Leah Johnson – The Hub

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.

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2023) Featured Review of Kiss and Tell by Adib Khorram

Kiss and Tell by Adib Khorram
Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication Date: March 22, 2022
ISBN: 9780593325261

Hunter is a member of the internationally beloved boy band Kiss and Tell, on their first North American tour. He’s also the only queer member of the band, and going through his first breakup. A messy, public breakup, after his ex posts their texts online. As if that’s not enough, he’s contending with The Label creating and controlling his image of the perfect queer teen role model, and a budding romance with another musician on the tour. Homophobia is present in the text, though never condoned.

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2022) Featured Review of Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry by Joya Goffney

Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry by Joya Goffney
HarperCollins / HarperTeen
Publication Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0063024793

Quinn, a wealthy Black high school senior at a predominantly white private school in Austin, TX, keeps deeply personal lists in her journal, like “If I Could Kiss Anyone,” and “Things That I Would Never Admit Out Loud.” When a mixup with Carter, one of the few other Black students in school, results in Quinn’s journal being held by anonymous blackmailers who threaten to post her most humiliating lists on social media unless she completes her “To Do Before I Graduate” list (including confessing her love to her best friend, admitting she didn’t get into the Ivy League school her parents think she did, and finally visiting her grandma with dementia), Carter offers to help Quinn complete the items on her list and find the blackmailers.

Amazing Audiobooks (#AA2022) Featured Review of Blackout by Dhonielle Clayton and others

Blackout by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon; narrated by Joniece Abbott-Pratt, A.J. Beckles, Jordan Cobb, Dion Graham, Imani Parks, Shayna Small, and Bahni Turpin
Quill Tree Books
Publication date: June 22, 2021
ISBN: 9780063088122

Blackout subtly weaves six unique novellas featuring Black characters by six Black authors into one connected story in New York City during a summer blackout. Tiffany D. Jackson’s story focuses on exes Tammie and Kareem who run into each other at the same summer internship opportunity. Nic Stone’s contribution is a queer male/male love story about Tremaine and JJ. Ashley Woodfolk tells a cute sapphic romance between Joss and Nella that takes place at a senior living facility. Dhonielle Clayton tackles a friends-to-lovers romance in the New York Public Library. Angie Thomas tells of a love triangle with some emotional baggage. Nicola Yoon’s meet cute of Seymour and Grace is a heartwarming end to this high-interest book about Black Love.

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.

Amazing Audiobooks (#AA2022) Featured Review of Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean

Tokyo Ever After Audiobook by Emiko Jean - 9781250804167

Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean, narrated by Ali Ahn
Macmillan Audio
Release date: May 17, 2021
ISBN: 978-1250804167

First book of the Tokyo Ever After series, the story begins with a report from a newspaper about an unnamed princess. Juxtaposed between each news article, Izumi struggles with the “cultural punches” of beauty standards, not knowing her father, and being a unilingual Pan-Asian. When her friend Nora accidentally stumbles across a scrapbook with a name, Izumi has to decide whether she wants to learn more about her father, her father’s family, and herself.

Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers (#QP2022) Featured Review of Noelle: The Mean Girl by Ashley Woodfolk

Noelle:The Mean Girl by Ashley Woodfolk
Penguin Workshop/ Penguin Random House
Publication Date: March 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-0593096079

Noelle is losing control of her life. First, she has a crush on her friend Tobyn. Next, her younger brother Pierre keeps getting beat up. Then when her father loses his job, she decides to work more hours at her grandparent’s Chinese restaurant, an obligation which interferes with school and practicing her cello for the upcoming showcase. Can Noelle figure out how to handle all of these changes without letting her temper get the best of her and lashing out at those who love her most?

Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers (#QP2021) Nominees Round Up, September 15 Edition

Click here to see all of the current Quick Picks nominees along with more information about the list and past years’ selections.

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
Scholastic Inc.
Publication Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 9781338503265

Liz is an awkward senior in high school who gets good grades, plays in the school band and has a small group of friends, but she has always felt different. Liz is poor, Black, queer, has anxiety, and is far from being part of the in-crowd. She dreams of going to college, but when money she was counting on falls through she must step far outside of her comfort zone in order to win a scholarship by running for Prom queen. And in this small town, Prom is serious business. She is thrust into the spotlight, has to spend time with an old frenemy, and falls for the competition.

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2021) Nominees Round Up, September 11 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.

Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron
Bloomsbury YA
Publication Date: July 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1547603879

Two hundred years after Cinderella gets her “happily ever after,” not much has changed in Sophia’s village. Every eligible maiden is required to attend an annual ball, after which they are either chosen by a suitor or never seen again. Headstrong Sophia would much prefer to marry her childhood friend Erin, but either way she has no intention of marrying the first man who claims her. While fleeing the ball, she discovers Cinderella’s last remaining descendant, Constance, and together they devise a plan to tear down the carefully built patriarchy that imprisons them.

Amazing Audiobooks (#AA2021) Nominees Round Up, September 2 Edition

Click here to see all of the current Amazing Audiobooks nominees along with more information about the list and past years’ selections.

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson; narrated by Alaska Jackson
Scholastic Audio
Publication Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-1338637625

Liz Lighty can’t wait to go to college and get away from her small town, where she has never felt like she belongs. She has always felt judged by her white, wealthier peers, and she has spent most of high school trying to stay under the radar. When she has problems getting financial aid, Liz decides to run for prom queen because she knows the winner gets a scholarship. Her friends help her campaign, pushing her way out of her comfort zone, and things get even more difficult when she starts to fall for the new girl, Mack, who is also running for prom queen.