North Carolina Bookstores

We Are Big Time by Hena Khan

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We Are Big Time by Hena Khan
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I love this new middle-grade graphic novel about a girls’ basketball team. The story could easily be that it is a team from an all-Muslim school, but there’s more to it than that. I love how the author has based this on a true story and helped guide the reader through the prejudice and media hype that would surround this story still. It’s nuanced and delicately handled, and I think will resonate with every reader.

We Are Big Time by Hena Khan, (List Price: $13.99, Knopf Books for Young Readers, 9780593430477, August 2024)

Reviewed by Jamie Southern, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

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A Well-Trained Wife by Tia Levings

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A Well-Trained Wife by Tia Levings
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A Well-Trained Wife is a horrifying portrait of a woman trapped in a marriage and religious system of abuse and misogyny. Perfect for fans of Educated and The Sound Of Gravel.

A Well-Trained Wife by Tia Levings, (List Price: $30, St. Martin’s Press, 9781250288288, August 2024)

Reviewed by Jessica Nock, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina

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Goodnight Tokyo by Atsuhiro Yoshida

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Goodnight Tokyo by Atsuhiro Yoshida
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A lithe novel of interlocking stories set over a series of very late nights in Tokyo. The characters either work through or leave their work in the AM part of the night; their stories overlap (or nearly overlap) via taxis, diners, and bars. Slice of life, relatively low stakes, and enjoyable.

Goodnight Tokyo by Atsuhiro Yoshida, (List Price: $18, Europa Editions, 9798889660279, July 2024)

Reviewed by Ginger Kautz, Quail Ridge Books in , North Carolina

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Blue Window by Adina Rishe Gerwirtz

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Blue Window by Adina Rishe Gerwirtz
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I Am a Candlewick Frequent Blurber! On the shortest day of the year, Max, Susan, Nell, Jean, and Kate tumbled through Mrs Grady’s cobalt blue window. On the other side, things were the same (there were animals, people, and chicken for dinner) but at the same time very very very different. In this mesmerizing new portal fantasy from the author of Zebra Forest, five children learn who they are, discern how they fit into an ancient prophecy, and learn just what they can do when they set their minds to it.

Blue Window by Adina Rishe Gerwirtz, (List Price: $18.99, Candlewick, 9780763660369, April 2018)

Reviewed by Angie Tally, The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, North Carolina

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All This and More by Peng Shepherd

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All This and More by Peng Shepherd
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If you’re looking for a unique book then All This and More by Peng Shepherd is just the one for you! Marsh is looking to get a redo in life and the reader gets to control the storyline by making choices for her. It was great fun to play a part in creating her new destiny. Will you be able to lead her to an ending that will make her happier than she was originally? Don’t miss the opportunity to find out!

All This and More by Peng Shepherd, (List Price: $30, William Morrow, 9780063278974, July 2024)

Reviewed by Barb Rascon, Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, North Carolina

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First Test Graphic Novel by Tamora Pierce

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First Test Graphic Novel by Tamora Pierce
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Pierce’s series is beloved for a reason, and I am SO happy it’s becoming a graphic novel series. A strong female heroine trying to prove herself in a society where women are not welcome in the community of knights. Uplifting, hopeful. Small acts of bravery and bold friendship!

First Test Graphic Novel by Tamora Pierce, (List Price: $17.99, Random House Graphic, 9780307931573, July 2024)

Reviewed by Morgan DePerno, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

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Ruby’s Tools for Making Friends by Apryl Stott

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Ruby's Tools for Making Friends by Apryl Stott
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My favorite kind of picture book is one set in a classroom of both humans and anthropomorphic animals. This book is adorable as it tells the story of Ruby the fox starting a new school and trying to use her skills to make new friends. Turns out friends don’t like you just for your skills — they like you for you!

Ruby’s Tools for Making Friends by Apryl Stott, (List Price: $18.99, Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books, 9781665921640, June 2024)

Reviewed by Kate Storhoff, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

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Millie Fleur’s Poison Garden by Christy Mandin

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Millie Fleur's Poison Garden by Christy Mandin
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Perfect lawns with their manicured grass and neat hedges are SO 2020. Wilding is IN and every neighborhood needs a weird wild little garden like Mille Fleur’s. Share this delightful little gem with the weirdest and wildest kid in your world.

Millie Fleur’s Poison Garden by Christy Mandin, (List Price: $18.99, Cartwheel Books, 9781339023274, July 2024)

Reviewed by Angie Tally, The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, North Carolina

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Beneath These Cursed Stars by Lexi Ryan

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Beneath These Cursed Stars by Lexi Ryan
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Lexi Ryan knows how to ramp up the tension and keep you guessing. I absolutely loved being back in the Fae world from These Hollow Vows again! (Which I do recommend reading before diving into this book. Not that you have to, but it does offer insights that otherwise might get missed or feel confusing while reading this book). Beneath These Cursed Stars centers around Brie’s sister Jas (Jasalyn) and a new character, Felicity (who took me a little longer to feel invested in, but now I’m hooked). It took no time at all for me to jump right back into this world, and I was thrilled to experience it from a whole new perspective. Jasalyn’s story is heartbreaking and traumatizing; the loss of hope and representation of PTSD throughout was done well and had me either holding my breath or crying at certain parts. I will say this book really took off right at the very end. That CLIFFHANGER! My word. Lexi Ryan what are you doing to us?! But now, I obviously can’t wait to read the next book.

Beneath These Cursed Stars by Lexi Ryan, (List Price: $19.99, HarperTeen, 9780063311909, July 2024)

Reviewed by Brianne Wik, Main Street Books in , North Carolina

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Woe: A Housecat’s Story of Despair by Lucy Knisley

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Woe: A Housecat's Story of Despair by Lucy Knisley
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I always loved Lucy Knisley’s cat comics — although not a cat owner myself, I did share my life with a very cat-like chihuahua for a decade, and Lucy’s Linney and my Jack had quite a lot in common. Collected for the first time in one volume, these comics are perfect to give a cat lover (or just a lover of any grumpy, particular animals we choose to pamper and adore).

Woe: A Housecat’s Story of Despair by Lucy Knisley, (List Price: $16.99, Random House Graphic, 9780593177631, July 2024)

Reviewed by Kate Storhoff, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

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Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

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Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
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After two private school students are selected to be prefects, an anonymous bully starts sending text messages with revealing secrets about them to the rest of the student body. In this debut novel, suspense is expertly combined with interesting social commentary–perfect for fans of Courtney Summers, Maureen Johnson, or Karen McManus!

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, (List Price: $12.99, Square Fish, 9781250800800, July 2023)

Reviewed by Jen Minor, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

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Evocation by S.T. Gibson

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Evocation by S.T. Gibson
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David Aristarkhov is cursed, a demon on his heels and in his mind. A gifted psychic in his own right, he comes from a long line of mediums and magic wielders, which may also be the origin of his curse. His only allies happen to be his estranged ex, Rhys, and Rhys’ wife Moira, who have every reason not to help him. Evocation was a breathless character study in vulnerability and resilience, in finding aid in others, and magic bonds worth savoring. I adored it.

Evocation by S.T. Gibson, (List Price: $28, Angry Robot, 9781915202680, May 2024)

Reviewed by Jordan April, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

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Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi

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Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi
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Oh my good god. I have to start by saying I love Awkwake Emezi, so when I saw their next book, I knew I had to read it. Having read their past works, I knew I’d have to go in with no expectations or ideas about what could possibly be in store for me because Emezi has this way of throwing it all back in your face and saying, “fuck you, strap in for the ride.” And what a ride! This author has such a vivid writing style, so as a reader, you hardly have to work to paint every graphic, sensual, and appalling picture in your head. Each sentence was so carefully and cleverly constructed that I literally hung on to every word. This story never lost me for a second. It had me by the throat with a knife, and it was all I could do to sit back and let it unfold.

Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi, (List Price: $29, Riverhead Books, 9780525541639, June 2024)

Reviewed by Laney Sheehan, Epilogue Books Chocolate Brews in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

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Yolk by Mary H. K. Choi

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Yolk by Mary H. K. Choi
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“Sisters never stand a chance to be friends. We’re pitted against each other from the moment we’re born. A daughter is a treasure. Two is a tax. God, how they must have wanted a boy when they tried a do-over after a dead baby girl.” One of the most fraught relationships in humanity is sisterhood. In Yolk, Choi takes on that relationship and explores it through both the joy and pain. Coming of age, learning to live on one’s own, and navigating modern romance are all tackled in turn with the grace and realism for which readers have learned to love her writing. Come for the angst, stay for the characters you may just love like sisters. Content warnings for disordered eating, depression and anxiety, absent parent, and cancer.

Yolk by Mary H. K. Choi, (List Price: $12.99, Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 9781534446014, March 2022)

Reviewed by Faith Parke-Dodge, Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, North Carolina

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Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

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Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
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I didn’t think it was possible to read a book and feel both completely hopeless and hopeful at the end but leave it up to Octavia Butler to write the impossible.

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler, (List Price: $16.99, Grand Central Publishing, 9781538732182, April 2019)

Reviewed by Ndobe Foletia, Epilogue: Books Chocolate Brews in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

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