In a near-future world, everyone has lost the ability to dream, which leads to widespread madness. Everyone, that is, except North American indigenous people, who are hunted for their marrow that supposedly holds a cure for this.

I read this for my intercultural youth literature class in library school, and it was really moving! I actually started crying unexpectedly towards the end, and I haven’t done that in a while! This is a really heavy book, and it got a lot darker than I was expecting. It was also beautiful to see the community and relationships that formed in this intense, dark circumstance. The importance of cultural memory and connection, the role of dreams, and the found-family aspect were all deeply impactful.

It was a roller coaster of emotions from start to finish as we got to know the main character and the new family around him, while hanging on for the exhausting journey they were forced to endure. Some things are left unexplained, but the story focuses instead on how this affects the indigenous characters we’re following. I also don’t read many YA books with male leads, so that was interesting as well.

The love and hope in this, despite the darkness, really was powerful, and that ending definitely shook me. There is actually a sequel to this, and I’m down to see what happens next in this world.

This is an English/Spanish bilingual picture book about being nonbinary! I am blown away by it for many reasons, but just go read it. It’s so thoughtful, direct, and heartfelt, has some cute illustrations, and is just well done, imo.

As someone who has worked in education and has been asked many times by tiny kids, “Are you a boy or a girl?”, and having seen both the curiosity and learned ideas already in place, this was great. I found this book while working on a major project on GNC/NB Latine youth literature for library school, and it was one of my favorites among the books I examined. The intentionality with the words, such as the line “everyone decided and agreed I was a girl,” which reframes gender normatively so powerfully. I was also just so happy to see an approachable exploration of gender neutral language for children, especially in the Spanish translations with the use of “elle” or “amig@s,” etc.

I also really appreciated that this explored a NB Latine childhood, but also showed their life as a happy NB adult with community and a life. It was just very important to me, and I could totally see this being a rewarding book for young readers. I’m glad it was in my library system, and I may try to get my own copy.

A very strange and psychosexual queer reimagining of Dracula’s journey to England! The captain of the Demeter is having sexual dreams about his crew on their long voyage, and things (in both the dreams and on the ship) start getting dark and unsettling very quickly.

I was so excited when I heard that this novella, written by a Mexican author and originally published in 1998, focused on the ship’s voyage in Dracula. I actually read Dracula for the first time a couple of years ago, and getting to explore a really specific (and gay) take on this part of that story was fascinating. Also, from having read that, knowing what really lies beneath the ship and where the story is most likely headed really added to the anxiety.

I didn’t realize how sexual and strange it was going to be before I started it, and I really was like “what is going on here” many times, but I found it to be a really interesting look at the horrors of queer desire and fear. There is also just a feeling of sadness woven in that added a layer for me. It’s a rather slow descent, but I was really curious the entire time. The growing dread throughout the book was also really effective for me!

I do not think this book is for everyone, but by the end, I was really glad I read it. I unintentionally read it around the time I read another short and disturbing sexual book, and it definitely felt like I was following some unknown syllabus.