Throwback: Hey, Good Luck Out There by Georgia Toews
“Addicts don’t talk about the pain, the loss, the moments of deep sorrow that anchor us to the underbelly of society.”
coming of age
Sincerely Katherine: Life, Gender, Inclusivity and Leadership for the Future by Katherine Dudtschak
Sincerely Katherine: Life, Gender, Inclusivity and Leadership for the Future by Katherine Dudtschak is a memoir that is synthesizing the past in order to better live the future. As the subtitle indicates, through Katherine’s story she frames a way forward for a better society. Personally, I like what I don’t know anything about, so Katherine’s …
Throwback: After We Drowned by Jill Yonit Goldberg
Covering the same sort of stark wasteland, both economic and emotional, Goldberg subverts expectations time and again by delineating a tangible humanity in the lost souls she describes.
Seven Heavens Away by Ashraf Zaghal
The novel is set in 2015-2016, a time when Israeli forces began restricting access to Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem. Aziz, a young man at odds with his father, witnesses, alongside his friend Mustafa, the murder of their friend Hassan at the hands of an Israeli soldier.
Under the Full and Crescent Moon by Aamir Hussain
A work of historical fiction, the setting is a place Hussain has imagined where matriarchy plays an important role.
In the Western Night by Nolan D. Insyte
Nolan D. Insyte conjures a milieu that feels at once raw and surreal, calling to mind the spectral streets of Dylan’s Desolation Row and, in a sly echo of the author’s own forward, Wilde’s Vera; or, The Nihilists, where misfits and nihilists collide in a kind of gauzy, narcotic ballet.
Starry Starry Night by Shani Mootoo
I think one of the hardest things to write is from the viewpoint of a child.
Declan Tucker’s Grand Debut by William Wodhams
Wodhams has woven a fine, rich tapestry of a story. Declan is a split-screen; a fish out of water crossed with loveable artist, who has very high hopes.
Worldly Girls by Tamara Jong
Worldly Girls by Tamara Jong is a skillfully written memoir about the foray she and her mother made into the Jehovah’s Witness religion, and her ultimate coming of age journey.
Lake Burntshore by Aaron Kreuter
Lake Burntshore is a coming-of-age, summer camp story that explores not only teens deciding what kind of adults they’d like to be, but young Jews discovering for themselves as individuals, what it means to be Jewish.
The Northern by Jacob McArthur Mooney
The Northern, which in a sense is a bildungsroman, serves also as an examination of contemporary masculinity.
The Summers Between Us by Noreen Nanja
Well-written, with lovely descriptive language, The Summers Between Us is a study in belonging, identity, friendship and love.
I Remember Lights by Ben Ladouceur
This understated depiction of mid-century Montreal queer culture feels reparative in turbulent political times.
Open, Heaven by Seán Hewitt
With their time together limited, teenage tragedy is inevitable – yet James becomes more himself with each passing day.
Everything Is Fine Here by Iryn Tushabe
Everything Is Fine Here is a great introduction to Ugandan culture, and a tender coming-of-age story in a mix of cultures and beliefs.
