Shakti is a middle grades graphic novel about a twelve year old Indian American girl who must face the challenges of moving to a new school and learning to control the magic she has inherited from one of her moms. 

On her first day at her new school, Shakti makes friends with Xi. And soon she finds a few girls to avoid, the dreaded mean girls who are dubbed HEK for their first initials. HEK has the school under it's thumb and maybe it's spell? Even the teachers let HEK get away with anything they want. 

Told with several vignettes of Durga Ma and Kali Ma, this book is full of beautiful art and Indian traditions. The ever helpful Durga Ma cannot be summoned for magic with any malice in your heart or her reverse, the evil Kali Ma will appear. This book is both written and illustrated by Tamil folks and I learned so much, and I love how the story they crafted brought awareness to and drew meaning from Indian beliefs. 

This is top notch literature. I can't wait to read this with my son when he's a little older. 

Perfect on Paper is an adorable YA romance with a bisexual narrator. Darcy Phillips gives anonymous advice via locker 89. People drop in their notes for relationship advice and Darcy writes back from an anonymous email address. She does lots of research to support the advice she gives and I found this part of the book really impressive. I love to see healthy relationship behavior normalized and effective communication encouraged. 

Darcy has a big crush on one of her (girl) friends, and then starts giving advice to an over the top cis dude from Australia. I think you know where this is going. And I won't ruin one bit of it. 

The only thing I could have used more of in this book is a little bit of steam. It doesn't get past a couple of kisses. But seriously, everything else? Calling out the MC on her bad behavior? Check. Calling out other people's less than kind behavior? Check. Explicitly stating that a queer person dating someone of the opposite gender does not erase their identity or equal a straight relationship? CHECK. 

Ya'll need this book. It's so good. Just read it. 

Ugh, this book will get its hooks in you on page one and not let go until far after you've turned the last page. This is my first book by Nugent and it won't be my last. Strange Sally Diamond was not on my radar until many of my friends on Bookstagram started raving about it, and thank goodness they did. Reading this book at the end of an extremely busy work week was just the treat I needed and I still feel unsettled. 

Sally Diamond is neurodiverse as a result of trauma, which is not revealed to us or to her until a bit into the novel. When the trauma is gradually explained, it becomes clear that Sally's past was incredibly dark and despite that being decades past, the darkness begins to reemerge when her father dies and she makes the news for how she handles his death. 

Told in alternating perspectives and timelines that slowly converge, this had some of my favorite thriller elements but it's more of a deeply disturbing psychological story with an element of mystery, gaining most of it's discomfit from the reader wondering if one particular character will ever help undo the wrongs of their family. 

I'm not going to come up with words to describe how fun this one was, while it was also so sad and disturbing. I'm so glad I jumped in with almost no knowledge about the plot and please, please do the same if you can swing it. 

As a fan of Emma Donoghue, I was eager to read her newest release, Learned by Heart. Before reading, I didn't know how much of this novel is based in fact. After reading the extensive author's note, it is clear that not much of this story is fictionalized and it is the product of many years of research into one of history's most famous lesbians- Anne Lister. 

Learned by Heart is told in brief letters from Eliza Raine to Anne Lister written ten years after they met and fell in love at their boarding school for less than well to do young ladies. The school was strict and hoped to prepare them for marriage, but it was where Raine and Lister discovered something much deeper about themselves. Beautifully written, this is the story of a fourteen year old girl developing an all consuming friendship with her peer. The thoughts and emotions of adolescence are accurately portrayed, which I know won't work for all readers. And there is very little plot until the final 30 to 40 pages. 

That said, this book is beautiful and tender, heartbreaking and a testament to how society can twist normal human experience into something gut wrenching and terrible. To say much more would be a spoiler for those unfamiliar so I'll leave it here. This is less plot than The Wonder or The Pull of the Stars, but the character depth will feel familiar. 

How Can I Help You by Laura Sims is a quiet creepy mystery set almost entirely in a library. What's not to love, right? Well for the most part I agree. While not perfect, this subtle psychological mystery kept my attention and was impossible to put down in the back half. 

At times this book did feel a bit slow with repeated events since we hear from the perspective of Margo and Patricia. Many of the chapters were quiet long, while other parts of the book felt better paced when the chapters were shorter. But I couldn't resist the plot. Margo has reinvented herself in this small town outside of Chicago working as a library assistant after having to flee yet another hospital nursing job in controversy. It's not a spoiler to say Margo has a deadly past, but seriously avoid the synopsis for this one if you haven't read it yet. 

I loved the depth and darkness of Margo and the mystery of Patricia, and I'd have loved to learn more about Patricia's past. The ending went in the direction I predicted, but it was fun and dark. If you are up for a cozier, slower, but deadly and unsettling story- I think this is well worth the read. 

I Wish We Weren't Related is the story of Reeva, a 34 year old woman who was just trying to survive her relatively complicated but semi-normal life. Until our story starts and Reeva's semi-famous Bollywood mother calls to tell her that she's been lying for decades- her husband and the father of her three girls is dead. Well of course says Reeva, but her mother means that he just died recently not when they were all kids. 

And now despite all the distance Reeva has intentionally created between herself and her family, she must attend all of his funeral prayers- a many day process in their culture. So now the sisters Reeva, Sita, and Jaya will spend two uninterrupted weeks together with relatives they never knew existed. This story is emotional, humorous, and very much like a Bollywood movie. Read by Tania Rodrigues

who has roots in Britain, Portugal, and India, the narration is authentic and true to the author's intentions. It comes across beautifully. 

It goes without saying that there is a big hidden secret about why their mother said their father was dead, and Reeva, Sita, and Jaya go through many conversations to find the whole truth. For a book that takes place at a two week funeral, it feels surprisingly well paced and I think the estrangement was realistic and the emphasis on family reunification was healthy and not overly simplified. Estrangement is a tricky subject for me. It's a part of my life and I don't like it as a plot device, and I also don't like books that hail family above all else including one's own safety and mental wellbeing. This book tread that fine line for me perfectly. I recommend this one to anyone who loves a family drama but maybe wants some humor and a palate cleanser that still has some depth. 

Abundance by Jakob Guanzon is a creatively written, emotional story of Henry and his son living in systemic poverty. Each chapter begins with how much money Henry has on hand, and ends with a credit or debit to that amount. This keeps the perilous nature of poverty top of mind. 

I really enjoyed being swept into Henry's world which is abundant in so many ways and so scarce in others. I loved how the author deliberately left parts of Henry's identity unrevealed at the beginning of the novel, probably to make him relatable to more readers. There were so many poignant lines in this book, and I especially resonated with the sentiment around being a better, less angry parent than our own parents even when struggles abound. 

I highly recommend this one. It's such a great story and a reminder of how our circumstances dictate what options are available to us.