Incredibly, 2016 is less than two months away (!!!) which means, of course, it's time to look forward to 2016 book releases! There are so many incredible books I'm looking forward to, but I thought it might be fun to highlight some books with diverse casts that I'm especially excited about.
So here we go!
This is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp (January 5)
YA Contemporary
Goodreads summary:
"10:00 a.m.
The principal of Opportunity, Alabama's high school finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.
10:02 a.m.
The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.
10:03
The auditorium doors won't open.
10:05
Someone starts shooting.
Told over the span of 54 harrowing minutes from four different perspectives, terror reigns as one student's calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival."
Diversity note: This is Where it Ends is a f/f story with PoC main characters.
YA Contemporary
Goodreads summary:
"The first thing you’re going to want to know about me is: Am I a boy, or am I a girl?
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."
Diversity note: As you can see from the summary, Symptoms features a genderfluid protagonist—which I have literally never read ever. And I can't wait.
The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig (February 16)
YA Fantasy
"Heidi Heilig’s debut teen fantasy sweeps from modern-day New York City to nineteenth-century Hawaii to places of myth and legend. Sixteen-year-old Nix has sailed across the globe and through centuries aboard her time-traveling father’s ship. But when he gambles with her very existence, it all may be about to end. The Girl from Everywhere, the first of two books, will dazzle readers of Sabaa Tahir, Rae Carson, and Rachel Hartman.
Nix’s life began in Honolulu in 1868. Since then she has traveled to mythic Scandinavia, a land from the tales of One Thousand and One Nights, modern-day New York City, and many more places both real and imagined. As long as he has a map, Nix’s father can sail his ship, The Temptation, to any place, any time. But now he’s uncovered the one map he’s always sought—1868 Honolulu, before Nix’s mother died in childbirth. Nix’s life—her entire existence—is at stake. No one knows what will happen if her father changes the past. It could erase Nix’s future, her dreams, her adventures . . . her connection with the charming Persian thief, Kash, who’s been part of their crew for two years. If Nix helps her father reunite with the love of his life, it will cost her her own."
Diversity note: Nix, the MC, is Hapa, one of the love interests is Persian, and there's lots of Hawaiian mythology incorporated throughout.
On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis (March 8)
YA Sci-Fi
Goodreads summary:
"January 29, 2035. That’s the day the comet is scheduled to hit—the big one.
Denise and her mother and sister, Iris, have been assigned to a temporary shelter outside their hometown of Amsterdam to wait out the blast, but Iris is nowhere to be found, and at the rate Denise’s drug-addicted mother is going, they’ll never reach the shelter in time.
A last-minute meeting leads them to something better than a temporary shelter: a generation ship, scheduled to leave Earth behind to colonize new worlds after the comet hits. But everyone on the ship has been chosen because of their usefulness. Denise is autistic and fears that she’ll never be allowed to stay. Can she obtain a spot before the ship takes flight? What about her mother and sister?
When the future of the human race is at stake, whose lives matter most?"
Diversity note: Quoting from Corinne Duyvis herself, “The protagonist is an autistic, biracial, part-Dutch part-Surinamese Black girl. The story also features a prominent bisexual trans Black girl, as well as lesbian, Muslim, and Jewish characters, among others.”
NA Contemporary
Goodreads summary:
"Perpetually shy, Quinn Mathers is content to remain in the shadow of his brash best friend Jess Hartman. But before their college graduation, he and Jess have planned one last hurrah: a spring break Caribbean cruise.
And it won’t be just any cruise. On board are members of the reality show Trip League, which follows young twenty-somethings on adventures around the world. Since the show’s beginning, Quinn has been fascinated by J. R. Butler, with his amazing body, warm eyes, and killer grin. Unfortunately, he’s straight—or so the world thinks.
At nineteen, J. R. signed a contract to play straight for the show, and there’s no way to get out of it now. Yet with each passing day, Quinn and J. R. find it harder to keep their hands off each other and to keep out of the camera’s frame. But when the lens finally focuses on them, J. R. must decide if he’s willing to risk his career by admitting his bisexuality, and Quinn must determine if he's bold enough to stand in the spotlight with the man of his dreams..."
Diversity note: This is the third book in Megan's awesome m/m NA series! Trust the Focus and Focus on Me have been some of my favorite NA romances ever. So.
YA Fantasy
Goodreads summary:
"Nathan Byrn is running again. The Alliance of Free Witches has been all but destroyed. Scattered and demoralized, constantly pursued by the Council’s Hunters, only a bold new strategy can save the rebels from total defeat. They need the missing half of Gabriel’s amulet—an ancient artifact with the power to render its bearer invincible in battle.
But the amulet’s guardian—the reclusive and awesomely powerful witch Ledger - has her own agenda. To win her trust, Nathan must travel to America and persuade her to give him the amulet. Combined with the Gifts he has inherited from Marcus, the amulet might just be enough to turn the tide for the Alliance and end the bloody civil war between Black and White witches once and for all…"Diversity note: Nathan, the MC, is biracial and (probably?) bisexual. Part of the love triangle in the series involves Gabriel.
If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo (May 3)
YA Contemporary
Goodreads summary:
"A big-hearted novel about being seen for who you really are.
Amanda Hardy is the new girl in school. Like anyone else, all she wants is to make friends and fit in. But Amanda is keeping a secret. She's determined not to get too close to anyone.
But when she meets sweet, easygoing Grant, Amanda can't help but start to let him in. As they spend more time together, she realizes just how much she is losing by guarding her heart. She finds herself yearning to share with Grant everything about herself--including her past. But Amanda's terrified that once she tells him the truth, he won't be able to see past it.
Because the secret that Amanda's been keeping? It's that she used to be Andrew.
Will the truth cost Amanda her new life--and her new love?"
Diversity note: If I Was Your Girl features a transgirl protag! Which I am very excited to read. And kind of awesome fun fact: the model on the cover is also trans. :)
YA Fantasy
Goodreads summary:
"Every city in the world is run by a clock tower. If one breaks, time stops. It’s a truth that seventeen-year-old Danny knows well; his father has been trapped in a town east of London for three years. Despite being a clock mechanic prodigy who can repair not only clockwork, but time itself, Danny has been unable to free his father.
Danny’s assigned to a damaged clock tower in the small town of Enfield. The boy he mistakes for his apprentice is odd, but that’s to be expected when he’s the clock spirit who controls Enfield’s time. Although Danny and the spirit are drawn to each other’s loneliness, falling in love with a clock spirit is forbidden, no matter how cute his smiles are.
But when someone plants bombs in nearby towers, cities are in danger of becoming trapped in time—and Enfield is one of them.
Danny must discover who’s stopping time and prevent it from happening to Enfield, or else he’ll lose not only his father, but the boy he loves, forever."
Diversity note: As you can see from the summary, Timekeeper is an m/m time-travel fantasy. :D
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| Photo credit: Goodreads |
Bad Boy by Leah Raeder (May 31)
NA Contemporary
No current Goodreads summary but it's a Raeder book so I'm excited as hell.
Diversity note: Features a transguy as one of the major characters—woot! Plus Raeder's books tend to have a very diverse cast in general, so I'm sure there will be other factors.
Diversity note: Features a transguy as one of the major characters—woot! Plus Raeder's books tend to have a very diverse cast in general, so I'm sure there will be other factors.
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| Photo credit: Goodreads |
A World Without You by Beth Revis (July 19)
YA Contemporary
Goodreads summary:
"When 17-year-old Bo is sent to a school for troubled youth, he believes he’s actually at The Academy, a home for kids who, like Bo, have superpowers. There, he falls in love with Sofia, a quiet girl with a tragic past and the power of invisibility.
But after she commits suicide, Bo is convinced that she’s not really dead, but stuck somewhere in the past, and it’s his job to save her. In her first contemporary novel, New York Times bestselling author Beth Revis guides us through the mind of a young man experiencing mental illness and grief."
Diversity: Bo, the protagonist, has an unspecified mental illness.
What diverse books are you looking forward to that are releasing next year?
Twitter-sized bite:
What diverse books are you looking forward to that are releasing next year? Join the discussion on @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet)
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