Rainbow Reads A Librarian Recommends
by Elizabeth
Hi, everyone! Happy Pride! It may not be safe out there to hold a parade, but that doesn’t mean there’s no way to celebrate this month. Whatever your Pride flag or reading preference, the Aurora Public Library has a book recommendation for you! We’ve created several Pinterest boards based around fun themes: the LGBTQ spectrum, yes, but also books with magic, graphic novels, books as sweet as cotton candy, books guaranteed to make you laugh, books that will definitely make you find a tissue box, and more! All of the Pinterest board books are ebooks, at least at this time, so that you can enjoy them from the comfort of your own home. However, there are even more books available through our curbside pickup system! Here are five of my personal favorites: some are ebooks, some are curbside, and all of them are incredible. Bonus: they’re all summer reads! (Well, all but the first one. You’ll see.)
"Gideon the Ninth" by Tamsyn Muir
Category: Epic Fantasy and Sci-fi
Representation: lesbian
Available through: curbside pickup, Overdrive
I can sum up this book in three words: “lesbian space necromancers.” Either that sounds too wild for you or you’re already online ordering a copy from the library. "Gideon the Ninth" is one of those books you’ll either love or hate: I love every award-winning page, from our sword-fighting star Gideon’s ill-fated escape attempt from her dismal home planet to the summons that changes everything. Gideon and royal heir Harrow must go to a distant planet to compete in a deadly puzzle challenge for the emperor. The prize? Immortality. The problem? Gideon and Harrow hate each other, Gideon’s only faking being a bodyguard, and there’s something sketchy about this whole competition that no one’s seen fit to reveal. Everything in this book from the plot to the word choice zings with energy. If you love this book (and I hope you will!), our library has the sequel. (And I know this isn’t technically a summer read, but consider: every season could be summer, if you’re in space.)
"Felix Ever After" by Kacen Callender
Category: High School Struggles
Representation: trans, bisexual
Available through: curbside pickup
Felix Love has never been in love. That’s the problem, he thinks: how can he make good art in his summer school’s art program if he’s never even been in love in the first place? But when an anonymous bully posts pictures of Felix before he transitioned all over school and starts sending transphobic messages, Felix vows revenge: he’s going to catfish the most likely suspect to get some information. Life gets complicated fast: Felix’s sneaky detective Instagram plan soon turns into a complicated love triangle, and Felix begins to question whether he fits as neatly in boxes as he imagined. Kacen Callender’s an incredible author: their book "King and the Dragonflies" is a heart-wrenching read for middle schoolers, and "Felix Ever After" handles its complicated teen protagonist withgrace. If you love this book, you can check out Callender’s other work through the library!
"Lumberjanes" by Shannon Waters, Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis & Brooke Allen
Category: Magic is for Everyone, Graphic Novels, Summer Fun
Representation: trans, lesbian, bisexual
Available through: Hoopla, curbside, Overdrive
Sometimes, you just want a fun graphic novel about a summer camp getting hopelessly disrupted by crazy magical monsters. Lumberjanes, the fabulous comic book series by the author of the recent She-Ra reboot, is there for you. Jo, April, Molly, Mal, and Ripley don’t mean to end up fighting supernatural foxes, taking on Greek gods, and helping mermaids start a concert. That’s just how summer camp goes at Miss Quinzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s Camp for Hardcore Lady Types. Each of the friends brings something different to the team, whether it’s puzzles, puns, planning, or kittens and cupcakes. Before long, you’ll be wishing you could have had a summer camp experience this unique. If you love this book, you can read more in the series or check out Mooncakes for more magical creatures and shenanigans.
"If It Makes You Happy" by Claire Kann
Category: Summer Fun, Cooking Adventures, Romantic Comedies
Representation: asexual, bisexual, polyamorous
Available through: curbside pickup
Winnie has a busy summer. She’s the Summer Queen, which means public speaking (her greatest nemesis) and flirting with the impossibly cute Dallas. She’s working at her granny’s diner, and she wants to enter a cooking competition, but her grandmother won’t hear of it. She’s trying to work things out with her not-girlfriend, Kara, who doesn’t like this Dallas situation at all. She’s looking out for her little brother, and, oh yeah, she really wishes everyone would stop telling her to lose some weight. "If It Makes You Happy" would be cupcakes, if it had a flavor: sugary and impossibly sweet, colorful and fun to eat. If you love this book, try "You Should See Me in a Crown" for more “prom queen / Summer Queen” fun.
"The House in the Cerulean Sea" by TJ Klune
Category: Found Families, Magic is for Everyone
Representation: gay
Available through: curbside pickup
Take X-Men and make it twice as adorable, with no comic book battles and a sassy kid Antichrist, and you have The House in the Cerulean Sea, my new comfort book extraordinaire. Linus Baker is a case worker with the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, and he’ll be the first to tell you he’s boring: he’s read the book of regulations cover to cover, he always follows procedure, and he’s certain that, in his forties, every chance of excitement has passed him by. Enter Arthur Parnassus: master of an orphanage filled with particularly unusual children, like a living garden gnome, a were-dog, and Lucy (short for Lucifer). Linus’s job is to go observe this orphanage and report back, but as he visits this charming place, he realizes that maybe the organization he’s dedicated his life to might be wrong. Can Linus really find family on this too-magical island? If you love this, try "Steven Universe" for another unusual magical family on a beach.
Thanks for tuning in! I hope you enjoy these reads - I know I did.
Please let me know if you have any that you adore, and happy Pride!
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