Kylie recommends: None of the Above by I. W. Gregorio
Genre: Contemporary
Reading Level: YA
Summary: A teenage girl finds out she was born intersex and everything she knew about herself changes in an instant.
Kylie says: This was an eye-opening story about a intersex person and how that diagnosis impacts her relationships in high school.
Kylie recommends: Teach the Torches to Burn: A Romeo & Juliet Remix by Caleb Roehrig
Genre: YA retelling
Reading Level: YA
Summary: A Romeo & Juliet LGBTQ+ retelling following a relationship between Romeo and Mercutio’s brother Valentine.
Kylie says: A classic retelling with a twist featuring LGBTQ+ characters.
Kylie recommends: Something More by Jackie Khalilieh
Genre: Contemporary romance
Reading Level: YA
Summary: A coming-of-age story about Jessie, a Palestinian-Canadian girl trying to hide her new autism diagnosis while navigating her first year of high school.
Kylie says: I loved the autism representation in this story and the romance was really cute. There are friends-to-lovers, bad boy x good girl, and love triangle tropes. Theater is a big part of the story and Jessie makes a list of goals to achieve that drives the story.
Kylie recommends: Yellowface by R. F. Kuang
Genre: Literary fiction
Reading Level: Adult
Summary: Author June witnesses the freak accident death of her friend and best-selling author, Athena, and steals her unpublished work and passes it off as her own under the name Juniper Song. “So what if June edits Athena’s novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song–complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn’t this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? That’s what June claims, and the New York Times bestseller list seems to agree.”
Kylie says: This was a very compelling and thought provoking story. You read from June’s perspective and see her rationale for everything she does, you feel conflicted as a reader. I also really liked the inside look at the publishing world and how it discussed topics like racism, diversity, cultural appropriation, and ethics.
This title is available at Foster Public Library.
