| Census by Jesse BallWhat it's about: The widowed father of young man with Down syndrome is dying -- and must figure out how to provide for his son after his death.
Why you might like it: Consider this a non-traditional road novel; the unnamed narrator takes a long-postponed cross-country trip with his son, paid for by his role as census-taker for a mysterious governmental agency.
What reviewers say: "strange and wonderful" (LitHub); "an understated feat" (The Washington Post). |
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| Speak no evil by Uzodinma IwealaWhat it's about: Star athlete Niru is bound for the Ivy League...until his loving but traditional Nigerian parents discover that he's gay. The repercussions are violent and far-reaching.
Why you should read it: Cross-generational misunderstandings, as well as cross-cultural complications, are sensitively portrayed. Niru is a complex young man trying to come to terms with being a young gay black man.
Is it for you? Readers who prefer happy endings will want to look elsewhere. |
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| Girls burn brighter by Shobha RaoStarring: motherless Poornima and penniless Savitha, whose deep friendship sustains them in their rural Indian town.
What it's about: Separated by acts of cruelty and abuse, the two young women must navigate the world alone, each searching for the other.
Why you might like it: Narrated in the girls' alternating voices, this debut novel offers a vivid portrayal of contemporary India, as well as a devastating exploration of gender inequalities and human trafficking. |
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Our little secret: A novel
by Roz Nay
The interrogation-weary, longtime ex of a man whose wife has gone missing imparts the story of their relationship a decade earlier to a criminologist who appears to be the first person who believes her, an account that raises troubling possibilities about a group of retribution-seeking suspects.
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The parking lot attendant: A novel
by Nafkote Tamirat
A reviled member of a dysfunctional Ethiopian immigrant community in Boston reflects on the experiences that brought her and her introverted father to America and traces her growing bond with the community's charismatic con-man leader, whose schemes embroil her in a plot with unanticipated repercussions.
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Good neighbors: A novel
by Joanne Serling
Forming a neighbourhood clique based mostly on the ages of their children, four suburban couples are torn by differing opinions about one family's decision to adopt and raise a child from Russia who either has a difficult personality disorder or is being mistreated by her adoptive parents.
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The lost girls of camp forevermore
by Kim Fu
Attending a remote sleepaway camp in the Pacific Northwest, a group of young girls embark on an overnight kayaking trip to a nearby island, only to be separated from their adult counsellors and subjected to a life-changing event. By the award-winning author of For Today I Am a Boy.
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The lucky galah
by Tracey Sorensen
It's 1969 and a remote coastal town in Western Australia is poised to play a pivotal part in the moon landing. Perched on the red dunes of its outskirts looms the great Dish: a relay for messages between Apollo 11 and Houston, Texas. Radar technician Evan Johnson and his colleagues stare, transfixed, at the moving images on the console - although his glossy young wife, Linda, seems distracted. Meanwhile the people of Port Badminton have gathered to watch Armstrong's small step on a single television sitting centre stage in the old theatre. The Kelly family, a crop of redheads, sit in rare silence. Roo shooters at the back of the hall squint through their rifles to see the tiny screen. I'm in my cage on the Kelly's back verandah. I sit here, unheard, underestimated, biscuit crumbs on my beak. But fate is a curious thing. For just as Evan Johnson's story is about to end (and perhaps with a giant leap), my story prepares to take flight.
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The Arctic & the Antarctic
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| Good morning, midnight by Lily Brooks-DaltonStarring: astronomer Augustine, seemingly stranded at the top of the world, and astronaut Sully, whose voyage to Jupiter is coming to an end.
What happens: Both unable to contact anyone else on Earth (are they all dead? Have radio transmitters been silenced?), the two scientists must come to terms with their future in a dark and silent world.
Why you might like it: This leisurely paced, unusual take on a post-apocalyptic novel is quietly moving. |
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| The sunlit night by Rebecca DinersteinDid you know? The sun never sets if you're above the Arctic Circle in summer, as both 21-year-old Frances and 17-year-old Yasha learn when they arrive in remote Lofoten, Norway. She's there to take up residency in an artists' colony; he's there to bury his father.
Why you might like it: With a cast of quirky supporting characters, poetic language, and vivid descriptions of the harsh and melancholy landscape, this not-quite-romance offers an intriguing portrait of family, uncertainty, and loss. |
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| Where'd you go, Bernadette by Maria SempleWhat it's about: Eighth-grader Bee Branch has been promised a trip to Antarctica by her parents, tech guru Elgin Branch and architect Bernadette Fox. Until Bernadette -- whose creative genius is outstripped only by her social anxiety and agoraphobia -- disappears.
Why you might like it: A compilation of emails, faxes, official documents, and letters forms the basis of this delightful, charming, witty novel. |
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| South Pole Station by Ashley ShelbyStarring: floundering but talented painter Cooper Gosling, who gets to spend a year at an artists' colony in Antarctica, where she is drawn into the complex social and political dynamics of the isolated station.
Why you might like it: This humorous, inventive debut novel combines science, art, and the politics of climate change -- with plenty of quirky characters to drum up complications.
For fans of: oddball workplace comedies, exotic locations, and complex social situations. For a warmer setting, try T.C. Boyle's The Terranauts. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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