Author: Patricia Elzie

The city of Chattana is a city of canals and light. There are many different colored orbs that serve as power sources to light everything, power the boats, heat the stoves, etc. They are all full of light created by one person: The Governor. The Governor appeared in Chattana after the Great Fire and saved it from ruin. He brought light and prosperity, though it is clear that the brightest and most powerful lights (and related prosperity) only bless the upper class.

This story starts in Chattana, specifically in Namwon Prison. It’s a women’s prison, though if a child is born in the prison they stay there too, even if their mother dies. So it’s not only a women’s prison, but a prison of orphans. We meet two of the main characters here in Namwon Prison: Pong and Somkit, two boys who were born in the prison. Their mothers are no longer alive so they are prisoners until they are released when they turn 13. Everyone at Namwon Prison is tattooed with a symbol that gets crossed out when they are released. That way, it’s easy to tell 1) who has ever been in that prison and 2) who has escaped.

The opportunity to escape arises for Pong and he takes it. He ends up at a monastery that takes him in. Pong is allowed to stay at the monastery and remains under the tutelage and protection of Father Cham for years. One day, the family of the Namwon Prison warden visits the monastery. The warden’s daughter, Nok, recognizes Pong as the escapee. She is very eager to prove herself and thus the pursuit begins.

Pong escapes and is reunited with Somkit but that is far from the end. Remember, this is a fantasy so while it’s loosely a Les Mis retelling, it is in a world of magic all its own.

This lovely little comic is a super beginner’s guide for both people who are figuring out their own queer and/or trans identity as well as the people who are in their support network who want to learn more about queer and trans identities. By no means is the information in this book exhaustive as it’s small enough to fit into a large pocket. It manages to cover the basics of some really common questions without being overwhelming or academic.

The main characters are snails and some adorable non-humanoid creatures. It’s clear the authors don’t want you to assign gender to the characters, which is a really good thing to practice.

It’s written in a format where each little section is titled by a question, then some discussion about the answer or answers. It begins with “What is queer?” which is wonderful because that’s a question that a lot of people have. Many people who aren’t under the LGBTQ+ umbrella can be confused by it. The truth is that queer can mean different things to different people. Some people are also concerned that it used to be a slur and this book addresses that as well.

The book also offers simplified information on the definitions of and differences between gender, sex, sexual orientation or attraction, and gender expression. There’s also a section in this book that caught me by surprise but not in a bad way because it totally belongs here, and that is a section on relationship basics and what some signs of healthy relationships are and also what are some red flags. The thing is, a lot of us as teens learn about relationships from what is modeled in our life and what we see in the media. It’s rare that any of us, especially those of us in the LGBTQIA+ crowd, are given a resource before mistakes are made.

I love that this book exists. It can help alleviate some of the emotional labor involved in educating people about queer and trans identities and do so in a way that is thoughtful and fun.

As the title says, the common thread in this collection is Black girl magic, resistance, and hope; however, we Black girls have a wide range and so, too, do the stories in this anthology. In fact, the variety is one of the things that makes this collection so incredibly wonderful. They span so many genres from high fantasy to science fiction, from westerns to vampire fiction to historical fantasy. I got whiplash from changing gears so frequently but I am not complaining. Each story was a new thrilling adventure that I had no idea where it was taking me.

There are also so many badass characters I fell in love with. We meet an enslaved girl who can manipulate metal and another who makes a deal with the gods of the desert. A vampire-obsessed teen who meets her match. The daughter of a mermaid and a young woman who becomes a goddess. We learn of folk magic to repair and replace hearts. And an auntie whose hair braiding skills are not what they seem. A teen who can stop time.

One of my favorites is the story by Justina Ireland, “Melie,” about a girl who desperately wants to be a sorcerer and keeps getting the run-around. Another of the stories I really enjoyed was Patrice Caldwell’s “Letting The Right One In.” It is a story about a Black girl who loves vampires and honestly, I can’t get enough stories about Black girls who love vampires because I am one (a Black girl who loves vampires, not a vampire). And also stories about Black vampires. Give them all to me.

This collection was such a delightful, fun, empowering read. There are a few stories I return to again and again when I need a mood boost. It’s definitely one to have on the shelf.

This book is nonfiction self-help/self-improvement with a heavy dose of humor. It’s divided into three sections, Be, Say, and Do, and each section has a wealth of insight and advice.

The author begins by talking about the internal work we need to do if we are going to be successful in fighting our own fears. This ranges from dealing with our own insecurities to managing (and stopping) our self-sabotage and unpacking our loads of baggage.

One of the things I love so much about this book is that it is an ode to her grandmother, who sounds like an incredibly fierce, amazing, powerhouse of a woman. Jones brings in many anecdotes about her grandmother as well as many Nigerian cultural traditions that can, in turn, help all of us to fight our fears.

I appreciated when Jones wrote about how so many of us are told that we’re too much. Too loud. Too aggressive. Too passionate. Too intimidating. Too sensitive. And that when people are saying you’re too this or too that, what they’re really saying is, “Can you be less? Can you be less than you are? Can you make yourself small for me?” And surprise, the lesson here is that it’s not our job to shrink ourselves to make other people comfortable unless our too muchness is actually harming someone or hindering our own growth.

So much of this book is about owning your own awesomeness, fighting imposter syndrome, and doing things even if you are scared. There are two chapters in particular that I think are worth the price of admission: the chapter on asking for more and letting loved ones help you and the chapter on money and asking for what we are worth.

This book was funny, inspiring, and empowering and definitely one I’ll read more than once.

Picture it: London, turn of the 19th century, and the Royal Society of Unnatural Philosophers aka the Magician Club. As you can imagine, it is a bunch of stuffy old white men. Sir Stephen Wythe is the Sorcerer Royal, the man in charge. He has a Black child, Zacharias, who he “rescued” from slavery because he saw magical talent in him. The men of the Royal Society of Unnatural Philosophers doubt that any “lesser beings” have worthwhile magical capabilities, but Sir Stephen, through training Zacharias, has proved them very wrong.

Flash forward many years. Sir Stephen dies and Zacharias becomes Sorcerer Royal, quite against his will. But the staff of the Sorcerer Royal will only be wielded by someone who is worthy and the staff chose Zacharias. A curious thing is that a Sorcerer needs to have a familiar. Sir Stephen had a familiar, but Zacharias does not, and it is one of the many things that the Society is holding against him.

While racism is one of Zacharias’s main problems, he is also being blamed for the lack of magic flowing into England from Fairyland. Magic can only be performed in England because of this flow of magical energy and it seems to be dying out. People are blaming Zacharias for it and he is determined to figure out what is truly going on. The Sorcerer Royal serves England, not the crown, but there is a lot of pressure for Zacharias to get political.

Because of this pressure, he escapes from London for a bit to go to the entrance of Fairyland to see what is going on with the flow of magic. But his cover story is that he is going to give a talk at a magical girls school. Girls and women, though magical, are not supposed to use magic. Proper ladies are taught to suppress their magical abilities and these girls’ schools teach them how to do that. When Zacharias arrives to the school, he is in absolute awe of the magical abilities of some of the girls. Particularly, a brown-skinned girl named Prunella Gentleman.

When Prunella insists that she go to London with Zacharias, under his tutelage, the real excitement begins.

If you’re looking for something magical to break your reading slump, this book may be the ticket.

Nubia is a Black seventeen-year-old with superpowers that she does her best to keep hidden and under control for obvious reasons: she is Black with superpowers! Racists already think normal Black people are dangerous, how do we think they’d treat a Black girl with super strength? Yes she has powers, but she is not invincible so she lays low with her two moms. In fact, because of a few incidents, they’ve already had to pick up and move towns multiple times in order to keep Nubia safe. They’ve finally lived in a place long enough where she’s been able to plant some roots and make some really good friends.

Nubia’s two best friends are Quisha and Jason. At the beginning of the book, Nubia, Quisha, and Jason are outside the corner store, having slushies and talking about their summer plans. Nubia’s moms are kinda strict so it’s likely she won’t be doing much of anything, though Quisha wants her at least to come to the upcoming march against police brutality. Quisha and Jason leave, and Nubia goes into the shop to get a refill. Her crush, Oscar, happens to be in the shop. While they are in there, there’s an attempted robbery and Nubia has no choice but to use her powers to stop them.

You know, her powers she is supposed to be keeping secret.

This comic is fantastic. Nubia’s story, though fantasy, is still the very real story of Black women being at the forefront of fights for justice. How much do we all, as people, need to risk in order to protect others? And how can we keep up the fight for a society that views us as less than human? Not gonna lie, I cried through most of this comic. Not because it’s bad, but because it is so incredibly good. Nubia is the hero I didn’t know I needed.

I highly recommend this comic, even if you’re not into superhero comics, you need to read this one.

Barker does such a phenomenal job of distilling the information down into concise sections that give you enough to have a general understanding and to also, at least in my case, generate a whole lot to have conversations about. There are a plethora of definitions of terms in this book, including starting with what we mean when we use the word “gender.” Spoiler: it’s a whole bunch of different things! And these things can change depending on geographic location, time in history, and culture.

It’s important to know that you cannot have a discussion of gender without also discussing patriarchy and white supremacy and capitalism and colonialism and everything else. This book makes that very clear and it goes beyond the “we can’t talk about gender without discussing these things” to explain the why behind the necessity of discussing these things as well.

There is so much about this book to love. The art is representative of a diverse range of people. There are a ton of pull quotes from scholars, celebrities, and activists that also make a way for us readers to then explore topics on our own and believe me, you will want to go down many rabbit holes. There are also plenty of pop-culture references to help give examples and context to a subject that can feel overwhelmingly academic. Note that it is a graphic guide but still leans toward the academic, and this is not a book that is accessible to children for that reason.

Gender can be such a complicated topic and this book is a great, unintimidating way to dive in. I enjoyed it immensely and learned a lot and I hope you will too.

Heather Corinna is founder of Scarleteen, an online resource I’ve recommended countless times. Wait, What? is a full-color comic book that can be read in a single sitting. It’s super conversational and casual while being inclusive and accurate. The intended audience of this book are tweens and teens, but, as I mentioned, many adults can find useful information in Wait, What? as well.

The book centers around a diverse group of five friends and responds to some common questions and concerns that folks going through puberty generally have. There aren’t enough pages to dive deep into the answers to the questions; however, succinct and clear responses are offered that are a good starting point for any information-hungry reader.

There is a wide variety of questions throughout the book. There is discussion about particular things happening at a certain time, like when should someone have their first kiss or when should someone get their period (the answer is it’s different for everyone). There are also things that I really wish that many of my peers were taught, such as the fact that different people have different ideas of what dating or going out or going steady are like and you and the person you’re with actually have to agree on what that is for you. Of course there is also information on sex, gender, orientation, masturbation, labels, virginity, consent, and a whole bunch of other topics. But like I said, this book puts everything in a form that doesn’t feel overwhelming.

Wait, What? is an engaging read on a subject that can feel off-limits for some young people. I also recommend this read if you are an adult (a cool aunt, maybe?) that has young people in your life. Always good to have resources!

The premise is that during the U.S. Civil war after the battle of Gettysburg (so, 1863), all the dead on the battlefield rose up and started walking. The war stopped abruptly so that everyone could focus their attention on dealing with zombies. Why did the dead start walking? It is unknown. The enslaved Black folks were “freed” and then commissioned as zombie-fighters. I keep writing “zombies” but the zombies aren’t called zombies in this story. Instead, they are known as shamblers. Fresh shamblers can move as fast as a living person and it is terrifying.

Our dashing, smartass, amazing protagonist is one Miss Jane McKeene, a Black teen. The story is that her mother was the plantation owner’s wife and her father was a field hand. Against her mother’s wishes, when Jane was 14, she went with the other Black children to go to a combat school, where she would be trained to fight shamblers. Once she graduates, the hope is that she would be hired as an attendant to protect the wealthy white women from shamblers as well as protecting the affluent white women’s virtue.

After the prologue, the story begins just outside of Baltimore at Miss Preston’s School of Combat for Negro Girls where we meet Jane doing drills with the scythe (we learn that it is not Jane’s favorite weapon. She prefers the sickles). We also meet Katherine Deveraux, one of the other girls at Miss Preston’s. Katherine is Jane’s nemesis, and they’ve butted heads since they first met. Katherine is so light skinned she could pass for white. She is also beautiful and great with a rifle.

The girls are all taken to the university to hear a lecture from a scientist who claims to have created a vaccine. There’s a demonstration.

It does not go well and it is all downhill from there.

This book is full of so much action and is an absolute page-turner, not to mention that there are some lines of dialogue that pulled real laughter from my chest. I even bought a copy for my dad and he loved it just as much. Dread Nation by Justina Ireland is clever and fun and a must for your TBR. While you’re there, add Deathless Divide, the sequel to Dread Nation.

Nedra Glover Tawwab is a therapist, content creator, and expert at boundaries. While this book is built on the premise that boundaries are healthy and make strong foundations for healthy relationships, it goes well beyond just cheerleading. There is actual concrete advice for drawing boundaries from what words to say and how to say them to advice on when boundaries should be drawn.

So many of us resist drawing boundaries out of fear. Fear that we will appear mean by drawing boundaries. Fear of the guilt that comes with drawing boundaries. Fear that drawing boundaries will end a relationship. Fear that we don’t deserve to have boundaries with a certain person or people, like our parents. She addresses all of this in explicit detail and it is simultaneously a wake-up call and a hug of support.

Tawwab is often asked how we can draw boundaries without feeling guilty and her answer caught me by surprise. Because her answer is, you don’t. Guilt is a natural part of drawing boundaries and her goal is to not try to alleviate guilt, but instead to offer some solid ways to manage the guilt that always comes with the territory. I, for one, was certainly shocked to learn that my guilt around drawing boundaries isn’t because of some internal weakness.

The book is divided into two parts. The first part is on understanding the importance of boundaries. What are they? What is the cost of not having boundaries? What are the six types of boundaries? And more. One particularly potent chapter in this section is on what boundary violations look like. I was in a full-body cringe reading about guilt trips. The second part of the book is some solid advice on how to do the boundary work in your own life.

Set Boundaries, Find Peace is the best book I’ve read this year and it may end up being my favorite book of 2021, not to mention an automatic addition to my annual rereads list.