Can you believe we’re halfway through the year? Where does the time go? And in June be ready to catch all the book gems that are dropping!
Here are all the diverse books coming out this month that you should add to your list:
✴ He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Lost in the Void by Liselle Sambury
✴ The Dos and Donuts of Love Adiba Jaigirdar
✴ I Won’t Shut Up: Finding Your Voice When The World Tries to Silence You by Ally Henny
✴ Indigiqueerness: A Conversation about Storytelling Joshua Whitehead
✴ The Order of Things by Kaija Langley
✴ These Infinite Threads by Tahereh
✴ Adventures with Claudie by Brit Bennet
✴ When It All Syncs Up by Maya Amaenyaw
✴ Much Ado About Nada by Uzma Jalaluddin
✴ Nightbloom by Peace Adzo Medie
✴ Kismat Connection by Ananya Devarajan
✴ Fatima Tate Takes the Cake by Khadijah VanBrakle
✴ True True by Don P. Hooper (Penguin Young Reader)
✴ What She Missed by Liara Tamani
✴ Sing Me to Sleep by Gabi Burton
✴ And the Walls Came Down by Denise Da Costa
✴ You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron
✴ Theo Tan and the Iron Fan by Jesse Q. Sutanto
✴ The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
✴ This Town Is on Fire by Pamela N. Harris
✴ The Rebel King by Kennedy Ryan
✴ Invisible Son by Kim Johnson
✴ The Brightest Star by Gail Tsukiyama
✴ Banyan Moon by Thao Thai
✴ The Shadow Sister by Lily Meade
✴ The Talk by Darrin Bell
✴ Sleeping with the Ancestors: How I Followed the Footprints of Slavery By Joseph McGill Jr. and Herb Frazier
✴ Young and Restless: The Girls Who Sparked America’s Revolutions by Mattie Kahn
I’m really excited to dive into these books, and I hope you will consider adding them to your own reading list as well! Here are some of the ones from the list that I highly recommend.
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Lost in the Void by Liselle Sambury: The Tales of Eternia series continues in an all-new, action-packed adventure following the character of Teela, one of Prince Adam’s most trusted allies and a fierce warrior with magical powers. As the formidable Sorceress, she and her fellow Masters of the Universe—He-Man, Ram-Ma’am, Man-At-Arms, and Battle Cat—will face their biggest challenge yet in this pulse-pounding fantasy!
The Dos and Donuts of Love Adiba Jaigirdar: A pun-filled YA contemporary romance, The Dos and Donuts of Love by Adiba Jaigirdar finds a teenage girl competing in a televised baking competition, with contestants including her ex-girlfriend and a potential new crush. Shireen Malik is still reeling from the breakup with her ex-girlfriend, Chris, when she receives news that she’s been accepted as a contestant on a new televised baking competition show. This is Shireen’s dream come true! Because winning will not only mean prize money, but it will also bring some much-needed attention to You Drive Me Glazy, her parents’ beloved donut shop.
Indigiqueerness: A Conversation about Storytelling Joshua Whitehead: A tender, eclectic reflection from an Indigenous author on his life, work, and queer identity. Evolving from a conversation between author Joshua Whitehead and Angie Abdou, Indigiqueerness is part dialogue, part collage, and part memoir. Beginning with memories of his childhood poetry and prose and traveling through the library of his life, Whitehead contemplates the role of theory, Indigenous language, queerness, and fantastical worlds in all his artistic pursuits. Indigiqueerness is imbued with Whitehead’s energy and celebrates Indigenous writers and creators who defy expectations and transcend genres.
The Order of Things by Kaija Langley: A heart-rending novel-in-verse about a girl who must come to terms with the sudden death of her best friend. Eleven-year-old April Jackson loves playing the drums, almost as much as she loves her best friend, Zee, a violin prodigy. They both dream of becoming professional musicians one day. When Zee starts attending a new school that will nurture his talent, April decides it’s time for her to pursue her dreams, too, and finally take drum lessons. She knows she isn’t very good to start, but with Zee’s support, she also knows someday she can be just as good as her hero, Sheila E., and travel all around the world with a pair of drumsticks in her hand.
Much Ado About Nada by Uzma Jalaluddin: Nada Syed is stuck. On the cusp of thirty, she’s still living at home with her brothers and parents in the Golden Crescent neighbourhood of Toronto, resolutely ignoring her mother’s unsubtle pleas to get married already. While Nada has a good job as an engineer, it’s a far cry from realizing her start-up dreams for her tech baby, Ask Apa, the app that launched with a whimper instead of a bang because of a double-crossing business partner. Nothing in her life has turned out the way it was supposed to, and Nada feels like a failure. Something needs to change, but the past is holding on too tightly to let her move forward.
Nightbloom by Peace Adzo Medie: A riveting depiction of class and family in Ghana, a compelling exploration of memory, and an eye-opening story of life as an African-born woman in the United States, Nightbloom is above all a gripping and beautifully written novel attesting to the strength of female bonds in the face of societies that would prefer to silence women.
Kismat Connection by Ananya Devarajan: In this charming YA debut, a girl who’s determined to prove her star chart wrong ropes her longtime best friend into an experimental relationship—not knowing that he has been in love with her for years. Madhuri Iyer is doomed. Doomed for her upcoming senior year to be a total failure, according to her astrology-obsessed mother, and doomed to a happily ever after with her first boyfriend, according to her family curse. Determined to prove the existence of her free will, Madhuri devises an experimental relationship with the one boy she knows she’ll never fall for: her childhood best friend, Arjun Mehta. But Arjun’s feelings for her are a variable she didn’t account for.
You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron: Charity Curtis has the summer job of her dreams, playing the “final girl” at Camp Mirror Lake. Guests pay to be scared in this full-contact terror game, as Charity and her summer crew recreate scenes from a classic slasher film, Curse of Camp Mirror Lake. The more realistic the fear, the better for business. But the last weekend of the season, Charity’s co-workers begin disappearing. And when one ends up dead, Charity’s role as the final girl suddenly becomes all too real. If Charity and her girlfriend Bezi hope to survive the night, they’ll need figure out what this killer is after. Is there is more to the story of Mirror Lake and its dangerous past than Charity ever suspected?
Theo Tan and the Iron Fan by Jesse Q. Sutanto: A Chinese American Boy and his snarky fox spirit face down demon kings as they race against time to be reunited with his brother’s spirit in Jesse Q. Sutanto’s magical, action-packed sequel to Theo Tan and the Fox Spirit. Theo Tan and his fox spirit, Kai, are willing to go to hell and back for their family. Literally.
If you’ve read any of these books, please let me know what you thought of them. And if you have any book recommendations, I’d love to hear them in the comments below. Happy reading, everyone!
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What do you think?