Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2023) Featured Review of The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes

The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes
Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: May 17, 2022
ISBN: 9780063060234

Yamilet Flores is doing the best she can. She’s working part-time to be able to afford the tuition at her new fancy private school and she’s trying to keep her brother on the straight and narrow. But it’s hard when you’re the new girl, with a supposedly difficult to pronounce name who also happens to be Mexican and queer but just wants to blend in. Add in a really nice, cute, and smart, openly queer girl named Bo and it becomes even harder.

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Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers (#QP2022) Nominations Round-Up, Fall

Each quarter, the Selected Lists teams compile the titles that have been officially nominated to date. These books have been suggested by the team or through the title suggestion form, read by multiple members of the team, and received approval to be designated an official nomination. At the end of the year, the final list of nominations and each Selected List’s Top Ten will be chosen from these titles.


Amari and the Night Brothers. By B.B. Alston. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $17.99 (9781725418295). 

Amari knows her brother isn’t dead. A briefcase in his closet leads her to a magical world—and the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, the place Quinton was working when he disappeared. Amari must use all her smarts and her heart to find out what really happened.

Artie and the Wolf Moon. By Olivia Stephens. Lerner Publishing Group/Graphic Universe, $16.99 (9781728420202). 

After Artie finds out her mother is a werewolf and that she lost her father to vampires, she must then battle vampires to save her friends and new wolf family while trying to practice her own potential wolf abilities.

Before the Ever After. By Jacqueline Woodson. 2020. Penguin Random House/Nancy Paulsen Books, $17.99 (9780399545436). 

Being the son of Zachariah 44, football star, has always felt like a dream to ZJ. But recently it’s been more like a nightmare, with his dad’s headaches, memory problems, and dramatic mood changes defining life in their house.

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Amazing Audiobooks (#AA2022) Featured Review of Some Girls Do by Jennifer Dugan

Some Girls Do Audiobook by Jennifer Dugan cover art

Some Girls Do by Jennifer Dugan; narrated by Nora Hunter & Bailey Carr
Penguin Random House
Published: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 9780593397862

After track star Morgan is kicked out of her religious school for being queer, she wants a fresh, proud, start. However she finds that being openly queer and an elite athlete can be a complicated mix. All Ruby wants is to fix cars, but her overbearing mother has pageant dreams for her. When the two find their feelings growing they must contend with the dynamics of a relationship where only one person is out. 

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Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers (#QP2022) Featured Review of Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler

Cool for the Summer Cover Art

Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler
Wednesday Books/Macmillan
Publication Date: May 11, 2021
ISBN: 978-1250765826

When Lara returns to her hometown after spending the summer in the Outer Banks, she’s shocked that the most popular guy in school, Chase Harding, is suddenly interested in her. Everyone expects her to be interested in him too, but Lara has a secret. She can’t forget about her summer fling with Jasmine. Before Jasmine, Lara had never considered that she might be interested in girls and guys. When Jasmine unexpectedly shows up at Lara’s school on the first day, Lara has to decide whether she wants to be with Chase or give her summer romance a chance to become something more. 

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Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2020) Nominees Round Up, November 29 Edition

Click here to see all of the current Best Fiction for Young Adults nominees along with more information about the list and past years’ selections.

Dear Sweet Pea by Julie Murphy
Balzer + Bray / HarperCollins
Publication Date: October 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-0062473073

Sweet Pea DiMarco’s been through a lot of change recently: Her bestie dumped her, her dad came out, and her parents got divorced. In a misguided effort to keep her life stable, Sweet Pea’s dad moves into a nearly identical home two doors down. The choices she makes when she takes over her elderly neighbor’s advice column will shake everything up. But will things change for the better, or for worse?

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