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Staff Picks
I tore through this book of poems. Deep and heartfelt, Sotelo's work resonates with me as a woman but also speak to the larger human experience. [Karen]
It's winter in Winnipeg and this book literally comes with a trigger warning for violence. It's a gritty novel, and there are no easy solutions for these Indigenous women. If you like intergenerational stories that explore resiliency and love, are emotionally demanding, and told with great depth, try The Break. The story will stick with you, as it has with me. [Tanya]
The payoff is sooooo satisfying. Strong focus on character development and I'm honestly still thinking about Penny and Sam all the time. Choi wanted to write a YA book about a blossoming friendship where "high-key nothing happens"—much of the book unfolds through texting (which is written exceptionally well, not forced LiKe 0Mgz at all)—and I'm maybe obsessed. Introverts and millennials will especially enjoy this contemporary, dual perspective novel, which also touches on anxiety, awkwardness, and class. It's a lighthearted but not fluffy read. I loved this. [Tanya]
I keep putting off writing this blurb because I don't want to mess it up… but this is the book I want to handsell most. This haunting, beautiful novel Akwaeke Emezi has created is unprecedented. Ten pages in and I knew this. Freshwater is an entire reality; it is liminal space, it is dark, spiritual, layered. It offers a new paradigm for gender and trauma (but let's be clear: Emezi has stated that "none of this is a metaphor for mental illness."). The prose is incantory and so, so gorgeous. Read this and get back to me because I am dying to talk to someone about it. [Tanya]
Jenny Zhang packs a punch with this collection of short stories that captures girlhood in all its glory. Her writing is rapid fire, full of wit, anger, sadness, hope, and love. Zhang skillfully embodies the voices of the girls whose stories she tells, is often crass—perfectly capturing a kid's unfiltered self. You'll find yourself laughing one minute and crying the next. Winner of the 2018 PEN Literary Award. [Tanya]
Compelling story told in verse—a perfect vehicle for the raw, intense emotions you will feel as Xiomara navigates religion, being Afro-Latinx (specifically the daughter of Dominican immigrants), sexuality, body acceptance… A must-have for every high school library. It's the kind of book teens will cite as the book that showed them they weren't alone—or that they wish they had known about when they were growing up. Slam poetry is a theme, so this book is *especially perfect* for the ones who think they "aren't smart enough" for poetry. Bonus: the author (a slam poet herself) narrates the audiobook! [Tanya]
I am of the opinion that "Freight Train" is the best folk song. So I loved this book about the song's writer, Elizabeth Cotten. Bonus: It's written by folksy dreamweaver Laura Veirs. [karen]
This memoir is the most moving meditation on grief I have ever read. Didion's writing is so smooth and measured that it leaves me breathless. If you are going through something difficult, this is the book to read. You won't find self help, just a fellow traveler on the difficult road of grief. [karen]
Hands-down my top nonfiction book of 2017. Do you enjoy excellent writing on topics like punk rock, joy, systemic racism, Islam, the Midwest, family—woven together poetically, insightfully? Do you want to cry while reading an essay about Fall Out Boy? Run, don't walk. [Tanya]
Savor this. Truong, inspired by a fleeting mention of two “Indo-Chinese” cooks in The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book, crafts a sensuous fictional memoir told from the perspective of a Vietnamese man living in Paris. The premise alone—to turn a minor footnote into a whole story, a whole life—is a wonderful play on power, but everything about this book is subversive. Nonlinear and queer with so much to say about language, I will forever recommend this book. [Tanya]
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