A SONG OF WRAITHS AND RUIN by Roseanne A . Brown
Malik has no choice but to kill Karina , Crown Princess of Ziran . His sister has been abducted by a spirit who demands her life for his sisters . Karina has no choice but to kill a king . She is determined to resurrect her mother , and only the still-beating heart of a king will do . So she offers her hand in marriage to the victor of the Solstasia competition as a means to an end . When Malik swindles his way into the competition , neither knows they are after the others head , nor does either know what to do when their hearts start to get involved with each other . In the first of a fantasy duology , Brown ’ s world-building , courtly intrigue , and gripping romantic tension is reminiscent of Tomi Adeyemi and Sabaa Tahir .
A BURNING by Megha Majumdar
Is the government a terrorist too ? In this timely debut from Majumdar , a Facebook post from Jivan — a Muslim woman living in the Indian slums — poses this very question and sparks the central conflict in this tale . As Jivan is ironically considered a terrorist for her post and thrown in jail , we follow her story along with two others : Jivan ’ s former physical education teacher PT Sir , and Lovely , who is hijra ( a third gender recognized in India ) and dreams of stardom . With PT ’ s rise in a right-wing party hinged on Jivan ’ s descent and Lovely ’ s rising stardom is threatened by an alibi only she can give , we are swept into a world that tackles class , corruption , and gendered violence in this fully realized , genre-bending debut .
CLAP WHEN YOU LAND by Elizabeth Acevedo
Yahaira Rios has not spoken to her dad in almost a year — not since she found out that he has another family living in the Dominican Republic . Camino Rios lives in DR , where her father visits every summer and she dreams of going to Columbia University in grand NYC . Their lives are both forever altered when their father ’ s plane crashes , and each girl is forced to grieve his death , reconcile with his secrets , and lean on the half-sibling they never knew about in the process . Told in her signature verse style , Clap When You Land is a poetic , urgent story about betrayal , heartbreak , and the complexity of love and family .
ALL BOYS AREN ’ T BLUE by George M . Johnson
Childhood , adolescence , and adulthood are explored by LGBTQIA + activist George M . Johnson in his debut work All Boys Aren ’ t Blue . Johnson pens a series of essays exploring both the extraordinary and the mundane moments that encapsulate his journey toward adulthood ; stories around gender policing , institutional violence , first love , sexual awakenings , and family . Johnson is intentional about centering the feelings , experiences , and unique perspectives of queer Black boys while also using his work to hold accountable those who would consider themselves allies . Part memoir , part primer , All Boys Aren ’ t Blue beautifully renders the complexities of young , queer , Black boyhood in America .
CONJURE WOMEN by Afia Atakora
Told in the time before and after the Civil War , Conjure Women follows the intertwined lives of midwife May Belle , her daughter Rue , and Varina , the daughter of the man that owns them both . Rue , resistant
13 | Colossium . July 2020