10 Queer Books by POC

Full disclosure - I’m a white woman, so I recognize my privileged status means I should not be your number one (or hundredth, or thousandth) source for writers of color.

In recent weeks I’ve attended marches and made donations, but I’ve been trying to think of any way I can to use my voice to lift up the voices of POC in a way that is meaningful.

I am nowhere near an expert in politics or police brutality. I can’t write essays on black history or police reform. I know many of you are always seeking out LGBTQ+ books. When is a better time than during Pride and the #BlackLivesMatter movement to compile a list of queer books by POC?

Consider picking up some of these books by amazing POC authors, whose voices are underrepresented in the publishing industry.

1. Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania—derailing the War Between the States and changing the nation forever.

In this new America, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Education Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead.

But there are also opportunities—and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It's a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. After all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white Southern woman could save her from society’s expectations.

But that’s not a life Jane wants. Almost finished with her education at Miss Preston's School of Combat in Baltimore, Jane is set on returning to her Kentucky home and doesn’t pay much mind to the politics of the eastern cities, with their talk of returning America to the glory of its days before the dead rose.

But when families around Baltimore County begin to go missing, Jane is caught in the middle of a conspiracy, one that finds her in a desperate fight for her life against some powerful enemies. 

And the restless dead, it would seem, are the least of her problems.

2. Smoketown by Tenea D. Johnson 

The city of Leiodare is unlike any other in the post-climate change United States. Within its boundaries, birds are outlawed and what was once a crater in Appalachia is now a tropical, glittering metropolis where Anna Armour is waiting. An artist by passion and a factory worker by trade, Anna is a woman of special gifts. She has chosen this beautiful, traumatized city to wait for the woman she's lost, the one she believes can save her from her troubled past and uncertain future. When one night Anna creates life out of thin air and desperation, no one is prepared for what comes next-not Lucine, a smooth talking soothsayer with plans for the city; Lucine's brother Eugenio who has designs of his own; Seife, a star performer in the Leiodaran cosmos; or Rory, a forefather of the city who's lived through outbreak, heartbreak, and scandal. Told through their interlocking stories, Smoketown delves into the invisible connections that rival magic, and the cost of redemption.

3. Beneath the Citadel by Destiny Soria

In the city of Eldra, people are ruled by ancient prophecies. For centuries, the high council has stayed in power by virtue of the prophecies of the elder seers. After the last infallible prophecy came to pass, growing unrest led to murders and an eventual rebellion that raged for more than a decade.

In the present day, Cassa, the orphaned daughter of rebels, is determined to fight back against the high council, which governs Eldra from behind the walls of the citadel. Her only allies are no-nonsense Alys, easygoing Evander, and perpetually underestimated Newt, and Cassa struggles to come to terms with the legacy of rebellion her dead parents have left her — and the fear that she may be inadequate to shoulder the burden. But by the time Cassa and her friends uncover the mystery of the final infallible prophecy, it may be too late to save the city — or themselves.

4. The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden

In South Africa, the future looks promising. Personal robots are making life easier for the working class. The government is harnessing renewable energy to provide infrastructure for the poor. And in the bustling coastal town of Port Elizabeth, the economy is booming thanks to the genetic engineering industry which has found a welcome home there. Yes--the days to come are looking very good for South Africans. That is, if they can survive the present challenges:

A new hallucinogenic drug sweeping the country . . .

An emerging AI uprising . . .

And an ancient demigoddess hellbent on regaining her former status by preying on the blood and sweat (but mostly blood) of every human she encounters.

It's up to a young Zulu girl powerful enough to destroy her entire township, a queer teen plagued with the ability to control minds, a pop diva with serious daddy issues, and a politician with even more serious mommy issues to band together to ensure there's a future left to worry about.

5. How We Fight for Our Lives: A Memoir by Saeed Jones

Haunted and haunting, How We Fight for Our Lives is a stunning coming-of-age memoir. Jones tells the story of a young, black, gay man from the South as he fights to carve out a place for himself, within his family, within his country, within his own hopes, desires, and fears. Through a series of vignettes that chart a course across the American landscape, Jones draws readers into his boyhood and adolescence—into tumultuous relationships with his family, into passing flings with lovers, friends, and strangers. Each piece builds into a larger examination of race and queerness, power and vulnerability, love and grief: a portrait of what we all do for one another—and to one another—as we fight to become ourselves.

An award-winning poet, Jones has developed a style that’s as beautiful as it is powerful—a voice that’s by turns a river, a blues, and a nightscape set ablaze. How We Fight for Our Lives is a one-of-a-kind memoir and a book that cements Saeed Jones as an essential writer for our time.

6. Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta

Inspired by Nigeria's folktales and its war, Under the Udala Trees is a deeply searching, powerful debut about the dangers of living and loving openly.

Ijeoma comes of age as her nation does; born before independence, she is eleven when civil war breaks out in the young republic of Nigeria. Sent away to safety, she meets another displaced child and they, star-crossed, fall in love. They are from different ethnic communities. They are also both girls.

When their love is discovered, Ijeoma learns that she will have to hide this part of herself. But there is a cost to living inside a lie.

As Edwidge Danticat has made personal the legacy of Haiti's political coming of age, Okparanta's Under the Udala Trees uses one woman's lifetime to examine the ways in which Nigerians continue to struggle toward selfhood. Even as their nation contends with and recovers from the effects of war and division, Nigerian lives are also wrecked and lost from taboo and prejudice. This story offers a glimmer of hope — a future where a woman might just be able to shape her life around truth and love.

7. Black Deutschland By Darryl Pinkney

Jed--young, gay, black, out of rehab and out of prospects in his hometown of Chicago--flees to the city of his fantasies, a museum of modernism and decadence: Berlin. The paradise that tyranny created, the subsidized city isolated behind the Berlin Wall, is where he's chosen to become the figure that he so admires, the black American expatriate. Newly sober and nostalgic for the Weimar days of Isherwood and Auden, Jed arrives to chase boys and to escape from what it means to be a black male in America.

But history, both personal and political, can't be avoided with time or distance. Whether it's the judgment of the cousin he grew up with and her husband's bourgeois German family, the lure of white wine in a down-and-out bar, a gang of racists looking for a brawl, or the ravaged visage of Rock Hudson flashing behind the face of every white boy he desperately longs for, the past never stays past even in faraway Berlin. In the age of Reagan and AIDS in a city on the verge of tearing down its walls, he clambers toward some semblance of adulthood amid the outcasts and expats, intellectuals and artists, queers and misfits. And, on occasion, the city keeps its Isherwood promises and the boy he kisses, incredibly, kisses him back.

An intoxicating, provocative novel of appetite, identity, and self-construction, Darryl Pinckney's Black Deutschland tells the story of an outsider, trapped between a painful past and a tenebrous future, in Europe's brightest and darkest city.

8. Anger Is a Gift by Mark Oshiro

Six years ago, Moss Jefferies' father was murdered by an Oakland police officer. Along with losing a parent, the media's vilification of his father and lack of accountability has left Moss with near crippling panic attacks.

Now, in his sophomore year of high school, Moss and his fellow classmates find themselves increasingly treated like criminals by their own school. New rules. Random locker searches. Constant intimidation and Oakland Police Department stationed in their halls. Despite their youth, the students decide to organize and push back against the administration.

When tensions hit a fever pitch and tragedy strikes, Moss must face a difficult choice: give in to fear and hate or realize that anger can actually be a gift.

9. Black Girl Dangerous on Race, Queerness, Class and Gender by Mia McKenzie

Mia McKenzie, creator of the enormously popular website Black Girl Dangerous, writes about race, queerness, class and gender in a concise, compelling voice filled at different times with humor, grief, rage, and joy. In this collection of her work from BGD (now available only in this book), McKenzie's nuanced analysis of intersecting systems of oppression goes deep to reveal the complicated truths of a multiply-marginalized experience. McKenzie tackles the hardest questions of our time with clarity and courage, in language that is accessible to non-academics and academics alike. She is both fearless and vulnerable, demanding and accountable. Hers is a voice like no other.

10. Ascension by Jacqueline Koyanagi

Alana Quick is the best damned sky surgeon in Heliodor City, but repairing starship engines barely pays the bills. When the desperate crew of a cargo vessel stops by her shipyard looking for her spiritually-advanced sister Nova, Alana stows away. Maybe her boldness will land her a long-term gig on the crew. But the Tangled Axon proves to be more than star-watching and plasma coils. The chief engineer thinks he's a wolf. The pilot fades in and out of existence. The captain is all blond hair, boots, and ego . . . and Alana can't keep her eyes off her. But there's little time for romance: Nova's in danger and someone will do anything—even destroying planets—to get their hands on her!

This is by no means a comprehensive list. If you have any recommendations, please add them in the comments below!

Everyone, please stay safe. Happy #Pride, and remember, we’d not have #Pride if it wasn’t for the brave POC who started the movement with Stonewall. Take care of yourself and each other.

Author Chris Tebbetts Talks LGBT Representation, New Novel

It’s Pride Month, making it an obvious time to showcase some amazing LGBTQ+ books across all sorts of genres. I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to speak with author Chris Tebbetts, whose new YA novel Me, Myself & Him comes out July 9th. Not only does his novel feature a gay protagonist, but for every pre-order, Chris will be donating $1.00 to Pride Center of Vermont!

When Chris Schweitzer takes a hit of whippets and passes out face first on the cement, his nose isn't the only thing that changes forever. Instead of staying home with his friends for the last summer after high school, he's shipped off to live with his famous physicist but royal jerk of a father to prove he can "play by the rules" before Dad will pay for college.

Or . . . not.

In an alternate time line, Chris's parents remain blissfully ignorant about the accident, and life at home goes back to normal--until it doesn't. A new spark between his two best (straight) friends quickly turns Chris into a (gay) third wheel, and even worse, the truth about the whippets incident starts to unravel. As his summer explodes into a million messy pieces, Chris wonders how else things might have gone. Is it possible to be jealous of another version of yourself in an alternate reality that doesn't even exist?

With musings on fate, religion, parallel universes, and the best way to eat a cinnamon roll, Me Myself & Him examines how what we consider to be true is really just one part of the much (much) bigger picture.

Your new book, Me, Myself & Him, uses parallel timelines to tell the story. What made you decide to try out this style of writing?

I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of the multiverse, which posits the existence of infinite realities in as many dimensions. Also, like a lot of storytellers, I’m semi-obsessed with asking “what if?” about pretty much everything and anything. When I apply that to my own life, it brings up questions about what might have happened if I’d made slightly (or majorly) different choices along the way. What if I’d chosen a different college to go to? What if I’d had turkey instead of tuna for lunch yesterday? And in what ways might those choices we all make every day impact (or not impact) where we end up in the long run?

Since I couldn’t write a novel with infinite possibilities, I landed on the idea of exploring two different outcomes that flow from the same inciting incident—which in this case involves my character passing out and breaking his nose while huffing whippets behind the ice cream store where he works.

Lastly, I have to give a nod to the movie Sliding Doors, which was the first time I ever saw someone tackle the idea of parallel narratives in this way. I love the puzzle aspect of putting all those possibilities into one story. It’s like brain candy for me as a writer, and hopefully, for my readers as well.

This book has been described as a hybrid of memoir and fiction. Can you flesh that out a little bit for me?

The prologue of this book—and its inciting incident—are autobiographical. I really did have a drug-fueled accident behind the ice cream store where I worked when I was nineteen. From there, as I spun out my two different realities in the novel, I created a world around my character that is largely fictional, but still based on some of my own experiences. I’m from Yellow Springs, Ohio, and a lot of this book takes place in a very similar town, which I call Green River. My character is gay, as am I, but he’s come out to himself and the world at a far younger age than I ever did. On top of all that, the whole story is filled with what I’d call emotional truths from that time in my life—the last summer before college. And one way I reflect that hybrid is by naming my protagonist Chris Schweitzer, which is to say that I gave him my first name but not my last. All of it reflects one of the motifs in the book, where pretty much every character tells the truth some of the time, and lies at least once, if not many times.

How has your identity as a member of the LGBTQ+ community influenced your writing?

I’ve always felt as though I exist in a kind of limnal place. I’m a white, middle class, cis male, with all the privilege that goes with it. I’m also a gay man in a sometimes homophobic world. And without consciously going about it, I think I’ve always been a bit of a fence straddler that way. My writing is relatively commercial and accessible, which is to say, reflective of the mainstream in which I spend a lot of my life. But my work also reflects some knowledge of what it means to be other, to exist outside of some people’s definition of societal norms.

In a way, I’ve never really been an either/or kind of person. I’m a both kind of person. I’m a “yes, and” kind of person. Which, I suppose, jibes perfectly with the idea of writing a novel that doesn’t choose between two realities, but rather, embraces both.

We’ve been fortunate enough to see more and more novels featuring LGBTQ+ protagonists. There’s been a great deal of progress, but representation still has a long way to go. What do you want to see in terms of representation in fiction?

My gay protagonists (in this book, and in my previous YA, “M OR F?” co-authored with Lisa Papademetriou) are what I’d call incidentally queer characters. Which is to say, their sexuality is neither the problem nor the driving issue of the novel itself. We’re seeing more and more of that kind of thing in queer characters these days, with stories that show far more than the historic marginalization by which queer characters have long been defined, or maybe over-defined.

And to be clear—stories that reflect the sometimes ugly realities of what it means to be queer in our society are important. I hope people continue to write those stories for as long as they’re relevant, but I also hope we can continue to make room on the shelf for stories that set aside those issues in favor of the zillion other queer stories waiting to be told.

You’re donating $1.00 for every pre-order of this novel to the Pride Center of Vermont. Do you have a personal connection to this organization?

The feeling here in Vermont, for me, has always been that the state is one big small town. This is a place where you see Bernie Sanders at the grocery store, where everyone seems to have mutual acquaintances, etc. So even though I haven’t been directly involved with the Pride Center up to now, I’ve always supported their work, and have admired the people who help run it, including the folks I’ve known for years, as well as the new guard, leading our state’s queer community into the future. When I was deciding on which organization to benefit with my pre-order campaign, they seemed to me to be the most comprehensive representation of what I wanted to support with a book like this one.

This is your first solo young adult novel. How was it different from writing for middle-grade readers? Do you prefer one over the other?

I’ll be honest here. On the one hand, ME, MYSELF, AND HIM is the most personal thing I’ve ever written, by far, and I wouldn’t trade the writing experience for anything. Writing truly can be therapeutic, and it’s no exaggeration to say I found a bit more of myself by writing this book. There’s a certain freedom in YA, content-wise, and I could really “go there” in a way I’ve never done before.

That said, the bulk of my career has been built on middle grade fiction (including the MIDDLE SCHOOL series with James Patterson and the STRANDED series with Jeff Probst). And while it’s great that I don’t have to choose between one or the other, it’s also true that if I did have to choose, my heart leans toward middle grade. There’s something about the outward-looking, wide-eyed exploration of the world that I’ve gotten to do with my middle grade books that appeals to me in a deep way. That may have something to do with the fact that when I’ve never been a more voracious reader than back in my own middle grade reading days. So it makes sense to me that I’d gravitate in that direction as an author.


If you could take one of your characters in this new novel out for cinnamon rolls, which one would it be?

It would have to be Swift, the romantic interest who appears in one of the story’s two threads. I had to fall in love with him a little in order to write him, so he seems like a good choice to me. Also, as a tangent: that character, Swift is an example of how our subconscious minds can kick in during the writing process. His name came to me in a completely random way. I work a lot with my own first thoughts and impulses when I’m writing, and when it came time to name this love interest of a character, I told myself I’d use whatever came to me first. For whatever reason, at that moment the word “swift” popped into my head. So I made good on my intention, and I went with it. It was months later before I realized that my primary association with the name Swift is the author Jonathan Swift. And as it happens, my husband’s name is Jonathan. I love how he kind of wormed his way into my story like that—and I love the kind of surprises that writing can throw my way, when I let them in.

Me, Myself & Him is available July 9th. Read more about the book and how your pre-order will help the LGBTQ+ community at http://christebbetts.com/.

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The Most Anticipated LGBT Books of 2019

It’s hard to believe that a year has passed and 2019 is just several days away. Some amazing lgbt books have come out during 2018, and there’s even more coming out in 2019 that need to be added to your pre-order list.

Between traditionally published novels and indie authors, there is no shortage of lgbt books out there now, including Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell, which was originally slated for 2020. These are just some of the most anticipated lgbt novels coming out in 2019.

The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan

Release Date: January 29th

Unable to come out to her conservative Muslim parents, Rukhsana Ali keeps that part of her identity hidden. And that means keeping her girlfriend, Ariana, a secret from them too. Luckily, only a few more months stand between her carefully monitored life at home and a fresh start at Caltech in the fall. But when Rukhsana’s mom catches her and Ariana together, her future begins to collapse around her.

Devastated and confused, Rukhsana’s parents whisk her off to stay with their extended family in Bangladesh, where she is met with a culture of arranged marriages, religious tradition, and intolerance. Fortunately, Rukhsana finds allies along the way, and, through reading her grandmother’s old diary, finds the courage to stand up for her beliefs, take control of her future, and fight for her love.

The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Buried by Shaun David Hutchinson

Release Date: February 19th

A good friend will bury your body, a best friend will dig you back up.

Dino doesn’t mind spending time with the dead. His parents own a funeral home, and death is literally the family business. He’s just not used to them talking back. Until Dino’s ex-best friend July dies suddenly—and then comes back to life. Except not exactly. Somehow July is not quite alive, and not quite dead.

As Dino and July attempt to figure out what’s happening, they must also confront why and how their friendship ended so badly, and what they have left to understand about themselves, each other, and all those grand mysteries of life.

Critically acclaimed author Shaun Hutchinson delivers another wholly unique novel blending the real and surreal while reminding all of us what it is to love someone through and around our faults.

 The Afterward by E.K. Johnston

Release Date: February 19th

It's been a year since the mysterious godsgem cured Cadrium's king and ushered in what promised to be a new golden age. The heroes who brought home the gem are renowned in story and song, but for two fellows on the quest, peace and prosperity don't come easily.

Apprentice Knight Kalanthe Ironheart wasn't meant for heroism so early in life, and while she has no intention of giving up the notoriety she's earned, reputation doesn't pay her bills. Kalanthe may be forced to betray not her kingdom or her friends, but her own heart as she seeks a stable future for herself and those she loves.

Olsa Rhetsdaughter was never meant for heroism at all. Beggar and thief, she lived hand to mouth on the streets until fortune--or fate--pulled her into Kalanthe's orbit. And now she's reluctant to leave it. Even more alarmingly, her fame has made her profession difficult, and a choice between poverty and the noose isn't much of a choice at all.

Both girls think their paths are laid out, but the godsgem isn't quite done with them and that new golden age isn't a sure thing yet.

In a tale both sweepingly epic and intensely personal, Kalanthe and Olsa fight to maintain their newfound independence and to find their way back to each other.

The Fever King by Victoria Lee

Release Date: March 1st

In the former United States, sixteen-year-old Noam Álvaro wakes up in a hospital bed, the sole survivor of the viral magic that killed his family and made him a technopath. His ability to control technology attracts the attention of the minister of defense and thrusts him into the magical elite of the nation of Carolinia.

The son of undocumented immigrants, Noam has spent his life fighting for the rights of refugees fleeing magical outbreaks—refugees Carolinia routinely deports with vicious efficiency. Sensing a way to make change, Noam accepts the minister’s offer to teach him the science behind his magic, secretly planning to use it against the government. But then he meets the minister’s son—cruel, dangerous, and achingly beautiful—and the way forward becomes less clear.

Caught between his purpose and his heart, Noam must decide who he can trust and how far he’s willing to go in pursuit of the greater good.

You Asked for Perfect by Laura Silverman

Release Date: March 5th

Senior Ariel Stone is the perfect college applicant: first chair violinist, dedicated volunteer, active synagogue congregant, and expected valedictorian. And he works hard―really hard―to make his success look effortless. A failed calculus quiz is not part of his plan. Not when he's number one. Not when his peers can smell weakness like a freshman's body spray.

Ariel throws himself into studying. His friends will understand if he skips a few plans, and he can sleep when he graduates. But as his grade continues to slide, Ariel realizes he needs help and reluctantly enlists a tutor, his classmate Amir. The two have never gotten along, but Ariel has no other options.

Ariel discovers he may not like calculus, but he does like Amir. Except adding a new relationship to his long list of commitments may just push him past his limit.

The Last 8 by Laura Pohl

Release Date: March 5th

Clover Martinez has always been a survivor, which is the reason she isn't among the dead when aliens invade and destroy Earth as she knows it.

Clover is convinced she's the only one left until she hears a voice on the radio urging her to go to the former Area 51. When she arrives, she's greeted by a band of misfits who call themselves The Last Teenagers on Earth.

Only they aren't the ragtag group of heroes Clover was expecting. The seven strangers seem more interested in pretending the world didn't end than fighting back, and Clover starts to wonder if she was better off alone. But when she finds a hidden spaceship within the walls of the compound, she doesn't know what to believe...or who to trust.

The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum

Release Date: March 19th

Ryann Bird dreams of traveling across the stars. But a career in space isn’t an option for a girl who lives in a trailer park on the wrong side of town. So Ryann becomes her circumstances and settles for acting out and skipping school to hang out with her delinquent friends. 

One day she meets Alexandria: a furious loner who spurns Ryann’s offer of friendship. After a horrific accident leaves Alexandria with a broken arm, the two misfits are brought together despite themselves—and Ryann learns her secret: Alexandria’s mother is an astronaut who volunteered for a one-way trip to the edge of the solar system. 

Every night without fail, Alexandria waits to catch radio signals from her mother. And its up to Ryann to lift her onto the roof day after day until the silence between them grows into friendship, and eventually something more . . .

A People's History of Heaven by Mathangi Subramanian

Release Date: March 19th

Welcome to Heaven, a thirty-year-old slum hidden between brand-new high-rise apartment buildings and technology incubators in contemporary Bangalore, one of India's fastest-growing cities. In Heaven, you will come to know a community of people living hand-to-mouth and constantly struggling against the city government who wants to bulldoze their homes and build yet more glass high-rises. These families, men and women, young and old, gladly support one another, sharing whatever they can.

A People's History of Heaven centers on five best friends, girls who go to school together, a diverse group who love and accept one another unconditionally, pulling one another through crises and providing emotional, physical, and financial support. Together they wage war on the bulldozers that would bury their homes, and, ultimately, on the city that does not care what happens to them.
 
This is a story about geography, history, and strength, about love and friendship, about fighting for the people and places we love--even if no one else knows they exist. Elegant, poetic, bursting with color, Mathangi Subramanian's novel is a moving and celebratory story of girls on the cusp of adulthood who find joy just in the basic act of living.

 Once & Future by Cori McCarthy and Amy Rose Capetta

Release Date: March 26th

When Ari crash-lands on Old Earth and pulls a magic sword from its ancient resting place, she is revealed to be the newest reincarnation of King Arthur. Then she meets Merlin, who has aged backward over the centuries into a teenager, and together they must break the curse that keeps Arthur coming back. Their quest? Defeat the cruel, oppressive government and bring peace and equality to all humankind.

No pressure.

 The Meaning of Birds by Jaye Robin Brown

Release Date: April 16th

Before: Jess has always struggled with the fire inside her. But when she meets Vivi, everything changes. As they fall for each other, Vivi helps Jess deal with her anger and pain and encourages her to embrace her artistic talent. And suddenly Jess’s future is a blank canvas, filled with possibilities.

After: When Vivi unexpectedly dies, Jess’s perfect world is erased. As she spirals out of control, Jess pushes away everyone around her and throws out her plans for art school. Because art is Vivi and Vivi is gone forever. Right when Jess feels at her lowest, she makes a surprising friend who just might be able to show her a new way to channel her rage, passion, and creativity. But will Jess ever be able to forge a new path for herself without Vivi?

A beautiful exploration of first love and first loss, this novel effortlessly weaves together past and present to tell a profound story about how you can become whole again when it seems like you’ve lost the most important part of yourself.

Starworld by  Audrey Coulthurst

Release Date: April 16th

April Sam Jones and Zoe Miller have one thing in common: they both want an escape from reality. Loner Sam flies under the radar at school and walks on eggshells at home to manage her mom’s obsessive-compulsive disorder, wondering how she can ever leave to pursue her dream of studying aerospace engineering. Popular, people-pleasing Zoe puts up walls so no one can see her true self: the girl who was abandoned as an infant, whose adoptive mother has cancer, and whose disabled brother is being sent away to live in a facility. When an unexpected encounter results in the girls’ exchanging phone numbers, they forge a connection through text messages that expands into a private universe they call Starworld. In Starworld, they find hilarious adventures, kindness and understanding, and the magic of being seen for who they really are. But when Sam’s feelings for Zoe turn into something more, will the universe they’ve built survive the inevitable explosion?

 Deposing Nathan by Zack Smedley

Release Date: May 7th

Nate never imagined that he would be attacked by his best friend, Cam.

Now, Nate is being called to deliver a sworn statement that will get Cam convicted. The problem is, the real story isn’t that easy or convenient—just like Nate and Cam’s friendship. Cam challenged Nate on every level from the day the boys met. He pushed him to break the rules, to dream, and to accept himself. But Nate—armed with a fierce moral code and conflicted by his own beliefs—started to push back. With each push, Nate and Cam moved closer to each other—but also spiraled closer to their breaking points.

 Keep This to Yourself by Tom Ryan

Release Date: May 7th

It’s been a year since the Catalog Killer terrorized the sleepy seaside town of Camera Cove, killing four people before disappearing without a trace. Like everyone else in town, eighteen-year-old Mac Bell is trying to put that horrible summer behind him—easier said than done since Mac’s best friend Connor was the murderer’s final victim. But when he finds a cryptic message from Connor, he’s drawn back into the search for the killer—who might not have been a random drifter after all. Now nobody—friends, neighbors, or even the sexy stranger with his own connection to the case—is beyond suspicion. Sensing that someone is following his every move, Mac struggles to come to terms with his true feelings towards Connor while scrambling to uncover the truth.

 Switchback by Danika Stone

Release Date: May 28th

Vale loves to hike, but kind of hates her classmates. Ash is okay with his classmates, but kind of hates the outdoors. So, needless to say they are both fairly certain that the overnight nature hike with their PE class is going to be a hellish experience. But when they get separated from the group during a storm, they have worse things to worry about than bullies and blisters.

Lost in the Canadian wilderness with limited supplies, caught in dangerous weather conditions, and surrounded by deadly wildlife, it's going to take every bit of strength, skill, and luck they can muster to survive.

The Grief Keeper, by Alexandra Villasante

Release Date: June 11th

Seventeen-year-old Marisol has always dreamed of being American, learning what Americans and the US are like from television and Mrs. Rosen, an elderly expat who had employed Marisol's mother as a maid. When she pictured an American life for herself, she dreamed of a life like Aimee and Amber's, the title characters of her favorite American TV show. She never pictured fleeing her home in El Salvador under threat of death and stealing across the US border as "an illegal", but after her brother is murdered and her younger sister, Gabi's, life is also placed in equal jeopardy, she has no choice, especially because she knows everything is her fault. If she had never fallen for the charms of a beautiful girl named Liliana, Pablo might still be alive, her mother wouldn't be in hiding and she and Gabi wouldn't have been caught crossing the border.

But they have been caught and their asylum request will most certainly be denied. With truly no options remaining, Marisol jumps at an unusual opportunity to stay in the United States. She's asked to become a grief keeper, taking the grief of another into her own body to save a life. It's a risky, experimental study, but if it means Marisol can keep her sister safe, she will risk anything. She just never imagined one of the risks would be falling in love, a love that may even be powerful enough to finally help her face her own crushing grief.

The Grief Keeper is a tender tale that explores the heartbreak and consequences of when both love and human beings are branded illegal.

Shatter the Sky by Rebecca Kim Wells

Release Date: July 30th

Raised among the ruins of a conquered mountain nation, Maren dreams only of sharing a quiet life with her girlfriend Kaia—until the day Kaia is abducted by the Aurati, prophetic agents of the emperor, and forced to join their ranks. Desperate to save her, Maren hatches a plan to steal one of the emperor’s coveted dragons and storm the Aurati stronghold.

If Maren is to have any hope of succeeding, she must become an apprentice to the Aromatory—the emperor’s mysterious dragon trainer. But Maren is unprepared for the dangerous secrets she uncovers: rumors of a lost prince, a brewing rebellion, and a prophecy that threatens to shatter the empire itself. Not to mention the strange dreams she’s been having about a beast deep underground…

With time running out, can Maren survive long enough to rescue Kaia from impending death? Or could it be that Maren is destined for something greater than she could have ever imagined?

 Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell

Release Date: ???

There is no summary yet and no blurb, but it’s the sequel to Carry On which is really all you need to know.

Read about what I need to see in the second book of this series HERE.

What book are you most looking forward to in 2019? Let me know in the comments!

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