This page is being updated as my study leave progresses in 2022/'23. It contains short reviews of books I've been reading as part of my study leave project to redesign my Children's Literature course so it has zero authors who are straight, white, male, and able-bodied on the reading list. Entries are organized alphabetically by title, including 鈥渁鈥� and 鈥渢he鈥� even though that鈥檚 rather awkward (sorry). If you don't find a title you're hoping to see, try looking in the "The..." section. Feel free to email me suggestions or ask if I'm reading particular authors and books! didicher@sfu.ca
Jan. 2023 note: I'm now scheduled to teach Engl 417 Gender and Sexuality in Fall 2023 term, and I've come up with a plan to put some of the texts listed below on a syllabus of queer YA romance novels, while putting others more focused on social justice and inclusion onto the new reading list for Engl 387 Children's Literature.
A Game for Swallows: To Die, to Leave, to Return, by Zeina Abirached, trans. Edward Gauvin (2007)
YA graphic memoir
Though set in the author's childhood, the content is adult, set during the civil war in Lebanon. Similar to, but not as good as, Persepolis.
Amari and the Night Brothers, by B.B. Alston (2021)
middle-grade SF/fantasy
Harper Collins describes this book as "Artemis Fowl meets Men in Black," and I'd throw in Akata Witch as well. The protagonist moves from being a much-hated Black scholarship student at an elitist prep school to being a much-hated born magician trainee at a supernatural secret service agency, and the plot combines social ethics issues with a lively version of the "beat the Dark Lord" plot formula.
A Proper Young Lady, by Lianne Simon (2015)
YA realist romance novel
A nice romance with two narrators, one intersex identifying as female and the other cis-het female and coping with being in love with an intersex girl. The author also has genetic anomalies. Two things against my putting it on a course list, though: 1) hard to get (ILL had to get a copy from the Denver Public Library for me), & 2) it's set in Virginia, Florida, and Georgia, yet all the main characters, minor characters, and bystanders are white (except for a doctor with a Vietnamese name).
A Tale Dark and Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz (2010)
Middle-grade metafictional fairy-tale novel/story cycle
Fun. I would enjoy teaching this in either my course on revisionist fairy tales (where it would pair interestingly with Emma Donoghue鈥檚 wonderful Kissing the Witch) or my course on metafiction for young readers, but it鈥檚 not right for my planned new course on justice, diversity, and inclusion鈥攆or that I鈥檇 rather go with Gidwitz鈥檚 The Inquisitor鈥檚 Tale.
Akata Witch, by Nnedi Okorafor (2011)
Middle-grade Afrojujuist novel
The third book in this series debuted on the NYT Best Sellers list last January. The protagonist is Black and albino, born in the US but living in Nigeria, and discovering her spiritual powers along with a group of friends. Okorafor blends traditional beliefs (i.e. not fantasy) with fantasy elements in what she defines as Afrojujuism. At first, I thought just a formulaic middle-grade fantasy, but I liked it more and more as I went along.
Alex in Wonderland, by Simon James Green (2019)
YA mystery romance novel
The eponymous gay protagonist gets a job at an arcade, collects a group of friends, falls in love, and investigates the sabotaging of the arcade. Rather Scooby-Doo mystery, but the inept protagonist and his friends are appealing and the book is funny.
Americanized: Rebel without a Green Card, by Sara Saedi (2018)
YA/new adult memoir
Saedi tells the story of her being undocumented in the US with lots of humour and clear-eyed but loving views of her family. She's aiming to be hip and funny, but often belittles her younger self, so I'm not sure I'd put it on a children's lit reading list.
An Unkindness of Ghosts, by Rivers Solomon (2017)
YA SF dystopia
An ark spaceship travelling at near light speed, a brutal regime and suffering people, and a protagonist who is a queer, neurodiverse person of colour. Well written, though with only tiny bits of hope it鈥檚 rather grim.
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, by Benjamin Alire Saenz (2012)
Realist YA queer Latinx coming of age story
This is well written, has a na茂ve protagonist narrator who鈥檚 likeable but often annoyingly dim, and its plot doesn鈥檛 always go where you expect it to (the latter is a plus for me). I鈥檓 not usually a fan of realism or coming of age stories, but I can see why lots of people love this book.
Beatrice and Croc Harry, by Lawrence Hill (2022)
Middle-grade fantasy novel
The protagonist has amnesia and has to learn the rules of the strange forest she finds herself in. Good for people who love words and what they do. The ending is much less brutal than the one I thought Hill was heading toward, and it felt a bit like an author for adults (naively) trying to protect young readers.
Binti, by Nnedi Okorafor (2015)
YA SF novella, the first in a set of three novellas featuring the same protagonist narrator
Some interesting spins on the trope of the genius teen who leaves her home planet for university against her family鈥檚 wishes. Very fast moving plot! This is what would be a two-hundred page novel for adults condensed to just over fifty pages. But still thoughtful and thought-provoking, especially on the topics of interracial and interspecies relations. I鈥檓 looking forward to the rest of the series, and Binti鈥檚 struggle with trauma from the events of the first story.
鈥淏inti: Sacred Fire,鈥� Binti: Home, and Binti: Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor (2017-19)
YA SF, a short story and two novellas, completing the Binti story
Having put her protagonist through major trauma in the first Binti book, Okorafor shows her coping with its aftermath鈥nd a lot more trauma! I鈥檓 glad that the texts about Binti are collected in one volume: it makes good sense to read them together, and it鈥檚 a relief to reach a satisfying and mostly happy conclusion.
Bitter, by Akwaeke Emezi (2022)
YA fantasy novel
The prequel to Pet. Good, and it's fun to see minor characters show up in younger forms. Not necessary to read after Pet, but it adds to it. Emezi finished it during Covid-19 lockdown, and I feel this comes out in Bitter's relationship to her room at the art college.
Black Bird, Blue Road, by Sofiya Pasternack (2022)
Middle-grade historical fantasy
I had to get past really disliking the protagonist, but enjoyed the second half of the book. It has the best dedication I've read in a long time "To C and C鈥擨 would poke an angel in the eyes for you." The angelic characters form a nice parallel with Pet. (thank you, Jen, for the recommendation)
Bob, by Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead (2018)
Middle-grade fantasy mystery allegory
This is very well written, with sections alternately narrated by a human child who has forgotten what happened to her five years before and a strange creature who begins the book believing he鈥檚 a zombie chicken. I liked the book a lot, but I feel disappointed that it鈥檚 set in Australia in dry bush country without any acknowledgement of Aboriginal people or their mythology and beliefs.
Book Uncle and Me, by Uma Krishnaswami (2012)
Chapter book for primary grade readers, realistic
A nice introduction to social activism, with the young protagonist in India succeeding because of having a specific goal as a focus, extensive reading to give her ideas, and a neighbourhood willing to step up to save a sidewalk lending library.
Boxers and Saints, by Gene Luen Yang (2013)
Young YA historical graphic novels
Yang intertwines the stories of two uneducated northern Chinese youngsters during the Boxer Rebellion, each with different allegiances and vivid spiritual experiences, but both of whom betray their families and others close to them. Not as perplexing or humorous as American Born Chinese, these well-written companion pieces show Yang balancing his Chinese and Catholic identities in clear-sighted and interesting ways.
Boy Meets Boy, by David Levithan (2003)
YA realist teen romance novel
A seminal text in English in the development of Queer YA. Levithan responds to what had been a publishing trope鈥攖hat gay characters had to be troubled and suffer trauma鈥攂y writing a story about happy, well-adjusted, (mostly) accepted people, set in what some critics have called a 鈥済aytopia.鈥�
Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls, by Kaela Rivera (2021)
middle-grade fantasy novel
Fast-moving plot set in a world created from Latinx Catholic, Aztec, and Nahuatl stories of the supernatural. It deals sensitively with issues of strength, kindness, and fear. I liked it a lot, although I worry that the author has used up too many plot points to allow a sequel to sing.
Challenger Deep, by Neil Shusterman (2015)
Young adult novel, mix of realism and the world seen through the lens of psychosis
I quickly realized that the psychotic parallel stories happen before their equivalents in real life and spent most of the book trying to figure out why it was structured that way. A good book, but not a fun read.
Chasing Vermeer, by Blue Balliett (2004)
Middle grade mystery novel
Rereading this favourite (because I remembered that the main characters are multi-racial) is such a nice treat! The mystery abounds with clues and excitement, but the book goes beyond that to make important statements about art, authority, education, and perception.
Cold, by Mariko Tamaki (2022)
Young adult mystery novel
I liked this one so much more than I liked Skim! Two protagonists, both queer, one living and one dead. The dead one knows what happened, but doesn't tell us; the living one tries to figure out what happened. The style has touches of the poetic without being flowery, and the plot is sparse but well structured.
Dreams, vol. 1, Visions of the Crow, by Wanda John-Kehewin and nicole marie burton (2023)
YA graphic novel
Similar to A Girl Called Echo, this story features a troubled teenage protagonist with lived visions of historic moments for their indigenous ancestors, in this case of lands covered by Treaty 6. Both the contemporary scenes and the historic ones feel somewhat didactic, but there's an interesting reality shift at the end of volume 1 that makes me want to read more.
Elatsoe, by Darcie Little Badger (2020)
Officially YA fantasy novel, but reads more like middle grade
The protagonist is asexual and indigenous, though it's her indigenous nature that's most important to the story. The world of the story is an alternate earth with European and indigenous traditions of the supernatural complicating each other. I liked the novel a lot, even though the clues were rather obvious to me (I read a lot of mysteries) and the ghost animals a little on the cute side.
Escape from Syria, by Samya Kullab, illus. Jackie Roche (2017)
Middle grade or all ages fictionalized memoir
I found this one too often bordering on didacticism (being overtly educational) to interest me as a story.
Fight Like a Girl, by Sheena Kamal (2020)
YA realist novel
This book is better if you know about Muay Thai, I think, but because I don't and I dislike fighting, I didn't take to it. I didn't have the problems with the ending that its reviewers sometimes do. The funniest part for me was that the protagonist can't finish David Chariandy's Soucouyant, and he's a colleague of mine (apparently Kamal checked out with him that it was OK to add this to the novel).
Flying Lessons and Other Stories, edited by Ellen Oh (2017)
Early YA short story collection, mostly realism
A strong collection of short stories by a number of well-known BIPOC writers for young readers, brought together by the co-founder of We Need Diverse Books.
Heartstopper, vol 1, by Alice Oseman (2018)
YA graphic romance novel
Very sparse but reasonably effective artwork. The story's rather sparse, too, at least in volume one. The bits I found most interesting were about coping with or committing violent acts, but I found the whole story rather slight and predictable.
Home is Not a Country, by Safia Elhillo (2021)
YA verse novel with elements that will seem like fantasy to Western readers
The protagonist is a Sudanese-American teen, the poems are generally good, and the plot involves the spirit world and a timeslip. I liked it a lot! Those critics who think the ending doesn't fit missed some clues early on.
How to Be a (Young) Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi & Nic Stone (2023)
Memoir and political argument
Kendi's book for adult readers rewritten in hipper, less formal language by Nic Stone, with sidebar definitions and added comments about gender. Very readable, and the specifics of the American context can translate fairly well to Canadian readers.
Inside Out and Back Again, by Thanhh脿 Lai (2011)
Middle-grade verse memoir about the author鈥檚 family鈥檚 flight from Vietnam in 1975
The story is fine and the poetry somewhat disappointing.
Last Night at the Telegraph Club, by Malinda Lo (2021)
YA historical realist romance
Well researched, nicely written novel about being homosexual and Chinese American in the 1950s.
Leah on the Offbeat, by Beck Albertalli (2018)
YA realist romance
Sequel to Simon and the Homo Sapiens Agenda, using Simon鈥檚 friend Leah as the narrator. Leah is bi but not out, cynical, and self-sabotaging; the story is hip and sometimes funny; the plot is kind of predictable; and it鈥檚 definitely for the texting generation. It might make an interesting pairing with Alex in Wonderland by Simon James Green.
Let's Talk About Love, by Claire Kann (2018)
YA queer romance
A lively and interesting story with a protagonist who is biromantic and asexual, struggling with an inability to come out to family and coworkers. The main character Alice is believable, though I agree with some reviewers that her male love interest is too good to be true.
Like a Love Story, by Abdi Nazemian (2019)
YA recent-history romance
Set in 1980s AIDS panic and Madonna fandom, with three narrators telling their part in one story. Reza is Iranian and secretly gay, Art is from an old white family and openly gay, and Judy is Art's white straight but outrageous bff. Judy's Uncle Stephen, dying of AIDS, holds the book together in more ways than one.
Loveless, by Alice Oseman (2020)
Queer YA romance novel
I haven't usually been putting books I couldn't finish on this list, but I'm making an exception. While I like this one better than Heartstopper for quality of writing and interest of plot, the ace protagonist is so totally fekked up and treats her friends so badly that I had to skip to the end, where they all forgive her even though she doesn't seem to have grown much, rather than finish the book.
Lumberjanes, series by Grace Ellis, Shannon Watters, Noelle Stevenson, Brooke/Gus Allen, et al. (2014-2020)
All-ages comic book fantasy series reissued as a set of graphic novels
Raucously pro-queer, joyously pro-sisterly, fast-paced, and frequently violent in a cartoon/manga way. In spite of making fun of Girl Scouts, the series is mired in colonialism and sees the North American woodland as uninhabited except by random Western supernatural characters. But lots of fun.
Metatron's Children, by Chy Ryan Spain, illus. Sydney Kuhne (2022)
Middle-grade post-apocalyptic science fiction novel, book one of a projected set/series
I was so pleased to find a text with a multi-racial, partly indigenous, non-binary protagonist! The book is occasionally preachy, and I think the first volume should have been condensed to become the first section of a standalone: the only action scene happens in the last few pages. Does the title reflect Pullman's His Dark Materials? (the evil false god in book 3 is named Metatron) We'll have to wait to find out.
New Kid, by Jerry Craft (2019)
Middle-grade realist graphic novel & fitting-in story
The highlights of this for me were the parodic chapter headings and the ways Craft presents micro aggressions. The protagonist narrator Jordan is a budding artist from a middle-class Black New York family sent to a mostly white prep school.
Nimona, by Noelle Stevenson (2015)
YA super-villain graphic novel
Focused on a female-presenting young person working as the henchperson to a supervillain, but nobody is what they seem to be. Thoughtful, funny, interesting story, delightfully illustrated, so I was happy for an excuse to re-read it (but I probably won鈥檛 put it on my reading list because there鈥檚 a 100-level online course in our department that includes it).
Not My Idea: A Book about Whiteness, by Anastasia Higginbotham (2018)
Picture book, set in real world with collage artwork
Part of a series about 鈥渙rdinary terrible things,鈥� Not My Idea is by a white author for white child readers, explaining why some white adults want to keep them from learning about police brutality toward people of colour. It鈥檚 very American, but Higginbotham handles the topic well. I liked the paper bag backgrounds, and the way pasted on words have an emphasis, though some of the other collage materials such as the photos of cars are less effective.
Not Your Sidekick, by C.B. Lee (2016)
Early YA science fiction novel
First of a series of peppy superhero stories featuring protagonists who are bisexual, transgender, and asexual. Light on the science, but that鈥檚 to be expected in superhero stories鈥攜ou also have to accept tropes such as nobody recognizing their friends and neighbours when they鈥檙e wearing tights and a cape. The twists are pretty obvious, but the story is fun and happy.
Pantomime, by Laura Lam (2013)
YA fantasy novel
First in a trilogy...with a cliffhanger ending. The world building is disappointing and unoriginal, but the story works well. The protagonist is intersex and raised female, but runs away to avoid surgery and becomes a circus performer. Not OwnVoices.
Patron Saints of Nothing, by Randy Ribay (2019)
YA realist novel
The affecting and effective story of a Filipino American teen returning to the Philippines to find out how his cousin died. An indictment of the Duterte government's slaughter of those (suspected) or being drug users or pushers, but also a tender appreciation for a homeland you don't know well.
Pet, by Akwaeke Emezi (2019)
Middle-grade future fantasy
Beautifully concise exploration of the nature of truth, crime, fear, and justice. Told by an OwnVoices author, with a lively story and a protagonist who is trans, Black, and neurodiverse.
Planning Perfect, by Hailey Neil (2023)
YA romance novel
Reasonably well constructed story with a protagonist who is asexual, biromantic, and Jewish. She's also an annoyingly self-centered over-achiever who habitually catastrophizes her life, which for me makes the book less pleasant to read.
Rabbit Chase, by Elisabeth LaPens茅e and KC Oster (2022)
Middle-grade graphic novel, portal fantasy
Anishinaabeg variation on Alice鈥檚 Adventures in Wonderland (plus a bit of Through the Looking-Glass) with a non-binary protagonist. Interesting though sometimes abrupt references to Carroll鈥檚 works, with the overall parallel of the Queen of Hearts to a resource-exploiting unjust settler government. I like that, although we have a glossary for the Anishinaabemowin terms, readers from other cultures have to intuit cultural norms and/or look up traditional stories.
Shadowshaper, by Daniel Jos茅 Older (2015)
YA fantasy romance
This is a Latinx cis-het fantasy romance with queer secondary characters. Older writes well, but there are some plot flaws/timing issues in the book--I'd want to re-read it before deciding whether to read the series.
Skim, by Mariko Tamaki, illus. Jillian Tamaki (2008)
YA realist graphic novel
Painfully dreary true-to-life high school story, pointing out how painful and dreary high school is, but kind of dreary to read as well. More interesting for the protagonist's unresolved lesbian romance with a teacher than for the Wiccan coven plot line or the girl whose boyfriend dumped her then committed suicide.
Small Beauty, by Jia Qing Wilson-Yang (2016)
YA novel, realist (depending on your worldview)
OwnVoices author telling the story of a biracial trans Canadian woman. A lovely book with an interesting achronological structure and mostly depressing motifs...I'm really glad it didn't end up where I was expecting it to.
Stand Up, Yumi Chung! by Jessica Kim (2020)
Middle-grade realist novel
Embarrassment + deceptions = comedy plot, in the literary sense, and that also works well for the book's focus on an eleven-year-old Korean-American wanting to go into stand-up comedy while her parents sign her up for summer tutoring at a hagwon so she can get a scholarship to the elitist school she hates. By an OwnVoices author who left teaching grade school to be an author.
Street Dreams, by Tama Wise (2012)
YA romance novel
The protagonist is a young gay Maori, and the style is gritty realism--appropriate for the hip hop and bars setting. Depressing "problem novel," and, while the violence and obscenity are appropriate to the plot, they were a bit overloading for me.
The Infinite, by Patience Agbabi (2020)
Middle-grade SF time travel mystery novel
I love Agbabi鈥檚 remake of the Canterbury Tales for adults, but I鈥檓 a bit lukewarm about this foray into children鈥檚 SF. The protagonist narrator Elle is neurodiverse and that comes through effectively in the writing. The logic of the time travel aspect is mostly all right (I鈥檓 a stickler for either consistent plotting in time travel stories or purposeful, justified, and highlighted inconsistency). The clues to the mystery are sometimes obvious and Elle sometimes misses understanding them because of her neurodiversity, which feels a bit unfair.
The Lady鈥檚 Guide to Petticoats and Piracy, by Mackenzi Lee (2018)
YA historical novel with mild fantasy elements
Sequel to The Gentleman鈥檚 Guide to Vice and Virtue, this time centred on Monty鈥檚 asexual sister Felicity, desperate to become a physician in eighteenth-century Europe. Lots of adventure and strength through female homosocial bonds. Written in twenty-first century idiomatic English rather than a carefully neutral, non-anachronistic style: I cringe at sentences such as 鈥淲e parted on good terms鈥攐r, if not good, at least good-adjacent.鈥� Enjoyable, in spite of that.
The Legend of Auntie Po, by Shing Yin Khor (2021)
Middle-grade historical graphic novel flirting with fantasy
The book does a good job of showing nineteenth-century American racial friction between Asians and whites, and Khor offers a laudable explanation for why there are no indigenous characters. I was disappointed that the inter-racial queer love story in the early part of the plot disappears from view.
The Magic Fish, by Trung Le Nguyen (2020)
Middle-grade graphic novel, realist interwoven with the telling of fairy tales
Delicate in both art and storytelling, the semiautobiographical story of a gay Vietnamese immigrant boy growing up in the USA. Interesting parallels between the protagonist's life and retold versions of "All Furs," "The Story of Tam and Cam," and "The Little Mermaid."
The Marrow Thieves, by Cherie Dimaline (2017)
Post-post-apocalyptic YA SF (I add the second 鈥減ost-鈥� to acknowledge that for an indigenous author in Canada, the present world is already post-apocalyptic)
Dimaline modifies the plot tropes of The Road et al., putting an emphasis on relying on family and community, recovering lost language and ritual, and acknowledging loss. Heavily didactic, but without feeling preachy. The genre pretty much demands gripping and tragic, and Dimaline does it well.
The Witch Boy, by Molly Knox Ostertag (2017)
Middle-grade fantasy graphic novel focused on gender expectations
Strong art and design (I've enjoyed Ostertag's other works) and the plot works overall with mainly clich茅s but variants on them, but the story feels heavy handed and clunky.
When the Moon was Ours, by Anna-Marie McLemore (2016)
YA romance, magic realism or fantasy (depends on how you define them)
Set in a vaguely mid twentieth-century vaguely America, this is a poignant fairy-tale-evoking story of love between a trans boy and a girl with roses growing from her wrist. We get a satisfying ending without knowing the answers to everything鈥攚ell worth reading.
You Are Here: Connecting Flights, ed. Ellen Oh (2023)
Middle-grade set of linked short stories
A dozen Asian-American authors for young readers present a dozen Asian-American young protagonists at an airport experiencing flight delays. A delightful follow-up to Flying Lessons, with plots that jigsaw together and speak to racism and anti-racism in the USA today.