In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness… In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected. When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother's identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate. After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu uses the chance to claim another future altogether: her brother's abandoned greatness. Mulan meets The Song of Achilles; an accomplished, poetic debut of war and destiny, sweeping across an epic alternate China.

Samantha Heather Mackey couldn't be more of an outsider in her small, highly selective MFA program at New England's Warren University. A scholarship student who prefers the company of her dark imagination to that of most people, she is utterly repelled by the rest of her fiction writing cohort--a clique of unbearably twee rich girls who call each other "Bunny," and seem to move and speak as one. But everything changes when Samantha receives an invitation to the Bunnies' fabled "Smut Salon," and finds herself inexplicably drawn to their front door--ditching her only friend, Ava, in the process. As Samantha plunges deeper and deeper into the Bunnies' sinister yet saccharine world, beginning to take part in the ritualistic off-campus "Workshop" where they conjure their monstrous creations, the edges of reality begin to blur. Soon, her friendships with Ava and the Bunnies will be brought into deadly collision. The spellbinding new novel from one of our most fearless chroniclers of the female experience, Bunny is a down-the-rabbit-hole tale of loneliness and belonging, friendship and desire, and the fantastic and terrible power of the imagination.

Our climate future is not yet written. What if we act as if we love the future? Sometimes the bravest thing we can do while facing an existential crisis is imagine life on the other side. This provocative and joyous book maps an inspiring landscape of possible climate futures. Through clear-eyed essays and vibrant conversations, infused with data, poetry, and art, Ayana Elizabeth Johnson guides us through solutions and possibilities at the nexus of science, policy, culture, and justice. Visionary farmers and financers, architects and advocates help us conjure a flourishing future, one worth the effort it will take—from all of us, with whatever we have to offer—to create. If you haven’t yet been able to picture a transformed and replenished world—or see yourself, your loved ones, and your community in it— this book is for you. If you haven’t yet found your role in shaping this new world, or you’re not sure how we can actually get there, this book is for you. With grace, humor, and humanity, Ayana invites readers to ask and answer this ultimate question, What if we get it right? On imagination, possibility, and transformation with Paola Antonelli Xiye Bastida & Ayisha Siddiqa Jade Begay Régine Clément Abigail Dillen Brian Donahue Kelly Sims Gallagher Rhiana Gunn-Wright Corley Kenna Bryan C. Lee Jr. & Kate Orff Franklin Leonard & Adam McKay Bill McKibben Kate Marvel Samantha Montano Leah Penniman Colette Pichon Battle Kendra Pierre-Louis Judith D. Schwartz Jigar Shah Bren Smith Oana Stanescu Mustafa Suleyman

Ornithologist Seán Ronayne always knew he was different. While he struggled to fit in at school, when he was surrounded by nature, listening to birdsong, he felt a sense of calm and could truly be himself. His happiest times were spent walking in the woods with his father and grandfather, learning to identify the plants and birds around their home in Cork. Other children called him 'Nature Boy'.Seán went on to qualify as an ornithologist, dedicating his life to studying and photographing birds. When, at the age of thirty-two, he discovered he was autistic, his life began to make sense. He grew to recognize that his difference was a gift, enabling him to use his passion to help spread awareness of the beauty of the natural world - and the danger it currently faces. In 2021, Seán set out on his mission to be the first to sound record all the regularly occurring bird species in a journey of discovery and wonder that has taken him to the four corners of the country.Nature Boy is a celebration of birds, connection and being true to yourself - and of the extraordinary, healing power of nature.

Eine wilde, wütende, witzige und spielerische Geschichte, die Fragen nach Identität, Zugehörigkeit, sexuellem Begehren und patriarchalischer ... auf den Punkt bringt. »Es tut mir leid, deine Mutter wurde getötet.« Mit diesen Worten beginnt Filas Reise von der Schweiz nach Italien. Von dem Land, in dem sie aufgewachsen ist, in das Land, das ihre Großmutter als junge Frau verlassen hat und in das ihre Mutter verschwunden ist. Fila zeichnet die Geschichte dieser beiden Frauen nach, zusammen mit ihren Erinnerungen und ihren Begegnungen auf dem feministischen Widerstandskämpferinnen, faschistischen Deserteuren und dem Geist einer jungen Bäuerin mit durchschnittener Kehle. Der Roadtrip auf den Spuren ihrer geheimnisvollen Mutter führt sie zum mutmaßlichen Mörder - und mitten ins Herz des faschistischen Zirkels, der das Land kontrolliert.  Favorita erzählt eine wilde, wütende, spielerische Geschichte, die Fragen nach Identität, Zugehörigkeit, sexuellem Begehren und patriarchalischer Gewalt gegen Mensch und Umwelt auf den Punkt bringt. Eine Lektüre, bei der man den Atem anhält und sich fragt, was zur Hölle man da gerade liest - ein Roman, der einen nicht mehr loslässt und noch lange nachwirkt.  

Saffron struggles with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and is dreading autumn and winter. She took time off in her first year at university and can’t afford to do the same this year if she’s going to achieve her dream of being an astrophysicist. She’s managed to keep it a secret from her friends – fearing that they won’t want to spend time with her if they see her at her lowest – but it’s getting harder. Especially when she meets Nell. Nell – wannabe poet, autistic and proud, and lover of autumn and winter – is determined to show Saffron everything these seasons have to offer. The two grow close, and when Saffron confides in Nell, romance blooms. But with Saffron struggling to keep a lid on her mental health and Nell figuring out her own sexual identity, things soon spiral out of control. A dual-perspective sapphic rom-com perfect for fans of Casey McQuiston and Alice Oseman.

Earth is a ruin, and the scattered remnants of humanity scavenge what they can from the stars under the watchful auspices of a grab-bag of collectives, corporations, and churches which are all that remains of what we once called society. Having long exhausted any conventional sources of energy, life in the solar system is now sustained by a volatile, hallucinogenic substance called spermaceti, which is harvested from the brains of vast cetacean-like Leviathans that swim the atmospheric currents of Jupiter.Finding herself with no money and little to occupy her groundside, the narrator (“I”) takes a commission aboard the hunter-barque Pequod as it sets out in pursuit of precious spermaceti. Once aboard, however, she finds herself pulled inexorably into the orbit of the barque’s captain, a charismatic but fanatically driven woman who the narrator names only as “A”. As the Pequod plunges ever deeper into the turbulent, monster-haunted atmosphere of the gas giant, the narrator begins to lose herself in the eerie word of Leviathan-hunting and the captain’s increasingly insistent delusions; the only thing that might keep her grounded is the bond she develops with Q, a woman from the wreck of Old Earth whose skin is marked with holographic light and who remembers things otherwise lost.

Seven students are avoiding going to school, hiding in their darkened bedrooms, unable to face their family and friends, until the moment they discover a portal into another world that offers temporary escape from their stressful lives. Passing through a glowing mirror, they gather in a magnificent castle which becomes their playground and refuge during school hours. The students are tasked with locating a key, hidden somewhere in the castle, that will allow whoever finds it to be granted one wish. At this moment, the castle will vanish, along with all memories they may have of their adventure. If they fail to leave the castle by 5 pm every afternoon, they will be eaten by the keeper of the castle, an easily provoked and shrill creature named the Wolf Queen. Delving into their emotional lives with sympathy and a generous warmth, Lonely Castle in the Mirror shows the unexpected rewards of reaching out to others. Exploring vivid human stories with a twisty and puzzle-like plot, this heart-warming novel is full of joy and hope for anyone touched by sadness and vulnerability.

An adventure set in California's San Gabriel Valley, with cursed violins, Faustian bargains, and queer alien courtship over fresh-made donuts. Shizuka Satomi made a deal with the devil: to escape damnation, she must entice seven other violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. She has already delivered six. When Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender runaway, catches Shizuka's ear with her wild talent, Shizuka can almost feel the curse lifting. She's found her final candidate. But in a donut shop off a bustling highway in the San Gabriel Valley, Shizuka meets Lan Tran, retired starship captain, interstellar refugee, and mother of four. Shizuka doesn't have time for crushes or coffee dates, what with her very soul on the line, but Lan's kind smile and eyes like stars might just redefine a soul's worth. And maybe something as small as a warm donut is powerful enough to break a curse as vast as the California coastline. As the lives of these three women become entangled by chance and fate, a story of magic, identity, curses, and hope begins, and a family worth crossing the universe for is found.

An explosive, jaw-dropping debut about a woman who loses her job as an oil company CEO after she’s filmed having sex with a tree in her sleep, a calamity that unravels her mind, spiraling her through history until she’s united with a centuries-old coven of ecstatically revolutionary women. “You’re holding a torpedo of a book in your hand. Take a seat and get comfortable. This novel’s energy, humor, and rebel spirit will awaken your mind and change your way of thinking.” —Olga Tokarczuk, 2018 Nobel Prize Winner, Man Booker International Prize Winner, finalist for the National Book AwardAnna Frenza hates the tyrannical tree huggers and the idiotic eco-warriors—after all, she’s the CEO of Poland’s biggest oil company. But then she finds herself in a trance, sleepwalking into the woods and making love to a tree, manically—all caught on camera. Her career ends and, in the fallout, she discovers her husband’s disturbing secret. Her mind splinters until she is no longer Anna Frenza, CEO. Now—whether by delusion or possession of spirit—she lives in the Duchy of Nysa, a medieval province ruled by the Catholic Church.From her psychiatric bed, Anna falls in with Mathilde Spalt, leader of the Earthen Ones—a congregation of women who live in the woods and reject all patriarchy, instead engaging in ecstatic, sensuous worship of Mother Earth. Through Mathilde, Anna learns to love the forest, preaching and practicing the emancipatory rituals of the Earthen Ones . . . until the Church decides to fell the forest and all the women within it.Bold and entirely unexpected, The Hexes of the Deadwood Forest is a collective rebellion and a collective orgasm, the death knell to the elevation of the erect. Take hold of your seat; patriarchy is coming to an end.