Melissa by Alex Gino is a delightful story that highlights the importance of being yourself. The big, bright letters spelling “be who you are” on the back cover suggest it, but the story inside makes it clear. The titular protagonist is a young transgender girl who navigates her gender alongside interactions with family, her best […]
Ria Khan wants nothing more than to become a famous stuntwoman, so she puts all of her prodigious determination and energy into making a name for herself online. She is bullied at school and discouraged by her parents for this dream, so she relies heavily on her older sister Lena. Lena has dropped out of […]
Barbara Kingsolver employs her exceptional talent for character development and world-building for the eponymous Damon “Demon Copperhead” Fields, set in Appalachia from the 1990s to today, in her retelling of Charles Dickens’s David Copperfield. For readers of the Dickens tale, it is fun exercise to compare the new and the old versions of the classic […]
In Holly Jackson’s latest young adult mystery, Bel Price’s family is the focus of a new documentary being filmed based on the disappearance of her mother, Rachel Price. Rachel Price disappeared 16 years ago without a trace. Her car was found on the side of the road, running, with the heat on and the doors […]
There are two things that Wren Martin hates more than anything: The Valentine’s Day Dance at Rapture High, and his Student Council Vice President, Leo Reyes. When Wren becomes Student Council President (by a technicality, but that’s not important) he’s determined to make the school better by doing away with the Dance and using the […]
Garrard Conley, the author of the bestselling memoir Boy Erased, covers similar themes of reconciling queer sexuality with a deeply repressive religious community in this foray into historical fiction. In 18th-century Massachusetts, a Puritan preacher falls in love with a physician who leaves Boston to join his small religious community. Their affair and the steps […]
Set in a far future where a united Korean military called the Alliance dominates as the leading galactic force, Ocean’s Godori immerses readers in a space opera where an eclectic crew finds itself in the crossfire of a terrorist attack and, subsequently, an ever-unravelling mystery. Ocean Yoon, a skilled but rebellious pilot within the Alliance, […]
In a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever―and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far […]
The Velvet Underground. Just the name conjures images of gritty New York City nights, avant-garde soundscapes, and lyrics that dared to push boundaries. If you’re a fan like me, you know their impact on rock and roll is undeniable. But even if you haven’t fully delved into their world, Todd Haynes’s 2021 documentary, simply titled […]
Are you a fan of British humor? Satires about Hollywood? Yes? Then I have just the show for you—“Episodes”, starring Tamsin Greig, Stephen Mangan, and…Matt LeBlanc. Yes, you heard right. Joey from “Friends.” If this seems like an unlikely trio, well, that’s the entire premise of the show. Sean (Mangan) and Beverly (Greig) are a […]
