Staff Picks

Dip your toe into the sci fi genre with this fast-paced action novella. Although the narrator is a lethal, cybernetically-enhanced, cloned-human construct, many readers will connect with its dry sense of humor and extreme introversion. Subtly examines the question of the rights of artificial life.

 

Publisher's description:

In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety. But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn't a primary concern. On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied 'droid -- a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as "Murderbot." Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is. But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.

 

This was a really great look at gender and sexuality. With brave honesty, Kobabe is able to break down concepts that may be confusing or complex to readers who are new to theories on gender and sexuality. I had just been having a conversation with my mother from an older generation about pronouns. She was very confused and couldn't grasp the concept. If only I had had this graphic novel on hand to give to her as a reference! Kobabe's personal story is profound and they are able to adapt it into this graphic memoir beautifully, in a very relatable and engaging way. This should be a must read for those curious about learning more about gender and sexuality.

 

Publisher's description:

In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was the only thing e felt comfortable with strangers knowing about em. Now, Gender Queer, er intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma of pap smears. Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity--what it means and how to think about it--for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere.

 

Find Gender Queer in our online catalog.

The Lauras is a mother-teen road novel, told from the perspective of an agender teen named Alex. We travel across the country and through time, following Ma's past while also living through the present. Alex and Ma are resourceful and make the best of their varied and sometimes quite difficult circumstances. Ma and Alex are survivors in the best, most expansive sense of the word. Their experiences are not tidy, nor necessarily resolved, but they are owned. This character-driven story explores the many meanings of family and love. It is a tale of self-discovery, reflection, and ultimately, self-definition. Content warning: Though not graphic in nature, the narrative depicts non-consensual sexual contact between an adult and a minor. It also addresses domestic abuse.

 

Publisher description: 

I didn't realize my mother was a person until I was thirteen years old and she pulled me out of bed, put me in the back of her car, and we left home and my dad with no explanations. I thought that Ma was all that she was and all she had ever wanted to be. I was wrong. As we made our way from Virginia to California, returning to the places where she'd lived as a kid in foster care and as a teenager on the run, repaying debts and keeping promises, I learned who she was in her life-before-me and the secrets she had kept.

Find The Lauras: A Novel in our online catalog.