Three women narrate a perilous wagon journey westward that could set them free—or cost them everything they have—in this intergenerational verse novel that explores the history of the Black homesteader movement. 1879, Mississippi. Young dreamer Lettie may have her head in the stars, but her body is on a covered wagon heading westward. Her father, Thomas, promises that Nebraska will be everything the family an opportunity to claim the independence they’ve strived for over generations on their very own plot of land. But Thomas’ hopes—and mouth—are bigger than his ability to follow through. With few supplies and even less money, the only thing that feels certain is danger. Right after the war ended/and we were free/we believed/all of us did/that couldn’t nothing hurt us/the way master had when we were slaves/Couldn’t no one tell us/how to live/how to die. Lettie, her mother, Sylvia, and young teacher Philomena are free from slavery—but bound by poverty, access to opportunity, and patriarchal social structures. Will these women survive the hardships of their journey? And as Thomas’ desire for control overpowers his common sense, will they truly be free once they get there? Coretta Scott King Honor-winning author Lesa Cline-Ransome’s striking verse masterfully portrays an underrepresented historical era. Tackling powerful themes of autonomy and Black self-emancipation, Cline-Ransome offers readers an intimate look into the lives of three women and an expansive portrait of generations striving for their promised freedom.

A charming, poignant YA rom-com about an academics-obsessed teen who learns big truths about love, family, and herself when a scheduling snafu lands her in a culinary arts class, perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Rachel Lynn Solomon Ingredients: · 1 try-hard salutatorian · 1 annoying and (annoyingly) cute boy · A handful of Korean recipes (measure with your heart) · The spice of competition, to taste Eliza Park’s senior year will be perfect: She’s going to be salutatorian, give a tear-jerking graduation speech in front of her parents, and enjoy her last year with her equally ambitious best friends. But when a scheduling mishap enrolls her in Culinary Arts, Eliza is suddenly the most clueless person in the class. Her typical title of star student belongs to the aggravatingly arrogant Wesley Ruengsomboon, a charming Thai American boy whose talent in the kitchen leaves Eliza both awed and annoyed. With her rank on the line, Eliza’s only hope is to snatch the midterm cooking contest win from Wesley, however improbable that may be. Add in the flavor of her grandmother’s Korean recipes, the heat of being class partners with Wesley, and the sweetness of unexpected feelings—and Eliza must now rebuild everything she knew about success, love, and what it means to be herself, from scratch.

In 1600s Amsterdam, two women—a painter and her assistant—defy the norms of their time as they take on the male-dominated art world and fall in love—from “fantastic prose writer” (Vulture) and “true master” (Guernica), Victoria Redel.“I loved it in a way that is no doubt different than other books I have loved. The period and touches on time, sexual politics, art, history, class, women’s rights and the significance of Amsterdam and all the details the author shares of this particularly rich period kept me thoroughly engaged and is a brilliant backdrop to Gerta and Maria’s story.” —Sarah Jessica Parker, SJP Lit At seven years old, Gerta’s hair is lopped off and she’s sent to work for the Oosterwijcks under the name Pieter because it’s a boy they need. As Pieter, she splits wood, minds the hens and rabbits, scrubs the wooden floors of the house, and tends the garden—all while the family’s teenage daughter, Maria, looks on, sketching Pieter’s every movement. A few years later at the dinner table Maria lays Gerta’s deception open alongside a demand that Gerta accompany her to Utrecht, where Maria will apprentice in the workshop of a famous painter.     In Utrecht, Maria learns to paint skilled still lives—though she is the only woman in her workshop and because of her gender will never be accepted into the painters’ guild. As Maria ascends to great heights of skill and fame, the relationship between maid and employer deepens and shifts, and it becomes clear that Gerta, too, possesses abilities far beyond what society expects.    Inspired by the little that is known about Maria van Oosterwijck’s actual life, I Am You is a love story, a meditation on gender—the ways it binds and frees us—and an ode to artistic creation. As beautifully wrought as Oosterwijck’s paintings delicate, blazing in color, and at times enveloped in shadow, Victoria Redel’s new novel brings to life the copious spoils of Amsterdam’s Golden Age, and the perils that lay hidden within them for women like Maria and Gerta.

Fans of Allison Saft and Margaret Rogerson will be swept away into this lush and beguiling sapphic romantasy from the bestselling author of Flowerheart, Catherine Bakewell. Ofelia has lived her life dreaming of entering Le Château Enchanté—the mysterious court of the gods-blessed King Léo, where the shadow monsters that roam Ofelia’s home never trespass. Lope has lived her life as a knight, defending Ofelia and her home from Shadows even as she dreams of escaping with Ofelia by her side. When the Shadows venture too close, Lope and Ofelia are thrust into a journey that will lead them to the heart of the darkness haunting their home: the dazzling and deceptive Château Enchanté itself. A mesmerizing daydream with a subtle edge of darkness that will leave you utterly unable to put it down, Where Shadows Bloom pits terrifying monsters, chilling secrets, capricious gods, immortal kings, and death itself against the unstoppable love between two girls.

Per person, oranges are the most consumed fruit in the world. Across the world, no matter how remote or cold or incongruous a climate is, oranges will be there.What stories could I unravel from the orange's long ribboning peel? What new meanings could I find in its variousness, as it moves from east to west and from familiar to foreign?What begins as a curiosity into the origins of the orange soon becomes a far-reaching odyssey of citrus for Katie Goh. Katie follows the complicated history of the orange from east-to-west and west-to-east, from a luxury item of European kings and Chinese emperors, to a modest fruit people take for granted. This investigation parallels Katie’s powerful search into her own heritage. Growing up queer in a Chinese-Malaysian-Irish household in the north of Ireland, Katie felt herself at odds with the culture and politics around her. As a teenager, Katie visits her ancestral home in Longyan, China, with her family to better understand her roots, but doesn’t find the easy, digestible answers she hoped for.In her mid-twenties, when her grandmother falls ill, she ventures again to the land of her ancestors, Malaysia, where more questions of self and belonging are raised. In her travels and reflections, she navigates histories that she wants to understand, but has never truly felt a part of. Like the story of the orange, Katie finds that simple and extractable explanations—even about a seemingly simple fruit—are impossible. The story that unfolds is Katie’s incredible endeavor to flesh out these contradictions, to unpeel the layers of personhood; a reflection on identity through the cipher of the orange. Along the way, the orange becomes so much more than just a fruit—it emerges as a symbol, a metaphor, and a guide. Foreign A Personal History of the Orange is a searching, wide-ranging, seamless weaving of storytelling with research and a meditative, deeply moving encounter with the orange and the self.

For readers of Meghan O’Rourke’s The Invisible Kingdom , Esme Weijun Wang’s The Collected Schizophrenias , and Melissa Febos’s Girlhood , a powerful and deeply personal memoir in essays that sheds light on the silent epidemic of head trauma. Annie Liontas suffered multiple concussions in her thirties. In Sex with a Brain Injury , she writes about what it means to be one of the “walking wounded,” facing her fear, her rage, her physical suffering, and the effects of head trauma on her marriage and other relationships. Forced to reckon with her own queer mother’s battle with addiction, Liontas finds echoes in their pain. Liontas weaves history, philosophy, and personal accounts to interrogate and expand representations of mental health, ability, and disability—particularly in relation to women and the LGBT community. She uncovers the surprising legacy of brain injury, examining its role in culture, the criminal justice system, and through historical figures like Henry VIII and Harriet Tubman. Encountering Liontas’s sharp, affecting prose, the reader can imagine this kind of pain, and having to claw one’s way back to a new normal. The hidden gift of injury, Liontas writes, is the ability to connect with others. For the millions of people who have suffered from concussions and for those who have endeavored to support loved ones through the painful and often baffling experience of head trauma, this astonishing and compassionate narrative offers insight and hope in equal measure.

When I wake up on the ice planet, I’m scared of everything: this place is cold, silent, and the locals look more like blue devils than aliens. To make matters worse, one of the strangers decides I’m going to be his girlfriend and kidnaps me away from my sister. I’m completely and utterly alone. What’s a girl to do? Well, this girl escapes.  Of course, that means I go from frying pan into the fire, and my situation gets even more dangerous. Just when I have no hope left, a new hero appears. Sure, he’s blue, horned, and has a tail. He’s also fierce, protective, makes me purr... and thinks I'm perfect. But is what we have real or just a mating instinct?