Essential reading for all humans — insightful, brilliant, and emotive writing from Audre Lorde.
Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde, (List Price: $27, Penguin Classics, 9780143134442, February 2020)
Reviewed by RC Collman, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Everything about Sirens & Muses is unapologetically alluring, designed to catch your eye. Four different voices give us a glimpse into a prestigious New England art school. Along with many spiraling ideas about art, class, attraction, and desire, I found it had so much to say about what truly drives people forward, and about coming home. A moody, wonderful read.
Sirens & Muses by Antonia Angress, (List Price: 18, Ballantine Books, 9780593496459, July 2023)
Reviewed by Emma Holland, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Though she’s hearing-passing (using hearing aids & lip reading), every day feels like an uphill battle to Lilah: struggling through interactions others find easy, guessing at bits and pieces of missed conversations, and pretending like everything’s totally fine. One of the few times she remembers feeling fully accepted and accommodated was at a summer camp for Deaf and blind kids that she attended many years ago. So when she gets the opportunity to return as a junior counselor, Lilah is thrilled…never mind that the camp is running out of money.
Sortino seamlessly blends spoken & signed dialogue, highlights a myriad of systemic issues facing the Deaf community, and showcases community thriving around disability difference. A sweet, summery coming-of-age story (with a hint of romance) that’s equal parts fun and important!
Give Me a Sign by Anna Sortino, (List Price: $18.99, G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, 9780593533796, July 2023)
Reviewed by Talia Smart, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
A bittersweet story told by two teens on opposite sides of the 2019 Hong Kong protests. Phoenix is an upper-class prep school student who gets swept up in the protests; Kai is a recent immigrant from mainland China who joins the police force to gain the approval of his HK officer father. This book is beautiful, propulsive, and important–I’d recommend it highly to older teens, with the note that it includes some really intense, difficult scenes that may be too much for younger readers.
An Echo in the City by K. X. Song, (List Price: 18.99, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 9780316396820, April 2023)
Reviewed by Talia Smart, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
"Daddy’s joy is bigger than him. It’s a wide, gap-toothed smile and a deep rumbling laugh that shakes the dinner table kind of joy."How can a book that begins this way not be wonderful? And it is. Muhammad receives a prayer rug for his 7th birthday and is nervous about what others will think of him observing salat at school. Heartwarming and significant, this is picture book perfection.
Salat in Secret by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, (List Price: $18.99, Random House Studio, 9781984848093, June 2023)
Reviewed by Elese Stutts, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
This one’s complicated. I picked it up with the expectation that I’d read just enough to confirm my guess that it’d be too cringey to stomach – because it’s about a liberal Black woman and a moderate-to-conservative white man who fall in love. But I quickly found that this book is NOT a romance, at least not in any genre sense. There’s romance in it, and certainly some heady chemistry, but it’s way more nuanced than that. Through the lens of this problematic relationship (which will spike your blood pressure and keep it high, I promise), Rabess interrogates identity–both individual and in-group–in a really brilliant, intensely readable, morally complex way.
The big question here is: can someone’s care for you as an individual outweigh their lack of understanding/care for you as a member of an identity group? How does complicity in systems of power–the main character works in finance–play a role in that determination? It’s extremely tangled, and Rabess doesn’t provide answers. Just really adept storytelling.
Everything’s Fine by Cecilia Rabess, (List Price: 27.99, Simon & Schuster, 9781982187705, June 2023)
Reviewed by Talia Smart, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
A really fun, whimsical picture book capturing the joys (and stresses) of getting a visit from extended family. Vivid illustrations give it extra energy!
Oh No, the Aunts Are Here by Adam Rex, (List Price: 16.99, Chronicle Books, 9781797207940, May 2023)
Reviewed by Talia Smart, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
I still fondly remember the summers spent with my cousins; playing at the beach, board games, sharing secrets under the covers, and of course the ice cream. Growing up my favorite person in the entire world was my older cousin Michael. And I always worried that the next time we saw each other, he would have forgotten me and all the memories I treasured. But just like Michael and I, Dhruv and Ravi understand each other. This book wonderfully captures the whimsy of childhood summers, the distance that comes from being apart, and the moments that matter.
Summer Is for Cousins by Rajani LaRocca, (List Price: 17.99, Abrams Books for Young Readers, 9781419757334, May 2023)
Reviewed by Jamie Kovacs, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
To me, Rachele’s journey feels as if it has no defined end, and that’s a good thing. It starts as she leaves class for Christmas holidays, but every new interaction feels like a new adventure. Yet, those adventures are all short, ending within our gaze. Combined, they display life as Rachele is experiencing it as a young, well-off, Jewish girl in post-WWII Italy. The journeys that others are on will continue, but not within the understanding of our protagonist. A quick, introspective read that dives into the consciousness of a child in an unfamiliar time and place.
The Only Daughter by A.B. Yehoshua, (List Price: 26.99, HarperVia, 9780358670445, April 2023)
Reviewed by Jamie Kovacs, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
A March 2023 Read This Next! Title
Ramen for Everyone beautifully depicts the bond food represents to Hiro and his family. Hiro learns that perfect isn’t always the same for everyone, and that what he can cook is just as wonderful as his dad’s recipe.
Ramen for Everyone by Patricia Tanumihardja, (List Price: $18.99, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 9781665904353, February 2023)
Reviewed by Jamie Kovacs, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
The subconscious and conscious manipulations of cult mentality have been studied and discussed many times over. These accounts often come from those closest to cult leaders: family members, close confidants, and in this case, grandchildren. Dowd walks us through her childhood, chapter introductions mimicking a guide for living the way she and the Mountain do. (Note: she does specifically state that this book is not intended, nor should it be used, as a guide for foraging). Her connection to nature and its usefulness in her life is evident in how she writes.
Forager by Michelle Dowd, (List Price: 28, Algonquin Books, 9781643751856, March 2023)
Reviewed by Jamie Kovacs, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Country music encompasses so much more than one would be led to believe by what’s being promoted and by what has been written and rewritten about countless times. Thankfully, Francesca Royster’s new book tells the story of Black songwriters/performers/fans in the white male-dominated world of popular country music. It’s a history that has been obscured, hidden, white-washed, overlooked and outright denied for way too long. This is a really fantastic and inspiring book that opens up a whole new world of country and folk music. If you think you know it all you don’t!
Black Country Music by Francesca T. Royster, (List Price: $24.95, University of Texas Press, 9781477326497, January 2023)
Reviewed by Colin Sneed, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
A January 2023 Read This Next! Title
This novel will rob you of hours from your life, it will rob you of the need for food or company or sleep. Time the reading of the first pages wisely; you’ll have a sudden need to find a comfy spot where you can commune with these characters and their lush stories of pleasure and pain. A mashup of American Psycho, Scarface and The Great Gatsby but set in contemporary India, it’s all but impossible to look away from this dazzling train wreck orchestrated by Deepti Kapoor. I was consumed by this novel.
Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor (List Price: $30, Riverhead Books, 9780593328798, January 2023)
Reviewed by Jamie Fiocco, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Reading this book made me step back, rethink my middle school days, and want to wrap my younger self in a hug. Such a tough story, told in such a way where even though the reader and the main character don’t know the full story, you know more than the main character. You are seeing their final report, not just her findings, as she is investigating.
What Happened to Rachel Riley? by Claire Swinarski (List Price: $16.99, Quill Tree Books, 9780063213098, January 2023)
Reviewed by Jamie Kovacs, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Christina Soontornvat’s graphic memoir depicts the challenges & joys of middle school life as a Thai-American in Texas centering around her dream of making the school’s cheer squad. For fans of Victoria Jamieson’s Roller Girl, Jerry Craft’s New Kid or any of Raina Telgemeier’s many graphic novels.
The Tryout by Christina Soontornvat (List Price: $24.99, Graphix,, 9781338741308, November 2022)
Reviewed by Elese Stutts, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
