Category Archives: LGBTQ+

What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera

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What if it’s Us, by Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli, is magical. It tells the story of Arthur, a high school student who lives in Georgia but is spending the summer as an intern in New York, and Ben, a New York native spending the summer in summer school. Their sweet, romantic-movie meetup is incredible. Neither of them can believe it. Somehow, in the chaos of the huge city, the universe managed to put them together in the same place, at the same time. They knew they had to make the universe’s wishes come true. Their desperation to find each other is adorable and admirable. Everyone is rooting for them, and the lead up is amazing. This story is two boys, finding love and a perfect summer in the magic of New York.
Silvera and Albertalli write this book with familiar and comfortable characters. They feel so real and relatable, making them even more lovable. Every character is unique; every interaction special. There are laugh-out-loud moments, and serious moments, and very romantic moments. Everything an amazing story needs. This book makes everyone believe in love. All different kinds of love. It is about taking chances, and do-overs, and forgiveness. A great story for anyone and anytime.

What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera

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After months of waiting, the time has finally come to welcome into the world What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera. The long awaited collaboration between two of the best authors of queer YA more than lives up to both author’s previous books. While Albertalli’s light and cheerful style gives the story a rom-comesque feeling (while still flipping the genres usual stereotypes), Silvera’s chapters ground the book, giving it a thoughtfulness and dimension needed to balance it.
When Arthur accompanied his parents to NYC for the summer he had three goals: make friends at his internship, explore the city, see Hamilton. But now his parents are fighting, one of his best friends won’t text him, and there has been no sign of Lin Manuel Miranda. To top it off he was too clueless to get the name of the cute guy he met at the post office.
Meanwhile, Ben has his own set of problems. His friend group splintered after a couple of breakups, his boyfriend cheated on him and his best friend has all but abandoned him for his latest romance. Oh, and he has to attend summer school. With his ex.
With the help of craigslist, their friends, and plenty of internet stalking via instagram they may find each other, but what then? Will they work together, and what happens when Arthur has to leave at the end of the summer?

Summer Bird Blue by Akemi

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Akemi Bowman’s new novel Summer Bird Blue is hard to describe. The entire book is filled with such raw, powerful emotion that it immerses you in the story so deeply it is difficult to take a step back and analyze it. It’s a bit like a wave, beautiful and powerful and able to effortlessly pull you under and pummel you until you reach the end. It’s an incredible book, but not one you want to read in public (you WILL ugly cry).
When her sister Lea is killed in a car crash Rumi feels like she is drowning. Not only has she lost her sister and best friend, but her mother has sent Rumi off to Hawaii to spend the summer with her aunt rather than deal with their shared grief. Lost and alone in a strange place Rumi clings to one thing: Summer Bird Blue. It’s the name of the song she and Lea had been writing when Lea died, and Rumi is determined to finish it for both of them.
But how can she when Rumi sees Lea every time she hears a song or strums a guitar? The only place music doesn’t hurt is at their neighbor Mr. Wantanabe’s house, and the only time Rumi feels remotely normal is when she is with her new friend Kai. With her Aunt and her new friend’s help Rumi slowly learns how to live her life without Lea at her side. Summer Bird Blue is a beautiful homeage to heartbreak, healing and the power of friendship.

Every Day by David Levithan

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Every Day by David Levithan, is probably my favorite book. It is a beautiful story about love, the obstacles of life, and how important making memories is. The main character, A, wakes up every single day in a new place, in a new body. He takes over for a day, traveling through this strange life and seeing all kinds of things. One day, he wakes up in the body of Justin, and meets his girlfriend- Rhiannon. Love at first sight is such a cliche, but David Levithan makes it fascinatingly real. He tells the story of A and Rhiannon, and the intense obstacles they have to face, even just to talk to each other! This love story is one of a kind, and it will keep you wanting more.
I love this book because it is a completely new take on a love story. They get repetitive after a while, and this brings a fresh take to the YA genre. Every Day sucks you in; you feel the character’s emotions; you live this story. I read this a few years ago, but even now I still remember the feelings washing over me as I indulged in this. It is memorable, beautiful, and heart-racing. This is the most interesting book I have ever read, and that’s saying something! David Levithan truly brings such a riveting storyline to such a unique group of characters. I’m glad it has a sequel! I cannot praise this book enough, and it will always be an all-time favorite.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

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Simon Spier is just your typical teenager. He has a small group of close friends, gets good grades, plays small roles in the school musical, oh, and he’s gay. And nobody else knows. Nobody that is except Blue, the guy he’s been secretly emailing since August. Blue’s also gay, also in the closet, also at Shady Creek High, also the perfect guy for Simon. The only problem is that neither of them has a clue who the other is. And Blue wants to keep it that way. Which Simon is okay with. Totally

Things get even more complicated when Martin finds out Simon and Blue’s secret. Martin has a crush on Simon’s friend Abby, and if getting a date with her means blackmailing Simon into setting them up, then so be it. Now Simon must find a way to help Martin get what he wants, or face the consequences.

Soon to be made into a major motion picture, Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda is a wonderful coming-of-age style book with a wide and varied cast of characters. The reader will find themselves relating to Simon, to his friends, the mysterious Blue, and even Martin. Between the friendships, the secrets, and the way other kids handle learning that Simon is gay, Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda is a well written and timely novel for teens to read.

 

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust

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Love YA fantasy? Subtle romance? A dark and twisting tale that defies all clichés and expectations? How about brilliant retellings of your favorite fairytales? If so, Girls Made of Snow and Glass is perfect for you.

Mina is a queen. She has wealth, power, a crown, and control over half a kingdom. Everything she could ever want, except one thing: love. Mina’s magician father cut out her dying heart and replaced it with one of glass when she was a child. But Mina’s new heart was made to function, not feel, so she cannot truly love or be loved.

Lynet is a princess who looks exactly like her dead mother, Queen Emilia, a beautiful, delicate, soft-spoken woman who was too frail to survive Lynet’s birth. The young princess has always been told that when she grows up she will be exactly like her mother, but Lynet isn’t so sure. She prefers scaling the castle walls to playing the harp or dancing; and she would much rather spend her time talking with Nadia, the intriguing new female surgeon, than listening to the Pigeons (a gaggle of gossipy old ladies) jabber on about how like her mother Lynet is. But Lynet doesn’t want to be like the dead queen, she doesn’t want to be delicate. She would rather emulate Mina, her fierce and beautiful stepmother, than the mother she never met.

But as Lynet grows older, her father seeks to force his daughter into her mother’s place and in doing so force Mina out. As Lynet is slowly given more of the queen’s power, stepmother and daughter grow farther apart, and Lynet must fight to keep the only mother she has ever known. But there can only be one queen, and when Lynet learns a shocking secret about the circumstances surounding her birth, the princess is forced to reexamine everything she thought she knew about her family, her home, and most of all — herself.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass is a lovely and haunting tale of love and loss, adventure and politics, and most of all: family. In this beautiful, heartbreaking story, Bashardoust reimagines the fairytale Snow White, to create a vivid and powerful cast of characters to populate the fantastical world that she has conjured into existance on the page. If Girls Made of Snow and Glass isn’t yet on your reading list, add it now, for this is an incredible book that will stick with you for a long time to come.

Jane Unlimited by Kristin Cashmore

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In a tale as delightfully confusing as the mismatched halls of Tu Reviens, Kristin Cashore brings to life a world of art and mystery. The story winds through five alternate universes that take place if Jane had made a different choice in the first half of the book. Each retelling solves a separate mystery that takes place at the same time and place but is never really revealed in the others. Each choice spins the tale into a new direction and genre, be it sci-fi, mystery, adventure, fantasy or romance. With its colorful setting, dark secrets, and unique and quirky characters Jane, Unlimited more than lives up to Cashore’s previous books.

The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow

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In the first book of the Prisoners of Peace duology, Erin Bow introduces us to a new type of future dystopia. A dark sci-fi set in a terrifyingly plausible future, The Scorpion Rules is a true masterpiece. Complete with a captivating storyline, sprinkled with wry humor and gems of wisdom, The Scorpion Rules is one of those rare books that demands your attention and is impossible to put down. In The Scorpion Rules, Bow demonstrates a unique writing style that defies every cliché and expectation. With complex characters who think and act like real people, and plot twists you won’t see coming,  Bow explores the very meaning of friendship- and love. The Scorpion Rules, in conclusion, is a true gem in the world of Young Adult literature.

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