The books Southern indie booksellers are recommending to readers everywhere!

Banned Books

Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison

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Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison
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What Jonathan Evison has done in Lawn Boy is give us an unlikely hero in Mike Muñoz, who tells it like it is and just wants a fair shake. Only twenty-two but already beaten down, Mike knows what it means to go hungry, to share a house with too many people, to never get ahead. Lawn Boy covers issues like racism, immigrant rights, and homophobia in the same breath as dating misadventures, Mike’s fledgling topiary carving artistry, and the pretentious writing MFA candidates produce. It is just this type of book (relatable, funny, entertaining) that could get us talking about social justice.

Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison, (List Price: $17.99, Algonquin Books, 9781616209230, March 2019)

Reviewed by Rachel Watkins, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia

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Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

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Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
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“Angels can look like many things… and so can monsters.” This book has a simple premise that is used to discuss more complex meanings and was done very successfully. It has a pretty straightforward plot, and older audiences will probably guess where it’s going, but I enjoyed it for letting how the characters reckon with this society and the choices they make be the focus. True monsters can hide in plain sight and we must be vigilant to the warning signs we might not want to see.

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi, (List Price: $11.99, Knopf Books for Young Readers, 9780593175446, January 2021)

Reviewed by Olivia Stacey, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia

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Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera

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Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera
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Juliet is Puerto Rican, lesbian, and mostly just trying to figure herself out. She hopes that an internship with Harlowe Brisbane, renowned feminist author, will help. In a new city, all the way across the country from everything and everyone she knows, Juliet has a chance to learn about herself. Her inner thoughts are snarky and amusing, but also honest and relatable. Juliet Takes a Breath is a wonderful coming-of-age story for the modern era.

Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera, (List Price: $12, Dial Books, 9780593108192, May 2021)

Reviewed by Wendy, Flyleaf Books in , North Carolina

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Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki

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Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki
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What is it like to love this person who keeps breaking up with you, and then presumably coming back to you? That is the question Freddy is constantly asking herself as Laura Dean breaks her heart again, and again. This graphic novel is a great read for anyone looking for more LGBTQIA content or wanting to start reading graphic novels.

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki, (List Price: $17.99, First Second, 9781626722590, May 2019)

Reviewed by Jamie Kovacs, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

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Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas

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Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas
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It’s been a long time since a book ending has made me cry, but Maas made me sob. The growth of Aelin and her court is phenomenal. Over the course of this series, I have seen Aelin grow from an injured, malnourished assassin to a strong, magical queen. The journey and backstories of these characters is mind blowing and will stick with me for a while after finishing the series.

Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas, (List Price: $19, Bloomsbury, 9781639731039, February 2023)

Reviewed by Melissa Gray, The Blytheville Book Company in Blytheville, Arkansas

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Ground Zero by Alan Gratz

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Ground Zero by Alan Gratz
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Alan Gratz is the master at posing historical fiction in a compelling and propulsive way for middle-grade readers. I love the way he went back and forth between a boy fighting for his life in the tower and a girl fighting for her own life in the aftermath of 9/11 overseas. It was touching and eye-opening in a way that younger readers have not experienced the events of 9/11.

Ground Zero by Alan Gratz, (List Price: $17.99, Scholastic Press, 9781338245752, February 2021)

Reviewed by Olivia Schaffer, The Bookshelf in Thomasville, Georgia

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The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould

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The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould
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“In a few strides she hit the tree line, and then she was in the dark. Everything was different here, like the trees had tugged her out of the world of open water and night skies and into an empty void.” Logan Ortiz-Woodley just graduated from high school, and all she wants is to find a place to call home. But first, she has to go with her dads to their hometown, Snakebite, Oregon, to do some location scouting for their ghost-hunting show ParaSpectors. But things are wrong in Snakebite, and they might be getting worse. Ashley Barton is one of the popular girls and her boyfriend Triston has gone missing. Time is running out, things are weird, and Ashley just wants things to go back to normal, so she enlists Logan’s help. The Dead and the Dark is a book that takes some time to pull you in, but once it does, there is no escape. Readers of both YA and Adult thrillers and horror will find something to love in Gould’s writing, which keeps readers on edge. Keep the lights on and start this book in the early morning because you won’t be able to stop but you won’t want to read after dark! Content warnings for absent parent, homophobia, assault, and harm to children.

The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould, (List Price: $12.99, Wednesday Books, 9781250861092, September 2022)

Reviewed by Faith Parke-Dodge, Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, 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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Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

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Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
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Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House is all about what it means to be the outcast in the particularly cut-throat world of the Ivy League, but does so through magic, ghosts, and monsters. Alex “Galaxy” Stern has had a rough few years, but that all changes when she gets admitted to Yale unexpectedly (right???). This is full of secret societies, New England ghosts, and the occult with a tinge of horror. Alex is a tenacious and gripping character thrust into a world in which she doesn’t feel at home by circumstance rather than by choice. Once I started this, I couldn’t put it down!

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, (List Price: $10.99, Flatiron Books, 9781250798008, June 2021)

Reviewed by Mikey LaFave, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia

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Beartown by Fredrik Bachman

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Beartown by Fredrik Bachman
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If you want to discover your new favorite book, read Beartown. Dozens of character POVs, phenomenal writing, a heartbreaking storyline, and a thrilling murder mystery. You will be hooked from the very first line. Seriously, open it and read the first line.

Beartown by Fredrik Bachman, (List Price: $18.99, Atria Books, 9781501160776, February 2018)

Reviewed by Rachel Randolph, Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee

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The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante

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The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante
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The Grief Keeper is an incredibly unique and powerful debut novel; my heart is still in my throat even a day after finishing it. Marisol is a wonderful character, and her journey to and in America, as an immigrant and grief keeper will captivate you. I really enjoyed the unique premise of grief keeping and Villasante’s careful but frank investigation of what it truly means for a human being to be illegal.

The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante, (List Price: $19.99, Nancy Paulsen Books, 9780525514022, June 2019)

Reviewed by Cristina Russell, Books & Books in , Florida

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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
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Simultaneously heartbreaking and humorous. A fictionalized tale of the author’s life as a young teen, chronicling his battle with being loyal to his home and breaking away to meet who he was destined to be.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, (List Price: $20.99, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 9780316504041, September 2017)

Reviewed by Mallory Sutton, Bards Alley in Vienna, Virginia

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Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

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Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
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Vandermeer’s twisted worlds have a way of sinking their teeth into you, dragging you right down the tower steps. Part sci-fi mystery, part psychological eco-horror, Area X had me hooked from the first page and questioning the foundations of my reality by the last.

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer, (List Price: $18, FSG Originals, 9780374104092, February 2014)

Reviewed by Morgan Holub, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia

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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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Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi, Yusef Salaam

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Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi, Yusef Salaam
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This book can eat away at you. So beautiful, written in verse with such vivid, raw and gripping emotion. What happens one night when teenagers get in a fight and one white boy ends up in a coma? Everyone involved is part of the tragic story, but what continues to the wrongly accused is heart-thumping and beyond wrong. This is a story 400 years in the making, and why we still have to tell it is the real tragedy. How can our country get better? How can we heal? I wish everyone would read it so we can have some much-needed conversations. The butterflies scattered throughout the book helped me breathe through some tough parts and offered real hope. “Butterfly, if you’re in here with me, then you have to go back out there and change the world” I hope the butterfly succeeds.

Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi, Yusef Salaam, (List Price: $15.99, Balzer + Bray, 9780062996497, December 2021)

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

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