Publishing is becoming more and more diverse, which is truly a wonderful thing. We can write whole recommendation lists on almost every topic now, but one theme that is still a little underrepresented (in our daily lives and on our shelves) are characters with a disability or chronic illness.

Many readers are actively trying to diversify their shelves, which is fantastic! If you are one of those readers who are looking for books with diverse representation and are still on the hunt for books dealing with disability and chronic pain, then this is a good starting point! We’ve collected 16 fictional reads to compile them into a list for you.

We have tried to keep this list as diverse as possible, but if you know of a book dealing with a disability or illness, please leave us a comment below!

Love From A to Z by SK Ali
Representation: Multiple Sclerosis

A marvel: something you find amazing. Even ordinary-amazing. Like potatoes—because they make French fries happen. Like the perfect fries Adam and his mom used to make together. An oddity: whatever gives you pause. Like the fact that there are hateful people in the world. Like Zayneb’s teacher, who won’t stop reminding the class how “bad” Muslims are.

But Zayneb, the only Muslim in class, isn’t bad. She’s angry. When she gets suspended for confronting her teacher, and he begins investigating her activist friends, Zayneb heads to her aunt’s house in Doha, Qatar, for an early start to spring break. Fueled by the guilt of getting her friends in trouble, she resolves to try out a newer, “nicer” version of herself in a place where no one knows her. Then her path crosses with Adam’s.

Since he got diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in November, Adam’s stopped going to classes, intent, instead, on perfecting the making of things. Intent on keeping the memory of his mom alive for his little sister.

Pages I Never Wrote by Marco Donati
Representation: Dyspraxia

 Luke has good friends, a passion for books, and dyspraxia, a disorder that, ironically, makes him unable to write. He also has a hatred for anyone who tries to help him. Yet when he fails his first term at university due to his learning difficulties, he’s forced to get support. That’s how Nate, an excitable last-year student, becomes his self-proclaimed personal tutor and starts writing down essays for him, as a distraction from his own quarter-life crisis. But Luke’s writing ambitions are not just academic. He dreams of penning a novel, although that’s never been a real possibility. Until now.

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
Representation: Chronic Pain

Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list. After almost—but not quite—dying, she’s come up with seven directives to help her “Get a Life”, and she’s already completed the first: finally moving out of her glamorous family’s mansion. The next items? Enjoy a drunken night out, ride a motorcycle, go camping, have meaningless but thoroughly enjoyable sex, travel the world with nothing but hand luggage, and… do something bad.

But it’s not easy being bad, even when you’ve written step-by-step guidelines on how to do it correctly. What Chloe needs is a teacher, and she knows just the man for the job.

Every Little Piece of My Heart by Non Pratt
Representation: Lupus

When Sophie receives a parcel from her best friend, Freya, she expects it to contain the reason why Freya left town so suddenly, without goodbyes and without explanation. Instead, she finds a letter addressed to Win, a girl Freya barely knew – or did she? As more letters arrive for more people on the periphery of Freya’s life, Sophie and Win begin to piece together who Freya was and why she left. Sometimes it’s not about who’s gone, but about who they leave behind

The Summer of Impossibilities by Rachel Allen
Representation: Juvenile Arthritis

Skyler, Ellie, Scarlett and Amelia Grace are forced to spend the summer at the lake house where their moms became best friends.

One can’t wait. One would rather gnaw off her own arm than hang out with a bunch of strangers just so their moms can drink too much wine and sing Journey two o’clock in the morning. Two are sisters. Three are currently feuding with their mothers.

One almost sets her crush on fire with a flaming marshmallow. Two steal the boat for a midnight joyride that goes horribly, awkwardly wrong. All of them are hiding something. One falls in love with a boy she thought she despised. Two fall in love with each other. None of them are the same at the end of the summer.

A Curse So Dark And Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer
Representation: Cerebral Palsy

Fall in love, break the curse. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year, Prince Rhen, the heir of Emberfall, thought he could be saved easily if a girl fell for him. But that was before he turned into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. Before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.

A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard
Representation: Deaf character

Steffi doesn’t talk, but she has so much to say. Rhys can’t hear, but he can listen. Their love isn’t a lightning strike, it’s the rumbling roll of thunder.

Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstrom
Representation: Blind character

The Rules: Don’t deceive me. Ever. Especially using my blindness. Especially in public. Don’t help me unless I ask. Otherwise you’re just getting in my way or bothering me. Don’t be weird. Seriously, other than having my eyes closed all the time, I’m just like you only smarter.

Parker Grant doesn’t need 20/20 vision to see right through you. That’s why she created the Rules: Don’t treat her any differently just because she’s blind, and never take advantage. There will be no second chances. Just ask Scott Kilpatrick, the boy who broke her heart.

Sick Kids in Love by Hannah Moskowitz
Representation: Rheumatoid arthritis and Gaucher disease

Isabel has one rule: no dating. It’s easier. It’s safer. It’s better…for the other person. She’s got issues. She’s got secrets. She’s got rheumatoid arthritis. But then she meets another sick kid. He’s got a chronic illness Isabel’s never heard of, something she can’t even pronounce. He understands what it means to be sick. He understands her more than her healthy friends. He understands her more than her own father who’s a doctor.

He’s gorgeous, fun, and foul-mouthed. And totally into her. Isabel has one rule: no dating. It’s complicated. It’s dangerous. It’s never felt better…to consider breaking that rule for him.

A List of Cages by Robin Roe
Representation: ADHD and Dyslexia

When Adam Blake lands the best elective ever in his senior year, serving as an aide to the school psychologist, he thinks he’s got it made. Sure, it means a lot of sitting around, which isn’t easy for a guy with ADHD, but he can’t complain, since he gets to spend the period texting all his friends. Then the doctor asks him to track down the troubled freshman who keeps dodging her, and Adam discovers that the boy is Julian—the foster brother he hasn’t seen in five years.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Representation: Autism

Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, for fifteen-year-old Christopher everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning. He lives on patterns, rules, and a diagram kept in his pocket. Then one day, a neighbor’s dog, Wellington, is killed and his carefully constructive universe is threatened. Christopher sets out to solve the murder in the style of his favourite (logical) detective, Sherlock Holmes. What follows makes for a novel that is funny, poignant and fascinating in its portrayal of a person whose curse and blessing are a mind that perceives the world entirely literally.

The Memory Book by Lara Avery
Representation: Niemann-Pick disease type C

Sammie was always a girl with a plan: graduate at the top of her class and get out of her small town as soon as humanly possible. Nothing will stand in her way–not even a rare genetic disorder the doctors say will slowly start to steal her memories and then her health. What she needs is a new plan.

So the Memory Book is born: Sammie’s notes to her future self, a document of moments great and small. It’s where she’ll record every perfect detail of her first date with longtime crush, Stuart–a brilliant young writer who is home for the summer. And where she’ll admit how much she’s missed her childhood best friend, Cooper, and even take some of the blame for the fight that ended their friendship.

Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven
Representation: Prosopagnosia

Everyone thinks they know Libby Strout, the girl once dubbed “America’s Fattest Teen.” But no one’s taken the time to look past her weight to get to know who she really is. Following her mom’s death, she’s been picking up the pieces in the privacy of her home, dealing with her heartbroken father and her own grief. Now, Libby’s ready: for high school, for new friends, for love, and for every possibility life has to offer. In that moment, I know the part I want to play here at MVB High. I want to be the girl who can do anything. 

Everyone thinks they know Jack Masselin, too. Yes, he’s got swagger, but he’s also mastered the impossible art of giving people what they want, of fitting in. What no one knows is that Jack has a newly acquired secret: he can’t recognize faces. Even his own brothers are strangers to him. He’s the guy who can re-engineer and rebuild anything, but he can’t understand what’s going on with the inner workings of his brain. So he tells himself to play it cool: Be charming. Be hilarious. Don’t get too close to anyone.

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
Representation: Character in a wheelchair

They had nothing in common until love gave them everything to lose . . . Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has barely been farther afield than their tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex–Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair bound after an accident. Will has always lived a huge life—big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel—and now he’s pretty sure he cannot live the way he is.

Will is acerbic, moody, bossy—but Lou refuses to treat him with kid gloves, and soon his happiness means more to her than she expected. When she learns that Will has shocking plans of his own, she sets out to show him that life is still worth living.

All Of My Friends Are Rich by Michael Sarais
Representation: Bi-Polar Depression

Orphan Leo Cotton has finally built a family, but the advent of bipolar depression wakes him from this dreamlife to reveal dark truths about the man he’d married. One year later, Leo is lost. Embarrassed by a dead-end job that barely pays the bills, he can’t help but notice that those around him are all enjoying success. When his closest friend, Sara, asks him to be her best man, Leo reaches the last straw: how can he possibly afford these lavish festivities on his wages? A Grindr chance encounter reveals that a shortcut to riches does exist . . . but in the end, this reckless route may cost him the loved-ones he aims to impress and welcome terrible danger . . .

Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling
Representation: Character born without arms and Tourette’s

Aven Green loves to tell people that she lost her arms in an alligator wrestling match, or a wildfire in Tanzania, but the truth is she was born without them. And when her parents take a job running Stagecoach Pass, a rundown western theme park in Arizona, Aven moves with them across the country knowing that she’ll have to answer the question over and over again.

Her new life takes an unexpected turn when she bonds with Connor, a classmate who also feels isolated because of his own disability, and they discover a room at Stagecoach Pass that holds bigger secrets than Aven ever could have imagined. It’s hard to solve a mystery, help a friend, and face your worst fears. But Aven’s about to discover she can do it all . . . even without arms.

Do you have any recommendations? Tell us in the comments below for us to check out as well as other readers!

The post 16 Fiction Books With Disability Representation appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Hi there, Rachael! Thanks so much for sitting down with us! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?

Sure thing! And thank you so much for having me! I’m a scientist by day, and I work in a hospital where I do research on diabetes. By night, I’m a crime-fighting superhero. (Kidding – I write Young Adult books.) I live in Atlanta with my husband, two kiddos, and two dogs that look like dire wolves. And also, I have the best friends in the whole world.

If you had to choose between either only being able to reread books for the rest of your life or only read new books, what would you choose?

Oh, wow, this is so hard. The Harry Potter series alone. But then I think, what if the next Becky Albertalli or Laini Taylor or Elizabeth Acevedo book came out and I didn’t get to read it? So, I’d have to go with only reading…new books. Whew. I’m kind of sweating now.

If you had to describe The Summer of Impossibilities in five words, what would those be?

Girls changing each other’s worlds

The mothers all listen to Journey together – flashforward into the future, maybe 20 years. What do you think the gals from this book would listen to while reminiscing about the past?

Lizzo, for sure. Probably some Kesha and Billie Eilish too.

I absolutely loved all of the different POVs and characters! Can we have some random information for each of the girls that isn’t shared in the novels?

Amelia Grace: I don’t know if anyone’s going to notice this because the girls spend most of their time at the lake house, but if you look carefully, Amelia Grace’s hometown is the same town from my second novel, The Revenge Playbook, and you might recognize a character or two.

Scarlett: The part of Scarlett’s character that got revised the most is her jerky boyfriend. My editor and I really spent a lot of time thinking about exactly what brand of jerk we wanted him to be, haha.

Skyler: My mom is Christian, and my stepdad is Jewish, and I really want to see more families like mine in books (interfaith families where religion is not a capital “I” Issue). Because of how old I was when they got married, I 100% identify as Christian, but sometimes I think, if my mom and stepdad had had a daughter, what would she be like? I feel like she’d be a lot like Skyler, so in a lot of ways, writing Skyler felt like writing my pretend little sister into a book.

Ellie: For Ellie, I have a full on deleted mini-scene for you! Ellie struggles a lot with making friends, I think because she feels a lot of pressure to make a certain kind of friend without realizing that maybe that isn’t the best kind of friend for her. Here’s a flashback to Ellie in middle school:

There was time in seventh grade with these girls, Tracey and Evangeline. Sometimes I’d see them at the neighborhood pool or walking around just the two of them. (Sometimes, they had boys with them.)

At the pool, they’d set up court with tie dye towels instead of Disney Princess and frozen grapes instead of Cheetohs and monokinis instead of just a one piece or two piece from Old Navy. It was more coolness than my seventh grade brain could handle.

I would pick a chair as close to theirs as I dared – definitely not near the girls whose moms still made them wear swim shirts in middle school or the girls who spent the whole time diving for rings. Though that did look kind of fun.

Then one day, I finally got my chance. Tracy and Evangeline were walking down my street, and I just happened to be waiting at my window and watching through my blinds. It was like fate.

I sprinted to my front door, opened it, calmly walked to check the mail. “Oh. Hey, Tracy. Hey, Evangeline.”

Cool as you please.

“Hey,” Evangeline said back. “Ellie, right?”

I smiled (but not too big, obvs). “Yeah.”

AND THEN they invited me over to Evangeline’s house. AND there were boys. AND we played Pirate’s Dice.

And the boys were trying their best to beat each other, so I figured that’s what you’re supposed to do, so on my next turn, I maybe kind of took out Evangeline.

“I mean, whatever, it’s just a dice game. I don’t really take it that seriously.”

The other girls froze. Glanced at me and then waited for Evangeline’s next word.

“Yeah, the point is to just have fun,” said Tracy.

“Right, yeah, sorry. I guess I just got a little excited.”

“It’s cool,” said Evangeline. But as she said it, she leaned away from me, just the smallest movement. The other girls shifted too, realigning themselves. I guess it wasn’t cool after all.

I blushed.

I stared into my Coke cup like it contained the future.

I kept my competitive side dialed down for the rest of the game.

I was never invited to Evangeline’s house again.

And I learned my lesson: Girls aren’t allowed to want things. Not too badly and not too openly. Not if they want the other girls to like them.

The Summer of Impossibilities is your fourth novel – what is your favorite part about writing and what’s your least favorite?

The best part is creating whole worlds inside your head. And when you write a part that makes you laugh or cry. And knowing that the words you’ve written might be exactly the words someone somewhere needs to read.

The worst part is how every time I start a book, I think I’m going to write an amazing first draft, and when I (inevitably) don’t, I feel like, “That’s it. I’m a failure. I am never going to be able to write a book again.” Because the thing is, when a book goes to print, so many people have helped you make it better until it’s beautiful and perfect. But I forget that. Every time. I would write a note for my future self, but I know it won’t help.

Friendship is the central theme of your novel. What do you think are the pillars of a good friendship?

I think loyalty, kindness, humor, honesty, and understanding are all really important. Also, being willing to help hide the bodies.

If your novel got developed into a movie, who would be your dream cast for Skyler, Scarlett, Ellie and Amelia Grace?

Ellie: Ananya Panday
Scarlett: Katherine Langford
Skyler: Hailee Steinfeld
Amelia Grace: Ruby Rose (except, like, as a teen)

Beyond The Summer of Impossibilities releasing in May, what’s next for you? Are you working on another project already and can maybe share something with us?

I’d really love to write something for younger readers someday, like a middle grade or chapter book. I’ve been working on one about three little girls who aren’t allowed to do science, so they sneak out at midnight and do secret science. I’m also co-writing a YA love story with a friend, and I’m extremely excited about that one.

Last but not least, are there any books you’d like to recommend our readers?

Ohmygosh, so many!

Thriller: What We Buried by Kate Boorman is the best thriller I’ve read in ages. It’s about a brother and sister who go on a road trip, and reality starts to melt around them. Gorgeous writing, atmospheric, plot twists that will leave you thinking about the book for weeks after.

Horror: Eight Will Fall by Sarah Harian. Okay, so this one is more like horror and dark fantasy had a baby, so it has super creative world building and an amazing cast of characters, but also it will scare the bejesus out of you.

Contemporary: I’m Not Dying With You Tonight by Kimberly Jones and Gilly Segal. A black girl and a white girl have to band together to survive a race riot. This book will change how you think about the world.

Contemporary again because I love contemporary: Salty Bitter Sweet by Mayra Cuevas. This book is such a sweet and beautiful story about family, food, friendship, and love. It’ll make you smile for days.

Verse: The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo is so perfect, and I don’t even know how to talk about it properly other than to just say, “Read it, please!”

And in books that aren’t out yet (I beta read the first two, and you’re going to love them. I haven’t read the second two yet, but guess what, YOU’RE GOING TO LOVE THEM):

• Recommended for You by Laura Silverman (Out September 1, 2020)
• Above All Else by Dana Alison Levy (Out October 13, 2020)
• The Summer of Everything by Julian Winters (Out September 8, 2020)
• Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler (Out 2021 – Yes, that’s a long time from now. Yes, I’m crying about it.)

Will you be picking up The Summer of Impossibilities? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Q&A: Rachael Allen, Author of ‘The Summer of Impossibilities’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Perfect for fans of: The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants and readers who love Kasie West and Morgan Matson

Review:

The overall execution of the story was really well done. When it comes to multiple POV’s, it’s sometimes hard to distinguish between the different voices but all of the four girls had distinct tones to their chapters and their own individual goals that they were trying to make a reality.

The Summer of Impossibilities highlights friendship in all its glory. From the quiet anxieties everyone faces when trying to make new friends (am I likeable? Should I be funnier? Why don’t they want to hang out with me? is it them – or me?) to the best part of having a friend group (spending time together making the ordinary feel extraordinary), Allen encompasses a lot of different dynamics and preconceived notions about what a friend should be like in this novel.

Though the tone of the book is light, the topics addressed are on the darker side of things. Amelia Grace deals with the fallout with her church after she has been outed as gay during a sermon, Ellie struggles with building friendships because she doesn’t know how to be herself around other people and feels the pressure to be the best she can be on the tennis court, Scarlett used to cut herself and is still recovering and Skyler is frightened to tell her parents that her juvenile arthritis has deteriorated. It’s a lot to tackle in one novel and while there were some parts of the individual’s stories that could have used more page time for the reader to empathise, it was also extremely refreshing to have their issues be part of their personality instead of taking over every single aspect of their lives. In the end, it’s the friendships these guys develop that help them find a way to cope with their problems and feel supported enough to make their voices heard.

The romantic relationships definitely take a back burner in this one, and while I understood that for the most part seeing as friendship was the focus, I would have wished for a bit more development when it came to romantic interests – there was a very caricature-y way both Scarlett’s boyfriend and Amelia Grace’s and Skyler’s summer flings were described. Despite that, the LGBT aspect kept me turning the pages to find out what happens between Amelia Grace and her long-term crush on one of the girls at the lake house.

Altogether, this was a cute and quick read, an homage to friendships and dreamy summers, perfect for everyone who needs a pick-me-up and some feel-good vibes to brighten their day!

The Summer of Impossibilities is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers as of May 12th 2020.

Will you be picking up The Summer of Impossibilities? Tell us in the comments below!

Synopsis | Goodreads

Skyler, Ellie, Scarlett and Amelia Grace are forced to spend the summer at the lake house where their moms became best friends.

One can’t wait. One would rather gnaw off her own arm than hang out with a bunch of strangers just so their moms can drink too much wine and sing Journey two o’clock in the morning. Two are sisters. Three are currently feuding with their mothers.

One almost sets her crush on fire with a flaming marshmallow. Two steal the boat for a midnight joyride that goes horribly, awkwardly wrong. All of them are hiding something.

One falls in love with a boy she thought she despised. Two fall in love with each other. None of them are the same at the end of the summer.

The post #ReadWithPride: The Summer of Impossibilities by Rachael Allen appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Contributed by Gillion Machota

A Taxonomy of Love is about a boy named Spencer who lives next door to Hope, his lifelong crush. Spencer suffers from Tourette Syndrome—a mental illness which causes ticks (verbal or physical) that are repeated over and over again.

Because of this, he gets made fun of because of it, however, Hope sees past that and befriends him. You see their friendship evolve over the course of the book in which Hope begins to drift away from Spencer after an incident between them happen.

Overall, this young adult novel was an amazing read. It gives an accurate representation into Tourette’s and what it is like for a person to live with it as the main ticks we see Spencer do are sniff and shoulder ticks, which are common in people who have Tourette’s. The pacing of the story was quick and almost unnoticeable until Spencer reveals how many years he has kept something that Hope threw away a long time ago.

What the novel does focus on is how people view Spencer. His brother, dad, and himself run his dad’s store and his dad will tell him that the store is too loud and he should not go, which is very infuriating to read as a reader. The novel also touches base on how Spencer feels about his family. You see a clear feud between Spencer and his brother as his brother is clearly the one who is getting the whole spotlight and Spencer is kind of just there seeing his brother get it all.

Overall, the book itself was a fun and light-hearted read. However, this book did fall short of the perfect read as there were a few things that I personally did not like and certain aspects of the story and characters could have been fleshed out more.

Have you read A Taxonomy of Love? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

Goodreads Synopsis

The moment Spencer meets Hope the summer before seventh grade, it’s . . . something at first sight. He knows she’s special, possibly even magical. The pair become fast friends, climbing trees and planning world travels. After years of being outshone by his older brother and teased because of his Tourette syndrome, Spencer finally feels like he belongs. But as Hope and Spencer get older and life gets messier, the clear label of “friend” gets messier, too.

Through sibling feuds and family tragedies, new relationships and broken hearts, the two grow together and apart, and Spencer, an aspiring scientist, tries to map it all out using his trusty system of taxonomy. He wants to identify and classify their relationship, but in the end, he finds that life doesn’t always fit into easy-to-manage boxes, and it’s this messy complexity that makes life so rich and beautiful.

The post Review: A Taxonomy of Love by Rachael Allen appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

From the release of the physical copy of Zenith written by BookTuber Sasha Alsberg, to a collection of short stories by some talented YA authors including Nicola Yoon and Kass Morgan. Then there’s a new novel adaption of Marvel and Hulu’s Runaways, plus new releases from Pierce Brown, Holly Black, Marie Lu, Maureen Johnson and Marissa Meyer.

Check out our picks and tell us if you will be reading one (or a few) of these great new releases!

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert | Goodreads

Seventeen-year-old Alice’s grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, passes away alone on her estate, the Hazel Wood. Soon, Alice’s mother is taken away―by a figure who claims to come from the Hinterland, the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother’s stories are set. Alice’s only lead is the message her mother left behind: “Stay away from the Hazel Wood.”

Zenith by Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings | Goodreads

Androma Racella is known as the Bloody Baroness, a powerful mercenary within the Mirabel Galaxy leading her all-girl run starship. Meanwhile, a ruthless ruler waits in the shadows waiting to exact revenge for the destruction of her people and her plan will tear Mirabel in two.

A Taxonomy of Love by Rachael Allen | Goodreads

It’s . . . something at first sight when Spencer meets hope and they quickly become friends. He finally feels like he belongs after being outshone by his brother and teased because of his Tourette syndrome, but the label of “friend” gets messier as they grow up. Through a series of ups and downs, the two grow together and apart and Spencer learns things don’t always fit into boxes.

Runaways by Christopher Golden | Goodreads

Based on the popular Hulu television series and comic books, fans and first-time readers will enjoy this new take on the story. The novel also includes the first issue of the revived Runaways comic series written by Rainbow Rowell and with art by Kris Anka.

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black | Goodreads

Jude was seven when herself and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants to belong even though fey despise humans, especially Prince Cardan—the young and wicked son of the High King. To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.

Batman: Nightwalker by Marie Lu | Goodreads

One by one, the city’s elites are being executed. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne is turning eighteen and about to inherit his family’s fortune, not to mention the keys to Wayne Enterprises. But after a run-in with the police, he’s forced to do community service at Arkham Asylum. He meets Madeleine, a brilliant girl with ties to the Nightwalkers and she’s a mystery Bruce must unravel. But is he getting her to divulge her secrets, or is he feeding her the information she needs to bring Gotham City to its knees?

Markswoman by Rati Mehrotra | Goodreads

Kyra is the youngest Markswoman in the Order of Kali, a highly trained sisterhood of elite warriors armed with telepathic blades. After the death of her mentor, Kyra is forced to run and finds herself at the Order of Khur, an order composed of all men. With the help of Rustan, a young, disillusioned Marksman, Kyra must obtain proof of who killed her mentor.

Meet Cute: Some People Are Destined To Meet by Jennifer L. Armentrout + Various | Goodreads

Whether or not you believe in fate, or luck, or love at first sight, every romance has to start somewhere. Meet Cute is an anthology of original short stories featuring tales of “how they first met” from some of today’s most popular YA authors, including Nina LaCour, Nicola Yoon, Katharine McGee, Kass Morgan, and Dhonielle Clayton.

Everless by Sara Holland | Goodreads

In Sempera, time is currency—extracted from blood, bound to iron, and consumed to add time to one’s own lifespan. The rich have extended their lives for centuries and nobody resents them more than Jules Ember. Now with her father dying, she must go to them and earn more time for him, but going back brings danger and temptation catching her in a tangle of violent secrets.

Gunslinger Girl by Lyndsay Ely | Goodreads

Seventeen-year-old Serendipity “Pity” Jones inherited two things from her mother: a pair of six shooters and perfect aim. She’s been offered a life of fame and fortune in Cessation, a glittering city where lawlessness is a way of life. But the price she pays for her freedom may be too great….

Reign The Earth by A.C. Gaughen | Goodreads

Shalia is a proud daughter of the desert, but after years of war, her people are desperate for peace. Willing to trade her freedom, Shalia becomes Queen of the Bonelands. She discovers Calix, her husband, is determined to kill off the Elementae—mystical people who can control earth, wind, air, and fire. More unsettling is Shalia’s feelings for her husband’s brother and discovering her power over the earth—a power that could get her killed.

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson | Goodreads

Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont for the brightest thinkers and inventors.  But after it opened, Albert Ellingham’s wife and daughter were kidnapped and it became one of the great unsolved crimes of American history. Now true-crime aficionado Stevie Bell begins her first year at the academy and aims to solve the cold case until death revisits Ellingham Academy.

Wires and Nerves, Vol 2: Gone Rogue by Marissa Meyer | Goodreads

Iko—an audacious android and best friend to the Lunar Queen Cinder—has been tasked with hunting down Alpha Lysander Steele, the leader of a rogue band of bioengineered wolf-soldiers who threaten to undo the tenuous peace agreement between Earth and Luna. Unless Cinder can reverse the mutations that were forced on them years before, Steele and his soldiers plan to satisfy their monstrous appetites with a massacre of the innocent people of Earth.

Iron Gold by Pierce Brown | Goodreads

A decade ago, Darrow was the hero of the revolution but the Rising only brought an endless war. Now he must risk everything he has fought for on one last desperate mission with other destinies entwining with Darrow’s—A young Red girl flees tragedy and gains a new life she could never have imagined. An ex-soldier broken by grief is forced to steal the most valuable thing in the galaxy—or pay with his life. And Lysander au Lune, the heir in exile to the sovereign, wanders the stars with his mentor, Cassius, haunted by the loss of the world that Darrow transformed, and dreaming of what will rise from its ashes.

Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh | Goodreads

Odessa is one of Karthia’s master necromancers, catering to the kingdom’s ruling Dead. Whenever a noble dies, it’s Odessa’s job to raise them by retrieving their souls from the Deadlands. But the Dead must remain shrouded, or risk transforming into zombie-like monsters known as Shades. Shade attacks soon rise and it appears someone is intentionally creating and training them to attack.

Nice Try, Jane Sinner by Lianne Oelke | Goodreads

17-year-old Jane Sinner’s parents push her to attend a high school completion program after her expulsion, and she agrees as long as she gets to move out. She signs up for a student-run reality show to solve her housing problem. The show goes from web series to a local TV show with fans and she’ll use her growing fan base, and whatever Intro to Psychology can teach her, to prove to the world—or at least viewers of substandard TV—that she has what it takes to win.

Check out other books coming out in January 2018 on our Goodreads list!

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