When I came out of the closet in college, I lost friends and family who wouldn’t love me for who I was. As time went on, however, new family started appearing in surprising places: people that wanted to journey with me and stick by my side even though we weren’t related by blood or birth. New, chosen family found me. Reading stories about others searching for–and finding–family in the midst of the wackiness of life has always been a comfort. I hope that you find yourself immersed in the abundance of love that family (by blood or by choice) can bring.
I wrote...
Second Dad Summer
By
Benjamin Klas,
Fian Arroyo
What is my book about?
Jeremiah just wants to have a normal summer with his dad. Unfortunately, his dad just moved to downtown Minneapolis to live with his wacky new boyfriend, Michael. Michael serves weird organic foods, wears shorts that are always too short, and rides around on The Uni-Cycle: a bike decorated to look like a unicorn. Things are shaping up to be a looooong summer. Thankfully Jeremiah finds Sage, the girl next door whose favorite hobbies include naming clouds and taking epic bike pilgrimages through the city. As the summer goes on and Jeremiah starts finding community in surprising places, he starts to wonder who truly belongs in his family.
Foreward Reviews say it’s, “Welcoming and inclusive.” Kirkus Reviewssay it’s, “Touching and unforgettable.” Naturally, I have to agree.
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The Books I Picked & Why
The Mysterious Benedict Society
By
Trenton Lee Stewart,
Carson Ellis
Why this book?
Four orphans who seemed all alone in the world, are brought together by the strange Mr. Benedict. Although they were chosen for their intelligence, braininess looks wildly different coming from each of them. As they go undercover to, well, save the world (more or less), their loyalty and bonds of deep friendship might be just as important as their wits. Family awaits in unforeseen places.
Bonus: You get to puzzle out clues right along with the rest of ‘em. See if your own wits would be enough to get you into the society!
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Boxers
By
Gene Luen Yang
Why this book?
Travel back in time to the Boxer Rebellion in the early 1900s. This graphic novel follows Little Bao as he gathers a brotherhood (and later is joined by a sisterhood) called the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists. People from many different backgrounds gather together to support each other to fight for the freedom of their homeland, China. I love the way that the clean illustrations in this graphic novel make the story explode in my mind as I follow this band of ragtag revolutionaries coming together as a family on a mission!
Bonus: There’s a companion graphic novel, Saints, that tells a parallel story from a very different perspective!
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Watership Down
By
Richard Adams
Why this book?
This is a story about a group of homeless rabbits forming a new family.
Wait a second.
Rabbits?!
Yep.
Driven from their old warren, the small group of rabbits is out in the wide world looking for a place to make a new home for themselves. Although only two of them are related by blood, the whole group of them are going to have to cover for each other, support each other’s weaknesses, and rely on one another’s strengths if they want to survive. If that doesn’t sound like family, I don’t know what does.
Bonus: You get to learn some rabbit language along the way. What’s a hrududu? How about flayrah? You’ll have to read to find out!
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Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
By
Ransom Riggs
Why this book?
Having an epic, peculiar power sounds like fun, doesn’t it? What if that meant that you were cast out and disconnected from your family? What if there was a place where you could find others just as strange as you, but just as different as you are from the rest of the world?
Eery, haunting antique photographs give the book shiver-inducing realism as Jacob finds out about this formed family of peculiars, and about whether he might become to be a part of their group.
Bonus: The story may just have a time loop or two. I mean, how do you get better than that? Time loops are even better than Fruit Loops!
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Because of Winn-Dixie
By
Kate DiCamillo
Why this book?
Follow India Opal around her new town as she hunts for friendship and new family even as she learns more about the mother she lost. It’s a mangy mutt that helps break into the world of so many interesting people in her town. I’ve read this book at least a dozen times, and I’m always in love with the tangled ways that bring so many disparate characters together by the end of the book.
Bonus: it contains the best fictional candy of all time: the Littmus Lozenge!
