Simon Spier is a 16-year-old high school junior with an affinity for musical theatre. Lately, he’s been flirting online with a boy he only knows as “Blue”. He isn’t out of the closet; and plans on keeping it that way for the foreseeable future. This choice is taken from him when a classmate starts blackmailing […]
“I had been brought up not to think about the Others in terms of where they came from or who they were, to ignore all that—they were just Others.” This dystopian novel tells the story of a world broken by climate change, divided by man. James always knew he would have to become a Defender. […]
This novel on the devastating impact of a tropical storm follows the life of a working-class family in southern Mississippi. As a family of five, 15-year-old Esch along with her three brothers and her father live in poverty, often not knowing when their next meal will be. Despite this, her brother Skeetah finds joy in […]
This award-winning young adult novel about isolation, identity construction, being different and coming out as transgender, follows 17-year-old J, who lives with his parents in New York and does not identify as a female. To cover his body, J wears long baggy pants, large T-shirts and also keeps his hair short. Experiencing peer pressure at […]
18-year-old Georgia is about to start college and has never been in love. Sure, she’s read and fantasized about it, but real-life love? – Nowhere in sight. And so Georgia sets out on the college adventure of figuring out who she is and what she’s actually looking for. When she comes across the terms asexual […]
Two American boys, two very different circumstances. Rashad, a black 16-year-old student, is mistakenly accused of shoplifting in a convenience store. The arrest leads to Rashad being beaten by police officer Paul Galluzo. And although the assault is witnessed by Quinn, who sees Paul as a father-figure, the football player struggles with accepting the brutality […]
David is yet another American trying to find an escape from life in Paris in the 1950s. His girlfriend, Hella, is spending time alone in Spain trying to make up her mind regarding his proposal. Lonely and broke, David meets with an acquaintance at a bar in hopes of getting a financial boost. There, he […]
Named after happiness itself, Felix hasn’t found his happily ever after yet… let alone been in love. How come everyone else makes it look so effortless? He worries that being a black transgender young man could keep him from finding love and make him a target. This fear is confirmed when he receives transphobic messages […]
This short fiction from the period of Restauration and Enlightenment tells the story of the life of the African prince Oroonoko. His grandfather, the king, marries his grandson’s love and a fiancée who is sold into slavery for participating in an uprising against the king. When Oroonoko is aboard a ship towards Europe, he is […]
This modern novel describes a dystopian version of the year 1984. The world is ruled by three totalitarian superpowers with the book focusing on Oceania. The people are under constant surveillance and anyone opposing or even criticising the regime is eliminated together with all records of existence. Only thinking about another life or reality is […]
“You can have anything,” she said. “Once you admit you deserve it.” No one likes to be the new kid. All Amanda wants is to blend in and find friends. That plan fades away when she meets Grant and falls for him immediately. As they spend more time together, she feels herself opening up to […]
This novel tells a story of loving and embracing yourself while learning to trust yourself and open up to others. To her family, teachers and peers George is a boy. George however identifies as a girl and longs to live and present herself the way she wants to. She is so excited when the school […]
14-year-old Izzy lives in a small town, goes to school and doesn’t think of her life as anything extraordinarily special or exciting. That all changes when her father comes out as a trans-woman. The story deals with Izzy’s feelings of uncertainty and fear. Will her parents divorce? Will her classmates at school gossip about her? […]
This novel narrates an unlikely friendship between two outsiders and what a difference standing up for one another can make. David longs to be a girl, but is labelled by others as gay or a freak. Leo just wants to be invisible at school, but defends David against bullies in a fight. They stick together, […]
“Article 5: Children are considered valid citizens when conceived by a married man and wife. All other children are to be removed from the home and subjected to rehabilitative procedures.“ In this dystopian world, the Bill of Rights has been replaced by the Moral Statutes after a war rampaged through the United States. Children out […]
Ben has finally gathered the courage to come out to their parents as nonbinary. But what should be the people who love them most in the world, refuse to accept Ben’s identity. They’re quick to kick Ben out, leaving them lost and alone. They have no choice but to call their estranged sister Hannah and […]
This dystopian novel details the journey of a father and his son through the post-apocalyptic remains of the United States. Their sole goal being survival, the two travel across the barren terrain with nothing but a gun, two small backpacks and a shopping cart. On their journey, they encounter individuals who are immediately treated as […]
Based on a true story, this novel is set in a 1960s reform school in Florida. 16-year-old Elwood Curtis has always admired Dr. Martin Luther King and plans on enrolling in a local black college. However, an accident leads to Elwood being sent to the “Nickel Academy”, where he meets his fellow inmate Turner. At […]