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Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix by Gabe Cole Novoa

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by Gabe Cole Novoa
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As someone who adores Pride and Prejudice, I am very protective of its main characters, and I am happy to report that Gabe Cole Novoa gave them brilliant new lives in this retelling. My little queer heart was bursting at the seams!

Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix by Gabe Cole Novoa, (List Price: $19.99, Feiwel & Friends, 9781250869807, January 2024)

Reviewed by Rachel Randolph, Parnassus Books in , Tennessee

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Wedding Issues by Elle Evans

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Wedding Issues by Elle Evans
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Laugh out-loud funny book just in time for wedding season. This book engages family, friends, the wedding industry, and a fast-paced plot perfect for the beach. I gave this to my future daughter-in-law, hoping she can find the fun in the planning. A must-read for any bride.

Wedding Issues by Elle Evans, (List Price: $17.99, Zibby Books, 9781958506745, April 2024)

Reviewed by Suzanne Lucey, Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, North Carolina

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I’ll Give You a Reason by Annell López

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I'll Give You a Reason by Annell López
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These beautiful stories fill my heart with hope and longing. Annell Lopez weaves powerful portraits of women just trying to be. Be happy, be important, be heard.

I’ll Give You a Reason by Annell López, (List Price: $16.95, The Feminist Press at CUNY, 9781558613126, April 2024)

Reviewed by Rayna Nielsen, Blue Cypress Books in New Orleans, Louisiana

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All Things Are Too Small by Becca Rothfeld

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All Things Are Too Small by Becca Rothfeld
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Rothfeld begins with the promise of un-containment. If all things are in fact too small, then this book cannot contain all that it hopes to include and isn’t there something beautiful about that? Truly, what Rothfeld deftly handles is the ways that excessiveness bleeds into all aspects of lived experience – minds, bodies, and things. At times this collection hits a wall, particularly as Rothfeld realizes the limits of her own experience. So, while I don’t wholeheartedly agree with everything Rothfeld says here, her nuanced thinking on particularly the move towards owning less, thinking less, and doing less of the last decade reveals my own thoughts in the process. Perhaps what ties these lightly disparate essays together is the promise that wanting and longing are active and pressing parts of our lives.

All Things Are Too Small by Becca Rothfeld, (List Price: $27.99, Metropolitan Books, 9781250849915, April 2024)

Reviewed by Mikey LaFave, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia

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Olivetti by Allie Millington

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Olivetti by Allie Millington
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I love this sweet, unique book! Young Ernest is shy and dealing with his family’s secrets doesn’t help. When Ernest’s mom drops off the family’s beloved typewriter Olivetti at the pawn shop and then disappears, the whole family is thrown into an emotional whirlwind. Ernest and Olivetti team up to find out where mom is and why she left. This story will steal your heart – I never expected to have such strong feelings about a sentient typewriter!

Olivetti by Allie Millington, (List Price: $17.99, Feiwel & Friends, 9781250326935, March 2024)

Reviewed by Andrea Richardson, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia

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Rewild the World at Bedtime by Emily Hawkins

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Rewild the World at Bedtime by Emily Hawkins
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With gorgeous illustrations, Rewild the World at Bedtime takes the reader on a global tour of rewilding animals. Educational and hopeful, this is the perfect bedtime read for curious and engaged little minds.

Rewild the World at Bedtime by Emily Hawkins, (List Price: $19.99, Wide Eyed Editions, 9780711286962, March 2024)

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

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Hearts Still Beating by Brooke Archer

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Hearts Still Beating by Brooke Archer
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This is a fun YA book that has an interesting take on zombies. I love the idea of science being able to reverse the effects of zombification and what ramifications would come with that. What if your loved one had killed your family when they weren’t themselves? Could you forgive them? It’s a fascinating take. The love story is well done. Only reason I didn’t rate it higher was that it didn’t have me on the edge of my seat like some of my favorite apocalyptic novels, but it’s still a solid read that I believe teens will especially enjoy.

Hearts Still Beating by Brooke Archer, (List Price: $19.99, G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, 9780593698327, April 2024)

Reviewed by Kelley Dykes, Main Street Reads in Summerville, South Carolina

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A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke

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A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Westerbeke, Douglas
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A mind-bending, adventure-filled debut novel with an unusual premise: Nine-year-old Aubry contracts a strange illness that threatens to bleed her to death unless she keeps moving. So she spends her life on the run – constantly running – from one end of the earth to the other, below the earth and above, forever finding new places to go, for she cannot return to places she has been. It’s a fantastical journey that made me ask so many questions: Will she be cured? How does she endure? Why not give up? What a wild ride of a novel!

A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke, (List Price: $28.99, Avid Reader Press, Simon & Schuster, 9781668026069, April 2024)

Reviewed by Cathy Graham, Copperfish Books in Punta Gorda, Florida

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The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

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by Trung Le Nguyen
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This gorgeously illustrated graphic novel deftly weaves traditional fairy tales into the life of a young, gay teen just trying to figure everything out.

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen, (List Price: $17.99, Random House Graphic, 9781984851598, October 2020)

Reviewed by Shauna Sinyard, Park Road Books in Charlotte, North Carolina

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We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

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We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
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In We Are Okay Nina LaCour carefully reveals Marin’s grief and coming of age with depth and clarity. LaCour’s work is striking and memorable, with a singular attention to detail and arresting emotional honesty. This novel is beautifully executed and will resonate with every one of its readers.

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour, (List Price: $17.99, Dutton Books for Young Readers, 9780525425892, February 2017)

Reviewed by Johanna Albrecht, McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina

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Under This Red Rock by Mindy McGinnis

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Under This Red Rock by McGinnis, Mindy
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Mindy McGinnis has a way of taking contemporary and turning it so thrilling that I forget that I’m reading contemporary and think it’s fantasy because it’s so exciting. Neely is painfully relatable with her mental health struggles. Her desire to hide her problems from those she loves and her “rules” for coping will strike anyone who’s ever struggled with mental health, even if it’s not the same as hers. The story hits the ground running and doesn’t stop. I couldn’t eat, sleep, or do anything but read this book as soon as I started it. My heart raced with adrenaline every second I was reading it.

Under This Red Rock by Mindy McGinnis, (List Price: $19.99, Katherine Tegen Books, 9780063230415, March 2024)

Reviewed by Katlin Kerrison, Story on the Square in McDounough, Georgia

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Food School by Jade Armstrong

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Fool School by Jade Armstrong
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Fool School tells the story of a non-binary person going through a three-month recovery for their binge-eating disorder. Shows the struggles in their relationships, the friends they make in the program, and overall while starting to fully recover. Must read, fast book, cute graphics, not too heavy (told in a comedic way, but still tasteful). TW: for Eating Disorders

Food School by Jade Armstrong, (List Price: $15, Conundrum Press, 9781772620962, April 2024)

Reviewed by Stephanie St. John, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia

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The Mystery of Locked Rooms by Lindsay Currie

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The Mystery of Locked Rooms by Lindsay Currie
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For anyone who wants to experience the mystery and suspense of an escape room, this book is for them. I was on the edge of my seat rooting for the “Deltas” to figure out clues as they frantically searched for a treasure in the funhouse.

The Mystery of Locked Rooms by Lindsay Currie, (List Price: $16.99, Sourcebooks Young Readers, 9781728259536, April 2024)

Reviewed by Judith Lafitte, Octavia Books in New Orleans, Louisiana

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Clear by Carys Davies

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Clear by Davies, Carys
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Clear is a quiet, short novel, with bite-sized chapters that lend themselves to quick reading, but the writing! Oh, the writing. Caryn Davies has written a beautiful story of survival and loneliness and resilience; set in the 1800s on a remote island between Scotland and Norway, John Ferguson — a Presbyterian minister — has been sent on a mission to clear the island of its last inhabitant. Davies took her sparse cast of characters in directions I wasn’t expecting, and I feel I’ll be thinking of them for years to come. (For fans of The Vaster Wilds.)

Clear by Carys Davies, (List Price: $24, Scribner, 9781668030660, April 2024)

Reviewed by Annie Jones, The Bookshelf in Thomasville, Georgia

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She’s Not Sorry by Mary Kubica

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She's Not Sorry by Mary Kubica
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Mary Kubica is probably one of the nicest and sweetest people you will meet. How she can write page-turning thrillers so well is beyond me. She doesn’t disappoint in this new one at all. Meghan is a divorced mom of a teenage daughter who works long shifts as an ICU nurse. That job alone can weigh you down with stress. Add raising a daughter in a tiny apartment and worrying about her and finances in this world, and you can understand Meghan’s anxiety. Now, though, a woman comes under her care after a bad accident. The girl’s life was in disarray, and her grief-stricken parents hadn’t spoken to her in a long time. Will she wake up? Will she remember the minutes leading up to when she may have been pushed? What is the backstory between the two? I had no idea what was going to happen and gasped out loud when I found out. This book will be huge!

She’s Not Sorry by Mary Kubica, (List Price: $30, Park Row, 9780778308065, April 2024)

Reviewed by Suzanne Lucey, Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, North Carolina

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