Diverse Books I’m Waiting On This Fall!

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine, where you can highlight upcoming releases that you are eagerly anticipating!

Hello lovelies!

So it’s another week, another Wednesday which means another Waiting on Wednesday. However, in light of an awful video that has been circulating within the book community, I thought I would turn this week’s post into a spotlight on diverse books I’m looking forward to this Fall!

I am not always the best with words, so I want to direct you to Lauren @ Wonderless Reviews who posted a great blog post on diversity from a white woman’s perspective. Lauren writes, “I’m white. I have no idea what it means to be oppressed or to experience racism. I am an aromantic, mentally ill woman so I have experienced ableism and misogyny, but not to the degree that POC would have. As a white person I realise that I’m going to have internalised racism. All white people have internalised racism. The majority of my teen years were spent with me being EXTREMELY ignorant and uneducated. I didn’t have the resources we have now. However, now there is honestly no excuse for people NOT to educate themselves. Everything is a literally a Google search away. I am always learning. I am always trying to better myself and we should all be doing the same.” 

I am also a white woman who has never had to experience being oppressed or have felt the ramifications of racism. While my mom always raised me to be respectful to anyone no matter race, gender, sexuality or religion, I still understand that racism has been internalized into me as a white person. I never really realized how much I wasn’t really exposed to diversity growing up until I look back as an adult. I never read books with POC or thought about the issues/discrimination that POC have gone through. Outside a few books here and there read for school, I never actively sought out diverse books. I was comfortable with just reading blissfully about magic, vampires or romance. I never used to consider how I was lucky to have a story where I could see myself in the storyline.

Now a days I actively seek out diverse books, not only to support #ownvoices & #WeNeedDiverseBooks, but because I want to learn about different cultures & different POVs. I want to inform myself so that when I have a little girl or boy come into the library looking for a book about themselves or to experience a book about someone different from themselves, I’ll have an arsenal of books to suggest. The biggest thing that I love about going to library school for youth services is the constant reminder that our collections need to have books that are both a window and a mirror for our patrons–a book/story for every kind of person should be within our collection. That’s why I support diversity and #ownvoices and #WeNeedDiverseBooks – not because of me, but because of my future patrons who deserve to have books that mirror their own lives and identities.

So with that said, here are some books that I’m looking forward to this Fall with diverse characters!

Publication: September 6, 2016
GoodReads Synopsis: Nothing says Happy Birthday like summoning the spirits of your dead relatives.

I fall to my knees. Shattered glass, melted candles and the outline of scorched feathers are all that surround me. Every single person who was in my house – my entire family — is gone.

Alex is a bruja, the most powerful witch in a generation…and she hates magic. At her Deathday celebration, Alex performs a spell to rid herself of her power. But it backfires. Her whole family vanishes into thin air, leaving her alone with Nova, a brujo boy she can’t trust. A boy whose intentions are as dark as the strange markings on his skin.

The only way to get her family back is to travel with Nova to Los Lagos, a land in-between, as dark as Limbo and as strange as Wonderland…

Beautiful Creatures meets Daughter of Smoke and Bone with an infusion of Latin American tradition in this highly original fantasy adventure.

Why I’m Waiting: bruja magic! I love a good witch story & this one has an interesting twist since the MC doesn’t want her powers. Also loving the promise of romance & suspense!

Publication: October 1, 2016
GoodReads / Amazon Synopsis: This striking work of narrative nonfiction tells the true story of six-year-old Sachiko Yasui’s survival of the Nagasaki atomic bomb on August 9, 1945 and the heartbreaking and lifelong aftermath. Having conducted extensive interviews with Sachiko Yasui, Caren Stelson shares the true story of a young girl who survived the atomic bomb and chronicles her long journey to find peace. This special book offers readers a remarkable new perspective on the final moments of World War II and their aftermath.

Why I’m Waiting: Lately I’ve been really fascinated with WWII stories so I’m really interested to read about Sachiko Yasui’s survial of the atomic bomb that we, the U.S., dropped onto Nagasaki. I think this story offers an unfamiliar POV that I have not read about before.

Publication: November 1, 2016
GoodReads Synopsis: Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.

Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.

The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?

Why I’m Waiting: This just screams an awesome love story & I am such a sucker for romance! 🙂

Publication: November 22, 2016
GoodReads Synopsis: Four girls with the power to control the elements and save the world from a terrible evil must come together in the first epic novel in a brand-new series.

When Phantoms—massive beasts made from nightmares and darkness—suddenly appeared and began terrorizing the world, four girls, the Effigies, each gained a unique power to control one of the classical elements: earth, air, fire, and water. Since then, four girls across the world have continually fought against the Phantoms, fulfilling their cosmic duty. And when one Effigy dies, another girl gains her power as a replacement.

But now, with technologies in place to protect the world’s major cities from Phantom attacks, the Effigies have stopped defending humanity and, instead, have become international celebrities, with their heroic feats ranked, televised, and talked about in online fandoms.

Until the day that New York City’s protection against the Phantoms fails, a man seems to be able to control them by sheer force of will, and Maia, a high school student, unexpectedly becomes the Fire Effigy.

Now Maia has been thrown into battle with three girls who want nothing to do with one another. But with the first human villain that the girls have ever faced, and an army of Phantoms preparing for attack, there isn’t much time for the Effigies to learn how to work together.

Can the girls take control of their destinies before the world is destroyed forever?

Why I’m Waiting: Fantasy YA with four female MC?! Enough said! This one is right up my ally 🙂

Publication: October 11, 2016
GoodReads Synopsis: Troy is a kid with a passion. And dreams. And wanting to do the right thing. But after taking a wrong turn, he’s forced to endure something that’s worse than any juvenile detention he can imagine-he’s “sentenced” to the local city stables where he’s made to take care of horses. The greatest punishment has been trying to make sense of things since his mom died but, through his work with the horses, he discovers a sport totally unknown to him-polo. Troy’s has to figure out which friends have his back, which kids to cut loose, and whether he and Alisha have a true connection. Laced with humor and beating with heartache, this novel will grip readers, pull them in quickly, and take them on an unforgettable ride. Set in present day Christine Kendall’s stunning debut lets us come face-to-face with the challenges of a loving family that turn hardships into triumphs.

Why I’m Waiting: Mainly I’m wanting to read this one because of the horses haha no but really, this sounds so great! I’m also interested to see if I learn anything about Polo from this because all I know is to yell back Marco haha okay man I’m an awful at being funny. Jokes aside, this novel sounds like it explores relationships and the pains of growing up. I’m interested to see where it goes and to explore Kendall’s writing style. Also, that cover is gorgeous!

Publication: September 13, 2016
GoodReads Synopsis: The year Louisiana – Easy for short – meets Janis Joplin is the year everything changes. Easy is a car mechanic in her dad’s shop, but she can sing the blues like someone twice her age. So when she hears that Janis Joplin is passing through her small town of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Easy is there with her heart – and her voice – in hand. It’s 1970 and Janis Joplin is an electrifying blues-rock singer at the height of her fame – and of her addictions. Yet she recognizes Easy’s talent and asks her to meet her in Texas to sing. So Easy begins an unusual journey that will change everything.

Why I’m Waiting: Anything with music is a must read for me. I love reading about music whether the story is fiction or non-fiction. This story sounds so good! I can’t wait to delve into the 70s & experience blues music through Easy’s POV.

Publication: October 11, 2016
GoodReads Synopsis: Almost seventeen, Rani Patel appears to be a kick-ass Indian girl breaking cultural norms as a hip-hop performer in full effect. But in truth, she’s a nerdy flat-chested nobody who lives with her Gujarati immigrant parents on the remote Hawaiian island of Moloka’i, isolated from her high school peers by the unsettling norms of Indian culture where “husband is God.” Her parents’ traditionally arranged marriage is a sham. Her dad turns to her for all his needs—even the intimate ones. When Rani catches him two-timing with a woman barely older than herself, she feels like a widow and, like widows in India are often made to do, she shaves off her hair. Her sexy bald head and hard-driving rhyming skills attract the attention of Mark, the hot older customer who frequents her parents’ store and is closer in age to her dad than to her. Mark makes the moves on her and Rani goes with it. He leads Rani into 4eva Flowin’, an underground hip hop crew—and into other things she’s never done. Rani ignores the red flags. Her naive choices look like they will undo her but ultimately give her the chance to discover her strengths and restore the things she thought she’d lost, including her mother.

Why I’m Waiting: This story sounds really complex and like it’s going to leave an emotional toll on me. But sometimes you need to dive deep into a story you know is going to not only knock your socks off, but leave you emotionally exhausted. Those stories are usually the best ones. 😉

Publication: October 11, 2016
GoodReads Synopsis: 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.

Why I’m Waiting: Iron Cast seems to have the perfect mix of historical fiction and fantasy that I love. I can’t wait to delve into this one and see the world that Soria has created! And I mean it takes place in Boston, how can I not read this as I’m living in Boston? Also, that cover is so divine!

For more books check out this GoodReads List 🙂

What are you waiting on this week? Do you have any of these books on your TBR? Let me know in the comments below! 

Happy Reading!

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