Embedded Files
Becoming a Queen
Becoming a Queen
Title: Becoming a Queen by Dan Clay
Publication Information: New York: Roaring Brook Press, 2023
Summary (from Publisher):
A vibrant and emotional novel from debut author Dan Clay about a boy who turns toward love, self-expression, and drag when the unthinkable happens, perfect for fans of Jandy Nelson and Julie Murphy.
If only Mark Davis hadn’t put on a dress for the talent show. It was a joke—other guys did it too—but when his boyfriend saw Mark in that dress, everything changed.
And now, fresh on the heels of high school heartbreak, Mark has given up on love. Maybe some people are just too much for this world—too weird, too wild, too feminine, too everything. Thankfully, his older brother Eric always knows what to say to keep Mark from spinning into self-loathing. "Be yourself! Your full sequin-y self.”
But Mark starts to notice signs that his perfect older brother has problems of his own.
When the source of Mark’s strength suddenly becomes the source of his greatest pain, the path back to happiness seems impossible. Searching for a way out, Mark slips into a dress to just, briefly, become someone else, live a different life. His escape, however, becomes an unexpected outlet for his pain—a path to authentic connection, and a provocation to finally see other people as fully as he wants to be seen.
Beautifully written, heart-wrenching, and ultimately uplifting, Dan Clay's Becoming a Queen is a stunning story about love, loss, and the ineffable power of a purple princess dress.
Book Trailer: YouTube
Read-A-Likes:
The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta
Boy Like Me by Simon James Green
Desert Echoes by Abdi Nazemian
Dragging Mason County by Curtis Campbell
Pumpkin by Julie Murphy
Queerceañera by Alex Crespo
Links of Interest:
Author Interview with FierceReads
Bright Red Fruit
Bright Red Fruit
Title: Bright Red Fruit by Safia Elhillo
Publication Information: New York: Random House Children’s Books, 2024
Summary (from Publisher):
Samira is determined to have a perfect summer filled with fun parties, exploring DC, and growing as a poet--until a scandalous rumor has her grounded and unable to leave her house. When Samira turns to a poetry forum for solace, she catches the eye of an older, charismatic poet named Horus. For the first time, Samira feels wanted. But soon she's keeping a bigger secret than ever before--one that that could prove her reputation and jeopardize her place in her community.
Book Trailer:
Read-A-Likes:
Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson
Hope Ablaze by Sarah Mughal Rana
Kween by Vichet Chum
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Say Her Name by Zetta Elliott
Links of Interest:
Call Me Iggy
Call Me Iggy
Title: Call Me Iggy by Jorge Augusto Aguirre
Publication Information: New York: First Second Books, 2024
Summary (from Publisher):
Ignacio "Iggy" Garcia is an Ohio-born Colombian American teen living his best life. After bumping into Marisol (and her coffee) at school, Iggy's world is spun around. But Marisol has too much going on to be bothered with the likes of Iggy. She has school, work, family, and the uphill battle of getting her legal papers. As Iggy stresses over how to get Marisol to like him, his grandfather comes to the rescue. The thing is, not only is his abuelito dead, but he also gives terrible love advice. The worst. And so, with his ghost abuelito's meddling, Iggy's life begins to unravel as he sets off on a journey of self-discovery.
Call Me Iggy tells the story of Iggy searching for his place in his family, his school, his community, and ultimately—as the political climate in America changes during the 2016 election—his country. Focusing on familial ties and budding love, Call Me Iggy challenges our assumptions about Latino-American identity while reaffirming our belief in the hope that all young people represent. Perfect for lovers of multigenerational stories like Displacement and The Magic Fish.
Book Trailer: YouTube
Read-A-Likes:
A Second Chance on Earth by Juan Vidal
This Land is Our Land: A Blue Beetle Story by Julio Anta
Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir by Pedro Martin
Links of Interest:
Author Interview with Comicon.com
The Color of a Lie
The Color of a Lie
Title: The Color of a Lie by Kim Johnson
Publication Information: New York: Random House Children’s Books, 2024
Summary (from Publisher):
Calvin knows how to pass for white. He's done it plenty of times before. For his friends in Chicago, when they wanted food but weren't allowed in a restaurant. For work, when he and his dad would travel for the Green Book.
This is different.
After a tragedy in Chicago forces the family to flee, they resettle in an idyllic all-white suburban town in search of a better life. Calvin's father wants everyone to embrace their new white lifestyles, but it's easier said than done. Hiding your true self is exhausting — which leads Calvin across town where he can make friends who know all of him...and spend more time with his new crush, Lily. But when Calvin starts unraveling dark secrets about the white town and its inhabitants, passing starts to feel even more suffocating—and dangerous—than he could have imagined.
Expertly weaving together real historical events with important reflections on being Black in America, acclaimed author Kim Johnson powerfully connects readers to the experience of being forced to live a life-threatening lie or embrace an equally deadly truth.
Book Trailer:
Read-A-Likes:
All You Have to Do by Autumn Allen
And We Rise: The Civil Rights Movement in Poems by Erica Martin
Color Me In by Natasha Diaz
Mirror Girls by Kelly McWilliams
Trouble Maker for Justice: the Story of Bayard Rustin, the Man Behind the March on Washington by Jacqueline Houtman
Links of Interest:
A Deathly Compendium of Poisonous Plants
A Deathly Compendium of Poisonous Plants
Title: A Deathly Compendium of Poisonous Plants: Wicked Weeds and Sinister Seeds by Rebecca E. Hirsch
Publication Information: Minneapolis: Lerner Publishing Group, 2024
Summary (from Publisher):
Explore the strange and remarkable stories of poisonous and even deadly plants.
Science, history, and true crime converge in an informative and exciting look at Mother’s Nature’s ghoulish garden. From a hallucinogenic fungus linked to the Salem Witch Trials to the weed that killed Abraham Lincoln’s mother, learn how certain plants evolved toxicity to avoid being consumed by predators and became the predator on their own.
In A Deathly Compendium of Poisonous Plants: Wicked Weeds and Sinister Seeds author Rebecca Hirsch takes you on a wild journey to look at how toxic chemicals in the natural world have been used for medicine, warfare, and sinister acts of foul play. Tread lightly as we explore these plants’ ominous deeds.
Book Trailer:
Read-A-Likes:
An Illustrated History of Urban Legends by Adam Allsuch Boardman
Killer Style: How Fashion has Injured, Maimed, and Murdered Throughout History by Serah-Marie McMahon
Magic Steeped in Poison, A by Judy I. Lin
Moongarden by Michelle A. Barry
Poison: Deadly Deeds, Perilous Professions, and Murderous Medicines by Sarah Albee
Links of Interest:
The Black Forager YouTube Page
Everything We Never Had
Everything We Never Had
Title: Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay
Publication Information: New York: Penguin Young Readers Group, 2024
Summary (from Publisher):
Watsonville, 1930. Francisco Maghabol barely ekes out a living in the fields of California. As he spends what little money he earns at dance halls and faces increasing violence from white men in town, Francisco wonders if he should’ve never left the Philippines.
Stockton, 1965. Between school days full of prejudice from white students and teachers and night shifts working at his aunt’s restaurant, Emil refuses to follow in the footsteps of his labor organizer father, Francisco. He’s going to make it in this country no matter what or who he has to leave behind.
Denver, 1983. Chris is determined to prove that his overbearing father, Emil, can’t control him. However, when a missed assignment on “ancestral history” sends Chris off the football team and into the library, he discovers a desire to know more about Filipino history―even if his father dismisses his interest as unamerican and unimportant.
Philadelphia, 2020. Enzo struggles to keep his anxiety in check as a global pandemic breaks out and his abrasive grandfather moves in. While tensions are high between his dad and his lolo, Enzo’s daily walks with Lolo Emil have him wondering if maybe he can help bridge their decades-long rift.
Told in multiple perspectives, Everything We Never Had unfolds like a beautifully crafted nesting doll, where each Maghabol boy forges his own path amid heavy family and societal expectations, passing down his flaws, values, and virtues to the next generation, until it’s up to Enzo to see how he can braid all these strands and men together.
Book Trailer: Book Trailer
Read-A-Likes:
Boys of the Beast by Monica Zepeda
Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas
Chasing Paquiao by Rod Pulido
Wrong Side of the Court by H.N. Khan
You Bring the Distant Near by Mitali Perkins
Links of Interest:
Full Shift
Full Shift
Title: Full Shift by Jennifer Dugan
Publication Information: New York: Penguin Young Readers Group, 2024
Summary (from Publisher):
High school senior Tessa doesn't fit in anywhere. Not at school, where she can't figure out how to confess the feelings she's had for her best friend Maddie since the fourth grade. And definitely not at home, where the rest of her family of werewolves make her feel like an outcast because she can't even shift into her full wolf form yet. Sometimes she thinks her whole life would be easier if she was normal, like Maddie and everyone else at school.
When word gets out that a group of werewolf hunters has infiltrated her pack's territory, and that they've developed a treatment that can make werewolves become human, Tessa thinks she's found the answer to her problems. But when it turns out there might be more to the hunters' plans than anyone knows, it's up to Tessa to put herself on the line to protect the lives of those she loves the most.
Book Trailer: YouTube
Read-A-Likes:
Artie and the Wolf Moon by Olivia Stephens
Blackwater by Jeannette Arroyo
Lobizona by Romina Garber
Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses by Kristen O’Neal
Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall
Links of Interest:
Author and Illustrator Interview with Nerd Daily
Gather
Gather
Title: Gather by Kenneth M. Cadow
Publication Information: Somerville: Candlewick Press, 2023
Summary (from Publisher):
Ian Gray isn’t supposed to have a dog, but a lot of things that shouldn’t happen end up happening anyway. And Gather, Ian’s adopted pup, is good company now that Ian has to quit the basketball team, find a job, and take care of his mom as she tries to overcome her opioid addiction. Despite the obstacles thrown their way, Ian is determined to keep his family afloat no matter what it takes. And for a little while, things are looking up: Ian makes friends, and his fondness for the outdoors and for fixing things lands him work helping neighbors. But an unforeseen tragedy results in Ian and his dog taking off on the run, trying to evade a future that would mean leaving their house and their land. Even if the community comes together to help him, would Ian and Gather have a home to return to?
Book Trailer: YouTube
Read-A-Likes:
The Dragons Club by Cyn Bermudez
The Grimmer by Naben Ruthnum
Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett Krosoczka
Junkyard Dogs by Katherine Higgs-Coulthard
Solo by Kwame Alexander
Links of Interest:
The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky
The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky
Title: The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky by Josh Galarza
Publication Information: New York: Henry Holt and Co., 2024
Summary (from Publisher):
Ever since cancer invaded his adoptive mother’s life, Brett feels like he’s losing everything, most of all control. To cope, Brett fuels all of his anxieties into epic fantasies, including his intergalactic Kid Condor comic book series, which features food constellations and characters not unlike those in his own life.
But lately Brett’s grip on reality has started to lose its hold. The fictions he’s been telling himself – about his unattractive body, the feeling that he’s a burden to his best friend, that he’s too messed up to be loved – have consumed him completely, and Brett will do anything to forget about the cosmic-sized hole in his chest, even if it's unhealthy.
But when Brett’s journal and deepest insecurities are posted online for the whole school to see, Brett realizes he can no longer avoid the painful truths of his real-life narrative. As his eating disorder escalates, Brett must be honest with the people closest to him, including his new and fierce friend Mallory who seems to know more about Brett’s issues than he does. With their support, he just might find the courage to face the toughest reality of all.
Book Trailer:
Read-A-Likes:
Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich
Louder Than Hunger by John Schu
Manning Up by Bee Walsh
The New David Espinoza by Fred Aceves
The Unlikely Hero of Room 13 B by Teresa Toten
Links of Interest:
Rhode Island Eating Disorder Program at Hasbro Children’s Hospital
Greymist Fair
Greymist Fair
Title: Greymist Fair by Francesca Zappia
Publication Information: New York: HarperCollins, 2023
Summary (from Publisher):
Two roads lead into a dark forest. They meet at Greymist Fair, the village hidden in the trees, a place kept alive by the families that never leave. The people of Greymist Fair know the woods are a dangerous and magical place, and to set foot off the road is to invite trouble.
When Heike, the village’s young tailor, discovers a body on the road, she goes looking for who is responsible. But her quest only leads to more strange happenings around Greymist Fair.
Inspired by the original, bloody, lesser-known fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, acclaimed author Francesca Zappia crafts an enthralling murder mystery that will keep readers turning the pages. Told from multiple points of view, with each narrative building on the crime discovered by Heike, Greymist Fair examines the themes of childhood fears, growing into adult responsibilities, and finding a place to call home amid the trials of life and death.
Book Trailer:
Read-A-Likes:
Beasts and Beauty: Dangerous Tales by Soman Chainani
Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore
Gallant by Victoria Schwab
Not Good for Maidens by Tori Bovalino
Rags & Bones: New Twists on Timeless Tales by Melissa Marr
Links of Interest:
Homebody
Homebody
Title: Homebody by Theo Parish
Publication Information: New York: HarperCollins, 2024
Summary (from Publisher):
In their comics debut, Theo Parish masterfully weaves an intimate and defiantly hopeful memoir about the journey one nonbinary person takes to find a home within themself. Combining traditional comics with organic journal-like interludes, Theo takes us through their experiences with the hundred arbitrary and unspoken gender binary rules of high school, from harrowing haircuts and finally the right haircut to the intersection of gender identity and sexuality—and through tiny everyday moments that all led up to Theo finding the term “nonbinary,” which finally struck a chord.
Book Trailer:
Read-A-Likes:
Becoming Who We Are: Real Stories About Growing Up Trans ed. by Sammy Lisel
Constellations by Kate Glasheen
Growing Up Trans: In Our Own Words by Lindsay Herriot
A Quick & Easy Guide to Queer & Trans Identities by Mady G
A Quick & Easy Guide to They/Them Pronouns by Archie Bongiovanni
Links of Interest:
I Shall Never Fall in Love
I Shall Never Fall in Love
Title: I Shall Never Fall in Love by Hari Conner
Publication Information: New York: HarperCollins, 2024
Summary (from Publisher):
George has major problems: They’ve just inherited the failing family estate, and the feelings for their best friend, Eleanor, have become more complicated than ever. Not to mention, if anyone found out they were secretly dressing in men’s clothes, George is sure it would be ruination for the family name.
Eleanor has always wanted to do everything "right," including falling in love—but she’s never met a boy she was interested in. She’d much rather spend time with her best friend, George, and beloved cousin Charlotte. However, when a new suitor comes to town, she finds her closest friendships threatened, forcing her to rethink what "right" means and confront feelings she never knew she had.
Book Trailer:
Read-A-Likes:
Emmett by Lev AC Rosen
Mismatched: A Modern Graphic Retelling of Emma by Anne Camlin
Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix by Gabe Cole Novoa
Northranger by Rey Terciero
Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix by Anna-Marie McLemore
Links of Interest:
Icarus
Icarus
Title: Icarus by K Ancrum
Publication Information: New York: HarperCollins, 2024
Summary (from Publisher):
Icarus Gallagher is a thief. He steals priceless art and replaces it with his father’s impeccable forgeries. For years, one man—the wealthy Mr. Black—has been their target in revenge for his role in the death of Icarus’s mother. To keep their secret, Icarus adheres to his own strict rules to keep people, and feelings, at bay: Don’t let anyone close. Don’t let anyone touch you. And, above all, don’t get caught.
Until one night, he does. Not by Mr. Black but by his mysterious son, Helios, now living under house arrest in the Black mansion. Instead of turning Icarus in, Helios bargains for something even more dangerous—a friendship that breaks every single one of Icarus’s rules.
As reluctance and distrust become closeness and something more, they uncover the gilded cage that has trapped both their families for years. One Icarus is determined to escape. But his father’s thirst for revenge shows no sign of fading, and soon it may force Icarus to choose: the escape he’s dreamed of, or the boy he’s come to love. Reaching for both could be his greatest triumph—or it could be his downfall.
Book Trailer:
Read-A-Likes:
The Boy Lost in the Maze by Joseph Coelho
Bull by David Elliott
Lies We Sing to the Sea by Sarah Underwood
Lifestyles of Gods & Monsters by Emily Roberson
Orpheus Girl by Brynne Rebele-Henry
Links of Interest:
Author Interview with Junior Library Guild
The Invocations
The Invocations
Title: The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland
Publication Information: New York: Penguin Young Readers Group, 2024
Summary (from Publisher):
Zara Jones believes in magic because the alternative is too painful to consider—that her murdered sister is gone forever and there is nothing she can do about it. Rather than grieving and moving on, Zara decides she will do whatever it takes to claw her sister back from the grave—even trading in the occult.
Jude Wolf may be the daughter of a billionaire, but she is also undeniably cursed. After a deal with a demon went horribly wrong, her soul has been slowly turning necrotic. It’s a miserable existence marred by pain, sickness, and monstrous things that taunt her in the night. Now that she’s glimpsed what’s beyond the veil, Jude’s desperate to find someone to undo the damage she’s done to herself.
Enter Emer Byrne, an orphaned witch with a dark past and a deadly power, a.k.a. the solution to both Zara’s and Jude’s problems. Though Emer lives a hardscrabble life, she gives away her most valuable asset—her invocations—to women in desperate situations who are willing to sacrifice a piece of their soul in exchange for a scrap of power. Zara and Jude are willing, but they first have to find Emer.
When Emer’s clients start turning up dead all over London, a vital clue leads Zara and Jude right to her. If a serial killer is targeting her clients, Emer wants to know why—and to stop them. She strikes a tenuous alliance with Zara and Jude to hunt a killer before they are next on his list, even if she can’t give them in return what Zara and Jude want most: a sister and a soul.
Book Trailer: YouTube
Read-A-Likes:
Blood Scion by Deborah Falaye
Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova
So Witches We Became by Jill Baguchinsky
These Vengeful Wishes by Vanessa Montalban
Wicked as You Wish by Rin Chupeco
Links of Interest:
Author Interview with the Federation of Childrens’ Book Groups
Looking for Smoke
Looking for Smoke
Title: Looking for Smoke by KA Cobell
Publication Information: New York: HarperCollins, 2024
Summary (from Publisher):
When local girl Loren includes Mara in a traditional Blackfeet Giveaway to honor Loren’s missing sister, Mara thinks she’ll finally make some friends on the Blackfeet reservation.
Instead, a girl from the Giveaway, Samantha White Tail, is found murdered.
Because the four members of the Giveaway group were the last to see Samantha alive, each becomes a person of interest in the investigation. And all of them—Mara, Loren, Brody, and Eli—have a complicated history with Samantha.
Despite deep mistrust, the four must now take matters into their own hands and clear their names. Even though one of them may be the murderer.
Book Trailer:
Read-A-Likes:
Find Her by Ginger Reno
Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley
Harvest House by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Those Pink Mountain Nights by Jenny Ferguson
Where Wolves Don’t Die by Anton Treuer
Links of Interest:
The Maid and the Crocodile
The Maid and the Crocodile
Title: The Maid and the Crocodile by Jordan Ifueko
Publication Information: New York: Amulet Books, 2024
Summary (from Publisher):
The smallest spark can bind two hearts . . . or start a revolution.
In the magic-soaked capital city of Oluwan, Small Sade needs a job—preferably as a maid, with employers who don’t mind her unique appearance and unlucky foot. But before she can be hired, she accidentally binds herself to a powerful being known only as the Crocodile, a god rumored to devour pretty girls. Small Sade entrances the Crocodile with her secret: she is a Curse Eater, gifted with the ability to alter people’s fates by cleaning their houses.
The handsome god warns that their fates are bound, but Small Sade evades him, launching herself into a new career as the Curse Eater of a swanky inn. She is determined to impress the wealthy inhabitants and earn her place in Oluwan City . . . assuming her secret-filled past—and the revolutionary ambitions of the Crocodile God—don’t catch up with her.
But maybe there is more to Small Sade. And maybe everyone in Oluwan City deserves more, too, from the maids all the way to the Anointed Ones.
Book Trailer: YouTube
Read-A-Likes:
Beasts of Prey by Ayana Grey
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier
(S)kin by Ibi Aanu Zoboi
We Are All So Good at Smiling by Amber McBride
Links of Interest:
Author Interview with Black Nerds Create
Shadowed
Shadowed
Title: Shadowed by Carl Deuker
Publication Information: New York: HarperCollins, 2024
Summary (from Publisher):
Nate plays soccer, but he doesn’t love it. He plays because it’s what his family expects.
Then Lucas Cawley moves in across the street. Lucas isn’t like any of Nate’s sports friends—he’s poor, his parents are mostly absent, and he’s devoted to his sister, Megan, who has a learning disability. Lucas may be an outcast at school, but he and Nate find common ground in their fierce games of one-on-one basketball.
It’s not long before Nate realizes that basketball is his sport. But Nate has an ax to grind with star players Colin and Bo, who have disrespected him for years. Nate believes that outplaying those two is the most important thing . . . until he learns that life is about more than getting ready for the next game.
Book Trailer: YouTube
Read-A-Likes:
Game Changer by Tommy Greenwald
Golden Arm by Carl Deuker
Rez Ball by Byron Graves
Strong Like You by T.L. Simpson
Wrong Side of the Court by HN Khan
Links of Interest:
Six Truths and a Lie
Six Truths and a Lie
Title: Six Truths and a Lie by Ream Shukairy
Publication Information: New York: Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2024
Summary (from Publisher):
As fireworks pop off at a rowdy Fourth of July bonfire party, an explosion off the California coast levels an oil rig—resulting in chaos and worse, murder.
At the center are six Muslim teens - six patriots, six strangers, and six suspects.
An old soul caught in the wrong place. An aspiring doctor. An influencer with a reputation to protect. A perfect daughter with secrets to hide. A soccer star headed for Stanford. An immigrant in love. Each with something to hide and everything to lose.
Faced with accusations of terrorism, The Six are caught in a political game that will pit them against each other in exchange for exoneration. They must choose: frame each other to guarantee their own independence or expose their secrets to earn back freedom for them all.
Book Trailer:
Read-A-Likes:
An Emotion of Great Delight by Tahereh Mafi
Internment by Samira Ahmed
Watched by Marina Tamar Budhos
Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Abike-Iyimide
You’ll Be the Death of Me by Karen McManus
Links of Interest:
Author Interview with The Nerd Daily
Twenty-four Seconds from Now
Twenty-four Seconds from Now
Title: Twenty-Four Seconds from Now: A LOVE Story by Jason Reynolds
Publication Information: New York: Athenaeum, 2024
Summary (from Publisher):
Twenty-four months ago: Neon gets chased by a dog all around the parking lot of a church. Not his finest moment. And definitely one he would have loved to forget if it weren’t for the dog’s owner: Aria. Dressed in sweats, a t-shirt, hair in a ponytail. Aria. Way more than fine.
Twenty-four weeks ago: Neon’s dad insists on talking to him about tenderness and intimacy. Neon and Aria are definitely in love, and while they haven’t taken that next big step...yet, they’ve starting talking about...that.
Twenty-four days ago: Neon’s mom finds her—gulp—bra in his room. Hey! No judging! Those hook thingies are complicated! So he’d figured he’d better practice, what with the big day only a month away.
Twenty-four minutes ago: Neon leaves his shift at work at his dad’s bingo hall, making sure to bring some chicken tenders for Aria. They’re not candlelight and they definitely aren’t caviar, but they are her favorite.
And right this second? Neon is locked in Aria’s bathroom, completely freaking out because twenty-four seconds from now he and Aria are about to...about to... Well, they won’t do anything if he can’t get out of his own head (all the advice, insecurities, and what ifs) and out of this bathroom!
Book Trailer:
Read-A-Likes:
Blackout by Clayton, Dhonielle, Tiffany D. Jackson et. al.
Chaos Theory by Nic Stone
Daniel, Deconstructed by James Ramos
Four Eids and a Funeral by Faridah Abike-Iyimide
Seven Minutes in Candyland by Brian Wasson
Links of Interest:
The Wilderness of Girls
The Wilderness of Girls
Title: The Wilderness of Girls by Madeline Claire Franklin
Publication Information: New York: Zando, 2024
Summary (from Publisher):
After being placed in foster care, Rhi is hungry for a fresh start and begins working at the Happy Valley Wildlife Preserve. While in the woods, she stumbles upon a surreal sight: a pack of wolves guarding four feral and majestic girls. After Rhi gains their trust, they reveal that they’re princesses from another land, raised by a magical prophet they call Mother—and they're convinced Rhi is their lost fifth sister.
Unsure what to believe, Rhi ushers the girls to civilization, where they’re met with societal uproar and scrutiny, dubbed by the ravenous media and true crime junkies as “The Wild Girls of Happy Valley.” Desperate to return to their kingdom, the girls look to Rhi for help. Rhi knows the girls are deluded, but at the same time she’s drawn in by their boldness and authenticity—traits she is afraid she has lost within herself. And when Rhi witnesses strange phenomena she can’t quite explain, the line between fantasy and reality grows blurry.
As the hunt for answers intensifies, Rhi must make a decision that will change the course of her lives and the lives of her Wild Girls forever.
Book Trailer: YouTube
Read-A-Likes:
Burn Down, Rise Up by Vincent Tirado
The Degenerates by J. Albert Mann
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland
The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson
Links of Interest:
Author Interview with The Nerd Daily
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