Author: Tirzah Price

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Book Radar

WHEN DIMPLE MET RISHI is Coming to Netflix and More Book Radar!

Happy Monday, book nerds! I hope you all had most excellent weekends. I packed my book and a little picnic and spent a good four hour chunk on Saturday in my hammock in the park, reading Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner, which is a delightful queer romance set in Hollywood! If that’s not self care, then I don’t know what is!

I’ve got a bunch of bookish excitement, news, and deals for you, but remember to practice safe social distancing and wear a mask!

Trivia time! Edith Wharton was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize–but which book snagged her the prize?

Deals and Squeals!

Calling all Brat Pack fans! Andrew McCarthy has announced a deal with Grand Central Publishing to release his memoir, Brat: An ’80’s Story, set to release in spring of 2021. This isn’t the first time McCarthy has published–he’s the author of The Longest Way Home, a memoir about his adult years, and Just Fly Away, a YA novel.

Major squeal time–Sandhya Menon announced on Instagram that her debut novel When Dimple Met Rishi has been adapted into a TV series by Netflix India! The show is set in India, not the U.S., so expect some major changes, but the show should be available on Netflix worldwide later this year. Can’t wait? Here are 7 Bollywood Movies to Watch If You Loved When Dimple Met Rishi to marathon in the meantime.

Tor has announced that there will be a sequel to Seanan McGuire’s Middlegame! The book will be called Seasonal Fears and you can expect it in spring 2022.

Speaking of new books, Colson Whitehead also revealed on Twitter that the title of his next book is Harlem Shuffle, and it will hit shelves fall 2021!

The production company Sister has acquired TV rights to Jennifer Weiner’s Mrs. Everything, her novel about two sisters whose lives and relationships change as they come of age in the 20th century.

Lucifer Season 5 now has a trailer! Watch the season on Netflix starting August 21.

Riot Recommendations

At Book Riot, I am a cohost with Liberty on All the Books!, plus I write a handful of newsletters including the weekly Read This Book newsletter, cohost the Insiders Read Harder podcast, and write content for the site. I’m always drowning in books, so here’s what’s on my radar this week!

Excited to read: The Good Turn by Dervla McTiernan

Last week’s news that McTiernan has signed a deal for three new mysteries set in the U.S. made me really wish that I had a copy of her latest, which is sadly not published here in the U.S. yet (Penguin, c’mon!). I loved The Ruin and The Scholar (which are available in the U.S. in paperback), so I decided to heck with it, and I bought an international copy of The Good Turn because I can’t wait for American publishing to catch up! I also listened to two Audible exclusive shorts she wrote over the weekend (The Roommate and The Sisters), so I cannot wait. Fingers crossed that the book doesn’t get lost in international shipping!

What I’m Reading This Week:

The Pretty One by Keah Brown (gotta get those Read Harder challenge books in!)

No Judgements by Meg Cabot (the sequel to this romance is coming out next month, and I can’t wait!)

This Time Will Be Different by Misa Sugiura (this has been sitting on my shelf for a while and it’s suddenly calling to me!)

Trivia Answer: The Age of Innocence

I’ll leave you with this must-read on Book Riot–Contemporary Native Literature: Looking Beyond the “Indian Du Jour”

Please enjoy this photo of my orange monster in a box that was meant for a bunch of books before he decided, nope, it was his box now. Cats. There is no reasoning with them.

Happy reading!
Tirzah

Categories
Today In Books

Keanu Reeves is Writing a Comic Series: Today In Books

Whoa! Check Out An Exclusive Look At Keanu Reeves’ Action-Packed First Comic Book, ‘BRZRKR’

Keanu Reeves is adding comic book writer to his long list of achievements! Reeves pitched the idea of a centuries-old half-man, half-war god doomed to walk the Earth while dealing with compulsions of violence to BOOM! Studios, and has been co-writing the 12-issue run with Matt Kindt. BRZRKR is illustrated by Alessandro Vitti, and the titular Berzerker character will bear a resemblance to Reeves. BOOM! Studios has a first-look deal with Netflix, so maybe we’ll see Reeves bring his creation to life on the screen…

Netflix Commits Largest Budget So Far For ‘The Gray Man’

Mark Greaney fans, get excited–Greaney’s novel The Gray Man is not only a go at Netflix, but the streaming service has granted it an unprecedented $200 million budget. Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans will star in the film, which is about two killers, trained by the CIA, who find themselves at odds. With stars and a budget such as this, it’s clear that Netflix is hoping to make the next big blockbuster.

Susan Orlean Steals Our Hearts With Drunken Tweetstorm

Sometimes you just need a laugh, and maybe you want some reassurance that your favorite writers are also trying to cope with the pandemic as best they can. Writer Susan Orlean entertained and charmed many with a series of tweets Friday night after she admitted to being drunk. She updated us on her neighbor’s new foal, her cat, and the lack of candy in her house. Admit it, we’ve all felt like Susan at some point during this pandemic.

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Read This Book

Who is Vera Kelly? by Rosalie Knecht

Welcome to Read This Book, a weekly newsletter where I recommend one book that I think you absolutely must read. The books will vary across genre and age category to include new releases, backlist titles, and classics. If you’re ready to explode your TBR, buckle up!

This week’s pick is one of my favorite spy thriller books of recent years, Who is Vera Kelly? by Rosalie Knecht!

Content warning: homophobia, but I don’t recall anything else!

Vera Kelly is a bit of an enigma. In her mid-twenties, she’s working for the CIA in Buenos Aires in the 1960s, and the political climate is tense. But her job is relatively mellow–she passes time undercover as a student, tries to befriend the more radical student groups, and transcribes secretly tapped telephone conversations. But then a political coup throws the city in chaos and the CIA withdraws from the country without extracting her. Vera’s cover is blown and she’s left without a way home, with enemies closing in on all sides.

There are so many reasons why I love this book. First off, Vera is queer! Her story is a dual timeline narrative, alternating between her time in Argentina and her young adulthood years, starting with when her mother catches her acting a bit too amorous with her high school best friend. This ensuing fallout definitely shapes Vera’s worldview, and sets her on a long path to the CIA. Which brings me to setting–I love that this is a spy story set in the latter half of the twentieth century that isn’t about how bad the Soviets are. Yes, the Cold War had a huge impact on politics and culture, especially in the ’60s, but let’s not forget that the CIA was meddling in South America an awful lot, and the U.S. was not always the good guy there.

And on that note–this is a spy story that’s a little quirky. It doesn’t gloss over the boring, mundane aspects of spy work, nor does it romanticize the danger and action. Vera is no queer lady Jason Bourne (although if anyone wants to write me that story, PLEASE), but she is a smart, unconventional, determined heroine who is trying to survive the best she can. She’s not mercenary, nor is she a committed patriot–which makes sense, considering that she knows she’d be fired if her handlers knew about her sexuality. Because of who she is, Vera has the unique perspective of being critical and grateful to the CIA at the same time.

This is the perfect pick for people who can’t handle or don’t want to read a lot of violence or sexual assault, because this book doesn’t get very dark. There are some really great action moments, some heartbreaking scenes in Vera’s past, but underneath it all, a dry sense of humor that I couldn’t get enough of!

Bonus: The sequel, Vera Kelly is Not a Mystery just came out last month! It’s about what Vera does after the events of this book, and it’s already one of my favorite books of 2020! All my fingers crossed that Rosale Knecht will write more Vera books!

Happy reading!

Tirzah

Find me on Book Riot, the Insiders Read Harder podcast, All the Books, and Twitter.

If someone forwarded this newsletter to you, click here to subscribe.

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Book Radar

New Books from Valerie Valdes and Dervla McTiernan, Plus More Book Radar!

Happy Thursday, readers! We’re almost to the weekend, and thank goodness because it’s been a week of rushing about to meet deadlines and braving the outside world to shop in actual stores for the first time in weeks–but I managed to buy yeast, so that’s a win! After all that, I just want to find a cool and breezy place to hang my hammock this weekend, and read all the books!

No matter what you’ve got going on this weekend, I hope you’re keeping safe and that you’ve got a nice hoard of books! Remember to drink lots of water and wear a mask!

Literary trivia: In Normal People by Sally Rooney, where in Ireland do Marianne and Connell grow up?

Deals and Squeals

Dervla McTiernan has signed with HarperCollins for three more crime books! The Irish author currently lives in Australia, but her new books will be set in the U.S. I can’t wait–I love her Cormac Reilly series, which begins with The Ruin.

The Shirley Jackson Award winners have been unveiled! The Book of X by Sarah Rose Etter won best novel, and Ormeshadow by Priya Sharma won best novella! See the full winner list.

A Sweet Mess by Jayci Lee, a fun foodie rom-com out this week, is in development for film! Daniel Dae Kim will produce and star in the adaptation.

Get ready for more Eva Innocente! Valerie Valdes has announced the sale of two more books, one of which is confirmed to be a sequel to Chilling Effect and Prime Deceptions.

Early reviews of Mary L. Trump’s Too Much and Never Enough indicate that the book is so much more than just an exploration of her uncle’s character.

Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series is now available on audio, with some star-studded narrators.

Children’s author Chris Grabenstein has signed an exclusive deal with a talent agency to see more of his work on the screen. He’s the author of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library, in addition to many other books and being a frequent collaborator with James Patterson.

Riot Recommendations

At Book Riot, I am a cohost with Liberty on All the Books!, plus I write a handful of newsletters including the weekly Read This Book newsletter, cohost the Insiders Read Harder podcast, and write content for the site. I’m always drowning in books, so here’s a book recommendation for you!

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue

I’m a big fan of Emma Donoghue, even if I’m still working my way through her backlist! This new release was actually pushed up to next week because of its relevance to the world right now–it’s about the 1918 flu epidemic. The novel is set over the course of three days in a hospital in Dublin, where nurse Julia Powell is working on the tiny maternity fever ward for expectant mothers with the flu. Overwhelmed and understaffed, the hospital gives her an untrained volunteer named Bridie to help her care for her patients, and Julia and Bridie’s paths cross with a nonfictional character–the female Dr. Lynn who is wanted because she opposed English rule.

I listened to the audiobook in nearly one sitting–it’s such a mesmerizing tale about perseverance in the face of unrelenting work and fear, and finding hope in the small spaces. I’m glad this book will be out Tuesday so I can shout about it from the rooftops!

What’s on my radar this week:

White Fox by Sara Faring (the second novel from the author of The Tenth Girl)

From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks (this was an impulse listen that I started the other night, and it’s so good!)

Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Crosby (out now, and it looks amazing!)

Trivia answer: County Sligo!

I’ll leave you with a photo of my own orange monster, aka Oliver! He can be cute, when he’s not looking to bite someone or something.

Have a fantastic weekend, and happy reading!

Tirzah

Categories
The Kids Are All Right

Kidlit Book Deals for July 15, 2020

Hey kidlit pals! I hope you’re staying cool and hydrated during this toasty July! I’m coming at you with your latest batch of picture book, easy reader, and middle grade book deals! We’ve got a nice mix of graphic novels, fun fiction, picture books, and even a great nonfiction title. Grab your favorite snack and get ready to read!

These deals were active as of the writing of this newsletter. Get them while they’re hot!

For all the Big Nate fans in the house, get Big Nate Lives It Up for just $2!

Looking for a great “tween” book? 11 Before 12 by Lisa Greenwald is only $2, and it’s a series starter.

For the fantasy readers, A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat is $5!

Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Patterson is a classic for older kids, and it can be yours for $2.

Get some more nonfiction on your summer reading list with Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team by Steve Sheinkin for $3!

Poppy by the one and only Avi and illustrated by award-winning artist Brian Floca is only $2.

Any graphic novel fans in the house? All Summer Long by Hope Larosn is only $3 (look for the sequel All Together Now out next month), and The Breakaways by Cathy G. Johnson is also only $3.

Niño Wrestles the World by Yuyi Morales is a fun picture book and it’s only $3.

The Last Last Day of Summer by Lamar Giles is a fun adventure story about two kids who discover a way to freeze time, and it’s just $3.

Happy reading, and stay cool!

Tirzah

Categories
New Books

Hooray, It’s Time for New Books!

Hey there readers, can you believe we’re almost halfway through July already? I can’t believe how quickly this month is flying by, and I would like to press pause for a week to catch up on all the amazing new releases hitting shelves! Two amazing books whose release dates have been shifted due to COVID-19 are finally coming out this week–Running by Natalia Sylvester and The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones. I can’t wait to get my hands on copies!

Don’t forget to catch Liberty and Vanessa on All the Books!, where they talk about Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell and more amazing new releases!

And now, are you ready to explode your TBR list? Here we gooooo!

Crooked Hallelujah by Kelli Jo Ford

This book has been on my radar for months, and I’m so excited it’s finally here! It begins in the 1970s, in Oklahoma, and follows Justine, a young Cherokee woman who is disturbed to find that her mother is taken in by a new church after her father leaves them. Justine doesn’t trust this new church community but tries to play her part, until an act of violence sends her to Texas, with her own daughter in tow. There, Justine feels unmoored and disconnected from her heritage as she struggles to make a living for herself and reaffirm her connections to her daughter, her family, and her people.

Mayhem by Estelle Laure

Estelle Laure is the dynamite author of two contemporary YA novels, but this book presents something a little different for her, and I can’t wait! It’s the story of teenage Mayhem, who’s always felt like she and her mother were a little different, but isn’t sure why. Then they return to her mother’s coastal California hometown and Mayhem learns the truth: the women in their family possess magic. Just as Mayhem is reckoning with her new powers, girls begin to go missing on the beach, and she must decide if she’s going to use her newfound magic to find who’s responsible and exact vigilante justice. This book takes place in the ’80s, which has been earning it some Stranger Things comps. I am so here for powerful, magical women and I can’t wait to get this one in front of my eyeballs!

Well-Behaved Indian Women by Saumya Dave

I love a good multi-generational, multi-point of view novel, and this book delivers! It’s the story of three generations of Indian women: Mimi, Nandrini, and Simran. Simran has always wanted to be a writer, but her mother Nandrini thinks it’s just a hobby. Nandrini has spent most of her life paving the way to success for her children. And Mimi knows she has failed her daughter Nandrini, but she doesn’t want to fail her granddaughter. When Simran and Nandrini encounter people and obstacles that make them second-guess their lives and choices, they’ll find Mimi is the only one fighting to keep their relationship alive–but she’s hiding something from them both. This looks like a great book about identity, mothers and daughters, and finding the courage to follow your dreams.

Backlist bump: Happy paperback release day to Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, a favorite of Liberty’s and mine! If you haven’t read this bonkers space opera with necromancy and sword-fighting lesbians, well–now you truly have no excuses!

Happy reading!

Tirzah

Categories
Book Radar

READY PLAYER TWO in November and More Book Radar!

Happy Monday, book nerds! I hope you had a restorative weekend full of lots of books! I spent time reading with my eyes and ears, and wrapped up watching Safe on Netflix, which is created by crime writer Harlan Coben. I also really enjoyed The Stranger (also on Netflix, based off of his book The Stranger), and I have a couple more Netflix shows based off of his work on my watchlist. I love finding a solid mystery writer whose work I can marathon read or watch!

I’ve got a whole slew of great bookish news and excitement for you this week, but remember to stay hydrated, wash your hands, and keep practicing healthy social distancing habits!

Trivia time! Which critically acclaimed mystery writer debuted his long-running series about an eleven-year-old girl solving mysteries in her small English village when he was 71 years old?

Reveals, Deals, and Movie Squeals

The long-awaited sequel to Ready Player One will be out in November! Ready Player Two has a release date and cover, but you’re going to have to wait a littttttle bit longer for plot details.

HBO Max is developing a film of When Katie Met Cassidy, a lesbian rom-com by Camille Perri. Perri will write the screenplay, and all I can say is YAY, because we need more queer rom-coms in the world!

Philip Pullman is releasing a new novella about teenage Lyra! Serpentine will release this October, and bridge the gap between the end of His Dark Materials trilogy and The Book of Dust.

Phoebe Robinson is on fire! The comedian will launch her own imprint called Tiny Reparations, aimed to address the lack of diversity in publishing. She’ll also release a new book in early 2021 called Six Feet Apart about–surprise surprise–pandemic life.

Sad news: The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina has been canceled at Netflix. But if my perusal of 2021 book catalogs is any indication, we’ll have plenty of dark witchy books hitting shelves to fill that Sabrina void.

But speaking of Netflix–a trailer for season two of The Umbrella Academy just dropped!

Looking ahead, Saara El-Arifi has sold her debut fantasy novel The Final Strife at auction in the UK and in a pre-empt here in the U.S.! The book, which is the first in a trilogy, is pitched as “N.K. Jemisin meets Patrick Rothfuss” and it’ll be out in 2022!

Riot Recommendations

At Book Riot, I am a cohost with Liberty on All the Books!, plus I write a handful of newsletters, cohost the Insiders Read Harder podcast, and create content for the site. I’m always drowning in books, so here’s what’s on my radar this week!

Girl Serpent Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust looks incredible, and I so enjoyed her first novel, Girls Made of Snow and Glass (a queer Snow White retelling told from the POVs of Snow White and her stepmother). And I’ve been wanting to read more books by Native/Indigenous authors, so I’m really looking forward to Crooked Hallelujah by Kelli Jo Ford, about a Cherokee woman and her daughter in the 1970’s-1980’s.

From Book Riot: Normalize Black history with five books about some extraordinary Black people you should know about.

What I’m planning on reading this week:

10 Things I Hate About Pinky by Sandhya Menon (give me alllll the fun rom-coms!)

The Last Final Girl by Stephen Graham Jones (I’ve really been into horror lately, 2020 has been a trip)

Roll with It by Jamie Sumner (ticking off the Read Harder challenges!)

Trivia answer: Alan Bradley! Read The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie if you haven’t already!

That’s it for me, bookish peeps! I leave you with a photo of this precious little fawn, who came bounding out of the underbrush the other day while my partner and I were on a walk. He stopped and stared at us, then bounced back the way he came. Later down the trail, we saw mama deer, so no worries!

Happy reading!
Tirzah

Categories
Today In Books

We’re Getting a GREAT GATSBY Prequel: Today in Books

Humble Book Bundle: Be the Change

With an increased emphasis on the importance of reading books by Black creators and authors of color, Humble Bundle is making it super easy! For as little as $1, you can unlock a huge bundle of amazing books and comics by diverse authors. The most you pay (the thresholds are $1, $8, $15, and $18), the more you get, to a bundle valued at over $1,000. Content includes fiction, nonfiction, comics, ebooks, and audiobooks, and they’re all DRM-free! Some notable titles: I’m Not Dying With You Tonight, Kindred: The Graphic Novel Adaptation, The Sisters Are Alright: Changing the Broken Narrative of Black Women in America, and Goldie Vance!

Kimberly Jones and Gilly Segal in Conversation

Speaking of I’m Not Dying With You Tonight, the authors Gilly Segal and Kimberly Jones will be in conversation on July 16, hosted by Overdrive. They’ll be speaking about their book, social justice, and taking questions. The virtual event is free, but you have to register to get the link! This is a fantastic opportunity to see two incredible authors speak.

LB Buys ‘Gatsby’ Prequel

Have you ever wanted to know what Nick Carraway was like before he met Jay Gatsby? I’m not sure that’s a question many of us have pondered, but in January 2021 we can find out! Nick by Michael Farris Smith will explore the narrator’s life before the events of The Great Gatsby in a new novel, with a cover that throws back to the iconic original cover of the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic.

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Read This Book

Read This Book: The Season of Styx Malone by Kekla Magoon

Welcome to Read This Book, a weekly newsletter where I recommend one book that I think you absolutely must read. The books will vary across genre and age category to include new releases, backlist titles, and classics. If you’re ready to explode your TBR, buckle up!

Hello, I am back in your inbox after a week off due to the Fourth of July weekend, and I am so excited about this week’s pick, which totally embodies summer shenanigans and fun–The Season of Styx Malone by Kekla Magoon.

Caleb and his brother Bobby Gene never go anywhere, which is why they have to make their own fun at home. After a misadventure involving trading their baby sister to a neighborhood boy who always wanted a sister in exchange for a bag of fireworks, the brothers meet an older boy named Styx Malone. Styx tells them about the Great Escalator Trade–trading up smaller things for something worth slightly more, until you can get something you really want. Before they know it, the boys have set their sights on a motorized scooter–but Caleb and Bobby Gene are breaking their parents’ rules to get the trades they need.

This middle grade adventure will definitely appeal to fans of Christopher Paul Curtis for its laugh out loud humor and hijinks, and careful examination of larger, more serious social issues. Readers will be all in from the beginning with Caleb’s earnest an humorous narration about wanting something more out of his life than just sticking around home–he doesn’t want to be ordinary. Styx seems like a ticket to adventure, to fun, and to making his mark, and the slow reveal that Styx might be in over his head is masterful, leading to some lies, betrayals, and big revelations about why Caleb and his family stick so close to home all the time–it has to do with his dad’s fear that Caleb and Bobby Gene might be seen as a threat anywhere outside their small town. Most kids might not make the clear connection between Caleb’s dad’s fear and the tremendous loss of Black life in America, but the subtlety is what’s so brilliant about this book.

This is a novel about three Black boys having adventures, scheming their next trade, and getting into a little bit of trouble, but it’s not a book about tragedy. The characters don’t exist in a vacuum; their story is about finding fun and joy, learning that each person has something extraordinary inside of them, and that sometimes adults let you down, but the good ones are just trying to keep you safe.

With so much attention being given to books about anti-racism, please remember to pick up books about Black joy, too! This is an excellent pick, plus the audiobook was so much fun!

Happy reading,

Tirzah

Find me on Book Riot, the Insiders Read Harder podcast, All the Books, and Twitter.

If someone forwarded this newsletter to you, click here to subscribe.

Categories
Book Radar

The Best Books of 2020 So Far and More Book Radar!

Happy Thursday, book nerds! Surprise, surprise, I’ve got a load of fun book news for you today! I’ve been spending my work days plopped in front of the fan in my dining room, trying to stay adequately hydrated while listening to audiobooks on and off as I work. There’s something reassuring about listening to a book where the characters are melting in the heat as much as I am (The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires), but wow, my kingdom for some AC!

I hope you’re staying cool, drinking lots, and are well stocked in books! Keep on washing those hands, wearing your bookish masks, and staying socially distant!

Trivia time: What play does Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury get its title from?

Book and Adaptation News

I’ll Be the One by Lyla Lee, a book I squealed about last month on All the Books, has been picked up by HBO Max!

Check out the cover reveal for Black Futures, a visual anthology that will release later this year!

Book Rioters have rounded up some of the best books of 2020 so far, and the list is amazing!

Viet Thanh Nguyen, author of The Sympathizer and The Refugees, has a new book coming out in 2021! The Committed is set in Paris in 1982, and the cover is striking!

Rainbow Rowell has announced that the Eleanor & Park movie now has a director attached, and casting will start this week. The news has caused a resurgence of critiques surrounding how Park, a biracial Korean-American character, is portrayed in the novel. So far, Rowell hasn’t addressed that criticism.

Mary L. Trump’s book about Donald Trump is not only proceeding with publication, but it will be out as early as next week!

Book Riot Recommends:

At Book Riot, I am a cohost with Liberty on All the Books!, plus I write a handful of newsletters, cohost the Insiders Read Harder podcast, and create content for the site. I’m always drowning in books, so here’s a book I recently read and loved!

Goodbye from Nowhere by Sara Zarr

I’m a huge Sara Zarr fan (everything she writes is amazing, and the Lifetime movie adaptation of her first novel, Story of a Girl, is directed by Kyra Sedgwick and is *chef’s kiss*), so I was super excited to finally start in on her 2020 release, which I’ve had since May! This is the first book she’s written from a male POV, and I thought she did a fantastic job. This book is about Kyle, a California teen who thinks his family is a little messy but mostly great, and he’s super proud to introduce them all to his girlfriend at Thanksgiving. But then shortly afterwards, he learns that his mom is having an affair–and that his dad knows all about it. Kyle begins spinning out, trying to reconcile the family he thought he had with his new reality. During this time, he reaches out to his cousin Emily, who lives hours away, and finds their friendship deepening as she supports him through this tumultuous time, especially when the family learns their grandparents are selling the family farm.

I loved the emotional arcs in this book, and the characters! Kyle is a baseball loving, classic musical watching teen who loves his family, but turns a blind eye to their deeper-rooted issues until he has to face them head on. Along the way, he learns the importance of communicating your feelings and fighting for what you want and what you believe in. He also discovers that just because you’re family doesn’t mean that your relationship is secure–being there for one another takes work and time, but it can be totally worth it. I also loved the family farm setting–so different from what you see of a lot of California settings!–and the family dynamics. This is a great pick if you’ve never read a book by Sara Zarr, and a must-read if you’re already a fan!

Check out: 12 Must-Read High Fantasy Novels Coming Out in the Second Half of 2020

On My Radar This Week:

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (finally started, loving it so much!)

The Mysterious Messenger by Gilbert Ford

Foreshadow: Stories to Celebrate the Magic of Reading and Writing YA edited by Nova Ren Suma and Emily X.R. Pan

Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron (this is a queer fantasy about Black girls taking down an evil system, and I am so excited for it!)

Once You Go This Far by Kristen Lepionka (the latest book in one of my favorite mystery series!)

Trivia Answer: It’s Hamlet, by William Shakespeare!

I’ll leave you with a photo of a recent read, and a bowl of the best homemade animal crackers I’ve ever had. (Let’s be real, they’re more like cookies and I am okay with this.) I followed the Half-Baked Harvest recipe, which is easy albeit a little fussy in this hot weather and they were delicious–the frosting is made from confectioner’s sugar and strawberry juice and it’s perfection. I got the cookie cutters from Etsy, and eating these totally made me feel like a kid again!

Happy reading!
Tirzah