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Fruiting Bodies: Stories
In stories that beckon and haunt, Fruiting Bodies ranges confidently from the fantastical to the gothic to the uncanny as it follows characters--mostly queer, mostly women--on the precipice of change. Echoes of timeless myth and folklore reverberate through urgent narratives of discovery, appetite, and coming-of-age in a time of crisis.
In "The Changeling," two young cousins wait in dread for a new family member to arrive, convinced that he may be a dangerous supernatural creature. In "Endangered Animals," Jane prepares to say goodbye to her almost-love while they road-trip across a country irrevocably altered by climate change. In "Take Only What Belongs to You," a queer woman struggles with the personal history of an author she idolized, while in "Fiddler, Fool, Pair," an anthropologist is drawn into a magical--and dangerous--gamble. In the title story, partners Agnes and Geb feast peacefully on the mushrooms that sprout from Agnes's body--until an unwanted male guest disturbs their cloistered home.
Audacious, striking, and wholly original, Fruiting Bodies offers stories about knowledge in a world on the verge of collapse, knowledge that alternately empowers or devastates. Pulling beautifully, brazenly, from a variety of literary traditions, Kathryn Harlan firmly establishes herself as a thrilling new voice in fiction.
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The Beautiful Something Else
Full of humor and heartbreak, this story about a nonbinary character navigating a binary world is perfect for fans of Alex Gino and Kyle Lukoff.It's exhausting trying to be the perfect daughter. Still, getting good grades without making any waves may be the only way to distract from the fact that Sparrow Malone's mother is on the verge of falling apart. Which means no getting upset. No being weird. No standing out for the wrong reasons.
But when Mom's attempts to cope spiral out of control, Sparrow is sent to live with Aunt Mags on a sprawling estate full of interesting, colorful new neighbors. And for the first time, trying to fit in doesn't feel right anymore. Even Sparrow's shadow has stopped following the rules.
As Shadow nudges Sparrow to try all the scary, exciting things Mom has always forbidden, Sparrow begins to realize something life-changing: They don't feel like a girl. Or a boy. And while this discovery is exciting, now Sparrow must decide whether to tell everyone--their new family and friends, not-so-secret crush, and, most importantly, their mom--the truth, especially if it means things change forever.
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Grandad's Pride
Grandad and Milly are back for another adventure, this time honoring the past and celebrating the future with a pride parade. This heartwarming tale continues to wonderful journey that began with the Stonewall Honoree, British Book Award winner, and Waterstones Best Illustrated Book, Grandad's Camper. "A winner from beginning to end-and affirmation that Pride belongs in every community." - Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW "Bustling, bright-hued images with a rainbow motif show the intersectionally diverse community-portraying people of varying abilities, body types, gender expressions, and skin tones-preparing for the event, giving each page a celebratory vibe. In this gladly intergenerational view of Pride, Woodgate's sequel to Grandad's Camper offers a familial portrait that twines past and present." - Publishers Weekly After Milly discovers a pride flag in Grandad's attic, this adorable pair are motivated by the past to start a pride parade in their small town. Activism and celebration go hand in hand as the town gathers to help "build a world where everyone is proud to be themselves." This beautiful follow-up to Grandad's Camper is filled with heart and purpose. -
Prince & Knight
"Victorious . . . the premier queer-friendly fairy tale." Kirkus Reviews, starred review "An illuminating fairy tale for young readers to be able to see that not every prince would like to marry a princess." School Library Journal "A colorful and entertaining tale exploring sexuality, acceptance, and young love." Booklist In this modern fairy tale, a noble prince and a brave knight come together to defeat a terrible monster and in the process find true love in a most unexpected place. "Thank you," he told his parents. "I appreciate that you tried, but I'm looking for something special in a partner by my side." Once upon a time, in a kingdom far from here, there was a prince in line to take the throne, so his parents set out to find him a kind and worthy bride. The three of them traveled the land far and wide, but the prince didn't quite find what he was looking for in the princesses they met. While they were away, a terrible dragon threatened their land, and all the soldiers fled. The prince rushed back to save his kingdom from the perilous beast and was met by a brave knight in a suit of brightly shining armor. Together they fought the dragon and discovered that special something the prince was looking for all along. This book is published in partnership with GLAAD to accelerate LGBTQ inclusivity and acceptance. -
Baby's First Words/Mis Primeras Palabras
Learn over 100 early vocabulary words with a toothy toddler and her two dads! Cheerful acrylic illustrations and digital collage artwork will keep little eyes glued to the pages, searching for the silly wooly mammoth on each one. Designed to support babies' natural pattern of language development, this first word book for the modern world reflects the earliest nouns, verbs, prepositions, adjectives and interjections that children learn to say. This new edition features a smaller trim size, just right for little hands--and a lower price, just right for savvy caregivers. Also available in English-only edition. -
Malice
A princess isn't supposed to fall for an evil sorceress. But in this "bewitching and fascinating" (Tamora Pierce) retelling of "Sleeping Beauty," true love is more than a simple fairy tale. "Walter's spellbinding debut is for all the queer girls and women who've been told to keep their gifts hidden and for those yearning to defy gravity."--O: The Oprah Magazine Once upon a time, there was a wicked fairy who, in an act of vengeance, cursed a line of princesses to die. A curse that could only be broken by true love's kiss. You've heard this before, haven't you? The handsome prince. The happily ever after. Utter nonsense. Let me tell you, no one in Briar actually cares about what happens to its princesses. Not the way they care about their jewels and elaborate parties and charm-granting elixirs. I thought I didn't care, either. Until I met her. Princess Aurora. The last heir to Briar's throne. Kind. Gracious. The future queen her realm needs. One who isn't bothered that I am Alyce, the Dark Grace, abhorred and feared for the mysterious dark magic that runs in my veins. Humiliated and shamed by the same nobles who pay me to bottle hexes and then brand me a monster. Aurora says I should be proud of my gifts. That she . . . cares for me. Even though a power like mine was responsible for her curse. But with less than a year until that curse will kill her, any future I might see with Aurora is swiftly disintegrating--and she can't stand to kiss yet another insipid prince. I want to help her. If my power began her curse, perhaps it's what can lift it. Perhaps together we could forge a new world. Nonsense again. Because we all know how this story ends, don't we? Aurora is the beautiful princess. And I-- I am the villain. Book One of the Malice Duology -
Sold outIn the Ring
A 2024 Book All Young Georgians Should Read - Georgia Center for the Book
"In the Ring gets that sometimes learning a new sport can look a lot like falling in love. If you like ride-or-die besties, bad boys with heart, and girls who can throw a punch, you'll enjoy this debut." - Emma Kress, author of Dangerous Play A gritty, raw, and binge-worthy, young adult romance about a queer teen with anxiety who literally fights her way to mental health. This YA sports romance is perfect for fans of Kathleen Glasgow's Girl in Pieces and HBO's Euphoria. Rose Berman is losing her mind. At least, that's what everyone at school seems to think. Plagued by panic attacks that started after her mother's death, Rose is the target of frequent teasing and rumors. But when the star quarterback takes a joke too far, the school's tattooed, cigarette-smoking time bomb -- Elliott King -- steps in and punches him in the face. Rose's therapist recommends she try out a sport to manage her anxiety. She can't help but think of Elliott--maybe if she could punch like him, she'd feel safer and stronger. She sticks out like a sore thumb at the boxing gym, but she soon finds power in the sport and a reprieve from her panic attacks. As their worlds intertwine, Rose and Elliott are forced to face their most daunting opponent outside the Ring: their growing feelings for each other. But Midtown Ring isn't just a gym. As Rose falls deeper into the world of boxing, she learns Midtown is a front for a late-night, underground fight club where Elliott King is the headliner. Surrounded by violence and destruction, Rose's anxiety begins to spiral. She starts hallucinating, just like her mother did before her death, leaving her to wonder if everyone at school might be right. If her newfound physical strength can't keep her grounded in reality, she may be doomed to walk the same path as her mom.Sold out -
And Tango Makes Three: Book and CD
The heartwarming true story of two penguins who create a nontraditional family is narrated by award-winning actor Neil Patrick Harris in this book and CD package. At the penguin house at the Central Park Zoo, two penguins named Roy and Silo were a little bit different from the others. But their desire for a family was the same. And with the help of a kindly zookeeper, Roy and Silo got the chance to welcome a baby penguin of their very own. Releasing in time for the tenth anniversary of And Tango Makes Three, this book and CD edition features narration by renowned actor Neil Patrick Harris. -
The Society for Soulless Girls
A sapphic enemies-to-lovers retelling of Jekyll & Hyde, this dark academia thriller follows two roommates who must solve an infamous cold case of serial murders on their campus after an arcane ritual gone wrong prompts another death. Ten years ago, four students lost their lives in the infamous unsolved North Tower murders at the elite Carvell Academy of the Arts, forcing the school to close its doors.
Now Carvell is reopening, and fearless freshman Lottie Fitzwilliam is determined to find out what really happened. But when her beautiful but standoffish roommate, Alice Wolfe, stumbles upon a sinister soul-splitting ritual in a book hidden in Carvell's library, the North Tower claims another victim. Is there a killer among them . . . or worse, within them? Exploring possession and ambition, lust and bloodlust, femininity and violence, The Society for Soulless Girls is perfect for fans of The Secret History, A Lesson in Vengeance, and The Grimrose Girls. -
Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency
What happens when everything falls away, when those you call on in times of need are themselves calling out for rescue? In his highly anticipated second collection, Chen Chen continues his investigation of family, both blood and chosen, examining what one inherits and what one invents, as a queer Asian American living through an era of Trump, mass shootings, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Always at work in the wrecked heart of this new collection is a switchboard operator, picking up and connecting calls. Raucous 2 a.m. prank calls. Whispered-in-a-classroom emergency calls. And sometimes, its pages record the dropping of a call, a failure or refusal to pick up. With irrepressible humor and play, these anarchic poems celebrate life, despite all that would crush aliveness. Hybrid in form and set in New England, West Texas, and a landlocked province of China, among other places, Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency refuses neat categorizations and pat answers. Instead, the book offers an insatiable curiosity about how it is we keep finding ways to hold onto one another. -
Hooray for She, He, Ze, and They!: What Are Your Pronouns Today?
In this joyous picture book exploration of gender euphoria, celebrated Queer Kid Stuff and The Rainbow Parenting podcast host Lindz Amer teaches kids about all the ways pronouns can be joyful, defining, and empowering. Everyone has a pronoun. There are hes. There are shes. There are theys. There are zes and hirs and faes and pers and more! What's yours? Finding the right pronoun for you feels like a warm hug and helps you be your most wonderful self. This gentle and whimsical guide to pronoun language encourages self-discovery and celebrates the gender euphoria of feeling like you! -
Sold outThe Meadows
"A story of pain, injustice, love, resistance, and hope, this glorious book will lodge inside you and make you feel everything." --Helena Fox, award-winning author of How It Feels to Float A queer, YA Handmaid's Tale meets Never Let Me Go about a dystopian society bent on relentless conformity, and the struggle of one girl to save herself and those she loves from a life of lies Everyone hopes for a letter--to attend the Estuary, the Glades, the Meadows. These are the special places where only the best and brightest go to burn even brighter. When Eleanor is accepted at the Meadows, it means escape from her hardscrabble life by the sea, in a country ravaged by climate disaster. But despite its luminous facilities, endless fields, and pretty things, the Meadows keeps dark secrets: its purpose is to reform students, to condition them against their attractions, to show them that one way of life is the only way to survive. And maybe Eleanor would believe them, except then she meets Rose. Five years later, Eleanor and her friends seem free of the Meadows, changed but not as they'd hoped. Eleanor is an adjudicator, her job to ensure her former classmates don't stray from the lives they've been trained to live. But Eleanor can't escape her past . . . or thoughts of the girl she once loved. As secrets unfurl, Eleanor must wage a dangerous battle for her own identity and the truth of what happened to the girl she lost, knowing, if she's not careful, Rose's fate could be her own. A raw and timely masterwork of speculative fiction, The Meadows will sink its roots into you. This is a novel for our times and for always--not to be missed. "Dystopian YA at its finest." --BCCB (starred review)
"A quietly devastating book, [and] Eleanor is a protagonist like no other." --The Nerd Daily
"In the style of Kazuo Ishiguro, details [are] dabbled out in tiny, delicious morsels . . . Superlative [and] powerful." --SLJ (starred review)
"[One of] the best YA novels hitting shelves . . . More necessary and timely than ever." --Paste Magazine
"A profound story with fantastic writing . . . A great companion-read to classics like Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale." --Teen Libriarian Toolbox
"Evocative prose and worldbuilding shot through with equal parts melancholy and hope." --PW (starred review)
"Timely and gripping, [with] a new revelation always around the corner." --Kirkus Reviews
"Atmospheric and unsettling . . . Belongs in every collection." --Natalie C. Parker, author of the Seafire series
"Extraordinary." --Helena Fox, author of How It Feels to FloatSold out -
The Boy & the Bindi
In this beautiful children's picture book by Vivek Shraya, author of the acclaimed God Loves Hair, a five-year-old South Asian boy becomes fascinated with his mother's bindi, the red dot commonly worn by Hindu women to indicate the point at which creation begins, and wishes to have one of his own. Rather than chastise her son, she agrees to it, and teaches him about its cultural significance, allowing the boy to discover the magic of the bindi, which in turn gives him permission to be more fully himself.
Beautifully illustrated by Rajni Perera, The Boy & the Bindi is a joyful celebration of gender and cultural difference.
Vivek Shraya is a writer, musician, performer, and filmmaker. His body of work includes twelve albums, four short films, and four books which include God Loves Hair, She of the Mountains, and even this page is white. He has read and performed at shows, festivals, and post-secondary institutions internationally. He lives in Toronto.
Rajni Perera is a Sri Lankan-born artist whose internationally showcased work floats between Western and immigrant culture. She lives in Toronto.
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Sold outKing Cheer
Heartstopper meets Bring It On in this contemporary graphic novel that reimagines Shakespeare's King Lear as a queer dramedy! When cheer captain Leah steps down months before graduation, the team is shocked. Waitlisted by her dream college, questioning her identity, and suffering from senioritis, Leah needs to hand the captain's poms off and focus on her future. But when the competition for captaincy goes awry, power-hungry twins take command of the squad and immediately pit the cheerleaders against the basketball team in a fight for glory. Balls fly, pom-poms shake, hearts are broken--and only one person can heal the rift between the teams. But first she'll have to heal herself. As full of heart as it is backflips and three-pointers, King Cheer is a warm and witty story of self-discovery, friendship, and finding the courage to face your future.Sold out -
Sold outThe Song of Us
This stunning debut and wholly original queer middle grade novel-in-verse retelling of "Orpheus and Eurydice" adds a new chorus to the songs of great love, perfect for fans of Other Words for Home and Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World.
Love at first sight isn't a myth. For seventh graders Olivia and Eden, it's fate. Olivia is a capital-P Poet, and Eden thinks she wants to be a musician one day, but for now she's just the new girl. And then Eden shows up to Poetry Club and everything changes.
Eden isn't out, and she has rules for dating Olivia: don't call. Don't tell her friends. And don't let anyone know they're together.
But when jealousy creeps in, it's Olivia's words that push Eden away. While Eden sets out to find herself, Olivia begins a journey to bring Eden back--using poetry. Both Olivia and Eden will learn just how powerful their words can be to bring them together . . . or tear them apart forever.
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Twilight Out of Focus 3: Overlap
What happens when roommates-turned-lovers turn into viral sensations? And what if your happily-ever-after has an expiration date...? It's been three months since roommates Mao and Hisashi took their relationship to the next level, and Mao couldn't be more in love...or more nervous that he's not doing enough to keep his experienced partner satisfied. Just when it seems like he may have figured things out, the film club's movie goes viral, and suddenly everyone wants a piece of its breakaway star: Hisashi. With graduation right around the corner, Mao must find a way to keep them together or risk leaving their future to the uncertain tides of fate. 18+