Categories
Our Queerest Shelves

Deadly Sunflowers, AroSpace Engineers, and a House Full of Bees

Today, I have some queer middle grade and YA new releases out this week, as well as a couple SFF aromantic reads and a punny pride pin.

I woke up this morning to even more censorship news: while mainstream news coverage is still spotty at best, censorship of LGBTQ, BIPOC, and sex education books has only been increasing since 2021. That’s why today I want to highlight EveryLibrary, an organization fighting for libraries and against book bans. You can find out more and donate at their website.

Oh, and did I mention Book Riot has a book called How to Fight Book Bans and Censorship? I wrote some of the articles included and helped to put the book together!

Bookish Goods

a pin of a space helmet in aromantic pride colors and the text AroSpace Engineer

Arospace Engineer Aromantic Pride Pin by gloriousweirdo

I waffled so much trying to pick an aromantic pride bookish good last time, so I’m glad I have the opportunity to highlight this AroSpace Engineer pin, too! I love a good queer pun. $10

New Releases

This week there unfortunately aren’t very many queer YA and kids’ book new releases by authors of color. Hopefully this is a blip, because generally I’ve seen queer YA have a larger diversity of authors and characters than adult releases.

where darkness blooms book cover

Where Darkness Blooms by Andrea Hannah (Sapphic YA Supernatural Thriller)

Whitney’s mother and girlfriend have both gone missing, but in the town of Bishop — known for its windstorms and endless fields of sunflowers — women going missing is hardly news. She and the other girls whose mothers disappeared are determined to find answers, but along the way, they unbury a bloody and dangerous secret that Bishop is built upon.

the cover of Ring of Solomon

Ring of Solomon by Aden Polydoros (Queer Middle Grade Fantasy)

It’s such a delight to see a middle grade fantasy adventure come out with a queer main character, especially one that’s inspired by Jewish folklore. When Zach finds a ring that gives him magic powers, he thinks he might be able to use to defend against homophobic bullies. Instead, he soon finds himself pulled into a battle against monsters who are trying to end the world.

Project Nought by Chelsey Furedi (Queer M/M YA Time Travel Graphic Novel)

Sasaki and Miyano, Vol. 7 by Shou Harusono (BL YA Manga)

For more new releases, check out our New Books newsletter!

Riot Recommendations

Of course, after sending Tuesday’s newsletter with aromantic recs, I stumbled on an aromantic SFF anthology I had to share. It’s still Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week, so here’s round two of aro recs!

the cover of Common Bonds

Common Bonds: A Speculative Aromantic Anthology edited by Claudie Arseneault, C. T. Callahan, and RoAnna Sylver

This anthology of speculative short stories and poetry celebrates platonic relationships, from a queerplatonic relationship between shopkeepers in a fantasy world to the community formed by a group of demon hunters and lots more, this collection reminds us that platonic relationships are some of the most meaningful and important connections in our lives.

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel cover

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel

In this retelling of the Hindu epic the Ramayana, Kaikeyi is an ignored, inconsequential princess who leverages found magic to become an unforgettable leader. But defying her destiny pits her against the gods, and she will have to decide if the life she’s worked so hard to build is worth what might come next. Kaikeyi is aromantic and asexual.

All the Links Fit to Click

Alice Oseman on the catharsis of creating Heartstopper after her experience with her homophobic school

We Should Engage With LGBTQ History All Damn Year

Nobuko Yoshiya: the queer Japanese icon who adopted her girlfriend to get around same-sex marriage ban

Book cover of Big Swiss

Scorched Grace Is a Propulsive Mystery Starring a Chain-Smoking Tattooed Lesbian Nun

Big Swiss Review: On the Queer Age Gap Novel Set in a House Full of Bees

The Girl That Can’t Get a Girlfriend by Mieri Hiranishi was reviewed at Okazu

Unsafe Words: Queering Consent in the #Metoo Era edited by Shantel Gabrieal Buggs and Trevor Hoppe was reviewed at Autostraddle

That’s it for me this week! Until next time, you can find me at my sapphic book blog, the Lesbrary. You can also hear me on All the Books or you can read my Book Riot posts.

Happy reading!
Danika