Published: 2019 Rahul is just starting his seventh grade year at school. He is being bullied by a boy named Brent who just won’t leave him alone. When Brent starts making fun of Rahul for staring at their classmate Justin and saying that he’s gay, Rahul feels so alone, especially because he is having complicated feelings towards Justin, and he doesn’t know who to turn to. Rahul and his family are Indian, and his mom and his aunties want Rahul and his friend Chelsea’s help to help spread the word about a celebration they are organizing on different cultures. When his aunties give a presentation in front of the whole school, Rahul is embarrassed. He doesn’t want to be a big part of the celebration. Rahul’s grandfather, Bhai, lives with him, and he tells Rahul about his grandmother who found something she was good at and became the best; Rahul thinks he needs to find something to be the best at. The problem is he doesn’t know what that is. Meanwhile he has started worrying about things like if the stove is off or if the door is locked. Keeping everything in is very hard on him. But will he reach out to someone? The Best At It is a fantastic middle grade book about a boy who is dealing with a lot of issues in his life and doesn’t know how to handle them on his own. I absolutely loved this sweet book. Author: Shaun David Hutchinson
Published: 2019 Shaun David Hutchinson writes his story of growing up as a gay boy who was also depressed. When he was younger, he didn't realize why he never felt anything for girls. He had an idea about what it was to be gay, and he was convinced that wasn't him. It took him a long time to realize that he had feelings for boys, but he still was convinced he wasn't like other gay people. Shaun keeps his secret from his parents and friends. He is also hiding his depression. He doesn't think he deserves happiness and finds himself having these bursts of anger and self-loathing. When he does eventually come out to his family and friends, he finds he still has these feelings. Shaun doesn't know how to deal with them, so he does what he thinks will make everything better. Brave Face is a heartbreaking and honest true story. Recommended for grades 8 and up. |
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