I’ve always loved writing that explores mental health and its effect on finding love. I love characters who are their worst enemies and conflicts stemming from internal battles. Depression and anxiety have been something I’ve struggled with since childhood. My mental health issues made looking to the future with hope feel impossible sometimes. When I picked up a romance book where an anxious character found a happily ever after, it gave me hope. Seeing characters who don’t have everything figured out and aren’t always confident in themselves find their happy endings is a light at the end of a tunnel—peace in the middle of a storm.
This book follows the main characters and their journey through finding young love, dealing with loss, and becoming resilient to what life throws them. The art in this book is a wonderful blend of fantasy and science fiction.
I love how the story plops you into the world but doesn’t explain how everything works. Stories without info dumps make me feel like the author trusts their characters, and visuals can stand alone.
“Tillie Walden is the future of comics, and On a Sunbeam is her best work yet. It’s a ‘space’ story unlike any you’ve ever read, with a rich, lived-in universe of complex characters.” ―Brian K. Vaughan, Saga and Paper Girls
Two timelines. Second chances. One love.
A ragtag crew travels to the deepest reaches of space, rebuilding beautiful, broken structures to piece the past together.
Two girls meet in boarding school and fall deeply in love―only to learn the pain of loss.
With interwoven timelines and stunning art, award-winning graphic novelist Tillie Walden creates an inventive world, breathtaking romance, and…
My Diné (Navajo) family stories drew me into history including studies of Indigenous experiences in boarding schools. Two of my uncles were Navajo Code Talkers, and I loved asking them about their life stories. My uncle Albert Smith often spoke about his memories of the war. I was struck by the irony that he was sent to a boarding school as a child where the Navajo language was forbidden, and then he later relied on the language to protect his homelands. I then became interested in all my relatives' boarding school stories, including those of my father, which led me to write my first book The Earth Memory Compass about Diné school experiences.
Gilbert worked closely with his Hopi people and nation on this book, and he demonstrates how a book can take different forms such as a documentary film, blog, and other more publicly accessible projects. In his book, Gilbert shows how to apply Indigenous methodologies and intellectual processes to understand Indigenous perspectives of boarding schools. He contextualizes Indian boarding school experiences as part of larger historical dynamics and a sense of being for Hopi who have faced and navigated challenges of colonialism for generations.
Education beyond the Mesas is the fascinating story of how generations of Hopi schoolchildren from northeastern Arizona "turned the power" by using compulsory federal education to affirm their way of life and better their community. Sherman Institute in Riverside, California, one of the largest off-reservation boarding schools in the United States, followed other federally funded boarding schools of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in promoting the assimilation of indigenous people into mainstream America. Many Hopi schoolchildren, deeply conversant in Hopi values and traditional education before being sent to Sherman Institute, resisted this program of acculturation. Immersed in learning…
Such a compelling, well-crafted mystery! I had no idea how the various deaths, disappearances, and inexplicably eerie occurrences all fit together and I didn't want to put down the book until I'd found out.
From New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson comes the start of a new series about a sharp and funny young detective named Stevie Bell who begins school at an elite, yet peculiar, boarding school and finds herself entangled in a murder mystery; perfect for fans of 13 LITTLE BLUE ENVELOPES.
New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson weaves a delicate tale of murder and mystery in the first book of a striking new series, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and E. Lockhart.
Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont for the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists.…
I live in California and write novels based on my grandmother’s stories of our female ancestors. I love tales of everyday women who lived normal lives (according to them) but were quite remarkable to my 21st-century eyes. I wrote The Aloha Spirit about my husband’s grandmother, who was an amazing woman. His family is from Hawaii, and we visit there frequently. Anyone who spends time in the islands experiences the warm welcome of the people, which we know as the aloha spirit. I know Grandma had a difficult life, and I wrote the novel to explore how she might have overcome those difficulties to find her aloha spirit.
I truly enjoy historical fiction that presents a culture or era from a different point of view. This one is set in early twentieth-century Hawaii. It features a girl, Letty, returning from a boarding school on the mainland. Letty’s devoted to animals, and she is one of the first female veterinarians in history. She jumps into the ocean to save a horse. Her healing powers are strengthened by her connection to the ancient Hawaiian land. The undercurrent of power gives this novel a fantasy feel, but it doesn’t lose its historical aspect. Then Letty learns the price of her healing power—her kisses can kill. Even worse, she’s attracted to the man who owns the horse she saved.
Lose yourself in the magic of old Hawaii with award-winning author Katherine Kayne . . .
Letty Lang is a suffragist of the most fearless kind, with a bullwhip, big plans, and ancient power she doesn’t understand. Will a fast horse and a stubborn man derail her dreams?
Banished to boarding school to tame her wild temper, Leticia Lili‘uokalani Lang sails home to Hawaii, bringing her devotion to animals with her. She’ll be among the first female veterinarians in history—most remarkable in 1909 when women still cannot vote.
With one mad leap into the ocean to save a horse, Letty…
I’ve always been a big fan of sci-fi and fantasy, especially anything involving superheroes or D&D-style adventure. For the longest time, I had to find queer representation through subtle glances and creative readings of characters. I loved these stories for the sci-fi and fantasy elements, but it was frustrating that every love story that came up was straight. It didn’t feel possible for queer love to be a part of a plot, and even when there was a queer character it had a “very special episode” vibe to it. Finally, queer characters are becoming part of the story, and it doesn’t have to be a “big deal.”
It took me months to pick up Carry On after it initially caught my eye on the bookshelf. It was everything I could have wanted.
It is a less problematic Harry Potter, if Harry and Draco ended up getting together. It shows a really authentic representation of unrequited queer love and recognizing one’s own queer identity. It is character-driven, but also full of fun magic adventure. I love a book that knows how to give you exactly what you want.
#1 New York Times best seller! Booklist Editors’ Choice 2015 - Youth! Named a "Best Book of 2015" by Time Magazine, School Library Journal, Barnes & Noble, NPR, PopSugar, The Millions, and The News & Observer!
Simon Snow is the worst Chosen One who's ever been chosen.
That's what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he's probably right.
Half the time, Simon can't even make his wand work, and the other half, he starts something on fire. His mentor's avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there's…
Starting at age ten, I loved everything about Superman. I loved his origin story—who wouldn’t root for an alien baby arriving on Earth with superpowers that are eventually used to fight evil? Superman comics were a place for me to escape for entertainment and to dream about becoming something more…maybe something super. I hope kids today will dream about superheroes and, in the end, realize they have superpowers they can use to make their lives and the world a better place. This explains why I connect with the following five books.
Olive is sent away to RASCH, a private school on an island in the San Francisco Bay. There, she befriends a girl named Phil, who shares her love of "Meggie and Her Fun Family" comics. I’m not sure Meggie qualifies as a “superhero” per se. All we know is Meggie has something Olive thinks she’s always wanted, and isn’t that the allure of most superhero stories?
Olive has never fit in at the many schools she’s attended. She sees the world in a different way. I enjoy stories about smart girls who start out as misfits and eventually find their place in the world—and just maybe that place for Olive is still a place called misfit, and that’s okay so long as she’s not alone.
Yee and Santat form a strong team in bringing this delightful story to life. Their cast of misfits are kids I’d like to hang…
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • When a notorious thief is out for priceless treasure (gems! cats! general decorum!)—who're you gonna call? An elite team of crime-fighting underdogs, that's who! The Misfits are on the case in this hilarious illustrated series from Newbery Honoree Lisa Yee and Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat!
“For any kid who’s felt like a misfit, this crackling adventure packs a wallop!” —Lincoln Peirce, creator of Big Nate and Max & the Midknights
Olive Cobin Zang has . . . issues. And they mostly aren’t her fault. (No, really!) Though she often slips under the radar, problems have…
I have been writing formally since I started my first book in high school. Even then, I was writing with dual POVs. Having multiple perspectives throughout my stories has been essential to all my books. I believe it adds so much more than a single POV can, and I love the process of it. You must decide what each of the characters’ motivations, and defining characteristics are and relate them back to the story. My most recent novel, below, has four POVs, each of which is as important as the others.
The first book in the Zodiac Academy Series is only dual POV, but as the series goes on, more POVs are added. This series made me laugh more than any other book series I have ever read. But it also broke my heart and sewed it back up more times than I can count.
Only having the dual POV for the first book is a great way to get to know the main characters and the world they’ve entered before adding in the others. Adding the extra POVs starting in book two gave more backstory on the characters who I perceived as the villains. It adds so much to the story and allows me to rethink my loyalties and decide who I thought to be the true villain.
The Amazon.com and Wall Street Journal #1 bestselling dark fantasy romance series from authors Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti
I’m a Gemini. Impulsive. Curious. Headstrong. A twin. Heir to a throne I know nothing about. And it turns out, I’m Fae.
But of course there’s a catch - all I have to do to claim my birth right is prove that I’m the most powerful supernatural in the whole of Solaria. And sure, technically that’s true as I’m the daughter of the Savage King. But the bit they didn’t put in the brochure was that every single Fae in this…
Growing up in the nineties I was a Buffy fan, although that is probably understating things. I have all the Buffy novels, which I read over when waiting for the next series to come out (this was in the days before Netflix!). For me, Buffy had the exact right mix of humour, horror, and deeper complexity, dealing with issues that really impacted me, but in a way that made them accessible. I loved the characters, I loved Buffy herself, I loved her strength and humanity. When I decided to write Raising Hell, I was influenced by Buffy, but there are differences – Ivy is no chosen one, she chose herself.
This is literally a Buffyverse novel, set after the events of the last series, when Willow has cast her spell to make Potentials into Slayers. The main character is Nina, a British daughter of a watcher, who has some hard choices to make. I have enjoyed Kiersten White’s work since I read Paranormalcy many years ago. She has a great sense of humour and writes characters who feel very real and will stay with you for a long time.
“Will get Buffy fans up in their feels.” —Entertainment Weekly
A New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestseller
From bestselling author Kiersten White comes the first novel in a series set in the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that introduces a new Slayer as she grapples with the responsibility of managing her incredible powers that she’s just beginning to understand.
Into every generation a Slayer is born…
Nina and her twin sister, Artemis, are far from normal. It’s hard to be when you grow up at the Watcher’s Academy, which is a bit different from your average boarding school.…
My father passed away in early 2005, but it wasn’t until after I finished drafting Touching the Surface, that I became consciously aware of how my writing was deeply connected to the thoughts I had about losing my Dad. The realization only added to my fascination with stories about the afterlife. Simultaneously it also expanded my intrigue with the themes of bad things happening to good people and life-altering mistakes being meant to alter lives. The more I explored the stories I loved and dug deeper into my own writing, the more I realized these themes overlapped like carefully folded origami. Complicated choices are intriguing.
Fifteen-year-old Jam’s boyfriend has died, and she’s been sent to the Wooden Barn, a therapeutic boarding school. Assigned to a selective class called Special Topics in English, Jam and the other struggling students discover that a journal-writing assignment transports them to a place where past trauma seems to be undone and the dead are returned to the ones they love. But as Jam spends more and more time in a static version of her boyfriend’s afterlife, she must figure out if she should hold on to what she once had or reach for something else. Belzhar is twisty tale of magical realism that I will never stop thinking about.
“Everyone has something to say. But not everyone can bear to say it. Your job is to find a way.”
"Expect depth and razor sharp wit in this YA novel from the author of The Interestings." - Entertainment Weekly
"A prep school tale with a supernatural-romance touch, from genius adult novelist Meg Wolitzer." -Glamour
"Basically everything Meg Wolitzer writes is worth reading, usually over and over again, and her YA debut . . . is no exception." -TeenVogue.com
If life were fair, Jam Gallahue would still be at home in New Jersey with her sweet British boyfriend, Reeve Maxfield. She'd be watching old comedy sketches with him. She'd be kissing him in the library stacks. She certainly wouldn't be at…
Plus, Katie's
11, and 14-year-old's favorite books.
Why did Katie love this book?
Growing up, I was so close to my
great-grandmother that I chose a college near her. Shortly after I graduated,
she died. I wish I'd had this book then.
Cash's grandparents and best friend,
Delaney, are his life. When Delaney earns an elite scholarship, will Cash
follow her or stay with his dying Papaw? I am a sucker for friends-to-lovers
stories, and I loved the simmer between Cash and Delaney.
What got me right in
the gut, though, was the relationship between Cash and Papaw. The best scene is a memory of when Papaw
took Cash hunting—and Cash hated it. Papaw's response fractured my heart with
its beauty.
This is a book to help you mourn, showing how to live on without
letting go of any of the love.
I've always loved when the light finds the broken spots in the world and makes them beautiful . . .
Cash's life in his small Tennessee town is hard. He lost his mom to an opioid addiction and his grandfather's illness is getting worse. His smart but troubled best friend, Delaney, is his only salvation. But Delaney is meant for greater things, and she finds a way for Cash to leave with her. Will abandoning his old life be the thing that finally breaks Cash, or will it be the making of him?
