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LitLoot is a free literary subscription box filled with a custom selected library book and other free goodies! We’ll contact you when your box is ready for pickup at the end of the month.
Listen to stories, sing songs, and more at this fun family storytime.
Disclaimer(s)
All participants should be accompanied by a parent or caregiver.
Due to the room capacity, attendance at drop-in programs is limited to 50 participants.
The story of how reggae icon Bob Marley overcame adversity, and the journey behind his revolutionary music. Cast: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Lashana Lynch, James Norton (2024, PG-13, 1 hr 45 min)
Join Dr. Temple Grandin, an autistic professor of animal behavior, as she discusses being neurodivergent in today’s world.
Disclaimer(s)
This event will be held using free Zoom software on your internet-connected device (computer, smartphone, or tablet). Registrants will receive an email the day before the event with instructions on how to join. See our Privacy Policy for library info on using third-party software.
Join us for a Pride month storytime featuring books and songs that celebrate everyone.
Disclaimer(s)
All participants should be accompanied by a parent or caregiver.
Socialize as you play this fun game. Small prizes will be awarded to those who Bingo!
Did you know...?
The library has an AccuCut die cutting machine that you can reserve to use in the Youth Services Department. You have access to our inventory of over 150 different shapes, letters, and numbers. Easily cut out fun shapes for your classroom or your next party!
Guidelines for Use:
- Available to all Morton Grove Library users for use in the Youth Services Department during business hours
- Must be 13 years of age or older to use
- Paper is not provided by the Morton Grove Public Library
Please use this form to give advanced notice of the specific dies needed. For more information or for questions, call the Youth Services Desk at 847-929-4220x2.
Pride Month - Adults
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Cactus Country
A striking literary memoir of genderfluidity, class, masculinity, and the American Southwest that captures the author’s experience coming of age in a Tucson, Arizona, trailer park.
Newly arrived in the Sonoran Desert, eleven-year-old Zoë’s world is one of giant beetles, thundering javelinas, and gnarled paloverde trees. With the family’s move to Cactus Country RV Park, Zoë has been given a fresh start and a new, shorter haircut.
Although Zoë doesn’t have the words to express it, he experiences life as a trans boy—and in Cactus Country, others begin to see him as a boy, too. Here, Zoë spends hot days chasing shade and freight trains with an ever-rotating pack of sunburned desert kids, and nights fending off his own questions about the body underneath his baggy clothes.
As Zoë enters adolescence, he must reckon with the sexism, racism, substance abuse, and violence endemic to the working class Cactus Country men he’s grown close to, whose hard masculinity seems as embedded in the desert landscape as the cacti sprouting from parched earth. In response, Zoë adopts an androgynous style and new pronouns, but still cannot escape what it means to live in a gendered body, particularly when a fraught first love destabilizes their sense of self.
But beauty flowers in this desert, too. Zoë persists in searching for answers that can’t be found in Cactus Country, dreaming of a day they might leave the park behind to embrace whatever awaits beyond.
Equal parts harsh and tender, Cactus Country is an invitation for readers to consider how we find our place in a world that insists on stark binaries, and a precisely rendered journey of self-determination that will resonate with anyone who’s ever had to fight to be themself. -
Oye
A coming-of-age comedy. A telenovela-worthy drama. A moving family saga. All in a phone call you won’t want to hang up on.
“Brilliant . . . Melissa Mogollon did not come to play.”—Kiley Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Such a Fun Age
“Yes, hi, Mari. It’s me. I’m over my tantrum now and calling you back . . . But first—you have to promise that you won’t tell Mom or Abue any of this. Okay? They’ll set the house on fire if they find out . . .”
Structured as a series of one-sided phone calls from our spunky, sarcastic narrator, Luciana, to her older sister, Mari, this wildly inventive debut “jump-starts your heart in the same way it piques your ear” (Xochitl Gonzalez). As the baby of her large Colombian American family, Luciana is usually relegated to the sidelines. But now she finds herself as the only voice of reason in the face of an unexpected crisis: A hurricane is heading straight for Miami, and her eccentric grandmother, Abue, is refusing to evacuate. Abue is so one-of-a-kind she’s basically in her own universe, and while she often drives Luciana nuts, they’re the only ones who truly understand each other. So when Abue, normally glamorous and full of life, receives a shocking medical diagnosis during the storm, Luciana’s world is upended.
When Abue moves into Luciana’s bedroom, their complicated bond intensifies. Luciana would rather be skating or sneaking out to meet girls, but Abue’s wild demands and unpredictable antics are a welcome distraction for Luciana from her misguided mother, absent sister, and uncertain future. Forced to step into the role of caretaker, translator, and keeper of the devastating family secrets that Abue begins to share, Luciana suddenly finds herself center stage, facing down adulthood—and rising to the occasion.
As Luciana chronicles the events of her disrupted senior year of high school over the phone to Mari, Oye unfolds like the most fascinating and entertaining conversation you’ve ever eavesdropped on: a rollicking, heartfelt, and utterly unique novel that celebrates the beauty revealed and resilience required when rewriting your own story. -
How It Works Out
“Audacious, breathtaking, and inspiring.” —GEORGE SAUNDERS
“Madcap, delirious, exhilaratingly good.” —KELLY LINK
“A delightfully bizarre and unabashedly queer revelation.” —TEGAN and SARA QUIN
“A beautifully brilliant, hilariously sad stunner of a debut that never forgets about the heart.” —NANA KWAME ADJEI-BRENYAH
What if you had the chance to rewrite the course of your relationship, again and again, in the hopes that it would work out?
When Myriam and Allison fall in love at a show in a run-down punk house, their relationship begins to unfold through a series of hypotheticals:
What if they became mothers by finding a baby in an alley? What if the only cure for Myriam’s depression was Allison’s flesh? What if they were B-list celebrities, famous for writing a book about building healthy lesbian relationships? How much darker—or sexier—would their dynamic be if one were a power-hungry CEO, and the other her lowly employee?
From the fantasies of early romance to the slow encroaching of violence that unravels the fantasy, each reality builds to complete a brilliant, painfully funny portrait of love’s many promises and perils.Equal parts sexy and profane, unsentimental, and gut-wrenching, How It Works Out is a genre-bending, arresting, uncanny exploration of queerness, love, and our drive for connection, in any and all possible worlds.
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The Long Hallway
Growing up queer, closeted, and afraid, Richard Scott Larson found expression for his interior life in horror films, especially John Carpenter's 1978 classic, Halloween. He developed an intense childhood identification with Michael Myers, Carpenter's inscrutable masked villain, as well as Michael's potential victims. In The Long Hallway, Larson scrutinizes this identification, meditating on horror as a metaphor for the torments of the closet.
Larson was only nine years old when he recognized something of his own experience in how Michael Myers hid his true face from the world. This spark of recognition ignited his imagination while he searched for clues to what the future might hold for boys like him, all the while being made to understand his nascent sexuality as deviant and punishable. Like in the movies, his superficially safe suburban childhood was in fact filled with threat: a classmate's murder, his father's alcoholism and death, and his own sexual assault by a much older man. The figurative mask Larson learned to wear could not contain his yearning to be seen and desired. In the aftermath of this violence, his boyhood self came to believe that fear and desire would be forever intertwined.
This lyrical memoir expresses a boy's search for identity while navigating the darkness and isolation of a deeply private inner world. With introspection and tenderness, Larson reflects on how little we understand in the moment about the experiences that mark us forever.
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A Good Happy Girl
A poignant, surprising, and immersive read about a young professional woman pursuing an emotionally intense relationship with a married lesbian couple, for readers of Kristen Arnett and Melissa Broder
Helen, a jittery attorney with a self-destructive streak, is secretly reeling from a disturbing crime of neglect that her parents recently committed. Historically happy to compartmentalize—distracting herself by hooking up with lesbian couples, doting on her grandmother, and flirting with a young administrative assistant—Helen finally meets her match with Catherine and Katrina, a married couple who startle and intrigue her with their ever-increasing sexual and emotional intensity.
Perceptive and attentive, Catherine and Katrina prod at Helen’s life, revealing a childhood tragedy she’s been repressing. When her father begs her yet again for help getting parole, she realizes that she has a bargaining chip to get answers to her past.
A Good Happy Girl is interested in worlds without men—and women who will do what they can to get what they want. In her exploration of twisted desires, queer domesticity, and the effects of incarceration on the family, Marissa Higgins offers empathy to characters who often don’t receive it, with unsettling results. -
All the World Beside
From the New York Times bestselling author of Boy Erased, an electrifying, deeply moving novel about the love story between two men in Puritan New England.
Cana, Massachusetts: a utopian vision of 18th-century Puritan New England. To the outside world, Reverend Nathaniel Whitfield and his family stand as godly pillars of their small-town community, drawing Christians from across the New World into their fold. One such Christian, physician Arthur Lyman, discovers in the minister’s words a love so captivating it transcends language.
As the bond between these two men grows more and more passionate, their families must contend with a tangled web of secrets, lies, and judgments which threaten to destroy them in this world and the next. And when the religious ecstasies of the Great Awakening begin to take hold, igniting a new era of zealotry, Nathaniel and Arthur search for a path out of an impossible situation, imagining a future for themselves which has no name. Their wives and children must do the same, looking beyond the known world for a new kind of wilderness, both physical and spiritual.
Set during the turbulent historical upheavals which shaped America’s destiny and following in the tradition of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, All the World Beside reveals the very human lives just beneath the surface of dogmatic belief. Bestselling author Garrard Conley has created a page-turning, vividly imagined historical tale that is both a love story and a crucible. -
Rainbow Black
“I've loved Maggie Thrash's work for years, and Rainbow Black is going to set so many new hearts aflame—murder, intrigue, queer love, dark humor AND satanic panic? Welcome to the Maggie Thrash Fan Club, world!”—Emma Straub, New York Times bestselling author of This Time Tomorrow
For readers of Donna Tartt and Ottessa Moshfegh comes a brilliant, deliriously entertaining novel from the acclaimed author of Honor Girl. Rainbow Black is part murder mystery, part gay international fugitive love story—set against the ’90s Satanic Panic and spanning 20 years in the life of a young woman pulled into its undertow.
Lacey Bond is a 13-year-old girl in New Hampshire growing up in the tranquility of her hippie parents’ rural daycare center.
Then the Satanic Panic hits. It’s the summer of 1990 when Lacey ’s parents are handcuffed, flung into the county jail, and faced with a torrent of jaw-dropping accusations as part of a mass hysteria sweeping the nation. When a horrific murder brings Lacey to the breaking point, she makes a ruthless choice that will haunt her for decades.
As an adult, Lacey mimes a normal life as the law clerk of an illustrious judge. She has a beautiful girlfriend, a measure of security, and the world has mostly forgotten about her. But after a tiny misstep spirals into an uncontrolled legal disaster, the hysteria threatens to begin all over again.
Rainbow Black is an addictive, searing, high-octane triumph, an imaginative tour de force about one woman’s tireless desire to be free.
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The House of Hidden Meanings
***An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller!***
From international drag superstar and pop culture icon RuPaul, comes his most revealing and personal work to date--a deeply intimate memoir of discovery, found family, and self-acceptance. The House of Hidden Meanings is a self-portrait of the legendary icon on the road to global fame and changing the way the world thinks about drag.
Central to RuPaul’s success has been his chameleonic adaptability. From drag icon to powerhouse producer of one of the world’s largest television franchises, RuPaul’s ever-shifting nature has always been part of his brand as both supermodel and supermogul. Yet that adaptability has made him enigmatic to the public. In this memoir, his most intimate and detailed book yet, RuPaul makes himself truly known.
In The House of Hidden Meanings, RuPaul strips away all artifice and recounts the story of his life with breathtaking clarity and tenderness, bringing his signature wisdom and wit to his own biography. From his early years growing up as a queer Black kid in San Diego navigating complex relationships with his absent father and temperamental mother, to forging an identity in the punk and drag scenes of Atlanta and New York, to finding enduring love with his husband Georges LeBar and self-acceptance in sobriety, RuPaul excavates his own biography life-story, uncovering new truths and insights in his personal history.
Here in RuPaul’s singular and extraordinary story is a manual for living—a personal philosophy that testifies to the value of chosen family, the importance of harnessing what makes you different, and the transformational power of facing yourself fearlessly.
A profound introspection of his life, relationships, and identity, The House of Hidden Meanings is a self-portrait of the legendary icon on the road to global fame and changing the way the world thinks about drag. “I've always loved to view the world with analytical eyes, examining what lies beneath the surface. Here, the focus is on my own life—as RuPaul Andre Charles,” says RuPaul.
If we’re all born naked and the rest is drag, then this is RuPaul totally out of drag. This is RuPaul stripped bare.
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Thunder Song
"Blending beautiful family history with her own personal memories, LaPointe’s writing is a ballad against amnesia, and a call to action for healing, for decolonization, for hope." —Elle
The author of the award-winning memoir Red Paint returns with a razor-sharp, clear-eyed collection of essays on what it means to be a proudly queer indigenous woman in the United States today
Drawing on a rich family archive as well as the anthropological work of her late great-grandmother, Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe explores themes ranging from indigenous identity and stereotypes to cultural displacement and environmental degradation to understand what our experiences teach us about the power of community, commitment, and conscientious honesty.
Unapologetically punk, the essays in Thunder Song segue from the miraculous to the mundane, from the spiritual to the physical, as they examine the role of art—in particular music—and community in helping a new generation of indigenous people claim the strength of their heritage while defining their own path in the contemporary world. -
My Heavenly Favorite
A harrowing, unforgettable masterpiece by the winner of the Booker International Prize
A confession, a lament, a mad gush of grief and obsession, My Heavenly Favorite is the remarkable and chilling successor to Lucas Rijneveld’s international sensation, The Discomfort of Evening. It tells the story of a veterinarian who visits a farm in the Dutch countryside where he becomes enraptured by his “Favorite”—the farmer’s daughter. She hovers on the precipice of adolescence, and longs to have a boy’s body. The veterinarian seems to be a tantalizing possible path out from the constrictions of her conservative rural life.
Narrated after the veterinarian has been punished for his crimes, Rijneveld’s audacious, profane novel is powered by the paradoxical beauty of its prose, which holds the reader fast to the page. Rijneveld refracts the contours of the Lolita story with a kind of perverse glee, taking the reader into otherwise unimaginable spaces full of pop lyrics, horror novels, the Favorite’s fantasized conversations with Freud and Hitler, and her dreams of flight and destruction and transcendence.
An unflinching depiction of abjection and a pointed excavation of taboos and social norms, My Heavenly Favorite establishes Rijneveld as one of the most daring and brilliant writers on the world stage. -
The American Daughters
“An enthralling tale of a secret resistance movement run by Black women in pre-Civil War New Orleans.”—Time
“Stirring . . . In telling this important, neglected history with imagination-fueled research, The American Daughters offers an inspiring story of people who show a way forward with their perseverance, bravery and love.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)
Ady, a curious, sharp-witted girl, and her fierce mother, Sanite, are inseparable. Enslaved to a businessman in the French Quarter of New Orleans, the pair spend their days dreaming of a loving future and reminiscing about their family’s rebellious and storied history. When mother and daughter are separated, Ady is left hopeless and directionless until she stumbles into the Mockingbird Inn and meets Lenore, a free Black woman with whom she becomes fast friends. Lenore invites Ady to join a clandestine society of spies called the Daughters. With the courage instilled in her by Sanite—and with help from these strong women—Ady learns how to put herself first. So begins her journey toward liberation and imagining a new future.
The American Daughters is a novel of hope and triumph that reminds us what is possible when a community bands together to fight for their freedom. -
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters Book Two
Set against the tumultuous political backdrop of late '60s Chicago, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters Book Two is the eagerly awaited conclusion to one of the most acclaimed graphic novels of the past decade. Presented as the fictional graphic diary of 10-year-old Karen Reyes as she tries to solve the murder of her beloved and enigmatic upstairs neighbor, Anka Silverberg, a holocaust survivor, while the interconnected stories of those around her unfold.
In Book Two, dark mysteries past and present continue to abound in the tumultuous and violent Chicago summer of 1968. Young Karen attends a protest in Grant Park and finds herself swept up in a police stomping. Privately, she continues to investigate Anka's recent death and discovers one last cassette tape that sheds light upon Anka's heroic activities in Nazi Germany. She wrestles with her own sexual identity, the death of her mother, and the secrets she suspects her brother Deez of hiding. Ferris's exhilarating cast of characters experience revelations and epiphanies that both resolve and deepen the mysteries visited upon them earlier. Visually, the story is told in Ferris's inimitable style that breathtakingly and seamlessly combines panel-to-panel storytelling and cartoon montages filled with B-movie horror and pulp monster mag iconography.
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Ten Bridges I've Burnt
"This book is brutal and brutally honest, but still perversely addictive because Brontez Purnell is a performer in the truest sense. Reading Ten Bridges I've Burnt, I felt tucked-in with him, along for the intimate ride, and paused only once to write down a part I’d been looking for my whole life." —Miranda July
From the beloved author of 100 Boyfriends, a wrenching, sexy, and exhilaratingly energetic memoir in verse.
In Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt, Brontez Purnell—the bard of the underloved and overlooked—turns his gaze inward. A storyteller with a musical eye for the absurdity of his own existence, he is peerless in his ability to find the levity within the stormiest of crises. Here, in his first collection of genre-defying verse, Purnell reflects on his peripatetic life, whose ups and downs have nothing on the turmoil within. “The most high-risk homosexual behavior I engage in,” Purnell writes, “is simply existing.”
The thirty-eight autobiographical pieces pulsing in Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt find Purnell at his no-holds-barred best. He remembers a vicious brawl he participated in at a poetry conference and reckons with packaging his trauma for TV writers’ rooms; wrestles with the curses, and gifts, passed down from generations of family members; and chronicles, with breathless verve, a list of hell-raising misadventures and sexcapades. Through it all, he muses on everything from love and loneliness to capitalism and Blackness to jogging and the ethics of art, always with unpredictable clarity and movement.
With the same balance of wit and wisdom that made 100 Boyfriends a sensation, Purnell unleashes another collection of boundary-pushing writing with Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt, a book as original and thrilling as the author himself. -
Ways and Means
* A Most Anticipated Book of 2024 * Them * Debutiful * Literary Hub * Electric Literature * And Many More! *
A searing debut novel about a striving finance student, the line between ambition and greed, and the disordered politics of our era
“[An] auspicious debut . . . a wildly entertaining drama of ambition and consequence.” —SAM SACKS, Wall Street Journal
“Deadly serious in ambition, wildly entertaining in execution, Ways and Means is a remarkably accomplished debut . . . Every line of this gorgeous novel glows with Lefferts’ intelligence and compassion.” ―ANTHONY MARRA, New York Times bestselling author of Mercury Pictures Presents and A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
“A work of enormous wit, humor, and passion that captures life in turbo capitalist America with compassion and grace.” ―GARY SHTEYNGART, New York Times bestselling author of Our Country Friends
“Totally absorbing . . . Lefferts delivers The Great Gatsby for the 21st-century: irreverent, sexy, and sharp. A major event.” ―JESSI JEZEWSKA STEVENS, author of The Exhibition of Persephone Q and The Visitors
Alistair McCabe comes to New York with a plan. Young, handsome, intelligent, and gay, he hopes to escape his Rust Belt poverty and give his mother a better life by pursuing a career in high finance.
But by the spring of 2016, Alistair’s plan has come undone: His fantasy banking job has eluded him, he’s mired in student debt, and in his desperation he’s gone to work for an enigmatic billionaire whose ambitions turn out to be far darker than Alistair could have imagined. By the time Alistair uncovers his employer’s secret, his life is in danger and he’s forced to go on the run.
Meanwhile, Alistair’s paramours, an older couple named Mark and Elijah, must face their own moral and financial dilemmas. Mark, nearing the end of his trust fund, takes a job with his father’s mobile-home empire that forces him to confront the unsavory foundations of his family’s wealth, while Elijah, a failed painter, throws in his lot with an artist-provocateur whose latest project transforms the country’s political chaos into a thing of alluring, amoral beauty.
As the nation hurtles toward a breaking point, Alistair, Mark, and Elijah must band together to save one another and themselves.
Propulsive, exuberant, and profoundly observed, Ways and Means is an indelible, clear-eyed investigation of class and ambition, sex and art, and politics and power in twenty-first century America. -
Interesting Facts about Space
A fast-paced, hilarious, and ultimately hopeful novel for anyone who has ever worried they might be a terrible person—from the bestselling author of Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead.
Enid is obsessed with space. She can tell you all about black holes and their ability to spaghettify you without batting an eye in fear. Her one major phobia? Bald men. But she tries to keep that one under wraps. When she’s not listening to her favorite true crime podcasts on a loop, she’s serially dating a rotation of women from dating apps. At the same time, she’s trying to forge a new relationship with her estranged half-sisters after the death of her absent father. When she unwittingly plunges into her first serious romantic entanglement, Enid starts to believe that someone is following her.
As her paranoia spirals out of control, Enid must contend with her mounting suspicion that something is seriously wrong with her. Because at the end of the day there’s only one person she can’t outrun—herself.
Brimming with quirky humor, charm, and heart, Interesting Facts about Space effortlessly shows us the power of revealing our secret shames, the most beautifully human parts of us all.
Pride Month - Kids
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Ritu Weds Chandni
A Kirkus Reviews' Best Picture Book of 2020 I A 2021 Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People I A 2021 ALA Rise: A Feminist Book Project's Top Ten Book I A 2021 South Asia Book Award Honor Book
Ayesha is excited to attend her cousin Ritu's wedding. She can't wait to dance at the baraat ceremony! But not everyone is happy that Ritu is marrying her girlfriend Chandni. Some have even vowed to stop the celebrations. Will Ayesha be able to save her cousin's big day?
Centering Ayesha's love for her cousin as much as it showcases Ritu and Chandni's love for each other, this warmhearted debut from Ameya Narvankar celebrates the power of young voices to stand up against prejudice and bigotry.
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Jude Saves the World
Perfect for fans of Alex Gino, A. J. Sass, and Kyle Lukoff this is the joyful and heartwarming story of Jude, a nonbinary kid who knows exactly who they are and decides to create a safe space in their community from Indies Introduce and Indie Next List pick author, Ronnie Riley.
Twelve-year-old Jude struggles with some things: focusing at school, feeling like everything rests on their shoulders, not being able to come out as nonbinary to their old-fashioned grandparents. But Jude doesn't struggle with Dallas, their best friend in the whole world. Their person.
Jude and Dallas's world changes when they learn Stevie, a girl in their class, has been ousted from the popular clique at school. Worried it had something to do with Stevie's rumored crush on another girl, Jude reaches out to see if Stevie is okay. Stevie quickly becomes an important friend to Jude and Dallas, whose unwavering acceptance of her is a stark contrast to the tests and dysfunction she experienced with her former friend group.
As their friendship deepens and the three open up to each other, Stevie's unconditional and open acceptance when Jude comes out to her motivates them to create a queer safe space in their community. Jude has the courage and determination it takes to create the first Diversity Club in their community, but will they be able to find the support they need to make it happen?
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Pride Colors
★ "Awash in messages of love and the celebration of individuality... A rare treat for both Pride Day and everyday sharing."--School Library Journal, starred review
★ "A good thing comes in a small, rainbow package...A joyful, affirming, pride-filled read."--Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Through gentle rhymes and colorful photographs of adorable children, Pride Colors is a celebration of the deep unconditional love of a parent or caregiver for a young child. The profound message of this delightful board book is you are free to be whoever you choose to be; you'll always be loved.
Celebrated author Robin Stevenson ends her purposeful prose by explaining the meaning behind each color in the Pride flag: red = life, orange = healing, yellow = sunlight, green = nature, blue = peace and harmony, and violet = spirit.
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You Only Live Once, David Bravo
From Mark Oshiro, award-winning author of The Insiders, this time-bending adventure is perfect for fans of Sal and Gabi Break the Universe and When You Reach Me.
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year * An ALA Rainbow Book List Top 10 Selection
Middle school is the worst, especially for David Bravo. He doesn't have a single class with his best (okay, only) friend, Antoine. He has to give a class presentation about his heritage, but he's not sure how--or even if--he wants to explain to his new classmates that he's adopted. After he injures Antoine in an accident at cross-country practice, he just wishes he could do it all over.
He doesn't expect his wish to summon a talking, shapeshifting, annoying dog, Fea, who claims that a choice in David's past actually did put him on the wrong timeline... and she can take him back to fix it.
But when their first try (and the second, and the third) is a total disaster, David and Fea are left scrambling through timeline after timeline--on a quest that may lead them to answers in the most unexpected places.
Coco meets Sliding Doors in this laugh-out-loud, heartwarming middle grade novel that explores how our choices make us who we are.
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On Top of Glass
An insightful memoir from a figure skating champion about her life as a bisexual professional athlete, perfect for readers of Fierce by Aly Raisman and Forward by Abby Wambach.
Karina Manta has had a busy few years: Not only did she capture the hearts of many with her fan-favorite performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, she also became the first female figure skater on Team USA to come out as queer. Her Modern Love essay "I Can't Hate My Body if I Love Hers" was published in the New York Times, and then she joined the circus--Cirque du Soleil's on-ice show, AXEL.
Karina's memoir covers these experiences and much more. Attending a high school with 4,000 students, you'd expect to know more than two openly gay students, but Karina didn't meet an out-lesbian until she was nearly seventeen--let alone any other kind of queer woman. But this isn't just a story about her queerness. It's also a story about her struggle with body image in a sport that prizes delicate femininity. It's a story about panic attacks, and first crushes, and all the crushes that followed, and it's a story about growing up, feeling different than everybody around her and then realizing that everyone else felt different too. -
Abby, Tried and True
Fans of The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise and Shouting at the Rain will love this heartwarming story of the bond between siblings from the award-winning author of Lily and Dunkin and The Paris Project.
When Abby Braverman’s best friend, Cat, moves to Israel, she’s sure it’s the worst thing that could happen. But then her older brother, Paul, is diagnosed with cancer, and life upends again. Now it’s up to Abby to find a way to navigate seventh grade without her best friend, help keep her brother’s spirits up during difficult treatments, and figure out her surprising new feelings for the boy next door. -
Just Lizzie
A 2024 LAMBDA AWARD FINALIST
In this beautifully written contemporary middle grade debut, an eighth grader's study of asexuality in science class leads her to understand her own asexual identity as she embarks on a journey toward self-discovery and self-advocacy. For readers of Alex Gino and Ashley Herring Blake.
There's the part of me that doesn't understand kissing or cuteness or attraction, and then there's the part of me that feels so lonely. How do I make sense of those two parts? Maybe I'll never make sense of them.
What do you do when there's a question inside you that feels so big, you don't know how to put words to it? How do you even begin to ask it?
Fourteen-year-old Lizzie is experiencing a lot of change: Her family had to move after the incident with their neighbor, leaving behind not only her beloved apple tree but what feels like her childhood along with it. Lizzie's brother is too busy for her in his first semester of college, and her friends are more interested in dating than dolls. It's hard not to feel left behind, especially as she tries to explain the fact that she still has zero interest in boys, girls, or the baffling behavior known as "flirting."
But just as Lizzie's world feels like it's closing in, a class lesson on asexual reproduction in plants piques her curiosity, leading her to look up whether people can be asexual too--and suddenly her world opens up. Lizzie finally finds an identity, a word for all her messy, unnamable feelings that feels like it fits, although she quickly realizes that a label isn't enough if no one believes it's real.
Accessible, moving, and compassionate, Just Lizzie effortlessly braids a nuanced individual journey of identity with the bittersweet angst of growing up, growing apart, and learning there are many ways to live and love.
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My Sister, Daisy
Daisy's older brother is thrilled when he gets a new sibling. They are best buddies who do everything together. But in kindergarten, things change. His sibling tells him she is a girl and wants to be called Daisy. Daisy's brother must adjust to the change--including what it means for him and their relationship. A powerful, moving picture book based on a true story, My Sister, Daisy handles a sensitive subject with warmth and love.
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Pink, Blue, and You!
Simple, accessible, and direct, this picture book is perfect for kids and parents or teachers to read together, opening the door to conversations about gender stereotypes and everyone's right to be their true selves.
Is it okay for boys to cry? Can girls be strong? Should girls and boys be given different toys to play with and different clothes to wear? Should we all feel free to love whoever we choose to love? In this incredibly kid-friendly and easy-to-grasp picture book, author-illustrator Elise Gravel and transgender collaborator Mykaell Blais raise these questions and others relating to gender roles, acceptance, and stereotyping.
With its simple language, colorful illustrations, engaging backmatter that showcases how "appropriate" male and female fashion has changed through history, and even a poster kids can hang on their wall, here is the ideal tool to help in conversations about a multi-layered and important topic. -
From Archie to Zack
Author-illustrator Vincent X. Kirsch's picture book From Archie to Zack is an unapologetic celebration of friendship and first crushes.
"Archie loves Zack!"
"Zack loves Archie!"
Everyone said it was so.But Archie hasn't told Zack yet. And Zack hasn't told Archie. They spend just about every minute together: walking to and from school, doing science and art projects, practicing for marching band, learning to ride bikes, and so much more.
Over the course of a few months, Archie tries to write a letter to Zack to tell him how he feels--from A to Z. None of his drafts sound quite right, so he hides them all away. One by one, Archie's friends (Zelda, Zinnia, and Zuzella) find the letters . . . but they know exactly whom they're meant for.
This picture book from Vincent X. Kirsch celebrates young, queer love in a whimsical, kid-friendly way.
"A pure and perfect capture of first love." --School Library Journal (Starred Review)
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Artie and the Wolf Moon
"A heartfelt, magical family drama you can really sink your teeth into." --Nilah Magruder, M.F.K.
After sneaking out against her mother's wishes, Artie Irvin spots a massive wolf--then watches it don a bathrobe and transform into her mom. Thrilled to discover she comes from a line of werewolves, Artie asks her mom to share everything--including the story of Artie's late father. Her mom reluctantly agrees. And to help Artie figure out her own wolflike abilities, her mom recruits some old family friends.
Artie thrives in her new community and even develops a crush on her new friend Maya. But as she learns the history of werewolves and her own parents' past, she'll find that wolves aren't the scariest thing in the woods--vampires are."A breath of fresh air. . . . Full of robust characters, dynamic panels, and immersive landscapes, this coming-of-age story of family and the supernatural is one any reader will have a hard time putting down."--Shannon Wright, Twins
"A book of cycles--love, loss, reunion, redemption. Readers will thoroughly enjoy getting lost in the beautifully rendered forests."--Wendy Xu, Mooncakes
"A love letter to the power of family to help you grow, heal, and find yourself. . . . As rich and immersive as a big family dinner."--Melanie Gillman, Stage Dreams
"An absolutely gorgeous, thrilling read."--Blue Delliquanti, O Human Star
"Heartbreaking and heart mending."--Priya Huq, Piece by Piece: The Story of Nisrin's Hijab -
The Truth about Triangles
A heartfelt contemporary middle grade novel perfect for fans of Front Desk, following Luca Salvatore, a young gay Italian American trying to save his family's pizza restaurant and a life that feels like it's falling apart after he learns that his parents may be separating and his first crush and best friend might be into each other.
Twelve-year-old Luca Salvatore is always running interference: in arguments between his younger twin siblings, in his parents' troubled marriage, and between Will, the cute new boy in town, and Luca's best friend, June, who just can't seem to get along.
When the host of his favorite culinary TV show announces an open call for submissions for its final season, Luca is sure getting his family's failing pizzeria on the show will save it and bring his falling-apart family together. Surprisingly, securing a spot is easier than kneading dough--but when the plan to fix everything comes out burned, Luca is left scrambling to figure out just the right recipe to bring his family and his friends back together.
From Lambda Literary finalist Michael Leali, The Truth About Triangles is full of heart, perfect for readers of Lisa Jenn Bigelow, Kelly Yang, and Maulik Pancholy.
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Riley Reynolds Slides Into Summer
Mama's extended family is ready for their annual summer softball game, and nonbinary fourth-grader Riley can't wait to see everyone. But this year, the start of summer is even busier than the end of school! There are T-shirts to print, empanadas to fold, cousins to play with, and desserts to taste test--and that's all before the big softball game!
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No One Owns the Colors
Bookstagang Best of 2023 Picture Book Award Winner | Best Read Aloud
For every young artist scolded for using the “wrong” color crayon, every boy teased for wearing a pastel shirt, every girl denied blue shoes, here’s the perfect response: All colors are for everyone. Just ask Nature!
No One Owns the Colors is a lively celebration of self-expression and a bolstering invitation to advocate for your special uniqueness.
The unnamed and non-gendered narrator shows us that colors are simply part of our natural world. No bit of the spectrum—from pink and blue to scarlet and chartreuse—is meant to be claimed by any one gender or being or culture. Color is not something that can be right or wrong, or better or worse.
Inspired by school yard experiences of the author's own children, this melodic, rhythmic text provides the words and the confidence readers may need if someone says that their color—be it skin, shirt, shoes, or simply the crayon they love most—is wrong. -
Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston
“These heroes come in all shapes and skills—I cheered for them throughout their exciting journey.” —#1 New York Times bestselling author Tamora Pierce
In a magical medieval world filled with dragons, shape-shifters, and witches, a twelve-year-old nonbinary hopeful knight battles for the heart of their kingdom. A thrilling middle-grade series opener that explores identity and gender amid sword fights and magic, and proves anyone can be a hero.
When their ex-hero dad is summoned back to the royal capital of Helston to train a hopeless crown prince, Callie lunges at the opportunity to finally prove themself worthy to the kingdom’s "great and powerful." Except the intolerant great and powerful look at nonbinary Callie and only see girl. But Callie has always known exactly what they want to be, and they’re not about to let anything stand in their way.
Trapped in Helston’s rigid hierarchy where girls learn magic and boys train as knights, Callie discovers they aren’t alone—there’s Elowen, the chancellor’s brilliant daughter, whose unparalleled power is being stifled; Edwyn, Elowen’s twin brother desperate to win his father’s approval; and Willow, the crown prince who was never meant to be king.
In this start to an epic series packed with action, humor, and heart, Callie and their new friends quickly find themselves embedded in an ancient war—and their only hope to defeat the threats outside the kingdom lies in first defeating the bigotry within. -
LGBTQ+ Rights
Learn all about LGBTQ+ activism, from gender-neutral bathrooms to legalizing same-sex marriage. Get a global look at the history of the movement, meet the activists involved, and celebrate some of the legal victories! Each chapters end with a call to action, so kids can feel inspired to get involved in their own communities. This high-interest book is written at a lower reading level for struggling readers. Considerate text and engaging art and photographs are sure to grab even the most reluctant readers. Series includes a table of contents, sidebars, bibliography, glossary, index, and author biography.
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Obie Is Man Enough
A coming-of-age story about transgender tween Obie, who didn't think being himself would cause such a splash. For fans of Alex Gino's George and Lisa Bunker's Felix Yz.
Obie knew his transition would have ripple effects. He has to leave his swim coach, his pool, and his best friends. But it’s time for Obie to find where he truly belongs.
As Obie dives into a new team, though, things are strange. Obie always felt at home in the water, but now he can’t get his old coach out of his head. Even worse are the bullies that wait in the locker room and on the pool deck. Luckily, Obie has family behind him. And maybe some new friends too, including Charlie, his first crush. Obie is ready to prove he can be one of the fastest boys in the water—to his coach, his critics, and his biggest competition: himself. -
Different Kinds of Fruit
In this funny and hugely heartfelt novel from the Newbery Honor-winning author of Too Bright to See, a sixth-grader's life is turned upside down when she learns her dad is trans
Annabelle Blake fully expects this school year to be the same as every other: same teachers, same classmates, same, same, same. So she’s elated to discover there’s a new kid in town. To Annabelle, Bailey is a breath of fresh air. She loves hearing about their life in Seattle, meeting their loquacious (and kinda corny) parents, and hanging out at their massive house. And it doesn’t hurt that Bailey has a cute smile, nice hands (how can someone even have nice hands?) and smells really good.
Suddenly sixth grade is anything but the same. And when her irascible father shares that he and Bailey have something big--and surprising--in common, Annabelle begins to see herself, and her family, in a whole new light. At the same time she starts to realize that her community, which she always thought of as home, might not be as welcoming as she had thought. Together Annabelle, Bailey, and their families discover how these categories that seem to mean so much—boy, girl, gay, straight, fruit, vegetable—aren’t so clear-cut after all. -
The Best Bed for Me
From the creator of Jabari Jumps and Jabari Tries, the tale of a stalling child with a lively imagination—and a passion for animal facts—makes for the best kind of bedtime story.
Mama and Mommy would like Sweet Pea to settle into bed, but it’s not quite time. Even though the bed is fluffy, it’s not as snuggly as curling up like a pig in the mud, or as spacious as sleeping in the wide ocean like a blue whale. It’s not as fun as sleeping high up in a tree like a koala, or hanging upside down like a bat. And it’s definitely not as relaxing as sleeping standing up, like an emperor penguin. But after mimicking all the ways different animals rest, this little one concedes that a comfy bed, a soft pillow, and a good-night wish offer the best way to fall asleep after all. Gaia Cornwall brings us a loving, humorous story for even the most energetic of bedtime listeners.