Category: LGBTQ2A

2 New Books for Young People…or Anyone Really : )

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment

The Otherwoods by Justine Pucella Winans

The Otherwoods is an incredibly engaging novel about a young person, River, who, in addition to trying to navigate the world as non-binary, also sees monsters….and spirits. For most of their life, River has been trying to avoid the portals that would suck him to a place where spirits and monsters rule supreme. Up until now, they have been successful in avoiding being drawn into these portals, steering away from any place that looks weird and definitely doesn’t acknowledge or making eye contact with any spirits or monsters at school or at home, which is almost impossible to do when one of them lives under your bed. When River’s crush gets sucked into a portal and “the Otherwoods”, River has to be brave and enter a world they have been spending their entire life trying to avoid. 

I found this novel almost allegorical, with the Otherwoods representing the real world filled with the “monsters” our LGBTQIA2S+ young people face. The character of River, their fears hurts, and loneliness creates empathy in the reader, and one can’t help but root for River’s defeat of not only the monsters but their insecurities. 

An important addition to any middle school library and classroom. 

Thank you to Bloomsbury Children’s and Netgalley for the free copy.

Tzia: the Book of Galatea by Mister Sanamon

A beautifully written fantasy novel about family, identity and discovery. Fourteen year old Theo boards an airplane to Greece with the hopes of finding her long lost family.  On board the plane, she encounters a strange old women who  tells Theo (through the wonderful use of caterpillar type creatures) about her heritage and about a quest she must take in order to save her world. This book reminded me A LOT of the Chronicles of Narnia. Descriptive language, a young protagonist, and a lion who will determine the fate of not only Theo but her ancestors, descendants and the mythical world of Tzia. 

A wonderful addition to any classroom library, a book club recommendation, read aloud or class study.

Thank you Netgalley and Hilverloo Publishing House for the free copy.

The Summer of Bitter and Sweet

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment

by Jen Ferguson

I have tried over and over again to write about this novel but I cannot find the words that accurately explain my thoughts and feelings surrounding it. I love this book. This book needs to be made available to read AND be discussed in every grade 8-12 classroom. Ferguson discusses subjects such as: intergenerational trauma, sexual assault, sexual identity, racism, among others gently and respectfully. Discussion around these topics is not sugar coated, but neither is it gratuitous. The beautiful note to the reader before the novel begins gives you an idea of the care and love Fergason has for her readers. She lists the trigger warnings of her content and tells us “More than anything, I care about you. Your health, happiness, safety, and well being matter more than reading this book.”  

A wonderful book. Read it.

The Sleeping Car Porter

~ Lisa Helm ~ Leave a comment

by Suzette Mayr

“9: 45 P.M. Standing next to his step box, Baxter hovers: immobile and elastic, ready to spring forward to lift a suitcase, dissect a timetable, point to the conductor, nod, lift more suitcases, now hat boxes, answer more questions, and nod, nod, nod. Trouser cuffs drag in the dust, shiny boot heels clap against the train station platform; a child runs toward an observation car, ribbons and cuff-links and tickets and goodbye letters swish to the ground. Hands reach toward him, grab at him for a lift up, grab his coat pocket, wave in his face. A sea swell of passengers, spilling toward his car; a maelstrom of departure-time panic”. The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr pg 11.

I want to write like Suzette Mayr. Vivid descriptions, an interesting cast of characters, and a main character whose story is one of heartache, confusion, and blinding determination.
Baxter is a Black sleeping car porter working the Canadian National railway on routes that span a multitude of provinces. Obviously being a porter is anything but glamorous, and Baxter is constantly taken advantage of, verbally abused, and dismissed by a plethora of passengers who demand attention to the most frivolous of requests. Throughout it all, Baxter attempts to go above and beyond his duties so that he does not run the risk of being written up, gaining demerit points or ultimately being fired from his job. However, what keeps Baxter focused on performing the best job possible is the possibility of tips. You see, Baxter is saving up to go to dental school, and at the beginning of the novel we learn he only needs $101 more dollars in his dentistry fund in order to go to school for four years. Throughout the novel we can’t help but root for Baxter to defeat his exhaustion and survive the demands of the passengers so that this can be his final route and he can move forward to fulfill his dream to be dentist.
I was particularly interested in the way Mayr creates her main character. Weaving together flashbacks, events in the present, and Baxter’s fuzzy hallucinatory recollections and interpretations of his reality (brought on by lack of sleep) Mayr places us as close as possible in the shoes and mind of this man.
I would definitely use portions of this novel as a mentor text in a high school classroom. Using the quote above one could discuss a variety of literary devices (imagery, onomatopoeia, metaphor, personification) and how to use colons and semicolons!
Please note that there are portions of this novel that are sexually explicit so be careful of its use in the classroom.

Even Though I Knew the End

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by C.L. Polk

The beautiful Marlowe has asked private detective Elena Brandt to find the White City Vampire, a serial killer leaving a trail of blood across the city. The only thing is Elena is not an ordinary investigator; she is a magical warlock who the Magical Brotherhood had banned for selling her soul to the devil to keep her brother alive. And Marlowe, well, Marlowe isn’t your average client, Marlowe is a demon who promises Elena that she will return her soul if she finds the killer. 

Elena desires to work alone, not wanting to risk the lives and souls of those she loves; after all, hunting a supernatural serial killer is dangerous work. However, she is soon forced to work with her one true love and companion Edith (who has a very interesting sec\ret of her own) and the one person she has put her spiritual survival at risk for, her brother Teddy.

This is a short, fast-paced novel that reads in the pulp fiction style of the dime store detective novels of the 30s. I loved it and wished it was longer to spend more time in the world of auguries, fallen angels and secret brotherhoods.