Riot New Media – Page 39

I’M AFRAID YOU’VE GOT DRAGONS

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date May 13, 2024

Sponsored by

Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and with May continuing its massive release of new books, you’re getting a double dose to check out today. Did you get a chance to see the aurora over the weekend? We got to see it very faintly here on Friday…and then the rest of the time it was super cloudy near where I live. Boo. Hopefully, you had clearer skies! Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Friday.

Make this your most bookish summer yet with personalized reading recommendations from Tailored Book Recommendations! Our bibliologists (aka professional book nerds) are standing by to help you find your next favorite read. Get your recommendations via email, or opt to receive hardcovers or paperbacks delivered right to your door. And with quarterly or annual plans available, TBR has something for every budget. Get started today from just $18!

Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here are two places to start: Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, which provides medical and humanitarian relief to children in the Middle East regardless of nationality, religion, or political affiliation; and Ernesto’s Sanctuary, a cat sanctuary and animal rescue in Syria that is near and dear to my heart.

Bookish Goods

Bird Bookmarks by TheFatFinchShop

Since there’s a bit of an accidental bird theme in the titles of the recommendations, I went looking for book things that are bird related. Here’s a sampling of a set of really cute bird bookmarks I found! $10

New Releases

Road to Ruin by Hana Lee

Jin-Lu is a magebike courier, taking messages and packages between domed cities on a magic-powered motorcycle — exhilarating, but also the most dangerous possible job in the wastelands. But her most precious cargo might be her last — first, she takes a prince’s love letters to a princess desperate to escape her family and her horrible betrothed, and then, in love with both the prince and princess herself, she helps the woman flee directly into the wasteland and the coils of a brewing, deadly storm.

I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle

The backwater kingdom of Bellemontagne is famous (or perhaps infamous?) for its immense population of dragons, which come in sizes ranging from vermin to “say goodbye to your castle.” Unsurprisingly, such a place has dragon exterminators; Robert (who has a much longer name he hates) has inherited his father’s position as just that when he’d really just rather be a valet. He likes dragons and would very much prefer a career change. What fate has in store for him is something much more exciting.

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

Because May continues its assault of awesome new books unabated, here are two more to check out!

A Crane Among Wolves by June Hur

In 16th century Joseon, the tyrant King Yeonsan makes his people suffer, stealing, kidnapping, and abusing at his pleasure. Iseul sets off on an impossible mission to rescue her older sister, Suyeon, after she is taken to the king. At his court, she crosses paths with the tyrant’s half-brother, Daehyun, who would depose his brother and save their people…if he can. While these two unlikely allies despise each other, they hate Yeonsan far more, and together they will take the riskiest gamble anyone in the kingdom has ever seen.

Cover of When Among the Crows by Veronica Roth

When Among Crows by Veronica Roth

Dymitr’s family have long been hunters who are called on to sacrifice their souls to destroy the monsters they track. But he’s been given perhaps the greatest monster of all to hunt: Baba Jaga. And if he wants a chance to defeat her, he will have to ally with a lesser monster. But his true motives and the secrets he carries might be a far greater enemy than their quarry.

See you, space pirates. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.

The Kids Are All Right

Protests, Justice, And More Great Kids’ Books!

Post author By Margaret Kingsbury
Post date May 13, 2024

Sponsored by

Happy Tuesday, kidlit friends! Last newsletter I posted a picture of a cicada. There weren’t enough yet for their song to be too prevalent at that point, but as I’m writing this—with my window open—their cicada song is flooding inside.

With so many college students protesting across the U.S., I thought it would be a good idea to round up a few children’s books about protests. I also review two great new releases.

Bookish Goods

Empowered Women Bookmark by ZellaAndCo

This would be a great bookmark for kid activists and protestors. $4

New Releases

We Care: A First Conversation About Justice by Megan Madison and Jessica Ralli, illustrated by Sharee Miller

The First Conversation board book series is one of my favorite series to collect. The newest addition discusses justice and community. “Justice is how we work on a problem together as a community to make things right again for everyone,” the authors explain. The first half of the book describes how everyone has a place in a community and can contribute in their own unique ways. The second half delves into what a community does when there’s a problem and when someone makes a mistake. The authors explain that punishing people for problems that happen repeatedly within a community can make problems worse. Illustrations depict a young girl making lunches for an unhoused community, a protest for housing, and a town hall meeting. It’s a gentle, straightforward discussion of a complicated topic. More conversation starters are included in the back matter.

Insha’Allah, No, Maybe So by Rhonda Roumani and Nadia Roumani, illustrated by Olivia Aserr

This is a lovely and sweet mother-and-daughter picture book about the Arabic word Insha’Allah. It seems like Ranya’s mother says “Insha’Allah” all the time, and mainly when she means “No.” She says it when Rayna asks if they can go to Disneyworld and to the park, and when Rayna wants to make cookies on a busy day. When Rayna asks what it means, her mother explains that it means that Allah sometimes has other plans. Mama admits that maybe she should be more clear when she uses the word. Warm illustrations accompany the story.

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

With so many protests happening on college campuses nationwide, I thought I would review four newer children’s books centering protests.

A Hero Like Me by Jen Reid & Angela Joy, illustrated by Leire Salaberria

This picture book is inspired by real events, specifically when a statue of the slave trader Edward Colston was pulled down during an antiracist protest. Co-author Jen Reid was one of the protestors and, like on the cover, climbed onto that empty space, fist raised. The picture book follows a child who sees so many statues on walks of historical figures some claim to be “heroes” but who actively harmed people who looked like her. She wonders where the real heroes are, and then she realizes that she can help to make a difference by making her voice heard. Back matter includes more details about the events shown in the book as well as discussion questions.

Barrio Rising by María Dolores Águila, illustrated by Magdalena Mora

This powerful picture will be released in one month. Set in 1970, it’s a fictionalized account of how San Diego’s Chicano Park came to be. A young girl and her mami live in Barrio Logan, a Chicane neighborhood. When the two see construction beneath the bridge, Mami sighs in relief, explaining that the city is finally building a much-promised park. However, it turns out that the city is building a police station, not a park. The community rallies together to protest at the construction site. They protest for 12 days before the city grants their request for a park at a town meeting. This is a wonderful picture book about the power and importance of protests.

Frankie and Friends: The Big Protest by Christine Platt, illustrated by Alea Marley

This is the second book in the Frankie and Friends chapter book series, one of my favorite new chapter book series. Frankie’s mom is a news reporter. When a protest for justice sweeps the news, Mama is called in to report. In her absence, Frankie wonders what a protest is and why people are protesting. To get to the bottom of it, she decides to do her own journalistic investigation with the help of her toys. She interviews her father and sister—learning about racial injustice and activism—and then her toys participate in their own protest. This is an engaging introduction to protests, activism, and journalism. A glossary is included at the end.

Jamie by L. D. Lapinski

This heartwarming middle grade novel releases in two weeks. Jamie, who is nonbinary, and their friends are entering secondary school in Nottingham, England. When it’s time to choose schools, Jamie realizes the schools are divided by gender. There’s a boy’s school and a girl’s school, neither of which applies to Jamie. Many of the adults in Jamie’s life don’t understand their problem and encourage them to just pick. But thankfully Jamie has supportive friends and family who help them protest the unfair binary division of students.

Lately, we’ve had more great blue herons visit our backyard. I love seeing them! They fish in the creek behind the treeline.

If you’d like to read more of my kidlit reviews, I’m on Instagram @BabyLibrarians, Twitter @AReaderlyMom, Bluesky @AReaderlyMom.bsky.social, and blog irregularly at Baby Librarians. You can also read my Book Riot posts. If you’d like to drop me a line, my email is kingsbury.margaret@gmail.com.

All the best,

Margaret Kingsbury

New Books

Hooray, It’s Time for New Books!

Post author By Liberty Hardy
Post date May 13, 2024

Sponsored by

Happy Tuesday, readers! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend (and Monday.) Did you see the northern lights? If you heard a loud, high-pitched sound on Sunday, it was just me spotting baby foxes scampering around my backyard. (It’s possible only dogs could hear the sound I made.) You will not be surprised to learn that they were SO CUTE. I may have missed seeing the northern lights, but seeing kits more than made up for it. Now, moving on to books: for today, I have a family drama surrounding the concept of heir property; a powerful YA about a teen headed for rock bottom while trying to get to the top; and a fantasy novel about dragons from a legendary author of the genre!

As for other new releases, at the top of my list of today’s books that I want to get my hands on are The Infernal Machine: A True Story of Dynamite, Terror, and the Rise of the Modern Detective by Steven Johnson, The Witches of Bellinas by J. Nicole Jones, and All Fours by Miranda July.

You can hear about more of the fabulous books coming out today on this week’s episode of All the Books! Vanessa and I talked about books we are excited about that are out this week, including Oye, Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space, and Woodworm.

Long After We Are Gone by Terah Shelton Harris

When King Solomon dies, his last wish is that his four children keep their family home from falling into the hands of developers. The Kingdom, as it’s called, is heir property, which is property held and passed down in a family without a will and often subject to seizure or sale due to its lack of formal paperwork. (Harris wrote this novel about learning of the problem of thousands of people with heir property who couldn’t get assistance rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina because they couldn’t prove they owned their homes.) To stop developers from acquiring the Kingdom, the Solomon siblings return to North Carolina, each carrying their own baggage. They must overcome obstacles and let go of the problems and hurts of the past if they want to save their home for their futures. It’s an emotional tale of family, love, and injustice.

Backlist bump: One Summer in Savannah by Terah Shelton Harris

Thirsty by Jas Hammonds

Hammonds has hit another home run with this YA novel exploring addiction and acceptance. It’s the summer before college, and Blake Brenner desperately wants to get into the prestigious Serena Sorority on campus with her girlfriend, Ella. As the daughter of a Serena alum, Ella is guaranteed a spot. But Blake doesn’t have those connections, so she must work harder to find a way in. Alcohol seems to be the answer — Blake discovers that she’s a different person when she drinks, one who is the life of the party and a viable Serena candidate. But as Blake’s drinking spirals out of control, she begins to wonder how far she will go to achieve what she wants. Is the acceptance of these strangers worth the price of addiction?

Backlist bump: We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds

I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle

And last (unicorn) but not least, this is a comical fantasy about fairy tale tropes from the prolific author of the classic The Last Unicorn. When Robert’s father dies in the kingdom of Bellemontagne, Robert inherits his job: dragon exterminator. But Robert likes dragons and doesn’t want to destroy them. (Not to mention, while many dragons are small, some of them get to be REALLY big.) But with Prince Reginald — a royal marriage prospect — soon to visit the castle, Princess Cerise needs Robert to get rid of the kingdom’s dragon infestation. And it turns out, Prince Reginald needs Robert’s help in slaying a big dragon so he can impress his father. It seems like no matter what, Robert is going to have to kill dragons. How can he get out of his seemingly destined role as a dragon exterminator and attain the job he has always wanted, that of a royal valet?

Backlist bump: The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

an orange cat sitting in a white laundry basket; photo by Liberty Hardy

This week, I am reading an older novella, The Least of My Scars by Stephen Graham Jones, and In Defence of the Act by Effie Black, which was longlisted for the Women’s Prize this year. For viewing, along with the NBA semifinals, I have been watching trivia shows and episodes of season five of The X-Files. (Related: I just got a copy of the upcoming tie-in novel, The X-Files: Perihelion by Claudia Gray, and I am so excited.) I also rewatched The Crow for the zillionth time to celebrate its 30th anniversary on Saturday. The song stuck in my head this week is “Dead of Night” by Orville Peck. And here is your weekly cat picture: Zevon is the cutest basket case.

That’s all for this week! I appreciate you more than I can say, friends. Thank you for joining me each Tuesday as I rave about books! I am wishing you all a wonderful rest of your week, whatever situation you find yourself in now. And yay, books! See you next week! – XO, Liberty

“You try to keep life simple but it never works, and in the end all you have left is yourself.”—Sue Grafton, “A” is for Alibi

The Stack

The First Newsletter of the Rest of Your Lives

Post author By Eileen Gonzalez
Post date May 13, 2024

Sponsored by

Hello again! By the time you read this, I will be back from a week-long stay in Disney World! (The past three newsletters, including this one, were all submitted super early, so if I missed any huge comics news, sorry about that.) Now it’s time to return to the real world and talk about comics featuring anthropomorphic animals, alien/human hybrids, and moon people!

Bookish Goods

a pet tag with the name Jack! in a comics-style text burst

Pet ID Tag — Comic Burst Series by TagNTrail

Everything’s more fun when you can share it with your pet, even your love of comics! This personalized tag will really make your best bud stand out. $14

New Releases

Pup and Dragon: How to Catch a Unicorn by Alice Walstead and Paul Gill

This is part of a series that follows two best friends, Pup and Dragon, as they go on quests to find the rarest, most amazing creatures around. This time, they’re off to the zoo on the rainbow trail of a unicorn!

Lunar Boy by Jes and Cin Wibowo

Moving to a new place and trying to fit in with a new stepfamily are huge challenges for any kid. Imagine trying to handle both at once! Indu is struggling to do just that when all he really wants is to go back to his original home on the moon. But when he gets the chance to do so, will he take it, or will he give life on Earth another chance?

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter!

Riot Recommendations

Today’s Riot Rec theme is: graduation! ‘Tis the season, and while graduation ceremonies are unfortunately going to look very different for some students this year, new grads should still be proud of their academic accomplishments!

King Cheer by Molly Horton Booth, Stephanie Kate Strohm, and Jamie Green

As her graduation looms, Leah is overwhelmed with doubt and uncertainty, so she decides to give up captaining the cheer squad to attend to “more important” matters. When the squad’s new leaders start to make Leah’s old team miserable, can Leah step up to set things right?

Blue Beetle: Graduation Day by Josh Trujillo and Adrian Gutierrez

Jaime Reyes, alias the Blue Beetle, is now a college graduate, but he and his friends have other things on their minds — like being sidelined by the Justice League in the middle of an alien invasion. The above link goes to the English version, but you can buy this book in Spanish, too. It’s a good way to keep up with your Spanish now that you don’t have to go to class!

See you next time, nerd friends!

~Eileen

Giveaways

051324-EACInternalPushes-May2024-Giveaway

Post author By Vivek Patel
Post date May 13, 2024

We’re teaming up with Gungnir to give away a 1-year subscription to Tailored Book Recommendations (TBR) to one lucky winner!

Enter here for a chance to win, or click the image below!

Here’s a bit more from our sponsor: We believe creators deserve a spotlight, a gateway to the broad, energized audiences hungry for journeys of inspiration, tales of might, and sagas of magnitude… adventures that challenge and delight.‍

We live the attitude of punk rock, manifested by the power of subversive storytelling. GUNGNIR knows that today’s fresh creators are 21st Century philosophers, provocateurs, and mythmakers.. Their voices, ideas, and inspired views of society will ignite the conversations that shape tomorrow.

We’re here to stand watch as new worlds grow. The first and best defense against the mundane dark might seem like a blade. But at GUNGNIR…we know the right story can cut even deeper.

Check Your Shelf

AAPI Heritage Month Reads

Post author By Katie McLain
Post date May 13, 2024

Sponsored by

Welcome to Check Your Shelf. I was frustrated to learn this week that Publishers Weekly has recently implemented a paywall that limits non-subscribers to 5 free articles/reviews per month. I have access to the print version of PW at work, but I rely heavily on their online access to put together these newsletters, so this is going to be a pain in the ass moving forward. (As library folks, I imagine many of you are in the same boat as well.)

Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

OpenAI, “mass scraper of copyrighted work,” claims copyright over the logo used by the ChatGPT subreddit. Oh, how the turn tables.

How TikTok Shop ads turned an obscure, inaccurate book about herbal remedies into a bestseller.

The book publishing industry is in crisis, so why is it so hard to talk about the labor that goes into making books?

New & Upcoming Titles

Here’s a peek at Whoopi Goldberg’s new memoir, Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me.

Kenny G is publishing a memoir this fall.

Priscilla Presley is publishing a new memoir.

We’re getting a new horror novel published posthumously from George A. Romero, and co-written with Daniel Kraus.

Neil Gorsuch is publishing a memoir this summer.

Here’s a new anthology of psychological horror stories, edited (of course) by Ellen Datlow. I WANT.

A look at Alina Grabowski’s novel Women and Children First, which Vogue describes as “a mystery for people who don’t think they like mysteries.”

And here’s a first look at the long-lost novel from Peter Beagle, which is coming out this month.

Cover reveal for Trang Thanh Tran’s latest YA horror novel, They Bloom at Night.

Cover reveal for Ann Hood’s The Stolen Child.

10 new mysteries and thrillers coming out in May.

20 of the most addictive books of 2024 (so far).

Here are the big book club picks for May.

Weekly picks from Crime Reads, LitHub, New York Times.

May picks from Crime Reads (international crime fiction), People, Reactor (fantasy).

The best new BIPOC books out last week.

5 new LGBTQ YA and children’s books and 7 new queer books for adults released last week.

12 book club picks for May 2024.

New book club books to celebrate AAPI Heritage Month.

All Things Comics

On the Riot

Horror comics to give you the chills.

Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

20 books for kids that celebrate mothers and caregivers.

Adults

116 (!) books to read for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

The best books to read for Mother’s Day.

Spicy, sports-themed romance novels to read if you’re obsessed with Challengers.

5 novels to transport you to wild worlds.

9 books featuring fascinating mother-daughter relationships.

7 books to expand your view of the world.

7 heart-wrenching Chinese family sagas.

8 of the greatest campus novels ever written.

6 books featuring killer women.

20 romance novels for fans of Bridgerton.

8 books inspired by Asian mythology.

On the Riot

9 of the best memoirs to read.

10 of the best spy novels to keep you turning the pages.

12 immersive romantic adventure stories to take you away.

10 excellent epic fantasy debuts.

The most popular histories and biographies of the last 10 years.

8 of the best translated historical fiction novels.

7 unforgettable Indigenous historical fiction books.

Level Up (Library Reads)

Do you take part in Library Reads, the monthly list of best books selected by librarians only? We’ve made it easy for you to find eligible diverse titles to nominate. Kelly Jensen has a guide to discovering upcoming diverse books, and Edelweiss has a new catalog dedicated to diverse titles, which is managed by Early Word Galley Chatter Vicki Nesting. Check it out!

a brown tabby cat and a black and white cat sitting in separate cardboard boxes

Look at these two knuckleheads!! They were very excited when the new cat tree we ordered came with not one but TWO boxes for them to sit in! For a few short minutes, there was no fighting and no shenanigans. Just peaceful co-existence.

All right, friends. I’ll be back on Friday!

—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.

Read This Book

Read This Book…

Post author By Patricia Elzie
Post date May 13, 2024

Sponsored by

Welcome to Read This Book, a newsletter where I recommend one book that should absolutely be put at the top of your TBR pile. Recommended books will vary across genre and age category and include shiny new books, older books you may have missed, and some classics I suggest finally getting around to. Make space for another pile of books on your floor, because here we go!

Today’s pick is a Korean space opera about love, grief, and the struggle to find one’s place in the solar system.

Ocean’s Godori: A Novel by Elaine U. Cho

It’s the twenty-third century: Korea has long since united and has cultivated the pinnacle of space exploration. Korea is the genesis of the Alliance, which is the space military that oversees the safety and order of the solar system, also referred to as “the solar.” Ocean Yoon is a space pilot who has had a major demotion because of a past incident and we find her working on a much lower-class ship than she once did. When Ocean was eight years old, she was sent away from the Jeju province in Korea to the diplomat school, where she was expected to train to be a diplomat until she was 18. She dropped out of this program a year before graduation to join the Alliance. Ocean’s older brother had taught her how to fly spacecraft. As a person who loves to drive and also sometimes misses the satisfaction of driving a manual, I was tickled by the care and focus that the author takes when talking about how Ocean flies the spacecraft. I had never thought I would encounter a manual spaceship, but I am absolutely delighted by it.

Teo Anand is the younger son of a hugely wealthy family, perhaps the wealthiest family in the solar. The Anand family’s companies are responsible for a lot of terraforming and designing a lot of tech, especially the tech used by the Alliance. Ocean and Teo are unlikely friends and as such, their friendship is kept secret. Their bond is the kind that can only be formed from shared trauma.

Ocean is part of a ragtag crew on a Class 4 ship, definitely not the class of ship that sees any action. The Captain, Dae, is a bit sketchy and very money-focused. She hires on a new medic, who is from the group of people that handle death and death rites. His name is Haven Sasani, and his people have very strict rules around physical touch — that is, it is forbidden to touch him. His people are also looked down upon by everyone else in the solar.

Dae takes on what is supposed to be a fairly underwhelming mission to go to a place where there is a bunch of abandoned technology and do some diagnostic work. Everything goes horribly wrong. Meanwhile, Teo, as a member of the Alliance, is part of the crew on a ship that is escorting Seonbi, an elite group of scholars, to Mars. Everything goes horribly wrong.

This book has a lot of moving parts and is beautifully choreographed. It was an incredibly fun read that I enjoyed, and I hope you do too.

That’s it for now, book-lovers!

Patricia

Find me on Book Riot, the All the Books podcast, Bluesky, and Instagram.

Find more books by subscribing to Book Riot Newsletters.

Bookish Goods

Bookish Good of the Week: May 12, 2024

Post author By Erica Ezeifedi
Post date May 12, 2024

Book Shaped Bookmark Holder by Bridgedesigned

These book-shaped bookmark holders are cute and functional. $10+

Giveaways

051124-ChildrenOfAnguishAndAnarchy-Giveaway

Post author By Vivek Patel
Post date May 11, 2024

We’re giving away three copies of Children of Anguish and Anarchy by Tomi Adeyemi to three lucky Riot readers!

Enter here for a chance to win, or click the image below!

Featuring gorgeous designed edges, dazzling metallic foil designs on the jacket and case, and an exclusive endpaper map that reveals new unexplored territories, Tomi Adeyemi’s #1 bestselling Legacy of Orïsha series comes to an earth-shaking conclusion.

The Fright Stuff

It’s the Middle of May, and We’re Overflowing with Horror

Post author By Emily Martin
Post date May 10, 2024

Sponsored by

Horror fans!

I know last week I told you some of the scariest things that happened to me that week. This week, the scariest thing is that we’re HALFWAY through May somehow. And there are soooo many good new horror releases to share with you. There was no way I could cut it down to two, so I have three (!!!) for you this time.

Bookish Goods

Midsommar Bookmark by SnarkyAndSage

It’s May, and you know what that means. Time to celebrate the season with the May Queen from Midsommar. If you love books (and you do because you’re here), then you can represent your love for the season with this gorgeous May Queen bookmark. Skål! It’s $4.25!

New Releases

The House that Horror Built by Christina Henry

I have three (!!) new horror novels to recommend for you this week, and it was hard to narrow it down to these three. Let’s start with the latest from Christina Henry.

Javier Castillo was an award-winning horror movie director who had audiences at the edge of their seats with every new film release. But after his family was hit with tragedy and scandal, the director was forced to step away from the spotlight. Now single mom (and film aficionado) Harry Adams has accepted a job cleaning Javier’s home. Javier values discretion over everything else, and Harry promises not to ask questions. But when Harry hears a voice behind a locked door calling for help, she’s not so sure she can keep her promise.

It Waits in the Forest by Sarah Dass

This next one is a chilling YA horror fantasy from Rick Riordan Presents. Set on the Caribbean Island of St. Virgil, It Waits in the Forest follows Selina DaSilva, a plant-loving young girl who dreams of leaving the island to study pharmacology. But that was before her mother and father were viciously attacked. Now, her father is dead and her mother is in a coma, and Selina’s ex-boyfriend Gabriel wants to get to the bottom of who is violently killing people on the island. There have always been stories of evil lurking in the forest, something Selina’s logical mind always refused to regard as truth. But now she’s not so sure.

My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna van Veen

This final book is a queer supernatural horror novel. Roos Beckman has a spirit companion, Ruth, who only she can see. Roos uses her abilities to connect with the spirit world to conduct questionable séances where she and her mother feed on the vulnerability of people grieving their loved ones. But then she meets Agnes Knoop, a wealthy young widow who also has a spirit companion. Realizing that they are kindred spirits, Agnes invites Roos to come live with her at the crumbling estate she inherited from her dead husband. Agnes and Roos quickly form a deep bond with one another. When someone ends up dead, Roos’ sanity is questioned, and she’s forced to choose between her love for Agnes and her deep bond with Ruth.

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

The Troop by Nick Cutter

It’s mid-May, which means summer is around the corner. The scariest time of the year if you ask me, friends. I hate hot weather. But you know what’s summery and a great setting for scary stories? Camps/summer camps. The Troops is pretty much the creepiest camping story I’ve ever read. Every year, scoutmaster Tim Riggs takes his troop into the Canadian wilderness for a three-day camping trip. Of course, scary stories have long been a staple of camping trips. But when those scary stories become real, this camping trip becomes so much more terrifying than anything the troop leader or the boys could have planned for.

Dead Girls Walking by Sami Ellis

Last (but not least), here’s a new YA horror novel set in a queer summer camp for horror fans. OMG, right? Temple Baker’s father is the North Point Killer, an infamous serial killer who has been convicted of murdering 20 people. But did he kill Temple’s mother? Looking for answers, Temple returns to the scene of the alleged crime, a farm that has now been turned into an overnight camp for queer, horror-obsessed girls. When a girl at the camp ends up dead, Temple worries that there’s a copycat killer amongst the campers.

Phew, all this talk of summer camp is making me want to shut down the computer and explore the great outdoors. So I’m out of here for now, but I’ll see you next Monday! Until then, you can follow me (and message me) on Instagram at emandhercat. Sweet dreams, horror fans!

Bookish Goods

Bird Bookmarks by TheFatFinchShop

New Releases

Road to Ruin by Hana Lee

I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle

Riot Recommendations

A Crane Among Wolves by June Hur

When Among Crows by Veronica Roth

Bookish Goods

Empowered Women Bookmark by ZellaAndCo

New Releases

We Care: A First Conversation About Justice by Megan Madison and Jessica Ralli, illustrated by Sharee Miller

Insha’Allah, No, Maybe So by Rhonda Roumani and Nadia Roumani, illustrated by Olivia Aserr

Riot Recommendations

A Hero Like Me by Jen Reid & Angela Joy, illustrated by Leire Salaberria

Barrio Rising by María Dolores Águila, illustrated by Magdalena Mora

Frankie and Friends: The Big Protest by Christine Platt, illustrated by Alea Marley

Jamie by L. D. Lapinski

Long After We Are Gone by Terah Shelton Harris

Thirsty by Jas Hammonds

I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle

Bookish Goods

Pet ID Tag — Comic Burst Series by TagNTrail

New Releases

Pup and Dragon: How to Catch a Unicorn by Alice Walstead and Paul Gill

Lunar Boy by Jes and Cin Wibowo

Riot Recommendations

King Cheer by Molly Horton Booth, Stephanie Kate Strohm, and Jamie Green

Blue Beetle: Graduation Day by Josh Trujillo and Adrian Gutierrez

Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

New & Upcoming Titles

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

RA/Genre Resources

On the Riot

All Things Comics

On the Riot

Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

Adults

On the Riot

Level Up (Library Reads)

Ocean’s Godori: A Novel by Elaine U. Cho

Book Shaped Bookmark Holder by Bridgedesigned

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