Everything We Never Had
Randy Ribay
Kokila
Nominated by: Richetta
Enzo describes his anxiety as “murder hornets” when the news of the world and doom-scrolling overwhelm him. As he tries to learn how to process his emotions healthily, the COVID-19 pandemic forces his unlikeable grandfather, Emil, out of his retirement community and into Enzo’s room, displacing him and his family’s routines. Through this upheaval, In Everything We Never Had, Randy Ribay invites you into a multi-generational story of what it means to survive, live, and be a good father and son, as well as the impossible to concisely translate, utang na loob (a debt from within), that is carried from the work of our ancestors. The history of the Maghabol male line from immigration to the US in 1929 by Francisco, Emil’s father, at sixteen, through Enzo’s story, is told in sections helping to explore how Francisco, Emil, Chris, and finally Enzo, are shaped by their society, community, and their relationship with their fathers into the adults we meet in Enzo’s chapters. Interweaving historical contributions of Filipino Americans and more recent developments in the Philipines adds another layer to this exploration of family relationships and the desire to create a better future for those who come afterward, helps to keep the story progressing and adds tension to this beautifully written story of one family claiming their identity and accepting one another. This novel will leave you thinking about your own relationships and family history, as well as wanting to return to revisit Ribay’s words as he helps put into words feelings you didn’t know how to express.
Icarus
K. Ancrum
HarperTeen
Nominated by: Megan
Icarus and his father have been stealing art from the Black mansion for as long as he can remember. He’s mastered leading a double life, but ultimately, he wants out. A few more thefts and he’ll have the money to escape from the life his father thrust upon him. Then, Icarus meets Black’s son Helios, someone he can’t leave without. As their bond strengthens, Icarus becomes willing to do whatever it takes to save himself and the boy he loves. K. Ancrum’s Icarus is an unbelievable adventure, a swoon-worthy queer love story, and a tragically beautiful Greek mythology retelling all in one. All the elements are expertly weaved together, resulting in a novel that has something to interest every reader.
On the Bright Side
Anna Sortino
G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Publisher/ Author Submission
On the Bright Side is a dive into disability in different stages and what life looks like in a world that caters to the able-bodied. Ellie is deaf and is integrating into a “normal” school for the first time, and Jackson is her new classmate who starts having strange symptoms that lead to his eventual diagnosis with multiple sclerosis. Their romance blooms, but so do problems with accommodations, interpreters, parental acceptance, and what a future looks like after diagnosis. We loved Sortino’s ability to provide realistic disability representation.
Our Shouts Echo
Jade Adia
Disney-Hyperion
Nominated by: Jacob C.
Sixteen-year-old Niarah Holloway, or “Doomsday Girl”, has a plan for her first summer in LA. Except hers is interrupted by other people’s plans, specifically her guidance counselor, who requires Niarah’s participation in a Color Outside wilderness group led by Marco “Mac” Torres. In a young adult fiction landscape of college applications and scholarships, “Our Shouts Echo” by Jade Adia leads us outside through a summer of trails and next steps. Niarah struggles to let Mac begin something that, like the world, she knows how it ends. Despite her belief in strong walls, Niarah must ultimately question if being prepared is her goal for the end of the summer when it means staying in one place, especially if that summer’s end is not actually an ending at all. Climate change. Family trauma. Mental and physical health challenges. Niarah’s self-appointed task of a Doomsday bunker is a unique illustration of the multiple, conflicting, and too often overwhelming situations youth prepare to face. Niarah seeks purpose and safety through the act of doing something that she knows may never be enough in an imagined future against the very real social and environmental challenges around her. Youth just like her also make this choice every day. Fear. Anxiety. Love. We perceive both emotions and sound in waves. They are vibrations that return to the reader amplified through Niarah’s thoughtful conversations with herself and those who make up her community. This novel serves as an important reminder that in order to exist echoes need something or someone to reflect against. Adia’s is a simple truth. Even when they begin as whispers, “Our Shouts Echo” because someone was there to listen.
Rules for Camouflage
Kirstin Cronn-Mills
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publisher/ Author Submission
In Rules for Camouflage by Kirstin Cronn-Mills, our neurodivergent heroine Evvie flat out confronts the school superintendent about his time in high school: “Did you pick on the geeks? The weirdos? The nerds? The kids who were just a little different?” Those are the kids who may be shadow-dwellers in their high schools, but they are front and center in this excellent young adult novel. Evvie is fascinated by octopi, especially Aretha, the octopus she cares for at a Minnesota zoo. She relates not just to Aretha’s camouflage expertise but also her intelligence, creative problem-solving, and cautious relationship-building. The zoo is Evvie’s safe place, while school mostly seems like a rigged game. Evvie’s school nemesis is Ms. Dearborn, the biology teacher who seems set on making Evvie’s life difficult while saying that she is just trying to help her straighten out her life. Dearborn is offset by Rachel, the wonderful music teacher who provides a hidden haven in the school for Evvie and others who need sanctuary when school becomes just too much. Rules for Camouflage sidesteps most young adult literature tropes as it celebrates some of the most vulnerable kids in a high school–for example, those who prefer not to socialize, those who like to read, those who show pride in their ethnic cultures, those who don’t want to go to college right away, or those whose interests do not align with anything at school. Many young readers will relate to Evvie, her quirky friends, and the courage it takes to rise above their challenges.
This Book Won’t Burn
Samira Ahmed
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Nominated by: Gary Anderson
“…no one who’s banned books has ever, ever turned out to be one of the good guys.”
Noor Khan’s life was literally uprooted when her father abandoned his family, and her mother decided to start fresh by leaving Chicago for a small, conservative town two hours away. With only a semester left of high school, Noor decides the best thing to do is to keep her head down and prepare for her fall semester at University of Chicago. At least that was the plan until she finds out that the local school board, with the support of the Liberty Moms and under the guise of “protecting our children,” has pulled 500 books from the library shelves that were challenged for being pornographic, subversive, and indoctrinating. It’s not a coincidence that most of the authors and characters are BIPOC, queer, or both. Noor was taught by both her parents to fight against injustice, and as an Indian-American, feels she has no choice but to protest with the support of other marginalized students who have become her friends. Yet, it doesn’t take long for her to realize that her advocacy has dire and violent consequences. Author Samira Ahmed has written a timely and extremely uncomfortable book to read, and that’s what makes it so powerful. In a time when fascism seems to be winning in our country and book banning is sharply on the rise, it’s so important for our teens to have a story like this that lays bare the extremism, racism, anti-LGBTQ language, and violence perpetuated by white supremacists. It speaks to how protest can begin with just one voice, one brave person committed to freedom and fairness by protesting against the ugliness that has been exposed.
Twenty-Four Seconds from Now . . .: A LOVE Story
Jason Reynolds
Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
Nominated by: HannahN
Neon and his girlfriend, Aria, have decided to enter new territory in their two-year relationship: they’re ready to have sex for the first time. That is, if Neon can escape the jumble of anxious thoughts going through his head. Twenty-Four Seconds From Now refers to the amount of time Neon is giving himself in the bathroom to clear his head before rejoining Aria. They both want this, so why does it suddenly seem to carry so much weight? Reynolds takes readers on a lyrical journey through Neon and Aria’s relationship, from when they first met, 24 months ago, to every careful thought put into their plan for today. Neon is sweet and cautious, subverting ideas often associated with teenage boys and sex. He is close with his family, and open to feeling uncomfortable, to learn from their mistakes and wisdom. This is a humorous coming-of-age romance, told from a fresh perspective, with characters you won’t stop thinking about.