Historical fiction based on the real life story of the daughter of the first black female doctor, Libertie, and the freedom she searches for. Not just from race, but also gender and heritage.
Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge (List Price: $26.95, Algonquin Books, 9781616207014, 3/30/2021)
Reviewed by Laura Taylor, Oxford Exchange in Tampa, Florida
It’s summer break! There’s time for fun and friends, but Kazu has decided to investigate a paranormal occurrence tied to the history of his street, Temple Alley. As Kazu and his friends discover new clues about the past by talking to family members, nagging neighbors, and even reading ancient magazines, they realize that they might have to rely on their peculiar neighbor, Ms. Minakami, to solve the mystery. Complete with a story within a story, this summertime sleuth is mischievous and magical.
Temple Alley Summer by Sachiko Kashiwaba, Avery Fischer Udagawa (Trans.), Miho Satake (Illus.) (List Price: $18, Restless Books, 9781632063038, 7/6/2021)
Reviewed by Cat Chapman, Oxford Exchange in Tampa, Florida
Arnott’s writing evokes the deep anxiety that can only be touched by the power and quiet, terrifying fury of nature. The Rain Heron is a contemporary mythos and environmental dystopian, with talons.
The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott (List Price: $16, FSG Originals, 9780374539306, 2/9/2021)
Reviewed by Cat Chapman, Oxford Exchange in Tampa, Florida
This adorable, vibrant, and fantastical graphic novel perfectly captures the power and magic of friendship. Despite her best intentions, Manu somehow manages to get into trouble a lot–whether it’s with her teachers, classmates, or best friend, Josefina. Her magical powers are too much to handle, until one day, they disappear. Manu and Josefina try to get them back, but in doing so, make a choice with consequences far worse than any detention. Their friendship is strong, but are Manu and Josefina powerful enough to make things right?
Manu: A Graphic Novel by Kelly Fernández (List Price: $24.99, Graphix, 9781338264197, 10/19/2021)
Reviewed by Cat Chapman, Oxford Exchange in Tampa, Florida
Part memoir, part philosophical reflection, Sarah Wilson delves deep into the global issues that have caused a sense of general unease that has encroached on us as of late. With her open and approachable voice, she takes a conversational approach to topics–climate change, capitalism, and social consciousness & activism, to name a few–that sometimes seem to serious and daunting to talk about, especially when we are constantly reminded of the circumstances that have created these “unprecedented times”. For readers of Glennon Doyle’s Untamed and Katherine May’s Wintering, this is yet another reflective and encouraging guide to a life that right now seems so uncertain.
This One Wild and Precious Life by Sarah Wilson (List Price: $26.99, Dey Street Books, 9780062962973, 12/29/2020)
Reviewed by Cat Chapman, Oxford Exchange in Tampa, Florida
In Vancouver, two women are innately connected by the sources of their grief. What at first begins as separate family tableaus–of Sara’s and Saskia’s parents and young adulthood and strife in defining themselves as individuals beside their siblings–slowly and masterfully braids into a mystery led by these two protagonists, haunted by the apparitions and very memories of those for whom they cared. Peppered with the lush descriptions of decadent textures, jewel-like alcohols and olfactory notes so accurate you can almost sense them, Consent is a sensual and sophisticated-yet-blunt story of grief and retribution that I couldn’t put down.
Consent by Annabel Lyon (List Price: $25.95, Knopf, 9780593318003, January, 2021)
Reviewed by Cat Chapman, Oxford Exchange in Tampa, Florida
A Winter 2021 Read This Next! Title
The House on Vesper Sands by Paraic O’Donnell
Tin House, January
A sooty and shadow-filled Victorian London acts as a sentient backdrop to the sinister, dark, clever (and somehow even hilarious at times), detective mystery that is The House on Vesper Sands. As a reader, there were just so many sensory details and perfect moments of tension that made the world feel all the more real, and the discovery all the more haunting.
– Cat Chapman, Oxford Exchange in Tampa, FL
A sooty and shadow-filled Victorian London acts as a sentient backdrop to the sinister, dark, clever (and somehow even hilarious at times), detective mystery that is The House on Vesper Sands. As a reader, there were just so many sensory details and perfect moments of tension that made the world feel all the more real, and the discovery all the more haunting.
The House on Vesper Sands by Paraic O’Donnell (List Price: $26.95, Tin House Books, 9781951142247, January, 2021).
Reviewed by Cat Chapman, Oxford Exchange in Tampa, FL
