Bea for Books

He got sooo pissed. Started yelling at me and calling me a bitch and then told me “You can’t hit me! I’m a customer!”

I’m pretty well developed for my age, and this happened when it was hot as fuck outside so I was wearing shorts and a tank top.

“I’m not a worker, asshole! And you shouldn’t slap their asses too just because they can’t hit you back!” I’m pretty sure I said something to the effect although I probably am explaining it as if I was smooth and calm back then, but I was an embarrassed, mortified mess

And then I asked one of the waitresses to call the police. The guy was backpedaling and trying to apologize.

Fun fact: I’m 15. Like I said, very well developed for my age.

So I told him no, we were both going to wait here for the police to show up so I could report him for sexually abusing and harassing a minor.

He panicked and was even trying to bargain with me, but like fuck I was letting him off the hook. Think of how many other girls this asshole has probably harassed! I just have the power to do something about it.

Police got there and I had about at least 50 witnesses to attest to the fact a stranger, who was probably like 40, slapped my ass, when I am, in fact, a minor. Not to mention he yelled things at me when he thought I was a worker like “You can’t touch me! I’ll beat your ass, cunt!” Which I referenced as him threatening me too.

The rest of his friends were mortified and had tried to leave but I insisted that they have to stay because the cops might want statements from them. Whether or not that’s true, I don’t fuckin know, but the manager seemed to agree enough to tell them to wait for the police.

I had tried not to, but as some point when talking to one of the waitresses while waiting for the police, I started crying because of how violated I felt. It may have done good for the police came in to see my crying, I don’t know, but the waitresses were all so sweet and tried to comfort me when they had the chance.

Verizon has completed its acquisition of Tumblr parent company Yahoo, and is preventing Tumblr from participating in the day to save Net Neutrality next month on July 12, 2017.  Tumblr can also no longer freely participate in political protest like it did before.

Furthermore, Yahoo senior VP and head of Media Brands and Products Simon Khalaf gave a speech at the all-hands meeting at Tumblr last month, where he explicitly stated that Black Lives Matter is among several communities that the company should focus on converting into Yahoo media consumers. One told The Verge, “Simon explicitly said that Black Lives Matter was an opportunity to [make] a ton of money.”

I want to tell you guys a story.

A few years ago, I came out to my mom the morning after my senior prom. She was surprised, then quiet, then asked what my real orientation was. I said, “I have no idea, but I like this one girl.” She was a little confused, but she kissed me and said, “As long as she makes you happy.” For the next few weeks, she asked a lot of questions: when did I realize? What was my new girlfriend’s orientation? What was the word for this or that? I WAS happy, right?

Fast forward about two years. My mom sits me down and tells me that she needs my help with her next book. She’s been writing middle-grade girls’ books (like, 9-14 range) since I was eight, and she says she has an idea that she really, really wants to get right. It follows the plot of Romeo and Juliet, she says, and the main character is a twelve-year-old girl realizing she has a crush on another girl when they put on the play for English class.

Fast forward another year to now. STAR-CROSSED is about to come out, and it is absolutely amazing.

My mom has poured her heart and soul into making sure this is a positive thing for kids to read. I’ve been reading and editing and helping with this book since its first draft and I’ve been, metaphorically and sometimes literally bouncing up and down on my heels, waiting to be able to tell people about it. It’s beyond sweet, and there’s a ton of Shakespeare and humor and goofy preteen drama and twelve-year-old girls flirting and Star Wars jokes and a glossary of Shakespearean insults in the back (yes, really), and it’s just so fun and positive and smart and I want to show it to every kid I know.

This book is for LGBT kids, written by a mom who has asked questions and done her research and tried as hard as she possibly could to make her own queer kid feel safe and loved and valid, and it REALLY shows. Mattie (the cutie on the left) and Gemma (the cutie on the right) are given space to learn about themselves, and ultimately they don’t have to figure themselves out right away or come out to everyone at once or choose a label. They’re kids. It’s okay to still be figuring things out. It’s okay. 

Fun facts: 

My mom said from the beginning she wanted both girls on the cover to make it clear what the book was about; then when they got the final artwork and Mattie’s hair was short, my mom wrote back and asked the artist to do the hair over to make it as obvious as possible that Mattie is a girl. 

When a few people started buzzing about Mattie being the youngest bisexual protagonist they’ve seen, she went back and changed passages to confirm that Mattie likes boys and girls. 

When I asked for a happier and less ambiguous ending scene, she set Mattie and Gemma up on a frigging date. 

The is only ONE other middle grade (ages 8-12) fiction book I know of with a bisexual protagonist and that is Trials of Apollo by Rick Riordan.  The field of bi characters in childrens lit will DOUBLE with this book. 

tolkien: no go ahead i want to hear it

cs lewis: they fucking suck

You know what’s awesome?  Research.  You know what’s not awesome?  Not being able to get access to research because it’s stuck behind a paywall and you don’t belong to an institution/your institution doesn’t subscribe to that particular journal.

FEAR NOT.

Here is a list of free, open access materials on a variety of subjects.  Feel free to add if you like!

GO FORTH AND LEARN SHIT, MY FRIENDS.

Directory of Open Access Journals- A compendium of over 9000 journals from 133 countries, multilingual and multidisciplinary.

Directory of Open Access Books- Like the above, but for ebooks.  Also multidisciplinary.

Ubiquity Press- Journals covering archaeology, comics scholarship, museum studies, psychology, history, international development, and more.  Also publishes open access ebooks on a wide variety of subjects.

Europeana-  Digital library about the history and culture of Europe.

Digital Public Library of America- American history, culture, economics, SO MUCH AMERICA.

Internet Archive- In addition to books, they have music and videos, too.  Free!  And legal!  They also have the Wayback Machine, which lets you see webpages as they looked at a particular time.

College and Research Libraries- Library science and information studies.  Because that’s what I do.

Library of Congress Digital Collections- American history and culture, historic newspapers, sound recordings, photographs, and a ton of other neat stuff.

LSE Digital Library- London history, women’s history.

Wiley Open Access- Science things!  Neurology, medicine, chemistry, ecology, engineering, food science, biology, psychology, veterinary medicine.

SpringerOpen-  Mainly STEM journals, looooong list.

Three books are coming out this Tuesday, October 11th… including the much anticipated final book of The Young Elites series!

The Midnight Star (The Young Elites #3) by Marie Lu

There was once a time when darkness shrouded the world, and the darkness had a queen. Adelina Amouteru is done suffering. She’s turned her back on those who have betrayed her and achieved the ultimate revenge: victory. Her reign as the White Wolf has been a triumphant one, but with each conquest her cruelty only grows. The darkness within her has begun to spiral out of control, threatening to destroy all that she’s achieved.

Adelina’s forced to revisit old wounds when a new danger appears, putting not only Adelina at risk, but every Elite and the very world they live in. In order to save herself and preserve her empire, Adelina and her Roses must join the Daggers on a perilous quest—though this uneasy alliance may prove to be the real danger. [Image and summary via Goodreads]

Iron Cast by Destiny Soria

It’s Boston, 1919, and the Cast Iron club is packed. On stage, hemopaths—whose “afflicted” blood gives them the ability to create illusions through art—captivate their audience. Corinne and Ada have been best friends ever since infamous gangster Johnny Dervish recruited them into his circle. By night they perform for Johnny’s crowds, and by day they con Boston’s elite. When a job goes wrong and Ada is imprisoned, they realize how precarious their position is. After she escapes, two of the Cast Iron’s hires are shot, and Johnny disappears. With the law closing in, Corinne and Ada are forced to hunt for answers, even as betrayal faces them at every turn. [Image and summary via Goodreads]

Rani Patel in Full Effect by Sonia Patel

Presenting the new editions of all five Mangoverse books, a fluffy fantasy series focusing on LGBTQA+ Jewish characters getting happy endings and “found family.” The first four books are full-length, standalone novels; Tales from Perach is all seven in-universe short stories bundled together. I’ve added Hebrew+Yiddish glossaries at the end this time.

The Second Mango - origin story, in which Smol Lesbian Queen and hetero demi warrior woman become besties Climbing the Date Palm - Queen helps the bi prince from next door rescue his activist boyfriend from Certain Doom A Harvest of Ripe Figs - Queen solving mysteries in her capital city, chiefly the theft of a priceless violin, while raising a baby with her bi partner The Olive Conspiracy - Queen saves her country from a plot to sabotage her country’s agriculture Tales from Perach - includes f/f, m/m, and m/f trans romance and also Purim. If you’re familiar with the series but haven’t read Olive yet, and are wondering who the new couple on the cover is, they’re Hadar and Halleli.

I’ve had some problems getting paid, so I got my rights back from my publisher and reposted the entire series myself (with the help of the amazing Jane Dominguez, who turned art commissions from @theloserfish, @erikahammerschmidt, and Caroline C. into covers.)

From this point going forward, if you want to buy one of these books, please buy the editions that have the above art–if you don’t see it in your preferred format (ePub, paperback, etc.) never fear, because those are coming as fast as I can get to them. Paperback proofs have already been submitted to CreateSpace (and all the paperbacks except Mango and Tales have art on the back, too. I’ll share that once the paperback links go live.)

📚Rebellion of Thieves (A Robyn Hoodlum Adventure)

 Author - Kekla Magoon

Release Date: October 18th (Bloomsbury USA Childrens)

Robyn Loxley can’t rest now that she’s the #1 Most Wanted Fugitive, Robyn Hoodlum. The harsh Nott City governor, Ignomus Crown, may have increased the reward for her capture, but this won’t stop Robyn from masterminding her biggest mission yet: infiltrating the governor’s mansion to rescue her parents. The perfect opportunity arises when the Iron Teen contest comes to Sherwood. If Robyn scores high enough, she’ll be invited to a dinner at the mansion. But performing well in the contest could put her directly in Crown’s sights. Can she and her crew of misfit friends pull off such a grand scheme, or are they walking into bigger trouble than they can handle? Continuing her high-adventure Robin Hood reboot, National Book Award finalist Kekla Magoon delivers more action and intrigue, as this unforgettable heroine and her motley crew fight for justice.

Find more books by Kekla Magoon here

Orleans (2013) by Sherri L. Smith 

“After a string of devastating hurricanes and a severe outbreak of Delta Fever, the Gulf Coast has been quarantined. Years later, residents of the Outer States are under the assumption that life in the Delta is all but extinct…but in reality, a new primitive society has been born.  

Fen de la Guerre is living with the O-Positive blood tribe in the Delta when they are ambushed. Left with her tribe leader’s newborn, Fen is determined to get the baby to a better life over the wall before her blood becomes tainted. Fen meets Daniel, a scientist from the Outer States who has snuck into the Delta illegally. Brought together by chance, kept together by danger, Fen and Daniel navigate the wasteland of Orleans.  In the end, they are each other’s last hope for survival.

Sherri L. Smith delivers an expertly crafted story about a fierce heroine whose powerful voice and firm determination will stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page.“ 

Get it  now here  

Sherri L. Smith is the award-winning author of five Young Adult novels including the 2009 California Book Awards Gold Medalist, Flygirl—a World War II adventure the Washington Post named a best book of the year—the “cli-fi” adventure, Orleans, the middle grade historical fantasy, The Toymaker’s Apprentice, and th neo-noir novel, PASADENA. Sherri is on the faculty of Goddard College’s MFA Writing and Hamline University’s MFA in Children’s Writing programs.

POC Horror Authors:

J. F. Gonzalez, author of Clickers (with Mark Williams), Clickers II: The Next Wave (with Brian Keene), Survivor, Bully, and Fetish

Maurice Broaddus, author of Devil’s Marionette and The Knights of Breton Court: King Maker

Tananarive Due, author of Joplin’s Ghost

Brandon Massey, author of Thunderland and Covenant

Jermiah Jefferson, author of the Voice of Blood series

Wrath James White, author of The Resurrectionist, Succulent Prey, and Population Zero

Darlene Black, author of Necromancy

L.A. Banks, author of the Vampire Huntress series and the Crimson Moon series

Qwantu Amaru, author of One Blood

Akash Bansal, author of Avenue of Death

Gakuto Coda, author of the Missing series

Dia Reeves, author of Bleeding Violet and Slice of Cherry

Evie Rhodes, author of Expired and Criss Cross

Tize W. Clark, author of The Maze and QT

Otsuichi, author of Goth: A Novel of Horror

Koji Suzuki, author of the Ring series

Hideaki Sena, Ph.D, author of Parasite Eve

Andre Duza, author of Dead Bitch Army

Koushun Takami, author of Battle Royale

Michael Boatman, author of The Revenant Road

Female Horror Authors:

Billie Sue Mosiman, author of Widow

Gemma Files, author of A Book of Tongues and A Rope of Thorns

Kirstyn McDermott, author of Madigan Mine

Tananarive Due, author of Joplin’s Ghost

Dia Reeves, author of Bleeding Violet and Slice of Cherry

Evie Rhodes, author of Expired and Criss Cross

Shirley Jackson, author of The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein

Kathe Koja, author of The Cipher

Mara Leveritt, author of Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three

Laurell K. Hamilton, author of the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series

Jemiah Jefferson, author of the Voice of the Blood series

Octavia Butler, author of Fledgling

Anne Rice, author of The Vampire Chronicles series

Poppy Z. Brite, author of Exquisite Corpse and Lost Souls

L.A. Banks, author of the Vampire Huntress series and the Crimson Moon series

Daphne du Maurier, author of Rebecca

Agatha Christie, author of And Then There Were None

Anne Rivers Siddons, author of The House Next Door

Darlene Black, author of Necromancy

Lucy Snyder, author of Spellbent, Shotgun Sorceress, and Switchblade Goddess

Ann Rule, author of The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy The Shocking Inside Story

Carrie Ryan, author of The Forest of Hands and Teeth series

Mira Grant, author of the Newslfesh trilogy

Rhiannon Frater, author of As The World Dies: A Zombie Trilogy

Dorothy Macardle, author of The Uninvited

Lisa Mannetti, author of Deathwatch

Catherynne Valente, author of Deathless

Susan Hill, author of The Woman in Black

B.E. Scully, author of Verland: The Transformation

Elizabeth Kostova, author of The Historian

Connie Corcoran Wilson, author of The Color of Evil

Thank you for your question!

-C

I will close with the warning (again) that you should never, under any circumstances, read anything by Poppy Z. Brite. You will be scarred for life. Scarred. For life.

We couldn’t let this week go by without sharing our love of reading banned books, so we stood up for our right to read and took a picture doing it.

Check out the list of diverse titles that have been banned here, the go buy a banned book.

All American Boys  by Jason Reynolds, Brendan Kiely

Just Like Me! Box

www.justlikemebox.com // IG: justlikemebox

✨ A monthly subscription box with 2-3 children’s books featuring characters of color plus reading tools & accessories! ✨

$25/month

By Cindy Pon

Every book I have written is a book of my heart, but WANT is especially dear to me. A near-future thriller set in Taipei, it is an ode to my birth city, the vibrancy of which is deeply rooted in me. The feel of the air, the smells, these colors shaped my childhood and who I am today. I tried to capture that in WANT. This book is also special because it is the first non-fantasy novel I have ever written and challenged me in so many ways as a writer. But I loved my characters in this book, especially my hero and heroine, and I loved portraying this city I adore, a character in itself, so close to my heart. It is the first YA speculative fiction I’m aware of published by a big US publisher set in Taipei, if not the first young adult set there. So many fantastic firsts!

The WANT cover is stunning and amazing and everything I could have hoped for as an author. I hope you love it too!

Jason Zhou survives in a divided society where the elite use their wealth to buy longer lives. The rich wear special suits, protecting them from the pollution and viruses that plague the city, while those without suffer illness and early deaths. Frustrated by his city’s corruption and still grieving the loss of his mother who died as a result of it, Zhou is determined to change things, no matter the cost. With the help of his friends, Zhou infiltrates the lives of the wealthy in hopes of destroying the international Jin Corporation from within. Jin Corp not only manufactures the special suits the rich rely on, but they may also be manufacturing the pollution that makes them necessary.

Yet the deeper Zhou delves into this new world of excess and wealth, the more muddled his plans become. And against his better judgment, Zhou finds himself falling for Daiyu, the daughter of Jin Corp’s CEO. Can Zhou save his city without compromising who he is, or destroying his own heart?

Following is a conversation I had with Jen Ung, my Simon Pulse editor, on our thoughts about this cover!

Cindy:

I wasn’t expecting it at all when WANT’s first cover iteration dropped into my email. It came as a complete surprise! My reaction? *screaming* and *lying face down* ha! WANT is the first non-fantasy novel I’d ever written, and one of its draws for me was my #cuteasianboy hero Jason Zhou. To see him rendered so wonderfully and featured and centered on the cover, with the lights of Taipei reflected on his helmet—I honestly cannot describe all my feels. I know everyone has a different preference and opinion for book covers. But personally for me, the more Asian faces I can get onto my novels, the better!!

Jen:

WANT’s original editor, Michael Strother, and I were also all for showing a #cuteasianboy on the cover! When the designer for the project, Karina Granda, read the first draft of WANT, she described the read as feeling atmospheric and “wet,” and wanted to evoke this with the cover art style. She decided to hire artist Jason Chan, who does a lot of work in the video game space. He also regularly illustrates MG/YA book covers, so she knew he could do a fantastic job applying his video game art style to a YA book cover. The cover you see here is one of Jason’s original concepts, and I think it’s stunning.

Cindy:

I feel so so lucky because Jason Chan is an amazing artist, and he really captured the feel of the novel so well. I also love that Karina described the atmosphere of WANT as “wet”. This novel was truly an ode to my birth city, Taipei, which is a very humid city with many rain showers (and typhoons!), and I wrote all that into the book. I’m just so pleased that she picked up on that as a perceptive designer! When I saw the original cover, with Jason’s white blonde hair and eyes closed, I was already blown away. Michael was kind enough to ask if I had any feedback. I did. My main concern was that readers might not see with this first cover iteration that Jason is indeed Asian. I don’t think it’s an unfounded fear, as there are so few Asians featured in young adult novels today, much less Asian boy leads. In fact, I’m certain that WANT will likely be the only YA cover with an Asian hero so prominently shown in 2017. This representation mattered to me. I really appreciated the dream-like quality of having Jason’s eyes closed, but he is such an active hero in the novel, I felt opened eyes and a direct look from him was more suitable. And although he starts with blond hair in the novel, the majority of the story he wears it black. Jason Chan was able to incorporate both suggestions, and I truly feel so happy and fortunate. I don’t think there is any room for doubt that my hero is an Asian boy on the WANT cover. I adore this cover so much.

Jen:

We loved Cindy’s suggested changes, and I agree that the tweaks ultimately made for a stronger, more active image. Representation in YA—in terms of both covers and content—is something near and dear to my heart, and I just know that WANT is going to mean so much to so many readers, for so many different reasons. I’m very grateful to the designer and artist for so perfectly capturing the essence of the book, and to Cindy for writing such a fantastic story!

WANT (Simon Pulse) releases June 2017! Add it to your goodreads shelf!

BOOK LAUNCH: African Futures When: Friday 9 September 17:00 Where: Publications Lounge, Joburg Art Fair, Johannesburg

the pyrokinetic swimmer wading out into the ocean armed with waterproof matches to practice so nothing goes wrong, building her confidence with the sea as her safety net, being so proud when she figures out how to heat the air just enough that she dries off instantly after swimming

the boy slowly overcoming his fear of heights, realizing that he can catch himself if he ever falls, standing swaying on top of playground sets and closing his eyes as he tries to safely hover down (and not fall on his face again)

the girl’s terror lessening as the previously terrifying cacophony of the dogs at the park turns into a chorus of “ball! ball! throw me the ball!” “it’s me! I’m the good boy!” and “squirrel!!!” and learning to communicate back, have them listen to her, learning how to calm down a dog who’s overexcited to the point of biting, discovering that the scary dog down the street is just home alone a lot and lonely, staring her fear in the face and learning its secrets

The Icarus Girl  (2006)

“The story of a troubled eight-year-old haunted and ultimately possessed by family secrets, this spooky debut novel from a 20-year-old Nigerian-born Cambridge student is sure to garner attention for its precocity and literary self-consciousness. 

The sensitive protagonist, Jessamy Harrison, born to a British father and Nigerian mother, writes haikus and reads Shakespeare, but regularly throws tantrums and avoids social interaction both at school and at home. As an intervention, her parents take her to stay with family in Nigeria for the summer. At her grandfather’s compound, she encounters TillyTilly, a mysterious girl who seems to know everything about Jess and who, Jess realizes, is not visible to anyone else. In Nigeria with TillyTilly, Jess finds a sense of belonging and intimacy for the first time, but when Jess returns to England, TillyTilly becomes less comforting and more troublesome. 

In confident, heavily stylized prose, Oyeyemi illustrates Jess’s cultural dislocation, using both Nigerian and Christian imagery to evoke a sense of her unreality. As sophisticated as she is, Jess’s eight-year-old observations provide a limited lens, and at times, the novel’s fantasy element veers into young adult suspense territory. “

By Helen Oyeyemi

Get it  now here