YA contemporary fantasy. A young Black woman in Brooklyn whose touch, and sometimes mere presence, causes plants to grow, bloom, move. From a hitherto unknown relative, she inherits an old mansion outside a small town in upstate New York. Adventure ensues and she learns more about her powers and the heritage she has been born …
Fantasy. Set in Cairo in 1912. A bit steampunk, a bit noir mystery, and lots of magic drawn from folk traditions of Egyptian and other Islamic cultures. The premise is that in the late 19th century, djinn and other magical beings returned openly to the world in a way that was centred on Cairo. This …
Science fiction. Near future. A company develops technology that, when implanted in the brain, allows human beings to have much greater ability to focus on multiple things at once and to for-real multitask. This makes those with the implants considerably more productive and therefore more valued in the capitalist economy and its associated institutions (e.g. …
Middle grade contemporary. The protagonist, Hazel, is a 13 year-old girl, an older sister, and a daughter of a single mom. Hazel is deeply traumatized from the kayaking accident two years before that killed her other mom but spared her. Since then, she and her mom and her sister have been moving a lot, living …
Science fiction. Starts fifteen minutes into the future and extends for several decades, focusing on the climate crisis at a global scale. Begins with a powerful chapter describing in an embodied way one character’s experience of a devastating heat wave that ultimately kills 20 million people – made all the more gripping and disturbing by …
Literary fiction. The young Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer protagonist is living in Winnipeg, supporting himself as a cybersex worker, and needs to raise enough money to get back to the reserve community where he grew up, for his stepfather’s funeral. The narrative wanders across the days he has in which to do this, and across his whole life. …
YA contemporary. Canadian. Two teen cousins who live on opposite coasts are brought together in Ontario by the death of their grandfather. After the funeral, they find themselves together at the family cottage that neither has been to since they were kids. Both are queer and Toronto Pride weekend is fast approaching, and they (plus …
Science fiction. Set in Nigeria with the main timeline in 2066 and flashbacks to earlier moments. Alien life arrived on earth at least 50 years prior, but just *life*, most readily observably fungal life, and not little green people or slender grey entities in space ships or anything like that. Other than North America sealing …
Weird fantasy. The best thing that I can say about this book is that I’ve never read anything like it before. Unfortunately, when I was about a hundred pages in, I was on the verge of abandoning it. I’m glad I stuck with it, because it grew on me somewhat, but it never managed to …
YA contemporary with a sprinkling of the fantastical. Follows a teenage girl – Mexican-American, queer, a high school student, works in her family’s pastry shop and has a knack for knowing the perfect baked good to meet the needs or fulfill the desires of anyone who comes in. At a party at the home of …