by Ardo Omer
This month’s challenge is a book by a non-binary and/or transgender author. We’re seeing more and more trans and nonbinary authors in the KidLit space and it would be nice to see more in the middle grade/chapter book realm in particular. The books chosen for this month’s recommendations showcase a wide range of storytelling. We have haunted house novel for teens, a middle grade book about making friends and a picture book about collective care and imagining a better future for our community.
1) A House Unsettled by Trynne Delaney (Young Adult)
Ghosts aren’t the only thing that can haunt a house.
With her dad’s incarceration, escalating fights with her mom, and an overbearing stepdad she’s not sure she can trust, Asha is desperate for the fresh start promised by a move to the country. Her great aunt Aggie’s crumbling, pest-ridden house isn’t exactly what she had in mind, but the immediate connection she makes with her new neighbor Cole seems like a good sign. Soon, though, Asha’s optimism is shadowed by strange and disturbing occurrences within the old house’s walls: footsteps stalking the halls; a persistent chill; cold hands around her neck in the middle of the night . . .
Fearing for her loved ones’ safety—and her own—Asha seeks out the source of these terrifying incidents and uncovers secrets from the past that connect her and Cole’s families and reach into the present. But as tensions with her mom and stepdad rise and Cole withdraws, Asha is left alone to try and break the cycle of violence that holds them all in its haunting grip.
Trynne Delaney’s debut novel explores the insidious legacies of violence and oppression—and how Black, queer love and resistance can disrupt them.
2) Asking for a Friend by Ronnie Riley (Middle Grade)
Why go through the stress of making friends when you can just pretend? It works for Eden and their social anxiety… until their mom announces she’s throwing them a birthday party and all their friends are invited.
Eden’s “friends,” Duke, Ramona, and Tabitha, are all real kids from school… but Eden’s never actually spoken to them before. Now Eden will do whatever it takes to convince them to be their friends–at least until the party is over.
When things start to go better than Eden expects, and the group starts to bond, Eden finds themselves trapped in a lie that gets worse the longer they keep it up. What happens if their now sort-of-real friends discover that Eden hasn’t been honest with them from the very beginning?
3) Abolition is Love by Syrus Marcus Ware and illustrated by Alannah Fricker (Picture Book)
In Abolition is Love, Amelie learns about collective care, mutual aid, and abolitionist ideas as they help their parents get ready for the annual Prisoners’ Justice Day. Amelie explores big concepts like love, justice, and care, and learns how we can build a different world together through the small choices we make every day. They learn to resolve a conflict with their cousin who plays differently than they do, they help their Papa plan a more accessible park for all, and collectively they create a beautiful banner. Amelie is also excited to hold their own candle at the rally, and they look forward to this big kid moment–to join the ranks of activists calling for justice and abolition. The book explores possibilities for hope, and offers ideas for caring for each other and building communities rooted in social justice and safety for all people. Parents and teachers can engage young readers with the expansive illustrations and prompts that suggest new ways of being in the world together.
Abolition is Love!
Ardo Omer