We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie book cover

What does “feminism” mean today? That is the question at the heart of We Should All Be Feminists, a personal, eloquently-argued essay—adapted from her much-viewed TEDx talk of the same name—by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the award-winning author of Americanah and Half of a Yellow Sun.

With humor and levity, here Adichie offers readers a unique definition of feminism for the twenty-first century—one rooted in inclusion and awareness. She shines a light not only on blatant discrimination, but also the more insidious, institutional behaviors that marginalize women around the world, in order to help readers of all walks of life better understand the often masked realities of sexual politics. Throughout, she draws extensively on her own experiences—in the U.S., in her native Nigeria, and abroad—offering an artfully nuanced explanation of why the gender divide is harmful for women and men, alike.

Argued in the same observant, witty and clever prose that has made Adichie a bestselling novelist, here is one remarkable author’s exploration of what it means to be a woman today—and an of-the-moment rallying cry for why we should all be feminists.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism
  • Misogyny
  • Cisnormative language
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Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin

Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin

Riley Cavanaugh is many things: Punk rock. Snarky. Rebellious. And gender fluid. Some days Riley identifies as a boy, and others as a girl. The thing is…Riley isn’t exactly out yet. And between starting a new school and having a congressman father running for reelection in uber-conservative Orange County, the pressure—media and otherwise—is building up in Riley’s so-called “normal” life.

On the advice of a therapist, Riley starts an anonymous blog to vent those pent-up feelings and tell the truth of what it’s REALLY like to be a gender fluid teenager. But just as Riley’s starting to settle in at school—even developing feelings for a mysterious outcast—the blog goes viral, and an unnamed commenter discovers Riley’s real identity, threatening exposure. Riley must make a choice: walk away from what the blog has created—a lifeline, new friends, a cause to believe in—or stand up, come out, and risk everything.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Transmisia & queermisia
  • Public outing
  • Sexual assault (on-page)
  • Depression & anxiety
  • Panic attacks
  • Suicide & attempted suicide
  • Physical assault
  • Stalking
  • Bullying
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Midnight Radio by Iolanda Zandardino

Midnight Radio by Iolanda Zandardino

An intriguingly interwoven tale of four lives changed by a mysterious late-night radio broadcast that wakes them up from their mundane existences. Each tale speaks to different social issues without pandering to a political agenda: LGBT+ rights, racism, social network addiction, and the difficult decision between settling down versus following your dreams. Each tale is told in a vivid, polychromatic illustration style that flows from one character to another and back again in a uniquely identifiable fashion.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Homomisia & transmisia
  • Parental abuse
  • Mass shooting mentioned
  • Gun violence
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Reverb by Anna Zabo

Reverb by Anna Zabo

Twisted Wishes bass player Mish Sullivan is a rock goddess—gorgeous, sexy and comfortable in the spotlight. With fame comes unwanted attention, though: a stalker is desperate to get close. Mish can fend for herself, just as she always has. But after an attack lands her in the hospital, the band reacts, sticking her with a bodyguard she doesn’t need or want.

David Altet has an instant connection with Mish. A certified badass, this ex-army martial arts expert can take down a man twice his size. But nothing—not living as a trans man, not his intensive military training—prepared him for the challenge of Mish. Sex with her is a distraction neither of them can afford, yet the hot, kink-filled nights keep coming.

When Mish’s stalker ups his game, David must make a choice—lover or bodyguard. He’d rather have Mish alive than in his bed. But Mish wants David, and no one, especially not a stalker, will force her to give him up.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Transmisia mentioned
  • Misogyny & misogynistic slurs
  • Threats of child sexual assault recounted
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Death of a parent from cancer recounted
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Stalking
  • Hospital
  • Online harassment
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Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin

Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin

Meet Rachel Grossman. She’ll stop at nothing to protect her daughter, Aviva, even if it ends up costing her everything.

Meet Jane Young. She’s disrupting a quiet life with her daughter, Ruby, to seek political office for the first time.

Meet Ruby Young. She thinks her mom has a secret. She’s right.

Meet Embeth Levin. She’s made a career of cleaning up her congressman husband’s messes.

Meet Aviva Grossman. The Internet won’t let her or anyone else forget her past transgressions.

This is the story of five women and the sex sexist scandal that binds them together.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Slut shaming
  • Fatmisia
  • Ableist & transmisic language
  • Sexual harassment & rape mentioned
  • Depression mentioned
  • Miscarriage mentioned
  • Cancer
  • Bullying
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The Cage by Megan Shepherd

The Cage by Megan Shepherd

When Cora Mason wakes in a desert, she doesn’t know where she is or who put her there. As she explores, she finds an impossible mix of environments—tundra next to desert, farm next to jungle, and a strangely empty town cobbled together from different cultures, all watched over by eerie black windows. And she isn’t alone.

Four other teenagers have also been taken: a beautiful model, a tattooed smuggler, a secretive genius, and an army brat who seems to know too much about Cora’s past. None of them have a clue as to what happened, and all of them have secrets. As the unlikely group struggles for leadership, they slowly start to trust each other. But when their mysterious jailer appears—a handsome young guard called Cassian—they realize that their captivity is more terrifying than they could ever imagine: their captors aren’t from Earth. And they have taken the five teenagers for an otherworldly zoo—where the exhibits are humans.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableist language
  • Teen pregnancy
  • Imprisonment
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Midnight Beauties by Megan Shepherd

Midnight Beauties by Megan Shepherd

Ever since she discovered her affinity for magic, seventeen-year-old Anouk has been desperate to become a witch. It’s the only way to save her friends who, like Anouk, are beasties: animals enchanted into humans. But unlike Anouk, the other beasties didn’t make it out of the battle at Montélimar in one piece.

With her friends now trapped in their animal forms, Anouk is forced into a sinister deal involving a political marriage with her sworn enemy, a wicked plot to overthrow London’s fiercest coven of witches, and a deadly trial of fire to become a witch. The price for power has always been steep in the world of the Haute. Now, it will cost Anouk everything.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Transmisia
  • Animal death
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Grim Lovelies by Megan Shepherd

Grim Lovelies by Megan Shepherd

Seventeen-year-old Anouk envies the human world, where people known as Pretties lavish themselves in fast cars, high fashion, and have the freedom to fall in love. But Anouk can never have those things, because she is not really human. Enchanted from animal to human girl and forbidden to venture beyond her familiar Parisian prison, Anouk is a Beastie: destined for a life surrounded by dust bunnies and cinders serving Mada Vittora, the evil witch who spelled her into existence. That is, until one day she finds her mistress murdered in a pool of blood—and Anouk is accused of the crime.

Now, the world she always dreamed of is rife with danger. Pursued through Paris by the underground magical society known as the Haute, Anouk and her fellow Beasties only have three days to find the real killer before the spell keeping them human fades away. If they fail, they will lose the only lives they’ve ever known…but if they succeed, they could be more powerful than anyone ever bargained for.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Slavery
  • Transmisic language, and the Bury Your Gays & Tragic Gay tropes*
  • Sexual harassment
  • Blood & gore depiction, and dead bodies mentioned
  • Murder
  • Imprisonment
  • Disappearance of a loved one
  • Animal death and animal cruelty

*The only queer (cis) character dies as a sacrifice for the straight characters 80% of the way into the book, almost immediately after being revealed to be gay; it is also revealed that he was in love with a straight boy who would never love him back.

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The Protected by Claire Zorn

The Protected by Claire Zorn

Hannah’s world is in pieces and she doesn’t need the school counsellor to tell her she has deep-seated psychological issues. With a seriously depressed mum, an injured dad and a dead sister, who wouldn’t have problems?

Hannah should feel terrible but for the first time in ages, she feels a glimmer of hope and isn’t afraid anymore. Is it because the elusive Josh is taking an interest in her? Or does it run deeper than that?

In a family torn apart by grief and guilt, one girl’s struggle to come to terms with years of torment shows just how long old wounds can take to heal.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Homomisia & transmisia
  • Amnesia (parent)
  • Death of a sister recounted
  • Car accident recounted
  • Bullying & cyberbullying
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His Hideous Heart edited by Dahlia Adler

His Hideous Heart edited by Dahlia Adler

His Hideous Heart edited by Dahlia Adler book cover

Thirteen of YA’s most celebrated names reimagine Edgar Allan Poe’s most surprising, unsettling, and popular tales for a new generation.

Edgar Allan Poe may be a hundred and fifty years beyond this world, but the themes of his beloved works have much in common with modern young adult fiction. Whether the stories are familiar to readers or discovered for the first time, readers will revel in Edgar Allan Poe’s classic tales, and how they’ve been brought to life in 13 unique and unforgettable ways.

Contributors include Kendare Blake (reimagining “Metzengerstein”), Rin Chupeco (“The Murders in the Rue Morge”), Lamar Giles (“The Oval Portrait”), Tessa Gratton (“Annabel Lee”), Tiffany D. Jackson (“The Cask of Amontillado”), Stephanie Kuehn (“The Tell-Tale Heart”), Emily Lloyd-Jones (“The Purloined Letter”), Hillary Monahan (“The Masque of the Red Death”), Marieke Nijkamp (“Hop-Frog”), Caleb Roehrig (“The Pit and the Pendulum”), and Fran Wilde (“The Fall of the House of Usher”).

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism, homomisia, misogyny and transmisia
  • Abusive relationship/s
  • Suicide
  • Substance abuse
  • Death of a partner (implied)
  • Murder and torture
  • Animal death
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